In English, we can use nouns as adjectives to answer the question, "what kind?" For example, "dog days" are the hottest days of summer. In this case, it's not really comparing the dog to the heat, but comes from the star, Sirius, who was Orion's dog in the constellations. It rises at the same time as the sun on the hottest days in the northern hemisphere. The Romans got this from the Greeks, and called these days, "dies caniculares" (dog days). 

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In terms of grammar, we know "dog" is a noun, but here, we use it as an adjective to describe "days," without giving it a different ending. We don't say, "dogful" days, "doggy days," or even "dog-like days." So this is a phenomenon that is present in many situations in English.

Let's remember here  — because we don't have to think about it — that in English, we put the noun-as-adjective before the noun it describes. Sometimes the noun-as-adjective merges with the noun and becomes a compound word and sometimes not: laundry room, dishwasher, picture frame, bicycle rack.

We have the same phenomenon in Italian. The big difference is that the order is inverse. First, we have the noun, then we have the noun-as-adjective. To connect with our example of "dog days," we turn to an expression that is very common in Italian, and in fact, it crops up in an episode of Sposami. 

E poi una notte, che io dormivo sotto il cavalcavia e faceva un freddo cane, quella notte io credevo che sarei morto...

And then, one night, when I was sleeping under an overpass, and it was freezing cold, that night, I believed I would die...

Captions 6-8, Sposami EP 4 - Part 19

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And here is a more mundane example:

Lo abbiamo fatto pure in conferenza stampa l'altro ieri

We even did it at the press conference the day before yesterday

Caption 22, Animalisti Italiani Walter Caporale - Part 2

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The real noun is conferenza (conferenza). What kind of conference? una conferenza stampa (a press conference). 

This difference in word order is tricky sometimes, and it is just as tricky for Italians attempting to speak English correctly. 

English is a popular language, and Italians use it in publicity and signage. But sometimes the word order difference escapes them. The name of a riding school in Tuscany is "Planet Horse." This is because, in general, for an Italian, the adjective (even if it is a noun-as-adjective, as in this case) comes after the noun. What they were trying to say, even though it sounds bad, is "Horse Planet" — the planet of horses. We might say, "Horse World." They, of course, translated it from Italian: Pianeta cavallo.

In some cases, both the noun-as-adjective and the adjective form of a noun can work:

Let's take the noun bestia (beast, animal).

We can say:  Fa un caldo bestia (it is incredibly hot) or Fa un caldo bestiale (it's beastly hot). Using the noun as an adjective in this case is more colloquial, but they are both acceptable.

Of course, in Italian, when answering the question, "What kind?" we often use a preposition, such as di or da, or an "articulated preposition," such as del, della, delle, or degli before the "descriptive" noun. These prepositions usually mean "of."

Il bidone della spazzatura (the garbage can)

Il professore di matematica (the math teacher)

Il forno da pizza (the pizza oven)

We can't always use a noun as an adjective, but it is important to know that it exists as a phenomenon, and to recognize it when it occurs.

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Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The verb or the noun? Does it matter? No, it doesn't really matter in speaking Italian, but knowing the verb a noun comes from, or the noun a verb comes from can sometimes help us figure out a word we don't know. Or, it can help us remember a new word. In the case of the words discussed in this lesson, we start with a noun.

The noun il poggio:

Il poggio  the noun is likely less well-known than the verbs that stem from it. A little research on the etymology tells us that poggio comes from the Latin noun "podium" — a raised platform. Hey! We know the word "podium" in English! Poggio is synonymous with colle or collina (hill), but often refers to a rather small, rounded hill — perhaps a podium-shaped hill, like a bluff...

Sorge isolata su di un poggio la chiesa di Santa Maria a Mevale,

Emerging on a bluff is the remote church of Santa Maria in Mevale

costruita nell'undicesimo secolo in stile romanico,

built in the eleventh century in the Romanesque style,

in cui spicca un portale rinascimentale e il portico a cinque arcate.

in which a Renaissance portal and a five-arch portico stand out.

Captions 1-3, Itinerari Della Bellezza - Umbria 

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Fun Expression:

An expression Tuscans like to use is: poggio e buca fan pari (hill and hole come out even).

Fan is short for fanno (they make).

poggio=salita (hill = climb)

buca=discesa (hole = descent) 

salita + discesa = pianura (uphill + downhill = flatland)

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Places:

There are places that take their name from the noun poggio. They are usually on a hill.

A very famous town (with a famous villa) near Florence is called Poggio a Caiano and one of our Yabla videos takes place in a town called Poggiofiorito (flowering hills):

Scusami, ma c'ho avuto il trasloco da Poggiofiorito e ho fatto male i calcoli.

I'm sorry, but I've moved to Poggiofiorito and didn't gauge it well.

Caption 27, Un medico in famiglia - S1 EP1 - Casa nuova

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You can go a long time in Italy without hearing the noun poggio, but the verbs that come from this noun are much more common. Sometimes verbs are made from nouns by simply adding a verb ending such as  -are, -ire, or -ere. 

Poggiare:

Poggiare certainly exists as a verb. It means "to place." 

Marika uses this verb when describing how she stays safe as she looks out from her balcony.

Per affacciarmi al balcone, io poggio le mani sulla ringhiera.

To look out from the balcony, I place my hands on the railing.

Caption 13, Marika spiega - Il balcone

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Appoggiare:

But  appoggiare also exists. In this case the prefix a has been added, with the conventional doubling of the first consonant in the original noun. Appoggiare is a more complex verb and has several literal and figurative meanings. Appoggiare is more about support, about leaning, propping. Think of a ladder you prop against a wall. In the following example, Manara uses it reflexively.

E le impronte sul furgone come le spieghi?

And the fingerprints on the truck, how can you explain them?

Mi ci sono appoggiato così, per caso.

I leaned on it, just like that, by chance.

È reato?

Is that a crime?

Captions 57-59, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro

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And here, Anna, who is talking about her new baby, uses the verb appoggiare three times in the same sentence!

Un altro regalo molto utile che ho avuto dal papà è questo.

Another very useful gift that I had from dad [the baby's dad], is this.

È il cuscino da allattamento,

It's a nursing cushion.

ed è utile perché lo utilizzi sia quando allatti,

And it's useful because you use it both when you nurse,

te lo appoggi qui e non fai fatica con le braccia mentre allatti,

you rest it here, and your arms don't get tired while you nurse,

che per appoggiare il bambino,

and for laying the baby on,

che si appoggia qui come un principino e sta molto comodo.

who leans back here like a little prince and is very comfortable.

Captions 42-47, Anna presenta - La gravidanza

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Rather than using the more general mettere (to put) appoggiare is used to mean "to put down" or "to set down." We could also say "lay something down," implying a certain gentleness.

Posso entrare?

May I come in?

Sì, ecco, ecco.

Yes, here we go, here we go.

Uè, Ada... grazie. Appoggialo pure là, va. -Luca!

Hey Ada... thanks. Go ahead and set it down over there, go ahead. -Luca!

Captions 4-6, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola

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L'appoggiatura:

If you play music, you might have heard of the term "appoggiatura": a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time. Now you know where it comes from!

L'appoggio:

And now we come back to a noun that comes from the verb that comes from the noun. Just like in English, "support" is both a noun and a verb.

In the following example, it's used in a physical way.

Mezzo passo avanti, sbilanci l'avversario

A half a step forward, get the opponent off balance,

e via la gamba d'appoggio.

and away with the supporting leg.

Captions 24-25, L'oro di Scampia - film

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But it can also be figurative.

Proprio perché uomini di sinistra,

Precisely because men of the left,

noi stiamo facendo una battaglia in Parlamento,

we're waging battle in Parliament,

abbiamo anche avuto l'appoggio del ministro Brambilla.

we've even had the support of minister Brambilla.

Captions 48-49, Animalisti Italiani - Walter Caporale

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We've gone from the Latin noun "podium" to the ups and downs of Tuscan hills, to propping up a baby, setting down a tray, to playing music, to judo, and to politics. Whew!