I giorni della merla (literally, the days of the blackbird) refer to the last three days of January (29th - 31st) which are said to be i piu freddi (the coldest) of l’inverno (the winter).
This expression comes complete with una legenda, passed down from nonni (grandparents) to nipotini (grandkids), explaining both why these days are [...]
I giorni della settimana (the days of the week) consist of lunedì (Monday), martedì (Tuesday), mercoledì (Wednesday), giovedì (Thursday) and venerdì (Friday).
Where do these names derive from? lunedì is from la luna (moon), martedì from il pianeta Marte (the planet Mars), mercoledì from Mercurio (Mercury), giovedì from Giove (Jupiter), and venerdìfrom Venere (Venus). The suffix [...]
Here are some basic verbs and examples on how to use them in a simple sentence:
Click here for grammar rules
The Italian winter sales are in full swing at the moment. Now is the time to pick up a nice designer number at half the usual price. Here is a dialogue to help you with the negotiating:
Can I help you?
No thanks, I’m just looking.
Ok, let me know if you need anything.
…….
Excuse me, do you have [...]
To pronounce combinations of vowels (dipthongs) in Italian, just add together the two distinct individual sounds.
The sounds don’t vary like they do in English.
Let’s try some common examples:
ai is pronounced like the english word eye (e.g. mai - never)
au is pronounced like the long sound ow in cow (e.g. autobus - bus)
ea is pronounced like [...]
Here is a simple recipe for risotto alla zucca (pumpkin risotto). Serves two as a main course, four as a starter:
Ingredienti:
500 ml brodo vegetale
1/2 cipolla
200g riso arborio
150g zucca a cubi
50g burro
50g parmeggiano
100 ml vino bianco
sale e pepe quanto basta
Preparazione:
Per prima cosa mettete a cuocere la zucca nel brodo vegetale per circa 10 minuti da quando [...]
‘Can’ seems a very simple word in English, but it actually has a number of different meanings which are expressed differently in Italian:
Permission:
use the verb potere
posso aprire la finestra? (can I open the window?)
lei non puo’ venire (she can’t come)
loro possono arrivare alle 8 (they can arrive at 8pm)
Ability
use the verb sapere (to [...]
The last of the twelve days of Christmas, Epifania (Epiphany) is important to Christians as it celebrates the arrival of i Re Magi (three kings or wise men) to see the baby Jesus. In Italy, an important messa (mass) is celebrated on this day (January 6th), with plenty of canzoni (songs) and wise men costumes [...]
From the news, 30/12/2008 - only in Italy!
Indaffarati a fare la spesa, a volte i clienti dei supermercati non hanno tempo di andare in chiesa.
Così un centro commerciale di Tremestieri, nel Messinese, ha deciso di realizzare una cappella all’interno dell’ipermercato, in modo da permettere ai clienti di avere uno spazio dove raccogliersi in preghiera tra [...]
Here are some common mobili (furniture) that you can see in Italian houses:
