| Subject | Date Asked |
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| Using the Impersonal | 11/21/2009 |
Q: In an online class recently I was instructed that for the impersonal construction one uses the ...
A: Lucille, here's how it works gramatically: 1. In questo ristorante, si mangia della pizza ...
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| Re : Compound noun phrase | 10/26/2009 |
Q: Recently, I came across the following interesting piece of syntax : "La confezione sottovuoto ...
A: Clive, I would say that either your explanation is correct or the package inscription is incorrect. ...
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| translation for tattoo | 8/29/2009 |
Q: I have a few phrases I'm thinking about for tattoo's and I'm quite adamant to have the meaning ...
A: Sophia, some of these are awkward or just donot translate well in Italian and so would not be ...
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| Difference Between di da de d' | 8/16/2009 |
Q: Just curious: Quite a few Italian friends of mine have last names that appear to begin with an ...
A: Ed, Di and Da are prepositions and can mean of, from, or by in Italian, depending on context. They ...
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| piacciami AGAIN! | 8/15/2009 |
Q: Chris, you have already resonded to a question about 'piacere', but something still confuses me. I ...
A: would it be adequate to say 'Mi piaci' (You are pleasing to me)? Yes, that is perfectly fine, as ...
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| piacciami AGAIN! | 8/14/2009 |
Q: Chris, you have already resonded to a question about 'piacere', but something still confuses me. I ...
A: Gareth, that's because piacere is most commonly used in 3rd person singular or plural, i.e. one ...
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| Dante's Italian | 7/11/2009 |
Q: I'm just began self-studying Italian to read literature and maybe visit the country in the future. ...
A: Glenn, This is a very interesting question, though it's one that I can't answer specifically of ...
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| Conjugation of Amare | 7/10/2009 |
Q: I recently asked for the translation of "Live, Laugh, Love" I was told use the infinitve of the ...
A: Sharron, these are not infinitives but rather imperatives--command forms, and they are indeed ...
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| Dante l'inferno, canto 1, line 103 | 7/6/2009 |
Q: Line 103 reads: "Questi cibera terra ne feltro" "Questi" is nom. masc. sing. and "cibera" is 3 ...
A: I am by no means an expert on Dante, but this I can tell you: Questi is actually masculine plural. ...
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| translation of a sentence | 6/20/2009 |
Q: is it weird to translate " do you want me to get you a glass of fresh orange juice?" as " vorresti ...
A: Ebru, Yes, it is weird and it's wordy, whether in English or Italian, and your example is actually ...
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| infinitive or conjugation? | 6/17/2009 |
Q: how do i ask " do you want me to get you a glass of fresh ( or squeezed) orange juice? " in Italian? ...
A: Ebru, there are many ways to say this, both formally and informally, depending on the relationship ...
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| use of "fare" | 6/14/2009 |
Q: Is it right to say “(mi) feci pubblicare i libri” to mean “I got/made the books published.” Would it ...
A: Cynthia, if you keep the indirect object pronoun "mi" there, it gives this sentence a slangish ...
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| gerund and conjunction | 6/14/2009 |
Q: I'm having difficulty analyzing why gerundio is used in the sentence below (cercando and ...
A: John, here the subject is "la legge Turco-Napolitano", so you could simply begin the sentence with ...
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| translation | 6/8/2009 |
Q: Are there any grammar rules that would forbid the dropping of preposition "a" in the common ...
A: John, idiomatic expressions are what they are--you can't play around with prepositions without ...
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| che in interrogative sentence | 6/8/2009 |
Q: My question is regarding the use of “che” in “che siano gia andati via?” “che mi sia ingannato?” ...
A: This is a very subtle part of the language, and I think could most accurately be compared to the ...
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| che in interrogative sentence | 6/7/2009 |
Q: My question is regarding the use of “che” in “che siano gia andati via?” “che mi sia ingannato?” ...
A: Cynthia, this is not a modal. The word "che" in these cases can be translated as "that" and ...
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| preposition | 5/30/2009 |
Q: Is it acceptable to drop "a" in "ho qualcosa a dire." ANSWER: John, no that is not correct. I ...
A: Actually the subject of the infinitive does not take the dative case--if it did, you would replace ...
