Archive for 'Italian Language'
Di Dove Sei? Posted by Geoff on Aug 8, 2014
Di dove sei? (where are you from? informal) or di dov’è? (where are you from? formal, or where is he/she from?) is a question that you’ll often be asked, or want to ask when you visit Italy. For Italians provenienza (provenance/origin) is very important, and is certainly much higher up the list of things that…
An Unusual Birthday Posted by Serena on Aug 1, 2014
Giovedì scorso era il mio compleanno e senz’altro è stato un compleanno diverso dagli altri. Per cominciare ci siamo alzati la mattina alle sei, per andare in un posto nuovo ed ‘esotico’: l’ospedale di Massa! Ebbene sì, Geoff non è un marito come tutti, che porta la moglie in gita in una città romantica come…
The Verb Sentire Posted by Serena on Jul 30, 2014
The verb sentire can be quite confusing due to its wide variety of meanings. 1. sentire literally means ‘to sense’, and is used to describe four of the five senses: l’udito (hearing), il tatto (touch), il gusto (taste), and l’olfatto (smell). When used to describe perceptions its definition is contextual, as can be seen in…
A Devil of a Blog! Posted by Geoff on Jul 17, 2014
I love discovering interesting expressions. Every language is full of them, and Italian is no exception. Some of these expressions have obvious meanings, some are similar in both Italian and English, and others are just downright obscure. What the Devil can that mean? I ask myself in English, or Che Diavolo vuol dire? in Italian…
Two More Days of Rain … Posted by Geoff on Jul 14, 2014
That’s what they’re telling us, “Ancora due giorni di pioggia poi arriva la vera estate”. (“Still two more days of rain and then the real summer will arrive”). Personally, I’m quite happy with the way the things are right now. I can put up with a few showers and thunderstorms if it means having a…
It’s Wonderful – Via Con Me Posted by Geoff on Jul 3, 2014
Paolo Conte, singer, pianist, composer, artist and lawyer, was born in Asti, Piemonte, in 1937. The first time I became aware of his music was when watching one of my favourite comedy films, Anthony and Joe Russo’s Welcome to Collingwood, a remake of Mario Monicelli’s 1958 film I Soliti Ignoti (English title: Big Deal on…
Boh! Posted by Serena on Jun 28, 2014
A couple of days ago a reader asked me: is "Boh" the Italian equivalent of "Doh!"? Well, according to the Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana Treccani, the exclamation ‘boh!’ expresses: uncertainty, e.g. ‘boh! non lo so proprio’ (… I don’t really know); incredulity, e.g. ‘boh! se lo dice lui, sarà vero’ (… if he says so…