One of our Yabla learners has asked about what to say when someone has died, or what to write in a condolence note. There have been so many deaths from the coronvirus that expressing condolences is an important thing to be able to do.
The most important word is condoglianze, from con (with) and doglianza (lament). In other words, you are mourning with the person to whom you express your condolences. You feel their sorrow. The English cognate is a true one, which makes it easy to remember.
In the following example, the condolences are expressed as part of a conversation, and the person talking is not a close friend -- he's a sort of lawyer (and note that in Italian, a person's professional title is often used by itself to address him or her), so the condolences are very basic and quick, but perfectly acceptable and polite. The adjective to know is sentito. This comes from the verb sentire (to feel, to hear, to sense). Sentito can mean "sincere," "heartfelt," or "deep."
Buongiorno notaio, piacere.
Hello, Notary, pleased to meet you.
-Condoglianze sentitissime.
-My deepest condolences.
-Grazie tante, tante grazie.
-Thanks very much, many thanks.
Captions 30-32, Sei mai stata sulla luna? - film
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Le mie condoglianze, dottor Del Serio. -Grazie.
My condolences, Doctor Del Serio. -Thank you.
Caption 26, La Tempesta - film
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So really, just two words were used, and it could have been just one: condoglianze. It's enough, especially when you don't really know the person who passed away.
If we're talking to a friend who has just lost a family member, for example, we can use the informal verb fare (to make, to do). You might not know the person who died, but you know that your friend is grieving:
Ti faccio le condoglianze per la perdita di tuo padre/nonno/tua madre/nonna.
I'm sorry for the loss of your father/grandfather/mother/grandmother.
You can also keep this short and just say:
Ti faccio le condoglianze.
I'm sorry for your loss.
But if we want to say more, here's a common way to do it. It employs the verb porgere, to extend, to offer.
This first example is if you are speaking or writing formally to one person you aren't on a first-name basis with.
Le porgo le mie più sentite condoglianze.
I extend my deepest condolences to you.
If you are talking or writing to more than one person, say, parents, or a couple, or an entire family, then it's:
Vi porgo le mie più sentite condoglianze.
I offer you my deepest condolences.
You can also leave out mentioning the person:
In questa triste circostanza porgiamo sentite condoglianze.
On this sad occasion, we offer heartfelt condolences.
Another word people use when sending a condolence note is cordoglio (grief, sorrow, mourning, condolences).
Esprimiamo con grande dolore il nostro cordoglio.
We would like to express, with great sorrow, our condolences.
Another important word to know is il lutto (the mourning, the bereavement, the grief). This example describes an ancient Roman sarcophagus of a child.
E i due genitori sono affranti, di lato c'è la mamma
And the two parents are overcome. At the side there's the mother
che sembra ormai avvolta in un dolore profondo, irrecuperabile.
who by now seems to be shrouded in deep, hopeless sorrow.
E poi c'è il padre.
And then there is the father.
Entrambi hanno il capo coperto con un velo in segno di lutto,
Both have their heads covered with a veil as a sign of mourning.
non guardano più neanche il bambino.
They no longer even look at the child.
Captions 37-40, Meraviglie - EP. 2 - Part 6
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You can use lutto in a condolence note:
Partecipiamo commossi al vostro lutto.
We take part, emotionally moved, in your grief [we feel/join in your grief].
A shop or restaurant, where a family member or employee has died, might have a sign that says:
Chiuso per lutto
Closed for bereavement
One more word you might see, for example, on the signs we see around in Italian towns, announcing the death of a citizen, is addolorato (aggrieved, distressed). It comes from the verb addolorare (to sadden) or addolorarsi (to be saddened).
Sei confusa, addolorata, ma lo sai che lui ti merita.
You're confused, aggrieved, but you know that he deserves you.
Captions 85-86, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne
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You can use addolorato in a condolence note:
Sono addolorato per la tua perdita.
I am saddened by your loss.
We hope you won't need these words, but if you do, they're here. Feel free to send us questions or requests for further information.
When you're wrong you're wrong. There are various Italian words connected with being wrong or making a mistake. Let's look at the various ways to be wrong and the nuances that set them apart.
Fare un errore. This works fine when you need a noun. If you have trouble with rolling your r's, this word can be a challenge.
Fai errore dopo errore.
You make mistake after mistake.
Caption 53, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema
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The verb sbagliare (to make a mistake) plus reflexive form sbagliarsi (to be mistaken), and its noun form lo sbaglio (the mistake, the error) are very common.
Io c'entro, c'entro eccome, perché lei è una mia allieva.
I'm involved, I'm absolutely involved because she's my student.
E se lei sbaglia, vuol dire che anche io ho sbagliato qualcosa con lei.
And if she makes a mistake, it means that I also made a mistake with her.
Captions 46-47, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale
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There's a fine line between the normal verb and its reflexive form. One reason for this is that sbagliare as a normal verb can either be transitive or intransitive.
Ho sbagliato strada (I took the wrong route, I went the wrong way).
Ho sbagliato (I made a mistake, I made a wrong move, I did something wrong).
Sbagliare è umano (making mistakes is human).
Tutti sbagliano (everyone makes mistakes).
Piove, o sbaglio (It's raining, or am I mistaken)?
The reflexive form sbagliarsi, tends to be more about being wrong than making a mistake — a bit less active, we could say — and the sentence structure changes as well. The reflexive form is intransitive, so we need a preposition between the verb and the indirect object. As a result, it's a bit more complicated to use.
Mi sono sbagliato (I was wrong, I was mistaken).
Mi sbaglio o sta piovendo (am I mistaken or is it raining)?
In the following example, the preposition is a (to) and rather than "being wrong," it's "going wrong."
Mi creda, a puntare sul pesce non si sbaglia mai.
Believe me. With fish you can never go wrong.
Caption 2, La Ladra - Ep. 6 - Nero di rabbia - Part 1
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This is a great expression to have in your collection:
Non si sbaglia mai (one can't go wrong).
Non ti puoi sbagliare (you can't go wrong).
As you watch Yabla videos, you will see countless instances of sbagliare, sbagliarsi and lo sbaglio. See if you can sense when people use one or the other. In many cases, there are multiple possibilities.
Some of us may recognize the cognate: "tort." When you study law, one course you take is "torts." In English a tort is simply a civil wrong.
How to use the Italian noun torto, however, is a different story.
In a recent episode of Sposami, a divorcing couple is forced to get along and work together, even though they can't stand each other. But each of them wants to keep the dog, and therefore they each have to be on their best behavior. They go crying to their divorce lawyer each time the other does something wrong. And in one such conversation, the word torto comes up.
Ugo, cerca di essere collaborativo,
Ugo, try to be collaborative,
se no, tu capisci, mi passi dalla parte del torto.
otherwise, you understand, you'll end up being in the wrong.
Captions 68-69, Sposami - EP 1
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So this is a lawyer talking, but we also use torto or its plural torti in everyday conversation. A son is complaining to his mother, and her boyfriend chimes in:
A ma' [mamma], ti prego.
Oh Mom, please.
Ce tratti come du [romanesco: ci tratti come due] ragazzini!
You treat us like a couple of little kids!
-Va be', non ha tutti i torti.
-Well, he's not totally wrong.
Io alla loro età, nemmeno lo chiedevo più il permesso.
At their age, I no longer even asked for permission.
Captions 69-72, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro - Part 2
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Here are some other expressions with torti. Remember that we use the verb avere (to have) in this expression.
Avere torto (to be wrong).
With all these word choices for making mistakes and being wrong, non ti puoi sbagliare!
In a previous lesson, we talked about the popular pronominal verb cavarsela (to get by), and the verb it comes from, cavare (to extract, to get something out of something). Consider the noun il cavatappi. It's a corkscrew for extracting the cork from a bottle.
We also have scavare (to excavate, to dig, to dig up). The s- prefix often gives an opposite meaning to a word. In this case, we are extracting the soil or rock by digging.
Il primo passo consiste nel scavare una cavità nella pietra, nella roccia.
The first step consists of digging a cavity in the stone, in the rock.
Caption 6, Meraviglie - EP. 2 - Part 13
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Naturally, there are other words related to cavare that can be easily understood:
una cavità (a cavity)
concavo (concave)
la cava (the mine, the quarry)
You might be asking yourself: What about the English word "cave?" There are a few choices.
Allora, questa casa, questo ambiente, in realtà è per il settanta percento
So, actually, seventy percent of this house, this space,
costituito da una grotta.
consists of a cave.
