Italian Conversations: Al pub (+ a riff on borrowed words)

More borrowed words: on Wednesday we encountered ‘street food’, ‘slow food’ and ‘fast food’. Today it’s ‘pub’.

I’m told foreign words borrowed for use in Italian tend to be masculine in gender, which is good to know if, like me, you’ve never got the hang of gender in nouns.

Another useful tip I picked up while not studying is that foreign words tend to be the same in the singular and plural forms, so no need to wonder if the plural should end in an ‘e’ or an ‘i’… It’s simply ‘un pub, due pub’.

Have you noticed how borrowed words can retain their original meaning, more or less, but will likely adopt the grammar of the ‘borrowing’ language? For example, ‘one pizza, two pizzas’ – that always freaks Italians out!

The pluralization of borrowed words in Italian seems to be an exception.

Italian words ending in ‘o’ seem naturally to ‘pluralize’ with an ‘i’, while words ending with an ‘a’, take an ‘e’ in the plural. As weird English words ending with consonants don’t fit into this paradigm, they remain without a final vowel. You can’t fault the logic.

Incidentally, there’s plenty more on plurals under ‘p’ in our alphabetical index of Italian grammar exercises and lessons. Or if that seems like too much hassle, click this link for a quick check on whether you’re up to speed with the irregulars.

Anyway, back to pubs, and to today’s Italian Conversation, which is set in one.

Click here to listen, or view all of the audio tracks in this series on the ‘Italian Conversations‘ home page.

Out on Monday: ‘Un viaggio nel tempo’!

Monday should see the publication of our newest Italian easy reader ‘Un viaggio nel tempo’ (A Trip Back In Time).

We did haunted houses a while back, so why not time travel? But no, this is more of the ‘trip down memory lane’ sort of ‘viaggio nel tempo’.

A recent retiree, unsure of what to do with his ample free time and nostalgic for the close friendships and adventures of his youth, uses social networks to plan a reunion in the hope of making up for a missed opportunity forty years before…

More on Monday, including the usual free sample chapter and special launch price!

In the meantime, browse our shop for other easy Italian readers to keep you busy improving your Italian over the weekend!!