lingua

Italian for travellers: Making friends. PODCAST

Addressingpeopleformallyandinformally,greetingsandintroductions.Listentothepodcast. ThePodcastisaboutmakingfriendsandstartingaconversation. “LEI”AND”TU” InItalian,wehavetwodifferentlevels ofcommunication:formalandinformal.Whenwewantto addresssomeoneinformally,weusethepronounTU(you).OntheotherhandtheformalpronounisLEI(she)usedforbothmenandwomen.ThefirstoneisequivalenttotheEnglishYOU,sothere’snoproblemhere.TheLEI isaformofrespectthat createsdistancebetweenspeakers.Forexample: Cometichiami(tu)? Comesichiama(lei)? Theybothmeanwhat’syourname,butthelatterismoreappropriateifyouspeaktoanadultyoudon’tknow,orneedtopayrespecttosomeone. Forexample,IknowmanypeopleusingtheLeiwiththeirparentsinlaw,theirbossesandcolleaguesatwork,theircustomers.Itdependsonthesituation. SometimestheLeiis notnecessarybecause thenature oftherelationshipisinformal.Italiansarefriendly,somostprobablytheLeiwillbe necessaryonlywhenyouintroduceyourself.YouwillsoonusetheinformalTu. Sinceyouareaforeigner,people willunderstandit’sdifficultforyoutousetheLei.Inanycase,it’srecommendedtoshowsomepolitenessandlearngreetingsandintroductionsusing Lei.Then,youcanasktoswitchtotheinformalTusaying: Diamocideltu. Possiamodarcideltu? Let’sproceedwithorder: TITLES ItaliansusetitlesmorethanEnglishspeakers.Thefollowingisthebasics: Signore-Sir Signora-Ma’am Signorina-Miss SignorRossi-Mr.Rossi SignoraBianchi-Mrs.Bianchi SignorinaFerrari-MissFerrari Ontopofit,people tendtogivealotofimportancetograduatedprofessionals.EveryItalianholdingauniversitydegreeisadottore ifmaleordottoressa if femaleandthetitleis usedinsteadofsignororsignorabeforethelastname,evenoutsidetheworkingenvironment.Themostcommonare: DottorRossi DottoressaBianchi AvvocatoMartini ProfessorArmani ProfessoressaLamborghini IngegnerCampari Youcanseethattitlesformalesendingin”e”,dropthe”e”beforethelastname.SignorebecomesSignorRossi,DottorebecomesDottorRossiandsoon. GREETINGS GreetingsinItalianfollowthesamesimplerulesyouhaveinEnglish.Theycanbeformal,informal,commonorlesscommondependingonthesituation.Downbelowthemostcommon. Buongiorno-Goodmorning,butalsogoodafternoonuntildusk Buonpomeriggio-Goodafternoon,notascommonasBuongiorno Buonasera-Goodevening Buonanotte-Goodnight Buonagiornata-Haveagoodday Buonaserata-Haveagoodevening These canbeusedinformalandinformalsituationsand areallratherpolite.I’drarely saybuonasera toaclosefriend. Ciao-Hi Salve-Hello Ciao iswhatIwouldsaytoafriendorarelative.It’dbevery rudetosayciaotoapersonwho deservestheformalLei. Salve istheformal versionofciao. Useitwhennecessary. Arrivederci-Seeyou. Civediamo-Seeyou. Cisivede-We’llseeeachother. Cisentiamo-Speaktoyousoon. Apresto-Seeyousoon. Adomani-Seeyoutomorrow. Allaprossima-Seeyounexttime. Adopo-Seeyoulater. Benvenuto/Benvenuta/Benvenuti-Welcome. Arrivederciisquiteformal.It’soktouseitwiththeLeiform.SamewithApresto.Alltheothersareratherconversationalandinformal.Cisentiamo ismorelike”we’llhearfromeachother”. INTRODUCTIONS Youprobablylearnedthat”Michiamo…”means”Mynameis…”.Right,buttheliteraltranslationis “Icallmyself…”.Chiamarsiisaverboriflessivo,areflexiveverb.Visitthelinkedpageifyouwanttolearnmore.So,what’syournameis”Cometichiami?-Howdoyoucallyourself?”.Thecompleteconjugationoftheverbchiamarsiisthefollowing: Iomichiamo- Tutichiami- … Read more ≫

La famiglia italiana – PODCAST

Learnthevocabularyrelatedtothe”famiglia”.Listentothepodcast. WhenIwasachild(unbambino)myfamily,(lamiafamiglia)usuallymetinspecialoccasions,mainlyreligiousevents,likeweddings(matrimoni),communions(comunioni),baptisms(battesimi)andsoon.Wecouldn’tmeetatsomebody’shouse,weweretoomany(eravamotroppi).So,weusedtogoatbigrestaurantsinthecountryside(incampagna)andcelebratetogether.Mygrandpa(miononno),theheadofthefamily,usedtositcapotavola,guestofhonor. Listenadrepeataftertheaudiofiles-hitthespacebartopausethetrack   ilpadre=father lamadre=mother ilpapà=dad lamamma=mom ilnonno=grandpa lanonna=grandma lozio=uncle lazia=aunt ilfiglio=son lafiglia=daughter ilfratello=brother lasorella=sister ilnipote=nephew lanipote=niece inonni=grandparents igenitori=parents iparenti=relatives glizii=uncles ifigli=offspring ifratelli=brothers lesorelle=sisters ilmarito=husband lamoglie=wife ilsuocero=f.inlaw lasuocera=m.inlaw ilcognato=b.inlaw lacognata=s.inlaw ilcugino=cousin(m) lacugina=cousin(f) icugini=cousins   ilgenero=soninlaw lanuora=daughterinlaw ilbisnonno=great-grandfather ilbisnonna=great-grandmother ilpronipote=grandnephew lapronipote=grandniece ilpatrigno=stepfather lamatrigna=stepmother ilfidanzato=fiancé lafidanzata=fiancé Onelastnoteregardingrelativesandlanguage.WhenweusepossessivesinItalian,wegenerallyaddthearticolodeterminativo.Inotherwords: IlmioamicoLuigièsimpatico Lamiacasaègrande IlmiocanesichiamaFido Lemieamichesonosposate Andnot- Mia macchinaèunaAlfaRomeo.  Whenwetalkaboutsinglularfamilymembers,thearticleisomitted.Sowesay: Miofratelloèalto Miasorellaèsimpatica MiocuginosichiamaDavide … Read more ≫

Italian for beginners: “C’è” – “Ci sono”- PODCAST

Theverbessereisusedintheexpressionsc’èandcisono(thereis-thereare) followedbya singularorpluralnoun.Podcast. C’èandcisono correspondtotheEnglishthereisandthereare. Asimplepostforbeginners     There’snoperfectmatchbetweenEnglishandItalian.Sometimesessereandesserci(tobeandtobethere)areinterchangeable. Thenegativeformsare nonc’èand noncisono. Afewnotes.Money(soldi)initalianisplural,people(gente)inItalianissingular,so”thereis”and”thereare”areobviouslyinverted.Theorderofthewordsinthesentencedoesn’tchangeinquestions.InItalian,whenyoudon’tneedinterrogativeadverbs(come,dove,quando,perchéetc…)we justaddaquestionmark.Soicanask: Mariononc’è? Nonc’ètempo? Finally, fromalogicalpointofview,therearesomeverycommonItaliansentences(doublenegatives)thatinEnglishdon’tmakesense,butarecorrectinItalian.Forexample: Nonc’ènessuno -lit.Thereisn’tnobody Nonc’èniente-lit.Thereisn’tnothing ThereareplentyoforedoublenegativesinItalian(withmai,nessuno,niente).Learn themastheyare. Thanksforreading.VisitourhomepageandwinanItalianSkypeclasswithanativeteacher. photocredit

Hollywood stars who speak awesome Italian – Video

A list of Hollywood stars who speak awesome Italian or are such great actors that managed to speak it very well on stage. Some Hollywood actors speak (or spoke) Italian very well, others tried to speak a credible Italian but simply couldn’t. Some others, learned Italian only for acting properly, with astonishing results. Vincent Cassel   … Read more ≫

“Piacere” and other tricky Italian verbs: Quiz

What is the subject in a sentence like “Mi piace Firenze”? How about “Mi interessa Firenze”? Read this post and solve the quiz at the bottom Ciao a tutti. “Piacere”, translates in “to like” but has a different logic in Italian. If I say “Mi piace il gelato”, it means “I like ice cream” but translates … Read more ≫

Imperfetto in conversational Italian

The “conversational” use of the imperfetto in Italian is very common and helps to simplify the language. Is it right to learn it the wrong way? I’m not going to explain again the correct use of the imperfetto, but how the “incorrect” and common use of it, is so popular in the spoken language. The imperfetto, “imperfect” by … Read more ≫

Imperativo e pronomi: Italian imperative and pronouns: QUIZ

We can combine the imperativo with pronouns in a single word. Learn the most common scenarios and solve the quiz at the bottom of this post. LEVEL: Intermediate. I recently wrote a post about the Italian imperativo with simple audio examples. I IMPERATIVO parlare correre aprire finire tu parla corri apri finisci noi parliamo corriamo apriamo finiamo voi … Read more ≫

Italian adjectives for absolute beginners

Italian adjectives, also known as “aggettivi qualificativi,” generally agree in gender and number with the nouns they refer to. In Italian, all nouns have a gender (masculine and feminine) and can be singular or plural This is a very simplified classification, but it will show most of what you need to learn as an absolute … Read more ≫

Talk about time in Italian: Audio and Quiz

“Il tempo” is the Italian word for both time and weather. Today we are going to talk about time You can review the lesson point with a fun quiz ( about 5 minutes – cinque minuti). I giorni – Days Giorno is the Italian word for day and daytime. Some Italian days are named after the … Read more ≫

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