Lymbery Sylvia. Colloquial Italian. Parte 1
Подождите немного. Документ загружается.
Vocabulary
è un po’ che non ti vedo I haven’t seen you for a while
sono appena tornato I’ve just come back
all’estero abroad
dovresti andarci anche tu you ought to go there too
per conto loro on their own (account)
Language points
Talking about where you’ve been,
il passato prossimo
To talk about what you did in the past, or have done recently, you
use a tense called the passato prossimo ‘the near past’, usually
called the present perfect in English. For verbs that refer to coming,
going, arriving, departing, staying, the passato prossimo is formed
with the present tense of essere and the past participle:
Sono appena tornato dalle vacanze.
I have just come back from holiday.
Non siamo andati all’estero.
We didn’t go abroad.
Siamo rimasti in Italia.
We stayed in Italy.
Siamo partiti così presto.
We went away so early.
Il tempo è stato bello.
The weather was lovely.
Non sono venuti con noi.
They didn’t come with us.
Note: This is not the same as the passive. Only transitive verbs,
verbs that can have a direct object, can be used in the passive.
(Scrivo una lettera. La lettera è scritta da me.) The verbs we are
looking at here cannot have a direct object: they are intransitive.
In Italian it is impossible to say vado la città; you have to say vado
alla città or in città. You need a preposition: the object is not a
direct but an indirect object. The past participle does however
agree with the subject in the same way as in the passive:
150 Unit 10: Buone vacanze
Enrico è andato
Maria è andata
in Sicilia
I bambini sono andati
Le signore sono andate
Commonly used verbs that make their past in this way are: andare,
venire, arrivare, partire, entrare, uscire, salire, scendere, nascere,
morire, rimanere, restare, essere, all verbs to do with movement
or a state or change of state. The following have irregular past
participles:
venire venuto nascere nato
rimanere rimasto morire morto
Warning: The passato prossimo can be translated into English by
more than one English tense, according to circumstances (see the
examples above: ‘I have just come back . . .’, ‘we went away . . .’).
The tense systems of Italian and English are different and it is
unhelpful to hope to think from one language to the other on a
‘one-to-one’ basis. It’s not like putting sentences into a code. For
example, in the present tense mangio can mean ‘I eat’ or ‘I am
eating’. It is more helpful to try to understand the way the system
of tenses works in Italian. Remember: the passato prossimo is used
for a completed action or event in the past. Here are some more
examples:
Ieri mattina sono andato a trovare Carla. Il pomeriggio sono
rimasto a casa e Giorgio è venuto a parlare del nuovo
progetto. La sera io, lui e le nostre mogli siamo andati a
vedere il nuovo film.
Yesterday morning I went to see Carla. In the afternoon I
stayed at home and Giorgio came to talk about the new
project. In the evening I, he and our wives went to see the
new film.
– Non siete venuti alla festa sabato?
– No, siamo andati a Parigi e siamo tornati solo ieri sera.
– You didn’t come to the party on Saturday.
– No, we went to Paris and we only got back yesterday
evening.
– Dov’è Giorgio?
– E’ sceso in cantina a prendere il vino. Arriva subito – eccolo.
– Where’s Giorgio?
– He’s gone down to the cellar to get the wine. He’ll be here
straight away – here he is.
Unit 10: Have a good holiday 151
Exercise 1
You’ve been away for a couple of days and, on your return, you
bump into a friend at the airport. Complete the conversation below.
To help you where the subject might be unclear the pronoun has
been indicated between square brackets. It would not normally be
used, omit it.
A
MICO: Ciao, come stai? Da dove arrivi?
TU: [Io] (1 essere) a Zurigo per affari. E tu?
A
MICO: [Io] (2 andare) in Svezia per lavoro.
TU: (3 andare)[tu] da solo?
AMICO: No, (4 andare) [io] con due colleghi. (5 partire) [noi]
insieme ma loro (6 rimanere) a Stoccolma per altri due
giorni.
Exercise 2
Here is a report of a visit by a team from another company that
took place last week. They came to discuss a joint venture the two
companies are hoping to undertake together. Choose the correct
forms for the verbs. They must be in the passato prossimo.
La delegazione (1) (arrivare) il 20 giugno. L’amministratore
delegato (2) (andare) all’aeroporto a dare il benvenuto ai
membri della delegazione. Poi questi (3) (andare) in albergo.
