Do you already know the 4 seasons in Italian? Here they are.

L'inverno (the winter)

La primavera (the spring)

L'estate (the summer)

L'autunno (the autumn)

Check out this beginner video.

Ciao, sono Marika e oggi ti insegnerò i giorni della settimana, le stagioni e i mesi dell'anno.

Hi, I'm Marika and today I'm going to teach you the days of the week, the seasons and the months of the year.

Captions 1-2, Marika spiega Settimana, stagioni e mesi

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Adriano talks about the 4 seasons, what to wear, the colors he associates with each, his favorites, and so on. 

Oggi vi parlerò delle stagioni.

Today I'm going to talk to you about the seasons.

Caption 2, Adriano Le stagioni dell'anno

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Grammar tip: The noun la stagione is one of those nouns that ends in E. We don't think of it automatically as being feminine because it doesn't end in A as the majority of feminine nouns do. But it is indeed feminine, so when we form the plural we have to add an I at the end (there's already an e in the singular!). La stagione, le stagioni. We just have to think a bit harder when using these kinds of nouns. 

So if you aren't familiar with the seasons, the videos mentioned above will help out. But in this lesson, we're going to talk about words that have to do with the seasons, or words or expressions that include the Italian word for season: stagione.  

In the following example, Marika is talking about an Italian household ritual, often left to la mamma (the mom). It's a common excuse for not going out with friends on a weekend at the end of April or October. It's a thankless job, but also a good opportunity for throwing things away — eliminare (to eliminate), scartare (to discard), dar via (to give away). It's il cambio degli armadi (the closet switching), or il cambio di stagione.

Come tu ben sai, eh, l'Italia, come anche altri paesi del mondo, è soggetta alle stagioni, e quindi noi ogni sei mesi facciamo il cambio di stagione, che vuol dire che svuotiamo il nostro armadio dei vestiti invernali e le [sic] prepariamo a quelli primaverili ed estivi, oppure autunnali.

As you well know, uh, Italy, like other countries in the world, is subject to the seasons, and so every six months, we do a season change, which means that we empty our closet of winter clothes and we prepare them [sic] for the spring or summer ones, or else the fall ones.

Captions 24-27, Marika spiega L'abbigliamento - Part 1

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***A note about how things work in Italy. In apartments and homes, it's not so common for there to be built-in closets. You have to buy one, and they take up a lot of space in the bedroom. The bigger ones are often called quattro stagioni (four seasons) because you put the things up high that you don't need for the current season, and do some rotating during the year, to have the clothes you need handy. 

When we talk about the seasons, we tend to first think about the more extreme ones, summer and winter, with their relative temperatures, caldo (hot) and freddo (cold). The seasons in between — spring and fall — have their characteristics, too. La primavera (spring) is often referred to as la bella stagione. La bella stagione can also simply refer to "the warm weather," or the season in which the weather is nice and warm.

A risvegliarsi dal torpore invernale, sono uomini ed animali, decisi a sfruttare la bella stagione per esplorare nuovi sentieri in una natura selvaggia, ma accogliente.

Awakening from the winter torpor are men and animals, determined to take advantage of the "beautiful season" [spring] to explore new paths in a wild but welcoming nature.

Captions 24-26, Formaggi D'autore - Part 3

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Another way to think about the in-between seasons of primavera and autunno, is by calling them "half-seasons" or "in-between seasons," La mezza stagione. This applies primarily to what to wear. La mezza stagione is when we tend to dress a cipolla (like an onion, in layers) and be ready for anything. But it can also refer to "mid-season."

Ma l'ultima neve ha i giorni contati. In un paesaggio da mezza stagione, la transizione verso la primavera è iniziata.

But the days of the last snow are numbered. In a mid-season landscape, the transition to spring has begun.

Captions 21-23, Formaggi D'autore - Part 3

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The best time to buy clothes for less is a fine stagione (at the end of the season). That's when shops have saldi (sales).

Tigrotto, non avevo più niente da mettermi e ho comprato due cosine ai saldi. -Hai fatto bene, ma...

Tiger Cub, I had nothing to wear and I bought two little things at the sales. -You did the right thing, but...

Caption 7, Il Commissario Manara S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva - Part 17

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If you are traveling to Italy and want to save money, you'll go during la bassa stagione (the off-season). Prices are cheaper. We can also talk about fuori stagione ("out of the season" or "off-season") indicating the non-tourist season. 

Questa bella piscina, che non è sempre così perché siamo fuori stagione e di solito è più ricca di persone, perché è sempre pieno qua di persone. Questa casa vacanze che è, insomma, è per poter [sic] ospitare delle famiglie,

This beautiful swimming pool, which isn't always like this because we're in the off season... and usually it's more crowded with people, because here it's always full of people. This vacation rental that is, in short, is to be able to host families,

Captions 41-44, Sicilia - Marsala Casa vacanze Torre Lupa

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Thanks for reading. 

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