October 14, 2017
Avete qualche domanda?
avete = you (all) have, 2nd person plural present tense of avere, "to have"
qualche = any, always followed by a singular, countable noun
domanda = question. The plural is domande, "questions"
Do you (all) have any questions? This structure is interesting, because in Italian, there is only one question. In English, however, it is correct to say, "any questions" instead. Qualche is usually used to mean few of the countable noun, or maybe even just one. On the other hand, alcune (feminine plural) or alcuni (masculine plural) is usually used to mean plural of the countable noun, and always modifies a plural noun. Note that while qualche is always qualche whether modifying a masculine or feminine noun, alcuni is masculine and alcune is feminine.
When I studied Latin as a child, one of my teachers made sure to say "y'all" whenever he mentioned the 2nd person plural. As a result, y'all is pretty deeply imprinted in my personal ledger, despite my general inclination to simply use "you" as either singular or plural! He also told us that in some places in the U.S., the typical vernacular is pronounced "y'ins." Apparently, it is derived from Scots-Irish.
This is the continuation of a mini project, where for the next few days, I will use the same basic word in multiple forms, eventually completing the table of present tense conjugations. This week, it is avere, "to have."
| avere | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| I have | ho | we have | abbiamo |
| you (s.) have | hai | you (pl.) have | avete |
| s/he/it has | ha | ||