The word "no" is pretty clear. It means the same thing in both English and Italian. But there are a few things to remember when using this word. When you want to say, "No" just say, "No." It will be absolutely clear. No (No)!
But when you are asking someone to give you a yes or no answer about something, or talking about someone saying "yes," or "no," then you usually add the preposition: di (of). At that point, it is no longer directly reported speech and therefore no quotation marks are necessary. Keep in mind that leaving out the preposition is not wrong, it's just much more common to use it.
Instead of just using the word "no," we say:
Per fortuna Manrico non ce l'ha fatta a dire di no a Melody.
Luckily, Manrico didn't succeed in saying no to Melody.
Caption 38, Sposami - EP 2 - Part 13
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E quindi dissi di no.
And so I said no.
Quando mi mandarono le foto di Ulisse, non so perché,
When they sent me the photo of Ulisse, I don't know why,
è scattato qualcosa dentro di me
something clicked inside me
e... ho detto di sì.
and... I said yes.
Captions 21-24, Andromeda - La storia di Ulisse
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Although we are primarily talking about the word no in this lesson, the same goes for sì (yes). And if we replace dire (to say) with another verb, such as sperare (to hope), we do the same thing. In the following example, actress Alessandra Mastronardi says the same thing in two different ways:
Ma, io spe' [sic], mi auguro di sì.
Well, I ho' [sic], I hope so.
Alla fine è stato coronato il sogno che tante persone volevano,
In the end the dream many people wanted was crowned,
quello che si ritor' [sic], si riformasse la famiglia e che Eva e Marco... fortunatamente...
the one in which the family retur [sic], re-forms and in which Eva and Marco... fortunately...
e così è andata, quindi spero di sì.
and that's how it went, so I hope so.
Captions 40-43, Alessandra Mastronardi - Non smettere di sognare
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As we have seen, she uses two different ways to say "I hope so." Mi auguro di sì and spero di sì. Mi auguro di sì is a bit stronger, a little bit more personal (your eyes open wider). Maybe you are worried that things are not going to go as you hoped, or else, the end result is really crucial. It might also be that you are fully expecting something to happen in a certain way: It had better! It's kind of the difference between "I hope so" and "I certainly hope so." When using augurare or sperare, we can't leave out the di (of).
1) We can put this in the negative in the exact same way: Is your landlord going to kick you out? Can you give a couple of answers?
2) What if you are talking about when you asked someone out on a date. How did he or she answer you? M'ha...
One very common expression, as a retort, uses the word "no" to mean "yes" or rather, "for sure!" "of course!" It's a way to confirm something, and literally means, "how not?" Or we could say, "How could that not be?" "How could you doubt it?"
Anche se la politica non ci ha aiutati, ce l'abbiamo fatta, no?
Even if politics didn't help us, we did it, didn't we?
Come no!
For sure!
Captions 31-32, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 2 - Part 18
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The important thing here is, first of all, to understand that when someone says, "Come no!" they are saying something positive, like "of course!". Then, once you have heard it many, many times, you might be ready to use it yourself.
In English we have the dreaded question tags... dreaded by people trying to learn English, that is. In Italian, however, it is way easier. All you have to do is add no and a question mark to the end of your statement. That's all the question tag you need.
Be', non dovrebbe essere difficile far entrare il carrello, no? -Io...
Well, it shouldn't be so hard to put the carriage back in, should it? -I...
Caption 9, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 23
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3) Can you say this in a more positive way?
È carino, no? Ti piace?
It's cute, isn't it? Do you like it?
Caption 19, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 15
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4) What if you put a question tag after ti piace (you like it)?
Using no as a question tag should come as a relief to Italian learners. You didn't know there was such an easy way to insert one, did you?
Another way to get the same result is to use the adjective vero (true) with a question mark. It's short for non è vero (isn't it true)? So I might say the same thing with the question tag, vero?
Be', non dovrebbe essere difficile far entrare il carrello, vero? -Io...
5) In reference to the previous example with carino, what if you think something is nice but you don't think the other person likes something?
1) Mi auguro di no! Spero di no!
2) M'ha detto di sì. Mi ha detto di no.
3) Be', dovrebbe essere facile far entrare il carrello, no? -Io...
4) È carino, no? Ti piace, no?
5) È carino, no? Non ti piace, vero?
There is more to say about saying no in Italian and using the word no... so stay tuned!
Italians love TV. Most houses have one in a central spot, and many families have it on during family meals. They get very good at listening to the conversation and the news at the same time. This can be frustrating for foreign guests trying to learn Italian!
As you can see from the following example, the abbreviation TV is often used. But let's talk about that. If you write it out, it's tivù, which is how you would pronounce the two letters, T and V. Although rarer and rarer, you might find it spelled out: tivù. But it's usually just spelled with the classic abbreviation, TV. You just have to remember to pronounce the V as Italians do.
What gender is it? Well, the noun visione (vision) is feminine, and so is televisione (television). So is TV. La TV. But if you see something on TV, then the article goes away and you use the preposition in, pretty much like English, except it's "in" not "on": in television, in TV.
Ti abbiamo visto in TV [tivù].
We saw you on TV.
Caption 9, Chi m'ha visto - film
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1) How about if the speaker is talking about himself, not his company?
2) What if he is talking to a musical group?
There's another word to talk about a TV. Here is Luca Manara after his first day on job, and he is staying at a bed and breakfast. Ada is showing him his room.
La stanza numero tre. La più bella.
Room number three. The nicest one.
Un suo agente Le ha già portato i bagagli. -Perfetto.
One of your agents has already brought you your luggage. -Perfect
-Ah! -Sì? -Il televisore c'è in camera?
Ah! -Yes? -Is there a TV in the room?
Eh, certo che c'è. È anche bono [sic: buono], sa?
Yeah, of course there is. It's even a good one [heavy Tuscan accent], you know?
Soltanto l'antenna non funziona.
It's just that the antenna doesn't work.
Vabbé, tanto la televisione non la guardo.
All right, I don't watch television anyway.
Captions 28-33, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto
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3) What if Ada was showing Manara the biggest room, rather than the nicest one?
4) What if more than one agent had brought Manara's luggage?
So what's the difference between televisione and televisore? Well, visore means "viewer" or "screen," so with televisore, we are talking about the TV set, the actual appliance. In this case, visore is masculine and so is televisore: il televisore.
In the previous example, we can see clearly that Luca wants to know if there is a TV so he uses il televisore. But when it comes to watching it, he uses la televisione.
Just as in English, TV is used as an adjective, but we have to remember to put the adjective after the noun, as in serie TV (TV series). And as with "series" in English, serie doesn't change between singular and plural.
Capri è stata una serie televisiva in onda su Rai Uno,
“Capri” was a television series broadcast on RAI One.
di grande successo.
A big success.
Captions 54-55, L'Eredità -Quiz - TV La sfida dei sei. Puntata 2
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The speaker could have said, a bit more informally:
Capri è stata una serie TV in onda su Rai Uno, di grande successo.
Another thing to note is that when una serie TV (a TV series) is a (usually fictional) story with episodes, as opposed to a talk show, game show, or the like, then it's usually called un telefilm, in other words, a film for TV, often a puntata (in episodes), but not necessarily. Sometimes a telefilm is distinguished from a documentary or other kind of series by being called una fiction. In fact, RAI Fiction produces and broadcasts movies, made-for-TV movies, and series.
Eccomi qua a commentare alcune espressioni
Here I am to comment on some expressions
che troviamo nel telefilm "Il Commissario Manara"!
that we find in the TV series "Commissioner Manara."
Captions 3-4, Marika commenta - L'ispettore Manara Parole ripetute
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When we're talking about romantic stories or soap operas, usually daytime TV fare, then we can use the term telenovela. The example is taken from a little sketch where Marika and Anna play two office workers gossiping while pretending to work.
Mi sembra proprio una telenovela.
It looks to me just like a soap opera.
Caption 27, Marika spiega - Pettegolezzi in ufficio con Anna
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Television in Italy was introduced in 1939, when the first experimental broadcasts began. However, this lasted for a very short time: When fascist Italy entered World War II in 1940, all transmissions were interrupted, and were resumed in earnest only nine years after the end of the conflict, on January 3rd, 1954.
