L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 20 L'Italo-Americano S u m m e r i n I t a l y often begins with a v e r b : p r e n o - t a r e ( p r a i - n o h - t a h - r a i ) . In everyday English, preno- t a r e u s u a l l y m e a n s " t o b o o k " o r " t o r e s e r v e , " depending on the situation. So before leaving, people p r e n o t a n o u n a l b e r g o , "they book a hotel," but they a l s o o f t e n p r e n o t a n o u n t a v o l o , " r e s e r v e a t a b l e , " w h e n t h e y w a n t t o m a k e sure to eat a good dinner. Similarly, if they don't want to end up crammed in a spi- aggia libera, they definitely prenotano un ombrellone e due lettini, they "reserve a b e a c h u m b r e l l a a n d t w o sunbeds." The verb has a long ety- mological history, as it was already attested in Italian between 1304 and 1308. It c o m e s f r o m t h e L a t i n praenotare, formed from prae-, "before," and notare, "to mark" or "to note." Its original sense was therefore c l o s e t o " t o n o t e d o w n b e f o r e h a n d " a n d , i f y o u think of it, that meaning is still visible today: when we prenotiamo something, we are placing our name, our request, or our intention on a list before the actual event happens. 1 (you/tu) hold 5 on; up 6 pink; rose 7 (he/she) enters 13 (we) act (in theatre) 15 line 18 (you/voi) make; do 19 them 20 (you/tu) start Using the provided meanings as clues, search for the appropriate Italian word in the grid 1 (feminine plural of) your 2 east 3 anger 4 use, act of using 8 nuts 9 rats 10 hour; now 11 to give 12 not; no, not any 14 (you/tu) know 15 you (formal) 16 us; we 17 wings In modern Italian, preno- tare is a regular first-conju- gation verb: io prenoto, tu prenoti, lui/lei prenota, noi prenotiamo and so on, and it can be used with many different things: prenotare u n a c a m e r a , " t o b o o k a room;" prenotare un volo, "to book a flight;" preno- tare una visita medica, "to b o o k a m e d i c a l a p p o i n t - ment;" prenotare un bigli- etto, "to reserve or book a ticket." There is also a reflexive form, prenotarsi, mean- ing "to book oneself in" or "to put one's name down." F o r e x a m p l e : M i s o n o prenotato per la visita gui- d a t a m e a n s " I b o o k e d myself for the guided tour." The noun connected to the verb is prenotazione, "booking" or "reservation," as in ho una prenotazione a nome Rossi, "I have a reser- v a t i o n u n d e r t h e n a m e Rossi." A b b i a m o p r e n o t a t o u n tavolo per le otto. W e b o o k e d a t a b l e f o r eight o'clock. D e v o p r e n o t a r e u n a c a m e r a v i c i n o a l l a stazione. I n e e d t o b o o k a r o o m near the station. Ti sei prenotato per l'es- cursione? Prenotare: the word that starts every holiday! © Komgrit Pradissagul | Dreamstime.com 1 Tuesday 2 school 3 girl 4 car 5 river 6 mother 7 light 8 friend 9 home 10 man 11 door 12 hand 13 to drink 14 Monday 15 one 16 woman A C R O S S D O W N ITALIAN WORD SEARCH The solution to these word games will be available on the next edition. Games courtesy of Lexis Rex LA VITA ITALIANA TRADIZIONI STORIA CULTURA

• Cover