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Tag Archives: Italian idiomatic expressions

A Body Of Evidence Posted by on May 11, 2018

The strange case of the irregular body continues to unfold. Today we find our inspector Augusto at the morgue speaking with the medical examiner Dottor Della Salma. Chapter 1. The Strange Case Of The Irregular Body Chapter 2. An Extremely Subjunctive Investigation Chapter 3. A Not So Perfect Witness L’ispettore Augusto è all’obitorio a colloquio…

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Farcela Posted by on Jul 19, 2017

Here in Italy, we have a wealth of weird and wonderful idiomatic expressions. These expressions tend not to follow the logic of certain rules that you may have learned. Farcela is a classic example. Farcela (to be able/to manage) is used very frequently in everyday Italian, so it’s important to learn how to use it…

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A Blue Moon In Italy Posted by on Nov 16, 2016

Last night, they told us that we’d see a very special, extra large full moon, the sort of moon that you only see una volta ogni morte di Papa (once in a blue moon). Geoff, who was out on the terrazzo gazing up a silvery disk in the limpid night sky, asked me to go…

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Idiomatic Expressions with the Verb Dare Posted by on Jul 1, 2016

Some time ago we published a series of posts on the idiomatic uses of the verbs avere (to have) and fare (to do or to make). Today we’re going to take a look at the idiomatic uses of the verb dare (to give). Here’s a list of the most common ones with some practical examples…

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Idiomatic Expressions With The Italian Verb Fare – Part 2 Posted by on Mar 16, 2016

Well, I did warn you that there are a lot of idiomatic expression with the verb fare! If you missed part 1 of this post you can find it HERE. 1. idiomatic weather expressions with fare: fare caldo/freddo = to be hot/cold: oggi fa proprio freddo! = it’s really cold today! fare bel/brutto/cattivo tempo =…

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Idiomatic Expressions With The Italian Verb Fare – Part 1 Posted by on Mar 14, 2016

Last week I published a post showing that the verb avere has many idiomatic meanings apart from the standard translation of ‘to have’. If you haven’t already read it, you can find it here. Today we’ll take a look at the verb fare … which, as we all know, means ‘to make’ or ‘to do’…

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Idiomatic Expressions With The Italian Verb Avere Posted by on Mar 11, 2016

Avere means ‘to have’ … simple, right? Well, unfortunately not! You’ll frequently find the Italian verb for ‘to have’ (avere) used where we would use ‘to be’ (essere) in English, e.g. ‘I am thirsty’ translates as ‘ho sete’ (literally: I have thirst), and ‘they are right’ translates as ‘hanno ragione’ (literally: they have reason) Here’s a list of the…

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