Lesson 166: Human Body and Idiomatic Expressions

There are numerous expressions that involve the human body that are quite common in Italian. Below is a list of common expressions that I learned in my last Italian lesson -- I've compiled what I've learned and provided English equivalents for your enjoyment! Some of the expressions are quite common, and it would be good to practice making your own sentences. Feel free to post your examples, and I will check them for you!

Below is the list of new expressions involving parts of the body:

• la testa head
  
  
  • girare la testa to make one's head spin
    
    Mamma mia, non posso più studiare! Mi gira la testa!
    Mamma mia, I can't study anymore! My head is spinning!
    
    NB: Note the use of the indirect object pronoun, mi, which have a possessive function in the phrases above. In a future lesson, we'll discuss on indirect object pronouns can be used possessively to refer to parts of the body.
    
    
  • fare di testa propria to do something one's own way
    
    Luisa è testardissima! Fa sempre di testa propria.
    Luisa is very stubborn. She always does it her own way.
    
    
  • avere la testa fra le nuvole to have one's head in the clouds (i.e. daydreaming)
    
    Durante la lezione noiosa di matematica, ho realizzato che avevo la testa fra le nuvole.
    During the boring math lesson, I had my head in the clouds
    
    
• la faccia face
  
  
  • dire le cose in faccia to speak openly; to be direct
    
    Danilo è una persona molto sincera. Dice sempre le cose in faccia.
    Danilo is a very sincere person. He always speeks openly.
    
    
  • tagliare la faccia literally: "to cute the face"; to hurt; to sting
    
    C'è un vento così forte che taglia la faccia.
    There's a wind so fierce that is biting.
    
    
• i capelli hair (always plural in Italian)
  
  
  • averne fin sopra i capelli to be fed up with; to be sick to death of
    
    Ogni giorno lei ha una nuova scusa! Ne ho fin sopra i capelli.
    Every day she has a new excuse! I'm fed up with it.
    
    
• l'orecchio ear
  (pl. gli orecchi or le orecchie)
  
  
  • essere tutt'orrechi to be all ear's
    
    Gianna: Tony, stai attento?
    Gianna: Tony, are you paying attention?
    
    Tony: Sì, Gianna! Sono tutt'orecchi!
    Tony: Yes, Gianna! I'm all ears!
    
    
  • entrare da un orecchio e uscire dall'altro to go in one ear and out the other
    
    Quando mia sorella usa il telefono, è inutile parlare con lei. Tutto quello che le dici le entra da un orecchio e le esce dall'altro.
    
    When my sister uses the phone, it's useless to talk to her. Everything che you say goes in one ear and out the other.
    
    NB: Note the use of the indirect object pronoun, le, which have a possessive function in the phrases above. In a future lesson, we'll discuss on indirect object pronouns can be used possessively to refer to parts of the body.
    
    
  • avere orecchio per la musica to have an ear for music
    
    
• l'occhio eye
  
  
  • non chiudere occhio to not sleep a wink
    
    Non ho chiuso occhio ieri sera perché i vicini hanno avuto una festa.
    I didn't sleep a wink last night because the neighbors had a party.
    
    
  • parlare a quattr'occhi [con qualcuno] to have a tête–à–tête [with someone], to have a private conversation [with someone]
    
    Ho parlato a quattro'occhi con mia madre dopo che ha litigato con mio padre.
    I had a private conversation with my moth after she argued with my father.
    
    
  • occhio per occhio, dente per dente eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
    
    
• il collo neck
  
  
  • fra capo e collo unexpectedly
    
    L'incidente stradale è accaduto fra capo a collo! Non potevo evitarlo.
    The accident happened unexpectedly. I could not avoid it.
    
    
• il naso nose
  
  
  • (non) mettere il naso fuori di casa to poke one's nose out of doors
    
    Oggi il tempo è brutto! Non ho messo il naso fuori di casa.
    Today the weather is brutal. I am not poking my nose out of doors.
    
    
  • mettere il naso negli affari degli altri to butt one's nose into other people's business
    
    Non mi piace quando lui mette il naso nei miei affari.
    I don't like it when he butts his nose into my business.
    
    
  • rimanere con un palmo di naso to feel disappointed
    
    Sono rimasto con un palmo di naso quando ho perso il mio lavoro.
    I felt disappointed when I lost my job.
    
    
  • avere un buon naso to have a good nose (that is: to be adept at, capable)
    
    Lei ha un buon naso per incontrare nuove persone.
    She has a good nose for meeting new people.
    
    
• la bocca mouth
  
  
  • acqua in bocca zip it!, hush!
    
