Italian All-in-One For Dummies Read Online Free PDF

II), you use Roman numerals in English and say, “Henry the Second.” In Italian, you may also use a Roman numeral, but you don’t use the article.
    Enrico Secondo (ehn- ree -koh seh- kohn -doh) ( Henry the Second; Henry II )
    Carlo Quinto ( kahr -loh kween -toh) ( Charles the Fifth; Charles V )
    You can abbreviate ordinal numbers by placing an o or an a in a raised, or superscript, position to agree in gender with what you’re talking about. For example:
    1 o piano ( pree -moh pyah -noh) ( 1st floor)
    5 a casa ( kween -tah kah -sah) ( 5th house)
    Looking at the Calendar: Days, Months, and Seasons
    In this day and age, to keep track of appointments or social events (for yourself and others), you need a calendar. To talk about when an event occurs or what date marks a special anniversary, you need to know the days of the week and months of the year in Italian. This section provides all the info you need to know to navigate the calendar and the seasons in Italian.
    Days of the week
    In English, you generally start naming the days of the week with Sunday, and you end the week with Saturday. In Italian, however, you begin with Monday ( lunedì ) (looh-neh- dee ) and end with Sunday ( domenica ) (doh- meh -nee-kah), which is how the days are organized in Table 2-3 . Note that in Italian, the days aren’t capitalized as they are in English, unless they begin a sentence.
    Table 2-3Days of the Week
Italian
Pronunciation
Translation
lunedì
looh-neh- dee
Monday
martedì
mahr-teh- dee
Tuesday
mercoledì
mehr-koh-leh- dee
Wednesday
giovedì
joh-veh- dee
Thursday
venerdì
veh-nehr- dee
Friday
sabato
sah -bah-toh
Saturday
domenica
doh- meh -nee-kah
Sunday
    All the days except domenica (doh- meh -nee-kah) ( Sunday ) are masculine. Using the definite article with the day names changes their meaning, a specific day to “every” one of those days. For example:
    La domenica andavamo dalla nonna. (lah doh- meh -nee-kah ahn-dah- vah -moh dahl -lah nohn -nah.) ( Every Sunday, we used to go to Grandmother’s. )
    Il lunedì vado a scuola. (eel looh-neh- dee vah -doh ah skwoh -lah.) ( Every Monday, I go to school. )
    Il sabato non lavorano. (eel sah -bah-toh nohn lah- voh -rah-noh.) ( They don’t work on Saturdays. )
    Chiuso il mercoledì. ( kyooh -soh eel mehr-koh-leh- dee. ) ( Closed Wednesdays. )
    Months and seasons of the year
    Being able to express the day will get you only so far; you also need to know the months of the year, which are listed in Table 2-4 . As with days of the week, the months aren’t capitalized in Italian.
    Table 2-4Months of the Year
Italian
Pronunciation
Translation
gennaio
jehn- nah- yoh
January
febbraio
fehb- brah- yoh
February
marzo
mahr -tsoh
March
aprile
ah- pree -leh
April
maggio
mahj -joh
May
giugno
jooh -nyoh
June
luglio
looh -lyoh
July
agosto
ah- gohs -toh
August
settembre
seht- tehm -breh
September
ottobre
oht- toh -breh
October
novembre
noh- vehm -breh
November
dicembre
dee- chehm -breh
December
    To remember which months have 31, 30, or 28 (sometimes 29) days, this children’s rhyme can help:
    Trenta giorni ha novembre, con aprile, giugno e settembre. Di ventotto ce n’è uno. Tutti gli altri ne han trentuno. ( trehn -tah johr -nee ah noh- vehm -breh kohn ah- pree -leh jooh -nyoh eh seht- tehm -breh. dee vehn- toht -toh cheh neh ooh -noh. tooht -tee lyee ahl -tree neh ahn trehn- tooh -noh.) ( Thirty days hath November, with April, June, and September. With twenty-eight days there is but one. All the others have thirty-one. )
    Half of the seasons in Italian are feminine, and the other half are masculine. And, like the days of the week and months of the year, they’re not capitalized.
    la primavera (lah pree-mah- veh -rah) ( spring )
    l’estate (leh- stah -teh) ( summer )
    l’autunno (lou- toohn -noh) ( fall; autumn )
    l’inverno (leen- vehr -noh) ( winter )
    To say during the summer or winter or whichever season, you say
    in estate