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Come non liberarsi dei calabroni! Posted by Serena on Sep 13, 2009
Earlier this summer I wrote that this year was a good year for insects, I was thinking, of course, about the beneficial effects that insect have on the environment. However, as my husband discovered when he was bitten by a couple of zecche (ticks), a good year for insects isn’t necessarily a good one for…
Parmigiana di Melanzane Posted by Serena on Sep 10, 2009
Melanzane, melanzane e ancora melanzane! (Eggplants, eggplants and more eggplants! or aubergines as they are called in the U.K.) This long hot summer the melanzane on our orto (vegetable garden) have been very prolific, and I’m trying to find different ways to cook them. This old traditional recipe is definitely our favorite: la parmigiana di melanzane!…
Pronomi Personali Indiretti part 2: Forme Atone Posted by Serena on Sep 7, 2009
In part 1 of this article I introduced the forme toniche (stressed forms) of the indirect personal pronouns; in this second part we’re going to have a look at the forme atone or ‘unstressed forms’, which are less emphatic than the forme toniche. In more technical terms, the forme atone have the grammatical function of the complemento di termine or dative. Here…
Pronomi Personali Indiretti Part 1: Forme Toniche Posted by Serena on Sep 4, 2009
The topic of pronomi personali indiretti (indirect personal pronouns) is a fairly large one, so I am splitting it into two separate blogs, each dealing with one of the two forms which you will encounter. At the end of part two I will explain how to work out when to use each form. Il pronome personale indiretto is used…
Parla come Mangi Posted by Serena on Sep 1, 2009
Browsing through a magazine a few days ago I came across an article about a recent survey which set out to discover the best known Italian words throughout the 27 countries of the Unione Europea. Although the article itself was rather trivial it did remind me of something quite important: the existence of La Società Dante Alighieri…
La storia di un’autovelox Posted by Serena on Aug 29, 2009
A few blogs ago I wrote about the tough new laws which are being applied to cyclists here in Italia despite the continuing infringements committed by the idiosyncratic ‘Italian Driver’: Ancora una nuova legge da dimenticare As a ‘coda’ (sequel), I thought you might enjoy the following article which I read a few days ago…
Verbs followed by the preposition ‘Di’ Posted by Serena on Aug 26, 2009
At the end of my previous article ‘Tricky little words: ‘Ne’’ I promised you a list of common verbs that are normally followed by the preposition di, and which can be substituted by the particella pronominale ‘ne’. Several of the verbs in this list are reflexive, therefore when using the ‘ne’ the reflexive pronoun goes…