    
  • non ricordare dal naso alla bocca to be unable to remember a thing
    
    Gli ho ripetuto dieci volte l'orario della festa ma non può ricordare dal naso alla bocca.
    I repeated to him 10 times the time of the party but he was unable to remember.
    
    
  • non aprire bocca to not say a word (as in: to keep quiet; to keep one's mouth shut)
    
    Quando Luisa sa un segreto, non apre bocca con nessuno.
    When Luisa knows a secret, she doesn't say a word to anyone.
    
    
  • non chiudere bocca to not stop talking (as in: to talk constantly)
    
    Quando rivedo mia madre dopo molto tempo, non chiude bocca.
    When I see my mother again after a while, she doesn't stop talking.
    
    
  • rimanere a bocca aperta to be dumbfounded; to remain open mouthed (to be surprised, shocked)
    
    Ho vinto la lotteria e sono rimasto a bocca aperta!
    He won the lottery and was dumbfounded!
    
    
  • in bocca al lupo good luck (followed by "crepi il lupo" or "crepi")
    
    Martin: Ciao, Gianna! In bocca al lupo!
    Gianna: Crepi!
    
    
• la spalle (pl. le spalle) shoulder (pl. shoulders)
  
  
  • dire qualcosa alle spalle di qualcuno to say something behind someone's back
    
    Ho detto cose cattive alle spalle di Maria.
    I said bad things behind Maria's back.
    
    
  • avere una famiglia numerosa sulle spalle to have a large family to support
    
    Luigi non può uscire con noi stasera. Ha una famiglia numerosa sulle spalle.
    Luigi cannot go out with us tonight. He has a large family to support.
    
    
  • campare alle spalle di qualcuno to live off of someone
    vivere alle spalle di qualcuno to live off of someone
    
    Gianni non vuole vivere da solo. Campa alle spalle dei genitori da sempre.
    Gianni doesn't want to live alone. He has always been living off his parents.
    
    Maria vive alle spalle di suo marito. Non ha coraggio di essere autonoma.
    Maria has been living off of Marco for months. When will she find an apartment?
    
    
• il braccio (pl. le braccia) arm
  
  
  • a braccia aperte with open arms
    
    Mi hanno incontrato a braccia aperte.
    They met me with open arms.
    
    
  • in braccio in one's arms
    
    Hanno un bebe in braccio.
    They have a baby in their arms.
    
    
  • incrociare le braccia to go on strike
    
    Gli operai hanno incrociato le braccia. Non lavorano oggi.
    The works went on strike. They are not working today.
    
    
• il gomito elbow
  
  
  • alzare il gomito to hit the bottle
    
    Marco alza il gomito ogni weekend! Forse bevi troppo.
    Marco hits the bottle every weekend. Perhaps he is drinking too much.
    
    
• la mano hand
  
  
  • dare una mano to give a hand (that is, to help or to assist)
    
    Gianna, dammi una mano!
    Gianna, give me hand!
    
    
  • alla mano easy-going
    
    Niente gli da fastidio! È alla mano di tutto.
    Nothing bothers him! He is easy-going with everything.
    
    
  • stare con le mani in mano to twiddle one's thumbs
    
    Gli studenti non fanno niente. Stanno con le mani in mano.
    The students are doing nothing. They are twidding their thumbs.
    
    
  • avere le mani bucate to be a spendthrift; to spend a lot
    
    Non sa risparmiare! Lei ha le mani bucate!
    She doesn't know how to save! She is a spendthrift!
    
    
• il dito finger, toe
  
  
  • toccare il cielo con un dito to be beside oneself with joy
    
    Quando ho ricevuto la notizia, toccavo il cielo con un dito.
    When I received the news, I was beside myself with you.
    
    
  • bere due dita to drink small sips; to drink small amounts; to drink a little bit
    
    Ho bevuto solo due dita di gin e poi avevo sonno.
    I only drank a little bit of gin and then I was sleepy.
    
    
  • contarsi sulle dita di una mano to count on the finger's of one's hands
    *usually used to indicate the rarity of something or the lack of number of a certain thing
    
    I veri amici si contano sulle dita di una mano.
    One's true friends can be counted on one hand.
    
    
  • Se gli dai un dito, si prende tutto il braccio
    If you give him an inch, he takes a mile
    
    
• la gamba leg
  
  
  • essere in gamba to be strong; to be capable; to be smart
    
    Era ammalato, ma ha recuperato bene. È in gamba.
    He was sick but he recovered well. He is strong.
    
    
  • fare il passo secondo la gamba to cut one's coat according to one's cloth
    *in other words, to stick to things that you know/you can do
    
    Fa' il passo secondo la gamba! Non sei molto musicale!
    Stick to what you know! You are not very musical.
    
