#161: Redundant verbs
An Italian friend of mine taught me about verbi sovrabbondanti or redundant verbs this week. There are two types of redundant verbs:
- Verbs that have two forms yet retain their meaning between the various forms (note that the form in bold is the more commonly used form; with the last example, both forms are acceptable):
- compiere -> compire
- adempiere -> adempire
- riempiere – > riempire
- dimagrare -> dimagrire
- annerare -> annerire
- ammansare -> ammansire
- intorbidare -> intorbidire
- starnutare -> starnutire
- Verbs that have two forms, with each form having a distinct meaning:
- arrossare to redden; to dye red
versus
arrossire to blush; to turn red (because of shame, embarassment)
- imboscare to hide; to evade military service
versus
imboschire to plant a forest
- fallare to make a mistake; to mistake
versus
fallire to fail; to go broke - abbrunare to mourn
versus
abbrunire to darken
- arrossare to redden; to dye red
Facebook
RSS
Twitter
Email