Italian 2 1 Audiobook
Italian 2 1 Audiobook
Italian 2 1 Audiobook
Absolute Beginner S1 #1
Greeting Your New Friends with
Perfect Italian
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 1
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ITALIAN
ENGLISH
4. Melissa: Good morning, my name is Melissa Cox. And you, sir? What is your
name?
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #1 - GREET I NG YOUR NEW FRI ENDS WI T H PERFECT I T ALI AN 2
Italian English C lass
e and conjunction
SAMPLE SENTENCES
GRAMMAR
Ciao is the easiest and most common Italian form of greeting: people use it to say "hi," "hello,"
or "goodbye." We should only use this greeting with people whom we are well acquainted
with, such as friends or relatives.
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On the other hand, we may use buon giorno with anybody, even people we meet for the first
time. Literally, buon giorno means "good day"; however, we may also interpret it as "good
morning" or "good afternoon." As a rule of thumb, we can use buon giorno only during
daytime-from morning until evening-or from before daybreak to before dusk. If we want to say
"good afternoon," we sometimes use buon pomeriggio.
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #2
You're Not from Italy, Are You?
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 2
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #2 - YOU'RE NOT FROM I T ALY, ARE YOU? 2
Milano Milan noun
tu you adverb
io I personal pronoun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
Dove abiti?
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is Talking about Origins in Italian and the Verb Essere ("to be").
Di dove sei?
"Where are you from?"
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As we have seen, di dove sei is the exact equivalent of "where are you from." It indicates the
precise place where one comes from. You should answer either by mentioning your home
city or the nearest important city in order to let the listener easily understand.
Di is a stationary preposition that we use with essere when talking about a person's
birthplace.
Let us now look at the conjugation of the irregular verb essere ("to be").
Italian "English"
Since it is irregular, there are no learning tips to make the drilling of this verb easier. The
easiest method to memorize it is to do some written verb drills.
Notice that in the dialogue, we translate the expression di dove sei as "Where are you from?"
but there is no tu (Italian for "you"). This is because there is no need to state the subject, as
the form sei implies "you" in the second singular person pronoun. This is always the way it is
in Italian unless we want to stress the person we are referring to.
Let us look again at a very important aspect of the Italian language regarding formal speech.
The informal way to ask "Where are you from?" uses the second person singular, tu.
However, when we wish to use formal speech, we just have to switch to the next person, the
third person singular, lui/lei, thus creating a distance between the speakers. So di dove è
actually means "Where are you from?" in formal speech and "Where is he/she from?" in
informal speech.
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When negating a statement, we should use the negative particle, "no," and non + verb. You
can also skip the initial "no" and just answer with non + verb. For example, non sono di
Milano.
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #3
Of Course You're Doing Well If
You're in Italy!
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 3
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #3 - OF COURS E YOU'RE DOI NG WELL I F YOU'RE I N I T ALY! 2
buona sera good evening greeting expression
SAMPLE SENTENCES
GRAMMAR
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Come stai? Come sta?
"How are you?"
Come stai? means "How are you?" referring to the second person singular "you," (tu). We use
come sta? in formal speech, such as "How are you, sir?" This term actually has two meanings.
In order to explain it better, let us look at the present indicative tense of first conjugation Italian
verbs.
The meaning of the verb stare depends on the context we use it in. Here are a few of the most
common: "to be," "to stand," "to stay," "to lie," "to be located," and "to be situated." Note: the
direct equivalent of "to be" is essere.
Here is the present indicative tense conjugation of stare.
Italian "English"
As you can clearly see, the informal way to ask "How are you?" uses the second singular
person pronoun, tu. When we want to use formal speech, we just have to switch to the third
singular person, lui/lei, thus creating a distance between the speakers. So come sta means
"How are you?" in formal speech, and "How is he/she?" in informal speech. The same
happens for tu and lei (also written Lei).
Lei means either "her" in informal speech or "you" (either masculine and feminine) in formal
speech. The context in which we use the word determines its meaning. Lui can only mean
"him."
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #4
By Chance, You Aren't Italian, Are
You?
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 4
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
3. Alessio: (talking to Melissa's friend) And you? Are you also American?
CONT'D OVER
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7. Alessio: (talking to the man next to Melissa) And you? Are you American, sir?
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Sono spagnolo. Lara è spagnola.
GRAMMAR
In the dialogue, we see how to ask about someone's nationality. The construction of è
americano? is the same as "are you American?" with two exceptions. First, as we saw in the
previous lesson, there is no lei (Italian for "you" in formal situations), because there is no need
to state the subject since è can only indicate lei (or lui, but not in this context). Second, when
expressing nationalities, Italians do not use capital letters. Therefore, we can write americano,
but not Americano, which would mean "the American (guy)," becoming an independent noun.
Italian does not use capitals as often as English does. Please remember the following rules:
1. Begin proper names (Luca, Laura), town names (Milano, Roma), countries, lakes,
rivers, and the like with a capital letter.
2. In headings or titles, only the first word has a capital letter, and the rest of the title is in
lowercase. For example, Il signore degli anelli ("The Lord of the Rings.")
3. Days of the week, seasons, and months always begin with a lowercase letter.
4. You should always begin words such as "English," "Italian," and "Japanese" (always
in uppercase in English) with a lowercase letter in Italian: inglese, italiano,
giapponese.
