Curiosity about our lasagne


Did you ever eat lasagne? Yes, it is written ‘lasagne’ and it is not  a mistake, trust me! It comes as a surprise for many of my students to know that what they always called lasagna, due to the fact that many restaurants actually call it that, does not make much sense for an Italian speaker.

It is not only a different spelling, but also a different pronunciation. In fact, the final ‘a’ in lasagna has an A (æ) sound like in cat, while the final ‘e’ of lasagne lasagne has an E (e) sound like in ten.

It would be as if I were inviting you for dinner to eat spaghetto or uno spaghetto. You would think that I am a bit mean, as you cannot make a dinner for two out of a single spaghetto. You would be much happier to be invited over for ‘un bel piatto di spaghetti’ (a good plate of spaghetti). The same rule applies to our lasagne. A single lasagna is actually a single rectangular piece of pasta. Many of them are lasagne.

In fact, la lasagna is singular while le lasagne is plural. Many of you already know that ‘la’ is the definite article (the) which goes in front of singular and feminine nouns (they are also called substantives). ‘Le’ is the plural of ‘la’ and goes in front of feminine and plural nouns, this is why it goes in front of lasagne.

Therefore, now you know that next time you want to order lasagne, you, full of confidence, will say: ‘Come primo vorrei le lasagne, per favore!’.


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