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May
8
2012

Spanish Language By admin | No comments yet

La apócope

Three years ago I wrote about la apócope in Spanish and today I’m going to review some rules and give you more examples.

La apócope is when the last word or syllable of a word is lost, due to phonetic reasons. In Spanish the following words are apocopadas (shortened):

1 – Some words that come before a singular masculine noun:

bueno –> buen
buen tiempo = good weather

malo –> mal
mal hombre = bad man

alguno –> algún
algún día = some day

ninguno –> ningún
ningún sitio = no place

primero –> primer
primer libro = first book

tercero –> tercer
tercer capítulo = third chapter

uno –> un
un coche = a car

santo –> san
The word santo is only shortened before people’s names. Compare:

santo hombre / hombre santo = holy man
San Juan = St. John
San Pedro = St. Peter

Exceptions: Santo Tomás, Santo Tomé,Santo Toribio, Santo Domingo

2. The following words are apocopadas before any noun:

cualquiera –> cualquier
un niño cualquiera = cualquier niño [any boy]
una niña cualquiera = cualquier niña [any girl]

ciento –> cien
ciento tres = cien años (a hundred years), cien veces (a hundred times)

grande –> gran (only in the singular)
circo grande = gran circo [big circus]

3. The following words are apocopadas before an adjective or adverb:

tanto –> tan
¡Te quiero tanto! [I love you so much!] = Era tan bueno… [It was so good...]
¿Cuánto tiempo? [How long?] = ¡Cuán fuerte eres! [How strong you are!]

Attention! Tanto and como do not shorten before these words:

mejor [better] / peor [worse] = cuanto mejor, tanto peor, etc.
mayor [bigger] / menor [smaller] = cuanto mayor, cuanto menor, etc.
más [more] / menos [less] = cuanto más, cuanto menos, etc.
antes [before] / después [after] = tanto antes, cuanto después, etc.

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May
8
2012

German Language By admin | No comments yet

Weak Verbs in German

In German, there are two basic forms of verbs: weak verbs and strong verbs. Weak verbs or regular verbs are those that follow a set pattern of rules and retain the same stem vowel throughout. These verbs are called weak verbs because you might think of them as being simply too weak to alter the patterns they follow – when they are conjugated.

Strong verbs, on the other hand, do not follow a set pattern of conjugation, that is, the stem vowel will change when you, for example, form the past form of a strong verb.

When you are a native speaker of English you have already come across strong and weak verbs in your mother language. As mentioned above, German weak verbs are nothing else than English regular verbs (e.g. walk-walked-walked), and German strong verbs are nothing else than English irregular verbs (go-went-gone), so to speak.

Lucky you, most German verbs fall into the category of schwache Verben (weak verbs). When you would like to conjugate these verbs, all you have to do is to loop of the ending –en, e.g. the German weak verb “leben” (to live). As a result, you get the word stem “leb-“. Now, you only have to add a particular ending to the stem.

	Singular	Plural
1^st person	ich leb-e(I live)	wir leb-en(we live)
2^nd person	du leb-st / Sie leb-en*(you live)	ihr leb-t / Sie leb-en*(you live)
3^rd person	er/sie/es leb-t(he/she/it lives)	sie leb-en*(they live)

* As you can see, the German personal pronoun “sie” has two English equivalents. It can mean you (both singular and plural in formal language) and they. No matter which meaning “sie” has in German, the following verb is ALWAYS conjugated on the basis of the same pattern, namely –en.

From the table above, you can derive the pattern endings of German weak verbs and attach them to any other German weak verb.

Exercise:

And now it’s your turn. Below you can find some sentences where you have to fill in the correct conjugated forms of German weak verbs. Good luck!

