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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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Fare una cazzata, combinarla grossa
Fareunacazzata meansmakingamistakeinItalianslang.Therearemorefunwordstosaythat.Listentotheaudio Badwordsarepartofourlanguageandyoushouldknowsomeofthem.Youwillfindafew inthispost,buttheyareharmlessandprettycommon. Then,itisyourdecisiontousethemornot.IjustwanttoteachyousomeusefulItalianeverydaylanguage.Ifyoudon’tlikesoftbadwords,stopreadinghere. Todaywetalkabout”makingmistakesandsayingthatinItalian”.Youcanuse differentcommonsentences,dependingonthepersonyouaretalkingto.Forexample,fareunacazzata,averysoftbadword,isnotreallyrecommendedifyouareconfessing yourmisfortunesto aperfectstranger.Youcanuseapronominalverb andsay,L’hocombinatagrossa!,andgive anaturaltouchtoyourspokenItalian. Let’slistentosomeexamples Hofattounacazzata Thewordcazzatacouldmean:”nobigdeal”,nontipreoccupareèunacazzata; “Bullshit”, Mariodicesolocazzate; butalso”bigmistake”,likeintheexampleabove.Cazzataisa softbadword,verycommon,sosoonerorlateryouwillhearthatinItaly.Ifyouareanintermediate(andabove)learnerandhaveItalianfriends,cazzatawillbecomepartofyourvocabulary. TheSicilianword minchiataisidentical inmeaning,commoninthewholecountry butitsoundsmuchmorevulgar,atleasttome. L’hocombinatagrossa Literally”Ihaveputtogetherabigone”,bigtrouble,abigthing,unacosagrossa,hencethefemininedeclination.YoucouldsayL’hofattagrossa.Weliketousethetheverbcombinareinsteadofsimplyfare fordescribingmistakes. Combinareunguaio, causingalotoftrouble,iscommontoo.Hocombinatounguaio! Chemacello! Whatamess!Macello literallymeansslaughterhouse.Bloodyandmessy… Hofattouncasino Casinoisanotherofthoseflexiblewordsyoucanusetodescribe”amess”.Theoriginal meaningis “brothel”butnobodythinksaboutthatwhenwesaycasino.Itmeans”mess”butalso”loudnoise”.Wecanusecasinotosay “alot”:mipiaceuncasino Ilikeitalot!Morevulgarbutalsomoreeffective,is bordello. Nowpeopleknowthatwearetalkingaboutabrothel!YoungItaliansuseitveryfrequently.Chebordello! Whatamess!PleasenotethatCasino,forgambling,inItalianisCasinò.WeusetheFrenchword. Chepasticcio! Soundslikepasta!IfyougotoVeneziaandaskforpasitccio,thewaiterwillgetyouasortoflasagnawithmanyingredients.Thereareplentyof localItaliandishescalledpasticcioandthey areallpreparedwithallsortsof different ingredients,sometimesleftovers,togetherwithsomeeggsorcheesetoformanewdish.Pasticcioisthereforesomethinguneven,messy,andcanmean”trouble”,somethingdifficulttosolve.IfyouwanttoavoidbadorstrongwordsorwanttoteachyourkidssomethingfuninItalian,thisisoneisforyou. Thanksforreadingandlistening.Allaprossima!
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Cacchio, Vaffambagno, Cavolo! Italian soft swearing – PODCAST
Badwords, “Parolacce”are usedandabusedinItaly.Forthisreason,somepeopleprefermildexpressions,whichsoundlikebadwordsbutarenot.LearnItalian”non-swear”words withourpodcast. “Parolacce”areamongthefirstwordsforeignerslearnwhentheycometoItaly.Theyarefun,verycommonandmostimportant,theybreaktherulesofpolitecommunications,stuff theyteachyouatschool,sotheyareveryintriguing. ButifyouareheretolearnnewItalianbadwords,youwillprobablybe disappointed.Justgooglethemandyouwillfindplentyofresourcestofulfillyourcuriosity.I will teachyousomeItalian”pseudo-cursing”,euphemisms(eufemismi)likethe Englishdarn,freaking,shootetcthatItalianpeoplesayinsteadofnormalparolacce. Listentothepodcastandlearnsomemanners! Checacchiovuoi? InItalianthere’saCword,probablythemostused”parolaccia”.EvenifyouareabeginnerinItalian,youknowwhatI’mtalkingabout,sodon’tpretendyoudon’tknow!Therearecountlesswordstonameitandcacchioisanalmost”cleanversion” ofthose.”Checacchiovuoi”hasaboutthesamemeaningof”whattheheck doyouwant?”