Posts in January 2009

Maschile o Femminile

Posted by Serena
Jan
30
2009

One of the most confusing aspects of Italian for English speakers is trying to get to grips with the gender of words. This is further complicated by he fact that we don’t use the letter ‘s’ to pluralize but ‘i’, or ‘e’ depending on the gender of the word. Therefore constructing a sentence can be a real minefield if you’re unsure whether the words that you want to use are masculine or feminine.

This becomes even more confusing with words that sound the same but change their meaning depending on their gender. The following is a list of useful everyday words that do just that, obviously those preceded by il are masculine and those with la are feminine. Eccoli (here they are):

il foglio = the sheet of paper  -  la foglia = the leaf (plant)

il filo = the thread/wire  -  la fila = the cue/row

il testo = the text  -  la testa = the head

il gambo = the (plant) stalk  -  la gamba = the leg

il posto = the place  -  la posta = the post (mail)

il fronte = the front  -  la fronte = the forehead

il collo = the neck  -  la colla = the glue

il tavolo = the table  -  la tavola = the plank/board

il porto = the port  -  la porta = the door

il cappello = the hat  -  la cappella = the chapel

il banco = the bench/stall  -  la banca = the bank

 Another group of words that change meaning with gender are those pertaining to trees and fruit. Very often, but not always, the plant name is masculine and the fruit is feminine:

il melo = the apple tree  -  la mela = the apple

il pero = the pear tree  -  la pera = the pear

il pesco = the peach tree  -  la pesca = the peach

il ciliegio = the cherry tree  -  la ciliegia = the cherry

il castagno = the chestnut tree  -  la castagna = the chestnut

il noce = the walnut tree  -  la noce = the walnut  -  N.B. the spelling for these two is identical, only the article changes.

Ecco il vostro compito per casa per questo fine settimana, buona fortuna!

(That’s your homework for this weekend, good luck!)

 
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Essere o Stare?

Posted by Serena
Jan
29
2009

I recently received an e-mail from Judith asking if I could explain the difference between essere and stare and how they are used. I got out my faithful Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana Treccani and … oh povera me! (poor me!) Under the entry stare there are 5 columns of information and for essere? well ‘only’ 3! So having digested all that information I’ll attempt to illustrate the main uses of these two verbs, but please note that this is not, by any means, an exhaustive or definitive answer.

As a general rule it can be said that essere means “to be”, and stare means “to stay”, however they assume different meanings in particular constructions and in some idiomatic expressions:

Stare is always used, when followed by bene, male, meglio, or peggio,  to talk about somebody’s health and is, therefore, also used in greetings such as: Ciao, come stai? (Hello, how are you?) Sto bene, grazie (I’m fine, thank you). Come sta tuo fratello? (How is your brother?) Sta meglio, grazie (He’s better, thank you).

Stare bene with an indirect pronoun (dative) means “it suits you”: questo vestito ti sta bene (this dress suits you); il colore marrone non mi sta bene (the color brown doesn’t suit me).

E’ bene, e’ male means, on the other hand, “it’s a good thing, it’s a bad thing”: e’ bene non mangiare troppo (it’s a good thing not to eat too much). E’ meglio, e’ peggio mean “it’s better, it’s worse”: secondo me e’ meglio andare in treno (according to me, it’s better to go by train).

Stare per followed by an infinitive means “to be on the point of, to be just about to”: ti stavo per telefonare (I was on the point of calling you).

It’s also important to remember that stare and essere are not interchangeable in the following constructions:

stare followed by the gerundive expresses the present and past continuous: sto leggendo un libro (I’m reading a book); Giovanni e’ arrivato mentre stavo cenando (Giovanni arrived while I was having dinner).

Essere is always used as a verbo ausiliare (auxiliary verb, or helper) in:the passive form: la pizza e’ cotta nel forno (pizza is baked in the oven); l’albero e’ stato tagliato (the tree has been cut down);

combined past tenses of all the reflexive verbs: mi sono lavata le mani (I washed my hands);

combined past tenses of many intransitive verbs: Giovanni e’ andato al cinema (Giovanni went to the cinema).

