Archive for 'Grammar'
Fa Male! Posted by Serena on Jul 20, 2011
In a recent blog I discussed some alternative translations of the verb ‘fare’. See: Il Verbo Fare In this blog I’m going to look at one of the many idiosyncratic uses of fare. By combining fare with male (bad) we express the concept of ‘to hurt’. Let’s find out how it works with a few examples…
Similitudini Posted by Serena on Jul 17, 2011
A few days ago a reader wrote to me saying that he really enjoyed Italian similitudini (similes) such as cieco come una talpa (‘as blind as a mole’), and asked if I knew any more of them. Here is a list of some popular similitudini: dormire come un ghiro (‘to sleep like a dormouse’) furbo…
Farfallina Bella Bianca Posted by Serena on Jul 14, 2011
Learning a foreign language is hard work when you’re an adult! It’s always a humbling experience when, having diligently studied Italian for many years, you travel to Italy only to hear a group of four year olds playing together and speaking much better Italian than you! Non è giusto! Well obviously those children have had…
Zucchine alla Scapece Posted by Serena on Jul 11, 2011
Zucchine, zucchine, e ancora zucchine. Ci pacciono tanto, ma ci sembra di non mangiare altro che zucchine in questi giorni. E pensare che di piante ne abbiamo soltanto tre! Questa è una bella sfida, e bisogna essere molto inventivi con le ricette. Eccone una tipica del Sud d’Italia, che ci piace molto: Zucchini, zucchini, and…
Il Verbo Fare Posted by Serena on Jul 8, 2011
The Italian verb fare is one that students learn fairly early on. It is most often translated as ‘to do’ or ‘to make’: ti faccio un buon caffè – I’ll make you a nice coffee mi scusi, ho fatto un errore – excuse me, I made a mistake stamattina devo fare un paio di lavori…
Nomi Derivati Posted by Serena on Jun 14, 2011
Nomi derivati are words that derive from nomi primitivi. Let’s have a look at some examples: – Pane (bread) is the nome primitivo from which the following words are derived: panettiere (baker) panetteria (bakery or baker’s) panificio (bakery or baker’s) panino (bread roll, literally a small bread) pangrattato (breadcrumbs) panettone (Italian Christmas cake, literally ‘big…
Nomi Composti Posted by Serena on May 18, 2011
Not content with confusing foreigners with multisyllabic words we frequently like to stick a couple of them together – just for fun! These nouns, which consist of two or more words joined together, are called nomi composti. Here are a few common ones: 1. formed from the verb parare = to shield / to protect…