. Non hocapitouncavolo Itreplacesthesamebadwordasabove.Cavolo(lit.cabbage)isatotallyharmlessversionofcacchio,whichinstead retainsalittledose ofcursing.Itissolightthatchildrenactuallysaythat.Itisverycommon,soyoucansafelyuseitandgiveaninformaltouchtoyourItalianspeech. “Vaffambagno!”or”Vaiafartiungiro” Again,iosochetusai!IknowthatyouknowtheItalian”vaffa…”wordanditsmeaning.Ifyoudon’t,lookitupongoogle.Therootoftheword,vaffa…isactuallyquiteclean.It’sthecontractionofvaiafare lit”goanddo”,or”goandmake”.Vaffambagnomeans”goandtakeabath”.Itdoesn’tgetcleanerthan this…Vaiafartiungiro literallymeans”goandtakeawalk”,muchhealthierthangoand…dosomethingelse.Youcanreadanotherpost+podcastontheuseoftheverbfarsiinconversationalItalian. Accidenti,hopersolechiavi! Quiteunderstandable.Ilostmykeys!Thisisnotareplacementofanybadword,it’sjutsasoftexclamation.Simpleandelegant,notvulgar.Usit! Porcamiseria! Okay,theword”porca”(comingfromporco,pork)maynotbeveryelegant,butit’snotsodirtyeither.WeuseitalotinspokenItalian.Whatmakesitabadwordiswhatcomesafter”porco”or”porca”.Porcamiseria soundslike”Damnedmisery”.That’sthebasic,acceptablesoftcursingthatgoesalongwith”porca”.Inmostcases,Italianssayporca+verybadwords anditcanescalatequitedramaticallyintosomethingyouhaveneverheardinyourlife. Mannaggia! Verymild expression, absolutelyclean.It’sactuallycleanerthantheequivalentEnglishGosh!Thiswordcomes fromoldSouthernItaliandialects:”maln’aggia”,roughly”Mayyoubedamned”.Nowadaysnobodyisreallyawareof theoriginal meaningofthisinteriezione.WealsosayMannaggiaame(tome),ate(toyou),aluiandsoon… Cribbio! I’mabigfanofAmericanmoviesandIdon’tpaymuchattentionto profanities.TherearebadwordsonItalianTVtoo.Nonetheless,Ifellvery uneasy whenIhearthenameofJesus followedbyanumberofbadwords.SomeItaliansdoswearalotagainstgod,butmostpeopledon’t.Andyouwon’thearany”bestemmia”(blasphemy)onTV.Theclosestsafeword,whichhasalmostnothingtodowithCristo isCribbio, asortofholycow! Caspita! Orcaspiterina simplymeans wow!It’saCA…wordlikecavoloandcacchio,buttotallyinoffensive. Somestudentsassume thatItalianscursealotandit’scool,orentertaining,ifaforeignerdid too.It’soktoplacesomebadwordshereandthere,but Ithinkit’susefultoknoweuphemisms and usetherealdeal onlywhenyoureallyneedit… Thanksforlistening!Allaprossima.
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“Non ho fatto niente!” Italian double negatives. Audio.
YesterdayIwatchedamoviewithJasonStathamanditmademethinkaboutItaliandoublenegatives.IsItalyacountryinneedofgoodgrammar? ThemovieiscalledCHAOS,Jasonisabadcopandhe’sextortingaconfession.Youcanseethescreenshots here: Girl: Ididn’tdonothing! Jason: It’sIdidn’tdoanything.”Didn’tdonothing”isadoublenegative,infersthepositive.Thegrammarinthiscountryisterrible. Thisfilm isnotamasterpiece,butthe linewasbrilliant. Ithoughtaboutthestructureofthesentence”Ididn’tdonothing”,wronginEnglishbutrightinItalian(nonhofattoniente),andaboutallthestudentswho pointedthatoutduringmylessons.Isn’tthatadoublenegative?WhyItaliansusesentenceslike”nonc’ènessuno”and”nonhomangiatoniente”? Theassumptionthatadoublenegationautomatically”infersthepositive”belongstomathematicsandlogic,nottolanguage.”Ididn’tsayIdon’tloveyou”doesn’tmean”IsaidIloveyou”. ButthequestionhereiswhyinItalianweusetheredundantNONinthesamesentencewithNESSUNO,MAI,NIENTE,NULLA(nobody,never,nothing),which alreadyarenegations.TheanswerisbecauseinvulgarLatin,becomingmodernItalian,wealreadyhaddoublenegatives asnegativesentences. Theansweristherefore”because”. Ifyouareparticularlyfastidiousaboutgrammar,wecanliquidatethemattersayingthattheadverbNONis”pleonastic”.Forsimplepeoplelikeme,itmeansthatNONinsentenceslikenonhofattonienteisjustanadditiontoreinforcethenegation.Becarefulthough.Itdoesn’tmeanyoucansayhofattoniente tosayIdidnothing. WemustaddNONtobuildacorrectsentenceinItalian. Someexamples.Trytotranslatethefollowingsentences: Hofame.Nonhomangiatoniente. Lucaècadutomanonsièfattoniente. Hotelefonatoacasamanonharispostonessuno Nonavetemaimangiatoilsushi? Nonsentonulla,alzailvolumedellativùperfavore. Senonstudimai,nonimparerainiente. Thelastone isadouble-doublenegative,butit’sperfectlycorrect.Thankgod,Jason,grammarinthiscountryisjustfine. IhopethisshortlessonaboutItaliandoublenegativeswashelpful.Apresto!
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