Short exercise about adjective-noun-article-verb concurrence (this is not a gender-free exercise cause Italian grammar is still very related to genders and there are occasions in which is hard to find a gender-free way of writing). Make your choice and check it under the keep reading link.
1. A. Io e mio fratello sono molto felici. B. Io e mio fratello siamo molto felice. C. Io e mio fratello siamo molti felice. D. Io e mio fratello siamo molto felici.
2. A. Luigi e sua sorella va al mare. B. Luigi e sua sorella vanno al mare. C. Luigi e suo sorella vanno al mare. D. Luigi e suoi sorella vanni al mare.
3. A. La tua casa e molto grande. B. La tua casa è molto grande. C. La tue casa è molta grande. D. La tua casa è molta granda.
4. A. Lo mio gatto beve il latte. B. Il mio gatto beva il latte. C. Il mio gatto beve il latte. D. Il mio gatto beve lo latte.
5. A. Io rispondono al telefono. B. Io rispondo allo telefono. C. Io rispondo a il telefono. D. Io rispondo al telefono.
6. A. Oggi abbiamo scritto sul quaderno. B. Oggi abbiamo scritto sul cuaderno. C. Oggi abbiamo scritti sul quaderno. D. Oggi abbiamo scritto sullo quaderno.
7. A. I cani abbaia al ladro. B. I cani abbaiano al ladro. C. I cani abbaiano a lo ladro. D. Gli cani abbaiano al ladro.
Who wants to try to tell me about your fav movie? In Italian ofc. Or your fav food, actor(actress), musician, subject, language, book… anything that makes you comfortable.
Remember that writing is harder in Italian, so don’t worry too much about the mistakes you may make… just give it a try. We Italian make mistakes as well. It may be of help!
Ciao! I have a question for you: what is something typically Italian for you? I mean, if I say Italy/Italian, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
(Please use stereotypes too, I don’t mind, is a genuine question. And ofc you can send your answer through asks on Anon if you aren’t comfortable)
I know it’s not specific to Italians, but it’s still typically Italian? so yeah: moving hands when talking. Also the… pinching hand gesture? you know the one. And the way my grandma rolls her r’s when talking French (it might be occitan influence but her parents were Italian so… I think it’s Italian influence), and the way she’s still a bit the chef of the family, and her eldest daughter is the one taking over, the stereotype of la mamma italiana.
(though, full disclosure, before I sat and thought, the first thing was pizza, and how pineapple of pizza is considered a crime)
That’s cause pineapple on pizza IS a crime LOL :’) Grazie!
I’d like to add one thing about the letter R and pronunciations though, just cause it popped up in my mind and could help learners too. You know actually we have a very different way to pronounce r’s compared to French (I think the tongue is in two different positions too when pronouncing them but I’m not sure), and not every Italian can actually roll them but that’s not important in our language. There are also sounds that are very Regional and typical of certain areas, and not all Italians can actually make them. (This is just because I got reminded of this weird fact and I needed to share it). I might make a video or audio for this.
Short exercise about adjective-noun-article concurrence (this is not a gender-free exercise cause Italian grammar is still very related to genders and there are occasions in which is hard to find a gender-free way of writing). Make your choice and check it under the keep reading link (+ some rules). I divided it into singular and plural versions.
(Don’t scroll too much further if you have the “expand” thing on. The questions are 7)
1.the younger sister/s A. la sorella minora B. la sorella minore C. la sorella minori
D. le sorella minore E. le sorelle minori F. le sorelle minore
2.the big dog/s A. il cane grande B. lo cane grando C. lo cane grande
D. i cani grandi E. li cani grandi F. i cani grande
3.the big rock/s A. il sasso grossi B. lo sasso grosso C. il sasso grosso
D. i sassi grossi E. li sassi grosso F. i sasso grossi
4. the small egg/s A. la uova piccola B. l'uovo piccolo C. lo uova piccolo D. lo uovo piccolo
E. le uova piccole F. le uove piccole G. li uovi piccoli H. i uovi piccoli
5.the broken arm/s (human body) A. il braccio rotto B. la braccia rotta C. lo braccio rotto
D. le braccie rotte E. i bracci rotti F. le braccia rotte
6.the green field/s A. lo campo verde B. il campo verde C. il campo verdo
D. li campi verdi E. i campi verdi F. il campo verdi
7.the black piano/s A. le pianoforte nere B. il pianoforte nere C. il pianoforte nero
D. i pianiforte nero E. li pianoforte neri F. i pianoforti neri
Thanks tumblr for adding the “expand” thing: so very useless if it removes the keep reading link as well. So I basically have to make this longer? Okay.
Pianoforte is one of the few composed nouns that acts as a normal noun (changes the final vowel when it turns plural)
Egg: the weirdo noun. It’s masculine when singular (L'uovo) but it turns feminine when it’s plural (LE uova). One more problem: the article. Remember that the plural is so even if you have the noun ending in -a. I wrote a post already about it if you want to get more into details.
Similar things happens with il braccio and le braccia. I added “human body” cause, “braccio” can also be a mechanic one (of a crane, e.g.). In this case, the plural stays at the masculine: i bracci. Again, I go more in detail in an older post.
Some articles, as “grande”, “maggiore and "minore”, have only singular and plural. They have no change in genre, no matter the subject: e.g. mia sorella minore, mio fratello minore; le mie sorelle minori, i miei fratelli minori.
