Un post da leggere, per imparare DA e PER

In my experience, English students who are studying Italian always struggle with the translation of “to” in front of an infinitive, as in the sentence, Non ho niente da mettermi (I have nothing to wear). Readers who study Italian, don’t get too excited. I have not found the magic formula to translate all of your tos. However, I did find some consistency in a couple of cases.

IL CASO: Imagine Donatella, 32-years-old, single (BTW, Italians also say “single”), and constantly harassed by la mamma to find herself a fidanzato and give her nipotini before she (the mom) becomes to old to hold them. Natale approaches, and Donatella is terrorizzata because she has to spend a whole day listening to her mother’s pleading. Donatella might say:

Ho bisogno di un nuovo ragazzo da presentare a mia madre.
(I need a new boyfriend to introduce to my mother.)

Ho bisogno di un nuovo ragazzo per convincere mia madre a lasciarmi in pace.
(I need a new boyfriend to convince my mother to leave me alone.)

Notice that “to” is translated as da in the first sentence and as per in the second. Notice though, that in the first sentence “ragazzo” is the object of the transitive verb “presentare,” whereas in the second sentence “ragazzo” is used in order to convince the mother to change her behavior (“madre” is the object of “convincere”). Which means:

• use da when the person or thing before “to” is the object of the infinitive verb:

un’ex-amica da evitare (an ex-friend to avoid)
un regalo da riciclare (a present to regift)
una casa dei sogni da demolire (a dream house to demolish)

• use per when the person or thing before “to” is used IN ORDER TO carry out the action expressed by the verb:

un coltello per pugnalare qualcuno (a knife to stab someone)
una corda per impiccare qualcuno (a rope to hang someone)
un segreto per ricattare qualcuno (a secret to blackmail someone)

So remember, if you ask for “qualcosa da bere” you will be served a drink, but if you ask for “qualcosa per bere” you will probably be given a cannuccia (straw).

Che classe!?

The title of this post can be translated as, “What class!” It displays the infamous use of che + noun/adjective for exclamations, which is NOT the subject of this post.

What I want to talk about is the misuse of the noun classe as “class, course.”


When talking about school and education, classe may indicate two things:
1. The physical room where lessons take place:

Come punizione, gli studenti sono rimasti in classe durante la ricreazione.
(As a punishment, the students remained in the classroom during the break.)

2. The group of students attending the same course, or sharing the same classroom:

Quest’anno la mia classe non andrà in gita perché ha fatto troppi scioperi.
(This year my class won’t go on a schooltrip because it went on too many strikes.)
When you are talking about a class or a course, use corso:
Questo corso di economia mi costerà una fortuna.
(This economics class will cost me a fortune.)
And when you are talking about a single lesson, use lezione:
Nella lezione di italiano di oggi, ho finalmente imparato ad usare la parola “classe.”
(In today’s Italian class, I finally learned how to use the word classe.)

NOTA CULTURALE: Studenti in sciopero

Are Italian students allowed to go on strike?!? Why not? It’s their constitutional right as Italian citizens and a great way to explore the cities without adult supervision. Beginning in middle school, Italians start to show their characteristic involvement in politics combined with a healthy loathing of structured education. As political leaders continue to protest the newest school reforms of the day, students may decide to skip school, either to join a demonstration or to go shopping. Students who refuse to go on strike are called crumiri (strikebreakers) or lecchini (kiss-a**). During my school years, I went on countless strikes and took part in two occupations of my high school.

Mi sono versato il caffè addosso!

I have been defined as a very pigra (lazy) and often uncoordinated person. This means that at the age of 32 I still pour drinks and food on myself with sad regularity. So, when I want to explain to people why my shirts look like the bavaglino (bib) of a 6-month-old, I have to use the adverb addosso.

The adverb addosso means “on (one’s person)” and it’s used when people, animals, and objects are located, lean, or fall on one’s person. Because it’s an adverb, it is unchangeable (it does not agree in gender or number with the person it refers to).

The Dizionario Etimologico Online explains that the word comes from dosso, an old word meaning schiena (back). This means addosso originally meant only “on one’s back.”
Let’s see a few example of how addosso is used:

Il ladro aveva addosso un cappotto marrone.
(The thief had a brown coat on himself.)

La bambina ha vomitato addosso alla zia.
(The little girl threw up on her aunt.)

L’armadio gli è caduto addosso e lo ha schiacciato.
(The armoir fell on him and crushed him.)

Il cameriere ha rovesciato la zuppa addosso a Paola.
(The waiter spilled the soup on Paola.)

Mamma, mi sono fatto la pipì addosso!
(Mom, I peed on myself!)
Notice that, if mentioned, the person on which something is located, leans, or falls, is introduced by the preposition a.

Most of the times, addosso is used in reference to people. However, you can hear it used in reference to things, especially big ones:
Ho spostato il tavolo addosso al muro.
(I moved the table against the wall.)

RELATED WORDS

addossare (tr. v.): to lean sthg on sthg.; to lay the responsibility of sthg. on s.o.: Mi ha addossato tutta la colpa, She/He laid all the blame on me.