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.
In our previous lesson we talked about the difference between giorno and giornata. We learned that saying buona giornata is a nice thing to say when taking one's leave.
When saying goodbye, we can replace giornata with another -ata word, perhaps one more specific to what the other person is about to do. For example, we want to wish someone a good ride (on horseback) as in the example below, or, if they are taking a walk, we can say buona passeggiata.
Va bene. -Buona giornata. Buona cavalcata. -Buona cavalcata. Buona giornata e buon lavoro. -Grazie.
All right. -Have a nice day. Have a nice ride. -Have a nice ride. Have a nice day, and good luck with your work. -Thank you.
Captions 14-16, Fratelli Taviani La passione e l'utopia - Part 23
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Note: The -ata ending can't always be applied. If someone is about to get back to work or start on a project, you might say, buon lavoro, as in the example above (NOT buona lavorata!). We don't really have the equivalent in English, except for perhaps, "Have a good work day," but in Italy, buon lavoro is a very nice and very common thing to say to someone you're taking leave of. And if they are going to take a nap, you might say, buon riposo (have a good rest).
Let's take a closer look at this -ata ending or suffix. We'll find it on a great many nouns. One helpful thing to keep in mind is that it's always feminine. It is usually connected in meaning to the root noun, but has more movement to it.
L'onda (the wave) is what you see in the sea or ocean.
L'odore del mare, il, il suono delle onde... eh? -Sì.
The smell of the sea, the, the sound of the waves... huh? -Yes.
Caption 16, Professioni e mestieri Psicoterapeuta corporale e Naturopata
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We also have the waves of sound and energy, and when we are on the air, for example on the radio or TV, we say, Siamo in onda (we're on the air).
Ma non c'è tempo per provare, tra cinque secondi andiamo in onda.
But there's no time to rehearse, we're on the air in five seconds.
Caption 70, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 20
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L'ondata (the surge, the onrush)
We use ondata to describe a wave in motion. It's often used figuratively.
Dopo il suo primo devastante arrivo, la peste, la morte nera continuò a colpire con varie ondate negli anni, decimando la popolazione,
After its first devastating emergence, the plague, the Black Death continued to strike in various waves over the years, decimating the population,
Captions 1-2, Meraviglie EP. 3 - Part 7
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In many cases, verbs come from nouns, and nouns also come from verbs. So a noun ending in -ata might come from a verb just as easily as from a noun, for example, when we mentioned cavalcata, above, it came from the verb cavalcare (to ride a horse).
il volo - volare - la volata
With un volo, you are in flight, but with la volata, you are moving quickly.
Assomiglia a un volo nel cielo.
It resembles flying in the sky.
Caption 21, Inno all'acqua un bene prezioso da difendere
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Ho fatto una volata (I tripped and fell-- through the air)
Ho fatto una volata a casa (I rushed home for a moment)
More nouns with an -ata ending:
la girata (a short walk) [from the verb girare (to turn around), but we also have the noun un giro]
una nottata (the duration of a night - from when you go usually go to bed until the morning) [from the noun la notte]
una sgridata (a scolding) [from the verb sgridare]
la nevicata (the snowfall) [from the verb nevicare (to snow), but also the noun la neve (the snow)]
una chiacchierata (a chat) [from the verb chiacchierare (to chat)]
Certo che da una semplice chiacchierata, sei riuscita a capire tutto di Malvina, eh?
Just from a simple chat, you were able to understand everything about Malvina, weren't you?
Captions 1-2, Il Commissario Manara S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva - Part 17
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This is just a small sampling of nouns ending in -ata. Let's stay on the lookout for more, and if you see more words like these in videos, let us know, and we will add them to the list!
In this lesson, we'll take a look at a noun, a cognate in fact, that easy as it is to guess, can also create confusion sometimes, because it means a couple of different things. In English we distinguish among history, story, experience, and love affair. Italian relies on this one noun, la storia, to tell plenty of different stories!
We mention, for those interested, that in literature, we might also find istoria as a version of the word, and that la storia comes from the Greek "istoria" and the Latin "historia."
But let's talk about how people use la storia practically, in conversation. It's hard to get through a day without using this word in one way or another.
In the following example, it's clear we're talking about history.
Nella storia si sono usate le diverse chiavi per fare in modo
Historically, different clefs were used to make it so
che tutte le note si trovassero il più possibile dentro al pentagramma.
that all the notes would be, as much as possible, inside the staff.
Captions 18-19, A scuola di musica - con Alessio
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1) Can you say the same thing turning storia into an adverb, as in the translation?
