Italian All-in-One For Dummies (31 page)

Some of the following terms may also come in handy when talking about jobs in Italian:

capo
(
kah
-poh) (
head; boss
)

direttore
(dee-reht-
toh
-reh) (
manager; director
)

fabbrica
(
fahb
-bree-kah) (
factory; plant
)

lavoro
(lah-
voh
-roh) (
work; job
)

padrone
(pah-
droh
-neh) (
boss; owner
)

sciopero
(
shoh
-peh-roh) (
strike
)

stipendio
(stee-
pehn
-dyoh) (
salary
)

tasse
(
tahs
-seh) (
taxes
)

ti/mi interessa
(tee/mee in-teh-
rehs
-sah) (
you're/I'm interested in
)

The word
sciopero
(
shoh
-peh-roh) (
strike
) is very important in Italy, because workers go on strike all the time.

Chatting about the Weather

Talking about the weather in Italian is as easy as talking about it in English: Is it hot? Is it cold? Is it muggy? Is it raining? It's snowing. It's hailing. You can express a great deal about the weather by using one verb, impersonally:
fa
(Literally:
it makes
or
it does
). Here are some examples for how to answer the question
Che tempo fa?
(keh
tehm
-poh fah?) (
What's the weather like?
)

Fa caldo
(statement or question depending on your intonation) (fah
kahl
-doh) (
It's hot.
) (
Is it hot?
)

Sì, abbiamo 35 gradi!
(see ahb-
byah
-moh trehn-tah-
cheen
-kweh
grah
-dee!) (
It's 35 degrees!
) (Celsius 35 = Fahrenheit 95.)

Fa freddo
(statement or question depending on your intonation) (fah
frehd
-doh) (
It's cold.
) (
Is it cold?
)

Fa un freddo orribile,
–
20!
(fah oohn
frehd
-doh ohr-
ree
-bee-leh,
meh
-noh
vehn
-tee!) (
It's terribly cold, –20!
) (Celsius –20 = Fahrenheit 0.)

Fa fresco, fa freschino
(statement or question depending on your intonation) (fah
freh
-skoh, fah freh-
skee
-noh) (
It's chilly; it's a little chilly.
) (
Is it chilly?
)

Intonation makes your comments about the weather statements or questions. The following simple words allow you to remark on the weather in any condition.

Piove.
(
pyoh
-veh.) (
It's raining.
)

Tira vento.
(
tee
-rah
vehn
-toh.) (
It's windy.
)