lunedì 3 dicembre 2012

Lesson 6 - EXCLAMATIONS and ADVERBS

EXCLAMATIONS (Esclamazioni)- invariable part of speech
It expresses a particular emotional attitude of the speaker, in a concise way. The interjection is generally followed by an exclamation point, which underscores the emphasis and immediacy.
According to the shape, interjections are divided into:

Proper (proprie):
if they have only a function of interjection  (Ah, eh, oh, boh!, alas!) (ah!, eh!, oh!, boh!, ahimè!);
Improper (improprie): if they include other parts of speech used as interjection (shut up!, too bad!, shoot, monster!)  (zitto!, peccato!, cavolo!, mostro!);
Phrases Interiettive (locuzioni interiettive): if formed by groups of separate words (my God, for God's sake, damn it!, poor me!, fire!, thief!) (mio Dio!, per amor del cielo!, porca miseria!, povero me!, al fuoco!, al ladro!).

  ADVERBS (Avverbi)- invariable part of speech


Used to change the meaning of those words which is accompanied to.
Are considered adverbs also adverb phrases or expressions consisting of several words, which have the meaning of an adverb (as always, in the end, carelessly, of course, up in the blink of an eye, when, etc. ) (di sempre, in fondo, alla carlona, di certo, in su, in un batter d'occhio, da quando, ecc.).

Adverbs of manner (qualifiers) [avverbi di modo (qualificativi)] indicate the manner in which the action is performed. Are adverbs like this:



those formed by adding the suffix "-mente" to the feminine form of an adjective (quickly, softly)
(velocemente, morbidamente);
those formed by adding the suffix "-oni" at the root of a noun or a verb (face down, dangling)
(bocconi, ciondoloni);
those that have the same form of some adjectives in the masculine singular (fair, strong, tall)
(giusto, forte, alto);

good, bad, almost happy, as well, that is, only, unfortunately, slow, fast, fast, floor, too, of course, in a hurry
(adverb) - bene, male, quasi, volentieri, come, così, cioè, soltanto, purtroppo, lento, veloce, velocemente, piano, troppo, certo, in fretta e furia (locuzione avverbiale)

Adverbs of time - Avverbi di tempo
Ancora, ora, mai, sempre, prima, dopo, ieri, oggi, domani, subito, presto, frequentemente, spesso...
Yet, now, never, ever, before, after, yesterday, today, tomorrow, soon, soon, often, often ...


Adverbs of place - Avverbi di luogo
Lì, là, qui, qua, giù, su, laggiù, lassù, davanti, dietro, sopra, sotto, dentro, fuori, altrove, intorno, ci, vi, ecc.
There, there, here, here, down, up, down, up there, in front, behind, above, below, inside, outside,
elsewhere, around, there, there, etc..

Adverbs of quantity - Avverbi di quantità
Poco, molto, tanto, più, meno, parecchio, appena, abbastanza, troppo, assai, quasi, per lo più, piuttosto, quanto, ecc.

Shortly, much, much, more, less, long, slightly, enough, too, much, almost, for the most part, rather, what, etc..

Adverbs evaluation - Avverbi di valutazione 
Purtroppo, giustamente, fortunatamente, stranamente, ecc.
Unfortunately, quite rightly, fortunately, strangely, etc..


Among these are distinguished
:
_Adverbs opinativi (opinativi): expressing an opinion;
_Adverbs of affirmation or certainty (affermazione o certezza):  Yes, exactly, certainly, of course, really, sure, surely, in fact, own, etc. (Sì, esattamente, certamente, certo, davvero, sicuro, sicuramente, appunto, proprio, ecc..);
_Adverbs of negation (negazione): no, not, nor, even, even, even, at all, etc. (no, non, né, neppure, neanche, nemmeno, affatto, ecc..);
_Adverbs of doubt or skeptical (dubbi o dubitativi): if, maybe, maybe, maybe, probably, possibly, etc. (se, forse, magari, chissà, probabilmente, eventualmente, ecc..).

