Telling time in Italian
-
Ciao,I have questions regarding what's on Lesson 9 of Essential Italian. Here, I'm instructed to use the expressions di mattina, di pomeriggio, di sera, di notte to mean a.m. and p.m.; for example, Di solito lavoro dalle otto e un quarto di mattina alle cinque di pomeriggio. However, when I look at Work Out 2 (on page 151), the expressions used in Answer Key are della mattina, del pomeriggio, di sera, and di notte. Why do I see two versions of in the morning and in the afternoon in Lesson 9? I understand that della is di + la, and del is di + il, thus, this is about presence or absence of the definite article. So I guess the question is when I need an definite article and when I don't.Another question regarding Work Out 2. I see that the answer for #5 (12:20pm) is È mezzogiorno e venti. Can you also say Sono le dodici e venti?Grazie tanto!
-
Ciao, I am glad you are studying hard and asking smart questions. Below are my answers:Either way is fine. "Della mattina" or "di mattina". Since 99% of the time in Italian you need an article before a noun, I would try to learn to say "della mattina" so you do not get confused when you are using the articles in other sentences. That said, in this case it is exactly the same. I would nto waste brain power and neurons on that at all, but it is a good catch. Brava.Either way is fine. In the second case you are using military time (which is pretty common in Italy).Do not forget to enroll in eTutoring sessions.A prestoM
-
That was very helpful. Thank you very much. Just to confirm, I assume that you can also say della sera and della notte, yes? Those two expressions never appeared in the book (even in the Work Out 2 Answer Key).
-
Correct. Same principle.
-
On the same topic, I found on page 151 of "Essentials," in the example at the top of the page, "Sono l'una e un quarto della matttina." Shouldn't it be "E l'una..."?Grazie.
