Posts from December 2009

Irregular Verbs in the Future Tense

Posted by Serena 4 Comments
Dec 30 2009

In my previous blog ‘I Propositi per l’anno Nuovo’ I explained the construction and use of the future tense. Today’s blog will cover some of the most important irregular verbs in this tense.

The first group of irregular verbs omits the vowel at the beginning of the future tense suffix, hence –erò, -erai etc. becomes –rò, –rai, etc. Here are some of the most common ones:

andare (to go): andrò, andrai, andrà, andremo, andrete, andranno

avere (to have): avrò, avrai, avrà, avremo, avrete, avranno

bere (to drink): berrò, berrai, berrà, berremo, berrete, berranno

cadere (to fall): cadrò, cadrai, cadrà, cadremo, cadrete, cadranno

dovere (to have to): dovrò, dovrai, dovrà, dovremo, dovrete, dovranno

potere (to be able to): potrò, potrai, potrà, potremo, potrete, potranno

sapere (to know): saprò, saprai, saprà, sapremo, saprete, sapranno

vedere (to see): vedrò, vedrai, vedrà, vedremo, vedrete, vedranno

vivere (to live) : vivrò, vivrai, vivrà, vivremo, vivrete, vivranno

for example:

quando andrò a Parigi vedrò finalmente la Torre Eiffel (when I go to Paris I will finally see the Eiffel Tower);

purtroppo Mario e Michele non potranno venire in Italia l’estate prossima (unfortunately Mario and Michele will not be able to come to Italy next summer).

 

Some irregular verbs change their root in the future tense. These are the most common ones:

essere (to be): sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno

rimanere (to remain): rimarrò, rimarrai, rimarrà, rimarremo, rimarrete, rimarranno

tenere (to hold): terrò, terrai, terrà, terremo, terrete, terranno

venire (to come): verrò, verrai, verrà, verremo, verrete, verranno

volere (to want): vorrò, vorrai, vorrà, vorremo, vorrete, vorranno

for example:

le previsioni del tempo dicono che domani sarà molto freddo (the weather forecast say that tomorrow will be very cold);

Giorgio e Mirella verranno a Lucca sabato prossimo e ci rimarranno per una settimana (Giorgio and Mirella will come to Lucca next Saturday and will stay for a week).

 

Another group of verbs which have infinitives ending in –care  and –gare, e.g pagare (to pay) and giocare (to play) add an –h- before the future endings, so that –erò, –erai, etc. become –herò, -herai etc. This is done in order to maintain the hard c and g sounds, e.g. pagherò and giocherò.

For example:

non ti preoccupare, mi pagherai la settimana prossima (don’t worry, you can pay me next week. literally: you will pay me next week);

la sera di Capodanno giocheremo a tombola (on New Year’s Eve we will play tombola). 

However, verbs with infinitives ending in –ciare and –giare, e.g. cominciare (to start) and mangiare (to eat) drop the –i- from the stem in the future. This is done in order to maintain the soft c and g sounds, e.g. comincerò and mangerò.

For example:

il corso di nuoto comincerà il 7 gennaio (the swimming course will start on the 7th of January);

mangeremo alle otto (we will eat at eight o’clock).

 

Alla prossima puntata.

I Propositi per l’Anno Nuovo

Posted by Serena 8 Comments
Dec 27 2009

Il 2010 è vicino ed è tempo di pensare ai propositi per l’anno nuovo (2010 is near and it’s time to think about our resolutions for the new year). When we were children sitting around the table eating lunch on new year’s day, my mother used to ask me and my brothers: “Avete fatto i buoni propositi per l’anno nuovo?” (have you made your good resolutions for the new year?). Each of us would then recite to her our buoni propositi, which would inevitably be: metterò in ordine la mia camera (I’ll tidy up my bedroom); non bisticcerò con i miei fratelli (I won’t argue with my brothers and sisters); farò i compiti prima di andare a giocare (I’ll do my home work before going out to play); aiuterò la mamma con i lavori di casa (I’ll help mummy with the house work). Of course we all failed miserably within a few hours.

So, in order to help you write your list of buoni propositi per l’anno nuovo I’m going to explain how to use il futuro (the future tense).

In English the future tense is built by putting will or shall in front of the verb. In Italian however, as with all the other tenses, we change the verb endings.

To make the future tense of regular verbs:

For regular verbs ending in –are: take away the suffix –are and add the following endings: –erò, –erai, –erà, –eremo, –erete, –eranno. For example, the future of the verb parlare (to talk) is:

io parlerò (I will talk), tu parlerai (you will talk, informal), lui/lei parlerà (he/she will talk; you will talk, formal), noi parleremo (we will talk), voi parlerete (you will talk, plural), loro parleranno (they will talk).

