Cranford — Page 4
"
"
"You must keep thinking about the time, my dear, and not allow yourself to forget it in conversation."
"Devi continuare a pensare all'ora, mia cara, e non permetterti di dimenticarla nella conversazione."
As everybody had this rule in their minds, whether they received or paid a call, of course no absorbing subject was ever spoken about.
Poiché tutti avevano questa regola in mente, sia che ricevessero sia che facessero una visita, naturalmente non si parlava mai di nessun argomento coinvolgente.
We kept ourselves to short sentences of small talk, and were punctual to our time.
Ci limitavamo a brevi frasi di conversazione leggera, ed eravamo puntuali nei nostri tempi.
I imagine that a few of the gentlefolks of Cranford were poor, and had some difficulty in making both ends meet; but they were like the Spartans, and concealed their smart under a smiling face.
Immagino che alcune delle persone per bene di Cranford fossero povere, e avessero qualche difficoltà a sbarcare il lunario; ma erano come gli Spartani, e celavano il loro disagio dietro un volto sorridente.
We none of us spoke of money, because that subject savoured of commerce and trade, and though some might be poor, we were all aristocratic.
Nessuno di noi parlava di denaro, perché quell'argomento sapeva di commercio e affari, e sebbene alcuni potessero essere poveri, eravamo tutti aristocratici.
The Cranfordians had that kindly esprit de corps which made them overlook all deficiencies in success when some among them tried to conceal their poverty.
I Cranfordiani avevano quel benevolo spirito di corpo che li portava a ignorare tutte le mancanze di successo quando qualcuno di loro cercava di nascondere la propria povertà.
Vocabulary
- Devi
- You must; second person singular of dovere
- continuare
- To continue, to keep doing something
- a
- To, at; common preposition indicating direction or location
- pensare
- To think, to consider something mentally
- ora
- Hour; now; a unit of time
- mia
- My; feminine singular possessive adjective
- cara
- Dear, beloved; affectionate term of address
- e
- And; basic coordinating conjunction
- non
- Not; basic negation adverb
- permetterti
- To allow yourself; reflexive form of permettere
- di
- Of, from; very common Italian preposition
- dimenticarla
- To forget it; infinitive with direct object pronoun
- nella
- In the; contraction of in + la
- conversazione
- Conversation; spoken exchange between people
- Poiché
- Since, because; conjunction introducing a causal clause
- tutti
- Everyone, all; masculine plural pronoun or adjective
- avevano
- They had; third person plural imperfect of avere
- questa
- This; feminine singular demonstrative adjective
- regola
- Rule, norm; a guiding principle or convention
- in
- In, into; basic Italian preposition of location
- mente
- Mind; the seat of thought and memory
- sia
- Whether, both; subjunctive of essere used in correlatives
- che
- That, who, which; versatile conjunction or pronoun
- ricevessero
- They received; third person plural imperfect subjunctive of ricevere
- facessero
- They made/did; third person plural imperfect subjunctive of fare
- una
- A, one; feminine singular indefinite article
- visita
- Visit; a social call to someone's home
- naturalmente
- Naturally, of course; in a natural manner
- si
- Oneself; reflexive pronoun used with many verbs
- parlava
- One spoke; imperfect third person singular of parlare
- mai
- Never, ever; negation or emphasis of frequency
- nessun
- No, not any; masculine singular negative adjective
- argomento
- Topic, subject; a theme discussed in conversation
- coinvolgente
- Engaging, involving; drawing one deeply into something
- Ci
- Us, there, ourselves; versatile Italian pronoun or adverb
- limitavamo
- We limited ourselves; first person plural imperfect of limitarsi
- brevi
- Brief, short; plural adjective describing short things
- frasi
- Phrases, sentences; units of spoken or written language
- leggera
- Light, mild; feminine adjective meaning not heavy or serious
- eravamo
- We were; first person plural imperfect of essere
- puntuali
- Punctual, on time; plural adjective about timeliness
- nei
- In the; contraction of in + i (masculine plural)
- nostri
- Our; masculine plural possessive adjective
- tempi
- Times, periods; plural of tempo referring to duration
- Immagino
- I imagine, I suppose; first person singular of immaginare
- alcune
- Some, a few; feminine plural indefinite adjective
- delle
- Of the, some; contraction of di + le
- persone
- People, persons; plural of persona
- per
- For, in order to; preposition of purpose or duration
- bene
- Well, good; adverb or noun indicating quality or welfare
- fossero
- They were; third person plural imperfect subjunctive of essere
- povere
- Poor; feminine plural adjective meaning lacking wealth
- avessero
- They had; third person plural imperfect subjunctive of avere
- qualche
- Some, a few; invariable adjective indicating an indefinite amount
- difficoltà
- Difficulty, hardship; a challenge or problem faced
- sbarcare
- To disembark; also used idiomatically as in 'sbarcare il lunario'
- il
- The; masculine singular definite article
- lunario
- Almanac; in idiom 'sbarcare il lunario' means to make ends meet
- ma
- But; basic adversative conjunction
- erano
- They were; third person plural imperfect of essere
- come
- Like, as, how; comparison or manner conjunction
- gli
- The (masculine plural); definite article before s+consonant, z, etc.
- celavano
- They concealed; third person plural imperfect of celare
- loro
- Their, them; third person plural pronoun or possessive
- disagio
- Discomfort, unease; a feeling of awkwardness or hardship
- dietro
- Behind, under; preposition indicating position at the back
- volto
- Face; the front part of one's head
- sorridente
- Smiling; adjective describing a cheerful facial expression
- Nessuno
- No one, nobody; indefinite negative pronoun
- noi
- We, us; first person plural subject pronoun
- denaro
- Money; general term for currency or wealth
- perché
- Because, why; causal conjunction or interrogative adverb
- quell'
- That; elided form of quello before a vowel
- sapeva
- He/she knew; third person singular imperfect of sapere
- commercio
- Trade, commerce; the activity of buying and selling
- affari
- Business, affairs; matters of commerce or personal concerns
- sebbene
- Although, even though; concessive conjunction with subjunctive
- alcuni
- Some, a few; masculine plural indefinite adjective or pronoun
- potessero
- They could; third person plural imperfect subjunctive of potere
- essere
- To be; fundamental Italian auxiliary and copular verb
- poveri
- Poor; masculine plural adjective meaning lacking wealth
- aristocratici
- Aristocrats; people of noble or upper-class background
- I
- The; masculine plural definite article
- quel
- That; masculine singular demonstrative adjective
- benevolo
- Benevolent, kind; showing goodwill toward others
- spirito
- Spirit, mindset; an attitude or guiding principle
- corpo
- Body, group; a collective entity or physical body
- li
- Them; masculine plural direct object pronoun
- portava
- It led, it brought; third person singular imperfect of portare
- ignorare
- To ignore, to overlook; to deliberately pay no attention
- tutte
- All; feminine plural of tutto referring to entirety
- le
- The; feminine plural definite article
- mancanze
- Shortcomings, failings; instances of lacking something expected
- successo
- Success; a favorable or desired outcome achieved
- quando
- When; temporal conjunction or interrogative adverb
- qualcuno
- Someone, somebody; indefinite singular pronoun
- cercava
- He/she tried, sought; third person singular imperfect of cercare
- nascondere
- To hide, to conceal; to keep something from being seen
- la
- The; feminine singular definite article
- propria
- Own; feminine singular reflexive possessive adjective
- povertà
- Poverty; the state of being very poor
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →