Holidays

Holidays

Holidays are one of the topics you will be asked to talk and write about: where you go, how you get there, and what you do. Some Italian holiday words look a lot like English, so you can often guess the meaning. That is not where the marks are. The marks are in getting the article and the plural right, and in the words that are nothing like English. Both are waiting for you below.

Le parole (1)

Start with four words you cannot guess from English:

Match each word to its meaning

Non fidarti della somiglianza

What does the Italian word "la macchina" mean?

• the car
• the washing machine
• the suitcase
• the beach

Le parole (2)

Now four more words you need for a holiday:

Match each word to its meaning

Come ci vai?

Select the TWO Italian words that are ways of travelling.

• la macchina
• la nave
• la valigia
• l'albergo

Scegli la parola

In Italian, the word for 'the beach' is _____, and the word for 'the suitcase' is _____.

Uno o tanti?

You already know il and la for one thing. For more than one, both the article and the ending change: • il becomes i, and -o becomes -i: il viaggio, i viaggi • la becomes le, and -a becomes -e: la macchina, le macchine One word skips the singular altogether: the holidays are le vacanze, always plural. You never take "una vacanza" for the summer break, you take le vacanze.

Al plurale

The singular is "la macchina". What is the plural?

• le macchine
• i macchini
• le macchina
• la macchine

Dove e come

Holiday words fall into two groups. Sorting them this way makes them easier to recall, and adds two more places: la montagna, the mountain, and l'isola, the island.

Organizziamo le vacanze

Plan a summer holiday in Italy using the words you have learned.

• You want to stay somewhere surrounded by sea. Which place do you choose?
• There is no bridge, so you cross the water. How do you get there?
• You arrive and need somewhere to sleep. Which word do you need?

Uno diventa tanti

One car is _____ and more than one is _____. One mountain is _____ and more than one is _____.

Your turn: write in Italian

Write two or three sentences IN ITALIAN about a holiday. Keep each noun with its article.

• Name where you go: la spiaggia (the beach) or la campagna (the countryside)
• Name how you travel: la nave (the ship) or la macchina (the car)
• Name the trip itself: il viaggio (the journey)
• Say what you like with Mi piace… (I like ...): Mi piace la spiaggia (I like the beach), and you may add la valigia (the suitcase)