Well done everyone who had a go at our end of February quiz. Quizzes are are fun, but also very useful to Serena and myself because they help to highlight difficulties that you, our readers, experience when learning Italian. If you haven’t already had a go at the quiz you can find it HERE. Now for the correct answers with explanations:

Question 1. Eclisse del Cuore: in her version of the classic 80’s rock ballad ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, L’Aura sings:

Ci stringeremo eternamente
Ce la faremo se tu vorrai
Non sbaglieremo mai
Insieme cambieremo questa nostra realtà

What tense does she use to reinforce the sense of determination in this song?

Answer: The future tense, e.g. Ci stringeremo eternamente = we will hold each other eternally. The future tense is easily confused with the conditional in the third person plural because the only difference is an extra ‘m’, i.e. stringeremo = future – we will hold, stringeremmo = conditional – we would hold.

Question 2. The Curvy World: Elisa D’Ospina is a ‘curvy’ fashion model for ‘comfortable sizes’. In her interview she explains how she goes into schools to work with adolescents and help them appreciate their bodies. Asked how long her meetings with students last she replies: “Tendenzialmente gli incontri durano dalle due alle quattro ore”. Can you translate this sentence?

Answer: “The meetings tend to last from two to four hours”. N.B. the prepositions da (from) and a (to) combine with the definite article le (the, feminine plural) to form le preposizioni articolate (the articulated prepositions) ‘dalle’ and ‘alle’. So, durano dalle due alle quattro ore literally translated would be ‘they last from the two to the four hours’. You can read more about preposizioni articolate HERE (part 1) and HERE (part 2)

Question 3. To Be or To Have: in the passato prossimo the verb vivere (to live) can use either essere (to be) or avere (to have), but the meaning of vivere changes depending on which of these two auxiliary verbs you use. How would you translate the following two sentences, in order to convey this difference in meaning: “Giovanni è vissuto a lungo”and “Giovanni ha vissuto molto”?

Answer: “Giovanni è vissuto a lungo” = “Giovanni lived for a long time”, “Giovanni ha vissuto molto” = “Giovanni has lived a full life”. You can find a full explanation HERE

Question 4. Meet Bruna, the Mobile Tigelleria: Clara and Riccardo have started a new business in Rome: they make and sell tigelle, a kind of pancake originally from Modena. They sell le tigelle from an Ape, all decked out as a mobile Tigelleria. Why is their Ape called ‘Bruna’? answer in Italian please.

Answer: "La Bruna era la mia spiritosissima zia di Modena, della quale conserviamo una fotografia nell’apecar: è lei che mi ha insegnato come preparare delle ottime tigelle, con farina, latte, panna (più leggera dello strutto) e lievito" says Clara. ("Bruna was my very witty aunt from Modena, we keep a photo of her in the Ape: she was the one who taught me how to make really good tigelle, with flour, milk, cream (lighter than suet) and yeast").

Question 5. A Prickly Encounter: recently Serena saw due istrici crestate (two crested porcupines), the biggest European rodents. These animals are herbivores and are particularly fond of a certain fruit. What is it?

Answer: Porcupines are particularly greedy for ripe grapes: they get hold of the lower bunches with their mouths and suck them without braking the stalk from the plant.

Question 6. A Romantic Italian Poem: The Tuscan poet Francesco Petrarca is considered one of the fathers of the Italian language, alongside two other Florentine writers. Who are they?

Answer: Petrarca is considered one of the fathers of the Italian language, alongside Dante and Boccaccio.

Question 7. To Be or To Have – Part 2: How would you say ‘we flew from Paris to Pisa’ in Italian?

Answer: ‘siamo volati da Parigi a Pisa’, the explanation can be found HERE

Question 8. La Mattina Dopo il Carnevale: In this blog Serena wrote about something that happened when she was at school in Viareggio many years ago. She wrote “Il professore di Filosofia entrò, fece l’appello, ma non segnò gli assenti sul registro.” What tense does she use when recounting this memory and why?

Answer: passato remoto = the historical past, read about the use of the passato remoto HERE (part 1.) and HERE (part 2.)

Question 9. Diamo i Numeri: Using the idiomatic expression given in this blog how would you say in Italian ‘shall we go out for a short walk’?

Answer: ‘facciamo due passi?’ or ‘facciamo quattro passi?’

Question 10. Favourite Italian Pastimes: Complete the following sentence: ‘il mio passatempo preferito è ……………………………..’

Answers: …. only you know the answer to this one. What are your favourite pastimes?

Question 11. Our First Date: In this blog I used a typical Tuscan expression to say ‘cool’, what is it?

Answer: ‘ganzo’

So, how did you get on? Remember, if you need any help solving the mysteries of the Italian language we are here for you … simply send us a question via the ‘Leave a Reply’ section at the end of the relevant blog, va bene?