Italian All-in-One For Dummies (32 page)

Lampeggia.
(lahm-
pehj
-jah.) (
It's lightning.
)

Tuona.
(
twoh
-nah.) (
It's thundering.
)

Nevica.
(
neh
-vee-kah.) (
It's snowing.
)

Grandina.
(
grahn
-dee-nah.) (
It's hailing.
)

Che afa!
(keh
ah
-fah!) (
It's muggy!
)

Fa bel tempo.
(fah behl
tehm
-poh.) (
It's beautiful.
)

Fa brutto tempo.
(fah
brooht
-toh
tehm
-poh.) (
It's nasty weather.
)

Talkin' the Talk

Il signor Brancato and Ms. Roe, airplane seatmates, are talking about the weather.

Ms. Roe:
E l'estate a Milano com'è?

e lehs-
tah
-teh ah mee
-lah
-noh cohm-
eh?

What's the summer like in Milan?

Sig. Brancato:
Molto calda e lunga.

mohl
-toh
kahl
-dah eh
loohn
-gah.

Very hot and long.

Ms. Roe:
E la primavera?

eh lah pree-mah
-veh
-rah?

And the spring?

Sig. Brancato:
La mia stagione preferita.

lah
mee-
ah stah-
joh
-neh preh-feh-
ree
-tah.

My favorite season.

Ms. Roe:
Davvero?

dahv-
veh
-roh?

Really?

Sig. Brancato:
Sì, perché è mite.

see, pehr-
keh
eh
mee
-teh.

Yes, because it's mild.

Ms. Roe:
Come l'estate in Canada.

koh
-meh lehs-
tah
-teh een
kah-
nah-dah.

Like the fall in Canada.

 

Chapter 5

Casa Dolce Casa: Home Sweet Home

In This Chapter

Talking about where you live

Touring your home

Y
our home is a big part of your life, and it's likely to be a popular topic of conversation. People may ask you where you live and what your home is like. This chapter introduces you to the different vocabulary and situations associated with the house and life at home.

Describing Where You Live

When someone asks you where you're from, you want to tell them the name of your country, followed by your city (or hometown) and state. You may also want to mention the type of home you have. The following sections show you how to do just that.

Stating your country and hometown

When telling where you're from, you can start by saying your country of origin; you use the word
sono
(
soh
-no) (
I am
) followed by an adjective of nationality that matches your gender, or you use
vengo
(
vehn
-goh) (
I am
) followed by a variation of the words
da
(dah) (
from
)
+
the definite article and a country. (See
Chapter 3
of Book I for a list of countries and nationalities in Italian.) Here are some examples:

Sono americano/a; vengo dagli Stati Uniti.
(
soh
-noh ah-meh-ree-
kah
-noh/nah;
vehn
-goh
dah
-lyee
Stah
-tee Ooh-
nee
-tee.) (
I am American
[masculine/feminine];
I am from the United States.
)

Sono argentino/a; vengo dall'Argentina.
(
soh
-noh ahr-jehn-
tee
-noh/nah;
vehn
-goh dahl-lahr-jehn-
tee
-nah.) (
I am Argentinian
[masculine/feminine];
I am from Argentina
.)

Sono messicano/a; vengo dal Messico.
(
soh
-noh mehs-see-
kah
-noh/nah; vehn-goh dahl
Mehs
-see-koh.) (
I am Mexican
[masculine/feminine];
I am from Mexico
.)

Did you notice in the preceding examples that adjectives of nationality aren't capitalized in Italian? However, when nationality is used as a noun to describe the people of a country, or its language, you use capitalization. For example:

I Messicani giocano bene a calcio.
(ee mehs-see-
kah
-nee
joh
-kah-noh
beh
-neh ah
kahl
-choh.) (
Mexicans play soccer well/are good at soccer.
)

Gli Americani preferiscono la pallacanestro.
(lyee ah-meh-ree-
kah
-nee preh-feh-
ree
-skoh-noh lah
pahl
-lah-kah-
neh
-stroh.)
(
Americans prefer to play basketball.
)

Gli Argentini adorano il tango.
(lyee ahr-jehn-
tee
-nee ah-
doh
-rah-noh eel
tahn
-goh.) (
Argentinians love tango.
)

Italians are very sociable and love to meet foreigners. They'll certainly like to know more about you. To say your hometown and state (or province), you use
abito a . . .
(
ah
-bee-toh ah . . .) (
I live in . . .
)
or
sono di . . .
(
soh
-no dee)
(
I'm from
. . .
). Here's an example:

Abito in Michigan, a Detroit.
(
ah
-bee-toh een Michigan, ah Detroit.) (
I live in Detroit, Michigan.
)

Note that you use
in
before Michigan, the state, and
a
before Detroit, the city. One more example:

Pam abita a Louisville, in Kentucky.
(Pam
ah
-bee-tah ah Louisville, een Kentucky.) (
Pam lives in Louisville, Kentucky
.)

Noting the type of home you have

Besides sharing your country and hometown, you may also want to describe the type of home in which you live. Italians usually speak of
la casa
(lah
kah
-zah) (
the house; the home
), even though they often mean
l'appartamento
(lahp-pahr-tah-
mehn
-toh) (
the apartment
). A recent study by the European Statistics Institute shows that more than 50 percent of Italians of all social strata live in
condomini
(kohn-doh-
mee
-nee) (
condos; apartment buildings
) in small towns and large cities rather than in single-family dwellings in residential areas.

A
villa
(
veel
-lah) (
villa
) is a free-standing house, usually in the country or by the sea. The
villa
is generally someone's second home. Some people opt to live
in campagna
(een kahm-
pah
-nyah) (
in the countryside
), which isn't the same as living in the suburbs in the United States. As a matter of fact,
periferia
(peh-ree-fehr-
ee
-ah) (
suburbs which are neither country nor city
) may have a negative connotation in Italy.

Taking a Tour of Your Home

To describe your house or apartment, you need to know the names of different rooms and furnishings. The following sections take you on a tour of a typical Italian home.

Il soggiorno: The living room

Italians refer to
il soggiorno
(eel sohj-
johr
-noh) (
the living room
) as the main living area in the home. Italians spend a lot of time in the living room, sitting and watching TV, entertaining friends, and listening to music. A
soggiorno
that's large enough for a corner to be used as a dining area will also be used for lunches and dinners with guests. The American family room is the analogue to the Italian
soggiorno.
Now you know how to name the room where you keep your coziest couch, where you watch the latest shows or football, baseball, and basketball games, alone or with your friends! Here's a list of common furnishings for the living room:

il camino
(eel kah-
mee
-noh) (
fireplace
)

il divano
(eel dee-
vah
-noh) (
couch
)

la lampada
(lah
lahm
-pah-dah) (
lamp
)

la poltrona
(lah pohl-
troh
-nah) (
armchair
)

lo scaffale
(loh skahf-
fah
-leh) (
bookshelf
)