If you want to talk about the weather, pay attention to a key difference between English and Italian: in English you say it’s hot today (using the verb to be = essere) whereas in Italian you say fa caldo oggi (using the verb fare = to make). Thus: che tempo farà domani? = what will the weather be like tomorrow? And the replies might be the forecast is for good/bad weather = secondo le previsioni, farà bel tempo/ brutto tempo. Other descriptions of weather include it’s snowing = sta nevicando; it will rain tomorrow = domani pioverà; d’inverno c’è sempre nebbia in questa pianura = in winter it’s always foggy in this plain; oggi piove a catinelle = today it’s raining cats and dogs; questo mese ha fatto un caldo infernale = this month it has been terribly/ unbearably hot.

And now for a reminder of how you talk about the meals you have during the day. In English you say to have/eat breakfast, lunch, dinner but don’t translate this literally! Here is what you say in Italian: I’d like to have breakfast on the balcony this morning = stamattina vorrei fare colazione in terrazza; but are we having lunch together tomorrow? = pranziamo assieme domani?; da noi si cena ogni sera alle 20:00 = at our place we have dinner at 8pm every evening. Therefore, you say: fare colazione, pranzare, cenare. In a similar vein: we have coffee together every morning = ogni mattina prendiamo il caffè assieme; will you/would you like to have an aperitif with me? = vuoi prendere un aperitivo con me?

Yvette Alberti