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The versatile Italian word “NE” – PODCAST
We can use the Italian word NE to express different concepts. The Italian word NE is a “quasi-pronoun”. In fact, NE is more than a simple …
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Pronomi diretti, Italian direct object pronouns – Audio Examples
Learn the Italian direct object pronouns (atoni and tonici), listen to the audio examples. A direct object (complemento oggetto in Italian) is the target, …
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Sapere VS Conoscere and Potere: to know, to be able & idioms
Sapere is a rather important verb. Let’s see it together and learn some useful sentences. This time the webcast is for everyone. Ciao a tutti Sapere …
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Italian for travellers: Podcast #3, Public transportation
LearnsomebasicItalianlanguage aboutpublictransportationandlistentothepodcast. TravelingbytrainorbusinItaly,willgiveyouanexcellentchancetocommunicatewithpeople,enjoyingthefantasticlandscape,andlearnmanythingsaboutthecountry.Italianslovetotalkwithstrangers,especiallyforeigners,andwillgiveyousometipsandusefulinformationaboutyourdestination. Allacciatelecinture,siparte.Fastenyourseatbelts… ThefollowingpodcastIsfree.Ifyouareamemberyoucanreadandlistentothepremiumpodcastatthebottomofthispost. Loginnowandrefreshthispage. Inbiglietteria-Trains Nothingexotichere…TrainstationsinItalyusuallyhaveaticketcounter(biglietteria)withanoperator(bigliettaio)whocangiveyouinformation(informazioni)aboutyourtrain(iltreno),timetables(orari)theconnection(lacoincidenza).Youcanaskthetimeofdeparture(acheoraparte?)arrival(acheoraarriva?),thedurationofthetrip(quantocimetteiltreno?). Sometimesthetrainislate(iltrenoèinritardo),orthere’sastrike(c’èunosciopero).Loudspeakersatthestationwilltellyouhowlateyourtrainis(“iltrenoperRomaèinritardodi5minuti”),theplatform(ilbinario),ifthetrainisarriving(iltrenoèinarrivo)ordeparting(inpartenza).InformationinlargestationsisbilingualbutlivemessagesfromthestationmasterareusuallyonlyinItalian. Theticket(ilbiglietto)canbeoneway(disolaandata)orroundtrip(andataeritorno).Remembertovalidatetheticket(convalidareilbiglietto)usingtheyellowmachinesonyourplatform.Youcangetafine(prendereunamulta)ifyouforgettodoso.Youmayneedtodoareservation(unaprenotazione)orpayarapidservicefee(supplementorapido)ontopofyourprice. Prettymuchalltrainstationshaveanautomaticticketmachine(biglietteriaautomatica)andyoucanpaywithcash(contanti)oracard(carta).Itisnotunusualtofinditoutoforder(guasta). Biglietteria Bigliettaio Informazioni Treno Orario Coincidenza Acheoraparte? Acheoraarriva? Quantocimetteiltreno? Iltrenoèinritardo C’èunosciopero IltrenoperRomaèinritardodi5minuti Ilbinario Iltrenoèinarrivo Iltrenoèinpartenza …
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Italian course for beginners: Time, Days, Months – PODCAST #16
Learntotalkabouttime,days,monthsinItalian.Listentothepodcast. Cheoresono?Chegiornoè? Iltempo istheItalianwordfortimeandweather.Todaywe’lltalkabouttime:hours,months,daysetc.Wewill introducebasicvocabularyandgiveyousomereal languagetoolswithourpodcast. Igiorni-Days GiornoistheItalianwordfordayanddaytime.SomeItaliandaysarenamedaftertheplanetsfollowingtheGreek/Romantradition:Luna(Moon)Marte(Mars)Mercurio(Mercury)Giove(Jupiter)Venere(Venus). Sabato,Saturday,comesfromtheJewishShabbat andDomenica(DiesDominicus)istheLatinfor”dayoftheLord”.InItalythefirstdayoftheweekislunedìandthenameofthedaysstartwithasmallletter(unlessofcoursetheyareatthebeginningofasentence).Theworddì isanobsoleteversionofgiornobutit’sstillvisibleattheendofthenameofdaysassuffix. Imesi-Months Nothingexotichere.Justmemorize,listenandrepeat. Leore-Hours Cheoresono?-Cheoraè?—>Whattimeisit?Thequestioncanbedoneusingboththesingularorpluralformoftheverboessere (tobe).Theansweris SONOLE… (lit.theyare…)oreeminuti (hourandminutes)e.g.4:32–>Sonolequattroetrentadue È… (lititis) Mezzogiorno (noon) Mezzanotte (midnight)and l’una (one-andnot uno)aresingular: 13.32èl’unaetrentadue;12:25èmezzogiornoeventicinque Otherusefulwordsare …e unquarto (aquarterpast) …e mezzaor…emezzo(halfpast) …menounquarto (aquarterto). Whentheminutesaremorethan30,wecanusethe…meno# rule.Soforexample: 14:40sonoletremenoventi– 12:45 èl’unamenounquarto– 17:55 sonoleseimenocinque- Menomeans”minus”.Itmakessense,doesn’tit?Pleaselistentothefollowingpodcastformoreexamples.Trytoanticipatetheanswers.BeforestartingtolearnthehoursyoumaywanttobrushupthenumbersinItalian. Lets’spractice! Q&A’s -DOMANDEERISPOSTE DOMANDE …
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Bomba d’acqua! Italian media and new words.
