Anna Karenina — Page 1
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Le famiglie felici si assomigliano tutte; ogni famiglia infelice è infelice a modo suo.
Everything was in confusion in the Oblonskys' house.
In casa Oblonsky regnava la confusione più completa.
The wife had discovered that the husband was carrying on an intrigue with a French girl, who had been a governess in their family, and she had announced to her husband that she could not go on living in the same house with him.
La moglie aveva scoperto che il marito aveva una relazione con una ragazza francese, che era stata governante in casa loro, e aveva dichiarato al marito che non poteva continuare a vivere nella stessa casa con lui.
This position of affairs had now lasted three days, and not only the husband and wife themselves, but all the members of their family and household, were painfully conscious of it.
Questa situazione durava ormai da tre giorni, e non solo i coniugi stessi, ma tutti i membri della famiglia e della servitù ne erano dolorosamente consapevoli.
Every person in the house felt that there was no sense in their living together, and that the stray people brought together by chance in any inn had more in common with one another than they, the members of the family and household of the Oblonskys.
Ogni persona in casa sentiva che non aveva senso che continuassero a vivere insieme, e che gli estranei riuniti per caso in qualsiasi locanda avevano più cose in comune tra loro di quanto ne avessero loro, i membri della famiglia e della servitù degli Oblonsky.
The wife did not leave her own room, the husband had not been at home for three days.
La moglie non usciva dalla sua stanza, il marito non tornava a casa da tre giorni.
The children ran wild all over the house; the English governess quarreled with the housekeeper, and wrote to a friend asking her to look out for a new situation for her; the man-cook had walked off the day before just at dinner time; the kitchen-maid, and the coachman had given warning.
I bambini scorazzavano per tutta la casa; la governante inglese aveva litigato con la governante di casa e aveva scritto a un'amica pregandola di cercarle un nuovo impiego; il cuoco se n'era andato il giorno prima proprio all'ora di cena; la sguattera e il cocchiere avevano dato le dimissioni.
Vocabulary
- famiglie
- Plural of famiglia; families or households
- felici
- Happy, joyful; plural adjective form
- si
- Reflexive pronoun: themselves, each other, oneself
- assomigliano
- They resemble or look like one another
- tutte
- All, every; feminine plural form of tutto
- ogni
- Each, every; invariable adjective before noun
- famiglia
- Family; a group of related people living together
- infelice
- Unhappy, miserable; opposite of felice
- è
- Is; third-person singular of essere (to be)
- a
- Preposition meaning at, to, in, or by
- modo
- Way, manner, or mode of doing something
- suo
- His, her, its, one's own; possessive adjective
- In
- Preposition meaning in, inside, or within
- casa
- House, home; the place where one lives
- regnava
- Was reigning, prevailing; imperfect of regnare
- confusione
- Confusion, disorder, chaos in a situation
- più
- More, most; used in comparatives and superlatives
- completa
- Complete, total, absolute; feminine singular adjective
- moglie
- Wife; a married woman in relation to her husband
- aveva
- Had; third-person singular imperfect of avere
- scoperto
- Discovered, found out; past participle of scoprire
- che
- That, which, who; conjunction or relative pronoun
- marito
- Husband; a married man in relation to his wife
- relazione
- Relationship, affair, or romantic involvement
- con
- Preposition meaning with, together with
- ragazza
- Girl, young woman; informal term for girlfriend
- francese
- French; relating to France or its language
- era
- Was; third-person singular imperfect of essere
- stata
- Been; feminine past participle of essere (to be)
- governante
- Governess or housekeeper employed in a household
- in
- Preposition meaning in, inside, or within
- loro
- Their, theirs; third-person plural possessive pronoun
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction joining elements
- dichiarato
- Declared, stated; past participle of dichiarare
- al
- Contraction of a + il, meaning to the
- non
- Not; basic negation word in Italian
- poteva