Captions 8-9, Meraviglie - EP. 1 - Part 12
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la caverna (the cave, the cavern)
la grotta (the cave, the grotto)
la spelonca (the cave)
Have any of you ever gone spelunking?
But we also have ricavare as a common verb. Sometimes this ri- prefix means "again," just as "re-" in English can mean that, as in rifare (to re-do).
Sometimes this prefix does double duty and may or may not mean "to do something again," if we consider verbs like tornare - ritornare (to return), suonare - risuonare (to sound, to resound), chiedere - richiedere (to ask - to request). There are subtleties.
Ricavare can mean a couple of things. It might be helpful to think of "carving out," as in making a cave. Often ricavare is used when you are carving out material to make something new, especially if we think of the second meaning of ricavare: "to obtain." The following example gives us an image of what ricavare can mean in a concrete sense. Surely a lot of rocky material was extracted (cavato, scavato) to build the amphitheater.
Fra gli edifici per lo spettacolo,
Among the buildings for events,
l'anfiteatro ricavato nelle pendici est della Collina di San Pietro
the amphitheater built into the eastern slopes of the Hill of Saint Peter,
occupava un'area a sud della città.
occupied an area south of the city.
Captions 41-43, Itinerari Della Bellezza - Abruzzo
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One meaning of ricavare is "to obtain," as in making a profit: The past participle is often used as a noun: il ricavato.
L'avrei costretto a dividere il ricavato con me.
I would have forced him to share the proceeds with me.
Caption 39, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP10 -La verità nascosta
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Current context:
It's easy to envision a situation in which you have to work from home. But you might have to carve out a space in your small apartment. Ricavare is a great verb for this, and it can be used figuratively, too, as you can see in the final example.
Devo ricavare uno spazio in questo apartamento per lavorare tranquillo (I need to carve out some space in this apartment to work in peace).
Ho ricavato una stanza in più, trasformando questo locale di sgombro (I built an additional room by transforming this storeroom).
Mia sorella è riuscita a ricavare un po' di tempo la sera per fare yoga (My sister managed to carve out some time in the evening to do yoga).
Carving out and obtaining something "new."
Credere is a very common verb. It basically means "to believe," but not 100% of the time. There are some sfumature (nuances) to this verb, and it so happens that in a recent episode of Sei mai stata sulla luna, it's used in 2 ways that deviate from the norm.
In one scene of the segment of Sei mai stata sulla luna, we see a single father (Renzo) having a conversation with his son. His son wishes he had a mother, and Renzo is downplaying it.
It plays out like this:
No, per starci insieme.
No, to be together.
-Ma perché non stiamo bene insieme io te?
-But aren't we fine together, you and me?
-Sì, ma magari staremmo meglio.
Yes, but maybe we'd be even better.
-Non ti credere, eh.
-Don't be so sure, huh.
Una fidanzata ti manderebbe tutte le sere a dormire presto.
A girlfriend would send you to bed early every night.
Captions 38-42, Sei mai stata sulla luna? - film
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At the beginning of the segment, the townsmen are hanging out in the piazza and Guia is there, too. Someone says to her, being polite:
Comunque, signora, Lei faccia come crede.
In any case, Ma'am, you do as you think best.
Caption 1, Sei mai stata sulla luna? - film
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If it were an informal situation, it would be fai come credi. It can mean "do as you think best" or "do as you wish." It's often said when there is a disagreement about what to do or how something should be done. The person who says it doesn't think it's a particularly good idea. It's a little different from, fai come vuoi (do as you like), where the verb is volere. Credere gives the person a bit more credit for thinking things through. Fai come vuoi (or in the polite form faccia come vuole) can also come off as judgmental, depending on the tone with which it is said.
A common variation on this expression is with the verb parere (to seem, to appear):
Noi ci sposeremo e soprattutto divorzieremo.
We'll get married and above all we'll get divorced.
Tu stasera vai in albergo, da tuo fratello,
This evening, you will go to a hotel, to your brother's,
dove ti pare, lontano da me.
wherever you want, far from me.
Captions 32-33, La Tempesta - film
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Note that parere is one of those verbs, like piacere, where the subject is not the person doing the liking or the wanting. So, thinking literally, the gist would be "go where it seems to you that you should go."
Dove ti pare is a very common way to say dove vuoi (wherever you like).
Come ti pare is a very common way to say come vuoi (however you like).
It's interesting that both parere and piacere are also commonly used nouns: il parere and il piacere.
Parere (both the noun and the verb) come from the verb apparire (to appear, to emerge).
For more about piacere see this lesson:
and see this video:
It's true that asking questions in Italian can be as easy as changing your inflection. Part one of this lesson discusses that. Nonetheless, there are times when you need question words (and we'll get to that in a future lesson). But even more basically, how do we talk about asking questions?
Good question!
While the cognate questione exists, it's not the word we are looking for right now. We'll talk about questione further on. In English, we have the noun "the question" and we ask a question.
In Italian, it's a little different. "The question" is often translated into Italian as la domanda and rather than using a verb that means "to ask," Italians usually "make" a question with fare (to make, to do):
Quando io conosco una persona, prima la saluto.
When I meet a person, first I greet him or her.
Abbiamo imparato: buongiorno, buonasera,
We learned "good morning" — "good evening."
poi faccio la seconda domanda importante: come ti chiami?
Then I ask the second important question: What's your name?
Captions 9-11, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Tu o Lei?
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More often than not, we ask someone a question, so we may need an indirect pronoun: "I ask you/him/her/them/myself a question." In Italian, this indirect pronoun often comes before the verb, as in the following example.
Ma, ci torneresti con tua moglie? -No.
But would you go back to your wife? -No.
Perché mi fai questa domanda?
Why are you asking me this question?
Captions 33-34, Sposami - EP 1
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The previous example was a question, but even in a statement, the indirect pronoun will come before the verb.
Ti faccio una domanda semplice (I'm going to ask you a simple question).
There is another verb we can use in place of fare. It's a little more formal, it has an English cognate, and it often indicates that some thought is needed in the asking and the answering. The verb is porre (to put, to place, to pose).
Daniela talks about this verb in a lesson:
"Porre": io ponevo, si usa spesso con "domanda".
“To pose.” I was posing, it's often used with "question."
"Scusi, posso porre una domanda?"
“Sorry, may I pose a question?”
Al posto di "fare" — "posso fare una domanda?"
Instead of using “to ask” — "may I ask a question?"
— dico: "Posso porre una domanda?"
— I say: “May I pose a question?”
Captions 33-37, Corso di italiano con Daniela - L'imperfetto
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We use the reflexive for this in Italian:
Allora, pur con la testa tra le nuvole,
So, even with his head in the clouds,
cominciò a porsi qualche domanda.
he began to ask himself a few questions.
Ma, ma il resto di me c'è ancora?...
But, but is the rest of me still here?...
Captions 13-15, Dixiland - Testa tra le nuvole
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You can also use the verb fare reflexively for the same purpose — farsi una domanda (to ask oneself a question).
La domanda has a verb form as well, and we can use it both reflexively and not: domandare (to ask).
Of course, sometimes we don't need to ask a question. We can just ask someone something. Domandare (to ask).
Perché non mi lasci in pace?
Why don't you leave me in peace?
-Eh, me lo domando anch'io.
-Yeah, I ask myself that, too.
Captions 7-8, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale
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Just as in English we have the noun and verb "to request," Italian has the cognate richiedere (to request, to require) and la richiesta (the request) but it also has chiedere (to ask, to request), which is used a lot, in many different contexts.
Dal momento che il progetto del tuo muro
Since your wall project
taglierebbe fuori la mia zona di cucina,
would cut off my kitchen area,
avresti dovuto chiedere il mio parere.
you should have asked for my opinion.
Captions 22-24, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro
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In the following example, we can see the relationship between chiedere and richiesta.
Lorenzo ti ha chiesto di dargli un po' di tempo, no?
Lorenzo asked you to give him a little time, right?
Fossi in te, rispetterei la sua richiesta.
If I were you, I would comply with his request.
Captions 33-34, La Ladra - EP. 8 - Il momento giusto
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Making sense of the different ways to use richiedere will have to wait for another lesson. It can get kind of complex.
Let's remember that in English, "question" can also mean "matter." For example in this book title: A Question of Integrity by Susan Howatch. In this case, it's not a question we ask. With that in mind, we can easily transfer the idea to Italian. In fact, we have a movie on Yabla: Questione di Karma.