(suchen) Ich ____________ das Museum.
(reservieren) Peter ___________ ein Hotelzimmer.
(warten) Sie (Anne und Stefan) __________ auf den Bus.
(mieten) Ihr ___________ ein Auto.
(fragen) Wir _____________ nach der Adresse.
(lernen) Ich ___________ Deutsch.
(reisen) Ich _____________ nach Hamburg.
(brauchen) Er ____________ ein Taxi.
(telefonieren) Du _______________ mit deiner Mutter.
(bestellen) Tina ___________ ein Glas Wein.
(tanzen) Frau Schmidt, Sie ___________ gut!
(arbeiten) Der Professor _____________ jeden Tag.
(öffnen) Die Professorin ____________ das Fenster.
(kosten) Die Pizza ____________ nur 5 Euro.

Note: The key and translation of the exercise will follow in the next post.

May
8
2012

Italian Language By admin | No comments yet

Ciambella allo Yogurt

The most traditional Italian home made cake is without doubt la ciambella, a ring-shaped sponge cake which, in recipe books, is often called la ciambella della nonna (Granma’s ciambella) to make it sound more ‘authentic’. To bake una ciambella you need a ring-shaped cake tin, but if you don’t have one you can always use a normal round cake tin, and place an empty can (e.g. an empty tin of tomatoes) in the middle in order to create the characteristic hole. This is what my mother used to do when, as kids, we lived abroad in a country where ciambella tins were not available. The problem with this method is that the can tends to move about a bit when you pour the batter in, and during the cooking and rising process, so the final result looks more like a flat tire than a ciambella!

Allora, here is a very simple and healthy version of the traditional ciambella. N.B. To quickly measure all the ingredients you can use an empty 125 gram yoghurt pot if you have one (equivalent to 150 ml).

*Ingredienti:*	Ingredients:
1 vasetto di yogurt bianco 3 uova 2 vasetti di zucchero semolato 3 vasetti di farina 00 buccia grattugiata di 1 limone mezzo vasetto di olio di semi (girasole o mais) 1 bustina di lievito in polvere un poco di latte	1 small pot of plain yoghurt 3 eggs 2 pots of caster sugar 3 pots of plain flour grated rind of 1 lemon half a pot of vegetable oil (sunflower or maize) 2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder a little milk

Preparazione (Preparation):

Grease a ciambella tin, and dust it lightly with flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C, 350°F.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the eggs, yoghurt, oil, sugar, and lemon rind, and beat using an electric whisk, until pale and creamy like batter; if it’s a bit stiff just add a little milk to it.

Pour the mixture into the ciambella tin, and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Turn off the oven, but leave the cake for another 5 minutes before taking it out. Leave it to cool in the tin.

Variazioni (variations):

You c0uld use the grated rind of an orange instead of the lemon peel, or add some vanilla essence. Other variations include: adding some pine nuts or other chopped nuts, raisins soaked in liqueur, or candied peel.

Buon appetito!

May
6
2012

French Language By admin | No comments yet

French Tribute Song to Sarkozy’s Memorable Slur: “Casse-toi, Pauv’Con” (“Get Lost, You Jerk”)!

French singer Tum Sally insisted upon paying a vibrant tribute to Nicolas Sarkozy by immortalizing his now (in-)famous slur aimed at an old farmer who had the impudence of refusing to shake his hand: “Casse-toi, Pauv’Con” (“Get Lost, You Jerk”)!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tim Sully’s “Casse-toi, Pov’Con”
(“Get Lost, You Jerk”)

Tum Sally is not alone in his hommage rendered to “Sarko“: There is now almost an entire franchise in France branded “Casse-toi, Pov’Con“, as with “Casse-toi, Pov’Con—Le Jeu” (“Get Lost, You Jerk—The Game”)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Genesis of the moment that infamously went down in the history of the French Cinquième République (Fifth Republic)

To be fair to “Sarko”, his thuggish slur came as a reaction to an old farmer who not only refused to shake his hand, but also said: “Touche-moi pas, tu me salis” (“Don’t you touch me, you make me dirty”)

