60

Orthographic (spelling) peculiarities

Verbs ending in –care and –gare keep the ‘hard’ sound of the C and G respectively throughout their conjugations and thus require the insertion of an H whenever C and G would come before E or I. Without the insertion of the H, the C or G would remain ‘soft’, and therefore affect the pronunciation (and change the word entirely).

(dimentiCarsi)  Se lo dimenticherà. — He will forget it.

(spieGare)         Vi spiegherò la regola. — I will explain the rule to you.

(gioCare)           Noi giochiamo a carte. — We are playing cards.

(neGare)            Egli negherebbe quell’affermazione. — He would deny that affirmation.

The same changes occur in most nouns and adjectives ending in —co, —ca, —go, and —ga.

poco          poca              la mia amica               lungo          lunga

pochi         poche           le mie amiche             lunghi         lunghe

But: il mio amico –> i miei amici

VOCABULARY