Archive for February, 2016
Can Italian Cats Fly? Posted by Serena on Feb 29, 2016
Mr. Black and the Telephone Pole Sono le tre e mezza di venerdì pomeriggio quando torniamo a casa, stanchi ma soddisfatti, dopo aver trascorso una bella giornata camminando fra uliveti a picco sul mare verde. It’s half past three on Friday afternoon when we get home, tired but satisfied, after having spent a beautiful day…
Intendere and Intendersi: The Solutions Posted by Geoff on Feb 26, 2016
Here are the solutions to the exercises in our two previous blogs: Using The Italian Verb Intendere and Ci Siamo Intesi? 1. Using The Italian Verb Intendere: You were asked to complete the following sentences referring to the examples given (n.b. some had two possible solutions). Here are the answers: 1. Lucia ha frainteso/inteso male quello…
Ci Siamo Intesi? Posted by Serena on Feb 24, 2016
In our previous post we explored the verb intendere. Today we’re going to take a look at its reflexive partner intendersi. The verb intendersi has two main meanings: intendersi = ‘to come to an agreement about’, or ‘to clarify something’, and intendersi di = ‘to be knowledgeable about something’. Below are some everyday examples illustrating…
Using The Italian Verb Intendere Posted by Geoff on Feb 22, 2016
The verb intendere has two main meanings. The first is fairly obvious as it closely resembles its English counterpart, ‘to intend/mean’. Let’s have a look at a few simple examples of this first meaning: Intendere = to intend/mean scusi, non intendevo offenderla = sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you (formal) intendo andare a Lucca giovedì =…
Hooker’s Spaghetti Posted by Serena on Feb 19, 2016
What could be worse for an Italian woman than being married to a man who has a food intolerance to tomatoes and basil? Unfortunately this is my situation! Last year Geoff had a series of allergy tests done to try and identify the source of some stomach problems, and the results showed that, amongst other…
Born Again After 42 Minutes Underwater! Posted by Geoff on Feb 17, 2016
How long can someone survive underwater without breathing, 5 minutes, 10 minutes? Did you know that the world record for the “longest time breath held” is an astounding 20 minutes? Makes me feel breathless just thinking about it. Equally amazing, however, is the 42 minutes spent underwater without breathing experienced by a 15 year old…
Italian Direct Object Pronouns Posted by Serena on Feb 16, 2016
Le chiavi le hai? (Have you got the keys?) How many times have you come across an Italian construction similar to this example and asked yourself “why are there two le‘s in that sentence?” … “The keys the you have?” … WHAT THE ####!?!? Well, you’ll be relieved to hear that there is a totally…