In future lessons, we shall see Italian adjectives in more detail. For now, please remember
two points:
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1. Italian adjectives can have feminine, masculine, singular, or plural meanings. You
will realize the difference by changing the ending.
2. In the case of adjectives of nationality, there are only two types: one that follows both
gender and number, and one that only follows number.
Italian Adjectives
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #5
I Can't Believe You Just Asked How
Old She Is in Italian!
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 5
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #5 - I CAN'T BELI EVE YOU JUS T AS KED HOW OLD S HE I S I N I T ALI AN! 2
venticinque twenty-five cardinal number
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"Are you twenty years old?" "They are thirty-two years old."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson is Using the Verb Avere to Discuss Age in Italian
Quanti anni hai?
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"How old are you?"
If we break down the phrase quanti anni hai, we can read it in English as "how many years do
you have?" In English, we use the verb "to be" when indicating age, while in Italian we use
avere ("to have").
Italian "English"
io ho "I have"
Italian "English"
Please remember this difference between Italian and English when referring to someone's
age.
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #6
Would You Describe Me As Clumsy in
Italian?
CONTENTS
Dialogue - Italian
Main
English
Vocabulary
Sample sentences
Grammar
# 6
ITALIANPOD101.COM ABSOLUTE BEGINNER S1 #6 1
DIALOGUE - ITALIAN
MAIN
ENGLISH
3. Alessio : Is it comfortable?
4. Melissa : Yes, yes, thank you. Today I also have new shoes!
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"Oh, you got a new car!" "It's not so easy to keep creating new ideas."
"I lost my new mobile." "I have a new apartment on the fifth floor."
Hai visto la nuova puntata di "Friends"? Oggi è stata una giornata d'estate
straordinariamente calda.
"Have you watched the new episode of 'Friends?'"
"Today was an extraordinarily hot summer day."
"Are you also coming to the concert?" "Do you also like pasta?"
E' una ragazza molto carina. Ho visto un vestito molto carino, voglio
comprarlo!
"She's a very cute girl."
"I saw a very cute dress. I want to buy it."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is the Gender and Number of Italian Nouns and Adjectives.
Hai una bicicletta nuova?
"Have you got a new bicycle?"
Italian nouns have both gender (feminine and masculine) and number (singular and plural).
In the dialogue, we see scarpe ("shoes"); its singular form is scarpa ("shoe"). Because it ends in -a, it is a
feminine noun.
Please take a look at the following table, which shows how to classify Italian nouns by gender according
to the ending vowel of their singular form.
-o The majority of the anno - "year," tavolo - "table," Some nouns are
nouns are masculine. libro - "book" feminine, such as mano
- "hand"
In their plural form, Italian nouns change their ending following the rules below:
For Example:
Rule 2: Singular -a changes to plural -i for masculine nouns and -e for feminine nouns.
For Example:
So how do Italians know the difference between masculine and feminine nouns? Well, certainly by using
them every day they know them by heart, but also because the Italian articles help them. We shall see
the articles in our next lessons.
Notes
Because Italian nouns have gender and number, adjectives must also have these attributes. This is
because they follow nouns. In the dialogue, we see scarpe nuove, where the adjective nuovo changes to
its feminine plural form to match scarpa in its plural form, scarpe.
Absolute Beginner S1 #7
Italian Sandwiches Free to a Good
Home
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 7
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
2. Alessio: Yes, the sandwiches of the bar in front of here are very good.
3. Melissa: Oh yes. Mine has olives, tuna, and tomatoes. And you, which
sandwich do you have?
VOCABULARY
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oliva olive noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
Le melazane sulla pizza sono molto Vorrei fare una passeggiata invece devo
buone. lavorare.
"Eggplants on a pizza are very good." "I'd like to take a walk, but I have to work
instead."
GRAMMAR
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The Focus of This Lesson Is Plural Definite Articles.
I panini del bar di fronte sono molto buoni!
"The sandwiches of the bar in front of here are very good."
Definite articles correspond to the English counterpart "the." Today we shall see the plural
form of these articles.
Construction (Before
Nouns Starting with...) Masculine Feminine
For Example:
1. i ragazzi
"the boys"
Construction (Before
nouns starting with...) Italian "English"
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Rule 3: Use le for every feminine noun, regardless of the starting letter.
For Example:
Italian "English"
One difference between the Italian and English languages is that in Italian, we often employ
"substantive adjectives," which are adjectives we use as stand-alone nouns. We normally use
substantive adjectives when we take one quality of the subject and elect it to be a temporary
or permanent synonym of the subject (which can be both an animate or inanimate object) we
refer to. For example, assume we have a group of five people and only one of them has blond
hair. We could say il biondo ("the blond one") since the context clarifies we can identify just
one person.
As we explained in the previous lesson, these adjectives follow all the grammatical rules
concerning nouns, thus they can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural; articles can
precede them; and so on.
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #8
How Much Does That Italian
Accessory Cost?
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 8
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #8 - HOW MUCH DOES T HAT I T ALI AN ACCES S ORY COS T ? 2
comprare to buy, to purchase verb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"Please fasten your seat belts." "In Florence, you can find some good
leather belts."
