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What they don’t teach you #4: Figurati, figuariamoci, che figura! PODCAST
IfyouopenyourItaliandictionaryandchecktheverbs“figurarsi”and“fareunafigura”youwillseetheybothhavedifferentmeanings.LearnhowweusethosewordsinconversationalItalian.ListentothePodcast. Recently,astudentaskedmethedifferencebetween“figurati”“figuriamoci”,and“fareunafigura”,allverycommonexpressions.Perhapsyouheardtheidiom “chefigura!”.Let’s”figure”outwhattheymean. *SpecialthankstoMariko,ourJapanesefriend,forrecordingpartofthispodcast. FiguratiandFiguriamoci. Tiringrazioperiltuoaiuto. Figurati!Nonc’èdiche. It’spronouncedfigùratianditliterallymeans“imaginethat,picturethat”.Ifyoureadorhearitaftera”grazie”,itsimplymeans“youareverywelcome,don’tmentionit”.AnotherinterestingwaytosayyouarewelcomeinItalianisnonc’èdiche,literally,there’snothingtobe(thankful)about.Butagain,justlikewelcomeinEnglish,whenwesaythatwedon’tthinkabouttheactual,literalmeaning.It’sjustaninteriezione,anautomaticanswer. Laringrazioperilsuoaiuto Sifiguri! Thisisthepoliteversionoftheinformalthankyou-welcomeformulaabove.YouaregoingtochangeFiguratiinSifiguriwhenyousayyou“arewelcome”toastranger,usingtheformalLei. Mariotihatelefonato? Figurati!(Figuriamoci!) That’syetanothermeaningoffiguratiandfiguriamoci.OfcourseMariodidn’tcallme,“youcanpicturethat”,weknowhowheis,figurati!Inthiscase,itwillalwaysmean“ofcoursenot,don’tevenmentionthat”,youknowtheanswer. WecanusethepluralFiguriamoci(noi-we)withthesamemeaning,butwithanimpersonaltone.Figuriamociseilcapomidaràunaumento,mybosswillnevergivemeasalaryincrease,wealreadyknowthat,don’twe? Asubstantial differencebetweenFiguratiandFiguriamociisthatwedon’tusuallysaythelattertomean“youarewelcome”. Nonmipiacemoltoilpesce,figuriamociquellocrudo. Idon’tlikefishthatmuch,letalonewhenraw.FiguratiandFiguriamocicanalsoreinforceapreviousstatement,likeinEnglish“letalone…”.Anotherexample:Nonhotempoperleggereilgiornale,figuriamociunlibro! ComealsolitoStefanononsièricordatodelnostroanniversario,figurati. Stefanoforgotaboutouranniversary,“tellmeaboutit!”That’sexactlywhatFiguratiorFiguriamocimeaninthiscase.Firenzeinestateèpienadituristicomealsolito,figuriamoci!TellmesomethingIdon’tknow. Ifyouhaveachance,trytousefiguratiandfiguriamoci.YourspokenItalianwillsoundmorenatural.Next,wearegoingtoexplain”fareunafigura” Fareunabrutta/bellafigura Chefigura! That’skindoftoughtotranslateinEnglish.Ifwegofor“tomakeabadimpression”wemaythinkof someone whodidn’timpresspositivelyotherpeople,forsomereason. Chefigura!isdifferent,itreferstoanembarrassingevent,asingleepisode.Mentreparlavoavevolacernieraaperta,chefigura!whenIwastalkingtheflyofmypantswasopen,Chefigura!InItalian,weadd thesuffix–acciato giveanegativemeaningtoalmosteveryword.Chefiguraccia!whatanembarrassment! Che(brutta)figura! …
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5 “consigli” for learning Italian
Learning Italian requires hard work and some necessary mistakes. Follow 5 simple tips, or “consigli” as we call them in Italian, for keeping yourself motivated and ready to …
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What they don’t teach you #3 – “Il sole” the sun – PODCAST
Thisisthethirdpostabout Italianidioms younormallywon’tlearnatschool.Todaywetalkabout”ilsole”,thesun.Listentothepodcast. Unfortunately,Summer2014hereinItaly hasn’tbeen verysunny,butmycountry is”opaesedosole“thecountryofthesun.Forthisreason,therearemanyItalianidiomsrelatedtothesunandtheeffectsithasonourdailylife.Asusual,Iwon’ttranslatetheexamplesandthepodcast.Trytodoityourself. Cominciamo? ilsolebaciaibrutti… …perchéibellilibacianotutti.Apparently,thesunkissesuglypeoplebecausetheprettyonesget alreadyplentyofkisses.Somepeoplesay”ilsolebaciaibelli”,meaningthatgettingtannedmakesyoubeautiful.Insummertime,”inestate”,everyonelooks moreattractive.Howaboutyou? ilsolebaciaibruttiperchéibellilibacianotutti allalucedelsole Doingsomething”allalucedelsole”,underthesunlight,meanstobetransparent,togetthingsdoneaboveboard.Thisidiomisusedif wetalkaboutbusinessbut alsowhensomeone expressesopenlyideasor opinions. vogliochetuttosifacciaallalucedelsole …comenevealsole Melt