For regular verbs in –ere and –ire take away the last two letters –re and add the following endings: –rò, –rai, –rà, –remo, –rete, –ranno. For example, the future of the verb leggere (to read) is:

io leggerò (I will read), tu leggerai (you will read, informal), lui/lei leggerà (he/she will read; you will read, formal), noi leggeremo (we will read), voi leggerete (you will read, plural), loro leggeranno (they will read).

The future of the verb finire (to finish, to end) is:

io finirò (I will finish), tu finirai (you will finish, informal), lui/lei finirà (he/she will finish; you will finish, formal), noi finiremo (we will finish), voi finirete (you will finish, plural), loro finiranno (they will finish).

The future tense is used:

To talk about something that will happen or will become true in the future, e.g. a Pasqua andremo a Venezia (at Easter we’ll go to Venice).

After quando (when), in cases where ‘when’ is followed by the present tense in English, e.g. quando smetterà di piovere andrò a fare la spesa (when it stops raining I’ll go shopping literally: when it will stop raining).

When we guess something, or express a doubt or an uncertainty, e.g. hanno suonato alla porta, sarà Giovanni? (Someone’s rung the doorbell, could it be Giovanni? literally: will it be Giovanni?), Sarà vero quello che ha detto Giulio? (Could what Giulio said be true? literally: will it be true what Giulio said?).

However, in spoken Italian we normally use the present tense to say what we are about to do, or what we will do in the near future, e.g. Giovanni: Hai una matita? Francesca: Sì, tela passo (Giovanni: ‘Do you have a pencil?’ Francesca: ‘Yes, I’ll pass it to you’, literally: I pass it to you), domani parto per Roma (‘tomorrow I’m leaving for Roma literally: ‘tomorrow I leave for Roma’), ti telefono più tardi (‘I’ll phone you later’ literally: ‘I phone you later’).

To return to our propositi per l’anno nuovo, bear in mind that in order to express a commitment or decision we use the present tense instead of the future, e.g. prendo un cappuccino (I’ll have a cappuccino literally: I take a cappuccino), pago io (I’ll pay, literally: I pay), So… since we traditionally use the future tense when expressing i propositi per l’anno nuovo, this probably indicates that we might not be one hundred per cent committed to our ‘resolutions’. Perhaps that’s why we fail so miserably!

In my next blog I will give you a list of the main irregular verbs in the future tense.

 

Un mio proposito: nel 2010 cucinerò più torte per mio marito!

La Tradizione del Presepe

Posted by Serena 7 Comments
Dec 24 2009

A few days ago we were out walking in the nearby woods when we saw a man and his young daughter carrying baskets and searching through the undergrowth. Our first thoughts were: “What on earth are they looking for at this time of year? It’s too late for chestnuts or wild mushrooms”. Then Geoff noticed that the little girl’s basket was filled with muschio (moss) and felci (ferns) and we immediately knew that they were collecting materials to construct their Presepe or Presepio (Nativity scene), an old Italian Christmas tradition which is still very popular.

At this time of year you will find a Presepe in almost every home and shops will sell you all the basic bits and pieces that you need, such as la stalla (the stable), Maria e Giuseppe (Mary and Joseph), i tre Re Magi (the three Wise Men) and of course Gesù Bambino (Baby Jesus). Many people then extend the basic nativity by creating a landscape around it, and this is where the moss, ferns, twigs, and stones come in handy to make little trees, fields, and rivers.

The custom of recreating la Natività (the story of the Birth of Jesus) was started by San Francesco d’Assisi (Saint Francis of Assisi) on Christmas eve 1223 in Greccio, a village near Assisi in Umbria. San Francesco organized a scenic representation of the birth of Gesù (Jesus), and this was the beginning of a tradition which was soon adopted and spread by the Franciscan Monks throughout Italy and in the rest of Europe.

The first specially carved presepe was created by the Tuscan sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio around 1290. Since then artists have continued to model figurines from wood and terracotta which are arranged in front of a background painted with a view of a landscape. It is very common to find quite elaborate presepi exhibited in churches during il periodo natalizio (the Christmas period). Although the art of the presepe originated in Toscana, it quickly spread to il Regno di Napoli (the Kingdom of Naples) through the influence of King Carlo III di Borbone where, in the 17th and 18th centuries, Neapolitan artists began to give the biblical representation of Christmas a more contemporary aspect by locating the Nativity in a typical landscape from the Campania region and thus recreating glimpses of everyday life from that period. The artists of Liguria, Roma, Puglia and Sicilia have also had an important stylistic influence on the development of this fascinating art form.

