When traveling, it's good to have a handle on the words we might need when getting around a new place. But depending on where we are and who we are talking with, we might hear different names for the same thing.
The word for "train" is easy. It's il treno.
Where do we catch or meet a train? Alla stazione. That's a good cognate, too. So already these two words, il treno and la stazione are essential to have in your toolkit.
One important question you might want to ask is: Dov'è la stazione (where is the train station)? Or you can keep it even simpler:
Allora, dico: "scusi, per la stazione?" Semplicissimo.
So, I say, "Excuse me, for the station?" Very simple.
Caption 18, Corso di italiano con Daniela Chiedere informazioni - Part 1
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We don't always need to speak in full sentences, and when we do try, we can easily stumble. You can even just say: La stazione?
When we're talking about the railroad in general, however, we usually say la ferrovia. The rails are made of iron, and ferro means "iron." Via is "way" or "road," so it makes sense.
Il ponte della ferrovia,
The railroad bridge,
Caption 45, Rosalba al parco della donna gatto - Part 1
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Ferrovia isn't too hard to pronounce, but when we turn it into an adjective, it's a bit trickier.
...e la ricevuta di un biglietto ferroviario di sola andata Bologna-Roma.
...and the receipt for a train ticket, one way, Bologna to Rome.
Captions 16-17, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 6
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There are 3 different terms people use when they refer to a bus. The easiest one is autobus, as it contains the word "bus" we recognize.
L'autobus often refers to local transportation within a city, but it's also used generally, especially by young people.
Da qui partono gli autobus, tra l'altro, per gli aeroporti di Pisa e di Firenze...
From here, the buses leave for the Pisa and Florence airports, among other places...
Caption 47, In giro per l'Italia Firenze - Part 3
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La corriera is a term that's a bit outdated (and it was used for stagecoaches in earlier times), but if you are talking to someone of a certain age, or if you are in a remote village, corriera is a term they might use.
Mi scusi, la corriera per Milano?
Excuse me, the bus for Milan?
Caption 31, Il Commissario Manara S1EP12 - Le verità nascoste - Part 9
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Attenzione! Let's also mention that both la corriera (the bus) and il corriere (the courier) have the same origins. In earlier times, a stagecoach would carry passengers but also letters and packages. Nowadays, la corriera carries passengers and il corriere carries packages. We can detect the verb correre in the term, which hints at speed.
Usually, with la stazione, it is pretty clear you are talking about the train station, but if you are asking for the bus station, you will want to specify that. Il pullman, is a word you'll likely recognize from English.
È arrivata zia, è alla stazione dei pullman.
My aunt has arrived. She's at the bus station.
Caption 48, Il Commissario Manara S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia - Part 11
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Note that la corriera is feminine and il pullman is masculine. Often, these two terms indicate buses that go long distances, from city to city (like Greyhound in the U.S).
When there is a proper bus station, you can buy your biglietto (ticket) at la biglietteria, but more and more, there are self-service machines where you can pay in cash or by credit card. In some places, however, you have to buy your ticket at the bar or dal tabaccaio (at the tobacconist's).
Some cities have had trams since the 19th century. In some cities, they were once in vogue, then went out of vogue, but are coming back. Whoever is interested in an overview of the tramways in Italy can consult this Wikipedia article. It's called il tram in Italian (so that's easy!). It runs on rails and is (now) electric.
Bene, una volta arrivati a Napoli, prendete il tram che vi porta al porto.
Good, once you've arrived in Naples, you'll get a tram that will take you to the harbor.
Caption 28, Marika spiega I veicoli
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Other cities have a kind of bus that's powered electrically, from above. It's called il filobus (the trolley bus). Il filo is the word for "the wire".
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Here are the words we discussed in this lesson. In a future lesson, we'll dive deeper into travel vocabulary, as this list is only partial.
l'autobus (the city bus)
la corriera (the bus, the coach)
il corriere (the courier)
il pullman (the bus, the long-distance bus)
il treno (the train)
la ferrovia (the railroad)
il biglietto (the ticket)
la stazione (the station)
il filobus (the trolley bus)
.
Let's review some basic things to know how to say or understand when arriving in Italy after a flight from a different country. In most airports, the personnel has to know some English, but if you get into a sticky situation, you might have to deal with some Italian. At the very least, you will want to have a basic idea of what's going on. Some Italians will speak English with such a strong accent that you might not understand them.
La prenotazione (the reservation)
Il biglietto elettronico (the electronic ticket)
Il volo (the flight). Volare is "to fly."
You will want to know if a connecting flight, in Rome, for example, is on time or delayed.
in orario (on time, on schedule)
in ritardo (late, delayed)
Note that these words need the preposition in before them.