Everyday this month (May 2022), me and @lovelybluepanda will share our personal finds and opinions on a specific subject we decided beforehand. You can join us too in the comments or simply by tagging us in your post!
DAY 18 - COLORS
I have had a very huge and passionate dive in period last year concerning this subject: being into photography and movies, I bought a couple of books that only talk about colors, the theory of colors, how they were used in different medias (especially communication/marketing) in the different ages (e.g. how they discovered and used each of them for paintings!) and let me say, it’s soo interesting. Colors speak to us on subconscious levels too. Not to mention that we may not perceive most of them in the same way. I don’t read much anymore, but those two books had me hooked. I don’t know if you can find them in your mother tongue or not, still I’ll leave you the titles here, just in case (and I think you can find a couple of epubs on Google too, especially of the first).
CROMORAMA by Riccardo Falcinelli (so very accurate and complete)
DI TUTTI I COLORI by Alberto Boatto (smaller, but still good)
From the first book, on the back of the cover, you can read these questions (to which the author answers accurately in the book): Perché le matite gialle vendono di più delle altre? Perché Flaubert veste di blu Emma Bovary? Perché nei dipinti di Mondrian il verde non c'è mai? E perché invece Hitchcock lo usa in abbondanza?
(If you’re curious about these and other questions, feel free to ask. I will write you the answers)
Another media I want to leave you is by the Italian illustrator Fraffrog (that I have already mentioned another day): she just posted a video on youtube about the nonexistent color magenta that we all can actually see (but she also explains well how we all can perceive colors differently, like in a couple of viral images we all have seen online - the shoes and the dress). She has made an older video about the colors’ theory too (the link to that is in the video as well).
I’d talk about colors with your for ages, as it’s a subject that fascinates me a lot: there are so many hidden meanings behind each of them, its crazy. And for this reason, I’ll leave some more links on youtube (non-Italian ones) Color Theory in movies (short, tw:blood) Understanding color in film (useful for colorists too and explains kinda well the subject) There are so many videos though… I will stop here.
(As for music, I already used the song by Alessandra Amoroso so… Il Mondo è fuori by Velvet)
-> No vocabulary perché il post è già abbastanza lungo così, MA vi lascio questo vecchio post sui colori: the name of colors.
Ciao! I have a question for you: what is something typically Italian for you? I mean, if I say Italy/Italian, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
(Please use stereotypes too, I don’t mind, is a genuine question. And ofc you can send your answer through asks on Anon if you aren’t comfortable)
The good parts of being home!!
Food wise my brain supposedly leans more Italian-American versus italo (as so I am told; makes sense because I’m IA.) My most beloved foods from home are ziti, asiago, roasted red pepper, manicotti, cannoli, and lasagna. Making time to just sit together and talk. Family to the point of bursting - including “adopting” kids’ friends as family - and the words (very sternly) “you are always welcome back.” Family elders.
Grazie for this!!
Yeah there’s a lot behind Italian families, lot of traditions, lot of habits to share… especially when elders are around. They are the real home, the glue of the family.
Ciao! I have a question for you: what is something typically Italian for you? I mean, if I say Italy/Italian, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
(Please use stereotypes too, I don’t mind, is a genuine question. And ofc you can send your answer through asks on Anon if you aren’t comfortable)
Family. Love. Messy politics. Catholicism. Regional pride. Dialects. “Italy” is a bit of a myth as the country is not overly united. Food. Fashion. La Bella Figura. Film. Discussion. Music. Dancing. Architecture. History. My ancestors. My favorite place to be (Rome).
Probably not quite what OP meant, but there ya go.
Ciao! I have a question for you: what is something typically Italian for you? I mean, if I say Italy/Italian, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind?
(Please use stereotypes too, I don’t mind, is a genuine question. And ofc you can send your answer through asks on Anon if you aren’t comfortable)
La pinzatrice - stapler L'evidenziatore - highlighter La puntina - pin Il goniometro - goniometer Il blocco (note) - notebook Le forbici - scissors Il quaderno - exercise book La squadra - set square Il nastro adesivo (lo scotch) - duct tape Il righello - ruler La matita - pencil La gomma - rubber La colla - glue Il pennello - paint brush Lo zaino (la cartella) - backpack (schoolbag) I libri - books Il temperino*, il temperamatite - pencil sharpener Il compasso - compass l taglierino, il cutter - box cutter La graffetta, la clip - paperclip La penna stilografica, la penna stilo, la stilografica - fountain pen I pennarelli - markers La calcolatrice - calculator Il portamatite (l'astuccio) - pencil holder (pencil casee) i pastelli, le matite colorate - pastels, colored pencils Il raccoglitore (il quaderno ad anelli) - binder (loose-leaf exercise book)
(beware: *temperino = pocketknife)
Ooo ci sono alcune parole nuove qui! Una cosa… forse non sia la stessa parola fuori Australia, ma qui si dice “protractor” invece di “goniometer” (goniometro)
Ooo there are some new words here! One thing… maybe it’s not the same word outside Australia, but here you say “protractor” instead of “goniometer” (goniometro)
NB. Let me know if colouring the words is helpful! I wanted to show a) which was the new expression and b) general order of words. If it is too difficult to read with the colours I’m happy to pare it back to just the new expression!
ALT
