Archive for October, 2014
Prendere: To Take? Posted by Serena on Oct 30, 2014
We all know that prendere means to take, as in prendiamo l’autobus o andiamo a piedi? (shall we take the bus or walk?), or prendi questa borsa (take this bag). However prendere is one of those verbs that can be used in many different situations. Let’s look at some of its most common uses: 1…
La Furia del Magra Posted by Geoff on Oct 29, 2014
Introduction and photos by Geoff, Italian Captions by Serena In my last post My Name is Magra I wrote: But when we rage and thunder after the rains they curse us Ma quando infuriamo e tuoniamo dopo le piogge ci maledicono … and not without good cause. We live close to the source of the…
My Name is Magra Posted by Geoff on Oct 27, 2014
Story and photos by Geoff, Italian translation by Serena My name is Magra I am a river This is my journey In the beginning I am small a mountain spring from the Appennino I follow a fold in the southern slopes I become a waterfall I flow into a bowl of rock a cleft carries…
Il Vento Posted by Geoff on Oct 23, 2014
I’m searching for inspiration. I comb through the online journals. I toy with various old blog projects that never came to fruition … nothing … my mind’s a blank. I take a break, close my eyes, what do I hear? The wind. The rattling of dried leaves scurrying down the street. The air is fresh…
How to use the Past Conditional in Italian Posted by Serena on Oct 22, 2014
Last week we took a look at the present conditional, which, if you missed it, you can find HERE. Today we are going to look at il condizionale passato (the past conditional). Here are a couple of examples of how we conjugate it, firstly with the auxiliary verb essere (to be): Coniugazione del verbo essere…
Il Nuovo Baby Pit Stop Posted by Geoff on Oct 21, 2014
You never know what might happen when you stroll across La Piazza Della Repubblica in Pontremoli. The other day, for example, I spotted the mayor, Lucia Baracchini, with a small group of ladies on one side of the piazza. I wandered over to greet her and have a quick chat, but much to my surprise…
How to use the Present Conditional in Italian Posted by Serena on Oct 16, 2014
While I was replying a reader’s question last week about the differences between the congiuntivo presente and the condizionale, I realised that although I’ve covered the use of the congiuntivo presente I’d never written an article specifically on the use of the condizionale (conditional). So I’m going to make amends, beginning today with il condizionale…