One interesting feature of Italian television (RAI) from 1957 to 1977 was a series of short comedy sketches, many of which used live action but featured animation and puppetry as well. The name of the series was Carosello (carousel). You can view la sigla (theme song, title song, titles) for the years 1962-1974 on YouTube. Carosello was commercial in scope and each puntata (episode) lasted ten minutes, so they were actual stories (unthinkable today). They advertised pressure cookers, coffee, coffee pots, vacuum cleaners, brandy, and much more. The product would be revealed toward the end of the episode. The episodes often featured well-known actors and were beloved by viewers all over Italy (about 20 million viewers).
We have learned from the documentary about the Taviani brothers, who made some very famous films, that they discovered Lucio Dalla while filming an episode of Carosello he was acting in. Realizing how talented he was, they put him in one of their movies, I sovversivi (The Subversives). See trailer.
Lucio, eh, a quell'epoca non era un attore di cinema
Lucio [Dalla], uh, was not a movie actor at that time
e non, non era nemmeno un cantante,
and he wasn't, he wasn't a singer either.
lo diventò immediatamente dopo, si mise a cantare e col successo
He became one right afterwards. He started singing, and with the success
che tutti quanti noi sappiamo.
that we are all familiar with.
Noi lo incontrammo perché girammo un carosello,
We met him because we were filming a Carosello [TV commercial skit],
un carosello, una pubblicità.
a Carosello, a commercial.
Captions 21-26, Fratelli Taviani - La passione e l'utopia
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5) Can you replace the verbs in the passato remoto with verbs in the passato prossimo, trapassato prossimo or, where applicable, l'imperfetto?
1) Ti ho visto in TV [tivù].
2a) Vi ho visto in TV [tivù].
2b) Vi ho visti in TV [tivù].
3) La più grande.
3b) La più spaziosa.
4) I suoi agenti Le hanno già portato i bagagli.
5a) Lucio, eh, a quell'epoca non era un attore di cinema e non, non era nemmeno un cantante, lo è diventato immediatamente dopo, si è messo a cantare e col successo che tutti quanti noi sappiamo. Noi l'abbiamo incontrato perché giravamo un carosello, un carosello, una pubblicità.
5b) Lucio, eh, a quell'epoca non era un attore di cinema e non, non era nemmeno un cantante, lo era diventato immediatamente dopo, si era messo a cantare e col successo che tutti quanti noi sappiamo. Noi l'avevamo incontrato perché stavamo girando un carosello, un carosello, una pubblicità.
You may be familiar with the adjective gentile. We use it when we are talking about someone who is nice, kind, and courteous.
Il povero anatroccolo si accovacciò tra le canne
The poor duckling crouched down among the reeds
e tremava per il freddo.
and trembled because of the cold.
Fortunatamente, passò un contadino gentile
Fortunately, a kind farmer passed by
e se lo portò con sé
and he brought him along with him,
a casa nel suo fienile.
to the hay barn of his house.
Captions 58-62, Ti racconto una fiaba - Il brutto anatroccolo
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1) How about telling this part of the story in the present tense?
The cognate for gentile is "gentle," but "gentle" only corresponds sometimes, not often. In fact, "gentle" often corresponds to delicato.
Seguì un bussare delicato alla porta.
It was followed by a gentle knock at the door.
Caption 38, Ti racconto una fiaba - Il Principe Ranocchio
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There's a brand of bleach called Ace Gentile because it is less harsh than normal bleach, but most of the time, gentile is more about kind and courteous.
You might describe the bank director, your neighbor, the cashier at the grocery store, your doctor, a policeman who wants to give you a ticket but doesn't, etc... with gentile. The more informal version of this is carino.
Eh sì. -Eh sì. Comunque Luca è stato molto carino, eh,
Oh yes. -Oh yes. However Luca was very kind, no,
ad accompagnare suo figlio Fabio all'istituto.
to accompany his son Fabio to the institute.
Captions 26-27, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto
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Carino can also refer to someone or something's physical appearance:
Però, all'epoca era simpatico e pure carino.
But at the time he was nice, and cute, too.
Caption 9, La Ladra - EP.11 - Un esame importante
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2) Here, a gal is talking about a guy. What if it were a guy talking about a gal?
