To stay (in a village/hotel/etc)

Hi Lucia,

What would be the most common way to say something like "I'm staying in a village out in the countryside"? (the part that I'm not sure about is which verb to use for "to stay"?

Il paese in cui .... è in compagnia.
Io ... in un paese in compagnia, 20 minuti fa.

Grazie,
Drew

Hi Drew,

You would say Il paese in cui (also dove is a popular choice) abito è in campagna.
Io abito in un paese di campagna. (20 minuti fa means 20 minutes ago, did you mean to say this?)

If it's only a temporary residence, you can say Sto in un paese di campagna. Stare can also be used as a synonym for vivere/abitare, but it's considered more informal. Soggiornare, conversely, is the most formal synonym and is used for temporary residences only.

So...
Home: vivere, abitare, stare
Holiday: stare, soggiornare

There are other options (albergare, dimorare...) but they are very rarely used.

One last note: compagnia means company! :)
Compagnia: company (social gathering)
Compagna: wife, girlfriend, female partner
Campagna: countryside
Azienda: company (business)

Hope this helps!

Lucia

Hi Lucia,

Stare sounds like it's the most appropriate for me. I was trying to say that we were staying (holidaying) in a house in the countryside ... 20 minutes away, not "ago"! :)

And, definitely campagna ... another regular mistake I make!

Thanks!
Drew

Hi Drew,

So you would say:
Stavamo in una casa di campagna a 20 minuti da [insert place].
20 minutes away is translated as "20 minutes from...".

Ti è piaciuta l'Italia? :)

Lucia

Ciao Lucia,

Quindi, potrei dire anche "20 minuti da qui" se ero parlando con qualcuno per esempio?

Naturalmente, mi piace molto! L'anno prossimo stavamo in una casa di campagna a 20 minuti da Cortona (grazie!!). Quest'anno, in giugno, andiamo a Milano e viaggio per due settimane  ... Verona, Venezia, Trieste.

Drew

Hi Drew,

Yes, a N minuti da qui is a very common sentence.
(Beware the Italian gerund which uses stare instead of essere)

I can understand you perfectly :)
A quick note: l'anno scorso (prossimo means next). Also keep an eye on verb consistency, andiamo a Milano e viaggiamo per due settimane.

Lucia

Thanks Lucia, so much to learn, but I'm getting better!