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Espressioni
idiomatiche
Idiomatic
expressions convey concepts and ideas in ways that do not
"follow the rules of grammar". That's the way people
speak and communicate in every language on the globe. You should
learn them. However, you should never feel that you cannot
communicate because you don't know all these expressions: if you
create your own sentences "following the rules" you
will be perfectly understandable. DO NOT LET the
"fear of being wrong" prevent you from trying to
communicate.
"Io sono"
: Literally "I
am," meaning
"My name is."
This is the normal way to introduce oneself. "Mi
chiamo" , which we saw earlier, is less
common, used in fairly limited situations when it is specifically
required.
"La mia
casa": casa means both
"house" and "home".
Here it has the meaning of "home".
" Casa mia," "casa tua": my
house
Very common expression used instead of "la mia casa".
Without the article "la". "Casa mia e'
comoda".
A casa mia, a casa tua: "at my
house," "at your house."
In my house, your house etc.
A casa: "At home".
You encountered this expression in one of the first
lessons.
"In citta'": "in the
city"
You will see several cases (not just in Italian)
where the use of articles in a variety of expressions does not
follow any apparent rule.
"Al terzo
piano": "on the third floor"
The third floor in Italy corresponds to the fourth
floor in the United States. The first floor is called
"pianterreno" or "piano terra" (ground
floor), the floor above that is the "primo piano"
(first) and so forth.
"In
centro": "downtonw
Il centro is the most desirable, and most expensive
location.
"Una
stanza .... la cucina..."
one bedroom, the
kitchen..
The use of the
definite article is determined by subtle semantic values: here,
since an apartment can have more than one bedroom, the number of
rooms must be specified. But since one would expect to find only
one kitchen and, until recently, one bathroom in an apartment, as
well as one cellar and one attic, the usage requires the definite
article.