But we also use gentile as a description of courtesy in certain expressions, often written, and that's what we're going to talk about here.
If you get a letter from your phone company about their change in fees, or some special promotion, it may start out with,
Gentile cliente (dear customer)
In English, we use "dear" almost universally for the beginning of a letter, except for informal emails where we will often just write "Hi" and then the name. The equivalent of "dear" is caro, care, cari, or care, and it may be used in many situations, where it can either be warm or cool, depending on the relationship.
There's a famous movie from 1993 called Caro diario (Dear Diary) with Nanni Moretti. Check out the trailer here!
In an informal letter, caro can be used, and, as a matter of fact, it can be used without any name at all. In this case, it's often used in its superlative form (superlativo assoluto) carissimo, carissima, etc.
To some, caro implies a certain intimacy or acquaintanceship, so in a less personal kind of letter, caro is often replaced by gentile, which is both polite and generic. It's a good choice when you are in doubt as to what choice to make.
If you are writing a formal letter, you will likely use signor or signora and the last name, or sometimes even the first name of the person you are addressing, or no name at all.
So, a letter could begin with one of the following:
Gentile signora
Gentile signorina
Gentile signora Rossi
Gentile signorina Rossi
Gentile signora Adriana (sometimes we don't feel informal enough to use someone's first name without the signora because of an age difference, for example).
Gentile signor Rossi
Gentili signori (this includes men and women, much like "dear sirs").
We have looked at one way to start a letter, but there are others, so check out Daniela's lessons about writing both informal and formal letters.
Solutions to "Extra credit," as one reader called it...
1) Il povero anatroccolo si accovacia tra le canne e trema per il freddo. Fortunatamente, passa un contadino gentile e se lo porta con sé a casa nel suo fienile.
2) Però, all'epoca era simpatica e pure carina.
If you hang out in Italy for even just a visit, you are likely to see the word presso written somewhere, and you may or may not hear it. It's not all that easy to figure out, so let's take a look.
These days most folks use email to communicate, rather than mailing letters. This avoids, in many cases, needing to write your address anywhere, except possibly on an immigration form at the airport. But if you do have to write down where you are staying, for example, then you might need presso. One of its very basic meanings is "at" or "in." But that isn't very helpful since we use these prepositions in so many ways.
If, for instance, I am staying at the Hotel Verdi, in Pisa, then I might use presso. It's not my house, but that's where I am temporarily lodged. One dictionary gives this definition for presso:
indica un indirizzo preciso ma non specificato
(it indicates a precise, but not specified address).
Presso is a preposition, and we can use it to mean in casa di (at the home of), the equivalent of: "in care of," or "c/o," as you would write when addressing an envelope. Maybe you are writing to an exchange student friend staying at the home of a family in Tuscany.
Signorina Giovanna Bossi
presso la famiglia Bianchi
via Verdi, 4
56036 Forcoli PI
Biancaneve vive presso i sette nani nel bosco.
Snow White lives with the seven dwarfs in the wood.
Caption 11, Ti racconto una fiaba - Biancaneve
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We immediately visualize that Snow White is staying with the dwarfs, or that she is staying at the home of the dwarfs.
1) Your friend is in the hospital and someone asks you where, for example: (dov'è ricoverato Giacomo?): How could you answer?
We can use it to mean "in a place," for example, where you work.
Ciao ragazzi, sono Adriano, un ragazzo italiano di ventisette anni
Hi guys! I'm Adriano, an Italian guy of twenty-seven
e lavoro presso un agenzia di programmatori informatici.
and I work at a computer programing agency.
Captions 1-2, Adriano - Giornata
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Adriano is implying that he also works for this agency. He could have said:
Ciao ragazzi, sono Adriano, un ragazzo italiano di ventisette anni e lavoro in un agenzia di programmatori informatici.
Presso is a bit more formal, a bit more refined.
2) Tu dove lavori/studi (where do you work/go to school)?
Arianna and Erica both used presso when talking about where they went to school.
Mi sono laureata presso l'Università di Perugia
I got my degree at the University of Perugia
in Lingue Straniere per la comunicazione internazionale.
in foreign languages for international communications.
