Sono Geoff – Part 1 Posted by Geoff on Feb 8, 2017
Every now and then we get requests for biographies, to which we tend to mumble non-committal replies such as ‘okay, when we have time’. But one of you, dear readers, has been nagging us incessantly for some time now (yes, you know who you are!). And so … here it is! In order to make…
I Trovatelli – Part 2 Posted by Serena on Feb 7, 2017
Part 2 of I Trovatelli follows the same formula as Part 1, the text is Italian only. We’ll publish the English translation at the end of the week. I Trovatelli: la storia di come abbiamo trovato ognuno dei nostri gatti. Jennifer L’anno seguente la mamma dei tre gattini, Gigia, Smokie e Bella, soddisfatta del risultato…
The Foundlings Posted by Geoff on Feb 3, 2017
How did you get on with our article I Trovatelli? As you will have discovered, it makes extensive use of il passato remoto (the historical past), a tense which is far more common in written, than spoken Italian. Here’s my English translation: I Trovatelli: la storia di come abbiamo trovato ognuno dei nostri gatti. The…
I Trovatelli Posted by Serena on Feb 1, 2017
Here’s a chance for you to test your Italian comprehension … without a safety net! Don’t worry though, we’ll publish the full translation at the end of the week. Tip: you may find it useful to refer to the following articles: Il Passato Remoto–part 1 and Il Passato remoto–part 2 I Trovatelli: la storia di…
Vanità Posted by Geoff on Jan 30, 2017
I listen to a lot of music, but very little of it is Italian. Unfortunately, I struggle to find Italian contemporary music that inspires me. Italy is a goldmine of art and creativity that belongs to the past, and let’s face it, that’s exactly what inspires so many tourists to visit this beautiful peninsula. But…
Lasagne Bastarde Posted by Serena on Jan 27, 2017
Lasagne Bastarde (Bastard Lasagne). This not very poetic name refers to a type of home made pasta typical of northern Tuscany, particularly the Lunigiana and Garfagnana area, where sweet chestnuts were once the staple food from late autumn to the end of spring. This recipe came about as a way of saving precious wheat flour…
How To Use Venire In The Passive Form Posted by Serena on Jan 25, 2017
Strange how after all these years of writing this blog I suddenly discover that we’ve never written about an important grammatical point: the use of the verb venire (to come) in the passive conjugation. Let’s begin with the passive conjugation: We use the passive conjugation when we want to put the emphasis on the person…