Archive for 'Italian Language'
Beware of the ‘B’ Words Posted by Serena on Aug 23, 2011
In Italian we have a confusing group of words beginning with ‘b’ and ending with groups of vowels. All of these words sound very similar, and it can take quite a while to begin to differentiate them: il boia il buio la bua il bue (plur: i buoi) il boa la boa Complete the…
Fig Blog Posted by Serena on Aug 22, 2011
It’s the season of plenty, fruit and vegetables in abundance, and it seems that everyone has too much of something! Noi abbiamo troppe melanzane, un’amica nostra troppi pomodori, ed un’altra amica, l’Olga, troppi fichi. – We have too many aubergines/eggplants, a friend of ours too many tomatoes, and another friend, Olga, has too many figs…
Il Gelataio Ambulante Posted by Serena on Aug 19, 2011
Fa un caldo da morire, sei disperato per qualcosa di fresco e rinfrescante … ecco! il furgone del gelataio. Allora, vediamo che gusti hanno … ma aspetta un attimo, che roba è questa? It’s baking hot, you’re desperate for something cool and refreshing …aha! an ice cream van. Hmm let’s see what flavours they’ve got…
Piccante Piccante Posted by Serena on Aug 15, 2011
A few days ago I was doing a bit of shopping in our local supermercato when I spotted some nice looking cheese in offerta (on offer): Pecorino Piccante 11,90 euro al chilo – spicy hot pecorino 11.90 euros a kilo. “Com’è questo formaggio?” – “what’s this cheese like?” I asked one of the ladies at…
L’Invasione dei Gattini Posted by Serena on Aug 10, 2011
Ciao a tutti, sono Mimì la Gatta. Fino poco tempo fa ho condiviso la casa di Serena e Geoff con mio figlio Cocò, ma adesso, da qualche settimana, c’è tutto uno sconvolgimento. La casa è stata messa sottosopra da una marea di gattini, e non sono neanche miei! Hello everyone, I’m Mimì The Cat. Up…
Il Meteo–part 2 Posted by Serena on Jul 30, 2011
In Il Meteo – part 1 we had a look a typical example of le previsioni del tempo – the weather report. When we talk about the weather in everyday conversation, however, we don’t normally use such fancy meteorological terminology and explanations. Let’s have a look at some common ways of discussing the weather. 1…
Il Meteo – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Jul 27, 2011
Le previsioni del tempo – literally the weather forecasts (N.B. we use the plural in Italian) is more commonly known as il meteo (think of the word meteorological). Like any specialized field, il meteo has its own particular vocabulary, which can be pretty daunting when all you want to know is whether it will be…