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| subjunctive | 5/30/2009 |
Q: which would be correct & why? * se la festa sarebbe in agosto OR se la festa sia in agosto * ...
A: Louise, all three of these must be congiuntivo, and not conditional or indicative. Any time you have ...
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| preposition | 5/29/2009 |
Q: Is it acceptable to drop "a" in "ho qualcosa a dire." ANSWER: John, no that is not correct. I ...
A: John, I'm not sure why you are referring to dative case in these sentences, as Italian does not ...
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| Subjunctive | 5/24/2009 |
Q: they would have left a message' ie Se fosse importante, avrebbero lasciato un mesaggio. Is is OK to ...
A: Vivky, this is incorrect whether in English or in Italian. The statement should be: "If it had been ...
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| translation - quanto | 5/24/2009 |
Q: Disregarding its English translation, what part of speech does "quanto" mean in the sentence ...
A: Eli, you are correct that quanti means "as many as" in this sentence...however I think you are ...
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| translation - quanto | 5/23/2009 |
Q: Disregarding its English translation, what part of speech does "quanto" mean in the sentence ...
A: Eli, in this sentence, "quanti" means how many. Note that it is plural, to agree with the implied ...
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| translation | 5/16/2009 |
Q: Is it acceptable in standard Italian to use "E" to refer to "it"? Ex. It says that very few have ...
A: Sorry Cynthia, this is absolutely not correct. The impersonal "It" in Italian is simply implied ...
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| infinitve | 5/16/2009 |
Q: Is a preposition required/optional for the ff. sentences? “Credo essere ferito.” = I think I'm ...
A: The rule of thumb is that if the person remains the same from first clause to second clause (as in I ...
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| subjunctive | 5/15/2009 |
Q: Can you help again, this time about the use of subjunctive mood in "Sono felice lei abbia vinto" = ...
A: John, there is an implied word in your example that you are missing: "che" (that). This word often ...
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| infinitve | 5/14/2009 |
Q: Is a preposition required/optional for the ff. sentences? “Credo essere ferito.” = I think I'm ...
A: Yes, in both cases the preposition "di" is required: Credo di essere ferito/Spero di comprare la ...
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| participial phrase as adjective | 5/12/2009 |
Q: Kindly help determine which of two verbals, gerundio or present participle, is appropriate for the ...
A: Eli, In number one, both choices are wrong as "indossante" is an adjective and "indossando" as any ...
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| Italian Translation for tattoo | 4/30/2009 |
Q: I am wanting to get a tattoo in Italian that will read "Live Love Life" can you please translate (i ...
A: Casey, In English, it is ambiguous as to whether you are using live and love as nouns or as verbs, ...
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| subjunctive | 4/27/2009 |
Q: as a native english speaker, how could you translate the subjuntive form of a verb? EG: se ...
A: Louise, the subjunctive tense implies uncertainty, hypothesis, or the classic "if..then" scenarios, ...
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| impersonal pronoun | 4/20/2009 |
Q: Is si in "si passivante" the same as impersonal pronoun? Ex. Molti libri si vendono = Many books are ...
A: Cynthia, actually this can get rather colloquial. Italians will usually say simply "si vendono" or ...
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| impersonal pronoun | 4/19/2009 |
Q: Is si in "si passivante" the same as impersonal pronoun? Ex. Molti libri si vendono = Many books are ...
A: Cynthia, Yes, this is the impersonal construction. You are right that the literal translation is ...
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| Writing an informal letter | 4/18/2009 |
Q: I have reserved an apartment in Sardinia and would like to write a friendly greeting and ...
A: Herre you go Betty (note that an apostrophe is actually an accent mark leaning backwards): Cara ...
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| reflexive pronoun | 4/10/2009 |
Q: May I ask your assistance again, this time to determine the semantic function of “si” as used in ...
A: Eli, Prepositions are the last thing one learns in a foreign language, simply because there is no ...
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| si in reflexive verb | 4/9/2009 |
Q: I have difficulty determining the semantic function of "si" in Italian reflexive verb (I mean the ...
A: Eli, How much does the structure of our language frame our view of the world? To the Italian, "Si ...
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| Italian grammar - "to you all" | 4/9/2009 |
Q: I am confused in the translation of the following: "Happy Easter to you all" Is the translation ... ...
A: Paul, Word order in Italian is really not as important as it is in English. You can say this ...
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| help with translation of letters | 3/31/2009 |
Q: In another letter, Gram writes to my mother who lives a 1000 miles away and says:" Ho ricevuto la ...
A: Linda, here are a few thoughts and corrections. Everything else looks good in your translation. "I ...
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| continuation of 3/27 | 3/30/2009 |
Q: I don't know if there is a more direct way for me to respond to your reply to my question. I saw no ...
A: Well Linda, I would say that you answered your question yourself. I can easily give you literal ...
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| translation of Italian letters of grandparents | 3/27/2009 |
Q: I am translating 55 of my grandparents letters. I have limited knowledge of Italian, and their ...
A: Linda, "dispetti" are "spiteful things", so I think this is more than just about becoming a Nonna. ...
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| Diphthong SC pronounciation | 3/2/2009 |
Q: How does one pronounce in Italian the diphthong sc. I have had people tell me it sounds like sh and ...
A: Dick this is one of the fundamental rules of Italian pronunciation, which is otherwise very ...
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| correction translation | 2/28/2009 |
Q: I would like to know if I corrected these sentences correctly. Thanks Mya Please note there has ...
A: Mya, Here is a version that I think sounds better, however I would encourage you to also run this ...
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| Definite article | 2/27/2009 |
Q: Could you tell me please whether the definite article needs an upper case before a noun that is ...
A: Lottie, if you are attaching a preposition to the article, for example a + la = alla, then it is ...
|
| italy | 2/22/2009 |
Q: its been my dream to go to italy but before i go i have no idea how to speak the launauge? any ...
A: Zach, there are lots of them out there--Rosetta Stone is a great program, but it's not cheap. Books ...
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| imperfect or perfect | 2/22/2009 |
Q: can you give me a good guide as to when to use these? i know to use imperfect for "used to" & "was ...
A: Louise, you are right about the uses of the imperfect, and it's not really much more complicated ...
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| use of "un" | 2/21/2009 |
Q: Would you please help me with the translation of the following sentence: "La bambina beve un succo ...
A: Rich, Semantics scholars ponder these things, and I guess they would have an answer to this. What I ...
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| pronciation question | 2/19/2009 |
Q: Pomodoro di Lusso - "Lusso" I thought it was pronounced "lew-so", but what I've read recently has ...
A: Tina, that website is no longer active, which does not surprise me because I assure you, they don't ...
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| Angels & Demons italian trailer | 2/19/2009 |
Q: just when I set out to learn english I tried to start with things I liked like music and movies. Now ...
A: E' in questa notte che nella citta' del Vaticano, ha luogo un antico rituale. Il mondo intero ...
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| pronciation question | 2/18/2009 |
Q: Pomodoro di Lusso - "Lusso" I thought it was pronounced "lew-so", but what I've read recently has ...
A: Tina, you are correct in your pronunciation. Italian is very phonetic and not at all open to ...
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| Italian translation | 2/17/2009 |
Q: Could you translate the following paragraph? Many thanks. Thank you very much for sharing your book ...
A: Grazie di aver condiviso il tuo libro di poesia con me. Complimenti sulla sua publicazione. Mi ...
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| what are the 4 ways to say "the" in italian | 2/8/2009 |
Q: Can you tell me the 4 ways to say "the" in italian, and when to use them? My son is in his first ...
A: Maryann, "the" is the definite article, and in Italian it must agree with the noun in number and ...
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| English to Italian translation? | 2/7/2009 |
Q: I was hoping to get an accurate translation of "good tomato" - is it buono pomodoro? Or not quite? ...
A: Tina, you can say either "buon pomodoro" or "pomodoro buono". The pronunciation is just as it looks, ...
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| translation to English | 2/5/2009 |
Q: s'io credessi che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo questa fiamma staria senza ...
A: Louise, this is very poetic and antiquated Italian--I will do my best to render it into readable ...
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| 2 verbs | 1/26/2009 |
Q: Often I see two verbs together & the first one has dropped a final -e vowel. For example: saper ...