- Could, was able to; imperfect of potere
- continuare
- To continue, to keep on doing something
- vivere
- To live, to exist, to dwell somewhere
- nella
- Contraction of in + la, meaning in the
- stessa
- Same; feminine singular of stesso, emphatic pronoun
- lui
- He, him; third-person masculine singular pronoun
- Questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective or pronoun
- situazione
- Situation, circumstance; the state of current affairs
- durava
- Was lasting, had been going on; imperfect of durare
- ormai
- By now, already, at this point in time
- da
- From, since, by; versatile Italian preposition
- tre
- Three; the cardinal number between two and four
- giorni
- Days; plural of giorno, unit of time
- solo
- Only, alone, just; adjective or adverb
- coniugi
- Spouses, married couple; plural of coniuge
- stessi
- Themselves, the same ones; plural of stesso
- ma
- But; coordinating conjunction showing contrast
- tutti
- All, everyone; masculine plural of tutto
- membri
- Members; plural of membro, part of a group
- della
- Contraction of di + la, meaning of the
- servitù
- Servants, domestic staff; household service collectively
- ne
- Partitive pronoun: of it, of them, about it
- erano
- Were; third-person plural imperfect of essere
- dolorosamente
- Painfully, sorrowfully; adverb from doloroso
- consapevoli
- Aware, conscious of something; plural adjective
- Ogni
- Each, every; invariable adjective before singular noun
- persona
- Person, individual human being
- sentiva
- Felt, heard, sensed; imperfect of sentire
- senso
- Sense, feeling, meaning, direction
- continuassero
- That they continue; imperfect subjunctive of continuare
- insieme
- Together, jointly; adverb expressing togetherness
- gli
- Masculine plural definite article or dative pronoun
- estranei
- Strangers, outsiders; plural of estraneo
- riuniti
- Gathered together, assembled; past participle of riunire
- per
- For, through, by; common Italian preposition
- caso
- Chance, case, coincidence; accidental occurrence
- qualsiasi
- Any, whatever; indefinite adjective expressing generality
- locanda
- Inn, small lodging house for travelers
- avevano
- They had; third-person plural imperfect of avere
- cose
- Things, objects, matters; plural of cosa
- comune
- Common, shared; something held in common
- tra
- Between, among; preposition of position or relation
- di
- Of, from, by; very common Italian preposition
- quanto
- How much, as much as; comparative conjunction
- avessero
- That they had; imperfect subjunctive of avere
- degli
- Contraction of di + gli, meaning of the
- usciva
- Was going out, leaving; imperfect of uscire
- dalla
- Contraction of da + la, meaning from the
- sua
- His, her, one's own; feminine singular possessive
- stanza
- Room; a separate space within a building
- tornava
- Was returning, came back; imperfect of tornare
- bambini
- Children, kids; plural of bambino
- scorazzavano
- Were running around freely; imperfect of scorazzare
- tutta
- All, whole, entire; feminine singular of tutto
- inglese
- English; relating to England or English language
- litigato
- Quarreled, argued; past participle of litigare
- scritto
- Written; past participle of scrivere
- amica
- Female friend; feminine form of amico
- pregandola
- Begging her, asking her; gerund of pregare with pronoun
- cercarle
- To find her, to look for her (something)
- nuovo
- New, fresh; masculine singular adjective
- impiego
- Job, employment, position; a paid occupation
- cuoco
- Cook, chef; person who prepares meals professionally
- se
- If; conditional conjunction, or reflexive pronoun
- n'
- Elided form of ne: of it, from there
- andato
- Gone, left; past participle of andare
- giorno
- Day; a 24-hour period of time
- prima
- Before, earlier, first; adverb or adjective
- proprio
- Just, exactly, really; own; adverb or adjective
- all'
- Contraction of a + l', meaning at the
- ora
- Hour, time; now; noun or adverb
- cena
- Dinner, supper; the evening meal
- sguattera
- Kitchen maid, scullery maid; low-ranking female servant
- cocchiere
- Coachman, driver; person who drives a horse-drawn carriage
- dato
- Given, submitted; past participle of dare
- le
- Feminine plural or dative singular pronoun: her, them
- dimissioni
- Resignation; formal notice of leaving a job
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →