Free Italian All-in-One For Dummies by Consumer Dummies Page B

vengo dagli Stati Uniti. ( soh -noh ah-meh-ree- kah -noh/nah; vehn -goh dah -lyee Stah -tee Ooh- nee -tee.) ( I am American [masculine/feminine]; I am from the United States. )
    Sono argentino/a; vengo dall’Argentina. ( soh -noh ahr-jehn- tee -noh/nah; vehn -goh dahl-lahr-jehn- tee -nah.) ( I am Argentinian [masculine/feminine]; I am from Argentina .)
    Sono messicano/a; vengo dal Messico. ( soh -noh mehs-see- kah -noh/nah; vehn-goh dahl Mehs -see-koh.) ( I am Mexican [masculine/feminine]; I am from Mexico .)
    Did you notice in the preceding examples that adjectives of nationality aren’t capitalized in Italian? However, when nationality is used as a noun to describe the people of a country, or its language, you use capitalization. For example:
    I Messicani giocano bene a calcio. (ee mehs-see- kah -nee joh -kah-noh beh -neh ah kahl -choh.) ( Mexicans play soccer well/are good at soccer. )
    Gli Americani preferiscono la pallacanestro. (lyee ah-meh-ree- kah -nee preh-feh- ree -skoh-noh lah pahl -lah-kah- neh -stroh.)( Americans prefer to play basketball. )
    Gli Argentini adorano il tango. (lyee ahr-jehn- tee -nee ah- doh -rah-noh eel tahn -goh.) ( Argentinians love tango. )
    Italians are very sociable and love to meet foreigners. They’ll certainly like to know more about you. To say your hometown and state (or province), you use abito a . . . ( ah -bee-toh ah . . .) ( I live in . . . )or sono di . . . ( soh -no dee)( I’m from . . . ). Here’s an example:
    Abito in Michigan, a Detroit. ( ah -bee-toh een Michigan, ah Detroit.) ( I live in Detroit, Michigan. )
    Note that you use in before Michigan, the state, and a before Detroit, the city. One more example:
    Pam abita a Louisville, in Kentucky. (Pam ah -bee-tah ah Louisville, een Kentucky.) ( Pam lives in Louisville, Kentucky .)
    Noting the type of home you have
    Besides sharing your country and hometown, you may also want to describe the type of home in which you live. Italians usually speak of la casa (lah kah -zah) ( the house; the home ), even though they often mean l’appartamento (lahp-pahr-tah- mehn -toh) ( the apartment ). A recent study by the European Statistics Institute shows that more than 50 percent of Italians of all social strata live in condomini (kohn-doh- mee -nee) ( condos; apartment buildings ) in small towns and large cities rather than in single-family dwellings in residential areas.
    A villa ( veel -lah) ( villa ) is a free-standing house, usually in the country or by the sea. The villa is generally someone’s second home. Some people opt to live in campagna (een kahm- pah -nyah) ( in the countryside ), which isn’t the same as living in the suburbs in the United States. As a matter of fact, periferia (peh-ree-fehr- ee -ah) ( suburbs which are neither country nor city ) may have a negative connotation in Italy.
    Taking a Tour of Your Home
    To describe your house or apartment, you need to know the names of different rooms and furnishings. The following sections take you on a tour of a typical Italian home.
    Il soggiorno: The living room
    Italians refer to il soggiorno (eel sohj- johr -noh) ( the living room ) as the main living area in the home. Italians spend a lot of time in the living room, sitting and watching TV, entertaining friends, and listening to music. A soggiorno that’s large enough for a corner to be used as a dining area will also be used for lunches and dinners with guests. The American family room is the analogue to the Italian soggiorno. Now you know how to name the room where you keep your coziest couch, where you watch the latest shows or football, baseball, and basketball games, alone or with your friends! Here’s a list of common furnishings for the living room:
    il camino (eel kah- mee -noh) ( fireplace )
    il divano (eel dee- vah -noh) ( couch )
    la lampada (lah lahm -pah-dah) ( lamp )
    la poltrona (lah pohl- troh -nah) ( armchair )
    lo scaffale (loh skahf- fah -leh) ( bookshelf )
    il tappeto