The most-used nouns: no. 006 CASA

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In this series, we're covering the most used nouns in the Italian language 

(I sostantivi più utilizzati nella lingua italiana)

In case you missed it… 

n.001

n.002

n.003

n.004

n.005

Numero 6 è…..

 casa (la)

N.006 CASA in ITALIAN: The most-used nouns digital magazine

"Casa" is the general term for any dwelling and can be translated as house or home depending on the context.  A lot of people live in apartments in Italy, and those too can be referred to as casa*.  

You'll often hear it in the following…

a casa

at home

casa mia

my house

sotto casa

on the street in front of one's house 

(especially if it's an apartment building)

*If you want to refer specifically to the stand-alone structure that we would call a "house" you can use the term villa (which we also use in English) especially if it is surrounded by a bit of land.

See more examples, listen to songs, and practice your listening comprehension of casa in the newly updated digital magazine: 

Can you write a sentence using the word casa? Or maybe you can find a quote or aphorism that uses it? Comment below! (or on Facebook if you prefer)

Happy studying!

Ready for the next word in the series?

n.007

Pluralization

(talking about more than one thing)

So far in this series, we've talked about indefinite and definite articles and how they change depending on the noun they are modifying.

We've only been using singular nouns so far but what if we want to talk about more than one thing?  For that, we need to learn the plural forms of nouns.  

Don't worry, it's easy! Just print out the worksheet on page 9 of the BASICS Digital Workbook (link below) and let's get pluralizing!

(New to this series?… You may want to start with…)

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 ITALIAN BASICS:  
   (1) Indefinite Articles, (How to say "A/AN")
   (2) Definite Articles (singular), (How to say "THE")

Compare to English:


In English, the general rule of pluralization is to add "s" to the end of the noun.

the dog -> the dogs

the cat -> the cats

the boy -> the boys

the girl -> the girls

There are some spelling changes and exceptions to this rule, but more often than not, it works.


Pluralization Patterns: 


Similarly, Italian also follows rules that work most of the time, but instead of adding a letter, the final vowel of the word changes:

Exceptions to the rule:

As I said before, the above works most of the time, but there are exceptions.  [More on this later!]

If you haven't done so already, fill-in the "Notes" section of the Pluralization worksheet on page 9 of  the Italian Basics digital workbook and then complete the short exercises at the bottom of the page! (Submit your answers by email for free corrections!)

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 Previous lessons in this series...
  (01) Indefinite Articles (How to say "A/AN" in Italian
  (02) Definite Articles (How to say "THE" in Italian)

 Potrebbe pure interessarti….

  The Beginner's Italian Grammar Series, starting with:

     

How Italian Verbs Work

Cosa bolle in pentola? (New and improved digital picture dictionaries)

Vol. 04: Cosa bolle in pentola? digital magazine

They say the way into a man's heart is through his stomach, but I say, "The way into Italian is through your own stomach!" 

Not as catchy, I admit, but very true.  Even before you could say your name in Italian, I'm sure you could recognize and use words like cappuccino, spaghetti, lasagna and others.  How is this so? You saw the words used in context repeatedly, and when you ate them, they were delicious, causing you to want to order them again… in short, you had a good reason to learn and incorporate otherwise "foreign" words!

It has been shown that vocabulary is more easily assimilated when it is shown in context and when that context provokes an emotional response, so with that in mind… I created the ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionary series!  It has food vocabulary and related expressions with images and examples as well as cultural tidbits and advice so you can put everything in context.  When possible, I tried to find humorous examples and expressions, as well as interesting photos that hopefully provoke a sense of nostalgia for Il bel paese (the beautiful country— Italy's nickname) 

Hopefully, they whet your appetite, and get you thinking about Italian food vocabulary (and related expressions) in your day to day life.


I had previously published these digital magazines on another platform, and I've been gradually transferring that content to the new platform, Joomag (I pronounce it You-Mag, though I'm not sure what the creators intended.) For Vol. 04 Cosa bolle in pentola?, I re-did the layout and added new content to hopefully make it even better and more engaging, so be sure to check it out, as well as the other (new & improved) Volumes 01-03:

Vol. 01

Vol. 02

Vol. 03

    

I'm going to add more volumes in this series (next up: Le ricette e la preparazione— Recipes & Preparation) but I wonder, besides food, is there another topic that you're particularly interested in or working on that you'd like to see in a picture dictionary format? Let me know, and I'll prioritize those topics in future digital magazines!  (Use the comment form below, email me using the contact form in the right sidebar, or connect through Facebook, if you prefer!)

Avventatevi! 

(Dig in!)