If I was…

Hello Dear Readers,

Christmas is around the corner… 🙂 🙂 🙂

Let’s be honest Christmas is all about giving and receiving gifts, celebrating love with friends and family. At least that’s the mindset many of us have today. And since you all know my love for books, why not consider buying one for your family and friends?

But why books?

Well, I believe a book opens up new worlds to the reader. It allows the imagination to travel and create vivid images from the descriptions on the pages. It enriches our souls and minds, and also helps refresh our vocabulary and grammar rules, this is my primary reason for reading!

Why am I talking about books? The other day, I was watching some videos on YouTube, and one caught my attention: it was the video of the Italian song “Congiuntivo” (Subjunctive) by Lorenzo Baglioni, who participated in the Sanremo Festival, a significant Italian music event. This song highlights the use of the subjunctive in the Italian language. Unfortunately, many of us still struggle to use it correctly in hypothetical sentences, where it is necessary!

To illustrate:

Correct: Se fossi ricca, viaggerei sempre (If I were rich, I would always travel)

In the subordinate clause, we must use the subjunctive, while in the main clause, we use the conditional.

Incorrect: Se sarei ricca, viaggerei sempre (If I would be rich, I would always travel)

This is a common mistake and sounds terrible.

This song serves as a reminder to all Italians to use the subjunctive correctly! Music is a great trick to remember this, and reading also helps as our minds unconsciously memorize grammatical structures. After some reading, we automatically speak better Italian. So, everyone, buy as many books as you can! This advice applies to me as well, hehehe. Speaking a language correctly is important because it’s pleasant to listen to and, more importantly, ensures we are understood.

Good luck! Ah, and Merry Christmas to all!!! Happy 2020!!!

gregoracetranslationsLeave a comment

Curiosities

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for my absence from the blog, my computer decided to break down on me! But finally, I’m back!!!

In this article, I want to share some fascinating curiosities I recently discovered. I find them quite interesting, and maybe you already know them, but they were new to me! 🙂

First Curiosity: Did you know that the letter “z” is a foreign letter in Italian? It is not originally Italian—what a surprise! As Mariangela Galatea Vaglio writes in her book “L’Italiano è bello,” the letter “z” comes from ancient Greek and didn’t even exist in the Latin alphabet. The Romans adopted it, and thanks to them, we now have this letter in Italian. So, we have words like zanzara, zebra, zaino, etc., which all begin with “z.”

Second Curiosity: The group of words starting with “pn-” is connected to the Greek word “pneuma,” which means “blow.” In medicine, we have words like pneumotorace, pneumologo, pneumococco, etc. In colloquial Italian, we use “pneumatico” to refer to car wheels. We say “il pneumatico” and “i pneumatici.” However, if we refer to perfect human beings inspired by the Pneuma, the divine breath, then we should use “gli pneumatici.” Interesting, right?

Third Curiosity: The pronoun “ne” in Italian means “this thing.” It comes from the Latin “inde,” which means “from there.” It can be an adverb of location, a personal or demonstrative pronoun preceded by the preposition “di” or “da.” For example, “Ne parlo con lui” means “Parlo con lui di questa cosa” (I talk with him about this thing). Whenever you know the subject, you use “ne” to avoid repetition.

Now that I am back, I will continue sharing every little or big discovery about this beautiful language and the others I speak!

STAY TUNED!!! Hope you have a nice autumn season!

images
Source

gregoracetranslationsLeave a comment

Our everyday chats…

Hello Dear Readers,

I would like to start today’s article with a simple question: Is it just me who thinks that our smartphones rule our daily lives? When you think about it carefully, we don’t even need to use a computer anymore. With smartphones and their applications, as well as the most popular social media platforms, we can accomplish so much instantly. We can chat with friends all over the world, and because we live in a time where we want to do many things simultaneously and quickly, we often shorten words to save time.

I’d like to share some examples in the five languages I know to illustrate how amusing, yet at times stressful and sad, it can be for language enthusiasts to see grammar being neglected. But well! Win some, lose some…

For example, the proper word for “message” is abbreviated as “msg.” So, “Can I send u a msg?” should be “Can I send you a message?”

Italian:

Text: Ciao! Cm stai? T posso kiam dopo? C ved fra 2 gg. Tvttb.

Full Sentence: Ciao! Come stai? Ti posso chiamare dopo? Ci vediamo fra due giorni. Ti voglio tanto tanto bene.

(Hi! How are you? Can I call you later? See you in two days. I love you so so much.)

Text: Xo Xké fai cs?

Full Sentence: Però perché fai così?

(But why do you act like this?)

Spanish:

Text: Wenas! bno ntp! ns vms dsps!

Full Sentence: Buenas tardes! Bueno no te preocupes! Nos vemos después!

(Good afternoon! Well, don’t worry! See you later!)

Text: Tkm, pr q sepas! xoxo

Full Sentence: Te quiero mucho, para que sepas! Besos y abrazos.

(I love you so much, just to let you know! Hugs and kisses)

English:

Text: Hi! How r u? TGIF!!! LOL

Full Sentence: Hi! How are you? Thank God it’s Friday!!! Laughing out loud

Text: TYVM 4 ur help! ILU!

Full Sentence: Thank you very much for your help! I love you!

Portuguese:

Text: Pdc, acho q vc está certo!

Full Sentence: Pode crer, acho que você está certo!

(You can believe it, I think you are right!)

Text: Te digo a vdd: tenho sdds d vc!!!

Full Sentence: Te digo a verdade: tenho saudades de você!!!

(I tell you the truth: I miss you!!!)

Norwegian:

Text: Ifht hva du sier, r d ikke mulig å gjøre d pga stedet.

Full Sentence: i forhold til hva du sier, er det ikke mulig å gjøre det på grunn av stedet.

(According to what you say, it is not possible to do that because of the place.)

Text: R de 3 elns? Også hvor r de?

Full Sentence: Er de tre eller noe sånt? Også hvor er de?

(Are they three or something like that? And also, where are they?)

As you can see, with this method, we create new vocabulary every day. However, it may not be quite understandable for everyone. Sometimes, I think it is better to value a single moment and take a minute to write a complete message.

Isn’t it better to read “I LOVE YOU” instead of “I LUV U”? Think about it!

bulle-dialogue-papier-messages-courts_7547-333 (1)

Source

gregoracetranslations2 Comments