{"id":43,"date":"2008-11-22T09:41:05","date_gmt":"2008-11-22T13:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=43"},"modified":"2008-11-22T09:41:05","modified_gmt":"2008-11-22T13:41:05","slug":"mamma-mia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/mamma-mia\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamma Mia!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019ll try to shed a bit of light on the use of the aggettivi possessivi<\/strong> (possessive adjectives). Lets first have a quick look at them:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

My<\/span><\/em> = mio, mia, miei, mie<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your<\/span><\/em> (sing.) = tuo, tua, tuoi, tue<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

His\/her\/its\/Your<\/span><\/em> (polite)\u00a0 <\/span>= suo, sua, suoi, sue<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Our<\/span><\/em> = nostro, nostra, nostri, nostre<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Your<\/span><\/em> (plur.) = vostro, vostra, vostri, vostre<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Their<\/span><\/em> = loro<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As you can see from the above list, with the exception of loro<\/strong> (their)\u00a0which doesn\u2019t change, all the other possessive adjectives have four different endings: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural and feminine plural. The possessive adjectives agree with the object or person they describe, not with the owner<\/span>.<\/em> For example, I\u2019m a woman and I\u2019ll say: il mio libro<\/strong> (my book) and la mia penna<\/strong> (my pen). My brother will say exactly the same: il mio libro, la mia penna<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More confusing for English speakers is the use of his\/her\/its<\/em> because we don\u2019t specify whether the \u201cowner\u201d is a he or a she or an it, but again the choice of the ending depends on the object. So, if I\u2019m talking about Bruno, I\u2019ll say il suo libro<\/strong> and la sua penna<\/strong>. The same applies if I\u2019m talking about Laura: il suo libro, la sua penna<\/strong>. Usually the meaning of suo, sua, suoi, sue <\/em>is clear from the context; if not, it\u2019s better to specify the owner: il libro di Bruno, la penna di Laura,<\/strong> etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You might have noticed that in all the examples I\u2019ve used the definite article (il, lo, la, i, gli, le<\/strong>). But there is an exception to this rule! If a singular family member<\/span><\/em> is described, then we drop the article: mio padre<\/strong> (my father), nostra madre<\/strong> (our mother). However, if there is a second adjective, a suffix or a prefix that modifies the noun, the article comes back again: la mia nonna materna <\/strong>(my maternal grandmother), la mia sorellina <\/strong>(my little sister), and la mia bisnonna<\/strong> (my great grandmother). Mamma<\/strong> (mum), pap\u00e0<\/strong> or babbo<\/strong> (dad) are considered to be affectionate forms and are used with<\/strong> or without<\/strong> the article: mia mamma<\/strong> or la mia mamma<\/strong>. Of course the form that foreigners are most familiar with is MAMMA MIA!<\/strong> (lit. My Mother!) which is used on its own as an exclamation and can be translated as something like Goodness Gracious!<\/span><\/p>\n

N.B.<\/span><\/strong> Loro<\/strong> always<\/span><\/em> takes the definite article: la loro figlia<\/strong> (their daughter).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, in the plural<\/strong> the article is always<\/span> <\/em>used: i miei genitori<\/strong> (my parents), le sue figlie<\/strong> (his\/her daughters).<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I\u2019ll try to shed a bit of light on the use of the aggettivi possessivi (possessive adjectives). Lets first have a quick look at them: \u00a0 My = mio, mia, miei, mie Your (sing.) = tuo, tua, tuoi, tue His\/her\/its\/Your (polite)\u00a0 = suo, sua, suoi, sue Our = nostro, nostra, nostri, nostre Your (plur.)…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[624,743,785],"class_list":["post-43","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-aggettivi-possessivi","tag-italian-possessive-adjectives","tag-mamma-mia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t