Il primo incontro formale (4) (essere) molto cordiale ma
quando (5) (arrivare) alla questione del finanziamento
(6) (venire) fuori varie difficoltà.
Vocabulary
La mia famiglia
il nonno grandfather la nonna grandmother
il padre father la madre mother
il fratello brother la sorella sister
il figlio son la figlia daughter
lo zio uncle la zia aunt
il cugino cousin (m.) la cugina cousin (f.)
il nipote nephew, la nipote niece,
grandson granddaughter
il marito husband la moglie wife
152 Unit 10: Buone vacanze
il cognato brother-in-law la cognata sister-in-law
il suocero father-in-law la suocera mother-in-law
il genero son-in-law la nuora daughter-in-law
Plurals
i nonni grandparents
i genitori parents
i parenti relations (not just mother and father, see above)
i fratelli brothers, or brothers and sisters
le sorelle sisters
i figli sons, or sons and daughters
le figlie daughters
gli zii uncles or uncles and aunts
le zie aunts
Cultural point
Nipote can be both nephew/niece and grandson/granddaughter.
Many people use the form nipotino, nipotina for ‘grandson, grand-
daughter’. For ‘boyfriend, girlfriend’ it is usual to use the words
ragazzo, ragazza (which also mean ‘boy, girl’). When there is a
formal intention to marry, then fidanzato, fidanzata ‘fiancé(e)’, is
used. And note that when talking in the plural, the masculine can
include the feminine too, e.g. fratelli can be ‘brothers and sisters’
or just ‘brothers’ (see also: gli zii, i figli). On the other hand sorelle
can only be ‘sisters’ (see p. 154).
Exercise 3
Here is a family tree. Complete the sentences below with the
correct word.
Alberto = Rosa
Silvia = Aldo Paolo Emilio Antonietta = Pietro
Arturo Anna Margherita Carla Andrea Nicola Mimi
Note: Andrea = Andrew; Nicola = Nicholas – i.e. they are boys’
names.
Unit 10: Have a good holiday 153
Example: Emilio è il figlio di Alberto.
1 Nicola è _____ di Carla. 6 Antonietta è _____ di Arturo.
2 Andrea è _____ di Rosa. 7 Rosa è _____ di Alberto.
3 Anna è _____ di Paolo. 8 Paolo è _____ di Arturo.
4 Margherita è _____ di Aldo. 9 Anna è _____ di Margherita.
5 Aldo è _____ di Pietro. 10 Aldo è _____ di Silvia.
Exercise 4
Carlo has drawn his family tree (albero genealogico).
Mio nonno = Mia nonna Mio nonno = Mia nonna
Alberto Rosa Piero Adele
Mia zia = Giorgio Mio padre = Mia madre Mio zio = Anna
Mio fratello Alberto Mia sorella Anna Io Mio fratello Edoardo
Draw your family tree and label it for an Italian friend.
Possessive adjectives
When Carlo refers to his relations he writes:
mio fratello mio nonno mia sorella mio padre
This usage is in fact an exception, used when you are talking about
family members in the singular. Here are some examples of how
you usually express possession:
La mia famiglia è grande.
My family is large.
Le mie sorelle sono sposate.
My sisters are married.
I tuoi nonni, dove abitano?
Where do your grandparents live?
Il nostro amico, Carlo, è appena tornato da Lisbona.
Our friend, Carlo, has just come back from Lisbon.
154 Unit 10: Buone vacanze
Il suo nuovo direttore è un uomo molto difficile.
His new manager is a very difficult man.
Dov’è il mio libro?
Where is my book?
Mi piace la vostra nuova casa.
I like your new house.
Conoscete i nostri amici?
Do you know our friends?
You will note that the definite article is used, as well as the posses-
sive. The words used to express possession are adjectives and have
to agree with the noun they qualify. The forms are:
my il mio la mia i miei le mie (io)
your il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue (tu)
his/her il suo la sua i suoi le sue (lui/lei)
your (formal) il Suo la Sua i Suoi le Sue (Lei)
our il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre (noi)
your il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre (voi)
their il loro la loro i loro le loro (loro)
Notes
(a) You cannot distinguish in Italian between ‘his’ and ‘her’. e’ la
sua macchina means ‘it’s his/her car’, according to the context.