Captions 5-6, Arianna spiega - vivere all'estero
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Quindi mi sono iscritta a, all'indirizzo archeologico
So I enrolled in, in the Archeology course of study
presso l'Università di Pisa.
at the University of Pisa.
Captions 10-11, Professioni e mestieri - Erica - archeologa
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Martina is talking about what she would like to do when she finishes her university studies.
Quando finirò i miei studi, vorrei diventare
When I finish my studies, I would like to become
o perito minorile o giudice onorario presso il tribunale per i minori.
either an evaluator of minors, or lay judge at juvenile court.
Captions 28-29, Serena - presenta Martina
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Daniela teaches some video lessons about writing letters, both formal and informal. She describes a letter applying for a job.
Per esempio io, io, Daniela Rossi,
For example, I, I, Daniela Rossi,
sto cercando un lavoro presso la casa editrice Feltrinelli
am looking for a job at the Feltrinelli Publishing House,
e scrivo al dottor Luca Monti, responsabile del personale,
and I am writing to Doctor Luca Monti, Personnel Manager,
per mandare la mia candidatura
to send in my application
e vedere se c'è una possibilità di lavoro per me.
and to see if there is a possibility of a job for me.
Captions 43-47, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Lettera formale
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We can also use it to mean "among," "in," "for," or "with":
Presso gli Etruschi, l'aldilà era molto importante.
For the Etruscans, the afterlife was very important.
Lui è partito con... diciamo, all'interno del... di questa,
He set off... let's say, at the center of the... of this,
di questo movimento che
of this, of this movement that
fu chiamato la Nouvelle Cuisine,
was called la Nouvelle cuisine,
ma poi, dopo aver fatto, per esempio, esperienze molto intense
but then, after having had, for example, very intensive experiences
presso le cucine orientali e in particolare la... la cucina giapponese,
with Asian cooking, and in particular... Japanese cooking,
la sua attenzione è stata subito attratta da una delle più grandi cucine...
his attention was immediately drawn to one of the greatest cuisines...
Captions 40-45, L'arte della cucina - L'Epoca delle Piccole Rivoluzioni
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Translating presso isn't always easy, but the important thing is to grasp the idea of what it means.
3) What if I wanted to say that in Italian, we often leave out the personal pronoun?
Another meaning of presso is "near," "by," "close by."
Il sole splende in Val Rendena
The sun shines in the Rendena Valley
illuminando il fianco destro della chiesa di San Vigilio,
illuminating the right side of the church of San Vigilio
presso il cimitero di Pinzolo.
by Pinzolo's cemetery.
Captions 1-3, Itinerari Della Bellezza - Trentino Alto Adige
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4) Dove ci incontriamo Where shall we meet? You can answer by suggesting the bar near the train station, even if you don't know the name of it.
You can get away without using the preposition presso, but isn't it nice to able to understand it if someone else uses it? And if you do use it, people will be impressed!
1) È ricoverato presso l'ospedale XXX.
2a) Lavoro presso una scuola di lingue.
2b) Studio presso l'Università di Firenze.
3) Presso la lingua italiana, si può spesso omettere il pronome personale.
I could also say:
Nella lingua italiana, si può spesso omettere il pronome personale.
4) Ci vediamo nel bar presso la stazione.
Ci vediamo al bar vicino alla stazione.
Ci vediamo al bar all'interno della stazione.
Or in Tuscan Italian:
Ci si vede nel bar...
As always, if you have questions or comments about the lesson, we love to hear from you! Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com.
The more Italian you learn, the more you start noticing the little words. Often these are little words that could be used in English but are frequently omitted. We'll be looking at several of them, but let's start with the conjunction che. It is, indeed, a conjunction, but it can also be a pronoun or even an adjective in some cases. Most of the time it will mean "that" or "which," but it can also correspond to the relative pronoun "that" or "who." It can also mean "what?".
In Italian, we can't omit che, but in English, we can omit its equivalent, sometimes.
Mi dispiace che m'hanno bocciato.
I'm sorry they flunked me.
Caption 22, Ma che ci faccio qui! - Un film di Francesco Amato
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The translation could have been:
I'm sorry that they flunked me.
