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Lesson Introduction
New Year's is a time of celebration: the end of one year, the beginning of another. In today's podcast learn how to talk about an important element of these celebrations. Yes, that's right, we're talking about the ubiquitous firecracker!
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bingge says
January 2, 2009
I am probably the newbiest of newbies here on ItalianPod. Can someone tell me why both lì and c` are used for the word "there". They're both marked as adverbs in the dialogue section. What's the difference? Or maybe you can point me to a lesson that already discusses this? Thanks!
ire_ne says
January 3, 2009
Hi bingge and welcome to ItalianPod!
"lì" and "ci" are both translate as "there" in english and they are both actually adverbs.
lì = in that place ( is a place far from both the speaker and the listener )
es: mettilo lì = put it there
guarda lì = look there
ci = here, in this place, in that place, in the place of which we're talking about.
es: abito in città e ci sto bene = I live in the centre and I'm feeling ok there.
Ci siamo finalmente! = We're here, finally!
Usually is used with the verb to be (like here, in this dialogue) and the meaning is "to exist", "to be in a place".
es:c'è l'acqua = there is the water
c'è il pane = there is the bread
Hope that I cleared it up, I know it's not an easy thing for newbie!
Let me know!
bingge says
January 4, 2009
Thanks ire_ne! I appreciate the response; it was very helpful!
ire_ne says
January 4, 2009
I'm glad of it! ;-)
If u have any doubt, don't hesitate to ask!
s0671914 says
January 16, 2009
I admit I know little about cats in either English or Italian, but is la lettiera del gatto the box in which the cat deposits its...waste, or it is the litter that goes inside the box. In my mind we have cat litter (small pellets) and the litter box. Does lettiera refer to both?
Great lesson, as per usual! Thanks so much.
italythai says
January 18, 2009
i am newbies as well, and italianpod make me day by day improve my italian.
Grazie.
catherinem says
January 19, 2009
@s0671914 la lettiera del gatto is the litter box, not the stuff you put inside. Glad you liked the lesson!
@italythai Welcome - I hope you find that coming to ItalianPod helps you learn Italian! I encourage you to try posting some things in Italian, even if they're just brief phrases or simple questions. That way, we can help you and you can really get the most out of your studies!
italythai says
January 20, 2009
Dear Catherin
Grazie!! allora io pralo italiano adesso. ma, sono unpo paralo. io viene dalla Thailandies. io studio italian by ribro. ma, li mio ragazzo unpo studio me.
hahaha.... sorry that such a poor italian to me. but, i try....
ciao ciao
catherinem says
January 20, 2009
@italythai Prego! To say that you come from a place (a city or a country) you say:
Vengo dagli Stati Uniti. I come from the US.
Vengo da Chicago. I come from Chicago.
Vengo means I come. You can also say io vengo, but the io is not necessary.
italythai says
January 21, 2009
Grazie ancora Catherine
well, Vengo dagli Thailandia. :D
fudawei says
February 14, 2009
There's an expression in English that's still relatively common: "Hoist by his own petard." It describes someone who plots or schemes against another person -- but is caught up by their own trap. But VERY few native English speakers even know what a "petard" is.
It's from Shakespeare. The full quote from Hamlet (III;IV):
"For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petar[d]: and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines,
And blow them at the moon:"
Hamlet's bragging about how he's one step ahead of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern; how he's not only going to thwart their scheme to have him killed, but he's going to use their own plan to turn the tables and have them killed instead.
The image is that they have planted a "landmine" under Hamlet, but he's going to plant his own explosive under theirs.
And that's exactly what a "petard" is -- a gunpowder charge used for blowing things up. A very popular weapon at the time.
And what's the Italian word for a gunpowder charge (aka: a firecracker)?
il petardo !
catherinem says
February 15, 2009
fudawei,
Thank you so much for this linguistic tid bit. I have to admit that I was one of those native speakers who didn't even know that petardo was a word in the English language!
polvere da sparo means gunpowder (lit: powder for shooting)
Great comment :)
trungle2009 says
December 18, 2009
Ciao a tutti,
In Vietnam, c'e un "expression" come: che cosa studiamo "from" l'insegnante non sono piu cosa che studiamo "from" i amici.
Grazie per "great" domande del tutti.
@Catherine. Potete aiutare "fix" cosa scrivo. Grazie ;-)
catherinem says
December 20, 2009
@trungle2009:
Questo commento sarebbe più corretto come:
In Vietnam, c'è un espressione che va così: a volte si impara di più da amici che dagli insegnanti.
Grazie per fantastiche domande da tutti!
aryanrad says
December 25, 2009
aryan
سلام