È un peccato che sia arrivato in ritardo all'aeroporto,
It's a shame that you got to the airport late,
Caption 65, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 18
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You will be asked to show your boarding pass at various stages, such as security checks, passport control, and boarding. Sometimes you need to show your boarding pass when having a meal or buying something in the shops.
carta d'imbarco (boarding pass)
imbarco comes from the verb imbarcare, which likely comes from the noun la barca (the boat). The word existed before planes!
Imbarco is also used to mean "boarding."
Stiamo per imbarcare il volo Enitalia settantadue settanta diretto a Kingston.
We're about to board Enitalia flight seventy-two seventy to Kingston.
Caption 46, Provaci ancora prof! S2EP1 - La finestra sulla scuola - Part 7
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What kind of baggage do you have? "Check-in" is a term used internationally, but an agent may ask you if you want to check your bag or carry it with you in the cabin.
Registrare (to check your bag)
Imbarcare (to check your bag)
In stiva (in the hold)
In cabina (in the cabin)
bagaglio a mano (carry-on or hand luggage)
pesare (to weigh)
la bilancia (the scale)
You will want to find your gate.
uscita (gate)
uscire means "to exit."
Quale uscita (which gate)?
Tutti i passeggeri sono pregati di recarsi all'uscita B ventuno, uscita B ventuno.
All passengers are requested to make their way to gate B twenty-one. Gate B twenty-one.
Caption 47, Provaci ancora prof! S2EP1 - La finestra sulla scuola - Part 7
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Don't forget to fasten your seat belt!
cintura di sicurezza (seat belt)
allacciare (to fasten)
Decollare (to take off)
La colla is glue. The plane unglues itself from the ground!
A che ora decolla esattamente?
What time does it take off, exactly?
Caption 62, Provaci ancora prof! S2EP1 - La finestra sulla scuola - Part 6
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Atterrato (landed)
Atterrare is "to land." Touching the ground or the earth. La Terra is the planet Earth!
Ciao! Il tuo aereo è appena atterrato a Roma e in aeroporto, c'è il tuo amico che ti aspetta...
Hi! Your airplane has just landed in Rome and at the airport, there's your friend waiting for you...
Captions 1-2, Marika spiega I veicoli
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Buon viaggio (have a good trip)!
In some parts of the world, la bicicletta (the bicycle) has gained popularity lately because of the coronavirus. Some people like to avoid i mezzi pubblici (public transportation) and have begun opting for the bike. In Italy, bicycles have always been hugely popular, and la bicicletta is known affectionately as la bici. On weekends, you will see swarms of cyclists on country roads, so be careful if you're driving!
Per visitare al meglio il centro città di Lucca,
To best see the city center of Lucca,
ho deciso di prendere una bicicletta a noleggio.
I decided to rent a bicycle.
In questo modo, posso girare attraverso le vie del centro
That way, I can go around on the streets of the center
e addirittura pedalare sulle mura antiche.
and even pedal on the old walls.
Captions 13-16, In giro per l'Italia - Lucca
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Curiously, the preposition used for saying "by bike" or "on the bike" is in (in), as we see in the following example.
Ti prometto che vado a scuola in bici. OK?
I promise I'll go to school by bike. OK?
Caption 54, La Ladra - Ep. 3 - L'oro dello squalo
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Il ciclismo (cycling) is also an excellent way to get exercise while being out in the fresh air and maintaining a certain distance from other people, so there's been a bit of a boom in recent months.
Let's take a look at some of the vocabulary that can be useful when talking about bikes.
The kind of bike that an older person would ride just to get around town, a bike that has just one gear, is called una bici olandese. Olandese means "Dutch — from Holland," and describes the kind of bike that works well on flat terrain (as in Holland), not hills. We'd probably describe this kind of bike as a clunker. Maybe it's been in the family for years. It's pesante (heavy), robusta (sturdy), there are parafanghi (fenders), and even a chain guard, so you don't get grease on your clothes while you're riding your bike to work. These bicycles usually have un cestino (a basket) and un portapacchi (a rack) on the back.
This is the kind of bike you would normally rent to get around a city, although these days, regular bikes have more gears and are more fun to ride. Cities can be a little hilly, so gears really help! When the bike has a comfortable seat and handlebars, but five or so gears so that you can do the hills and build up some speed on level terrain or descents, it's called a city bike, which needs no translation.
Now we get to bicycles that are made for appassionati di ciclismo (bike lovers), for people who like to ride for fun or sport.
Here, too, Italians have taken over the English term and call a mountain bike la mountain bike. So that's easy! These bikes are hugely popular with just about everyone, and can go everywhere, from normal roads to strade bianche (unpaved roads), strade sterrate (dirt roads), and ghiaia (gravel). People take them to the beach, too. They have a special kind of manubrio (handlebars) with il cambio (the gear shift) right there so you can switch gears without taking your hands off the handlebars.
Then we have road bikes: These are usually called bici da corsa because they are streamlined, made for going fast and are basically the kind of bike they use in races. They have curved handlebars that allow you to be aerodynamically positioned. These bikes have evolved over the years, but the basic design has remained the same.