Sono dieci giorni che aspetto, è diventata una questione di vita o di morte.
I've been waiting ten days. It's become a question/matter of life or death.
Caption 5, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema
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What we hope you take away from this lesson is that for normal questions you ask, the noun is la domanda (the question) and that we "make" a question: fare una domanda (to ask a question). Using porre works, too, but it's a little more serious: porre una domanda (to pose a question). Both fare and porre can be used reflexively when we ask ourselves a question: porsi una domanda (to ask oneself a question, to wonder), farsi una domanda (to ask oneself a question). We can talk about asking with the verbs domandare (to ask) and chiedere (to ask).
To get a feel for all these words, we suggest doing a search on the videos page to find examples of these words. Don't forget to use singular, plural, masculine and feminine where applicable, and different conjugations of verbs. Searching and reading all the instances will give you an overview of real people using these words. Repeat the sentences to yourself, and if you get confused, drop us a line — chiedere! — in the comments tab or by sending an email to newsletter@yabla.com. We are happy to help.
When you want to say that something is watertight, that you have no doubt about it —in other words, there is no use in discussing it further —there is a great Italian expression at your disposal. Even if you don't understand why people say it, you can start noticing when people say it and imitate them. And you will soon start sounding like a native as you say it.
Ragazze, la C sta per Catullo
Girls, the "C" stands for Catullus,
e su questo non ci piove.
and the rain can't touch it [there is no doubt about it].
Captions 71-72, La Ladra - EP. 9 L'amico sconosciuto
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It means there is no hole in the argument, but that's not so easy to figure out from the expression, especially since it uses that pesky particle ci that means so many things. It's kind of fun to figure out, or at least imagine why Italians use this colorful expression, and where it comes from.
In Italy, roofs are often made of tiles or tegole. If you move a tegola around, the rain might leak into the house. This can happen accidentally, with high winds, or if someone walks on the roof for some reason, like to clean out the gutters or adjust an antenna. If it rains into the house, ci piove (it rains there, it rains in it).
So besides being a great expression, when talking about leaky roofs, it usually means the rain comes in. It's not easy finding a literal translation that makes sense, which is why we've talked about it here.
When the leak has to do with a pipe or a faucet, we talk about it losing water. We use the verb perdere (to lose, to leak).
Ma... questo non perde più! -No!
Well! This no longer leaks! -No!
Non mi dire che l'idraulico s'è degnato?
Don't tell me the plumber deigned?
Eva, stamattina qua è passato un vero uomo, eh?
Eva, this morning a real man came here, huh?
Che oltre ad aggiustà [aggiustare] i rubinetti così, proprio tà tà tà l'ha fatto eh!
Who besides fixing the faucet just like that, he did it really fast, huh!
Captions 11-14, La Ladra - Ep. 1 - Le cose cambiano
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See this lesson about the verb perdere.
Another thing to say when an argument is airtight is: Non fa una piega (there isn't even one wrinkle).
È evidente che avrebbe dovuto vincere Fabiola Alfieri.
It's clear that Fabiola Alfieri should have won.
Allora perché non ha votato per lei?
So why didn't you vote for her?
-Perché il direttore di un giornale può essere
Because the director of a newspaper can be
molto utile alla carriera di un marito come il mio.
very useful to the career of a husband like mine.
-Non fa una piega, però non mi convince.
That a perfect argument, but it doesn't convince me.
Captions 34-37, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP4 - Miss Maremma
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Practice commenting inside your head with su questo non ci piove or non fa una piega when people are justifying, explaining, arguing, debating.
Note that another way to say non fa una piega is non fa una grinza. They both mean the same thing. There's a lesson about this!
The main topic of conversation in lots of places right now is "coronavirus." We hope that it won't last too long, because in addition to making people sick, with some people even dying, it's also wildly disrupting the life of many people around the world.
Italy has been hit particularly hard and is consequently in the spotlight, so let's look at some of the words people and newspapers are using to talk about it.
In English, we talk about "lockdown" to describe the measures Italy is taking to try to prevent the spread of the virus. There are a few options for an Italian translation: l'isolamento (the isolation), il blocco (the blocking, the closing off), blindare (to lock down) blindato (locked down).
Let's talk about some of the vocabulary Italians are using to talk about what's going on.
To begin with, let's look at a headline from Sunday, March 8, when new rules went into effect for the zone rosse (the red zones, or epicenters), including Lombardy, the Veneto, and other regions.
Covid-19, nuove regole: evitare ogni spostamento nelle zone colpite.
(Covid -19, new rules: avoid any traveling/moving around in the affected areas).
Let's look at the words in the headline.
This is pretty self-explanatory. The two words are similar to their English counterparts: the adjective nuovo (new) and the noun la regola. In this case, it is a feminine noun in the plural — le regole. The adjective nuovo has to agree with the noun, so its "o" ending changes to "e" the feminine plural ending.
...usare i pronomi relativi "quale" e "quali",
...to use the relative pronouns "quale" and "quali,"
per evitare possibili ambiguità.
to avoid possible ambiguities.
Captions 7-8, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Pronomi relativi
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This easy, common, and useful adjective never changes. it's worth looking up in your dictionary of choice because it can be used in such a variety of ways. One common expression is ogni tanto (every now and then).
E ogni tanto, però, parlavamo di cose serie.
And every now and then, though, we talked about serious things.
Caption 32, Silvana e Luciano - Il nostro incontro
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In the headline, of course, we are talking about "each and every." In other words, "Avoid unnecessary travel." "Avoid all cases of moving around the area."
This interesting noun comes from the verb spostare, also an interesting word. It's interesting because there is no specific equivalent in English, yet once you learn it in Italian, you'll wonder how you could do without it. Did you detect another word inside the verb spostare? Yes, it's posto, the noun, il posto (the place, the position, the location). So spostare, with its telltale "s" prefix, means to take something away from its place. And it can be used reflexively when you are the one moving yourself away from a place. What a wonderful verb! Usually, we use the verb "to move" to translate spostare, but sometimes it's "to shift," "to re-locate," "to transfer," "to move around." In short, if you live in the zona rossa (red zone) you should move around the area as little as possible.
Il verbo "andare" indica uno spostamento verso un luogo
The verb “andare” indicates a movement towards a place,
ed è seguito da diverse preposizioni
and is followed by various prepositions,
a seconda del nome che lo segue.
according to the noun that follows it.
Captions 31-33, Marika spiega - I verbi venire e andare
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This is an easy noun with a "friendly" English cognate. Just remember that the original noun is la zona. Zone is plural. La zona is often translated with "the area."
This past participle comes from the verb colpire (to hit, to affect, to make an impression on). Since it's a headline, all the little words that tell you it's a past participle are missing:
Le zone che sono state colpite (the zones that were hit). Colpire can have literal and figuarative meanings of different kinds.
Poi un'altra cosa che mi ha colpito molto
Then, another thing that made a strong impression
è che io vengo da una terra dove l'acqua è un bene prezioso,
on me was that I come from a land where water is a precious resource,
non ce n'è molta.
there isn't much of it.
Captions 43-45, Gianni si racconta - Chi sono
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In the headline, the connotation of colpire is "to affect."
Let's have just a quick look at some of the other rules:
Divieto assoluto di uscire dalla propria abitazione per chi è sottoposto alla quarantena o è risultato positivo al virus.
If you have been quarantined or if you have tested positive to the virus, you must not leave your home.
The verb vietare (to prohibit, to ban) and the noun il divieto (the ban) are related.
Ma cos'è questo fumo?
But, what is this smoke?
Hm. -Perché mi guarda così?
Uhm. -Why are you looking at me like that?
Perché qui è vietato fumare.
Because here smoking is prohibited.
Captions 20-22, Psicovip - Il fulmine
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Stop is pretty clear! In the explanation that follows the rule, however, the Italian word sospesi (suspended) is used.
Sono sospesi gli eventi e le competizioni sportive di ogni ordine e disciplina... (sporting events and competitions on every level and of every kind have been suspended...)
Favorire congedo ordinario o ferie (encourage leaves of absence and vacation days).
Favorire is another verb that is partly a true cognate, but often means "to encourage," "to foster."
Chiuso (closed) is pretty clear —from the verb chiudere (to close).
These same rules have been applied to museums, gyms, spas, ski resorts, and many other centers.
The list goes on, but we have covered some of the important rules here and the vocabulary associated with them.