Here, too, it's clear. It's also clear because storia is used with no article, and it's singular.
Io quando sono in questi posti pieni di storia,
When I'm in these places so full of history,
faccio dei pensieri profondi.
I have profound thoughts.
Captions 2-3, Amiche - Filosofie
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2) What if Anna (the speaker) was just talking about one specific place? What would she say?
Sometimes it's hard to know whether we're talking about history or stories, but it doesn't always matter. A translator has to make a choice, but the learner, reader, or listener doesn't. We're talking about past events, and if they are true, then we could also say, "history."
Voglio raccontarvi qualcosa di me,
I want to tell you something about myself,
della mia vita, della mia storia.
about my life, about my story.
Captions 13-14, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno
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When it comes to romance, there are different ways to talk about a relationship. The most common way, and this doesn't really have an equivalent in English, is with the noun storia. Of course we can say "love story" in English, (and we can say storia d'amore in Italian) but we don't so much these days, and it is usually an important relationship in one's life. In fact, translators can have a hard time finding the right word for translating storia. The following clip is from the story of an opera, so an old-fashioned word like "romance" seemed appropriate.
Abbiamo riso, abbiamo parlato.
We laughed, we talked.
Ci siamo ricordati tutti i momenti belli della nostra storia.
We remembered all the beautiful moments of our romance.
Captions 16-17, Anna presenta - La Bohème di Puccini
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Ho avuto anch'io una storia con una collega.
I also had a relationship with a colleague.
Caption 51, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP5 - Mondo sommerso
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In the previous example, we might have said "affair" instead of relationship, or possibly "fling." But not knowing the details, it's hard to know what the appropriate word might be.
In the next example, however, Luca Manara calls the relationship una relazione, another common term for a romantic relationship, close in meaning to storia, but una storia is often short-term with a beginning and an end, whereas una relazione can give the idea of something ongoing. But as we can see, here the two terms seem to be fairly equivalent.
Prima le bugie sul tuo trasferimento qua,
First, the lies about your getting transferred here,
poi sulla tua relazione con Raimondi.
then about your relationship with Raimondi.
-La mia storia con Fabrizio non ti riguarda.
-My relationship with Fabrizio doesn't concern you.
Captions 15-17, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP8 - Fuori servizio
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When a relationship is short or not very serious, we can use a suffix to modify the word storia.
Una storiella con un vigile urbano.
A fling with a traffic cop.
Caption 9, La Ladra - Ep. 3 - L'oro dello squalo
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We can also use storiella or even storia to mean "fib" or "lie."
We can always count on the Luca Manara TV series to give us great examples of everyday conversation. Something to memorize is what you see in boldface below: Cos'è questa storia?
Allora, Manara, che cos'è questa storia del contadino fratello del Conte?
So, Manara, what's this story about the farmer-brother of the Count's?
Caption 15, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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When you say it by itself, you can think: "What's going on?" "What is this?"
Storia can often just be translated with "thing." It's a word we use to cover a lot of ground: storia in Italian and "thing" in English.
Che c'hai?
What's the matter with you?
No, niente, 'sta [questa] storia di Lara che è nervosa per il matrimonio...
No, nothing. This thing with Lara who's anxious about the wedding...
Captions 2-3, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP1 - Matrimonio con delitto
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You will likely have noticed that questa is often shortened to 'sta.
Another expression to memorize, and this is used in English too, so it should be pretty straightforward.
Ne mangiasse almeno una di queste mele,
If he would only eat at least one of these apples,
tutti i giorni la stessa storia.
every day, it's the same story.
Captions 4-5, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso
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È sempre la stessa storia (It's always the same old story)!
Let's not forget that storia can just mean story as in telling a story, a fairy-tale, a fable, or reading a bed-time story.
La morale di questa storia ci dice che l'unione fa la forza.
The moral of this story tells us that unity is what gives strength [united we stand, divided we fall].
Caption 33, Adriano - Fiaba - Part 1
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As usual, there is more to this story than we have mentioned in this lesson. As Gualtiero Marchesi said at the end of his episodes about gastronomia (gourmet cooking and food in general):
Ah, ma questa è un'altra storia.
Ah, but that's another story.
Quella della prossima puntata.
The one in the next episode.
Captions 43-44, L'arte della cucina - Terre d'Acqua
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So stay tuned!
1) Storicamente si sono usate le diverse chiavi per fare in modo che tutte le note si trovassero il più possibile dentro al pentagramma.
2) Io quando sono in questo posto pieno di storia, faccio dei pensieri profondi.