Si t’égorges des moutons dans ta baignoire, casse-toi pauvre con

If you slaughter sheep in your bath tub, get lost, you jerk

Si t’es sans papiers et noir, casse-toi pauvre con

If you’re an illegal alien and black, get lost, you jerk

Si t’es pas un bon chrétien, casse-toi pauvre con

If you ain’t a good Christian, get lost, you jerk

Si t’aimes pas les américains, casse-toi pauvre con

If you don’t like Americans, get lost, you jerk

T’es pas d’la France qui se lève tôt? Casse-toi pauvre con

If you ain’t from the France of those who wake up early? Get lost, you jerk

J’ai signé lâche moi ton stylo ou bien… Casse-toi pauvre con

I signed, gimme your pen or else… Get lost, you jerk

Ton prénom s’finit pas en “a“? Casse-toi pauvre conne

Your first name doesn’t end with an “a”? Get lost, you jerk (i.e. like “Cécilia”, “Carla”, “Rachida”, etc.)

Si tu m’as dit “touche moi pas”, casse-toi pauvre con

If you said “don’t you touch me”, get lost, you jerk

Casse-toi pauvre con, tu veux même pas m’serrer la main, alors que j’mérite une ovation

Get lost, you jerk, if you want even shake ma hand, whereas I deserve me an ovation

Casse-toi pauvre con, ben c’est vrai si j’te plais pas fais donc comme Cécilia et Martinon, casse-toi

Get lost, you jerk, if you don’t like me, just do like Cécilia (ex-wife) and Martinon (ex-spokesperson)

T’as 10 ans, tu parraines pas d’mort?

You’re a ten year old and you ain’t godfathering a dead person?

Ta rolex elle est pas en or?

Your rolex ain’t of gold?

Si tu touches le RMI

If you benefit from the RMI (stands for Revenu minimum d’insertion, a form of social welfare in France)

Si Gaddafi n’est pas ton ami

If Gaddafi ain’t your friend

Si t’as pas libéré d’otage

If you haven’t freed any hostages

Ton fils a pas l’nom d’un fromage

Your son doesn’t have the name of a cheese

Tu veux t’faire élire à Neuilly

You want to get elected at Neuilly (i.e. Neuilly-sur-Seine is the French “Beverly Hills“)

Mais t’es même pas d’ma famille!

But you ain’t even a member of my family!

Casse-toi pauvre con, si tu veux même pas m’serrer la main, alors que j’mérite une ovation

Get lost, you jerk, if you won’t even shake ma hand, whereas I deserve me an ovation

Casse-toi pauvre con, ben c’est vrai si j’te plais pas fais donc comme Cécilia et Martinon, casse-toi

Get lost, you jerk, well it’s true, if you don’t like me, just do like Cécilia and Martinon, get lost

T’es plus tente igloo palavas

You’re more into igloo tents at Palavas (Palavas-les-Flots, in the South of France)

Que jet privé aux Bahamas?

Than a private jet to the Bahamas?

T’as pas tes entrées chez Maxim’s?

You can’t get into Maxim’s?

Quand tu marches ça fait pas bling bling?

When you walk, it doesn’t go bling bling?

T’es plus grand qu’moi sans talonettes?

You’re taller than me without high heels?

T’es moins discret qu’François Fillon?

You’re more ostentatious than François Fillon (current Prime Minister of France)?

T’étais prem’s aux informations?

You made to the news headlines?

Casse-toi pauvre con: “la France tu l’aimes ou tu la quittes, hein?”, tu veux même pas m’serrer la main, alors que j’mérite une ovation

Get lost, you jerk: “You either love France or you leave it, got it?”, you won’t even shake my handm whereas I deserve me an ovation

Casse toi pauvre con, (la France tu l’aimes ou tu la quittes, hein?” ben c’est vrai si j’te plais pas fais donc comme Cécilia et Martinon, casse-toi

Get lost, you jerk: “You either love France or you leave it, got it?”, well it’s true, if you don’t like me then do like Cecilia and Martinon, get lost