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Giving personal information in Italian – Audio lesson

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LearntoaskandgivepersonalinformationinItalian.Talkaboutwork,relationships,nationality.Understandwhenitisappropriatetuusetheformal”lei”insteadofthefriendly”tu”.Audiolesson. LearningtoaskandgivepersonalinformationinItalianisquiteeasy.Youneedtolearnsomebasicsentencesandvocabulary.Allbasicinformation,asithappensinmanylanguages,isprovidedusingtheimportantverbsessere (tobe)andavere (tohave).Incaseyoudon’tknowthem,hereyoucanseetheir presenteindicativo conjugation.Havealookbeforeproceedingfurther.

  • TuorLei?

  YoucanaddresssomeoneinItalianusingtheinformal”Tu”ortheformal”Lei”.WealreadysaidthatthechoiceofdaredelLei,addressingsomeoneinformally,dependsoncommonsense.Whenyoudon’tknowthepersonyouarearegoingtotalkwith,orwhenthispersonisseniorbyageorstatus,youshoulduseLei. Forexample,”What’syourname”is:

Cometichiami?(Tu)/Comesichiama(Lei?) Michiamo…

Mind,”Lei”inthiscaseisnotsynonymof”she”,butjustaformalwaytoreplace”tu”,you.Whenyouwillknowpeoplewellorwon’tbethecasetousetheformalLei,youwillbeinvitedtoswitchfrom”Lei”to”Tu”.
“Diamocideltu”or”Possiamodarcideltu”

Normally,youngpeoplewillskipthe”lei”andusedirectlytheinformal”tu”.

  • ChièMario?
Whenwetalkaboutourrelationshipwithsomeone,weoftenuseItalianpossessiveadjectives.So,ifItalktoyouabout”Mario”,youmayask:”ChièMario?”

Marioèunmio…(Mariaèunamia…) amico/amica(friend)
collega(colleague)
conoscente(acquaintance)
parente(relative)

  SeMario(Maria)èunparente,ifMarioisarelative,wecandescribeourdegreeofkinship.Inthiscasewehavetoomitthearticle.Wedon’tsay”Marioèil/unmiofratello”.Wesay”Marioèmiofratello”Marioismybrother.Havealookandlistentotheaudiolesson”Lamiafamiglia”,myItalianfamily foracompleteoverview.SomenounsaboutthefamilyinItalian:

Marioèmio…(Mariaèmia…)

Ifyouwanttosay”Ihaveabrother,sisteretc”,inItalianwesay”Ioho/Lui-Leiha- un/una…fratello/sorella/marito/moglieetc.withtheverbAVERE.

  • Didovesei(tu)?Didov’e(lui/lei)?

  InordertoprovidecompletepersonalinformationinItalian,youmustknowyournationality.Peopleusuallywantto knowwhereyoucomefromandwhereyoulive.

Whenweask”Didovesei?”whereareyoufrom,wemeanthenationalityforforeignersandtheregionofItalyorcityoforiginforItalians.JustlikeinEnglish,wehavetwomaingroups:

Iosono…- Lui/Leiè…
  • -ESE(Giapponese,Francese,Inglese-andMilanese)
  • -ANO(Italiano,Americano,Australiano-andRomano).
ThereisnoautomaticcorrespondancebetweenItalianandEnglishnamesofNationality.Forexample,wesayCanadeseandnot”Canadiano”,OlandeseandnotDutch,Tedescoandnot”Germano”.LikealltheotherItalianadjectives,theonesendingin-Edon’tvaryaccordingtothegender,theonesendingin-Ochangewiththegender.Sowesay:

  • IosonoGiapponese,MikeèAmericanoeLucyèAustraliana.

Ifyouwanttonameyourcityoforigin,youcanofcoursedothatsaying:
Sonodi…(Roma,Tokyo,NewYorketc…) Literally,Iamof…Historically,Europeancitiesandsomeothersaroundtheworldhaveanitalianizedname.Forexample:Parigi,Londra,Lisbona,Barcellona,Berna,Vienna,Berlino,Varsavia,Stoccolma,Atene,Belgrado,Dublino,CittàdelMessico,Pechino,NuovaDelhi,CittàdelCapoandmanyothers.WeusedtosayNuovaYork,butit’sobsoletenow.

  • Chelavorofai(tu)-Chelavorofa(Lui/Lei)?

  Nowadays,therearesomanyjobtitlesthatthemattercan’tbeliquidatewiththeusualdoctor/nurse/clerkbasicvocabulary. Wewilldedicateaposttojobsandworking-relatedItalianlanguage.YourjobisofcoursesomethingyouwanttosayorknowaspersonalinformationinItalian.WewillhelpyoutoidentifythenameofyourjobinItalian,justaskinthecomments.Thequestionis:”Chelavorofai?”,Whatisyourjob:

Io Faccioil/la…dottore/dottoressa
Sonoun/una… dentista Lui/Lei Fail/la…dottore/dottoressa
È un/una… dentist

  The”formula”thenis:

 Fareil/lo/la+jobtitle=Essereun/uno/una +jobtitle WeexplainedHOWyoushouldaskorprovidepersonalinformationinItalian.IfyouwanttofindoutWHATandlearnnewwords,pleaseexplorethisblogandfindyouranswers.Ifyouneedsomehelpindescribingyourjob,nationalityorotherinformationinItalian,pleaseleaveacommentandwe’llansweryourquestions.Subscribetoourmailinglistformorearticles!

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