Further vocabulary to know regarding the virus:
Things are tough for Italians (and many others!) right now. Besides the virus itself, everyday life has become complicated for lots of folks. Those of us who work remotely feel fortunati (lucky) to be able to do our jobs in a normal way, but we might have kids underfoot who would ordinarily be in school! If everyone cooperates, taking the right precautions, hopefully, we can beat this thing.
La speranza è l'ultima a morire (hope is the last to die — hope springs eternal).
If you have heard or read things in Italian about the virus that you aren't able to understand, let us know and we'll try to help. Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com
When speaking in neutral terms about how long something takes, we can use the verb volere. We might say, for example:
Ci vuole poco tempo per andare dalla stazione in centro (it doesn't take much time to go from the train station to the center of town).
We can add a personal pronoun (ti = you in this case) to make it more personal:
Ti vorranno cinque minuti per andare dalla stazione in centro (it will take you five minutes to go from the train station to the center of town).
We talk about the pronominal verb volerci in a previous lesson, so check it out.
We have another way to say something similar with the verb mettere (to put).
This pronominal verb is a bit more personal. We can conjugate it any way we like. It's also a bit easier to grasp. The main verb is mettere (to put). So if we stretch the meaning a bit, we can think of putting in a certain amount of time in order to do something.
With volerci, we may talk about how long it takes to get to the train station — on average. But with metterci, we're talking about how long it takes a certain person to do something.
Non capisco come mai ci metti tanto ad arrivare.
I don't understand how come you're taking so long to get here.
Caption 8, Marika spiega Come - Part 2
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OK. Cerca di non metterci una vita però, eh.
OK. Try not to put in a whole life (to take all day), though, huh.
Caption 60, Provaci ancora prof! S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale - Part 23
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So if I am late for a meeting, I might say:
C'ho messo un sacco di tempo per parcheggiare (it took me a long time to park).
For more about the verb mettere (to put) see this lesson. For more on how pronominal verbs work, see this lesson. For more about the particle ci, used in both volerci and metterci see this lesson.
It seems like there's no end to the uses of the little particle ci. We've done several lessons on it, and here we are again.
As we have seen in previous lessons, ci can mean various things and often has to do with reflexive and reciprocal verbs. It can also be an indirect pronoun that incorporates its preposition within it, and it can be attached to a verb or detached from it. Whew!
This time, we are talking about a pronominal verb — the kind of verb that has pronouns and particles connected to it that change the meaning of the verb. In this case, the particle is ci.
With the pronominal verb volerci, we're talking about the amount of something that's necessary to carry something out — time, money, courage, ingredients, attitudes, etc. In the following example, pazienza (patience) is the substance and molto (a lot) is how much you need of it. One way we can translate volerci is "to be necessary," "to be needed," "to be required." Of course, in everyday conversation, we often use "it takes" or "you need," in English, to express this idea.
Ci vuole molta pazienza
You need a lot of patience [a lot of patience is necessary].
It takes a lot of patience.
A lot of patience is required.
Caption 25, Professioni e mestieri - Belle Arti -Tecniche di decorazione
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One very important feature of this particular pronominal verb is that it is always in the third person and can be either singular or plural. If we are talking about "patience" as in the previous example, it's singular. If we're talking about ore (hours), as in the following example, it's plural.
Quante ore ci vogliono per andare da Roma a Milano?
How many hours does it take to go from Rome to Milan?
How many hours are necessary to go from Rome to Milan?
Caption 17, Marika spiega - La particella NE
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We can use it in the negative:
Non ci vuole l'articolo in singolare. In plurale ritorno a volere l'articolo.
You don't need the article in the singular. In the plural I go back to needing the article.
The article is not necessary in the singular.
Captions 20-21, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Aggettivi Possessivi
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If in translating volerci, we use the passive voice, we can match it up as far as singular and plural go, and it might make better sense to us.
I pinoli, che sono davvero speciali
The pine nuts, which are really special,
e ci vogliono i pinoli italiani, ovviamente.
and Italian pine nuts are required, obvously.
Captions 50-51, L'Italia a tavola - Il pesto genovese
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Although volerci is always in the third person, we often translate it into English with the first or second person: "I/we need" or "you need."
Volerci is very popular in the expression:
Non ci voleva (it would have been better if that hadn't happened, I really didn't need that, that's all I needed).
That's what you say when, say, one bad thing happens after another.
Volerci can also be used as an expression of relief when something good happens. It's like saying, "That's just what the doctor ordered."
A Dixieland ci si diverte con poco e nulla
At Dixieland one has fun with next to nothing
e un numero di magica magia
and a number with magical magic
era proprio quel che ci voleva
was exactly what was needed
per chiudere in bellezza la festa.
to conclude the party nicely.
Captions 30-33, Dixieland - La magia di Tribo
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Another fun way to use volerci is when you want to say, "How hard can it be?"
Che ci vuole (how hard can it be)?
Le mucche muggiscono. -Embè?
The cows are mooing. -So what?
Vanno munte.
They have to be milked.
Ahi. -Scusa, scusa, scusa, scusa.
Ow! -Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.
-Sei sicura?
Are you sure?
-E sì, che ci vuole?
-Yeah, how hard could it be?
L'avrò visto mille volte su National Geographic.
I must have seen it a thousand times on National Geographic.
Captions 37-42, Sei mai stata sulla luna? - film
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We hope you have a bit more insight into this supremely common and useful pronominal verb (verb+pronoun+preposition all in one).
If you found this lesson helpful, you might very well say, Ci voleva! (that's exactly what I needed!).
We must also mention that not every time you see volerci (conjugated or in the infinitive) will it mean what we have set out to describe in this lesson. Since, at the outset, we mentioned that ci has a way of working its way into so many kinds of verbs and phrases, context is key. Little by little you will start distinguishing, but it will take time and practice. Watching Yabla videos will give you tons of examples so you can start sorting out the meanings. And don't forget: When you have a doubt, write it in the comments. Someone will get back to you within a few days. If you have a question or doubt, chances are, someone else will have the same one!
In a coming lesson, we will discuss a similar but unique pronominal verb metterci. Get a head start by watching Daniela's video lesson about both of these pronominal verbs.
A new movie featured on Yabla employs a verb we don't see very often except in particular military or work situations. The use of this verb has inspired us to talk about what we say in Italian when we leave a place, or want someone else to.
Congedare is "to invite somebody to leave": The reflexive form congedarsi is "to ask for and obtain permission to leave." In the following example, a waiter is hanging around a bit too long at the table he is serving. One of the two women having drinks is basically asking him to beat it.
Congedati.
Take your leave.
-E certo... Con permesso.
-Of course... Please excuse me.
Captions 77-78, Sei mai stata sulla luna? - film
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In the following example from a movie about Adriano Olivetti (of typewriter fame), Karen had been in the military, so it was natural for her to use the verb congedarsi.
E come mai è in Italia?
And how come you're in Italy?
-Mi sono congedata.
-I asked to be discharged.
Volevo dedicarmi un po' alla mia vera passione,
I wanted to devote myself a bit to my true passion,
fotografando l'Italia.
photographing Italy.
Captions 51-54, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 16
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If she had resigned from a normal job, she might have said the following, using the reflexive, and therefore the auxiliary essere (to be).
Mi sono licenziata (I quit my job).
If she had been fired, it would have been transitive, not reflexive: Note the use of the auxiliary verb avere (to have).
Mi hanno licenziato (they fired me -- I was fired).
Mi hanno licenziata (they fired me -- I was fired [and I am a woman]).
The noun form congedo is a bit more common than the verb form, especially in reference to a leave of absence or, as in the following example, maternity leave.
E voglio
And I want
che le donne in maternità abbiano un anno intero di congedo.
for women who are pregnant to have a whole year of maternity leave.
Captions 27-28, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 10
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Another word for congedo is aspettativa.
La preside mi ha detto che hai inoltrato la domanda di aspettativa al dipartimento.
The principal told me that you had forwarded the request for a leave of absence to the department.
Caption 49, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E2 - Un amore pericoloso
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Sending someone away with no regard or need for being polite is also common. You can say it with good intentions in the appropriate context, as in the following example:
Sono due giorni che ti porti dietro 'sta [questa] febbre.
It's been two days that you've been carrying around this fever.
-Con questa bella esperienza del camion-frigorifero sicuramente ti è salita,
-With the lovely experience of the refrigerator truck, it's surely risen,
quindi vattene a casa, ci penso io.
so get yourself home, I'll take care of it.
Captions 38-40, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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Vattene is also a way to get rid of someone in a more aggressive, emotional way.
