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Origin of the saying 'levare le tende'
The saying 'levare le tende' meaning 'to leave' is quite common in informal Italian language. I guess its origin may come from the military jargon but could not find any evidence on this issue. I'd like to know if my assumption is correct or what…
user519
7
votes
2 answers
How would I translate "He makes the language sing." into Italian
I have decided to be very brave and put my Italian out there in a blog. I will admit that the first entry I am writing is mostly done from a translator site but I want to try it on my own eventually.
In my first entry, I am writing about how I came…
Jim's Mum
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Why do you say "schiacciare un pisolino"?
In a blog on Italian language to which I subscribe the writer used the idiom "schiacciare un pisolino". I love to know how language comes about and am very curious to know why one would squash a little nap. Does anyone know the origin of this term?
Jim's Mum
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7
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Why do we say "a Bologna" but "in Italia"?
Why do I say io vado a Bologna (city) and io vado in Italia (country)?
For example, I can’t say io vado ad Italia.
Why do we always use in (not a) for countries and a (not in) for cities?
Hatem Alimam
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7
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Quando non si deve mettere l'accento sul pronome "sé"?
Ho letto che "sé" è la forma forte del pronome riflessivo in espressioni come, per esempio, "far da sé", "essere fuori di sé", "parlare di sé"... Comunque, mi hanno detto che a volte non si deve mettere l'accento su questo pronome come, ad esempio,…
Charo
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7
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"Grazie di" oppure "grazie per"?
Non riesco a capire quando si debba usare "di" e quando "per" dopo la parola "grazie". Ad esempio, ho letto "grazie della tua correzione", ma anche "grazie per la tua risposta". Sono tutte e due corrette?
Charo
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7
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1 answer
Pronouncing J's
I don't know very much about Italian, but I was trying to learn a bit, and I came across Jesolo- I was wondering how J's get treated in Italian. I know they aren't native Italian letters, but I can't find how they are pronounced-sites are saying…
user679
7
votes
3 answers
Difference between "potere" and "riuscire" in meaning and usage
Do we say
"non potrò votare domani perché sono ammalata"
or
"non riuscirò a votare domani perché sono ammalata"?
These two verbs often confuse me as to their usage. When do we use each?
Vic
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"Bamboccione", "vitellone" and "mammone": hyponyms of "immature (adult)"? Other synonyms/hyponyms?
In English Language and Usage there is an interesting question about immature adults.
Some of the terms that might fit in Italian, with different nuances of course, are "bamboccione" from the famous neologism introduced by Tommaso Padoa Schioppa,…
user193
7
votes
3 answers
How do you conjugate reciprocal verbs when the subject is a collective singular noun?
When conjugating reciprocal verbs like baciarsi and abbracciarsi when the subject is a collective singular noun. Do you use a reflexive pronoun or leave it out?
Reciprocal verbs have a sense that you are doing something to each other and in English…
gbutters
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7
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Differenza fra 'cazzaro' e 'fancazzista'
Sento frequentemente parlare di 'cazzari' e 'fancazzisti', ma non riesco a capire la differenza.
C'è qualcuno che sa spiegare? Inoltre, secondo voi, sono ormai parole che possono essere usate correntemente come 'stupido', 'idiota', 'imbecille' e…
Kyriakos Kyritsis
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Perché non si dice 'in Lazio' ma 'nel Lazio'?
Perché si dice 'Latina è nel Lazio', ma, p.e., 'Genova è in Liguria', 'Palermo è in Sicilia' e così via?
Kyriakos Kyritsis
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7
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Perché, poiché, etc
Is there any significant difference between “perché” and “poiché”? I’ve seen both used where “because” was the best English translation.
There were a couple of other words used the same way, but I can’t remember them now.
WGroleau
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Was there a time when some 1st person plurals ended with “-am”?
I was reading an old document put on the web and saw “siam” where I expected “siamo.”
I was about to report a typo when I realized that at least a third of the verbs were that way—“dobbiam” and “abbiam” per esempio.
Was that ever normal long long…
WGroleau
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7
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What is the difference between 'prendere in braccio' and 'prendere un braccio'?
What is the difference between prendere in braccio and prendere un braccio ?
Here's the context where I encountered the both expressions. It is from a campaign against child violence:
Ogni giorno il mio papà torna a casa, mi prende un in braccio,…
Rafał Gruszczyński
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