Non trovo la mia cintura preferita. Questa maglia costa solo cinque euro.
"I can't find my favorite belt." "This shirt costs only five euros."
Questo libro costa dodici euro. Questi stivali costano duecento euro.
"This book costs twelve euros." "These boots cost two hundred euros."
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Questi occhiali da sole sono nuovi. Questa è la mia borsa.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is Asking the Price of Goods and the Conjugation at the
Present Indicative of Verbs Ending in -are.
Quanto costa questa cintura?/Compro solo la cintura.
"How much does this belt cost?"/"I'll buy only the belt."
The verb costare ("to cost") works in Italian exactly like its English equivalent. We conjugate it
according to the gender and number of the noun it refers to.
To conjugate the verb at the presente indicativo tense, first take the infinitive (for example,
comprare), then drop the ending -are, leaving you with compr-, and finally add the
appropriate endings. The endings are different for each person.
The following scheme is the conjugation of the verb comprare, "to buy," at the presente
indicativo tense. We underlined the endings for each person, which we use with all verbs,
both regular and irregular.
Italian "English"
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voi compr-àte* "you buy"
For Example:
Italian "English"
*An important element of verbs is stress. The stress in both singular forms and the third
person plural is on the vowel of the verb's stem, while the stress of the first and second plural
person is on the theme vowel (in this case, -a-), just as it is in the infinitive.
Please note that in Italian, only vowels at the end of a word can have a written accent mark:
this indicates that the stress is on the word-ending vowel. We use it in the scheme above just
to clarify the stress of the word.
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #9
If It's Made in Italy, It's Gotta Be
Good!
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 9
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
3. Alessio: Perché?
ENGLISH
3. Alessio: Why?
VOCABULARY
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etichetta label noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"Why are you laughing? Because you're "Why are you happy?"
funny."
"This shirt is old and dirty." "I read the newspaper in the library."
"I read in the evening before going to "I'm reading the newspaper."
sleep."
GRAMMAR
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The Focus of This Lesson is on the Present Indicative Tense of Verbs Ending in -ere.
Cosa leggi?
"What are you reading?"
To conjugate -ere verbs at the presente indicativo tense, we have to follow the same process
as with -are verbs. That is, you take the infinitive form of the verb (for example, leggere), then
drop the ending -ere, leaving you with legg-, and finally add the appropriate endings. The
endings differ according to the person they refer to.
For Example:
Italian "English"
In the conjugation of the verb leggere, please note the alternation between the soft and hard
g. This happens because g before the vowels a, o, and u has a sound like the g in "good";
when g appears before e and i, it sounds like the g in "general."
Some other -ere verbs conjugated like leggere include the following:
Italian "English"
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ricevere "to receive"
*Some -ere verbs, like lèggere, have the stress on the first "e" of the infinitive but some others
have the stress on the second syllable.
For instance, take the verb vedére. For this verb, the stress changes. When in doubt, check a
dictionary to see where the stress is.
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 10
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
2. Alessio: Mmm. Alle undici, sono le dieci e trenta. Perché non beviamo un
caffè mentre aspettiamo?
ENGLISH
2. Alessio: Mmm. At eleven; it's ten-thirty. Why don't we drink a cup of coffee
while we're waiting?
VOCABULARY
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aspettare to wait noun
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"Look in front of you while you're walking." "I listen to music while I travel by train."
"I met Matteo while I was going back." "I prefer green."
Fa troppo caldo, apri la finestra? Devo aprire il negozio alle otto del
mattino.
"It's too hot; can you open the window?"
"I have to open the store at 8:00 o'clock
a.m."
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Ho aspettato fino all'una, ma non è Sono in ritardo, mi aspetti?
venuto.
"I'm late; would you wait for me?"
"I waited until one, but he didn't show up."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Present Indicative of Verbs Ending in -ire.
A che ora apre?
"At what time does it open?"
The presente indicativo of third conjugation verbs follows the same patterns employed for the
two conjugations we previously analyzed. That is, you take the infinitive of the verb (for
example, aprire), then drop the ending -ire, leaving you with apr-, and finally, add the
appropriate endings. The endings differ according to the person they refer to.
Italian "English"
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*The considerations regarding the pronunciation of the first and the second plural persons
fully apply to the third one.
Additional Italian verbs that follow the conjugation above include the following:
Italian "English"
Moreover, a significant number of the third conjugation's regular verbs add the interfix (which
is a group of letters inserted between the stem and the ending) -isc in all the six persons,
except the first and second plural persons. In all the remaining cases, they follow the standard
conjugation.
Let's look at the conjugation of the verb preferire, meaning "to prefer."
Presente Indicativo
Italian "English"
Please note that this form applies exclusively to the present indicative, present subjunctive,
and imperative.
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As far as grammar is concerned, there is no general rule to distinguish the verbs that need the
interfix -isc- from those that follow the standard conjugation. The most efficient method to
figure it out is to consult a good dictionary and use them right away!
Finally, the following table shows some of the most widely used third conjugation irregular
verbs:
For Example:
Italian "English"
* Please note that the considerations regarding the pronunciation of the first and the second
plural persons fully apply to the third one, except with verbs requiring the -isc- interfix. In that
case, the stress is on the second to last syllable. For instance, preferire becomes io
preferìsco.
