Page 14 - Italian American Herald - May 2021

14 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | MAY2021 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD ITALIAN MADE FUN & SIMPLE
In the last lesson, we discussed differences between the two similar Italian verbs “essere” and “stare.” In this lesson, we will cover the difference between the Italian verbs “avere” and “tenere.” As with “essere” and “stare,” there is the task of learning the conjugation of these verbs, which becomes even tougher because those words often overlap in meaning. Such is the case with the two verbs in Italian – “tenere – to hold, to keep” and “avere - to have, to obtain, to hold.” Here are the main differences. First, “tenere” is often understood as “to keep” or “to hold,” like “to keep a window open,” “keep a secret” or “hold a baby.” “Avere” is to understood as meaning, “to have,” in the sense of possession, like age, fear, or an iPhone.
If you are a beginner learning Italian, these usages should not be difficult. However, if you have a knowledge of Spanish or learned Italian as spoken by family members or friends, here is when the use of “tenere” becomes a slippery slope. This is because more often than not, Italian-Americans descend from southern Italy where, particularly in Naples, in the place of “avere,” “tenere” is used, but grammatically, it’s incorrect.
Meaning, when you hear “Tenere 21 anni” to be 21 years old, instead of “Avere 21 anni” or “Tenere sete,” to be thirsty, instead of “Avere sete,” it’s not grammatically correct. (More about these “avere” expressions in a future lesson.)
Now let’s learn how to conjugate these two verbs.
We begin with the present tense of avere. Note: The h in the forms of avere are silent.
io ho
tu hai (singular familar) lui/lei ha
Lei ha (singular polite) noi abbiamo
voi avete (plural you) loro hanno
Now let’s do tenere:
io tengo
tu tieni (singular familar) lui/lei tiene
Lei tiene (singular polite)
noi teniamo
voi tenete (plural you) loro tengono
I have
you have he, she has
you have we have you have they have.
IholdorIkeep
you hold or you keep
he, she holds or he, she keeps you hold or you keep
we hold or we keep you hold or you keep they hold or they keep
PACE – This surname derives from
the word “pace,” meaning peace. It also
is said to derive from an abbreviation of the medieval first name Bonapace and Paccio. It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus on all 20 regions.
It is most prevalent in Sicily and least found in the Aosta Valley. Variations: Paci, Pasi, Pase, Pasio, Pacelli, Pacilli, Pacetti, Pacitti, Pacinotti, Paciotti, Paciullo, Pacenti, Pasello, Pasetti, Pasini, Pasolini, Pasotti, Pasinatti, Pacino, Pacini.
PADULA – This surname derives from the name of the towns of Padula
in the province of Salerno and Teramo, and of Paduli, province of Benevento. Padula derives from the Latin “palude” in neapolitan “parule,” meaning marsh. It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Basilicata. Variations: Padula, Paduli, Padulano, Paduano, Parule.
PAGLIA – This surname derives from the Italian word “paglia,” meaning straw. Families with this surname probably had ancestors who worked with the straw.
It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus in 19 regions. It is most prevalent in Lazio and least found in Trentino Alto-Adige. It is not present in the Aosta Valley. Variations: Paglieta, Paglione, Pagli, Paggia, Paglietta, Paglicci, Pagliazzi, Pagliali, Pagliaro, Pagliarolo, Pagliarani, Paglieri.
PAPAZZESE –This surname derives from the Italian word “palazzo,” meaning palace. Families with this surname probably had ancestors who worked or lived in palaces. It is only found in eight
of the 20 regions. Of the eight, the region with the highest number of families with that surname are in Abruzzo. Variations: Palazzesi, Palazzeschi, Palazzoli, Palazzotto.
PALERMO – This surname derives from the city of Palermo in Sicily. It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus on all 20 regions. For obvious reasons, it is most prevalent in Sicily and least found in Aosta Valley. Variations: Palermi, Palermitti.
PALLADINO – This surname derives from the first name “Paladino,” meaning paladin (knight of Carlo Magno). The ancestors of modern-day families with this surname may have had ancestors that were “knights in shining armor.” It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus on all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Campania and least found
in the Aosta Valley. Variations: Paladini, Paladin, Palatini, Palladini.
PALLINI – This surname derives from the Italian word “palla,” meaning ball, but also with the meaning of small cartridges. It is found in It is only found in 17 of
the 20 regions. The largest number of families with this surname is in Tuscany. Variations: Pallino.
PALLOTTA – This surname also derives from the Italian word “palla,” meaning ball. It this case it was used as
a nickname for an obese person. It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus in 19 regions. It is most prevalent in Lazio. It is not present in the Aosta Valley. Variations: Pallotti, Pallotto.
PALMA – This surname derives from the name Palma, symbol of peace or from a name of a place Palmas. It is a surname that appears in the vital statistics bureaus on all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Campania and least found in the Aosta Valley. Variations: Palmucci, Palmese.
In the June issue we’ll continue Italian surnames beginning with the letter P. IAH
You can research your surname on these two websites:
• surnames.behindthename.com/names/usage/italian/ • cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani.
In the next lesson, we learn some usages of these two verbs.
This month’s proverb
It comes from Sicily.
Sicilianu: Cu’ accatta abbisogna di cent’occhi; cu’ vinni d’un sulu. Italiano: Chi compra ha bisogna di cent’occhi; chi vende uno solo. English literal: He who buys needs 100 eyes; he who sells one eye only. English figuratively: Buyer beware.
This month’s falso amico
This month’s falso amico is interesting since summer is just a little over a month away. The Italian word is “estate.” Of course, English speakers would quickly think it means just that in Italian, “estate.” Wrong, it’s actually the Italian word for summer. The English word for estate, as in real estate, is immobiliare.