Archive for 'Grammar'
I’m Very Affectionate! Posted by Geoff on Nov 13, 2017
‘False friends’ is the very appropriate title given to words that sound similar in two different languages but, in reality, actually have different meanings. Here’s one that can easily catch you out. Affezionato … sounds just like the English word affectionate, right? And it would seem logical that you should be able to use it…
A Musical Quiz Posted by Geoff on Oct 20, 2017
Music can be a great way to learn a language … if you can manage to find the right songs. Here’s one by Annalisa Scarrone that’s not too abstract and contains some very useful grammar. In the lyrics below, see if you can spot all the instances of il congiuntivo (the subjunctive) and il futuro…
Tutto A Posto? Posted by Geoff on Oct 9, 2017
Tutto a posto? is a phrase that you’ll hear all the time in Italy. It’s commonly used when friends and acquaintances meet each other: Ciao, come va … tutto a posto? Hi, how’s it going … everything okay? Well, that seems nice and straightforward, you say … so where’s the catch? The catch is that…
When is a non not a not? Posted by Geoff on Sep 26, 2017
The Italian word non means ‘not’, right … beh, non sempre! (well not always!) The pleonastic non is a rather sneaky little character who likes to hang around in otherwise straightforward sentences with the sole purpose of confusing hapless students of Italian. Well dear readers, fear not, for we know his dirty little tricks and…
Il Periodo Ipotetico – An Exercise Posted by Serena on Sep 15, 2017
Here’s an exercise based on last week’s article il Periodo Ipotetico (conditional sentences). Fill in the gaps in the Italian sentences below. The answers are hidden at the bottom of the page. Buon Lavoro! 1. Periodo Ipotetico della Realtà N.B. The periodo ipotetico della realtà presents situations which are real or possible. For this reason…
Il Periodo Ipotetico Posted by Serena on Sep 7, 2017
When we hypothesise about the past, present or future and predict what the consequences might be we use a grammatical form called il periodo ipotetico (conditional sentences). A conditional sentence contains both a hypothesis introduced by the preposition se (if), and a statement of consequence. In Italian we have three types of periodo ipotetico. Let’s…
Understanding Italian Modal Verbs Posted by Geoff on Aug 1, 2017
Volere (to want), dovere (to have to) and potere (to be able to) are the three so called modal verbs. As verbs go, they are not particularly difficult to conjugate … until you need to use them in the present perfect (passato prossimo). Then things start to get really interesting! A prerequisite to understanding how…