No, sei un bugiardo! Vattene!
No, you're a liar! Get out of here!
Se mi dai il tempo di... -Non ti voglio più vedere.
If you give me the time to... -I don't want to see you again.
Captions 102-103, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema
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Often vattene is expanded to become even stronger: Vattene via! (Go away! Get lost!)
Let's take vattene apart. (Va-[t]te-ne): vai is the informal imperative of the verb andare, but it is often shortened to va'. We could say vai via, but vattene adds 2 more elements. It personalizes it with a sort of reflexive te (you, yourself). In addition, it implies that you should leave the place you are in. That's where the particle ne comes in, to mean "from here." The double T allows you to practically spit the words out and can really get the message across.
This compound verb in the infinitive would be andarsene: With it's connected object pronoun and particle, it's also called a verbo pronominale (pronominal verb — having to do with pronouns). Read about pronominal verbs here.
Andarsene vuol dire andare via da qualche luogo.
"To leave" means "to go away from some venue."
Che maleducato il tuo amico, se n'è andato senza neanche salutarmi.
"How rude your friend is, he went off without even saying goodbye."
Andarsene ha anche il significato di morire.
"To leave" also has the meaning of dying.
Captions 30-33, Marika spiega - Il verbo andare
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And if I am the one leaving, I'll conjugate andarsene in the first person singular:
Me ne vado (I'm leaving [this place], I'll leave).
These are only some of the ways we leave or tell someone to leave. But please don't leave, cari amici di Yabla. Stay tuned for the next lesson!
One of the hardest things to do in a new language is to construct a sentence. Understanding is one thing, but putting words together can be such a challenge.
The good news is that sometimes you don't have to say much to get your idea across. Let's look at some ways to comment on things without actually constructing a sentence. Using che, we can either complain about something: che caldo (how hot it is), or we can be making a compliment: che buono (this is so good).
The magic word is che (that, what, which). We then add the appropriate adjective.
Che bello! Ciao! -Che bello!
How nice! Bye! -How nice!
Captions 75-76, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde
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Ehm, guardate che carino.
Uh, look how pretty.
Caption 23, Professioni e mestieri - Belle Arti -Tecniche di decorazione
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The speaker could have just said, che carino!
Oddio che freddo!
Oh my God it's freezing!
Caption 59, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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We could use the same formula to talk about the heat or the humidity. Actually some of these words can be used as nouns or adjectives.
Che caldo! (How hot it is!)
Che umido (How humid it is)
Sometimes we can add a noun instead of an adjective:
Che facciamo? Il telefono... Anche il mio. -Che sfiga!
What can we do? The telephone... Mine too. -What a bummer!
Captions 37-39, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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E che cavolo!
Hey what the hell?
Caption 22, La Ladra - Ep. 6 - Nero di rabbia
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Che sole (what [bright] sun)!
Che tramonto (what a sunset)!
Che cena (what a [great] dinner)
Che umidità (what humidity)!
Che afa (how muggy it is)!
Che giornata (what a day)!
In some cases, we don't even need to use che.
Strano, perché Eva mi ha detto che è laureata.
Strange, because Eva told me she had a degree.
Caption 50, La Ladra - Ep. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti
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This sentence could have been:
Che strano. Eva mi ha detto che è laureato.
How strange. Eva told me she had a degree.
When we are at the extremes of the adjective spectrum, in other words, when using adjectives in their comparative or superlative form we don't use che, because we are already, in effect, making something superlative, with che. If we want to use the superlative, it's better to go for the adjective all by itself.
We wouldn't say che bellissimo. We would just say bellissimo (very beautiful)!
Che bello says pretty much the same thing.
There are lots of way to talk about things, but it's nice to have an easy, minimalist way, especially if we are beginners, or just having trouble finding the words. Che is a word that is also used with the subjunctive, and therefore might instill a bit of anxiety in learners, but it can also be our friend.
Most folks know that when someone plays a solo, he or she is the main player, also called the soloist. Sometimes a musician plays alone (this is a hint).
You may or may not have realized that solo is an Italian word, 100%. Let's take a look at how it's used in Italian. Because when someone plays a solo in the middle of a song, strangely enough, it's called something else entirely: un assolo (a solo).
Sì. -In un... -Io sono, sono un tenore leggero.
Yes. -In a... -I'm a, I'm a light tenor.
E fai anche dei duetti... -Sì, a volte duetti buffi,
And you also do duets... -Yes, sometimes comic opera duets,
a volte, invece, dei, degli assoli. -Ecco! Ah, no.
sometimes, on the other hand, some, some solos. -There! Ah, no.
Posso sentire prima un assolo e poi, magari, vedo, facciamo un duetto.
Can I first hear a solo, and then, maybe let's see, we'll do a duet.
Captions 101-104, L'Eredità -Quiz TV - La sfida dei sei. Puntata 1
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Solo has to do with being alone. It can mean "on one's own."
Ulisse era un cane anziano, un cane solo.
Ulisse was an old dog, a lone dog.
Caption 12, Andromeda - La storia di Ulisse
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Solo is often preceded by the preposition da (by), making it function sort of like an adverb, answering the question "how," or "in what way," in which case we can translate it with "by oneself," "on one's own," "by itself," or "alone."
Guarda che al cinema ci posso pure andare da sola.
Look, I can perfectly well go to the movies by myself.
Caption 49, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 19
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Guardi, sta arrivando Olivetti.
Look, here comes Olivetti.
Pensava di venire qui con tanti dei suoi
He thought he'd come here with many of his own,
e invece è da solo.
and instead, he's by himself.
Captions 59-60, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 21
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Vuoi un antidolorifico? Ce l'ho.
Do you want a painkiller? I have some.
-No, no, no. Preferisco che mi passi da solo.
-No, no, no. I prefer for it to go away on its own.
-Come vuoi.
-As you like.
Captions 38-40, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro
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Io, la mia strada, me la sono fatta da solo.
I, I've paved my own way [I did it all on my own].
Caption 43, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 9
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But solo is not always preceded by da.
Io... lo... lo conoscevo poco, però,
I... I... I didn't know him very well
nonostante tutte le donne che si vantava di avere,
but despite all the women he bragged about having,
a me sembrava un uomo molto solo.
he seemed like a very lonely man to me.
Captions 40-41, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP5 - Mondo sommerso
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In this case, it means "lonely." It's not always clear if someone is lonely or alone. But if we ad da — da solo, then it is clear it means "alone," not "lonely." We can also say "to feel alone" or "to feel lonely." Sentirsi solo.
Solo can be an adjective meaning "only" — which rhymes with "lonely," and in Italian it's the same word.
Non è il solo motivo per cui mi oppongo.
It's not the only reason I object.
Caption 41, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 1
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Vedi, Alessio, quando mio padre venne qui e fondò questa fabbrica,
You see, Alessio, when my father came here and founded this plant,
qui intorno c'erano solo campi di grano.
there were only wheat fields around here.
Captions 17-18, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 13
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Cioè, penso solo al fatto che tu non ci sia più, Martino.
I mean, I can only think about the fact that you're no longer here, Martino.
Caption 3, Chi m'ha visto - film
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In English, we often say "just" to mean the same thing.
Magari! Ma quanto mi costa? Adesso spara la cifra.
If only! But how much will it cost me? Now he'll name the price.
-Io non voglio parlare di danaro, io voglio solo aiutarla.
-I don't want to talk about money. I just want to help you.
Captions 37-38, La Ladra - Ep. 4 - Una magica bionda
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It's typical for someone to say, è solo che... (it's just that...) to minimize something, or to say "but."
Eh, è solo che ho bisogno di un prestito.
Huh, it's just that I need a loan.
Caption 10, La Ladra - Ep. 1 - Le cose cambiano
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Another context in which we hear solo is when we want to say, "And that's not all!"
E non solo. Nella salina Moranella,
And not only that [and that's not all]. In the Moranella salt pan,
un momento magico, veramente, è la raccolta del fior di sale.
a magical moment, really, is the harvesting of "fleur de sel."
Captions 52-53, La rotta delle spezie di Franco Calafatti - Il sale
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When you need to keep someone waiting for a moment, or you are passing the phone to someone else, you can say:
Un momento solo (just a moment).
Un instante solo (just a moment).
We hope this lesson has given you some insight into the very common and important word solo. Don't forget that you can do a search of this word (and any other one) and see all the contexts right there on the video page. Look at where solo falls in the sentence and read the sentence to yourself. Get a feel for this word.
