Archive for March, 2018
Il Pettirosso Posted by Serena on Mar 29, 2018
Why does the Robin have red feathers on its breast? An Easter legend explains: Un giorno di duemila anni fa, una mamma uccello stava volando in cerca di cibo per i suoi piccoli quando notò sulla cima di un colle tre croci con tre uomini appesi. Incuriosita l’uccellino si avvicinò e notò che uno di…
The Italian Past Participle Posted by Geoff on Mar 26, 2018
How does the Italian past participle (il participio passato) work when used with the verbs essere (to be) and avere (to have)? Let’s find out. The Past Participle With Essere: When we use the past participle with essere it has to agree with the subject in gender and number. This means that the ending of…
Tanti Regali Per Il Papà Posted by Serena on Mar 22, 2018
Nei giorni scorsi, all’avvicinarsi del 19 marzo, Festa del Papà, ogni pagina Internet era correlata da pubblicità su idee regalo per il papà. Questo mi ha fatto tornare in mente alcuni dei regali che negli anni ho fatto al mio papà. Dal mio quindicesimo compleanno in poi il regalo per il compleanno o per la…
Using The Indefinite Adjective Del Posted by Geoff on Mar 19, 2018
Last month I published an article called Qualche Problema in which we looked at the correct usage of the indefinite adjective qualche. Today we’re going to look at another way of saying some, any, or a bit of. To express an indefinite quantity we commonly use the preposition di (of) combined with the definite articles…
The Haunted Castle Posted by Geoff on Mar 16, 2018
What would a medieval castle be without its ghost? Boring! But if you feel the need to have a ghost in your castle … at least come up with an original story. Geoff’s Patent Original Formula For Castle Ghost: The ugly psychopathic twin sister The hidden horde of Spanish gold The faithful adopted wolf The…
The Archbishop Of Constantinople Posted by Serena on Mar 14, 2018
Would you like to improve your Italian pronunciation? Master the following scioglilingua and you’ll soon be speaking like a native! Here’s the first scioglilingua (tongue-twister) that I taught Geoff many years ago: Sopra la panca la capra campa, sotto la panca la capra crepa Above the bench the goat lives, below the bench the goat…
Italian Curiosities – Part 2 Posted by Geoff on Mar 12, 2018
Curiosity numero due … a haunted castle. It wasn’t the ghost that bothered us … but the cold! How to get to the Castello Malaspina di Fosdinovo, taken from the official website: Ricordiamo per chi viene in macchina che l’accesso al parcheggio è praticabile solo entrando dal lato nord del paese. Non entrate nel borgo…