Interrogative adverbs and exclamation (Interrogativi ed Esclamativi)
come, dove, quando, quanto, perché, ecc.how, where, when, how, why, etc..

Adverbs indicative (indicativi)
proprio, ecco (eccoti, eccolo...)
own, here are (there you are, here it comes ...)

Adverbs of similarity (di somiglianza)
come, tipo, ecc.
as, type, etc..

It is very easy to confuse adverbs and prepositions with adjectives with pronouns and conjunctions. To distinguish them, just follow this reasoning:

Adjectives always accompany a noun and agree in gender and number with that, no adverbs. So, in the sentence "Ho molta fame" (I'm very hungry) the word MOLTA (very) is an adjective (because it is related to the noun "fame" (hungry) and because there is a correlation), while in the phrase "Ho studiato molto" (I studied a lot) MOLTO (a lot) is an adverb (refers to a verb).


Conjunctions always connect two elements, while adverbs refer to just one. In the sentence "Faremo come vuoi" (We will do as you will) the word COME (as) is a conjunction because it combines the phrases "(noi) faremo" and "(tu) vuoi" ["(we) do it" and "(you) want"]. In the sentence "Come è buffo questo ritratto!" (How is this funny picture!), the word  COME don't connects two elements: In fact, it is an esclamative adverb.


Prepositions always introduce a noun or a pronoun or a proposition.
For example, in "Sopra l'armadio c'è una scatola" (Above the closet there is a box) the word SOPRA (above) is a preposition, because it introduces the closet. Instead, in "Guarda l'armadio: sopra c'è una scatola" "Watch the closet: Above is a box", the word SOPRA not introduce any term, so it is an adverb.
 

Particles ci, vi and ne could be pronouns or adverbs of place. When they indicate a statying in a place or a movement from place, are adverbs ("Ci sono venti regioni in Italia", "Aprì la scatola e ne uscì solo polvere") ("There are twenty regions in Italy", "He opened the box and came out just dust"), in other cases, they are pronouns ("Vi dirò i nostri propositi più tardi", "Arrivò la carestia e molte persone ne morirono") ("I will tell our purposes later" , "came the famine and many people died.").
extracted and integrated from wikipedia

mercoledì 28 novembre 2012

Lesson 5 - PRONOUNS

THE PRONOUNS

(I Pronomi) Variable part of speech!

The personal pronouns (pronomi personali)
replace the names in order to avoid their repetition; some have function of subject and other of complement.


The personal pronoun GLI means A LUI.

The personal pronoun LE means A LEI.

The personal pronoun LORO means A ESSI - male or A ESSE - female


Possessive pronouns
(pronomi possessivi): Mio, tuo, suo, nostro, vostro, loro

Example:
Possessive adjective: Il MIO libro. (My book)

Possessive pronoun: Questo è MIO. (This is MINE)


Demonstrative pronouns
(pronomi dimostrativi).

Words that indicate the location of something respect to us and respect the listener.
Attention should not be mistaken:
Demonstrative pronoun
(when replacing the name):
QUESTO è mio. THAT is mine.

Demonstrative adjective
(when accompanying the name to which it refers):
QUESTO libro è mio. THAT book is mine.

Adverb
(only when QUESTO becomes STA and accompanied a certain period of time) STAmane (this morning), STAsera (This Evening), STAnotte (Tonight)...


Relative pronoun
s  (Pronomi relativi) (NOTE: Some pronouns can be invariable)

The relative pronoun replaces prior elements and connects two propositions.

Variable = il quale, i quali, la quale, le quali
Unvariable = che, cuiRemember: If CHE can be replaced with the "quale, la quale, i quali, le quali" is a relative pronoun. If you can not do this, it is a conjunction!

Indefinite pronouns (Pronomi indefiniti)Indefinite adjective and the indefinite pronoun indicate things and persons without specifying the precise amount or quality. Often, their shapes are the same, since the adjective accompanying the name can take its place and serve as a pronoun.

The following adjectives:

   In Italia ci sono molte città storiche.
   Quest'anno il ciliegio ha dato tanti frutti.

