How to use the Past Conditional in Italian Posted by Serena on Oct 22, 2014
Last week we took a look at the present conditional, which, if you missed it, you can find HERE. Today we are going to look at il condizionale passato (the past conditional). Here are a couple of examples of how we conjugate it, firstly with the auxiliary verb essere (to be): Coniugazione del verbo essere…
Il Nuovo Baby Pit Stop Posted by Geoff on Oct 21, 2014
You never know what might happen when you stroll across La Piazza Della Repubblica in Pontremoli. The other day, for example, I spotted the mayor, Lucia Baracchini, with a small group of ladies on one side of the piazza. I wandered over to greet her and have a quick chat, but much to my surprise…
How to use the Present Conditional in Italian Posted by Serena on Oct 16, 2014
While I was replying a reader’s question last week about the differences between the congiuntivo presente and the condizionale, I realised that although I’ve covered the use of the congiuntivo presente I’d never written an article specifically on the use of the condizionale (conditional). So I’m going to make amends, beginning today with il condizionale…
Rita’s Story Posted by Serena on Oct 15, 2014
A few days ago we received a fascinating e.mail from one of our long-time readers, Rita. The mail was written in the form of a very brief autobiography, and her story reminded me of my aunt Vicky, who, like so many Italians, was forced by circumstances to leave Italy and begin a new life abroad…
Breaking News … Cannabis Can Restore Your Trullo! Posted by Geoff on Oct 13, 2014
I can never hear the word cannabis without being transported back to my hippy days in the mid 70’s. My friend’s father used to keep budgerigars, and in those days bird feed contained fertile cannabis seeds. I think it was during the extraordinarily hot summer of 75 that a strange leafy plant of gigantic proportions…
Now It’s Your Turn – The Translations Posted by Geoff on Oct 10, 2014
Italian translations by Serena, photos by Geoff So, how did you get on with your English to Italian translations of Lucky Number Seven – Now It’s Your Turn? Here are our versions for reference. N.B. As you will see, there may be several possible translations for some of the sentences. From Part 1: a. I…
Halloween Jam Posted by Serena on Oct 8, 2014
Halloween is getting closer, and with it the pumpkins season arrives. What to do with so many pumpkins? Some time ago I wrote a traditional northern Italian recipe for tortelli di zucca (pumpkin tortelli). Today I’m going to give you a recipe from Sicily in the very south of Italy: la marmellata di zucca (pumpkin…