(b) il tuo etc. is used when talking to someone to whom you say
tu, a friend, a relation, a colleague, a child: Usi la tua macchina
ogni giorno?
il Suo etc. is for when you are talking to someone whom
you address as Lei, i.e. someone with whom your relationship
is formal: Signor Martini, Lei usa la Sua macchina ogni giorno?
il vostro etc. is used when talking to more than one person:
Voi usate la vostra macchina ogni giorno?
(c) il loro etc.: loro is invariable. Also, il loro is an exception to
the rule about omitting the definite article when talking about
a relative: Il loro padre.
(d) When referring to their family, Italians often call them simply:
i miei.
(e) The possessives can also be used as pronouns:
Non trovo l’ombrello. I can’t find my umbrella.
Non preoccuparti. Prendi il mio. Don’t worry. Take mine.
Unit 10: Have a good holiday 155
A saying
Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi.
Christmas with your family, Easter with whoever you like.
Exercise 5
Gianni is showing you some
photos. Ask him if the people
are members of his family and
if the buildings etc. belong to
him.
Example: E’ la tua casa?
Now imagine that you had
only recently met the person
showing you the photos, perhaps in a hotel
while on holiday. You would use Lei. How would you
change your questions?
156 Unit 10: Buone vacanze
1
2
3
Saying how old someone is
Talking about his son, Aldo says: Marco ha sedici anni. To express
age, you use avere + the number + years. In answer to the ques-
tion Quanti anni hai? Marco might say:
Ho sedici anni. or Ne ho sedici.
ne means ‘of them’, here referring to years. You need either anni
after the number or ne before the verb.
Exercise 6
Work out how you would say
1 your own age
2 that of your children if you have any
3 that of your brothers and sisters
4 and of your grandparents etc.
Unit 10: Have a good holiday 157
4
5
6
You will get sentences like:
Ho trentaquattro anni.
Mio figlio, Bill, ha tre anni e mia figlia, Clare, ne ha due.
Mia sorella ha quarant’anni e mio fratello ne ha trentotto.
Mio nonno ha novantadue anni.
Dialogue 2
Il tempo
Aldo is telephoning a business colleague who is in Venice. It’s
January and it is just before lunch.
1 Is Aldo’s colleague having good weather in Venice?
2 Why are the ski buffs likely to be happier in the near future?
ALDO: Che tempo fa a Venezia?
COLLEGA: Oggi c’è un bel sole e ora, a mezzogiorno, fa quasi
caldo. Ieri e lunedì però il tempo è stato brutto: nebbia
umida, e che freddo! E da te?
A
LDO: Qui fa bello. La notte però la temperatura scende sotto
zero. In montagna non nevica e gli sciatori si lamen-
tano perché non c’è neve. Ma secondo le previsioni, il
tempo sta per cambiare.
Talking about the weather
The standard question about the weather is Che tempo fa? You
can answer in the following ways:
Fa bel tempo or Il tempo è bello The weather is fine
Fa brutto tempo brutto bad/nasty
freddo cold
caldo hot
or
Fa bello It’s fine/lovely
brutto nasty/bad
freddo cold
caldo hot
158 Unit 10: Buone vacanze
In other words: either (1) start your sentence with Fa and add an
adjective or the set phrases bel tempo, brutto tempo; or (2) start
with il tempo è and add adjectives. Other possible answers are:
C’è il sole It’s sunny/the sun is shining
la nebbia foggy
vento windy
Piove It’s raining la pioggia rain
Nevica It’s snowing la neve snow
More weather vocabulary
le previsioni del tempo the weather forecast or, often: il meteo
cielo sereno clear sky
nuvoloso cloudy
mare mosso rough sea
calmo calm
un temporale a storm
il maltempo bad weather
la grandine hail (hailstones)
Every so often you will read the headline in the newspaper:
Mezza Italia in tilt per il maltempo
Half Italy in chaos because of the bad weather
and know that heavy snow or rain, high winds or thick fog has
upset road, rail or air traffic.
Using stare + per ‘about to’
Il tempo sta per cambiare
‘The weather is about to change’
Use the present of stare + per + the infinitive to say ‘to be about
to, to be on the point of’, e.g:
Stiamo per partire
We are about to leave/on the point of leaving
Il treno sta per arrivare
The train is about to arrive/on the point of arriving
Unit 10: Have a good holiday 159