Tuesday

The most-used nouns: no. 006 CASA


Italian villa, as seen on The most-used nouns n.006 CASA on www.viaoptimae.com, originally from www.home-designing.com
Image via Home-designing.com


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… 



Numero 6 è…..

 casa (la)


"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!
Alex on www.viaoptimae.com






Ready for the next word in the series?


Sunday

Pluralization

Pluralization in Italian, www.viaoptimae.com/2014/04/pluralization.html


(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:



Italian pluralization patterns, Italian plurals: o to i, gatto to gatti; a to e, farfalla to farfalle, e to i, cane to cani; www.viaoptimae.com//2014/04/pluralization.html


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!)

Preview of digital workbook: ITALIAN: THE BASICS Workbook, available exclusively to subscribers of viaoptimae.com Subscribe now: https://eepurl.com/MMic9


 —be the first to know about new lessons & worksheets! {Subscribe here!} 




Alex on www.viaoptimae.com






 Potrebbe pure interessarti….
  The Beginner's Italian Grammar Series, starting with:










Wednesday

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

ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionaries Vol. 04, Che cosa bolle in pentola COVER, digital magazine from Via Optimae

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 cappuccinospaghettilasagna 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:




 ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionary Vol. 01 Cover
Vol. 01
ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionary Vol. 02 cover
Vol. 02
ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionary Vol. 03 Cover
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!)
Alex for www.viaoptimae.com



See also:

Frasi celebri su Via Optimae

Frasi celebri su Via Optimae
Acque del sud (To Have and Have Not) original: "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow."