{"id":9108,"date":"2015-04-30T21:01:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-30T19:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=9108"},"modified":"2015-04-30T21:01:56","modified_gmt":"2015-04-30T19:01:56","slug":"la-festa-dei-santi-part-2-grammatical-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/la-festa-dei-santi-part-2-grammatical-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"La Festa dei Santi\u2013Part 2: Grammatical Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

How did you get on with yesterday’s article, La Festa dei Santi<\/strong><\/a><\/span>? Hope you didn\u2019t find it too complicated. Whilst I was reading through it and highlighting some of the vocabulary for the footnotes, I also picked out a few grammatical points that I felt it would be worth discussing. Below you\u2019ll find short excerpts taken from each of the three paragraphs of the original article, with grammatical notes explaining the sections highlighted in blue<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Paragraph 1.<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Quest’anno <\/strong>siamo stati invitati<\/strong>
\n<\/span>\u2026 i Capallesi organizzano la Festa dei Santi di Capalle, durante la quale<\/span> le reliquie dei tre santi martiri vengono esposte<\/span> ai fedeli.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Grammatical Notes:<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

siamo stati invitati<\/strong><\/span> = we were invited<\/span>. <\/span>Passive form of the passato prossimo<\/strong> (present perfect) of the verb invitare<\/strong> (to invite). N.B. in the passive form both past participles must agree in gender and number with the person who\u2019s doing the action, e.g. Laura \u00e8 stata invitata<\/strong> (fem. sing.<\/em> Laura was invited); Mario e Giorgio sono stati invitati<\/strong> (masc. plural.<\/em> Mario and Giorgio were invited)
\n<\/span>durante la quale<\/strong><\/span> = during which<\/span>. In this case la quale<\/strong> refers to la festa<\/strong>, feminine singular. The article must agree in gender and number with the noun it refers to, i.e.: il quale<\/strong>, la quale<\/strong>, i quali<\/strong>, le quali<\/strong>, e.g. Ho incontrato Giorgio, il quale mi ha detto \u2026<\/strong> (I met Giorgio, who told me \u2026); Queste sono Laura e Luisa con le quali la settimana prossima andr\u00f2 a Roma<\/strong> (These are Laura and Luisa with whom I\u2019ll go to Rome next week). N.B. I did not use durante cui<\/strong> (during which) because it sounds \u2018ugly\u2019. To find out more read this post:<\/span> <\/span>Che or il Quale?<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span>
\n<\/span>vengono esposte<\/strong><\/span> = are displayed<\/span>. In the passive form the verb venire<\/strong> (to come) is often used instead of the verb essere<\/strong> (to be). The use of venire<\/strong> avoids ambiguity, and gives a sense of an action taking place.<\/u> Hence, whereas le reliquie sono esposte<\/u><\/strong> in chiesa<\/strong> could either mean \u2018the relics are on display<\/u> in the church\u2019, or \u2018the relics are put on display<\/u> in the church\u2019, le reliquie vengono esposte<\/u> in chiesa<\/strong> can only mean \u2018the relics are put on display<\/u> in the church\u2019.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"festa_dei_santi-002\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Paragraph 2.<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026 siamo partiti da Pontremoli la mattina presto<\/span> \u2026
\n\u2026 e persino la legna per fare il fuoco<\/span>.
\n\u2026 abbiamo dovuto portare<\/span> tutte queste cose dall\u2019autobus fino in piazza \u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grammatical Notes:<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

la mattina presto<\/strong> = early in the morning. <\/span>We use the adverb presto<\/strong> with mattina<\/strong> and pomeriggio<\/strong> in the idiomatic expressions la mattina presto<\/strong> = early in the morning, and il pomeriggio presto<\/strong> = early in the afternoon.
\n<\/span>la legna per fare il fuoco<\/strong> = the wood for lighting the fire. La legna<\/strong> (feminine singular) is only used to mean wood used as fuel, e.g. tagliare la legna per l\u2019inverno<\/strong> (to cut the wood for the winter); una stufa a legna<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/span>(a wood burning stove). Il legno<\/strong> (masculine) is used to indicate the material used for construction, e.g. un tavolo di legno<\/strong> (a table made out of wood); un intarsio fatto con legni pregiati<\/strong> (an inlay made with precious woods)
\n<\/span>abbiamo dovuto portare<\/strong> = we had to carry.<\/span> For an in depth explanation of the use of the modal verb dovere<\/strong> see this article:<\/span> Modal Verbs: Volere, Dovere and Potere<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"festa-santi-Capalle-2015-005\"<\/a>

Gli sbandieratori dell’associazione Auree Fenici nella Piazza di Capalle<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Paragraph 3.<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Arrivati nella piazza<\/span> vicino alla chiesa \u2026
\n\u2026 ci siamo messi al lavoro<\/span> a spiegare e dimostrare ai numerosi turisti i mestieri di un tempo.
\nMa prima che la festa raggiungesse<\/span> il suo culmine \u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Grammatical Notes:<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

Arrivati nella piazza<\/strong> = Having arrived in the square. <\/span>This is an abbreviated form of dopo essere arrivati<\/strong> or appena arrivati<\/strong>, and changes number and gender accordingly, e.g. arrivato a casa, Geoff si \u00e8 fatto una tazza di t\u00e8<\/strong> = having arrived home, Geoff made himself a cup of tea.
\n<\/span><\/span>ci siamo messi al lavoro<\/strong> = we set to work (literally: we put ourselves to work)<\/em>. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Passato prossimo<\/strong>, first person plural of the reflexive verb mettersi <\/strong>(to put oneself). Mettersi<\/strong> al lavoro<\/strong> means to set\/get to work, e.g. mi metto subito al lavoro<\/strong> (I\u2019ll get to work immediately); fatto colazione Laura si \u00e8 messa al lavoro senza indugi<\/strong> (having had her breakfast, Laura set to work without hesitation)<\/span>
\n<\/span>prima che la festa raggiungesse<\/strong><\/span> <\/span><\/span>=<\/span> before the festival reached<\/span> \u2026. Raggiungesse<\/strong> is the imperfect subjunctive, third person singular, of the verb raggiungere<\/strong> (to reach). The construction prima che<\/strong> is always<\/span> followed by the subjunctive, e.g. ritorniamo a casa prima che cominci<\/em> a piovere<\/strong> (let\u2019s go back home before it starts raining); Laura \u00e8 tornata a casa prima che cominciasse<\/em> a piovere<\/strong> (Laura got back home before it started raining).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you need any further help, please leave a comment.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

How did you get on with yesterday’s article, La Festa dei Santi? Hope you didn\u2019t find it too complicated. Whilst I was reading through it and highlighting some of the vocabulary for the footnotes, I also picked out a few grammatical points that I felt it would be worth discussing. Below you\u2019ll find short excerpts…<\/p>\n

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