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Più o di più? Posted by Serena on Jan 17, 2010
Sometimes readers ask me questions which I feel are better answered with a new blog because they deal with important grammatical points. I was recently asked the question: “what is the difference between ‘più’ and ‘di più’?” Probably the best way to illustrate the difference between the two is with a few examples: “Mario ha studiato di…
Numeri Cardinali Posted by Serena on Jan 14, 2010
Here’s a blog that will be useful both for beginners and more advanced students who need a bit of revision. Numeri Cardinali (Cardinal Numbers) don’t change from masculine to feminine except for ‘one’. The word piatto (plate), for example, is a masculine word and therefore if we were asked: quanti piatti ci sono sul tavolo?…
Cantanti Italiani Contemporanei – Jovanotti Posted by Serena on Jan 11, 2010
In this series dealing with cantanti Italiani contemporanei (contemperory Italian singers) I hope to give you an insight into some of the great Italian singers/musicians that are on the scene today. First of all, let me say that I don’t really like the kind of simplistic pop music that drones on all day on local radio stations and is…
Word Lists – 3. Il Bagno Posted by Serena on Jan 8, 2010
Salve ragazzi, le feste sono finite e spero che abbiate fatto i vostri propositi per l’anno nuovo, tra cui ‘studierò di più l’italiano’! In questo periodo, dopo le feste di Natale e dell’Anno Nuovo c’è sempre un vuoto nel senso che non si sa cosa fare di se stessi, vero? Allora, meno male che ci sono io…
I Befanini Posted by Serena on Jan 5, 2010
Once upon a time in Italy children used to receive their Christmas presents on the Epifania (Epiphany – the 6th of January), instead of on Christmas day. On the eve of Epifania children would hang a stocking near their bed or next to the fireplace, where the mythical kindly old peasant woman known as la Befana would fill them with biscuits, oranges, dried…
Una Tradizione di Capodanno Posted by Serena on Jan 2, 2010
In Italy we have many different traditions for la notte di Capodanno (New Year’s Eve), but there is one in particular that has always appealed to what my husband might call ‘the more destructive side of my nature’! I’m referring to the old custom of throwing broken or chipped crockery out of the window. The…
Irregular Verbs in the Future Tense Posted by Serena on Dec 30, 2009
In my previous blog ‘I Propositi per l’anno Nuovo’ I explained the construction and use of the future tense. Today’s blog will cover some of the most important irregular verbs in this tense. The first group of irregular verbs omits the vowel at the beginning of the future tense suffix, hence –erò, -erai etc. becomes…