Here are some of the words you might need when talking about bikes:
Nouns:
la sella (the saddle, the seat)
i parafanghi (the fenders)
il campanello (the bell)
il manubrio (the handlebars)
il freno (the brake)
la ruota (the wheel)
la gomma (the tire)
i pedali (the pedals)
la catena (the chain)
la pompa (the pump)
la camera d’aria (the tube)il cestino (the basket)
il portapacchi (the rack)
l’ingranaggio (the gear)
il cambio (the gearshifters)
i raggi (the spokes)
il cavalletto (the kickstand)
il gruppo* (the groupset) Note: the Italian word il gruppo means "the group" and has come to mean "groupset" — the mechanical parts of a bicycle. It's used in both Italian and English.
Verbs:
forare (to get a flat tire)
frenare (to brake)
salire (to get on)
scendere (to get off)
Other related words and phrases:
il ciclista (the cyclist)
noleggiare (to rent)
biciclette a noleggio (rental bikes)
il lucchetto (the lock)
alzare/abbassare la sella (to raise or lower the seat)
Quanto costa noleggiare una bici per un'ora (how much does it cost to rent a bike for an hour)?
Praticamente tutti i punti sono forniti di negozi
Pretty much all these points are equipped with shops
per noleggiare le biciclette.
for renting bicycles...
Caption 47, In giro per l'Italia - Lucca
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Let's look quickly at the verb noleggiare and its related noun il noleggio. Both of these words work when talking about renting a bike: noleggiare or prendere a noleggio. You might hear some people use another word for "rent" — affittare or prendere in aftitto. The meaning is the same, but affittare is used for things like an apartment or house, while noleggiare is used more for movable things. Affittare is never wrong, however, just less common in this context.
Infatti, ha affittato due biciclette,
In fact, he's rented two bicycles,
e così, andate in giro per la città.
and that way, you go around the city.
Captions 34-35, Marika spiega - I veicoli
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We hope this lesson will be helpful to you next time you travel to Italy, for either work or pleasure.
In Italian, “to remember” and “to forget” go well together: Ricordare/dimenticare
Ricordare may be easy to remember if we think of making a mental record of something.
Dimenticare, if you take it apart, is kind of a fun word. Di, just like “dis” in English, often undoes something. Mente is the Italian word for mind. You undo something from your mind!
Duemilaseidici è stato un anno da ricordare o da dimenticare?
Was two thousand sixteen a year to remember, or a year to forget?
Think of things you want to remember or forget from last year:
Vorrei ricordare un bellissimo viaggio in Italia.
I would like to remember a great trip to Italy.
Vorrei dimenticare quanti soldi ho dovuto spendere
I would like to forget how much money I had to spend.
In the above examples, we have treated ricordare and dimenticare as ordinary transitive verbs. They are followed by a noun. This is the most basic way to use these verbs. But ricordare and dimenticare are, more often than not, used reflexively.
Ricordati (remember)!! When a verb is reflexive, the subject and object of the verb are one and the same:
Mi sono tagliato (I cut myself).
For more about reflexive verbs see this lesson and this video.
In the following example, ricordare is used reflexively, and is followed by a noun, not a verb.
Daniela, tu per caso ti ricordi i nomi
Daniela, do you, by chance, remember the names
degli altri colli di Roma?
of the other hills of Rome?
Caption 6, Marika e Daniela - Il Foro Romano
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Ricordiamoci (let’s remember) that when a verb, not a noun, follows a verb in this category, we need the preposition di in between, as in the following example. You may notice that the verb decidere (to decide) behaves the same way!
Il tuo amico ha deciso di portarti in giro con il suo scooter,
Your friend has decided to take you around on his scooter,
ma non ha dimenticato di prestarti un casco.
but he hasn't forgotten to lend you a helmet.
Captions 7-8, Marika spiega - I veicoli
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The above example could be modified a few ways to say the same thing. We could use the reflexive:
Il tuo amico si è deciso di portarti in giro con il suo scooter,
Your friend has decided to take you around on his scooter,
ma non si è dimenticato di prestarti un casco.
but hasn't forgotten to lend you a helmet.
You will notice that as soon as we use the reflexive form, we need the auxiliary verb essere (to be) rather than avere (to have) in the compound tenses. This can be tricky indeed!
We could also use the verb ricordare:
Il tuo amico si è deciso di portarti in giro con il suo scooter,
Your friend has decided to take you around on his scooter,
e si è ricordato di prestarti un casco.
and has remembered to lend you a helmet.
However we decide to use ricordare and dimenticare (and decidere, for that matter), we need di before the verb in the infinitive.
Ah, mi sono dimenticato di dirti che...
Oh, I forgot to tell you that...
Caption 25, Francesca - alla guida
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