    
• il piede foot (pl. feet)
  
  
  • a piedi on foot
    andare a piedi to walk
    
    Siamo a piedi al museo.
    We walked to the museum.
    
    
  • stare in piedi to be on one's feet; to stand up (as in, to make sense, to hold up)
    
    Il suo argomento non sta in piedi -- purtroppo, non ha senso.
    Her argument does not hold up -- unfortunately, it doesn't make sense.
    
    
  • fare con i piedi to be done poorly
    
    Il lavoro di tua sorella è sempre fatto con i piedi.
    Your sister's work is always done poorly.
    
    
  • su due piedi at once; on the spot
    
    Marcello decide su due piedi invece di pensare prima.
    Marcello decides on the spot instead of thinking first.
    

Lesson 38: Antecedents and pronouns - the scoop!

NB: This post is still a work in progress. I'm trying to clean up the language to make it more accurate and easy to understand. It's a popular post so I've put it back for people to reference. Please leave a comment with corrections or concerns.

Studying relative pronouns in Italian (pronomi relativi) can be complicated, and it is one of the few areas where understanding the grammar of your native language can help. The problem with English is that often the relative pronouns are omitted, especially in spoken English. When learning the relative pronouns in Italian, try to use them in English, even when your first inclination is to avoid them.

REMEMBER, in Italian they can never be omitted (although you may hear them omitted in spoken/informal Italian).

So what is an antecedent?

It is simply the word (or sometimes phrase) which the pronoun refers to. The antecedent always precedes the relative pronoun. The prefix, ante-, is your clue since it means earlier or prior. Relative pronouns help link simple sentences together. In Italian, che and cui are relative pronouns which require antecedents. It is important to know what an antecedent is since some relative pronouns in Italian do not require them.

Consider this example below:

We found the dog. The dog ran away.

Now let's use a relative pronoun to combine the two sentences:

We found the dog that ran away.

The antecedent is dog because it is the noun which the pronoun, that, refers to (or precedes). That replaces the redundant use of the noun, dog, in the second sentence. That ran away is now a relative clause (also known as a dependent clause) and no longer a complete thought - it is now dependent upon the rest of the sentence for clarity and meaning.

In Italian:

• che and cui (cui is typically proceeded by a preposition) require noun antecedents. Che can either be the subject of the relative clause or the direct object.
  
  
• Quello che or cosa are used when no antecedent is present. Quello che must be used when you want what to be the subject of your sentence or phrase.
  
  Examples of this in English would be:
  
  I don't know what you want. (what is the direct object)
  
  Non voglio quello che vuoi.
  Non voglio cosa vuoi.
  
  She will find out what you need to do. (what is the direct object)
  They know what has happened. (what is the subject)
  What I need is obvious. (direct object)
  What happens is none of my business. (subject of the sentence)
  
  
• In the examples just presented, there are no antecedents in the sentences. We really don't know what what is. If you look at these examples in Italian, you will see what I mean.
  
  Vorrei sapere quello che ne pensi.
  I would like to know what you are thinking about.
  
  Vorrei sapere che pensi di me.
  I would like to know (that) you are thinking about me.
  Che functions as a conjunction in this case.
  
  Che in the second example functions as a conjunction (it is not a relative pronoun in this example because it does not refer to any antecedent), simply linking the two sentences together, like and or but. It is in this role that you will often see the conjunction used when talking about the subjunctive:
  
  È possibile che vada alla festa.
  It is possible that I am going to the party.
  
  When che functions as a relative pronoun, the relative clause (the phrase that comes after the relative pronoun) typically cannot stand on its own. (That ran away -- the example used earlier) is an incomplete sentence because we don't know what that is without the independent clause). It is important to know what you want to say when choosing the correct relative pronoun to use. In the examples above, the meanings are quite different.
  

Il Bollettino is moving!

Dear readers:

Over the past few months, I've been at a quandary about what to do with my monthly newsletter, Il Bollettino. In order to increase readership, I've been co-publishing the newsletter on my blogs while maintaining a separate mailing list for those readers who don't want to receive blog updates from either ILGUR.com or Paroladelgiorno.com. This has become too much work for me -- I would rather spend my time making a better newsletter and writing and updating my blog on a more regular basis.

Because making the newsletter for so many different venues requires a lot of coding and re-coding so that the format remains consistent, I decided that I would move the newsletter to a published blog format on my server: http://ilbollettino.engagedthinking.com

This new blog is hosted directly on my server. I thought about publishing it on one of my other blogs, but I don't want to dilute the content or bombard readers who are uninterested in contents and newsletters. This way, you only have to subscribe and read what you wish to receive.

