ora, adesso, allora, ancora
3 views
Skip to first unread message
Gregory Haley
May 3, 2013, 1:26:44 AM5/3/13
to idlewildbegi...@googlegroups.com
Buona sera i miei colleghi.
I've been curious about whether there is a difference in using ora or adesso (both translate to "now").
Stefano had recommended doing a Google search for the difference between essere and stare. So, I did some research on these two words.
The search results point to a consensus that they are identical. Though there was some discussion that there are some regional difference in usage, one post recommended that you should never end a sentence on "ora", but a lot of examples proved otherwise. So, it seems that which word depends on where it lends itself to the rhythm of the sentence.
The words allora (then) and ancora (again) were also mentioned in one of the better posts (found at "http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100820232453AAob1Cv").
These two are interesting in their rather rich set of meanings depending on their context.
Allora: (I'm reminded of the French word "alors"): "Che fai, allora?" "What are you doing, then?". It also means, "So", as in "Allora, che lavoro fai?" "So, what work do you do?". There is the temporal sense of the word: "Vado a casa allora." "I am going home then" (at that time).
One post I read noted that "allora" is used frequently in conversation in much the same way as we would say "So?" and "and then?" in English.
Ancora: (I'm again reminded of the French word "encore" here). Ancora can mean "still", "yet", or "again" depending on the context. Some examples from the posting from above: "Again": "Facciamolo ancora!" "Let's do it again!"; "Still": "Sei ancora qui?" "Are you still here?"; and "Yet": "Non ho finito ancora" "I haven't finished yet".
Ciao!
Gregory.
I've been curious about whether there is a difference in using ora or adesso (both translate to "now").
Stefano had recommended doing a Google search for the difference between essere and stare. So, I did some research on these two words.
The search results point to a consensus that they are identical. Though there was some discussion that there are some regional difference in usage, one post recommended that you should never end a sentence on "ora", but a lot of examples proved otherwise. So, it seems that which word depends on where it lends itself to the rhythm of the sentence.
The words allora (then) and ancora (again) were also mentioned in one of the better posts (found at "http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100820232453AAob1Cv").
These two are interesting in their rather rich set of meanings depending on their context.
Allora: (I'm reminded of the French word "alors"): "Che fai, allora?" "What are you doing, then?". It also means, "So", as in "Allora, che lavoro fai?" "So, what work do you do?". There is the temporal sense of the word: "Vado a casa allora." "I am going home then" (at that time).
One post I read noted that "allora" is used frequently in conversation in much the same way as we would say "So?" and "and then?" in English.
Ancora: (I'm again reminded of the French word "encore" here). Ancora can mean "still", "yet", or "again" depending on the context. Some examples from the posting from above: "Again": "Facciamolo ancora!" "Let's do it again!"; "Still": "Sei ancora qui?" "Are you still here?"; and "Yet": "Non ho finito ancora" "I haven't finished yet".
Ciao!
Gregory.
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages