One word leads to another. Since some of Yabla's videos have included scenes of construction, the topic of scaffolding has come up from time to time, even though it's certainly not a topic you run into every day. But there is a false cognate we may run into whenever we go to a supermercato (supermarket) or grande magazzino (department store), so a closer look might be merited.
One word for "scaffolding" is il ponteggio or, more often, i ponteggi. We can detect the noun il ponte (the bridge) in the word, and can easily imagine the wooden planks as "bridges" from one set of poles to the next.
Ha ceduto un ponteggio.
Some scaffolding collapsed.
Caption 35, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 3
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Impalcatura is often used in the singular, as a generic term, but can also be used in the plural. Here, we might detect the noun il palco, which can mean "the stage" (as in a theater) or "the platform." L'impalcatura is a series of platforms on top of each other.
È caduto da un'impalcatura del cantiere.
He fell from a scaffold at the construction site.
Caption 9, La Ladra EP. 7 - Il piccolo ladro - Part 3
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No, Spartacus, non credo che gli faccia piacere avere un ricevimento in mezzo a impalcature e betoniere.
No, Spartacus, I don't think he is happy to have a reception in the middle of scaffolding and cement mixers.
Captions 66-67, Sposami EP 4 - Part 24
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"Platform" has a cognate, too: la piattaforma (the platform, the board).
La parte centrale del Colosseo, dove accadeva tutto, era una piattaforma lignea che veniva, eh, riempita di sabbia,
The central part of the Colosseum, where everything took place, was a wooden platform that was, uh, filled with sand,
Captions 25-27, Marika e Daniela Colosseo, interno - Part 1
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But, when we find the word scaffale in Italian, it doesn't mean "scaffolding." It is, instead, the kind of shelving you find in a store, supermarket, or department store.
Se andate a fare la spesa in un supermercato italiano, vi troverete davanti allo scaffale del riso indecisi sul tipo di riso da comprare,
If you go grocery shopping in an Italian supermarket, you'll find yourselves facing the rice shelf, uncertain about the type of rice to buy,
Captions 1-3, L'Italia a tavola Risotto alla milanese - Part 2
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It's used a lot in the plural as a general term: gli scaffali.
Se voi mangiaste meno, il supermercato sarebbe sicuramente più pieno e io non troverei gli scaffali vuoti. -Esagerata, eh!
If you ate less, the supermarket would surely be fuller and I wouldn't find the shelves empty. -Over the top, huh!
Captions 44-45, Daniela e Francesca Il verbo mangiare
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We can also use the noun lo scaffale in a house. If the shelves are for books, we'll usually say, una libreria.
False friend alert: Una libreria is also a bookshop! A library, on the other hand, is una biblioteca. If you have a dedicated room or lots of shelves for books, you can talk about una biblioteca in your house, too.
When we are speaking generically, we can use scaffale. Marika talks about lo scaffale, because, as she mentions, it contains all kinds of things.
A fianco alla televisione, ho un mobile. Questo mobile si chiama scaffale. Io lo uso per conservare tantissimi oggetti.
Alongside the television, I have a piece of furniture. This piece of furniture is called a shelving unit. I use it to store many objects.
Captions 26-28, Marika spiega Il salone
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If this web of words has brought you more confusion than anything else, just stick with learning gli scaffali. That's where you will find food and products at the supermarket, and eating is essential.
Let's have a look at a noun that can cause some confusion because it's both a true cognate and a somewhat false friend. The noun is aspetto and it looks a lot like "aspect."
It's a cognate when we want to talk about a feature or element of something, an "aspect," un aspetto. It can also be figurative.
Ma c'è un altro aspetto che deve colpire in questa sala e sono certamente i tendaggi del letto a baldacchino, ma soprattutto, guardate attorno a noi, sono le tappezzerie. Sono in seta.
But there is another aspect that is striking in this room, and certainly the curtains of the canopy bed are, but above all, look around us, it's the wall coverings. They are in silk.
Captions 31-34, Meraviglie EP. 1 - Part 4
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Tutti la chiamavano Belle, perché lei era bella sotto ogni aspetto.
Everyone called her Beauty, because she was beautiful in every respect.
Captions 7-8, Ti racconto una fiaba La Bella e la Bestia - Part 1
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But the noun aspetto can also refer to the way something looks, its appearance. It's used with the verb avere (to have) — avere un aspetto (to have the appearance, to look like). If you look in the dictionary, we find this meaning of "aspect," too, in English, but it's formal and not used much.
Però, inizialmente, come abbiamo detto, non aveva questo aspetto.
However, initially, as we have said, it did not look like this.
Caption 3, Meraviglie S2 EP 2 - Part 6
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Mangio tanto tutti i giorni. -Ma dai! Dal tuo aspetto non si direbbe proprio.
I eat a lot every day. -Really! By your appearance, I wouldn't say so at all.
Captions 4-5, Daniela e Francesca Il verbo mangiare
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Commissario... ha un aspetto terribile!
Commissioner... you look terrible!
Captions 2-3, Il Commissario Manara S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva - Part 7
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In English, "aspect" has more to do with the mind, but in Italian, aspetto is often used to refer to the physical attributes or the appearance of something or someone. It's just something to keep in mind.
And let's not be confused by the fact that aspetto is also the first person singular conjugation of the common verb aspettare (to wait).
Although it means "to wait," Italians often say ti aspetto to mean, "I'll look forward to seeing you" or "I'll be expecting you." For example, Marika says it at the end of many of her videos.
Ti aspetto nel prossimo video
I'll be waiting for you in the next video.
Caption 56, Marika spiega I segni dello Zodiaco - Part 1
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