#203: The noun, la notizia, in Italian | Il sostantivo, la notizia, in italiano
Recently, on my other blog, PdG, I used the word, la notizia, as an example to show how its usage differed from that of its English translation. After I posted it, there was some confusion and discussion about this noun. In the lesson/post below, I just wanted to discuss the differences in English and Italian between this noun.
In English, news is a noncount noun, much like the nouns milk, water, air, etc.
In English, a noncount noun might refer to:
- a group or collection of certain things: mail, equipment, machinery, furniture, makeup, money, change
- an item made up of smaller parts that cannot be counted: hair, sugar, rice, salt, sand, coffee, tea
- an activity or abstraction that is comprised of other individual activities or attributes: work, housework, homework, advice, information, news, music
- certain liquids: water, milk, soup, juice, coffee, tea
- certain foods: bread, meat, chicken, fish, cheese, cotton, wool, cooper, glass
- some nouns relating to the environment: air, land, oxygen, smoke, steam, wind, heat
In English, the noun, news, is part of the “family” of noncount nouns that, while plural in its construction, is always used with verbs in the singular:
The news that you gave surprises me.
The news continues at 11:00 PM.
In Italian, these types of nouns are called i nomi non numerabili, and many of the same nouns above are also non numerabili in Italian. However, in Italian, la notizia (which translates as “news” in English) is a nome numerabile and can be counted.
Often you will see the noun, la notizia, used in the plural with connection to the news reported by a newspaper or on television. It is often used in journalism to refer to many news stories in a specific category of news, such as ultime notizie, notizie sportive, notizie politiche, etc. In this context, it refers to not a specific story but a group of stories that make up a particular area or genre of journalism.
When le notizie is used (in or outside of journalism), it is used to indicate more than one story or more than one piece of news:
Devo darti delle belle notizie: a maggio mi sposo e Arianna aspetta un bambino.
I have to tell you some wonderful news: in May I am getting married, and Arianna is expecting a baby.
As you see in the example above, la notizia is used in the plural (le notizie), because there are two pieces of news: the impending wedding in May and the expectant Arianna. If the news being relayed was just one of those two, then the singular is used:
Devo darti una notizia importante: a maggio mi sposo!
I have to give you some important news: in May I am getting married.
In Italian, la notizia is used to refer to a single, specific event, whereas the plural is used to describe multiple stories or events or when news is being used in a general journalistic sense with the implication that more than one story is involved. Look at some other examples below:
La caduta del governo Berlusconi è una notizia che mi rende felice! Finalmente!
The fall of the Berlusconi government is news that makes me happy! Finally!
__Non posso leggere le notizie su La Repubblica! La mia connessione alla rete non funziona!
I can’t read the news on La Repubblica. My internet connection is not working.
__
La giornalista, Lucia Annunziata, ha riportato la notizia della caduta del governo di centro-destra.The journalist, Lucia Annunziata, reported the news of the fall of the center-right government.
__Oggi è morta la nonna di Federico ed è nato mio nipote. Due notizie così diverse eppure così importanti!
Today Federico’s grandmother died and my nephew was born. Two pieces of news so different yet so important!
Downloads:
Download a pdf version of this lesson by clicking here.
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Hi,
We have received 495 nominations for The Top 100 Language Blogs 2010 competition. For each of the four categories we have admitted 100 blogs into the voting phase. Your blog is included for voting in the 'Language Learning' category. Congratulations!
As stated in our language blog Lexiophiles, 50% of the final score will be based on user votes. You can promote your blog by embedding a voting button in your page. The button code is available in the Lexiophiles blog. It can also be sent via email if you contact me.
The voting phase started on May 12th and ends on May 24th. Winners will be announced May 28th.
Good luck!
Priscila
on behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team
Hi,
Our “The Top 100 Language Blogs 2010 competition” is doing great, with some really cool blogs eager to get number 1 spot! We’re very glad you have accepted this challenge and joined us.
This post is just to remind you there is still time to get your blog up in the list. The voting goes until May 24th at midnight CET (GMT +1), so get down to business and keep voting!
Wishing you all good luck,
Priscila
On behalf of bab.la and Lexiophiles team
Hi,
Our “The Top 100 Language Blogs 2010 competition” is doing great, with some really cool blogs eager to get number 1 spot! We’re very glad you have accepted this challenge and joined us.
This post is just to remind you there is still time to get your blog up in the list. The voting goes until May 24th at midnight CET (GMT +1), so get down to business and keep voting!
Wishing you all good luck,
Priscila
On behalf of bab.la and Lexiophiles team
Hi, just to let you know that there are people who are really using your website to learn italian… thanks for your good efforts!
Keith,
One correction, you translated nipote as nephew, when in fact it is grandson. I'm sure this was a matter of carelessness rather than confusion. Keep up the great work!
Hi there!
Il nipote can be either "grandson" or "nephew", depending on the context.
Hi,
I’m writing to inform you that although your blog got to the voting phase it wasn’t classified as one of The Top 100 Language Blogs 2010. We’d like to thank you for participating and sharing this experience with us!
With 495 nominated blogs and more than twenty thousand user votes the competition broke last year's record, making it probably the largest competition in its field. You’re welcome to visit bab.la and see the complete list if The Top 100 Language Blogs 2010 here:
http://bab.la/news/top-100-language-blogs-2010
Kind regards,
Priscila
On behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team
i love it!