This business of gender in Italian can be so tricky for non-native speakers. When we hear a word, we don't always pay attention to the ending of a noun. It can easily get lost, so when we then have to actually say the word, for example, when looking for something in a shop, the doubt surges up. Which is it: a or o? So yes, we basically know the word, but the gender, and thus, the ending, escapes us. It's a great reason to learn a noun with its article, as we try to help you do in our Yabla vocabulary reviews at the end of our videos.
Alas, even people who have been living in Italy for years and years still have these doubts from time to time and get it wrong sometimes.
Let's look at one such word, or rather two. Because the same word with a different ending can mean something quite different. At the same time, we can usually find a connection between the two words through its root, or through the verb the noun came from, and that's always kind of fun (for us nerdy-type learners among us).
I go into a shop to buy a new bathroom scale. Is it un bilancio or una bilancia???? There's that embarrassing moment when you can't remember which it is. At that moment, you desperately try a workaround, using a different word like una cosa per pesarsi (something for weighing oneself). In fact, we can also call a bathroom scale a pesapersone (which luckily, can be either masculine or feminine!).
To get to the root of a word, which can sometimes help us understand it, we look to Latin, the source of most Italian words. We often look to the verb, but it turns out that in this case, the noun came first.
We have the late Latin noun "bilanx," made up of "bi-," meaning "two" and "lanx" meaning "plate." Picture an old fashioned type of scale that is made up of precisely that: two suspended plates on which to place the weights and the items you want to weigh.
With this image, you can remember the feminine goddess of justice, holding up the scale. And that can help you remember that the word for scale is la bilancia and it's feminine.
Prego, alla bilancia.
Please, on the scale.
Bene, abbiamo finito. Rivestitevi.
Good, we're done. Get dressed again.
Captions 11-12, La Tempesta - film
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Certainly, Italians get on a bathroom scale just as often as anyone, but they also use a little scale in the kitchen, to weigh items like la pasta, la farina (flour), lo zucchero (sugar), il riso (rice), etc.
From the noun la bilancia, we derive the verb bilanciare (to balance). You can balance the books or accounts, or you can balance the weights on an old-fashioned mechanical scale. The following example is from an explanation of the economy with the board game Monopoly as a model. It's describing the role of the Bank.
Cioè, immette liquidità nella partita per
That is, it issues liquidity into the game
bilanciare la sfortuna dei giocatori
to balance the misfortunes of the players,
o semplicemente l'eventuale mancanza di contante.
or simply the potential lack of cash.
Captions 26-27, l'Economia Spiegata Facile - Perché le banche ci prestano i soldi?
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Bilanciare also has a reflexive form bilanciarsi. In this case it's intransitive. You might use this form if you are walking a tightrope, or carrying packages.
If it's about money, you are probably looking for the masculine il bilancio. It can mean the budget, the balancing of the budget, or the accounts.
This example is about cooking the books.
Che cosa ha fatto? Che cosa non ha fatto?
What did he do? What didn't he do?
Fallimento, falso in bilancio, bancarotta fraudolenta.
Bankruptcy, tampering with the books, fraudulent bankruptcy.
Captions 63-64, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde
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Here are some common phrases with bilancio, which is used a bit differently from English.
fare il bilancio, chiudere il bilancio (to draw up the balance sheet)
far quadrare il bilancio (to balance the books)
chiudere il bilancio in attivo/passivo (to make a profit/loss)
fare il bilancio della situazione (fig) (to assess the situation)
This lesson is dedicated to an old friend who had trouble with bilancia and bilancio. Are there words you have trouble remembering? Words that change meanings between masculine and feminine? The next lesson could be dedicated to you! Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com.
In many places in the world, it's winter. There are no leaves on the trees. They're barren. Seeing the bare branches has brought to mind some thoughts about one Italian adjective for this: spoglio.
Di inverno le foglie appassiscono e gli alberi sono spogli.
In the winter, the leaves dry up and the trees are bare.
One word leads to another! It even leads to getting undressed.
Italian words that end in "io" often come from Latin, where the word might end in ium. In fact there is a Latin noun "spolium": the skin or hide of an animal stripped off; Over time, this came to refer to the arms or armor stripped from a defeated enemy:
booty, prey, spoil.
We can make a connection with a tree that has been stripped of its leaves.
We can also see a connection between "the spoils" in English and "spolium" or the derivative "spoglia" in Latin.
Another related Latin word is "spoliarium" referring to the basement of the Roman Colosseum where the fallen and dying gladiators were dumped and stripped of their worldly possessions.
Nowadays, the feminine plural le spoglie is used to indicate the remains of animals or humans when they have died.