There are some situations when essere and stare are interchangeable, in particular when talking about a location: la casa e’ in cima alla collina or la casa sta in cima alla collina (the house is on the top of the hill); l’appartamento e’ al quinto piano or l’appartamento sta al quinto piano (the apartment is on the fifth floor). Both verbs are also synonymous with the meaning of restare, rimanere (to stay, to remain): oggi sono in casa or oggi sto in casa (today I’ll be at home); dalle nove a mezzogiorno sono in ufficio or dalle nove a mezzogiorno sto in ufficio (from nine to midday I’ll be in the office). This interchangeability is however mostly a regional preference, i.e. some regions of Italy will use essere in preference to stare in the preceding examples, and vice versa.

I hope I’ve succeeded in shedding a bit of light on this confusing subject but, as I said, this is just a small summary of the hundreds of idiomatic expressions and constructions involving these two verbs.

 
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I Mesi dell’Anno

Posted by Serena
Jan
27
2009

I mesi dell’anno (the months of the year) have very similar names in most cultures that use the Giuliano (Julian) and Gregoriano (Gregorian) calendar. In the first century B.C. Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, giving it its familiar structure of 365 days (366 every fourth year which is known as an anno bisestile), divided into 12 months. Apart from minor changes which were introduced in 1582 by Pope Gregorio XIII, the calendario Giuliano (Julian calendar) is still used today. This explains the fact that the names of the months are all derived from Latin and most of them refer to Roman gods or emperors. In Italian we have many proverbs and expressions that describe the characteristics of almost every month.

Gennaio (January) was the month governed by Janus, Roman god of gates and beginnings, who is depicted with faces on both the front and back of his head;

febbraio (February) comes from the Latin word februa, a purification feast held by the Romans during this month. There is a proverb which says: febbraio febbraietto, corto e maledetto (February little February, short and cursed);

marzo (March) was dedicated to Marte (Mars), god of spring and fertility as well as war. As the weather in this month is often very unpredictable the proverb goes: marzo pazzerello, c’e’ il sole, prendi l’ombrello (crazy March, it’s sunny, get the umbrella), and when speaking of a person who is particularly inconsistent we often say: e’ nato di marzo (he/she was born in March);

aprile (April): the origins of its name are uncertain, there are however many proverbs for this gentle warm month, the most famous being aprile, dolce dormire (April, sweet sleep/drowsiness), which describes so well the desire to lay down in the first warmth of the sun and sleep. But beware of the sudden changes in temperature typical of spring: d’aprile non ti scoprire (in April don’t uncover yourself). For the farmers and wine lovers the proverb goes d’aprile ogni goccia un barile (in April each drop is a barrel, meaning that April’s rain is good for the vines);

maggio (May) was dedicated to Maia, mother of Mercury and goddess of fertility and fields. In May nature is blossoming, and bella come un maggio (beautiful like a May) is the compliment we use for a young beauty. In the Roman Catholic church maggio is dedicated to the Madonna, and fare il mese di maggio (lit. to do the month of May) means to participate in the daily religious functions and prayers that are held in this month, in particular il rosario (the rosary);

giugno (June) comes from Juno, goddess of marriage and wife of Jupiter, she governs the seasons. This is the month of harvests: giugno, la falce in pugno (June, the sickle in the fist);

luglio (July) is named after Julius Caesar, born in this month. From this the sunniest and warmest month of the year, when the solleone (lit. lion’s sun) dominates nature, comes the expression vendere il sol di luglio (literally ‘to sell July’s sun’, meaning to make something that is common and abundant appear to be rare or precious );

agosto (August) was dedicated to the Emperor Augustus. In this month the rising full moon appears rounder and reddish on the horizon, that is why we use the expression tondo come la luna d’agosto (round like the August moon) to describe someone with a particularly round face. Agosto is also the time of the first rains that bring relief from the solleone and create the right conditions for wild mushrooms to grow: la prima acqua d’agosto rinfresca il mare e il bosco (The first August rain refreshes the sea and the woods);