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
3 Grammar
# 11
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
2. Alessio: Yes, probably too much; I prefer this necklace with this amethyst.
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #11 - COULD ANYT HI NG BE BET T ER T HAN T HI S I T ALI AN LES S ON! 2
to sparkle, glint,
luccicare verb
shimmer
SAMPLE SENTENCES
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is the Demonstrative Adjective questo ("this") and Its Singular
Forms.
Preferisco questa collana con quest'ametista.
"I prefer this necklace with this amethyst."
In today's lesson, we shall learn how to use the Italian adjective questo, meaning "this." Like
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every Italian adjective, it has to agree with the noun it refers to in both gender and number,
and it cannot stand-alone (in some occurrences, we could also use questo as a pronoun, but
we will discuss this in the advanced courses). Today, we shall see the singular forms (both
masculine and feminine) of the demonstrative adjective questo, whose English equivalent is
"this."
questo zaino
Before -z, -y, or -s + questo yogurt
questa scarpa
consonant questo studente
Use questo before masculine nouns starting with a consonant; starting with a vowel; starting
with -z, -y, or -s + a consonant; and finally with rare nouns starting with gn-, like gnomo
("dwarf").
For Example:
Italian "English"
Use questa before feminine nouns starting with a consonant or starting with -z, -y, or -s + a
consonant; use quest' before feminine nouns starting with a vowel.
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For Example:
Italian "English"
Although you always need to use quest' with a feminine noun starting with a vowel, in the
case of masculine nouns starting with a vowel, we can use either quest' or questo.
For Example:
1. questo alunno
"this pupil"
We can use this category of adjectives to refer to three different dimensions of the discourse:
space, time, and ideas (the latter includes other discourses). When used in spatial and
temporal terms, it works exactly like its English equivalent ("this") and refers to something
"close" to the speaker or the writer.
For Example:
Italian "English"
However, when we mention ideas and past discourses (both spoken and written), in Italian
we often use questo ("this") or questi ("these") rather than quello ("that") or quelli ("those").
For example, when we want to explain "the reason why" in English we often use the phrase
"that's why...", but in Italian, we should use "questo perchè...."
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This is due to the different unconscious perception of reality in Italian and English. In English,
we feel ideas and past discourses as distant from the subject, while in Italian, we more often
personify them and render them close to the speaker (or writer).
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 12
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ITALIAN
8. Alessio: D'accordo.
ENGLISH
6. Alessio: Don't you see how many people are waiting outside?
CONT'D OVER
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7. Melissa: Yes, so pizza is definitely delicious there. Let's try!
8. Alessio: Okay.
VOCABULARY
definitely, surely,
sicuramente certainly adverb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #12 - WHY DON'T WE DO T HI S , T HAT , AND T HE OT HER I N I T ALY! 3
Oggi per pranzo mangio un gelato. Ti invito a pranzo.
"Today I eat an ice cream for lunch." "I invite you for lunch."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Singular Forms of the Adjective Quello ("that").
Perché non andiamo in quel ristorante?/Andiamo in quella pizzeria.
"Why don't we go to that restaurant?"/"Let's go to that pizzeria."
In today's lesson, we shall learn how to use the singular forms of the demonstrative adjective
quel ("that"). Quel refers to things that are far from the speaker.
This adjective precedes the noun and we modify it according to the same pattern as the
definite articles. For example, la piscina ("the swimming pool") implies the usage of the
adjective quella, as in quella piscina ("that swimming pool") because we use la before a
feminine noun starting with a consonant.
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The table below explains clearly how we should modify quel.
We use the adjective quell' before a singular feminine or masculine noun starting with a
vowel.
For Example:
1. quell'osso
"that bone"
2. quell' università
"that university"
For Example:
Italian "English"
For Example:
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1. quel teatro
"that theater"
2. quel mestiere
"that job"
Finally, the adjective quello always precedes a masculine singular noun starting with y-, z-, x-,
ps-, gn- or s- + a consonant.
For Example:
Italian "English"
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LESSON NOTES
Absolute Beginner S1 #13
How Can You Be on a Diet in
Italy?
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 13
COPYRIGHT © 2018 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
8. Melissa: Come?!
9. Alessio: Ah ah ah!
ENGLISH
4. Melissa: And all these pizzas look very good. What do you take?
CONT'D OVER
8. Melissa: What?!
9. Alessio: Ha ha ha.
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
Ho ordinato un caffè anche per te. Per favore, non ordinare cose, di cui
non hai bisogno
"I ordered a coffee for you too."
"Please don't order stuff that you don't
need."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Plural Forms of the Demonstrative Adjective
Questo.
Questi prezzi non sono così male./Queste pizze sembrano tutte buonissime.
"These prices are not so bad."/"All these pizzas look very good."
Considering that we have to modify adjectives according to the noun they refer to in both
gender and number, we are now looking at questo in its plural forms, which are questi and
queste, meaning "these."
Use questi before any masculine plural noun starting with either a consonant or a vowel.
For Example:
Italian "English"
Use queste before any feminine plural nouns starting with either a consonant or a vowel.
For Example:
1. queste pizze
"these pizzas"
2. queste acciughe
"these anchovies"
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 14
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ITALIAN
5. Melissa: Sì, sono porcini. Anche quelle ragazze mangiano la pizza come la
mia, vedi?
