"You Are Wrong."

"A wise man never knows all;

only fools know everything."

~ Unknown

(Note: It is very late, and I still havea bit of homework, so I am going to save the cooking school story for tomorrow or the next two days. Let me note that the photo above has absolutely nothing to do with this post. I just wanted something interesting.  ;-)  )

Cultura Italiana, the school that I attend, has about 50 students. I think you can divide us into two groups: Under 30 and over 40.  Except for an 18-year old, I am the only American. Most of the students seem to be German and Swiss (mostly Swiss German). I usually have lunch with German and Swiss German women and a Swiss French man.

Today I had an appointment at the Bologna Tourist Office, so we went to Eataly after class for panini. It was close to both school and the tourism office, and the others were kind enough to accommodate my tight schedule.

Amaury, the guy, has studied Italian for four years and is in the most advanced class. He mentioned that studying the subjunctive in Italian is not easy..

"It eez ver-ee hard," he told me. 

"It is," I replied. "When I learned the subjunctive in Spanish, I hated it, but it helped me understand the subjunctive in English."

He shook his head.  "Zare eez no subjunctive een Engleesh."

I shook my head.  "There most certainly is subjunctive in English. Many times Americans do not use it, but it does exist."

"Zhou are wrong," he insisted. "Zare eez no subjunctive een Engleesh."  He sipped his beer.

"She ist not wrong." Annetta, the Swiss German, saw that I was getting a bit upset.

"English is my native language," I snapped.  "I TEACH ENGLISH GRAMMAR. THERE IS A SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE IN ENGLISH."  I wasn't yelling, but my voice was louder than it had been.

"Geef me un example zen," Amaury insisted.

"How many do you want?" I asked.  "I wish I WERE taller.  It is important that Carlo FINISH his work. It is crucial that Maria STUDY every evening."

He looked quite confused.

Annetta added, "Do you see, Amaury? She is right."

I got up to throw out the trash. 

"Put that in your birra (beer) and drink it," I thought.