Stop The Press
Following the popularity of the Italian Lessons we have set up a new site dedicated just to Italian Lessons! Please click here to go to them - this lesson plus much more is available.
The second lesson in our beginner series on Italian, is here. This time A. Antonioni guides us through some of the more useful phrases of Italian, unravels the mystery surrounding "Ciao", explain which greetings goes when, and has a poke at italian humour (of sorts).
| To introduce someone formally | |
le presento mia moglie
| |
| and more casually | |
questo/a è .....
| |
| To ask what job someone does | |
che lavoro fai/fa?
| |
| Saying what you do | |
faccio il pittore
| |
| Describing what you do | |
lavoro per le Poste Italiane
| |
| How long you have been doing something | |
| da quattro anni sono avvocato | |
Dialogue
| Andrea | Buonasera. Questa è la sua famiglia? |
| Sig. Antonioni | Sì, le presento mia moglie Maria |
| Andrea | Molto lieto, signora |
| Sig.ra Antonioni | Piacere |
| Sig. Antonioni | E questa è mia figlia Lucia |
| Andrea | Ciao Lucia |
| Lucia | Ciao e questo è mio figlio ! |
| Andrea | Come ti chiami bambino ? |
| Lucia's son | Mi chiamo Matteo |
| Sig.ra Antonioni | Senta, Andrea, lei che lavoro fa? |
| Andrea | Dunque, faccio linsegnante di italiano |
| Sig. Antonioni | Ah, interessante. Anche io sono insegnante, di matematica però. |
Homework
| to be = essere | to do = fare | to have = avere |
| io sono | faccio | ho |
| tu sei | fai | hai |
| lui/lei è | fa | ha |
| noi siamo | facciamo | abbiamo |
| voi siete | fate | avete |
| loro sono | fanno | hanno |
The origin of Ciao
Nowadays in Italy you say hello and goodbye to people you know (especially among friends) using ciao. In the past, mind you, ciao, meant schiavo vostro (your slave) and therefore was not at all a friendly way to relate to friends.
The use of Voi
In spoken Italian, voi is used to speak to any group of people, that is to say voi normally is a collective pronoun. However there are a few cases when it used in a singular sense. Nowadays singular voi has little use, but in 1938 Mussolini tried to make Italians use voi instead of lei. As a matter of fact regarded the use of lei of spanish origin; actually he was wrong, since lei comes from the latin. In any case, this fascist voi was in use only for a while, although today you can still hear some old italians use it in the fascist way.
Buongiorno, Buona sera or Buona notte ?
Buongiorno is used for good morning until lunch time (1 p.m.). Good afternoon is Buona sera which you use until 10 p.m. Don't try and be smart and use Buon Pomeriggio for the early afternoon because people will look at you in surprise. Say buona notte only to friends when you know they are just about to go to bed.
If you find this all too complicated just use Salve all the time !
Italian joke (Something for advanced students)
Laltro giorno sono andato a fare un colloquio in cerca di un nuovo lavoro (interview). Lesaminatore mi ha detto : >
Ed io gli ho risposto : >
Chissà perchè non sono stato assunto ?
Lesson by A. Antonioni