Italian media and social networks are changing our language very rapidly. Here’s a small collection of “neologismi”, new words that are now of common …
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Sapere VS Conoscere, two Italian verbs “to know” – PODCAST
TherearetwoimportantItalianverbsEnglishspeakerstendtoconfuse:”Sapere”and”Conoscere”.TheybothtranslateintoEnglishas”toknow”.Podcast. Inapreviouspost,aboutsome Italianverbsthatmystudentstendtomistake,Idedicatedafewwordsto sapereVSconoscere.Ithinkthetopicdeservessomemoreattention.Theconfusionisquitenormal,becausebothverbsapparentlytranslateinto”toknow”.Let’sfirstseeandlistentotheirconjugations. ConoscereisaplainregularverbandSapereisirregular,butthedifferencesarenotonlyapparent.Althoughtheyseemtobeequivalent,inmanycasestheyarenotinterchangeableatall.Sometimes,theycanreplaceoneanotherbutgivethesentence adifferentperspective. Agoodruleofthumbforunderstandingthedifferent”depthofknowledge”,wecancomparethesetwoverbsto”tosee”and”towatch”,(orvedereandguardareinItalian)respectively,sapereandconoscere.Icanseesomethingbutitdoesn’tmeanIwatchedit.Possosapereunacosamanonèdettochelaconosca! CONOSCERE Wecanuseconoscere tosaythatweknowtheexistenceordetailsofthings,tobeacquaintedorfamiliarwithsomebodyorsomething. ConoscoAndrea,èsimpatico. ConosciunbuonristoranteaMilano?Iononne conosco. Nonconoscoleregoledelbaseball SAPERE Saperemeanstobeawareofsomething,cometoknow,knowfacts(butnotnecessarilytheirdetails).Ontopofthis,sapereisamodalverb,andmeans “tobeableto”dosomething,soitsupportsaninfinitiveverb.”soguidarelamacchina”Icandriveacar,Iamcapableofdoingit. HosaputocheMarioviveinAmerica. Saidovesonolechiavi?Nonloso! Hosaputochetisposi,auguri! Ifoundanicesentence inwordreference.Tantisannol’italianomanontutti loconoscono.ManypeoplearefamiliarwiththeItalianlanguagebutnotasmany knowit.IhavethesameproblemwithEnglishsometimes,soanycorrectionisappreciated.Allaprossima!
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Italian course for beginners: modal verbs, DOVERE
TodaywearegoingtohaveacloselookatDOVERE,:”Haveto”,”Needto”,”Must”.Listen tothepodcast. Alongwith”fare”,“essere”and”avere”,modalverbsarethepillarsoftheItalianlanguage:DOVERE,POTERE,VOLERE,SAPERE.AllItalianmodalverbsshareanimportantrule withEnglishmodalverbs.Theydescribethefunctionof asecondverbandmakeitstrongerinasentence. Theverbdoveresupportsotherverbs:andare,parlare,dire. Doveremeansmust,haveto, beobligedto,besupposedto,havegotto,oughtto,needto.InalltheseEnglishtranslations,verbssupportaninfinitiveverb,andsodoesdovereinItalian.Thegrammarruleis: DOVERE+ARE/ERE/IRE(infinito) Theconjugationis: IODEVO TUDEVI LUI/LEIDEVE NOIDOBBIAMO VOIDOVETE LORODEVONO IfyouaskItalianspeakerstotranslate dovere inEnglish,theywouldsay mustorhaveto.Iwouldsay”must”istoostrongand”haveto”quiteclose. Itdependsalotonthecontext.SoI believeit’stimetogiveyousomeexamplestopracticeonandrepeat.Listentothepodcast. Devoandareadesso,ètardi Imustgonow,it’slate Devidirequalcosa? Haveyougotsomethingtosay? Stefanodevestudiaredipiù Stefanoneedstostudymore Nondobbiamodimenticare Wemustnot forget Dovetesapereche… Youhavetoknowthat… Gliitalianidevonoimpararel’inglese! …
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