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 VS conoscere Prima di tutto, first and foremost, let’s have a look at the conjugations of the two verbs and listen to the correct pronunciation. Both sapere and conoscere translate as “to … Read more ≫
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 llbiglietto Disolaandata Andataeritorno Convalidareilbiglietto Prendereunamulta Unaprenotazione Supplementorapido Biglietteriaautomatica Contanti Cartadicredito Lamacchinaèguasta Bus,metroandcabs Busesinbigcities(wesayautobus,corrieraorpullman)areusuallypublic,buttheonescovering longdistancesoftenbelongtoprivatecompanies.Ifyoubuyaurbansingleticket(bigliettosingolourbano)youcanuseallpublictransportationfor alimitedtime. ForexampleinMilano,mycity,withasingleticketyoucantravelanywherefor90minutesfor just1,50euro.ComparedtootherbigEuropeancities,that’sreallycheap. Youcan buyyourticketsinany tobaccostore(tabaccheria),newsstand(edicola)orbusstation.Younormallycan’tbuyticketsonboard,atleastin MilanorRome.Busstops,aswellassubwayortramstopsarecalled fermata;finaldestinationisthe capolinea;timetableistheorario. SomeItaliancitieshavea subway (lametropolitana).Romahas3lines(A,BandthebrandnewCline)(Romahatrelinee);Milanohas4linesandothersunder construction,Napoli2,Catania,Torino,GenovaandBresciahaveasingleline. Inmostcases,thefamousinefficiencyofItalianbureaucracyhasbeenslowingdowntheconstructionofnewmetrolines.Inothercases,likeinRoma,diggingholesinancientcitiesturnedouttobe abigproblem.Monumentsandarchaeologicalareashavebeendiscoveredanditwasnecessarytostoptheconstructionofmetrostationsandlines. Cabs(taxiortassì)aregenerallywhiteoryellow.Youcancallacabthroughtheircustomerservice -theywillsendtheclosestavailable taxi atyouraddress.Ifyoucallthem,themeterwillstartassoonasthedriver(iltassista)getsthecall,butitgenerallytakesjustafewminutes. Alwaysaskthepriceofyourride(quantocostalacorsaper…?)andtoswitchthemeteron(iltassametro)incasethedriver”forgets”todothat.Tipsareuncommon.Taxidriversareofcoursetheright peopleyoucan talktoforunderstandingbetterthecityyouarevisiting. autobus corriera pullman bigliettosingolourbano tabaccheria fermata orario capolinea metropolitana stazionedellametro linea1 … Read more ≫
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 Cheoresono?-Whattimeisit? Chegiornoèoggi?-Whatdayistoday? Chegiornoeraieri?-Whatdaywasyesterday? Chegiornoè(sarà)domani?-Whatdayistomorrow? Chemeseè?-Whatmonthisit? Acheorapranziamo?-Whattimearewegoingtohavelunch? Acheoreinizialavorare?-Whattimedoyoustartworking? Acheorafiniscidilavorare?Whattimedoyoufinishworking? RISPOSTE Sonoleduemenounquarto-Aquartertotwo Oggiègiovedì- TodayisThursday Ierieramercoledì-YesterdaywasWednesday Domanièdomenica-TomorrowisSunday Èdicembre-It’sDecember Pranziamoamezzogiorno-Wehavelunchatnoon Inizioalavorarealle8:30-Istartworkingat8:30 Finiscodilavorarealle17:00-Ifinishtoworkand17:00 Pleasenote:iniziarea…andfiniredi…areverbs thatneedapreposition.Wewroteapostaboutthat.ItalianverbsandprepositionsDI,A,PER.Havealook! Thanksforreading.Visitourhomepageforbooking afreeItalianSkype classwithanativeteacher
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 use in spoken and written Italian. I decided to write this post because it’s raining a lot in Italy. My country is facing difficult times because of terrible weather conditions. Rivers are overflowing … Read more ≫
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!
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! ItaliansmustlearnEnglish! Thisisthesimplestconjugation ofdovere,thepresenteindicativo,andit’senoughfor beginners.Inthenextposts,WearegoingtohaveacloselookatotherItalianmodalverbs.
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!
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.
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!
There are some Italian verbs English speakers often mistake when they start learning Italian. Most of my students learned them right and so should you. Let’s fix this together! Don’t worry, you will get there soon. It’s just a matter of time and you won’t make the following mistakes anymore. 1. “To know”, Sapere VS Conoscere … Read more ≫