This week's segment of Sposami happens to have several idiomatic expressions that are worth looking at.
In the following example, the verb rompere (to break) is used, together with the direct object scatole (boxes). This is a euphemism, a polite way to say palle (balls). Although it is very easy for Italians to have the more vulgar expression on the tip of the tongue, they will avoid it in polite company, and will use scatole instead of palle.
Bruna ha il marito in cassa integrazione
Bruna's husband has been laid off
e fa di tutto anche lei per farsi licenziare
and she's trying her best to get fired,
rompendo le scatole in continuazione con rivendicazioni sindacali.
as well by pestering us [breaking our balls] constantly with union demands.
Captions 13-15, Sposami - EP 1 - Part 4
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If you don't know it's a euphemism, the expression makes little sense, but it's also handy to know that you can just use the verb rompere and the message will get across, all the same, guaranteed, cento percento (100%).
Oh, ma hai finito di rompere?
Oh, but have you finished bugging me?
Caption 30, Ma che ci faccio qui! - Un film di Francesco Amato
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You can just say when someone is pestering you,
Non rompere! (Don't bother me!)
The noun form is used a lot, too, to describe someone who keeps pestering you.
È un vero rompiscatole (he/she is a real pain).
This next idiom has interesting origins. Of course, you don't need to know its origins to use the expression. You do need to know that when a relationship becomes strained, and is on the verge of a rupture, you may well be ai ferri corti. If you are thinking in Italian, you can imagine the scene of two people no longer speaking to each other, or if they do speak, whatever they say is misconstrued, and sparks fly. You're dangerously close to the breaking point. If you watch the movie Sposami on Yabla, you'll get the picture!
Lo so che siete ai ferri corti, non me ne importa niente.
I know that you are at loggerheads. That doesn't matter to me.
Caption 27, Sposami - EP 1 - Part 4
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When we have to translate ai ferri corti, it's a bit trickier. We have to go to a word we no longer use much: Loggerheads. To be at loggerheads. A log is a thick piece of wood, and indeed "loggerhead" once meant "blockhead," as in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, act IV, scene IV [i.e. 3]: "Ah you whoreson loggerhead, you were born to do me shame."
And later, "loggerhead" meant an iron instrument with a long handle and a ball or bulb at the end (thus the name), used, when heated in the fire, for melting pitch and for heating liquids. This makes sense with the Italian ferri, as we are talking about iron tools or possibly weapons. Think of a blacksmith's tools. We can imagine that this tool used to melt pitch, if short, will be very, very hot. Or we can think of the sword and the dagger, also made of ferro (iron). When our swords are broken or gone, and we're using daggers, we are dangerously close. In any case, the conflict has gotten dangerously heated.
Perché lo conosco, lui ha una capacità nel rivoltare le frittate
Because I know him. He's very capable of flipping omelets [turning the tables]
che non ci puoi credere.
like you wouldn't believe.
Captions 36-37, Sposami - EP 1 - Part 4
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A popular quick meal for Italians is the frittata. The word has gained popularity even in English, but for those unfamiliar with it, it's the Italian version of an omelet, but usually flatter and less fluffy than the French kind, and often containing finely chopped vegetables and grated Parmesan cheese.
You have to flip the frittata over to get it cooked on both sides.
When you twist the argument, you're flipping it. You were to blame, but you twist things in such a way that it looks like the other person is at fault. Literally, it is flipping a situation around to be in one's favor despite not being in the right. We can also translate it with "to turn the tables."
There are a few other variations of this expression:
rovesciare la frittata (turn the frittata over)
rigirare la frittata (flip the omelet over again)
girare la frittata (flip the omelet)
But they all mean basically the same thing.
One of the most basic things we need to know as we venture into the world of speaking Italian is how to ask about a word we don't understand.
There are a couple of ways to do this.
One way is to use a verb we can easily understand, even though we don't use its English equivalent the same way, or very often in conversation. The Italian is significare. It kind of looks like "signify." Of course, in English, we would sooner use the adjective "significant" or the adverb "significantly."
Cosa significa (what does it mean)?
"Pilazza" in italiano significa "vasca di pietra" o "lavatoio";
"Pilazza," in Italian, means "stone tub" or "washhouse."
è il posto in cui, anticamente,
It's the place where, in earlier times,
venivano i cittadini di Mazara del Vallo a fare il bucato.
the citizens of Mazara del Vallo would come to do the laundry.
Captions 15-17, In giro per l'Italia - Mazara Del Vallo - Sicilia
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And if we want the noun form, it's il significato (the meaning, the significance).
Questo è un ottimo esercizio per ripassare alcune parole del video e il loro significato.
This is a good exercise for reviewing some words from the video and their meaning.
Caption 49, Italian Intro - Serena
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We can ask: Qual è il significato (what's the meaning)?
The more common way to ask what something means is a bit more complex at first: We need 2 verbs to say it, but it's easy to say, and once you master it you will be all set.
The first verb is volere (to want). This is a very useful but tricky verb, as it is actually two verbs in one: It's a stand-alone transitive verb, as in:
Voglio una macchina nuova (I want a new car).
We can also translate it as "to desire."
Volere is also a modal verb, basically meaning "to want to." The main thing to know about a modal verb is that it's followed by a verb in the infinitive, or rather it goes together with a verb in the infinitive, and can't stand alone. Just like some verbs in English, such as "to get," volere has meanings that go beyond "to want to." And just like "to get" in English, volere can pair up with other verbs to take on a new meaning.
In the case of asking what something means, we add a second verb, in the infinitive: dire (to say).
You know how in English we always say, "I mean..."? Well, Italians do this too, but they say, Voglio dire... (I mean to say, I mean).
Bene, forse è ancora in tempo.
Good, maybe there's still time for you.
Prima che distrugga anche la sua famiglia, voglio dire.
Before he destroys your family as well, I mean.
Captions 10-11, La Ladra - Ep. 2 - Viva le spose
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The difference between "I mean to say" and "I mean" is minimal, right? If we take this one step further and put it into the third person singular, it's vuole dire, which commonly gets shortened to vuol dire. And there we have it. It means "it means."
Of course, it could also mean "he means" or "she means," but more often than not it means "it means."
Uso il termometro
I use the thermometer
e misuro la mia temperatura.
and I measure my temperature.
Se è superiore a trentasette e mezzo, vuol dire che ho la febbre.
And if it's above thirty-seven and a half (centigrade), it means that I have a fever.
Captions 25-27, Marika spiega - Il raffreddore
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Marika could also have said, Significa che ho la febbre (it means I have a fever).
Here's one way to ask what a word means:
Nell'ottocentocinquanta, i Saraceni gli diedero il nome di Rabat.
In eight hundred fifty, the Saracens gave it the name of Rabat.
Cioè, sai pure l'arabo ora?
So, do you even know Arabic now?
E che vuol dire Rabat? -Borgo.
And what does Rabat mean? -Village.
Captions 8-10, Basilicata Turistica - Non me ne voglio andare
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The answer is: Rabat vuol dire "borgo". "Rabat" means "village."
So when asking what a word means, we can either use cosa (what) or just che (what), which is a bit more colloquial.
Cosa vuol dire (what does it mean)?
Che vuol dire (what does it mean)?
If you are absolutely desperate, just say: Vuol dire... (that means...)? You'll get the message across.
Some learners like to know why we say what we say. It helps them remember. Others do better just memorizing how to say something and not worrying about the "why." Whatever works is the right way for you. We all learn in different ways, for sure. And if you need to know more, just ask. We at Yabla are pretty passionate about language and are happy to share the passion. This lesson, as a matter of fact, came about because a learner had trouble grasping why we use the verb "to want" when talking about the meaning of something. We hope that this has helped discover the underlying connection.
Ciao!
In this week's episode of La Ladra, Eva uses a word that is hard to guess the meaning of, at least at first glance, or first hearing.
Allora. -No, ragazze,
So. -No girls.
non ricominciamo con la solfa
Let's not get started again with the same old tune
succo d'acero sì, succo d'acero no.
about maple syrup yes, maple syrup no.
Per favore.
Please.
Captions 52-54, La Ladra - Ep. 10 - Un ignobile ricatto
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A look at the dictionary reveals some interesting information. Solfa is the ancient word for sofleggio (solfége). Solfa comes from the names of two notes: sol (G) and fa (F). Solfeggio was and is a way to facilitate reading music using syllables representing the notes. Some languages, such French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, adopted the syllables as note names, do/ut re mi fa sol la si, while Germanic languages and English adopted the letters of the alphabet to name the notes, a system that actually came before the use of syllables. We can imagine how much confusion this might cause today when musicians from different countries are trying to rehearse together.