    
In Italy there are many historic towns.
    
This year, the cherry tree has many fruits.

Can therefore will assume the role of pronoun:

    Le città storiche in Italia sono belle, ma molte sono trascurate.
    Quest'anno il ciliegio ha dato dei buoni frutti, peccato che tanti non siano stati raccolti.

    
The historic towns in Italy were nice, but many are neglected.
    
This year, the cherry has given good results, too bad that so many have not been obtained.

Interrogative pronouns
and Exclamative
pronouns (Pronomi interrogativi e Pronomi Esclamativi)

Pronome interrogativo = QUALE casa? (Nelle domande)
Interrogative pronoun = WHICH home? (in questions)

Pronome esclamativo = QUELLA! (Nelle esclamazioni)
Exclamative pronoun = THAT! (In esclamations)

Integrated with Wikipedia

giovedì 22 novembre 2012

Lesson 4 - CONJUNCTIONS

THE CONJUNCTIONS
(Le Congiunzioni) Invariable part of speech!
 
Conjunctions are words that connect two words or two phrases to establish logical connections between the parts of the message. Are an invariable part of speech.
 
Monosyllabic words - extra lesson

The monosyllabic words are formed by a single syllable. Some have the same pronunciation (homophones) but different meanings and to distinguish them need to figure out the accent or the apostrophe.

lunedì 12 novembre 2012

Lesson 3 - ARTICLES/PREPOSITIONS

THE ARTICLES
(Gli Articoli) Variable part of speech!
The article is a variable part of speech that is putted first to give a name to a specified value, an indeterminate one or a generic.

1. Definite articles (articoli determinativi): il, lo, la, i gli, le.


Articles
male, singularil, lo (l')
male, plurali, gli (li)
female, singularla (l')
female, pluralle

Lo and la apostrophize with names starting with vowel.
Gli apostrophizes with names starting with i.
Un' is used only with female names starting with vowel.

Lo, la, le, gli are articles when they precede the name, become pronouns when they are immediately before or after the verb.
Aricle: Lo stereo è sulla scrivania. (The stereo is on the desk)
Pronouns: Ti credevo furbo, ma non lo sei. (I thought you were smart, but you're not)

2. Indefinite articles (articoli indeterminativi): un, uno, una, un'.

The indefinite articles do not have the plural so we have to use partitive forms (PARTITIVE ARTICLES).
Or we can use: alcuni (male)-alcune (female). (Both "some" in english).


               male  - female
singular uno un una (un')

3. Partitive Articles (articolo partitivo): dei, degli, del, dell', dello, delle, della, del'.

  • male, singular: del, dell', dello
  • female, singular: della, dell'
  • male, plural: dei, degli
  • female, plural: delle

THE PREPOSITIONS
(Le Preposizioni) Invariable part of speech!

Simple prepositions (preposizioni semplici): di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra, fra.
That are useful for introducing "complements" (complementi) and we will meet them again in logical analysis.

Articulated prepositions (preposizioni articolate - variable in the part of articles): are formed from a mixture of simple prepositions and the definite articles.
  • The articulated prepositions derived from "con" (collo, colla, cogli, colle, col, coi) and from "per" (pel, pello, pella, pegli, pelle, pei) are rarely used in modern language. In their place is usually used separated forms (con lo, con la, con gli, con le, con il, con i; per il, per lo, per la, per gli, per le, per i).
  • The articulated prepositions derived from "di"  can be used as partitive articles.
    For example
    :
    Ho comprato dello zucchero e delle arance. (I bought the sugar and oranges)
    You can use also: Ho comprato un pò di zucchero e qualche arancia. (I bought some sugar and some oranges)
 (Section integrated From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)

domenica 29 aprile 2012

Lesson 2 - NOUNS -

The digraph (digramma) is a sound (phoneme - fonema) formed by two letters (graphemes - grafemi).
  
