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A Huge Italian Bonfire – Part 1 Posted by on Jan 20, 2016 in Vocabulary

Here’s an opportunity for you to practice your colloquial conversational vocabulary. A typical Geoff and Serena dialogue (with the arguments edited out of course!)

falò 3

Serena: Stasera c’è il falò di San Nicolò a Pontremoli, lo sapevi?
Serena: did you know that this evening in Pontremoli there’s the falò of San Nicolò?

Geoff: che cavolo è Il falò di San Nicolò?
Geoff: what on earth is the Falò of San Nicolò?

Serena: un falò è un fuoco enorme, una pira. Questo è organizzato dalla contrada di San Nicolò
Serena: a falò is a huge fire, a pyre. This one is organized by the San Nicolò quarter

Geoff: okay, adesso ho capito, tipo quello che abbiamo visto qualche anno fa vicino al fiume Verde
Geoff: okay, now I understand, like the one that we saw a few years ago near the river Verde

Serena: sì, esatto! allora, ci andiamo stasera?
Serena: exactly! so, shall we go there this evening?

Geoff: boh, se lo vuoi tu …
Geoff: um, if you want to …

falò 4

… più tardi …:
… later …:

Geoff: cosa dici … lasciamo la macchina vicino alla pizzeria e poi continuiamo a piedi?
Geoff: what do you think … shall we leave the car near the pizzeria and then continue on foot?

Serena: sì è meglio perché sarà pieno zeppo
Serena: yes, it’ll be better because it’ll be chock full

… mentre camminiamo verso il ponte da cui si spera di vedere il falò …:
… whilst walking towards the bridge from which we hope to see the fire …:

Geoff: Che cavolo è questo rumore? Sembra di essere allo stadio prima di una partita di calcio
Geoff: what on earth is that noise? It’s like being at the stadium before a football match

Serena: già, è vero, è proprio come essere allo stadio. Mi sa che sono i tifosi di San Nicolò che incitano i fuochisti con i loro cori
Serena: yes, it’s true, it’s just like being at the stadium. I think it’s the fans spurring on the fire lighters with their chants

falò 5

Geoff: ma che diavolo cantano? non sento bene le parole
Geoff: but what the devil are they chanting? I can’t hear the words very well

Serena: se non sbaglio va così: “lò lò lò, evviva San Nicolò, evviva il Vaticano, abbasso San Geminiano”
Serena: if I’m not mistaken it goes like this: “lò lò lò, long live San Nicolò, long live il Vaticano, down with San Geminiano”

Geoff: ah sì, adesso mi ricordo, San Geminiano è la contrada rivale che fanno anche loro un falò in questo periodo, no?
Geoff: oh yes, now I remember, San Geminiano is the rival quarter who also have a bonfire around this time,right?

Serena: sì, fra due settimane ne faranno uno anche loro
Serena: yes, in a couple of weeks they’ll have one as well

… arrivando sul ponte vicino al falò non ancora acceso …:
… arriving on the bridge close to the still unlit bonfire …:

Geoff: c’è un bel po’ di gente! Mi sa che non sarà mica facile per te che sei bassina. Vediamo se troviamo posto davanti altrimenti non vedi nulla
Geoff: there are quite a few people! I think it won’t be easy for you being short. Let’s see if we can find a place in front or you won’t see anything

falò 2

Serena: lì, vicino a quei ragazzini c’è un piccolo spazio
Serena: there, close to those children, there’s a small space

… la folla è fitta ed eccitata, tutti vogliono avvicinarsi alla ringhiera per vedere meglio …:
the crowd is densely packed and excited, everyone wants to get close to the railing to see better…:

Geoff: spero che sia forte quella ringhiera, speriamo che resista!
Geoff: I hope the railing’s strong, let’s hope it holds up!

Serena: speriamo davvero!
Serena: let’s really hope so!

… all’improvviso, succede una cosa completamente inaspettata …
suddenly, something completely unexpected happens …

Close Encounters

Sorry my dear readers, but you’ll just have to wait for part 2 to find out what happens next … a presto!

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Comments:

  1. Marie:

    I found this quite hilarious. It made me laugh. I also say ‘what on earth’ a lot, so I’m very excited that I can now say it in Italian. I like this dialogue as it has some useful language in it for me i.e. “chock full” – what a classic. All that would top it off would be a sound recording. Can’t wait for part 2!

    • Geoff:

      @Marie Sono contento che il blog ti sia piaciuto Marie 🙂

      However, I’d better just warn you that although che cavolo! (literally: what the cabbage!) isn’t rude, it is a euphemism for che cazzo! (what the fù@k!). Not exactly ‘high Italian’, but very very common.

      Also, remember that the expression pieno/i/a/e zeppo/i/e/a changes depending on number and gender, eg. il treno (masc.) era pieno zeppo, la stanza (fem.) è piena zeppa, le macchine (fem. plural)erano piene zeppe … etc.

      A presto, Geoff

      P.S. you’ll find a sound recording in part 2 tomorrow.

  2. judi:

    This is great – I love the conversational when my learning is book formal. And I love this blog and read it regularly. It’s interesting and infinitely educational (if not occasionally puzzling1) in both language and culture.

    Two questions, please
    Judi

    So:
    “addesso ho capito” yet it’s still present tense. Why is it not “adesso, capito” ?
    and
    “ci andiamo” instead of just “andiamo” I thought “ci” was “eachother” (loosely) so why is it not just “andiamo”?

    Thanks

    • Geoff:

      @judi Ciao Judi, glad you found the blog useful.

      Now let’s deal with those two questions:
      1. ho capito means ‘I understand’, or literally ‘I have understood’, hence, “hai capito” = do you understand? “avete capito?” = ‘do you understand? (plural)’, “abbiamo capito” = ‘we understand’ etc. Add the word adesso = ‘now’, and you have ‘now I understand/have understood)’.
      “adesso, capito” simply means ‘now, understood?’ … hai capito?

      2. ci, in this case means ‘there’, hence “ci andiamo” = ‘shall we go there’. It’s easy to get ‘ci’ (there) confused with the ‘ci’ (us).
      Perhaps it would help to have a look at these articles on the subject.
      Ci – part 1: https://blogs.transparent.com/italian/tricky-little-words-%E2%80%9Cci%E2%80%9D/
      Ci – part 2: https://blogs.transparent.com/italian/tricky-little-words-%E2%80%9Cci%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-part-2/

      Saluti da Geoff

  3. judi:

    Geoff:
    Grazie molto per le spiegazioni. Si, adesso ho capito!
    judi


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