settembre (September), from Latin septem (seven), was the 7th month of the Roman calendar which, unlike the modern one, started in March. In September you can savor fichi (figs) and uva (grapes), i frutti settembrini (September’s fruits);

ottobre (October), from Latin octo (eight), was the 8th month of the Roman calendar. As the weather is often very pleasant you can enjoy una ottobrata, an October’s outing in the countryside;

novembre (November), from Latin novem (nine), was the 9th month of the Roman calendar, and is marked by the nebbie novembrine (November’s fogs);

dicembre (December), from Latin decem (ten), was, guess what? Yes the 10th month of the Roman calendar!

 
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La Settimana Italiana

Posted by Serena
Jan
23
2009

The Italian word for week is settimana which comes from Latin and means ‘in numero di sette’ (lit. in number of seven) because, yes you’ve guessed it, there are seven days in the week. The first five of these take their names from the planets.

lunedi’ (Monday) is from the Latin Lunae dies, or ‘day of the Moon’, because in ancient astrology it was believed that the Moon governed the first hour of this day;

martedi’ (Tuesday) was believed to be governed by the planet Marte (Mars);

mercoledi’ (Wednesday) comes from the governing planet Mercurio (Mercury);

giovedi’ (Thursday) is governed by the planet Giove (Jupiter);

and venerdi’ (Friday) is governed by the planet Venere (Venus);

sabato (Saturday), on the other hand, comes from the Hebrew Shabbat meaning (giorno) di riposo ((day) of rest);

domenica, comes once again from Latin, and means (giorno) del Signore ((day) of the Lord). This name was introduced by the Roman Christian emperor Constantine in the 4th century A.D. to substitute the more ancient name of solis dies, giorno del sole (day of the sun), which still survives in other languages such as the English ‘Sunday’ or the German ‘Sonntag’.

In the folk tradition venerdi’ is often considered an unlucky day because according to the Christian Church it’s the day when Jesus died and therefore the day of penitence, but it’s interesting that in Italy the unlucky number associated with Friday is not 13, as it is in many cultures, but 17, so be careful on venerdi’ 17! Whilst on the topic of bad days there is also an old proverb which says: ne’ di venere ne’ di marte non si sposa, non si parte, non si da principio all’arte (Neither on Friday nor on Tuesday should one get married, start a journey, or begin a work of art). We have a particular expression linked to Friday which is used to describe somebody who behaves a bit strangely: gli manca qualche venerdi’ (lit. ‘he lacks some Fridays’).

One of the idiosyncrasies of the Italian language is the fact that all the names of the week are masculine with the exception of domenica, which is feminine: so you have to remember to adjust the adjective accordingly e.g. martedi’ prossimo (next Tuesday), domenica prossima (next Sunday). It’s also important to know that names of the week are considered common names as are names of the months, therefore we write them with a lower case letter at the beginning; for example: oggi e’ venerdi’ 23 gennaio (today is Friday the 23rd of January).

Names of the week are normally used without the article, but you need the definitive article (il and la) to say that something happens regularly on a certain weekday: e.g. giovedi’ vado al cinema (Thursday I’m going to the cinema), but il giovedi’ vado a nuotare (on Thursdays I go swimming).

To express the future we use prossimo/a (next) e.g. sabato prossimo (next Saturday), la settimana prossima (next week); we also commonly use the expression quest’altra settimana (lit. this other week). For the past we use either passato/a or scorso/a (past participle of the verb scorrere, to run away):  l’anno passato or l’anno scorso (last year), domenica passata or domenica scorsa (last Sunday). To talk about something that occurred yesterday you can use ieri and for the day before yesterday  ieri l’altro or l’altro ieri, e.g. Mario e’ arrivato ieri l’altro sera (Mario arrived the evening of the day before yesterday). When talking about the future we have domani (tomorrow), dopodomani (the day after tomorrow), and even dopodomani ancora (the day after the day after tomorrow). N.B. that in Italian dopodomani literally translates as ‘after tomorrow’ but has the same meaning as the English ‘the day after tomorrow’, so it isn’t necessary to say “il giorno dopodomani”. I still get confused about this when speaking English and therefore have the bad habit of saying ‘after tomorrow’ instead of ‘the day after tomorrow’ which greatly annoys my (English) husband because ‘after tomorrow’ in English means, of course, ‘any time after tomorrow’, like maybe next year? At the end of the week most of us are looking forward to il fine settimana (the weekend). These days (unfortunately) il fine settimana is often anglicized into il weekend when many people go off to ‘enjoy’ lo shopping.

