Page 23 - Italian-American Herald - May 2023

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
MAY2023 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 23
ITALIAN MADE FUN & SIMPLE
To be or not to be. Many people ask why the Italian language has two verbs, essere and stare, to express this. Well, there is no why, it just happened and it is not just the case in Italian. Other romance languages, such as Spanish and Portuguese, make the same distinction as well. French does not. The “how” of this usage can be explained and is traced back to a time when the Italian language did not even exist. In some late Latin
and early romance dialects, “to stay” started to be used instead of “to be” when a transient state or quality was implied by the speaker.
In the present tense, the conjugations follow the patterns shown below:
This month’s proverb
Italiano: Pollo, pizza e pani si mangiano con le mani.
English: “Eat chicken, pizza and bread with your hands.” Figuratively: Knives and forks may be fine, but when you really want to enjoy a moment, get down to business and use your hands.
This month’s falso amico
It is cauzione, which doesn’t mean caution.
It means bail or deposit. Caution in Italian is rendered as cautela.
Pronoun
(io)
(tu)
(lui/lei) (Lei)
(noi)
(voi)
(loro)
essere
sono
sei
è
siamo
siete
sono
stare
sto
stai
sta
stiamo
state
stanno
Meaning: to be
I am
you are
he/she/it is you are(formal)
we are
you are
they are
Essere is the verb generally used to translate “to be.”
In Italian, the present continuous is used instead of the present simple to talk about what is happening at the moment, when you want to emphasize that it’s happening right now.
Cosa sono?
È italiana.
Sono io.
È un problema.
Siete pronti?
What are they?
She’s Italian.
It’s me.
It’s a problem.
Are you ready?
Arrivano.
Stanno arrivando!
They are coming.
They’re coming!
In this issue, we look at Italian surnames that begin with the letter S.
SANTANGELO – This surname derives from the name of a place dedicated to the Archangel Michael, or a fusion of the two names Santo and Angelo. It is a surname present in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Sicily and least in Val d’Aosta.
SANTUCCI – This surname derives from the first name Santo. Possibly connected
to someone acting as a saint, or who has connection with religious things such as a sacristan, it is a surname present in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Lazio and
least in Basilicata. Variations: SANTE, SANTO, SANTI, SANTARELLI, SANTILLI, SANTELLA, SANTINI, SANTONE.
SANTARIGA – This surname consists of two words Santa, meaning saint, and Riga, meaning line. However, it is unknown if Riga derives from a female first name. The surname is not very widespread. It is only present
in five regions: Lazio, Abruzzo, Marche, Campania and Calabria.
SANTAVENERE – This surname is the combination of two words; Venere, meaning Venus and santa, meaning saint. Its origins probably are from the old Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, in the Abruzzo region, or from the cult of Saint Venerio, transformed into a female name. It is very sparsely present and only found in eight regions.
SANTOIANNI – This surname also consists of two words, santo, meaning saint and Ianni, which derives from Giovanni. It is very sparsely present and only present in 13 regions.
SANTORI – This surname derives from the medieval first name Santoro, taken from the Latin word Sanctus meaning saint. The genitive plural form is “Sanctorum,” used
also to indicate the All Saints feast. Possibly connected to someone acting as a saint, or who has a connection with religious things such as a sacristan. It is present in 17 regions. The exceptions are Trentino-Alto Adige, Molise and Basilicata. Variations: SANTORIO, SANTORELLI, SANTORIELLI, SANTORINI, SANTORUM.
SARACINO – This surname derives from the word “saracino,” meaning Saracen, used in the Middle Ages to indicate the populace of Arabs and Muslims. It is sometimes used as a nickname for a destructive person. It
is a surname present in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Puglia and least found
in Val d’Aosta. Variations: SARACENI, SARACINI, SARRACINO, SARACENO, SARAINO, SERACINI, SARCINI, SARCÌ, SARCINELLI.
SASSANO – This surname is from the name of the town of Sassano in the Campania province of Salerno. It also derived from
the Latin first name “Sassius” or “sassano,” meaning property of Sassius. It is a surname present in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Basilicata and least found in Val d’Aosta.
SASSO – This surname derives from
the name of a place that includes the word “sasso,” meaning stone, rock. It possibly also derives from the first name Sasso or Sassone, of German origin, to indicate someone from Saxony, a population that lived in Italy with the Lombards. It is a surname present in all 20 regions. It is most prevalent in Campania and least found in Molise. Variations: SASSI, SASSONE, SASSOLI, SASSOLA, SASSETTI.
SAVERIO – This surname derives from the first name Saverio, derived from the Spanish family name “Xavier.” It is present in only 13 regions in sparse numbers. Variation: SAVERIA.
However, stare is used for “to be” in some common contexts. To say or ask how someone is:
The Italian present continuous is made with the present tense of stare and the gerund of the verb. The gerund is a verb form that ends in –ando (for –are verbs), or –endo (for –ere and –ire verbs) and is the same as the –ing form of the verb in English, for example, walking, swimming
Come stai?
Sto bene, grazie.
Mio nonno sta male.
How are you?
I’m fine, thanks.
My grandfather isn’t well.
Sto cercando il mio passaporto.
Sta scrivendo.
Stanno dormendo.
Cosa stai facendo?
I’m looking for my passport.
He’s writing.
They’re sleeping.
What are you doing?
To say where someone is:
Luigi sta a casa.
Starò a Roma due giorni.
Luigi’s at home.
I’ll be in Rome for two days.
To make the gerund of an –are verb, take off the ending and add –ando, for example, mangiando (meaning eating), cercando (meaning looking for).
To make the gerund of an –ere or –ire verb, take off the ending and add –endo,
for example, scrivendo (meaning writing), partendo (meaning leaving).
Tip: Only use the Italian present continuous to talk about things that are happening at this very minute. Use the present simple tense to talk about things that are continuing, but not necessarily happening at this minute.
To say where something is situated:
La casa sta The house is sulla collina. on the hill.
With the adjectives zitto and solo:
Vuole stare solo.
Sta’ zitto!
He wants to be alone.
Be quiet!
To make continuous tenses:
Studio medicina.
I’m studying medicine.
You can research your surname on these two websites:
• surnames.behindthename.com/names/usage/italian/ • cognomix.it/mappe-dei-cognomi-italiani.
Sta studiando.
Stavo andando a casa.
He’s studying.
I was going home.
Only use the present continuous in Italian for actions that are happening right now. To make the present continuous, use the present tense of stare and the gerund of the main verb.