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Viene La Befana Posted by Serena on Jan 6, 2017
Today, the sixth of January, we celebrate l’Epifania (the Epiphany), which commemorates the arrival of i Tre Re Magi (the Three Wise Men) in Bethlehem. Today also marks the end of the Christmas festivities (collective sigh of relief!). Before the modern era of globalization, and the adoption of certain traditions from America, l’Epifania was the…
I Rimedi Della Nonna Posted by Serena on Jan 5, 2017
What to do when you have the flu? Are i rimedi della nonna (grandma’s remedies) any use, or are they merely placebos? There’s an old aphorism which says: “Il raffreddore è una malattia che, se curata, dura sette giorni, altrimenti dura una settimana.” (“The cold is an illness which, if cured, lasts seven days, otherwise…
A Mysterious Christmas Present Posted by Serena on Dec 27, 2016
Some Christmas presents are more memorable than others. My first memorable one was given to me when I was about four years old. La mattina di Natale mi svegliai e non trovai nessuno nelle camere da letto, né i miei fratelli né i miei genitori. Allora andai in sala dove c’era l’albero di Natale e…
Capitone Fritto Posted by Serena on Dec 22, 2016
In Southern Italy the most traditional dish eaten for il cenone di Natale (Christmas eve meal) is il capitone fritto (fried eel). Despite the masculine name, il capitone is actually a fully mature female eel, which is much bigger than the male. The name capitone comes from the word ‘capa‘ (capo in Italian), meaning ‘head’…
Italian Demonstrative Adjectives – Quello Posted by Serena on Dec 20, 2016
In today’s exercise, we’re going to focus on the aggettivo dimostrativo ‘quello’ (demonstrative adjective ‘that’/’those’). As with the preposizioni articolate (see links below), the Italian aggettivo dimostrativo models its ending on the definite articles il, lo, la, i, gli, and le (the). Let’s begin by looking at how demonstrative adjective correspond to definite articles. Then you…
Combining Prepositions With Articles – Part 5. Posted by Serena on Dec 14, 2016
In today’s exercise, we’re going to focus on combining the Italian definite articles il, lo, la, i, gli, and le (the) with the preposition ‘su‘ (on, in, about). We’ll begin by reviewing how we construct these preposizioni articolate (preposition/article combinations). This will be followed by an exercise that requires you to fill in the blanks…
Istruzioni – A Quiz Posted by Serena on Dec 9, 2016
Warning: This quiz will test your Italian comprehension skills! Where would you find the following istruzioni (instructions)? Match each phrase to one of the locations given below. 1. Tenere fuori dalla portata e dalla vista dei bambini 2. Per una maggiore riservatezza la preghiamo di attendere qui il suo turno 3. Da consumarsi preferibilmente entro…