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Poteva Andare Peggio Posted by Serena on Aug 16, 2013
Un paio di mesi fa nella cassetta delle lettere di una nostra amica inglese che ha una casa di vacanza da queste parti avevo trovato una lettera inviata da Equitalia. Malgrado il bel nome, ricevere una lettera da Equitalia è sempre un cattivo segno, perché è l’agenzia di riscossione delle tasse e multe. Infatti quando…
Fagiolini al Pomodoro Posted by Serena on Aug 9, 2013
This morning I picked a bag full of fagiolini (green beans) from the orto, “helped” by un corvo (a crow)! He kept hopping around my feet, pulling off beans with his powerful beak then flapping off a couple of meters. I tried to shoo him away with a cane, making sure I didn’t hit him…
How Embarrassing! Posted by Serena on Aug 2, 2013
When you speak a foreign language, it doesn’t matter how well you know it, the possibility of embarrassing yourself is always waiting for you round the corner, especially when you are faced with sounds that are not familiar to your own language. For Italian people the worst possible sound to pronounce in English is, probably…
So, does it make sense yet? Using the Verb Avere Posted by Serena on Jul 26, 2013
In our last blog we had a look at the verb avere (usually translated as ‘to have’) when it takes on other meanings, such as in avere senso (to make sense) or avere sonno (to be sleepy). Let’s continue the theme with some more examples of both simple and complex conjugations. avere senso (to make…
It doesn’t make sense but it has sense … doesn’t it? Posted by Serena on Jul 22, 2013
It’s very easy to get caught out by the verbs avere (to have) and fare (to do / to make), as they both have a wide variety of uses beyond their usual literal translation. Take the expression ‘to make sense’ for example. If we translate this literally into Italian we get fare senso which has…
Castell’Arquato Posted by Serena on Jul 16, 2013
La settimana scorsa siamo andati a fare un giro in Emilia Romagna, per la precisione in provincia di Piacenza, una zona che non conosciamo per niente. Guardando sulle guide turistiche avevo scelto di fare un giro storico geografico che includeva prima la città romana di Veleia, di cui Geoff ha già scritto recentemente, e poi…
Il Rosso Melograno Posted by Serena on Jul 10, 2013
Last Sunday we went for a day out in the hills between Parma and Piacenza, in Emilia Romagna. While we were wandering around Castell’Arquato, a beautiful medieval town on the outskirts of the Pianura Padana, I noticed that almost every garden had un albero di melograno (a pomegranate tree), covered in bright red flowers. My…