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The Italian Subjunctive – 4. Imperfect Tense Posted by Geoff on Jun 5, 2017
Let’s continue our series of articles on the subjunctive form with an in depth look at il congiuntivo imperfetto (the imperfect subjunctive). Constructing the congiuntivo imperfetto To construct the congiuntivo imperfetto of regular verbs we modify the ending of the infinitive in the following way: verbs ending in –are, e.g. parlare (to speak): io parlassi…
Una Risata Per Il Weekend Posted by Geoff on Jun 2, 2017
Let’s finish the week with a smile. Remember your schooldays … a laugh a minute, right? Il bambino di un mafioso torna a casa con la pagella e la fa vedere alla mamma. La madre: “Italiano: 10, bravo! Geografia: 10, bravo! Storia: 10, bravo! Matematica: 10, bravissimo! Tutti 10, sei un figlio prodigio, bravissimo! Vai…
In The Hall Of The Mountain King Posted by Geoff on May 25, 2017
What, you may ask, has a piece of music by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg got to do with the Italian landscape? Let me explain … When I was a child, music was always present somewhere in the background. My mother loved romantic classical music, and had a gramophone collection of popular pieces. Some of those…
The Italian Subjunctive – 3. Perfect Tense Posted by Geoff on May 24, 2017
So far in this series on the Italian subjunctive we’ve covered the Present Tense, and Irregular Verbs. Today we’re going to move on to the slightly more complex congiuntivo passato (perfect subjunctive). Constructing the congiuntivo passato: We construct the congiuntivo passato by using use the present subjunctive of the auxiliary verbs essere (to be) or…
The Foundlings – Nina’s Story Posted by Geoff on May 19, 2017
Here’s my translation of Serena’s recent article I Trovatelli – La Storia Di Nina: Nina è una gattina dolcissima dagli occhi bellissimi. Anche lei, come tutti i nostri mici, è una randagia del paese, che ha contribuito molto alla sopravvivenza della sua razza. Ora che non è più giovanissima (pensiamo che abbia 7 o 8…
Iroso, The Last Mule Soldier Posted by Geoff on May 15, 2017
Possibly the most famous corps of the Italian Army are the Alpini, the elite mountain troops which were formed back in in 1872. The Alpini, who are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world, are also well known for their indispensable companions, i muli (the mules), which were still in service up until the…
The Italian Subjunctive – 2. Irregular Verbs Posted by Geoff on May 3, 2017
In our previous article about the Italian subjunctive, The Italian Subjunctive – 1. Present Tense, we looked at il congiuntivo presente. Today, we’re going to examine le forme irregolari (irregular forms), once again in the present tense. These irregular verbs also happen to be the most important and frequently used. Here they are with practical examples…