Ma che senso ha mettere le spoglie
But what sense is there in putting the remains
di due persone nella stessa bara?
of two people in the same coffin?
Caption 62, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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Although talking about dead bodies is pretty gruesome, it gives us insight into some very common words you will hear if you go to the doctor, to the gym, or anywhere where you might take off your clothes. Some places have an appropriate room where you can change and take a shower, which in English, we might call the locker room or shower room. Lo spogliatoio (and often indicated as such on the door) will typically be in a gym, at a pool, a hospital or doctor's office, or, as in the example below, a workplace.
Chi ha aggiustato la porta dello spogliatoio?
Who fixed the changing room door?
Caption 30, La Ladra - Ep. 3 - L'oro dello squalo
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When you change clothes, first you have to get undressed. In Italian, the verb is reflexive: spogliarsi. We've come a long way from the Roman Colosseum.
Andiamo a casa tua.
Let's go to your house.
A casa?
My house?
Non ti vorrai spogliare in mezzo alla strada?
You don't want to undress in the middle of the road, do you?
Captions 52-54, La Ladra - Ep. 4 - Una magica bionda
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Can you come up with another way to say the same thing? [answer at the bottom of the page]
In the following example, there is no spogliatoio at this doctor's office. The couple is not an actual couple and they are pretty embarrassed. La Tempesta is a wonderful movie on Yabla, by the way, set in a ceramics factory in Treviso in the Veneto region of Italy.
Certo.
Of course.
Adesso, siccome siamo un po' in ritardo, vi inviterei a spogliarvi.
Now, since we're a bit late, I invite you to get undressed.
Vi visito insieme, d'accordo?
I'll examine you together, all right?
Ci sono problemi?
Are there any problems?
No, no, no. -No.
No, no, no. -No.
Captions 7-10, La Tempesta - film
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The doctor is being very polite, but if he ordered them to get undressed, what would he say? [answer at bottom of page]
Now here's a little scene in a refrigerator truck.
A questa temperatura, con i vestiti inzuppati,
At this temperature, with sopping wet clothes,
in nove minuti il sangue diventa ghiaccio.
in nine minutes blood turns to ice.
Ah, adesso che lo so mi sento meglio!
Ah, now that I know it, I feel better!
Senti, spogliati.
Listen, strip down.
Eh? -Spogliati!
Huh? -Strip down!
Ah, bel modo di morire, sì... -Piantala!
Ah, nice way to die, yes... -Quit it!
L'unico modo per combattere l'ipotermia
The only way to fight hypothermia
è togliersi i vestiti e sommare il calore corporeo di entrambi.
is to take off our clothes and sum up the body heat of both of us.
Captions 48-55, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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You can also undress another person. In this case, it's not reflexive.
Dai Carlo vai, vai, spogliala, vasala [sic], spogliala!
Come on Carlo, go on, go on, undress her, kiss her [sic], undress her!
Caption 11, Trailer - Paparazzi
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La gente della notte fa lavori strani
The people of the night do weird jobs
Certi nascono oggi e finiscono domani
Some start up today and end tomorrow
Baristi, spacciatori, puttane e giornalai
Baristas, drug dealers, hookers, and newsdealers
Poliziotti, travestiti, gente in cerca di guai
Cops, transvestites, people looking for trouble
Padroni di locali, spogliarelliste, camionisti
Bar owners, strippers, truckers,
Metronotte, ladri e giornalisti
Night watchmen, thieves, and journalists
Captions 23-28, Radio Deejay - Lorenzo Jovanotti - Gente della notte
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⇒Answers:
Andiamo a casa tua. A casa? Non vorrai spogliarti in mezzo alla strada?
Certo. -Adesso, siccome siamo un po' in ritardo, spogliatevi. Vi visito insieme, d'accordo? Ci sono problemi? No, no, no. -No.
To get more information about a topic talked about in a lesson, for example, the reflexive touche on here, go to the lessons tab and do a search, such as: reflexive. The lessons where the reflexive is mentioned will be there, one after the other.
If you play or listen to classical music, you will have seen the indication presto on a playlist, tracklist, concert program, or score. It usually means the music should go fast. The fastest tempo you might see is prestissimo (very fast).
But there are two other, more mundane, meanings of presto, and they're both pretty important in everyday conversation.
Presto is not the only way to say "early," and it depends on the context, but it's a very important way. One way we use presto almost every day is in talking about our daily schedule. When do we get up? Presto (early)? Non troppo presto (not too early)? Molto presto (very early)? Prestissimo (super early)?