The parts of the discourse 

variables (adjectives, articles, nouns, pronouns, verbs)
variabili (aggettivi, articoli, nomi, pronomi, verbi)
 
invariable (adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, exclamation)
invariabili (avverbi, congiunzioni, preposizioni, esclamazione)

THE NOUNS
(I NOMI)

Any type of word can act as a name and have the function of the subject.
The name or noun is the part of speech that is used to denote a person, animal, thing, idea or feeling.

There are COMMON NAMES - NOMI COMUNI (to indicate persons, animals or things) and OWN NAMES - NOMI PROPRI (to indicate persons, animals or things).
There are also GROUP NAMES - NOMI COLLETTIVI.

Names can be classified into concrete or abstract, both male and female, both singular and plural in number.
The defective (difettivi) names: those who have only the plural form, or who have only the singular form.
The redundant (sovrabbondanti) names: those that have a double plural, one male and one female, each with a different meaning.



Original Name 
Nome Primitivo

1. name derived (nome derivato)
recall all the way from the original name, but they express, each its own meaning
  
TERRA = terr + a  
it means LAND

TERRENO = terr + eno
 it means GROUND

2. compound name (nome composto)

CAPO + TRENO = CAPOTRENO
head + train = CONDUCTOR (only of trains in Capotreno)

3. mangled name (nome alterato)Mangled names express the extra information (a "judgment") compared to the original name from which they originated. 
  
From RAGAZZO = BOY  (Original Name: Ragazz-)

- accretive (ragazzone = big boy)
 
- diminutive (ragazzino = little boy)
 
- term of endearment (ragazzuolo = sounds like little boy but the real mean depend from the context)
 
- derogatory (or pejorative) (ragazzaccio = bad boy)

martedì 10 aprile 2012

Lesson 1 - Communication -

A phrase (frase) has a meaning only if the words in the same sentence are arranged in a logical order and if  it is observed the right punctuation.
A message (messaggio) is a linguistic act (atto linguistico) used to achieve an objective.

The main purpose of the communication are:

-expressing emotions, moods and sensation (or feelings) (eprimere emozioni, stati d'animo e senzazioni)
-asking (chiedere)
-informing (informare)
-telling (raccontare)
-persuading to do something (convincere a fare qualcosa)
-ordering (ordinare)

Talking to someone is to make a choice of language.
If you talk to a person with whom you have confidence, you use a confidential tone (tono formale), as if speaking to a person who is authoritative you use a formal tone (tono confidenziale).
  
Elements of Communication:
(Elementi della Comunicazione)
issuer - the speaker
emittente - l'oratore
  
receiver - the listener
ricevitore - l'ascoltatore

 message - what is said
messaggio - ciò che viene detto

 code - the language
codice - la lingua

 channel - communication methods (written, verbal ...)
canale - i mezzi di comunicazione (scritta, verbale ...)

 deferent - what we talk about
deferente - di cosa parliamo

The way we communicate and express ourselves depends on our intention, that is the purpose we wish to reach.
Basically we have two types of objective: the real purpose (scopo reale) (when the message coincides with the deferent), or the apparent purpose (scopo apparente) (when the message does not refer to the deferent).

To complete the first lesson, we talk about syntax (sintassi).

A logical statement is formed, in it's basic form, to: subject (soggetto) (of whom you speak?) And the predicate (predicato) (what is said?).
Any type of word can act as a noun (sostantivo) and having the function of subject. The predicate is a verb (verbo) that agrees with the subject.

Indeed, we will discuss further, the verbs are conjugated (coniugati) in Italian:
The verbs have multiple forms, each of which is used to express a different approach of the speaker in relation to the listener through the modes (modi).

lunedì 9 aprile 2012

All Apologies

I am not an italian teacher and my knowledge about english is not as good as it seems.
Anyway I found a lots of people interested in learning this language, that's the reason why I'm here trying to teach you what I know about italian.

I really hope you can find interesting my lessons and I would like to be corrected any time I will be wrong and that means I'd like to be corrected in both languages the english even in the italian.

At last my greatest apologies for my pronunciation: I know I am wrong in italian because of my regional accents, so I think my english speech will be altered for the same reason.

That's all folks, see you at the first lesson!