There's a word that Italians use every day in various contexts, with different nuances. If you follow Yabla's instagram account, you will have seen a reference to this recently. Poi facciamo i conti is something parents might say to their kids. The kids did something bad, but they are out in public, maybe having a good time. "We'll settle this later," is what they are saying with Poi, facciamo i conti.
But let's unpack this phrase, and to start with, the noun involved: il conto. If we look up conto in the dictionary, this is what we get: So one very common meaning of il conto is "the bill" or "check" you ask for after eating in a restaurant. It suffices to say:
Il conto per favore (the check please).
Here is another example from authentic conversation:
Eh, Marika, chiediamo il conto allora? -Sì.
Uh, Marika, so shall we ask for the bill? -Yes.
Scusi, posso avere il conto, per favore?
Excuse me, can I have the bill please?
-Vi porto subito il conto. -Grazie. -Grazie.
-I'll bring you the bill right away. -Thanks. -Thanks.
Captions 60-61, Anna e Marika - Un Ristorante a Trastevere
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Another way in which Italians love to use the noun conto is in the reflexive phrasal verb rendersi conto (to realize):
Avevo capito che, in tutti questi anni, è stata innamorata di lui.
I'd figured out that, for all these years, she'd been in love with him.
E per trent'anni gli ha dato del Lei, ma ti rendi conto?
And for thirty years she addressed him formally, can you imagine that?
Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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This is such a common Italian modo di dire that it is definitely worth learning. Even though there are various ways we translate this into English depending on the context, it's a good idea to pay attention to hearing it and to try and get a sense of when it's used, without trying to figure out its precise English equivalent. We translators are obliged to, but learners can just learn by listening.
Ti rendi conto is what you say when you are shocked and surprised by something and find it hard to believe and it can even stand alone as a value judgment, often negative.
Ma ti rendi conto? Can you fathom that? Do you have any idea?
Of course, if you are speaking formally, to your boss, for example, it's a bit different: We use the third person singular (= formal second person) reflexive.
La stampa locale ci sta addosso.
The local press is on our backs.
È trapelata quella storia assurda
This absurd story has leaked
degli incontri clandestini della De Santis a casa Sua.
about De Santis's clandestine meetings at your house.
Ma si rende conto?
Do you have any idea?
Captions 1-4, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola
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But apart from that expression, rendersi conto di qualcosa is "to realize something."
Viene definita sindrome della mantide religiosa;
It's called the "praying mantis" syndrome;
consciamente non si rende conto di essere un'assassina.
she doesn't consciously realize that she's an assassin.
Captions 8-9, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso
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This is something you can say in the negative when you failed to notice something or were unaware of something you did. In our next example, the speaker uses that little particle ne, which stands for "it" or "about it." Note that when we use rendersi conto in the present perfect, we use the auxiliary verb essere (to be) because the verb is reflexive. Forming these turns of phrase is a bit of a challenge for learners!
E quindi l'ha uccisa.
And so you killed her.
Ma io non volevo, io...
But I didn't want to. I...
non me ne sono neanche reso conto.
I didn't even realize it.
Una notte ho deciso di affrontarla.
One night I decided to confront her.
Captions 4-7, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia
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Un conto can often be translated as "thing," when you are talking about evaluating a situation: Here the dialogue is about stealing items from a hotel room.
Un conto è se ti pigli una saponetta,
It's one thing if you swipe a soap
che non se ne accorge nisciun [nessuno]...
because no one will notice...
Captions 75-76, L'oro di Scampia - film - Part 10
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Ci siamo resi conto che c'è tanto da dire sul conto della parola
We've realized that there is a lot to say on the subject of the word
"il conto", insieme ad il suo plurale, "i conti".
il conto and its plural: i conti.
To be continued! We will talk about fare i conti, sul conto di, fare conto, and more! Thanks for reading!
In Italian there are different ways of saying "I love you." Romantic love is expressed with the verb amare (to love). Ti amo (I love you) is what a person will use when he or she is quite serious about a romantic relationship. But to express the kind of amore (love) parents have for their children (and vice versa), as in the following example from a video on essere madre (being a mother, or "motherhood"), an important phrasal verb to go for is voler bene (to care about, to care for).
A mia madre invece vorrei dire...
To my mother, on the other hand, I'd like to say...
ti voglio bene! Un bacio!
I love you! A kiss!
