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9
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3 answers

Is "a me mi" nowadays accepted as correct written language?

I remember when I was young that using "a me mi" was considered wrong. For example saying a me mi piace giocare a calcio. But I also remember that it was so largely used that it was made "legal" in the spoken language. I remember hearing it in the…
9
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2 answers

Usare la 'y' per modificare i cognomi

Noto una recente tendenza della stampa satirica a terminare in 'y' alcuni cognomi; per esempio, oggi leggevo Renzy per Renzi e Alfy per Alfano. Sapreste dire quale sia l'origine di questa modificazione, e se la stessa è usata anche in altre lingue…
Kyriakos Kyritsis
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9
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1 answer

"Non riesco a camminare dritta" versus "non riesco a camminare dritto"

When uttered by a woman, which of the following sentences is correct? Non riesco a camminare dritta. Non riesco a camminare dritto. My feeling is that, since dritto is the way of walking (in a straight line), that is what should be used, not…
apaderno
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9
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3 answers

Origin and meaning of the saying "Donna barbuta, sempre piaciuta"

Does anyone have a clue about the origin of the saying: "Donna barbuta, sempre piaciuta" and what its real meaning is?
Geeo
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9
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3 answers

Which one is correct: "ti raccomando" vs "mi raccomando"?

I know that both "ti raccomando" and "mi raccomando" are used with the sense of "I recommend you", but to me, coming from outside, the use of the "mi" form seems illogical and should be translated as "I recommend to myself" (so if I need to…
symbiotech
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9
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3 answers

Uso corretto della locuzione "né ... né" con la preposizione "senza"

Se voglio escludere due cose da un concetto che esprimo, posso dire "né questo né quello". Supponiamo che voglia utilizzare la preposizione senza, dovrei allora dire "senza né questo né quello", oppure va bene anche "senza questo né quello"? In…
martina.physics
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9
votes
3 answers

What is a typical situation to say "disgraziato"?

What is a typical situation to use "disgraziato!"? What kind of emotion is associated with the word?
Memming
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9
votes
4 answers

Changing of meaning of "piuttosto che" over the years

When I was a kid, I learnt at school that 'piuttosto che' was used as follows "Piuttosto che venire con voi me ne sto a casa", whose meaning was 'instead of', a contrast between two mutual excluding items. Over time my feeling is that the meaning…
Daniele B
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9
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2 answers

Estimates about the number of lemmas in the Italian vocabulary

The number of lemmas in the vocabulary of Italian, intended as the the number of entries in a paper vocabulary, may change according to the vocabulary itself, that is, according to how much it is abridged. This is of course true for every…
martina.physics
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9
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1 answer

Perché Israele non vuole l'articolo?

Per i nomi di nazioni e stati indipendenti, quando usati come soggetto*, si usa l'articolo determinativo (ad es. la Spagna, il Marocco). Fanno eccezione molte isole (Cuba, Taiwan, Malta, Cipro) e città stato (Monaco, San Marino). Mi pare che Israele…
Nicola Sap
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9
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8 answers

Origini ed etimologia della particella 'nee' alla fine di frasi in dialetti del Nord Italia

Soprattutto nel nord-ovest sento spesso usare 'nee' alla fine di talune asserzioni, per esempio: 'Non chiederlo ancora, nee.' 'Prendi il libro, nee.' 'Sono stanco ora, nee.' Sapreste dirmi precisamente cosa significhi e quali siano le origini…
Kyriakos Kyritsis
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9
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1 answer

What grammatical gender to use for people who do not identify as a specific gender?

I am wondering how to use a grammatical gender in Italian for non-gender-conforming people. For example, how should I use adjectives when referring to a person who does not identify as either male or female?
user7282
9
votes
2 answers

Why in Italian should I use periods to separate units of thousands in large numbers?

What's the historical origin that makes us write 1.000.000,00 and not 1,000,000.00 (like in English) or 1 000 000,00 (like in French)?
Kyriakos Kyritsis
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9
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1 answer

Is Latin to Italian what Ancient Greek is to Modern Greek?

It would seem like an obvious (and superficial) generalization: Italian's "obvious" ancestor is Latin, Modern Greek's obvious ancestor is Ancient Greek, Latin and Ancient Greek were used (very loosely) in the same period of time. But, at least from…
Matteo Italia
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9
votes
5 answers

Difference between "darsi del tu" and "del lei"

In Italian there's the usage of "darsi del tu" (referring to your interlocutor in second person singular) and "darsi del lei" (using instead the feminine third person singular). What's the difference? In what contexts should I prefer one form over…
Matteo Italia
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