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Can Italian Cats Fly? Posted by Serena on Feb 29, 2016
Mr. Black and the Telephone Pole Sono le tre e mezza di venerdì pomeriggio quando torniamo a casa, stanchi ma soddisfatti, dopo aver trascorso una bella giornata camminando fra uliveti a picco sul mare verde. It’s half past three on Friday afternoon when we get home, tired but satisfied, after having spent a beautiful day…
Ci Siamo Intesi? Posted by Serena on Feb 24, 2016
In our previous post we explored the verb intendere. Today we’re going to take a look at its reflexive partner intendersi. The verb intendersi has two main meanings: intendersi = ‘to come to an agreement about’, or ‘to clarify something’, and intendersi di = ‘to be knowledgeable about something’. Below are some everyday examples illustrating…
Hooker’s Spaghetti Posted by Serena on Feb 19, 2016
What could be worse for an Italian woman than being married to a man who has a food intolerance to tomatoes and basil? Unfortunately this is my situation! Last year Geoff had a series of allergy tests done to try and identify the source of some stomach problems, and the results showed that, amongst other…
Italian Direct Object Pronouns Posted by Serena on Feb 16, 2016
Le chiavi le hai? (Have you got the keys?) How many times have you come across an Italian construction similar to this example and asked yourself “why are there two le‘s in that sentence?” … “The keys the you have?” … WHAT THE ####!?!? Well, you’ll be relieved to hear that there is a totally…
At The Clothing Store in Italy Posted by Serena on Feb 10, 2016
The setting: un negozio di abbigliamento in una città italiana (a clothing store in an Italian town) The caracters: una coppia e la commessa (a couple and the shop assistant) Moglie: “Guarda, ci sono i saldi, perché non ne approfitti per comprarti un bel giaccone per l’inverno” Wife: “Look, the sales are on, why don’t…
My Italian Carnival Costume Posted by Serena on Feb 5, 2016
L’altro ieri, frugando fra le vecchie foto di famiglia di quando abitavamo a Bengasi, Libia, ne ho ritrovata una di me bambina, che ha fatto riaffiorare dei ricordi divertenti. The day before yesterday, digging through the old family photos from when we lived in Benghazi, Libya, I found one of myself as a child that…
Proud To Be Italian? Part – 2 Posted by Serena on Jan 28, 2016
In my last post Proud To Be Italian? Part – 1 mi sono sfogata abbastanza (I vented my frustration quite a bit), but I make no excuses, I’d be lying if I maintained the stereotypical fantasy of la bella Italia. There are, however, many aspects of Italian culture that I am proud of, and today…