2016

The Italian Verb Sapere, Paestum Tample and more

Ciao everybody and welcome back from your vacation!! Many are still on vacation, we know that 😛

Today we are speaking about:

1. The Italian Verb sapere, once again, to clarify a third and ultimate meaning.

2. Paestum, an incredibly beautiful place in the province of Salerno. There you can still see three magnificent Greek temples of the colonial age.

3. The Montecassino Abbey during the Second World War. It is a place so important for the access of the allied forces to Rome occupied by the Germans

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Let’s start!!

1. The Italian Verb Sapere

In two previous posts we have already talked about the different meanings of The Italian Verb Sapere:
– sapere in the sense of saper fare: “Io so suonare il pianoforte”, “Io so parlare l’italiano” (“I can play the piano”, “I can speak Italian”).
– sapere in the sense of having (or not having) a particular piece of information (“Io so che Paestum in passato si chiamava Posidonia.“, “Io so che domani arriva Carlo.”)

We now propose a third meaning of “sapere”. Sapere as “avere il sapore di“. For example “Questa pizza sa di bruciato“, meaning that it has the flavour, or the taste, of burnt food. Or “Questo vino non sa di niente“, meaning “This wine has no taste.“

Another use of “sapere” is in colloquialism “Mi sa“: it means “I think, I feel, I guess that“. Eg: “Mi sa che piove“, “Mi sa che domani sarà una giornata difficile. “, “Mi sa che il treno è in ritardo“.

Here you find a final review about the verb sapere: The Use of The Verb Sapere in Italian. It includes and analyses the most common meanings of Sapere.

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2. Paestum’s Temples

They are three wonderful Greek temples dating back to the Greek colonization of Magna Grecia (Southern Italy). They are perfectly preserved together with other ruins at Paestum. The colonization began around the seventh century BC, but the construction is dated between 550 and 450 BC.

We visited the temples this summer and the best thing we can do is to post here some photos. We invite you to list them if you have the opportunity.

1. Montecassino and the Polish sacrifice

Monte Cassino, 150 Km south of Rome was a very important place during the Second World War in Italy. It is known for being bombed by the Americans who believed (probably wrongly) that there were the Germans inside.

The most interesting thing, and that few maybe know, is the battle won by the Polish army against the German right at Montecassino. It was few months after the American bombing of February 15, 1944. The Germans in fact used the abbey ruins to protect themselves and to hide. Only the Poles (after the failed attempt of the British and New Zealand) defeated the German army paying on his own with a sacrifice of about 1000 men.

Look at that video by Roberto Saviano (with Italian transcription) and read this very interesting article by Il Sole 24 Ore to have a broader view of what happened: 18 Maggio 1944, Montecassino e il sacrificio polacco.