There are two interesting variations on the basic Nativity theme: il Presepe vivente (the living Nativity) in which real people and animals play the parts of the characters in the Christmas story. These presepi viventi  are often arranged along the streets of little villages and towns, with life size shacks and stables built out of wood, straw, palm leaves, and so on. The most authentic ones will even have a real baby playing the role of Gesù. The other important variation is il Presepe mobile or meccanico (the moving or mechanical Nativity). There is a wonderful example of a presepe mobile in Mignegno, near Pontremoli, and it almost completely fills a small chapel of about 15 square meters. We went to visit it yesterday with some German friends who are here for Christmas, and having found an old lady who knew the man who might have the keys etc. etc. we finally gained admittance. The man who did eventually have the keys showed us into the cold dark chapel and pressed a button on the wall. Suddenly the whole presepe came to life. Beginning its mechanical cycle with a representation of night time, the moon slowly made its way across a starry sky then sunk behind the plaster of Paris hills as darkness gave way to the gradual break of dawn. A pair of tin angels rose up to heaven on their wires, and about 50 or so wooden and papier maché figures, each about 15 cm high, came to life one by one. The scene with which we were presented was a fairly authentic representation of everyday life in a Lunigiana village of about 100 years ago, and probably had far more to do with local folklore than biblical history. In fact the actual Nativity only took up a tiny corner of the vast landscape, it seems that over the 30 years or so that the locals have been building this incredibly work of art they have got rather carried away! The Presepe of Mignegno is only open for a few days of the year, and throughout the rest of the year the ‘artists’ are tinkering away at their creation, continually adding to, and refining it. Present amongst the population of the miniature landscape are: i falegnami (the carpenters), il maniscalco (the blacksmith), i boscaioli (the lumberjacks), il fornaio (the baker), il contadino che falcia il fieno (the peasant who cuts the hay with his scythe), un uomo che pressa l’uva con il torchio (a man who is pressing grapes in a winepress), la lavandaia al lavatoio pubblico (the washerwoman at the public laundry – a flat stone by the fontana), e così via (and so on).

I have heard about, but not yet visited, an interesting museum in the Bergamo region which is said to contain many wonderful examples of presepi. If you are interested you can find out more here: http://www.museodelpresepio.com/

Buone Feste

Indovinello Fotografico 3 + soluzione del numero due

Posted by Serena 10 Comments
Dec 21 2009

In my second indovinello fotografico (photo quiz), see Indovinello Fotografico 2 , I asked you to tell me what the connection was between the picture of a flower and la Torre di Pisa (the tower of Pisa). To answer this question you need to know that the flower is called a campanula, or bellflower, and that the leaning tower of Pisa, apart from being a famous tourist attraction, is un campanile (a bell tower). Here in Italy il campanile is very commonly a separate building from la chiesa (the church), or il Duomo (the cathedral), and in fact la Torre di Pisa is at least 20 meters from il Duomo di Pisa.  

For the second part of the quiz I said that a knowledge of etymology (the origins of words) would be helpful. The question was: what is the connection between la Torre di Pisa and a kennel? It will help you to know that the Italian word for ‘kennel’ is canile. If you compare this word to campanile you will see that they both share the same ending: –ile. The suffix –ile has the following function: indica un luogo destinato a contenere o custodire qualcosa (it indicates a place that is destined to contain or keep something).

Hence:

un campanile (a bell tower) is where una campana (a bell) is kept

un canile (a kennel) is where un cane (a dog) is kept

un fienile (a barn) is destined to contain fieno (hay)

un ovile (a sheep pen) is destined to contain ovini (the scientific name for pecore = sheep)

un porcile (a pig pen) is destined to contain porci (pigs)

It’s interesting to note that in English, due to its mixed linguistic roots, we use the word kennel, which comes directly from canile, and yet the inhabitant of the kennel is called a dog, which is a member of the canine (canina in Italian) species, hmm… and people say Italiano is complicated!

Now for another quick quiz. This morning I sent Geoff (mio marito), out into the snow with la macchina fotografica (the camera). He came back with about 50 photos, out of which I have chosen two: the first just to show off the beautiful landscape which we are lucky enough to live in, and the second one to challenge your knowledge of fruits! Yes now is the season for one of our favorite juicy orange fruits, examples of which you will see on the tree in the second photo. Allora, che cosa sono? (So, what are they?).

Click on the photos to enlarge them

A presto

Indovinello Fotografico 2

Posted by Serena 5 Comments
Dec 18 2009

Here is the second of my photo quizzes, quite a tricky one this time although the botanically inclined amongst you may have an advantage! The first photo shows a wildflower that is quite common where we live, I also used to see them growing wild in England. The second photo is of the famous Torre di Pisa. I want you to tell me what the connection is between the flower and the tower. Now things get really tricky, although a knowledge of etymology (the origins of words) will certainly help you. The third photo shows a kennel, can you tell me the connection between La Torre di Pisa and the kennel?

I will follow this quiz up with a short explanatory blog.

Divertitevi!

 

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