WTI Magazine #43    2014 September, 17
Author : Manuela Bianchi for learnitalygroup.com      Translation by:

Today we continue to explore the vast vocabulary of our beloved Italian language, and specifically the dangers hidden behind the apparent similarities that we already presented in the previous article. Let's analyze the word "addizione" which has nothing to do with the English "addiction". In Italy, we "do additions" by doing arithmetic operations calculating the sum of two or more numbers. The Italian translation of the English word "addiction" will be "dipendenza" or "assuefazione".

Furthermore, there are cases in which the formal correspondence is completely misleading. "Cute", for example: in English is an adjective, while in Italian is a noun derived from the Latin cŭte (m) and means "epidermis", as to say human skin. The word "Con" in Italian is a simple preposition that expresses companionship or togetherness: for example "Ho litigato con mio cugino" (I had a fight with my cousin) or "Ho studiato con Maria (I studied with Maria). Again, totally different from the English meaning.

"Fine" in Italian means end or goal or purpose, while in English the same word has two different meanings, still completely far from the Italian ones. Still, here we also have a situation where Italian and English correspond: "fine" can be used in both languages as an adjective that means "thin": "lei ha i capelli fini" ("fini" is the plural for "fine") which can be translated with "she has fine hair".

Sometimes false friends can differ just by the absence, presence or difference of the final vowel. So the English "firm" is very far from the Italian "firma" (signature); while the English "parent" is not that far, but still not equivalent from the Italian "parente" (relative). A mother tongue Italian facing a sudden situation would express wonder or anger or rage exclaiming "accidenti" (damn), which is a false friend of the English word "accident" with a completely different meaning.

Obviously the list of these false friends does not end here. Only a good analysis saves us from the mistakes of lexical choices. Then, get a vocabulary and remember: curiosity is always the trump card for a good learning.

The use of the word "si" when it doesn't mean "yes"
Today we'll deal with the use of "si" in the reflexive and impersonal forms. We know that personal pronouns are considered reflexive when the action expressed by the verb falls on the subject. Therefore, "si" is the personal reflective pronoun in III person singular and plural (male and female) and is used in enclitic (monosyllable with no accent which is pronounced and written together with the previous word) or proclitic (monosyllable with no accent which is pronounced and written together with the further word) position. In fact, with reflexive verbs we find proclitic forms such as "Luca e Marta si incontrano la sera in palestra" (Luca and Marta meet in the evening at the gym), "Fabio si loda troppo" (Fabio self-praises too much), "Giulia si è pentita" (Giulia has repented); and we find enclitic forms such as "Aiutarsi a vicenda" (to help each other) or "Nascondendosi in tutta fretta" (hiding in a hurry).

When "si" is combined with a singular third person of the verb, it can give it an impersonal value. In this case it is called a depersonalizing "si" and corresponds to a generic subject. For example "si dice che ..." means "someone says ..." or "people say ..."; as well as "tra poco si parte" does not indicate explicitly who performs the action (someone is leaving soon, but we don't know who). When using compound tenses, the auxiliary verb is always "essere" (to be): example, "Ieri si è inaugurata la mostra" (yesterday we opened the exhibition); or "Si è fatta molta confusione" (there has been a lot of confusion).

Other small details: we must learn to distinguish the forms of the depersonalizing "si" with verbs with and without direct object. In the first case ("Si"+Verb+direct object), the verb an its past participle (in case of compounds tenses) agree with the direct object: eg "In Italia si mangia molta pasta" (in Italy we eat a lot of pasta); "A scuola si indossano le uniformi" (at school we wear uniforms). In the second case ("Si"+Verb without direct object) the verb is declined in the third singular person and in case of compound tenses the participle ends in-o if the auxiliary verb is "avere" (to have) or in –I if the auxiliary verb is "essere" (to be). A few examples to let you learn that it is not that complicated. When a verb is normally accompanied by the auxiliary verb "avere" (to have), for instance with the verb "dormire" (to sleep), the past participle ends in-o: "Se si è dormito male è difficile concentrarsi" (if you slept badly it is hard to concentrate). When a verb is normally accompanied by the auxiliary verb "essere" (to be), for instance with the verb "arrivare" (to arrive), the past participle ends in-i: "Se si è arrivati in tempo per la cena non bisogna scusarsi" (if you arrived in time for dinner, you should not apologize).

Don't you worry: practice is much more simple than theory and a few exercises will be enough to solve any doubt.