Captions 30-40, Essere... - madre
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While English speakers may send love at the close of a letter to a friend or loved one, Italians will more likely send kisses and hugs, both in writing and verbally, as in the previous example. Here are some variations:
un bacio (a kiss)
un bacione (a big kiss)
baci (kisses)
un abbraccio (a hug, an embrace)
If you really like someone, but are not in love, or just not ready to say ti amo, then voler bene can be used to mean "to be very fond."
Look at the lesson I like it - Mi piace to integrate even more degrees of affetto (affection) using the verb piacere (to please) and the adjective simpatico (likeable, nice).
When falling in love, Italians have a reflexive verb all ready: innamorarsi (to become, or fall, in love). Once having fallen in love, a man is innamorato and a woman is innamorata. Note that the preposition is di (of), not con (with).
Avevo capito che, in tutti questi anni, è stata innamorata di lui.
I'd figured out that, for all these years, she'd been in love with him.
E per trent'anni gli ha dato del Lei, ma ti rendi conto?
And for thirty years she addressed him formally, can you imagine that?
Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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Two people may be molto innamorati (very much in love) and refer to each other as his or her amoroso. The noun form stays in the masculine, although the adjective form (much less common) changes according to gender and number.
To sum up some of the words having to do with love:
nouns:
amore (love)
affetto (affection)
amoroso (beloved, sweetheart)
verbs:
amare (to love)
voler bene a (to really care for)
innamorarsi (to fall in love)
piacere (to please)
adjectives:
innamorato (in love)
affezionato (attached to, fond of)
simpatico (likeable)
amoroso (affectionate, amorous)
Learning suggestion:
Look around you at home and outside, and try to choose the word that best expresses your affetto (affection) for the people intorno a te (surrounding you).
Further reading:
Enjoy this lighthearted article about voler bene.
As we saw in a previous lesson, Italians are very conscious of formal and informal greetings, and will say hello in different ways depending on the situation. But there’s more. When speaking or writing to someone they must, or want, to treat with respect, they’ll use the polite form of “you”—Lei. This happens to be identical to the word for “she,” lei. To show respect, Lei gets capitalized, together with its possessive pronouns Sua, Sue, Suoi (your, yours) and its object pronouns La and Le (you). Although the capitalization of these pronouns is going out of style, it can be helpful for figuring out who is being talked about. Using the formal “you” is called dare del Lei (giving the formal “you”). The opposite is called dare del tu (giving the informal “you”).
In Ma che ci faccio qui! (But What Am I Doing Here?), Alessio finds himself in an embarrassing situation. (Yes, he’s about to fare brutta figura!) Things have gotten decidedly intimo, but Alessio da ancora del Lei (is still giving the formal “you”) to this woman, and she calls him out on it.
Ma che fai, mi dai ancora del Lei?
What are you doing, you still address me formally?
Caption 39, Ma che ci faccio qui! - Un film di Francesco Amato
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In an episode of Commissario Manara, Lara is trying to get some information from a woman in shock over the death of her employer. Lara uses Lei since she is addressing someone older than her, and whom she doesn’t know. Lara sees the woman is touchy on the subject at hand so she immediately apologizes, even though she’s done nothing wrong.
When the personal pronoun in question is an object, either direct or indirect, it can become part of the verb, as we’ve talked about in a previous lesson. In the example below, the polite “you” is a direct object of the verb offendere (to offend), and becomes part of it (with a respectful capital letter in this case).
Mi scusi, non volevo offenderLa.
I'm sorry, I didn't want to offend you.
Caption 57, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP4 - Le Lettere Di Leopardi
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In another episode, Luca Manara is being polite to his boss, but only on the surface. In this case, the indirect object pronoun is part of the compound verb, riferire a (to report to).
Ma, come, purtroppo Lei mi ricorda,
But, since, unfortunately you remind me,
io devo riferirLe tutto, no?
I have to tell you everything, don't I?
-Si aspetta magari che le dica bravo?
-Maybe you're expecting me say, "Good work?"
Captions 25-26, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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In the concluding segment of “Vendemmia tardiva,” la zia, as usual, uses her powers of conversazione and intuizione femminile to help solve the crime:
Avevo capito che, in tutti questi anni, è stata innamorata di lui.
I'd figured out that, for all these years, she'd been in love with him.
E per trent'anni gli ha dato del Lei,
And for thirty years she addressed him formally,
ma ti rendi conto?
can you imagine that?
Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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Dare del tu (to address informally) or dare del Lei (to address formally) is an important aspect to settle in a new relationship. A common question to ask is: ci possiamo dare del tu? (can we give each other the informal "you?") or, ci diamo del tu? (shall we give each other the informal “you?”). The answer is almost always: sì, certo!
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