likesnowunderthesun.Weuseittodescribesomethingdisappearingveryswiftly:wealth,doubts,secrets,feelingsandsoon. labugiadiStefanosièscioltacomenevealsole dovenonbatteilsole Thisoneisquitefunny.Italiansusethisidiominsteadof sayingdirectlythenameof somebodyparts.Yes,rightthere,where thesunlightisofflimits. vorreidargliuncalciopropriolì,dovenonbatteilsole! unsolechespaccalepietre Whenthesunissohotandstrongthatbreaksstones.It’snotunusualtohearthisidiominsummertime,frompeopleorevenonTV. Ogginonescodicasa.C’èunsolechespaccalepietre nientedinuovosottoilsole ThisoneisavailablealsoinEnglish.Nothingnewunderthesun.ItcomesfromtheBible, Ecclesiastes. Justasidenote:itisamazingtoseehowLatinandItalianlookalike: Nihilnovisubsole, or Nihilsubsolenovum istheLatinversionoftheidiom. Stannotuttibenecomealsolito.Nientedinuovosottoilsole. bellocomeilsole Beautifulandshinylikethesun.InItalianwealsosay”unapersonasolare”literally”asunnyperson”whensomeoneishappyandpositive.Theoppositeislunatico, butbecareful,thisisatypicalfalsefriend.LunaticoinItalianmeansmoodyandnotLunatic. Mariaèdavverounaragazzasplendida.èbellacomeilsole! …
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Italian verb piacere and a bunch of pronouns – PODCAST
“Mipiace”iswhatyoucanreadontheItalianfacebook”like”button,butitdoesn’ttranslateintoastraight”Ilikeit”.LearntheItalianverbpiacere andothersimilarverbs.Listentothepodcast. Mipiace,isoneofthefirstthingsyoulearninItalian.Andasithappensveryoften,whenyoustarttolearnaforeignlanguage,youjustmemorizesentencesbefore gettingintodetailsandstructures.Nowit’stimetohaveasecondlook.Let’sthinkaboutthissimplesentence: Mipiaceilgelato=(Ilgelatopiaceame) NativeEnglishspeakerstranslateitinto”Ilikeice-cream”,andthemeaningisjustright.Butifyoureaditcarefully,theItaliansentenceisactually”ice-creamispleasingtome”,whereGelato isinfactthesubject,andnot Mi,whichinsteadisanindirectpronoun. ThestructureinEnglishis”AlikesB” ThestructureinItalianis”ToA,Bispleasing” …where”toA” isanindirectpronounand”B”istherealsubject. Difficult?No,justdifferent.Let’sfirstdefinealltheItalianindirectpronouns: tome->ame ->MI toyou ->ate ->TI tohim ->alui ->GLI toher ->alei ->LE tous ->anoi ->CI toyou ->avoi ->VI tothem ->aloro ->GLI InItalian,conjugationschangewiththesubject.ItbecomesmoreclearthatBistherealsubjectwithpluralnouns.SoifIsay”Ilikespaghetti”, piacere changesbecausethesubjectspaghetti(loro-they)isplural: Mipiaccionogli spaghetti=(glispaghettipiaccionoame) WeusetheItalianverbpiacere verymuchincombinationwithinfinitiveverbs,whenwelikeanaction, exactly as youdoinEnglishwiththegerund.Ifiwanttosay “Ilikeswimming“inItalian… Mipiace nuotare Swimmingispleasingtome.IfIwanttosaythatswimming”ispleasingtoyou”Igo”tipiacenuotare”,ispleasingtohim”glipiacenuotare”,ispleasingtous,”cipiacenuotare”andsoon.Ifyouthoughtthatthelatterperhapsshouldbe”cipiacciononuotare”or”cipiacciamonuotare”(I’mprettysureyouhaveconsideredthoseoptions…)becausenoi-us isplural,gobacktothebeginningofthispostandreaditagain… Therearesomeotherimportantverbshavingthesamestructureofpiacere,notably: interessare (tobeofinterest,tocareof), servire (toneed),sembrare (toseem),succedere (tohappen).Let’sseesomeexamplesandlistentothepodcast: interessare (tobe ofinterest,tocareof) …
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Conversational Italian: Mica and Manco
Mica and Manco: Popular Colloquial Words in Spoken Italian Mica and Manco are widely used expressions in spoken Italian, often characterized as colloquial. However, …
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Common Italian irregular verbs – Presente Indicativo
Listen and solve the quiz – Italian irregular verbs – 40 sentences As a beginner, you should learn the present tense of some important …
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Bel or Bello? A special Italian adjective
The adjective “bello” is one of the most known Italian words. It follows a special rule, which you should learn and remember if you …
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Italian Imperfetto tense, modal verbs – PODCAST
Let’s have a look at the Italian imperfetto tense of the modal verbs dovere, potere, volere and sapere. Listen to the podcast. We …
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