Profile
Hi! I'm from southern Italy. I work as an archivist and I teach Italian. I like to play the guitar and read. I'm trying to improve my English because I've always been in love with this language and I need to be more fluent. I look for reliable tandem partners (native speakers) interested in learning Italian and teaching English through Skype, with some sort of regularity (but any exchange would be appreciated). Thanks!
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English
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ItalianNative
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- Partiamo dalla frase "la selva è cosi spaventosa che la morte lo è poco di più La struttura è la seguente: -la selva è spaventosa -lo = spaventosa -la morte lo (=spaventosa) è poco di più "Lo" è un pronome che sostituisce qualcosa di noto. Quindi, la morte è una cosa molto spaventosa, ma questa selva è spaventosa quasi quanto la morte. Per es.: "Giovanni è stato bocciato ma non vuole dirlo ai genitori". Struttura: -Giovanni è stato bocciato -lo = "è stato bocciato" -non vuole dirLO (che è stato bocciato) ai genitori D'altra parte, se io ora ti chiedo "Lo vuoi?", tu non puoi sapere cosa voglio dire, perché non sai cosa è sostituito da "lo". Invece, se io ti mostro un caffè e ti dico "lo vuoi?", tu capisci che "lo" si riferisce al caffè.0 votedApril 26, 20141
- So, for instance, if you have the verb "chiamare", its meaning is "to call (someone)". So you have: -io chiamo -tu chiami -lui / lei chiama -etc. Let's have a look at the verb "lavare" (to wash): -Io lavo la camicia. -Tu lavi i pantaloni. -Lei lava la maglietta. Ok, when you wake up in the morning and wash yourself, this in Italian would be: -Io mi lavo. [I wash myself] -Tu ti lavi. [You wash yourself] -Lui / Lei si lava. [He / She washes himself / herself] The infinitive form of this verb is "lavarsi": in Italian we assume that washing a T-shirt or washing ourselves is a little different. (Just a little!) So, "lavarsi" come from "lavar(e) + si", where "si" is the same particle that you have seen for the third person. Well, now take a look at the verb "chiamarsi" ( chiamar(e) + si ): -Io mi chiamo -Tu ti chiami -Lui / Lei si chiama -etc. "Io mi chiamo" doesn't mean "I call myself", as if I were crazy. :-) "Io mi chiamo" means "My name is...". -Io mi chiamo Stefano. -Tu ti chiami Nina. -Lui / Lei si chiama XYZ. As you can see, while between "lavare" and "lavarsi" the meaning is quite the same (I wash either a T-shirt or myself), between "chiamare" and "chiamarsi" there's a big difference in terms of meaning. This could be a first step to understand the "verbi pronominali". You need more steps to get to understand "andarsene", but my advice is first to become familiar with the basic forms. And you can do that by describing a regular early morning. Use the verbs "svegliarsi", "alzarsi" (to rise), "lavarsi la faccia, i denti, le orecchie...". If all this stuff is quite understandable for you, we can give one more step. Hope it helps!0 votedMarch 21, 20140
- The issue has been well explained by drrdn. You should consider that the Italian language has many "particles", called "clitici": they are pronouns (for persons and places) and can substitute some complements (and among these the so called "complemento di moto da luogo", which express "departure") or express the partitive. The "clitici" system is maybe the biggest issue for everyone who's learning Italian. To avoid fighting with the rules and to be won by them :) I think that the best you can do is to start with basic "verbi pronominali" (these peculiar verbs that bring pronouns "inside"). In a moment, I'll give you some clues to understand the "verbi pronominali".0 votedMarch 21, 20140
- Listening to the blues can be healthy I am currently listening some good blues played by Willie McTell. It's curious the relation between american folk music and my country, Italy. During WWII many american soldiers came to Italy to fight (the great writer Hemingway was one of them): some left sons, some left songs. And with the Marshall Plan and the huge influence that USA has had over the european culture in the second half of the 20th century, Italy took a lot both in economical and cultural terms. For instance, Lucio Battisti, who's one of the most important singers of the last century in Italy, actually sung a lot of well known songs with an evident american flavour. So that is strange to listen american music, because it's foreign music but our own music at the same time. Strangely enough, Italians are not so good speaking English, as you can see maybe reading this notebook entry of mine... :-)March 19, 201430

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