6. Alessio: Hai ragione. Io oggi invece non ho molta fame, nella mia pizza c'è
solo il pomodoro.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
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5. Melissa: Yes, they're porcini mushrooms. Hey, those girls are eating the
same pizza as mine, do you see?
6. Alessio: You're right. But today I am not very hungry. In my pizza there's only
tomato sauce.
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Questo è un formaggio fresco. Mi piace la birra fresca.
Ordiniamo il dolce?
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Plural Forms of the Demonstrative Adjective Quello.
Quei funghi sembrano proprio freschi./Anche quelle ragazze mangiano la pizza.
"Those mushrooms look really fresh."/"Also those girls are eating pizza."
Today, we are looking at the plural forms of the demonstrative adjective quello (as seen in
previous lessons).
Like with any other adjective, we change its ending when we use it to refer to plural nouns, so
quello becomes quei, quegli, and quelle.
These adjectives always precede the noun, and we modify them according to the same
pattern as the definite articles. For example, i funghi, meaning "mushrooms," requires the
usage of the adjective quei: quei funghi, meaning "those mushrooms." This is because we
use the article i before plural nouns starting with a consonant.
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Please follow the scheme in the table below.
For Example:
1. quei funghi
"those mushrooms"
2. quei pantaloni
"those pants"
We use quegli before masculine plural nouns starting with z-, x-, y-, ps-, gn-, or s- + a
consonant as well as those starting with a vowel.
For Example:
Italian "English"
Finally, please use quelle before any feminine plural nouns starting with either a consonant
or a vowel.
For Example:
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Italian "English"
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #14 - CAN YOU EAT T HOS E DES S ERT S FI RS T I N I T ALY? 6
LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 15
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ITALIAN
ENGLISH
5. Alessio: All of them! Let's see, today let's make it a large cone with pistachio,
black cherry, and hazelnut. And you?
CONT'D OVER
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6. Melissa: I usually take chocolate and coffee.
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Spesso mi addormento tardi. Questo cono gelato è buonissimo.
"I often fall asleep late." "This ice cream cone is very good."
Gli scoiattoli mangiano tante nocciole. Questi pantaloni sono troppo grandi per
me.
"Squirrels eat a lot of hazelnuts."
"These pants are too large for me."
GRAMMAR
To talk about how often something happens, we use the so-called adverbs of frequency. Here
are some of the most used frequency adverbs in Italian:
Italian "English"
spesso "often"
a volte "sometimes"
di solito "usually"
normalmente "usually"
When using simple verb forms (that is, one-word verbs), we usually place adverbs after them.
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For Example:
With compound verbs (i.e., two-word verbs), we place most adverbs after the past participle,
but we can also position them before the verb.
For Example:
1. Ogni tanto ho fatto arrabbiare i miei genitori/Ho fatto arrabbiare i miei genitori ogni
tanto.
"Sometimes I got my parents angry."
Both di solito and normalmente mean "usually" and they always precede the verb.
For Example:
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #15 - DO YOU COME T O T HI S I T ALI AN PLACE OFT EN? 5
LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 16
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ITALIAN
2. Melissa: Eh, sì, una meraviglia, poi oggi con questo sole....
5. Alessio: Aspetta, c'è una fontanella qui vicino. Puliamo la giacca con
l'acqua, andiamo.
ENGLISH
5. Alessio: Wait, there's a drinking fountain near here. Let's clean the jacket
with water. Let's go.
CONT'D OVER
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6. Melissa: Thank you, you're very kind. Brrr, this water is very cold!
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Ultimamente non pulisco mai il mio Hai pulito la tua stanza?
appartamento.
"Did you clean your room?"
"Recently, I never clean my apartment."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Structures C'è ("there is") and Ci sono ("there are").
C'è una fontanella quì vicino./Ci sono delle macchie anche sui jeans.
"There's a drinking fountain near here."/"There are some stains even on your
jeans."/"There is nothing to do."
The structure of c'è consists of two parts: ci, an adverb, plus è, the third singular person of the
verb essere ("to be") at the present tense. As in English, we only use c'è with singular nouns.
For Example:
The plural form is ci sono, which is the Italian translation of "there are."
For Example:
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1. Ci sono dei regali sotto l'albero di Natale.
"There are some presents under the Christmas tree."
We convey the negative form with non c'è/non ci sono, so you just need to add non before c'è/
ci sono.
For Example:
Please remember that in Italian, double negations don't nullify each other. For example, we
translate "there is no one" as non c'è nessuno and "there is nothing" as non c'è niente.
We often use the pattern non c'è niente when the preposition da plus an infinitive follows it.
For Example:
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 17
COPYRIGHT © 2013 INNOVATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
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4. (Melissa's mobile rings.)
5. Melissa: Hello!? Ah, hi, Daniel, yes… What day is today?... Oh yes, sorry, no,
I haven't come back home... Okay, I'll buy the bread. See you later,
bye!
9. Melissa: I'm sorry, Alessio. See you tomorrow in the office, bye!!
VOCABULARY
to go back, to come
tornare back, to get back verb
in in preposition
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Adesso scrivo un'e-mail. Adesso piove.
"Can you buy some bread?" "How much bread do you eat in a day?"
"I have a big problem." "Luke comes back from school about one
p.m."
"Yesterday I got back home late." "I would like to go back to S. Gimignano."
"In this class, there are twenty kids." "Everything is fair in love and war."
Questo ufficio è molto grande. A che piano è l'ufficio del Dott. Rossi?
"This office is very big." "On what floor is the office of Doctor
Rossi?"
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Passato Prossimo Tense of First Conjugation Verbs (-
are).
Abbiamo mangiato tanto oggi./Non sono tornata a casa.
"We've eaten a lot today."/"I haven't come back home."
We use the passato prossimo tense ("present perfect") to report actions or events that took
place in the past. It is a compound tense of two words: the present indicative of the auxiliary
verb avere or essere, and the "past participle," participio passato, of the main verb. The past
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #17 - I HAVEN'T EXERCI S ED ENOUGH T O EAT T HI S MUCH I T ALI AN FOOD! 4
participle of first conjugation -are verbs mainly ends in -ato. Italian dictionaries provide the
past participles of the most frequently used verbs.
When choosing the auxiliary verb essere or avere, we should consider the main verbs they
are attached to. As a general rule, transitive verbs take avere and intransitive verbs take
essere. However, the following list shows the most important guidelines to keep in mind when
choosing the appropriate auxiliary verb.
AUXILIARY ESSERE:
•
Verbs expressing movement or immobility
For Example:
Italian "English"
•
Verbs indicating changes in state of being
For Example:
Italian "English"
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diventare "to become"
•
Reflexive verbs
For Example:
Italian "English"
AUXILIARY AVERE:
•
All the transitive verbs
For Example:
Italian "English"
•
Some intransitive verbs
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For Example:
Italian "English"
The best way to know whether to use essere or avere to form the passato prossimo is to look
the verb up in the dictionary to find out which auxiliary we should employ.
For Example:
Passato Prossimo
Italian "English"
Italian "English"
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Tu sei tornato/a "You have come"/"You came back"
*Please notice that the past participle conjugated with essere has four possible endings,
depending on the gender and number of its subject.
We convey the negative form by adding non before the auxiliary verb.
For Example:
1. Non ho mangiato.
"I haven't eaten."
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 18
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ITALIAN
9. Melissa: Buongiorno!
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
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4. Ilaria: No, not yet, it's strange, she's always on time...
VOCABULARY
to look, to watch, to
vedere see verb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Mi dispiace, oggi sono occupato. Questa settimana sono stato molto
occupato.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy today."
"I've been very busy this week."
"Have you seen that movie?" "Have you seen my cell phone?"
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Passato Prossimo Tense of Second Conjugation -ere
Verbs.
Hai visto Melissa?
"Have you seen Melissa?"
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The passato prossimo structure for second conjugation -ere verbs is the same as that of first
conjugation -are verbs. We should follow the same process to form it: that is, use the auxiliary
verb essere or avere conjugated at the present indicative + the past participle of the main
verb.
To make negative statements, we only need to add non before the auxiliary verb. As we have
previously mentioned, please check the main verb in a dictionary to find out both the
appropriate auxiliary verb to use and the past participle of the main verb. Here follows a list of
the most frequently used -ere verbs conjugated at the passato prossimo tense. We will give
you the first singular person, io.
(auxiliary essere)
For Example:
(auxiliary avere)
For Example:
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2. bere ("to drink")
Io ho bevuto.
"I have drunk." or "I drank."
Passato Prossimo
vedere ("to see" or "to watch")
Italian "English"
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
2 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 19
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ITALIAN
6. Alessio: Volentieri!
ENGLISH
4. Alessio: Girls, we're going to drink an aperitif after work, are you coming?
VOCABULARY
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #19 - HAVEN'T YOU DONE ENOUGH I T ALI AN WORK T ODAY? 2
Italian English C lass Ge nde r
willingly, gladly,
volentieri sure, with pleasure adverb
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"We talk after the lesson." "If you want, we can see each other after
dinner."
Mia madre non beve alcolici. Bevo sempre un caffè dopo pranzo.
"My mother doesn't drink alcohol." "I always drink coffee after lunch."
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Offro la cena a tutti! Beviamo un caffè? Volentieri.
"I offer the dinner to everybody!" "Do we drink a coffee? With pleasure."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Passato Prossimo Tense of Third Conjugation -ire
Verbs.
Ho finito.
"I've finished."
When we decide to use the passato prossimo with -ire verbs of the third conjugation, we
should simply follow the rules given for other conjugations. We fully analyzed this process in
previous lessons.
However, it is necessary to remember that when avere is the auxiliary verb, the past participle
always ends in -o regardless of the subject of the verb.
Below we have a list of the most frequently used -ire verbs conjugated at the passato
prossimo tense. We will now provide the inflection of the first singular person, io.
For Example:
(auxiliary essere)
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2. salire ("to get on")
Io sono salito/a.
"I have got on." or "I got on."
(auxiliary avere)
For Example:
Passato Prossimo
finire ("to finish")
Italian "English"
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"You have finished"/
Voi avete finito
"You finished"
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 20
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ITALIAN
2. Alessio: Ah, prego. Melissa, ieri non sei venuta a lavoro, va tutto bene?
8. Alessio: Perfetto!
ENGLISH
1. Melissa: Alessio, thank you for the advice, this spritz is very good.
2. Alessio: Ah, you're welcome. Melissa, yesterday you didn't come to work. Is
everything all right?
CONT'D OVER
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6. Alessio: Let's go to Siena!
8. Alessio: Perfect!
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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È accaduto un fatto grave. Le famiglie in Italia di solito hanno 2
macchine.
"A serious event has happened."
"Families in Italy usually own two cars."
"Yesterday I tried a new car." "I have the chance to meet you."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Passato Prossimo ("Present Perfect") Tense of
Essere and Avere Verbs.
Sono stata malata./Non ho mai avuto occasione.
"I've been sick."/"I've never had the chance."
The passato prossimo tense is composed of the auxiliary verb essere ("to be") or avere ("to
have") conjugated at the present indicative, followed by the past participle of the main verb.
This structure does not change even when the main verb is essere or avere.
The verb essere always requires the auxiliary essere (obviously conjugated at the present
indicative). Its past participle equivalent is stato. As we previously mentioned, when the
auxiliary is essere, the past participle changes according to the gender and number of the
subject, having four possible different endings. The conjugation follows.
Italian "English"
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Io sono stato/a "I have been"/"I was"
On the other hand, we form the passato prossimo tense of the verb avere with the present
indicative of the verb avere, followed by its past participle, avuto. As you can clearly see in the
scheme below, the past participle's endings do not change, as is the case with all the other
verbs requiring the auxiliary avere.
Italian "English"
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 21
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ITALIAN
8. Alessio: D'accordo.
ENGLISH
CONT'D OVER
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7. Melissa: In a few minutes, I go home. I'll call you tomorrow.
8. Alessio: Okay.
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"I'd like a glass a Coke." "I like sparkling wine with dessert."
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Questo formaggio è molto saporito. È molto saporito.
GRAMMAR
We write numbers in Italian as a single word, and we usually position them before the noun.
For Example:
Italian "English"
As in English, in Italian cardinal numbers fall in Italian into the adjective category, but contrary
to other standard Italian adjectives, they never change their ending vowels. There are three
main exceptions to this general rule:
Although uno/una may also be a number, it follows the rules of the simple indefinite article
uno/una, thus changing its ending vowel according to the (obviously singular) noun it refers
to.
For Example:
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1. uno scaffale
"a shelf"
2. una sedia
"a chair"
Both milione ("million") and miliardo ("billion") are masculine nouns and we have to conjugate
them accordingly. When referring to definite quantities, they are followed by the particle di.
For Example:
1 uno "one"
2 due "two"
3 tre "three"
4 quattro "four"
5 cinque "five"
6 sei "six"
7 sette "seven"
8 otto "eight"
9 nove "nine"
10 dieci "ten"
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11 undici "eleven"
12 dodici "twelve"
13 tredici "thirteen"
14 quattordici "fourteen"
15 quindici "fifteen"
16 sedici "sixteen"
17 diciassette "seventeen"
18 diciotto "eighteen"
19 diciannove "nineteen"
20 venti "twenty"
21 ventuno "twenty-one"
22 ventidue "twenty-two"
23 ventitré "twenty-three"
24 ventiquattro "twenty-four"
25 venticinque "twenty-five"
26 ventisei "twenty-six"
27 ventisette "twenty-seven"
28 ventotto "twenty-eight"
29 ventinove "twenty-nine"
30 trenta "thirty"
40 quaranta "forty"
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50 cinquanta "fifty"
60 sessanta "sixty"
70 settanta "seventy"
80 ottanta "eighty"
90 novanta "ninety"
We form Italian compound numbers above twenty (i.e., adjectives made of more than one
number) by simply adding each element in successive order.
For Example:
Italian "English"
cinquantasette "fifty-seven"
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milleduecentotrentacinque "one thousand, two hundred thirty-five"
The numbers venti, trenta, quaranta, and so on drop the final vowel before uno and otto, both
of which begin with a vowel.
For Example:
1. ventuno
"twenty-one"
2. ventotto
"twenty-eight"
Finally, note that whenever a compound number ends with the number tre ("three"), we have
to use the acute accent on the ending -é. The cardinal number "three" does not need any
accent on its ending vowel.
For Example:
1. ventitré
"twenty-three"
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LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 22
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ITALIAN
1. Alessio: Pronto?
6. Melissa: No, va bene, sono così emozionata, per me è la prima volta a Siena.
ENGLISH
1. Alessio: Hello?
CONT'D OVER
6. Melissa: No it's okay. I'm so excited; it's the first time in Siena for me.
7. Alessio: You know, it's a small town, but there are many things to see.
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"This is the last time I wait for you!" "Rome is a big city."
GRAMMAR
Italian ordinal numbers fall into the adjective category. Unlike cardinal numbers, they change
their ending vowel according to the gender and number of the noun they refer to.
The following list shows Italian ordinal numbers from one to thirty. The ending vowels are
provided in the singular masculine form.
Each of the first ten ordinal numbers has a distinctly unique form. We form ordinal numbers
after decimo ("tenth") by dropping the final vowel of the corresponding cardinal number and
adding the suffix -esimo.
For Example:
Italian "English"
ventiquattro "twenty-four"
ventiquattresimo "twenty-fourth"
trentuno "thirty-one"
trentunesimo "thirty-first"
For Example:
Italian "English"
ventitré "twenty-three"
ventitreesimo "twenty-third"
trentasei "thirty-six"
trentaseiesimo "thirty-sixth"
For Example:
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 23
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ITALIAN
7. (bi-bip)
ENGLISH
3. Alessio: Sure! Ah, here is the weather forecast! Fine, today nice weather!
CONT'D OVER
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7. (bi-bip)
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
Questo non è il modo adatto per Questo vestito non è adatto per stasera.
risolvere i problemi.
"This dress is not suitable for tonight."
"This is not the proper way to solve
problems."
"I listen to the weather forecast every day." "I'll meet with Rossella later."
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Ieri ho incontrato Luisa. Ho incontrato un vecchio amico.
Ho capito il messaggio.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on Futuro Semplice Tense of the First Conjugation -are
Verbs.
Oggi cammineremo tanto.
"Today we'll walk a lot."
We use the futuro semplice to describe future actions, thus expressing the idea of "to be going
to" or "will (do something)," since there is no difference in Italian between planned or
unplanned future actions. We form the futuro semplice of regular verbs by dropping the final -e
of the infinitive and adding the personal endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, and -anno.
First conjugation -are verbs change the -a of the infinitive into -e.
For Example:
Italian "English"
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #23 - DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR FUT URE I N I T ALY! 4
Lui/lei camminerà "He/she will walk."
For Example:
In addition to changing the -a of the infinitive, verbs ending in -ciare and -giare drop the -i in
order to keep the [tʃ] sound (as in "scotch").
For Example:
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3. mangiare ("to eat")
Io mangerò.
"I will eat."
Verbs ending in -care or -gare add -h after -c and -g of the stem to retain the hard [k] sound
(as in "car").
For Example:
Certain two-syllable irregular verbs keep the characteristic -a of the infinitive ending.
For Example:
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #23 - DON'T WORRY ABOUT YOUR FUT URE I N I T ALY! 6
LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 24
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ITALIAN
1. Alessio: Questa è Piazza del Campo, saliamo sulla Torre del Mangia?
6. Melissa: Sì, c'è scritto anche in questa guida della città. Quello è il Palazzo
Pubblico?
ENGLISH
1. Alessio: This is Piazza del Campo; shall we go up to the Torre del Mangia?
CONT'D OVER
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6. Melissa: Yes, that's also written in this city guide. Is that Palazzo Pubblico?
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
"I don't know what to choose." "They sleep all together in one room."
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #24 - T OGET HER, WE WI LL CHOOS E WHAT T O DO I N I T ALY 3
Mi piace vivere in Europa. Questa è la guida di Roma.
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Futuro Semplice Tense of Second Conjugation -ere
Verbs.
Sceglieremo cosa fare insieme agli altri.
"We'll choose what to do together with the others."
The procedure we use to create the futuro semplice tense of second conjugation -ere verbs is
the same as the one we use for first conjugation -are verbs, except that second conjugation
verbs do not change the second-to-last vowel of the infinitive. They simply drop the final -e of
the infinitive form and add the appropriate endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, and -anno.
For Example:
Italian "English"
For Example:
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #24 - T OGET HER, WE WI LL CHOOS E WHAT T O DO I N I T ALY 4
1. conoscere ("to know")
Io conoscerò.
"I will know."
Many -ere irregular verbs change their stems when we conjugate them in futuro semplice.
The following are some of the most common.
For Example:
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #24 - T OGET HER, WE WI LL CHOOS E WHAT T O DO I N I T ALY 5
LESSON NOTES
CONTENTS
2 Italian
2 English
3 Vocabulary
3 Sample Sentences
4 Grammar
# 25
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ITALIAN
7. Melissa: Chi?
ENGLISH
1. Melissa: Oh, I'm really happy. I like Siena very much; it's so fascinating. Well
done, Alessio, I'll follow your advice again.
3. Melissa: You'll sleep deeply tonight, then, but you have to take me back
home first.
CONT'D OVER
I T ALI ANPOD101.COM ABS OLUT E BEGI NNER S 1 #25 - WI LL YOU BE AN I T ALI AN-S PEAKI NG FOOL? 2
5. Melissa: Hey, don't be a fool! You're not funny!
7. Melissa: Who?
VOCABULARY
SAMPLE SENTENCES
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Luca è un ragazzo piuttosto Seguiamo le tracce!
affascinante.
"Let's follow the traces."
"Luca is a quite fascinating guy."
GRAMMAR
The Focus of This Lesson Is on the Futuro Semplice Tense of Third Conjugation -ire
Verbs. ¬
Seguirò ancora i tuoi consigli.
"I'll follow your advice again."
In order to form the futuro semplice of third conjugation -ire regular verbs, we need to follow
the same procedure we employ for second conjugation verbs. Therefore, we need to drop the
final -e of the infinitive form and add the appropriate endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, and -anno.
For Example:
Italian "English"
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Noi seguir-emo "We will follow"
For Example:
Certain -ire irregular verbs change the stem when conjugated at futuro semplice:
For Example:
Italian "English"
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Voi verr-ete "You will come"
For Example:
1. Verrò da te stasera.
"I will come to your place tonight."
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