“Awake. Shake dreams from your hair, my pretty child, my sweet one..”
So sang Jim Morrison, thinking about who knows what, or whom.
Today’s lesson is all about sleeping! Being sleepy, waking up, taking a nap and the like. The reason is that today I am feeling so so tired I could faint. Ah well!
Aprile dolce dormire.. (a saying, which means, “April, sweet sleeping”)
“Ho (tanto) sonno!!” – I’m (so) sleepy!! (literally: I have (much) sleep)
“Sto morendo di sonno..” – I’m so darn sleepy.. (literally: I am dying of sleep)
“Vado a dormire / a letto” – I am going to sleep / to bed
“Buonanotte” – Goodnight (also, “notte!” – nightie night)
“Ma che bel pigiama!” – What nice pajamas!
“Mi sembri mio nonno (mia nonna).. hehe” – You look like my grandfather (my granny).. hehe
“Sogni d’oro” – Sweet dreams (literally: golden dreams)
“Sei (ancora) sveglio?” – Are you (still) awake? (change to sveglia if you are talking to a she!)
“Dormi?” – Are you asleep?
“Non più…” – Not anymore…
Il mattino ha l’oro in bocca (another saying that means “The morning has gold in its mouth”, meaning, you can do lots of good things in the morning)
“Buongiorno!” – Good morning!
“Hai dormito bene?” – Did you sleep well?
“Cos’hai sognato?” – What did you dream about?
“Ti porto la colazione a letto” – I’ll bring you breakfast in bed
“Facciamo colazione?” – Shall we have breakfast?
“Ti preparo un caffè” - I’ll make you a coffee
“Uffa, la sveglia!” – Oh no, the alarm clock!
“Che ore sono? / Che ora è?” - What time is it?
“Cazzo, ma è tardissimo!!” - Fuck, it’s so late!!
“Dai, alzati!” – Come on, get up!
“Noooo…. lasciami dormire ancora un po’” – Noooo…. let me sleep a little bit more
Il pisolino (the nap)
“(yawn) Che sonno!” - (yawn) I’m sleepy! (literally: such sleep!)
“Ho mangiato troppo” – I’ve eaten too much
“Fatti un pisolino!” – Take a nap! (literally: make yourself a nap..lol)
“Ci vorrebbe un’amaca” – A hammock would be nice
“Beh, puoi dormire sul divano se vuoi” – Well, you can sleep on the sofa if you want
“Non è una cattiva idea!” – It’s not a bad idea!
“Sei troppo pigro..” – You are so lazy.. (pigra if talking to a girl)
“Che pigrone..” – Such a lazy boy.. (pigrona if talking to a girl)
“Vuoi una coperta?” – Would you like a blanket?
Insonnia d’amore (italian title of the movie “Sleepless in Seattle”, which btw I haven’t seen)
“Soffro di insonnia” - I suffer from insomnia
“Sono insonne” - I am insomniac
“Non riesco a dormire” – I can’t sleep
“Non ho sonno” – I’m not sleepy
“Sono 24 ore che non dormo” – I haven’t slept in 24 hours (literally: it’s 24 hours that I don’t sleep) (Note: 24 = ventiquattro)
“Hai le occhiaie!” - You have bags under your eyes!
“Ho gli occhi impastati di sonno” – Your eyes look drowsy
“Hai la voce impastata di sonno” – Your voice sounds drowsy
[literally, "impastato di sonno" means "kneaded with sleep"]
“Restiamo svegli a guardare l’eclisse di luna?” – Shall we stay up to watch the lunar eclipse?
“Dai, non ti addormentare..” – Come on, don’t fall asleep..
I’ll leave you with a nice song that mommies and nannies sing to babies and small children to help them fall asleep.. the version provided is for a boy, substitute “questo bimbo –> questa bimba” and “lo –> la” if you want to sing it to a little girl.
You could even try to hypnotize yourself to sleep.. might work! ;-)
Ninna nanna, ninna oh,
questo bimbo a chi lo do?
Lo darò alla Befana
che lo tiene una settimana.
Lo darò all’Uomo Nero
che lo tiene un anno intero.
Lo darò alla sua mamma
che gli canta la ninna nanna.