The newsletter blog can be subscribed to quite easily (as many readers do with this blog and others) by putting in your email address and verifying your subscription. Starting this month, all future issues of Il Bollettino will be published solely on on my server. I would invite all my readers to sign up for my monthly newsletter.

As an added bonus -- all subscribers to my newsletter blog will be eligible for monthly giveaways and drawings. This year we gave away several books, but starting in 2009, there will be a monthly giveaway for an Amazon.com gift certificate, and the giveaway of books will also resume. I have some great titles to giveaway next year, so please consider subscribing to my monthly newsletter -- the only way to be eligible is to be a subscriber to my newsletter blog!

Each newsletter will contain a vocabular listing, lessons on Italian grammar, links to cool and unique sites, book reviews and more!

Lesson 81:Double object pronouns / Pronomi doppi

Double object pronouns (i pronomi doppi) in Italian complicate and confuse learners of Italian. It is important to remember that, when using direct and indirect object pronouns together, certain rules must be applied:

1. When double object pronouns are used, they
   
   • precede conjugated verbs
     
   • attach to ecco
     
   • attach to infinitives
   • attach to commands (except the formal commands and negative commands).
   
   
2. The indirect object precedes the direct object. Note that the indirect objects change when combined with direct object pronouns (see chart below -- click to enlarge):
   
3. Note that direct object pronouns will elide with conjugated forms of avere (ho, hai, ha and hanno). This applies to lo, la and the combined gli- forms:
   
   Mi ha detto la verità.
   He told me the truth.
   
   Me l'ha detta.
   He told it to me.
   
   Ti hanno sparato un proiettile.
   They shot a bullet at you.
   
   Te l'ho sparato.
   They shot it at you.
   
   Gli hanno dato un regalo.
   They gave him a gift.
   
   Gliel'hanno.
   We gave it to him.
   
   
4. Direct objects influence the past participle in compound tenses, even when they are combined. Indirect objects never influence the gender and number of past participles:
   
   Ho scritto una lettera a Marco.
   I wrote Marco a letter.
   
   L'ho scritta a Marco. [L' = la lettera *note how scritto becomes scritta]
   I wrote it to Marco.
   
   Gli ho scritto una lettera.
   I wrote him a letter.
   
   Gliel'ho scritta.
   I wrote it to him.
   
   
5. Below are some examples using double object pronouns:
   
   Ho comprato un vestito per Maria.
   I bought Maria a dress.
   
   Le ho comprato un vestito.
   I bought her a dress. [her = Maria]
   
   L'ho comprato per Maria.
   I bought it for Maria.
   
   Gliel'ho comprato.
   I bought it for her.
   
   Compraglielo. [her = Maria, it = the dress]
   Buy her it.
   
   Devi comprarglielo. [her = Maria, it = the dress]
   You have to buy her it.

Downloads:
Click here to download a pdf version of this lesson.

Lesson 165: Understanding verbs -- cominciare

A reader of my blog recently pointed out that the verb, cominciare, can be either intransitive or transitive, depending on how it is used in the sentence. So how do you know when you are using it transitively or intransitively? Does it matter? It matters because you need to know the function of the verb in order to choose the correct auxiliary (avere or essere?) in compound tenses (such as: passato prossimo, trapassato prossimo, etc.).

Let's take a closer look at this verb, cominciare:

1. Cominciare has several meanings:
   
   • to start
   • to begin
   • to commence
     
     
2. Cominciare is transitive (i.e.: there's a direct object that receives the action of the verb!) when something is started or begun (dare inizio, inziare qualcosa):
   
   Ho cominciato il nuovo libro.
   I started the new book.
   
   Mia madre ha cominciato le preparazioni per la festa.
   My mother began the preparations for the party.
   
   
3. Cominciare can also be an intransitive verb. It gets a little tricky though because, as an intransitive verb, it can take both essere and avere:
   
   
   • Essere is used when something (qualcosa) starts or begins (le cose che hanno un inizio):
     
     Il film è cominciato alle 9 di sera.
     The film began at 9pm.
     
     Le mostre sono cominciate due settimane fa.
     The shows started two weeks ago.
     
     Il pesce è cominciato a puzzare.
     The fish started to smell.
     
     
   • Avere is used when something is begun or commenced in order to do something (iniziare a fare qualcosa):
     
     Laura ha cominciato a scrivere una novella.
     Laura began to write a novella.
     
     I miei cugini hanno cominiciato a costruire una nuova casa.
     My cousins started to build a new house.
     
     

*NB: This post was difficult to write in English so if there are some unclear points or inconsistencies, please leave a comment so that I can improve upon it.