Curiously the word domani is also used in an ironic sense to mean mai (never), so if you ask your beloved: mi regali un anello? (will you give me a ring?) and the reply is: Si’, domani! (Yes, tomorrow!) don’t expect to get it any time soon! The reason for this particular use of domani is that the future is uncertain, as Lorenzo il Magnifico says in one of his poems: chi vuol esser lieto sia / di doman non c’e’ certezza (whoever wishes to be happy be so, for of tomorrow there is no certainty).

Buon fine settimana!

 
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Calamari Ripieni

Posted by Serena
Jan
21
2009

A reader recently asked if I knew a recipe for calamari ripieni (stuffed squids); this is my mother’s recipe and, as always happens with handed down family recipes, it’s very ‘approximate’, just un pizzico di questo (a pinch of this), un po’ di quello (a little bit of that), percio’ vi chiedo scusa (therefore, please forgive me). First a little explanation about pangrattato (lit. grated bread, or breadcrumbs). Pangrattato is a very common ingredient in Italian cuisine and it’s made from dry bread which is grated very finely. In Italy you can buy it from the fornaio (baker), but you can also make it very easily at home: cut some left over bread in thick slices (about 2 cm), put them in a baking tray and bake them in a moderate oven until completely dry; grate the dry bread with a cheese grater and then sieve it. Whenever I have done some baking I put any left over bread that I have in the oven while it is still nice and hot and leave it there to dry out. After a few days of this treatment it’s ready for grating, the breadcrumbs can be stored in a jar, and I can start a new batch. In my oven there’s always a tray filled with slices of old dried bread, it’s a family tradition.

Now the recipe! Ingredienti:

Calamari gia’ puliti (ready cleaned squids)

Pangrattato (dried breadcrumbs)

1 o 2 spicchi d’aglio spremuti (1 or 2 cloves of garlic, squeezed)

Olio extra vergine d’oliva (extra virgin olive oil)

Un ciuffo di prezzemolo tritato finemente (a small bunch of parsley finely chopped)

Sale e pepe (salt and pepper)

Rub together the pangrattato, garlic, parsley, 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper, and stuff the calamari with this mixture. Put a little olive oil in the bottom of a baking tray, lay the stuffed squids on the tray and bake in a moderately hot oven at 200 degrees C, 400 degrees F, gas mark 6. The cooking time depends on the size of the squids, but make sure that all the liquid produced by the calamari has evaporated and they are tender. Towards the end of the baking you can increase the oven temperature for a few minutes to make the top nice and crispy. Leave them to cool and enjoy.

An alternative recipe is to prepare a tomato sauce flavored with garlic, parsley, a pinch of oregano, olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar if the tomato is too acidic. Put this sauce in the bottom of the baking tray and cook the calamari in the same way as above.

Pangrattato stuffing is also used for many other recipes, in particular verdure ripiene al forno (stuffed oven baked vegetables). Try it sprinkled on the top of sweet peppers sliced lengthways to make shallow boats, small zucchini cut in half lengthways and slightly excavated, or fresh tomatoes cut in half (remove the seeds and let them to drain for half an hour). Put the vegetables on a baking tray greased with olive oil, sprinkle them with yet more olive oil and bake in a hot oven until the vegetables are properly cooked and the top is dark and crispy. Serve them warm or cold.

Buon appetito!

 
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