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Tales of La Gioconda–Part 1 Posted by Geoff on Apr 20, 2012
It’s probably the world’s most famous painting, millions of us have been to visit it in the Louvre, and just about everyone will have seen it reproduced as a print, postcard, chocolate box lid, tea cosy, etc. ad infinitum. But how many of us have found ourselves standing amongst the constant crowd of pilgrims that…
Cosa Devo Indossare? Posted by Geoff on Apr 13, 2012
È primavera, il periodo in cui il tempo fa dei brutti scherzi, sbalzi di temperatura, ed acquazzoni che ci confondono e ci fanno chiedere: “cosa devo indossare oggi?” It’s spring, the period in which the weather plays nasty tricks on us, leaps in temperature, and rain showers that confuse us and make us ask ourselves…
L’Elemento Umano Posted by Geoff on Apr 9, 2012
We’ve made you work hard with our recent blogs, so I think it’s time for a change of strategy. I’ve always found that one the the most effective ways to absorb la lingua italiana is by listening to music. Here’s a lesson in the use of the si impersonale (see this blog: Si Impersonale -Part…
Le Pulizie di Pasqua – un po’ di grammatica Posted by Geoff on Apr 4, 2012
Several readers found our last blog quite a challenge to translate … well sometimes that’s not a bad thing! However, in order to help you out a bit, here is part of the blog again, except that this time I have highlighted some points of grammar rather than vocabulary. Le grandi pulizie che si fanno…
Il Verbo Venire Posted by Geoff on Mar 23, 2012
A short while ago I wrote a couple of blogs about il verbo andare (to go). Let’s have a look now at its companion venire (to come), beginning with the common conjugations. Il presente (The present tense): io vengo = I come tu vieni = you (informal) come lui/lei/Lei viene = he/she/you formal comes noi…
Il Verbo Andare – Part 2 Posted by Geoff on Mar 16, 2012
In part 1. we looked at the most common conjugations of the verb andare (to go). Let’s take a look now at some of the many different ways in which we use this verb: – andarsene (to go away) a slightly more emphatic form of andare via: adesso me ne vado, ciao (I’m off…
Il Verbo Andare – Part 1 Posted by Geoff on Mar 12, 2012
Andare (to go) is one of the most frequently used Italian verbs, and it’s very important to master its use. It’s an irregular verb, and has many idiomatic uses. So let’s start with the basics and take a look at its most common uses: 1. Talking about the present il presente (the present tense): io…