Here are the equivalents:
Many of us might have seen the 1965 movie, The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. In it, the seven von Trapp children learn to sing using these syllables. Before becoming a movie, The Sound of Music was a hugely successful Broadway musical, which opened in 1959. The song about singing became so famous that, in America in the early '60s, kids would play the tune on their "Symphonettes" or "Flutophones" (cheap, plastic, recorder-like wind instruments for kids) in elementary-school music lessons.
The song uses homophones (commonly called "homonyms") to make it easier to remember the names of the syllables. Listen and watch a clip from the movie here.
Doe (do) a deer a female dear
Ray (re) a drop of golden sun
and so on.
For musicians learning Italian, the names of the notes are important, in fact, essential. Watch Alessio as he tells the story about these syllables.
In Italia, anche in Francia, in paesi latini...
In Italy, also in France, in Latin countries...
si sono basati, per i nomi delle note,
they based them on, for the names of the notes,
su il famoso "do", "re", "mi", "fa", "sol", "la", "si", le sette note.
on the famous "do," "re," "mi," " fa," "sol," "la," "si," the seven notes.
Captions 20-22, A scuola di musica - con Alessio
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Getting back to La Ladra, Eva, in the same sentence, also makes a connection with a song that became famous at San Remo in the '90s, called "La Terra dei Cachi" (the land of persimmons) written and performed by Elio e le Storie Tese. The refrain is "Italian sì, Italia no." The song was subsequently adopted as the theme song for an Italian talk show "Italia sì Italia no."
If you can't watch the video, you can find the lyrics here in Italian and English:
Italiano sì? Italiano no? Italiano sì!
In many places in the world, it's winter. There are no leaves on the trees. They're barren. Seeing the bare branches has brought to mind some thoughts about one Italian adjective for this: spoglio.
Di inverno le foglie appassiscono e gli alberi sono spogli.
In the winter, the leaves dry up and the trees are bare.
One word leads to another! It even leads to getting undressed.
Italian words that end in "io" often come from Latin, where the word might end in ium. In fact there is a Latin noun "spolium": the skin or hide of an animal stripped off; Over time, this came to refer to the arms or armor stripped from a defeated enemy:
booty, prey, spoil.
We can make a connection with a tree that has been stripped of its leaves.
We can also see a connection between "the spoils" in English and "spolium" or the derivative "spoglia" in Latin.
Another related Latin word is "spoliarium" referring to the basement of the Roman Colosseum where the fallen and dying gladiators were dumped and stripped of their worldly possessions.
Nowadays, the feminine plural le spoglie is used to indicate the remains of animals or humans when they have died.
Ma che senso ha mettere le spoglie
But what sense is there in putting the remains
di due persone nella stessa bara?
of two people in the same coffin?
Caption 62, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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Although talking about dead bodies is pretty gruesome, it gives us insight into some very common words you will hear if you go to the doctor, to the gym, or anywhere where you might take off your clothes. Some places have an appropriate room where you can change and take a shower, which in English, we might call the locker room or shower room. Lo spogliatoio (and often indicated as such on the door) will typically be in a gym, at a pool, a hospital or doctor's office, or, as in the example below, a workplace.
Chi ha aggiustato la porta dello spogliatoio?
Who fixed the changing room door?
Caption 30, La Ladra - Ep. 3 - L'oro dello squalo
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When you change clothes, first you have to get undressed. In Italian, the verb is reflexive: spogliarsi. We've come a long way from the Roman Colosseum.
Andiamo a casa tua.
Let's go to your house.
A casa?
My house?
Non ti vorrai spogliare in mezzo alla strada?
You don't want to undress in the middle of the road, do you?
Captions 52-54, La Ladra - Ep. 4 - Una magica bionda
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Can you come up with another way to say the same thing? [answer at the bottom of the page]
In the following example, there is no spogliatoio at this doctor's office. The couple is not an actual couple and they are pretty embarrassed. La Tempesta is a wonderful movie on Yabla, by the way, set in a ceramics factory in Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy.
Certo.
Of course.
Adesso, siccome siamo un po' in ritardo, vi inviterei a spogliarvi.
Now, since we're a bit late, I invite you to get undressed.
Vi visito insieme, d'accordo?
I'll examine you together, all right?
Ci sono problemi?
Are there any problems?
No, no, no. -No.
No, no, no. -No.
Captions 7-10, La Tempesta - film
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The doctor is being very polite, but if he ordered them to get undressed, what would he say? [answer at bottom of page]
Now here's a little scene in a refrigerator truck.
A questa temperatura, con i vestiti inzuppati,
At this temperature, with sopping wet clothes,
in nove minuti il sangue diventa ghiaccio.
in nine minutes blood turns to ice.
Ah, adesso che lo so mi sento meglio!
Ah, now that I know it, I feel better!
Senti, spogliati.
Listen, strip down.
Eh? -Spogliati!
Huh? -Strip down!
Ah, bel modo di morire, sì... -Piantala!
Ah, nice way to die, yes... -Quit it!
L'unico modo per combattere l'ipotermia
The only way to fight hypothermia
è togliersi i vestiti e sommare il calore corporeo di entrambi.
is to take off our clothes and sum up the body heat of both of us.
Captions 48-55, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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You can also undress another person. In this case, it's not reflexive.
Dai Carlo vai, vai, spogliala, vasala [sic], spogliala!
Come on Carlo, go on, go on, undress her, kiss her [sic], undress her!
Caption 11, Trailer - Paparazzi
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La gente della notte fa lavori strani
The people of the night do weird jobs
Certi nascono oggi e finiscono domani
Some start up today and end tomorrow
Baristi, spacciatori, puttane e giornalai
Baristas, drug dealers, hookers, and newsdealers
Poliziotti, travestiti, gente in cerca di guai
Cops, transvestites, people looking for trouble
Padroni di locali, spogliarelliste, camionisti
Bar owners, strippers, truckers,
Metronotte, ladri e giornalisti
Night watchmen, thieves, and journalists
Captions 23-28, Radio Deejay - Lorenzo Jovanotti - Gente della notte
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⇒Answers:
Andiamo a casa tua. A casa? Non vorrai spogliarti in mezzo alla strada?
Certo. -Adesso, siccome siamo un po' in ritardo, spogliatevi. Vi visito insieme, d'accordo? Ci sono problemi? No, no, no. -No.
To get more information about a topic talked about in a lesson, for example, the reflexive touche on here, go to the lessons tab and do a search, such as: reflexive. The lessons where the reflexive is mentioned will be there, one after the other.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The verb or the noun? Does it matter? No, it doesn't really matter in speaking Italian, but knowing the verb a noun comes from, or the noun a verb comes from can sometimes help us figure out a word we don't know. Or, it can help us remember a new word. In the case of the words discussed in this lesson, we start with a noun.
Il poggio the noun is likely less well-known than the verbs that stem from it. A little research on the etymology tells us that poggio comes from the Latin noun "podium" — a raised platform. Hey! We know the word "podium" in English! Poggio is synonymous with colle or collina (hill), but often refers to a rather small, rounded hill — perhaps a podium-shaped hill, like a bluff...
Sorge isolata su di un poggio la chiesa di Santa Maria a Mevale,
Emerging on a bluff is the remote church of Santa Maria in Mevale
costruita nell'undicesimo secolo in stile romanico,
built in the eleventh century in the Romanesque style,
in cui spicca un portale rinascimentale e il portico a cinque arcate.
in which a Renaissance portal and a five-arch portico stand out.
Captions 1-3, Itinerari Della Bellezza - Umbria
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An expression Tuscans like to use is: poggio e buca fan pari (hill and hole come out even).
Fan is short for fanno (they make).
poggio=salita (hill = climb)
buca=discesa (hole = descent)
salita + discesa = pianura (uphill + downhill = flatland)
There are places that take their name from the noun poggio. They are usually on a hill.
A very famous town (with a famous villa) near Florence is called Poggio a Caiano and one of our Yabla videos takes place in a town called Poggiofiorito (flowering hills):
Scusami, ma c'ho avuto il trasloco da Poggiofiorito e ho fatto male i calcoli.
I'm sorry, but I've moved to Poggiofiorito and didn't gauge it well.
