Although only recently having become popular, Halloween in Italy today is a big deal. Shops are full of plastic zucche (pumpkins) and scope (broomsticks) for doting parents to give to their children. When night falls, youngsters will travestirsi (dress up) in costumes of streghe (witches), fantasmi (ghosts) and pipistrelli (bats), either to go out asking [...]
Where English uses a universal verb ‘to be’, Italian has two verbs: essere and stare. It also uses the verb avere (have) in some cases.
Essere is used as a main verb to express simple ideas such as ‘the grass is green’- ‘L’erba è verde’ or ‘I’m Italian’ - sono italiano.
It is also used as an [...]
… which is famous in the English speaking world as a duet with Sarah Brightman.
In Italian it’s called ‘Con te partirò‘
Quando sono solo
sogno all’orizzonte
e mancan le parole
Si lo so che
non c’è luce in una stanza quando manca il sole
se non ci sei tu con me
con me.
Su le finestre
mostro a tutti il mio cuore
che hai acceso,
chiudi [...]
The plane has landed, you’ve negotiated the public transport to the hotel and finally arrived at your destination. Only one more challenge remains - checking in! Of course, your hotel receptionist probably speaks good English and is dying for a chance to use it, but that’s not the point. Throw caution to the wind and [...]
One thing the Italians are good at is cibo (food). Ask any Italian where you can find the best food in the world and they will get a smug expression on their faces and answer without hesitation.
Visitors to Italy will surely agree with this, and one of the best aspects of a trip to Italy [...]
Subject pronouns in English are I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they.
They are used before a verb to explain who is doing the action, eg I play, they play.
In italian this is already clear from the ending of the verb so often the subject pronoun is not specified.
Let’s use an example with the [...]
If you have found work and are coming to live in Italy, you’d better get used to being a straniero (foreigner)!
Italians split stranieri into two groups: comunitari (those coming from member states of the EU) and extra-comunitari.
First of all you will need un posto da vivere (somewhere to live). The most logical solution is to [...]
A classic Italian song, written and performed by Domenico Modugno at the San Remo song contest 1958, covered by just about everyone.
Nearly everyone knows the first few words. But what about the rest?
Penso che un sogno cosi
Non ritorni mai piu’
Mi dipingevo le mani
e la faccia di blu
Poi d’improvviso
venivo dal vento rapito
E incominciavo a volare
nel cielo [...]
Prepositions are notoriously difficult to learn as they are one of the few elements of vocabulary that don’t have a straight translation from one language to another.
Don’t assume that because a preposition seems to have a similar equivalent in one situation that it will always be the same. Take the example of ‘in estate’ (in [...]
One of the first things you notice living in Italy is that tradizione (tradition) is extremely important, and nowhere is this more true than in the famiglia (family).
Il divorzio is not uncommon, but the vast majority of families live together, often with three generations under the same roof - mamma e papà, fratello e sorella (brother [...]
