WTI Magazine #51    2015 January, 9
Author : Manuela Bianchi for learnitalygroup.com      Translation by:

Today we analyze the verb "prendere" (to take) in its common and figuratively use, to discover together other ways of saying that will be useful to all those who study with curiosity our dear Italian language.

In normal use the verb "prendere" means to take, grasp, seize, grip etc. But if you grab a moving object you can use the expression "prendere al volo" (literally, to take it while it's flying). In a figurative sense, there are a huge amount of common saying. In the sense of taking someone by surprise you can say that "prendere con le mani nel sacco" (literally, to take somebody with their hands in the bag), especially if it is about someone while doing a bad deed. If you want to say that you have to treat a person or act in a situation with extreme caution, you could use the phrase "prendere qualcuno/qualcosa con le molle/pinze" (literally, to take someone/something with tongs/pliers).

If you face a difficult situation in a resolute way you can say that you have to "prendere il toro per le corna" (literally, to take the bull by the horns) and if instead you prank or fool someone you say "prendere in giro/per i fondelli" (literally impossible to translate it). When with a single action you get two different positive results you can use the expression "prendere due piccioni con una fava" (literally, to take two pigeons with a single fava bean. It is the Italian way of the English saying "to kill two birds with one stone").

If you are wrong about something or someone, you say "prendere un granchio" (literally, to take a crab) or "prendere fischi per fiaschi" (literally, to take whistles instead of flasks); and when you misunderstand something or you confuse one thing for another you say "prendere lucciole per lanterne" (literally, to catch fireflies instead of lanterns).

If you accuse someone of being naive because he/she believes in everything, you can use the expression "prendere tutto per oro colato" (literally, to take everything as it was drained gold) while when you take advantage of a favorable situation it can be said "prendere la palla al balzo" (literally, to take the ball while it rebounds). Always remember that it is highly recommended the use of dictionary to clarify any doubts, because these sayings are very common among Italians and deserve special attention.

On other occasions we reviewed some of the characteristics of our language that can deceive and create difficulties for students scattered in our Learnitaly offices all over the world. Let's introduce now another one of these annoying characteristics: the "useless" presence of the "H" letter. In Italian this letter has no real phonological value, but it works like a diacritical grapheme that modify the meaning of two similar words or the pronunciation of certain consonant clusters.

A classic example is the present tense of the verb "avere" (to have). "Io ho" (I have), "tu hai" (you have), "lui/lei ha" (he/she has), "essi/esse hanno" (they have): without their "H", they would become respectively "o", a disjunctive conjunction (or); "a", a preposition; "ai", an articulated preposition; "anno" (year). The letter "H" also stands the pronunciation of strong digraphs "ch" and "gh" before "i" and "e" in words like "ghiro" (dormice), "ghianda" (acorn), "ghepardo" (cheetah), "chiesa" (church) etc.

Another use is that of "H" in the short interactions where its presence serves to reinforce the exclamatory nature of the word, and this happens in language situations such as: "eh!", "ah!", "oh!", "boh!", "ahi!", "ohi!", "ehi!" etc. Obviously there are also cases of place names (such as Rho, Tharros etc.); of Italian surnames (Pamphili, Thiella, Thomatis etc.); of latinisms or words of foreign origin where the "H" plays a starring role. So pay attention to this letter because, contrary to what you might believe, the "H" has a very respectable role in the Italian language.