lingua

Although, despite…Nonostante. Italian concessive clauses

The Italian conjunctions nonostante, sebbene, anche se, benché…ect. introduce a concessive clause Ciao a tutti. Come va? This is a basic introduction to the Italian concessive clauses, a group of sentences introduced by specific words. When the outcome of a situation is unexpected, “despite” a condition, we can talk about a proposizione concessiva. In other words: … Read more ≫

Expressing SOME in Italian. QUIZ.

Learn the most common ways to say some in Italian with a few examples. Solve the quiz at the bottom of this page There are different ways to express the concept of some in Italian. The right choice may depend on the nature of the objects you want to describe. In Italian, just like in English, objects can be … Read more ≫

New Year’s Resolution: the Italian verb “volere”.

Learn conversational Italian using the verb “volere”. A famous Italian dramatist and poet of the 18th century, Vittorio Alfieri, after the success of his first drama, Cleopatra, became so determined to study, learn and write more, that he asked his servants to tie him tight to his chair with rope while he was working on … Read more ≫

Availability, existence and occurrence in Italian – Quiz & Audio

Learn how to express availability, existence and occurrence in Italian with a quiz and audio examples When we want to say that somethings is there, exists in Italian, we use CI and ESSERE combined together. For example: Io ci sono. Tu ci sei? “Venite al concerto domani?”- “Sì, ci saremo”. Ieri al mercato c’erano un … Read more ≫

Italian idioms and food – Audio

Christmas,ilNatale,isallaboutfamily,eatingandchattingtogetherwithfamilyandfriends. Italianslovetoeat andtheItalianlanguageispackedwithproverbsandidiomsrelatedtofood.LearnthemostfamousoneslistentotheaudioandsurpriseyourfriendswithsomefunnyItaliansentences. Alcontadinonondevifarsaperequantoèbuonoilformaggioconlepere   Don’ttellthefarmerhowgoodischeesewithpears.Don’ttellpeoplehowgoodareyourideas,someonewilltakeadvantageofit. Atavolanons’invecchia   Youdon’tgetoldatthetable.Initially,thisproverbmeantthatwhoeatstoomuch,diesyoung.Nowadays,themeaningistotallydifferent.Enjoyinggoodtimeatthetablekeepsyouyoung. Bacco,tabaccoeVenere,riduconol’uomoincenere   Bacco(Romangodofwine),tabaccoandVenus(women)turnmenintoashes.Liveabalancedlife. Bisognamangiarepervivere,nonviverepermangiare   Eatforliving,don’tliveforeating.Don’tmesswithfood,it’sdangerous.ThissentencedatesbacktoCicero,thefamousRomanlawyerandphilosopher. Chimangiadasolosistrozzainsolitudine   Whoeatsalonedieschockingalone.Don’tbegreedy. …comeilcaciosuimaccheroni   …likecheeseonpasta.Somethinghappensattherighttimeandaddsvaluetoasituation. Chic’hailpanenonc’haidenti,chic’haidentinonc’hailpane   Thosewhohavebreaddon’thaveteeth,thosewhohaveteethdon’thavebread.Sometimesgoodopportunitiescometopeopleunabletohandlethem. Chilaseranoncena,tuttalanottesidimena   Whodoesn’teatintheevening,can’tsleepatnight. Chinonbeveincompagniaoèladroofalaspia   Whodoesn’tdrinksociallyisathieforaspy.Distrustpeoplewhodrinkalone. C’entracomeicavoliamerenda   It’sappropriatelikeeatingcabbageatteatime.So,it’snotappropriate. Dopoiconfetti,siscopronoidifetti   Afterthewedding,couplesfindoutflaws.ConfettiinItalianaretypicalweddingcandieswithalmond.WhatpeoplecallconfettiinEnglish,inItalianarecoriandoli.Learnmoreabout falsefriends,wordswiththesameoriginbutdifferentmeaninginItalianandEnglish.   E’megliounuovooggicheunagallinadomani   Betteraneggtodaythanahentomorrow.Don’twasteopportunitiesforemptypromises. Èinutilepiangeresullatteversato   Don’tcryoverspiltmilk.SameasinEnglish. Finisce tuttoataralluccievino   Itallendswithtarallucci(Italiansavorybiscuits)andwine.Acomplicateddisputeissolvedfriendly. Gallinavecchiafabuonbrodo   Oldhenmakesgoodstock.Experiencepaysoff. Glizuccherininonsonofattiperisomari   Don’tgivesugartodonkeys.Don’twasteenergyandresourceswithpeoplewhocan’tappreciateit. Ilvinoècomel’amore,scaldalatestaeilcuore   Wineislikelove,warmsupheadandheart. Ilvinoèillattedeivecchi   … Read more ≫

Congiuntivo presente: the Italian present subjunctive.

The Italian present subjunctive (il congiuntivo presente) is used to express, uncertainty, needs, doubts, and emotions.   At the beginning of your Italian classes, you probably learned the verbs of the indicativo mood. We can simplify and say that the indicativo is the mood of reality; the congiuntivo is the mood of possibility, uncertainty and … Read more ≫

Italian indefinite adjectives and pronouns: A “quasi” complete guide.

Italian indefinite adjectives and pronouns describe somebody, something, nothing, etc… It’s a big family of words. Some can be both adjectives and pronouns, others are just adjectives or pronouns. In Toscana ci sono molte bellissime città. Ci sono delle bellissime città in Italia. Molte sono in Toscana In the first sentence, molte is an adjective: … Read more ≫

Essere and Stare, two similar Italian verbs.

Essere and Stare are very important Italian verbs. It’s easy to get lost, since sometimes they both mean “to be” This is a very basic explanation on the difference between essere and stare, two very important Italian verbs. if you want to know more, please book a Zoom class at the bottom of this page, il … Read more ≫

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