Did you know that...? (Lo sapevi che...?)
1: Italian words can be either masculine or feminine but there are some strange oddities. MURO (m) means "wall". In the plural form if you are talking about the walls of a house it is " I muri" (m) but if you are building your walls around your city then your walls will be feminine ie "Le mura"
2: Accents on the end of words are used often in Italian but are always on vowels. An accent can make of all the difference!!
Pero is a pear tree.
Però is a conjunction meaning however.
Let's look at this sentence.
C’è un pero in fondo al giardino però non produce pere.
There is a pear tree at the bottom of the garden however it does not produce pears
3: In 2002 Italy adopted the Euro and said goodbye to the Italian Lira. However, they still use the word Lira in speech. When an Italian has no money he/she will often say “Sono senza una Lira” !!!
4: Often, many words can be guessed when you see them written in Italian, but there are also many words which aren’t what they seem, often referred to as "false friends" (falsi amici). Here are a couple which are often incorrectly translated.
a: Argomento is NOT an argument but a “topic”. If you are looking for an argument then you must look for a “discussione” or “disputa”.
b: If you read a “Novella” you will be reading a short story, if you want a novel then you must ask for a “romanzo”.
5: Spaghetti as we all know is a type of pasta (probably the favourite amongst the Italians themselves). However the word spaghetto also exists but is rarely used because it refers to one single strand of the pasta which hopefully you will never be served.
6: Tavolo or Tavola? There is often confusion about these two words. The male form of the word "tavolo" refers to the piece of furniture, but when it is set for a meal it becomes a female table so to speak!! ie Tavola.
Therefore when you want to book a table at a restaurant you need to say " Vorrei prenotare una tavola". It is also the reason we may order "vino da tavola".
Se vuoi dirlo a me, DIMMELO in italiano !!!