A: Yes, but it can get more complicated than that. For example, you can add object pronouns to the end ...
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| In, Nel, Nella, Al and Alla.. I don't know which one to use... | 1/16/2009 |
Q: I am learning Italian and I'm just not sure when to use: In, Nel, Nella, Al or Alla. I think they ...
A: Isaac, prepositions are the last thing one learns in a language, and that is because there are no ...
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| "queta" meaning | 1/15/2009 |
Q: i wanted to know if "queta" means "quiet" or something else fron dante's inferno "Allor fu la paura ...
A: Roy, you are right that it means quiet, calm, or still. In modern Italian it is quieto or quiete. As ...
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| Pizza Quattro Stagioni | 1/15/2009 |
Q: Greetings, Am I right in thinking that "Quattro Stagioni" means "Four Seasons" i.e. spring, summer, ...
A: Simon, you are right, and the reason for the name is that the Quattro Stagioni has 4 toppings in ...
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| 2 verbs | 1/14/2009 |
Q: Often I see two verbs together & the first one has dropped a final -e vowel. For example: saper ...
A: Louise, there is no exact grammatical rule, but you will see this when an infinitive is followed by ...
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| is it 'si' passive or impersonal? | 1/12/2009 |
Q: I'm hoping for some explanation on the following. ...si affittano o si vendono appartamenti.... ...
A: Louise, this is not really the passive that you are talking about here. An example of passive voice ...
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| Sicilian Expression | 1/2/2009 |
Q: When she was still alive, my Sicilian grandmother used an expression that I would love to know how ...
A: Lauren this is a tough one. I too come from a Sicilian background so I am trying to imagine my ...
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| definite article | 12/29/2008 |
Q: Ho trovato questa frase sul internet: Ci sono bancarelle dappertutto che vendono le caldarroste. ...
A: Pasquale, I think you are asking about the definite article here missing before bancarelle but ...
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| m'avea? | 12/4/2008 |
Q: hey ! what is the meaning of "che m'avea - from dante's INFERNO "che m’avea di paura il cor ...
A: Roy, "m'avea" is Dante's way of saying "mi aveva"--he was actually forging a written standard for ...
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| Queste/Questi | 11/24/2008 |
Q: *I was wondering when introducing my friends to someone and my friends are both male and female, ...
A: Cindy, this is actually 3 questions but here goes: 1. any time there is a mix of masculine and ...
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| old letter | 11/17/2008 |
Q: Would you please translate this letter from Italian to English? ...
A: Tammie, the attachment did not come through on the email to me. On the All Experts website, only one ...
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| old letter | 11/17/2008 |
Q: Would you please translate this letter from Italian to English?
A: Tammie, this is a husband writing to his wife and family--some of the words are very hard to read, ...
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| Italian test | 10/8/2008 |
Q: Do you think having a test about articles, verbs, naming objects, and not one word of Italian IS a ...
A: Nick, it's only hard if you have never studied the grammar of your native language, presumably ...
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| the word preveda | 9/14/2008 |
Q: i know this is the subjunctive form of the prevedere, and also the imperative. In my knowledge of ...
A: Casey, you are right that Preveda is the subjunctive or the formal imperative of prevedere, however ...
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| the word ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,some | 8/24/2008 |
Q: there are so many ways to say,some, in italian...dei, del etc. why not just use qualche, which means ...
A: Ron, you can use "qualche" but not in all cases. You have to make the distinction between "some ...
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| phrase translation | 8/22/2008 |
Q: I am trying to translate a phrase for a friend of mine, and they tell me there are different ...
A: Stephanie, just as in English, there may be different renderings of this biblical phrase in ...
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| knowing where to place the accent | 7/31/2008 |
Q: I am aware that most often Italian words are accented on the next to the last syllable Here are ...
A: Stanley, that's a great question that I have been asked many times. Unfortunately, there is no clear ...
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| Della? | 7/16/2008 |
Q: Curious about Piero della Francesca's name. Did it genuinely intend to mean Peter of Francesca (his ...
A: Clint, "della" means literally "of the" and can mean you are from either a place or a person. There ...
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