Eh, giusto. -Noi, per esempio, cuciniamo tutti insieme,
Uh, right. -We, for example, we all cook together,
mangiamo tutti insieme, la sera dormiamo tutti nello stesso letto,
we eat all together, at night we all sleep in the same bed,
poi andiamo a ballare, facciamo baldoria,
then we go dancing, we have a blast,
e la mattina ci svegliamo presto per andare all'università.
and in the morning we wake up early to go to the university.
Captions 34-37, Serena - vita da universitari
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Ma Dante non ha detto dove andava?
But didn't Dante say where he was going?
No. È arrivato presto, poi ha fatto una telefonata, è uscito.
No. He came early, then he made a phone call. He went out.
Captions 32-33, Marika commenta -La Ladra - Espressioni idiomatiche - Part 3
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We can qualify presto with molto (very) or troppo (too):
Dovrei consegnare questi documenti al Dottor Del Serio.
I should deliver these documents to Doctor Del Serio.
Ma è troppo presto, sta dormendo.
But it's too early. He's sleeping.
Captions 27-28, La Tempesta - film - Part 19
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Everyone has their own idea of what "early" is and there are some sfumature (nuances), too. In the following example, we have presto, prestissimo and prestino.
Senti, non è che domattina presto
Listen, tomorrow morning early,
potresti accompagnarmi dai genitori di una mia allieva?
you wouldn't take me, would you, to the parents' house of one of my students?
Sì, sì. Presto quanto?
Yes, yes. How early?
Eh, be', be', non prestissimo, però un po' prestino.
Oh well, well, not real early, but earlyish.
Captions 26-29, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale - Part 23
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If you have been reading the Yabla Italian newsletters, you will have seen the sign-off at the end:
a presto, literally, "until soon," but commonly translated as "[I'll] see you soon".
Allora a presto, caro, eh?! -A presto.
So, see you soon dear, OK? -See you soon.
Ciao. -Arrivederci, signora. -Ciao, Giovanni, ciao. Ciao.
Bye. -Goodbye ma'am. -Bye Giovanni, bye. Bye.
Captions 28-30, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena - Part 4
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Here's a little telephone conversation about starting a new job. The way we form the comparative and superlative of adjectives is with più (more). The presence of the definite article indicates it's in the superlative.
Ti andrebbe bene cominciare già domani?
Would it be all right with you to start tomorrow?
-Sì, certo, non c'è problema.
-Yes, of course. That's no problem.
Voglio mettermi al lavoro il più presto possibile.
I want to get to work as soon as possible.
Domani è perfetto. -Molto bene.
Tomorrow is perfect. -Very good.
Captions 17-21, Italiano commerciale - Cominciare un nuovo lavoro
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Note that we have two similar but different ways to say "as soon as possible." One way is in the previous example, il più presto possibile. The other common way is in the following example, where we have the preposition a (at, too, until): al più presto. In this case, we don't add possibile.
Sei riuscita a vedere che c'è nella valigetta?
Did you manage to see what's in the briefcase?
Un mucchio di soldi. Dobbiamo agire al più presto, OK?
A bunch of money. We have to act as soon as possible, OK?
Captions 40-41, La Ladra - EP. 8 - Il momento giusto
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It can be just the single word, said with urgency:
Mi sa che è della polizia!
I think she's from the police!
Professoressa, andiamo. Andiamo, che è gente pericolosa!
Prof, let's go, let's go because they're dangerous people!
Sbrigatevi! Presto! Forza, prof! Forza!
Hurry up! Quickly! Come on, Prof! Come on!
Captions 23-27, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale - Part 13
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Presto means fast, even though, in the following example, that's not how it's translated. This is because it's part of an idiomatic expression: si fa presto a dire, which, taken literally, means "Saying it is done quickly," or "We can be quick to say..."
Si fa presto a dire Europa.
It's easy to say "Europe."
Il termine è una costruzione dello spirito,
The term is a construction of the spirit,
derivata da una realtà geografica mal definita.
derived from a poorly-defined geographical entity.
Captions 1-3, Umberto Eco - Proust e l'identità europea
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Sometimes it's hard to decide if presto means "fast," "soon," or "early." It may be a combination, like in the following example, where a fire has started in a film lab.
Guarda là, è la Cine Service, sta bruciando.
Look over there. It's the Cine Service. It's burning.
Sì, alla Cine Service. Fate presto. C'è nessuno?
Yes, at the Cine Service. Come quickly. Anyone here?
Captions 26-29, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena - Part 8
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Generally speaking, fare presto means "to be quick," or "to do something quickly."
Facciamo presto, che tra poco torna il [sic: la] signora Franca.
Let's be quick, because in a little while, Missus Franca is set to return.
Caption 2, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema - Part 3
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We hope you have gained some insight into how "fast," "early," and "soon" can be intertwined in the Italian adverb presto.
A presto!
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