Caption 27, Un medico in famiglia - S1 EP1 - Casa nuova
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You can go a long time in Italy without hearing the noun poggio, but the verbs that come from this noun are much more common. Sometimes verbs are made from nouns by simply adding a verb ending such as -are, -ire, or -ere.
Poggiare certainly exists as a verb. It means "to place."
Marika uses this verb when describing how she stays safe as she looks out from her balcony.
Per affacciarmi al balcone, io poggio le mani sulla ringhiera.
To look out from the balcony, I place my hands on the railing.
Caption 13, Marika spiega - Il balcone
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But appoggiare also exists. In this case the prefix a has been added, with the conventional doubling of the first consonant in the original noun. Appoggiare is a more complex verb and has several literal and figurative meanings. Appoggiare is more about support, about leaning, propping. Think of a ladder you prop against a wall. In the following example, Manara uses it reflexively.
E le impronte sul furgone come le spieghi?
And the fingerprints on the truck, how can you explain them?
Mi ci sono appoggiato così, per caso.
I leaned on it, just like that, by chance.
È reato?
Is that a crime?
Captions 57-59, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro
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And here, Anna, who is talking about her new baby, uses the verb appoggiare three times in the same sentence!
Un altro regalo molto utile che ho avuto dal papà è questo.
Another very useful gift that I had from dad [the baby's dad], is this.
È il cuscino da allattamento,
It's a nursing cushion.
ed è utile perché lo utilizzi sia quando allatti,
And it's useful because you use it both when you nurse,
te lo appoggi qui e non fai fatica con le braccia mentre allatti,
you rest it here, and your arms don't get tired while you nurse,
che per appoggiare il bambino,
and for laying the baby on,
che si appoggia qui come un principino e sta molto comodo.
who leans back here like a little prince and is very comfortable.
Captions 42-47, Anna presenta - La gravidanza
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Rather than using the more general mettere (to put) appoggiare is used to mean "to put down" or "to set down." We could also say "lay something down," implying a certain gentleness.
Posso entrare?
May I come in?
Sì, ecco, ecco.
Yes, here we go, here we go.
Uè, Ada... grazie. Appoggialo pure là, va. -Luca!
Hey Ada... thanks. Go ahead and set it down over there, go ahead. -Luca!
Captions 4-6, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola
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If you play music, you might have heard of the term "appoggiatura": a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time. Now you know where it comes from!
And now we come back to a noun that comes from the verb that comes from the noun. Just like in English, "support" is both a noun and a verb.
In the following example, it's used in a physical way.
Mezzo passo avanti, sbilanci l'avversario
A half a step forward, get the opponent off balance,
e via la gamba d'appoggio.
and away with the supporting leg.
Captions 24-25, L'oro di Scampia - film
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But it can also be figurative.
Proprio perché uomini di sinistra,
Precisely because men of the left,
noi stiamo facendo una battaglia in Parlamento,
we're waging battle in Parliament,
abbiamo anche avuto l'appoggio del ministro Brambilla.
we've even had the support of minister Brambilla.
Captions 48-49, Animalisti Italiani - Walter Caporale
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We've gone from the Latin noun "podium" to the ups and downs of Tuscan hills, to propping up a baby, setting down a tray, to playing music, to judo, and to politics. Whew!
If you play or listen to classical music, you will have seen the indication presto on a playlist, tracklist, concert program, or score. It usually means the music should go fast. The fastest tempo you might see is prestissimo (very fast).
But there are two other, more mundane, meanings of presto, and they're both pretty important in everyday conversation.
Presto is not the only way to say "early," and it depends on the context, but it's a very important way. One way we use presto almost every day is in talking about our daily schedule. When do we get up? Presto (early)? Non troppo presto (not too early)? Molto presto (very early)? Prestissimo (super early)?
Eh, giusto. -Noi, per esempio, cuciniamo tutti insieme,
Uh, right. -We, for example, we all cook together,
mangiamo tutti insieme, la sera dormiamo tutti nello stesso letto,
we eat all together, at night we all sleep in the same bed,
poi andiamo a ballare, facciamo baldoria,
then we go dancing, we have a blast,
e la mattina ci svegliamo presto per andare all'università.
and in the morning we wake up early to go to the university.
Captions 34-37, Serena - vita da universitari
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Ma Dante non ha detto dove andava?
But didn't Dante say where he was going?
No. È arrivato presto, poi ha fatto una telefonata, è uscito.
No. He came early, then he made a phone call. He went out.
Captions 32-33, Marika commenta -La Ladra - Espressioni idiomatiche - Part 3
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We can qualify presto with molto (very) or troppo (too):
Dovrei consegnare questi documenti al Dottor Del Serio.
I should deliver these documents to Doctor Del Serio.
Ma è troppo presto, sta dormendo.
But it's too early. He's sleeping.
Captions 27-28, La Tempesta - film - Part 19
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Everyone has their own idea of what "early" is and there are some sfumature (nuances), too. In the following example, we have presto, prestissimo and prestino.
Senti, non è che domattina presto
Listen, tomorrow morning early,
potresti accompagnarmi dai genitori di una mia allieva?
you wouldn't take me, would you, to the parents' house of one of my students?
Sì, sì. Presto quanto?
Yes, yes. How early?
Eh, be', be', non prestissimo, però un po' prestino.
Oh well, well, not real early, but earlyish.
Captions 26-29, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale - Part 23
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If you have been reading the Yabla Italian newsletters, you will have seen the sign-off at the end:
a presto, literally, "until soon," but commonly translated as "[I'll] see you soon".
Allora a presto, caro, eh?! -A presto.
So, see you soon dear, OK? -See you soon.
Ciao. -Arrivederci, signora. -Ciao, Giovanni, ciao. Ciao.
Bye. -Goodbye ma'am. -Bye Giovanni, bye. Bye.
Captions 28-30, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena - Part 4
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Here's a little telephone conversation about starting a new job. The way we form the comparative and superlative of adjectives is with più (more). The presence of the definite article indicates it's in the superlative.
Ti andrebbe bene cominciare già domani?
Would it be all right with you to start tomorrow?
-Sì, certo, non c'è problema.
-Yes, of course. That's no problem.
Voglio mettermi al lavoro il più presto possibile.
I want to get to work as soon as possible.
Domani è perfetto. -Molto bene.
Tomorrow is perfect. -Very good.
Captions 17-21, Italiano commerciale - Cominciare un nuovo lavoro
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Note that we have two similar but different ways to say "as soon as possible." One way is in the previous example, il più presto possibile. The other common way is in the following example, where we have the preposition a (at, too, until): al più presto. In this case, we don't add possibile.
Sei riuscita a vedere che c'è nella valigetta?
Did you manage to see what's in the briefcase?
Un mucchio di soldi. Dobbiamo agire al più presto, OK?
A bunch of money. We have to act as soon as possible, OK?
Captions 40-41, La Ladra - EP. 8 - Il momento giusto
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It can be just the single word, said with urgency:
Mi sa che è della polizia!
I think she's from the police!
Professoressa, andiamo. Andiamo, che è gente pericolosa!
Prof, let's go, let's go because they're dangerous people!
Sbrigatevi! Presto! Forza, prof! Forza!
Hurry up! Quickly! Come on, Prof! Come on!
Captions 23-27, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale - Part 13
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Presto means fast, even though, in the following example, that's not how it's translated. This is because it's part of an idiomatic expression: si fa presto a dire, which, taken literally, means "Saying it is done quickly," or "We can be quick to say..."
Si fa presto a dire Europa.
It's easy to say "Europe."
Il termine è una costruzione dello spirito,
The term is a construction of the spirit,
derivata da una realtà geografica mal definita.
derived from a poorly-defined geographical entity.
Captions 1-3, Umberto Eco - Proust e l'identità europea
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Sometimes it's hard to decide if presto means "fast," "soon," or "early." It may be a combination, like in the following example, where a fire has started in a film lab.
Guarda là, è la Cine Service, sta bruciando.
Look over there. It's the Cine Service. It's burning.
Sì, alla Cine Service. Fate presto. C'è nessuno?
Yes, at the Cine Service. Come quickly. Anyone here?
Captions 26-29, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena - Part 8
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Generally speaking, fare presto means "to be quick," or "to do something quickly."
Facciamo presto, che tra poco torna il [sic: la] signora Franca.
Let's be quick, because in a little while, Missus Franca is set to return.
Caption 2, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema - Part 3
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We hope you have gained some insight into how "fast," "early," and "soon" can be intertwined in the Italian adverb presto.
A presto!