1) There is a little error in the previous example. Maybe you can see why he flunked! What should he have said? (It's an error that lots of people make every day, so don't worry if you don't see it.)
Ma come faccio a entrare nella divisa che m'hai dato? Eh?
So how am I supposed to fit into the uniform you gave me? Huh?
Caption 38, La Ladra - EP.11 - Un esame importante
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So how am I supposed to fit into the uniform that you gave me? Huh?
While this second translation isn't wrong, we don't need the "that."
2) What if the speaker were talking to more than one person. What might she have said?
Here's another example:
Supponiamo che stiamo preparando una pasta alla carbonara
Let's assume we're preparing some pasta alla carbonara
per quattro persone, quindi ci serviranno trecento grammi di pancetta,
for four people, so we'll need three hundred grams of bacon,
cinquecento grammi di pasta.
five hundred grams of pasta.
Captions 1-3, Adriano - Pasta alla carbonara
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We could have translated it like this:
Let's assume that we're preparing some pasta alla carbonara for four people, so we'll need three hundred grams of bacon, five hundred grams of pasta.
Typically, one of the cases where Italian uses the conjunction che and English does not is when using the verb "to know." Let's look at some examples.
Lo sai che abbiamo bisogno di te. -Sta sbattuta, Elisa.
You know we need you. -She's in bad shape, Elisa.
Caption 33, Chi m'ha visto - film
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It would be just as correct to say:
You know that we need you. -She's in bad shape, Elisa.
We just tend not to.
Here's an example in the imperfetto (simple past):
Sapevi che ti stavamo cercando.
You knew we were looking for you.
Caption 41, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia
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It could have been translated as:
You knew that we were looking for you.
We have to keep in mind that in many cases, the conjunction che takes the subjunctive. This happens primarily with verbs that indicate uncertainty. This may be new for you, in which case, go ahead and check out the several lessons Yabla offers about the subjunctive.
So if instead of using the verb sapere (to know) which indicates certainty, we use the verb pensare (to think), we are in another grammatical sphere, or we could say, "mood." The congiuntivo (subjunctive mood).
Io... io penso che Karin sia andata via apposta.
I... I think that Karin went away on purpose.
Caption 43, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E3 - Una piccola bestia ferita - Part 19
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In this case, the translator did use "that" in English, but she could have chosen not to (which might have been more natural):
I... I think Karin went away on purpose.
3) What if you were to use the verb sapere in the above sentence?
4) What if the person were named Alfredo instead of Karin? Use both sapere and pensare.
When che means "who" or "whom," we are probably talking about a (relative) pronoun, not a conjunction. For our purposes, it doesn't really matter. What we do need to keep in mind is that, while we also have the pronoun chi meaning "who" or "whom" (with a preposition), when it's a relative pronoun, it's che.
Sì, al TG della sera hanno parlato di quel ragazzo che hanno ucciso.
Yes. On the evening news they talked about that boy they killed.
Assomiglia molto a uno che viene spesso...
He really looks like someone who often comes...
Captions 39-40, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E3 - Una piccola bestia ferita - Part 10
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This is a bit tricky because in the example above, it would be a little bit awkward to fit in "whom" or "who." But it's interesting that we need the che in Italian to make the sentence make sense.
Yes. On the evening news they talked about that boy whom they killed. He really looks like someone who often comes...
Of course, a lot of Americans use "that" instead of "who" or "whom." It would still be awkward. It should be mentioned that in the previous example, "the boy" is the object, and that's when the che is omitted in English. But when it's the subject, we do need it.
Be', scusa se... se non t'abbiamo avvertito prima, ma
Well, sorry if... if we didn't let you know beforehand, but
c'è Valeria che deve dirti una cosa.
here's Valeria who has to tell you something.
Captions 37-38, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E3 - Una piccola bestia ferita - Part 10
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Of course, the purpose of Yabla translations is to help you make sense of the Italian you hear and read. Sometimes taking a look at how our own language works can help, too. And when we are translating from English to Italian, we need to call on words we are omitting, so it can get tricky.
Hopefully, this lesson has helped you to be just a bit more aware of the word che. It's a word that means plenty of things, so this is just the tip of the iceberg. And if you have some particular questions about che, please let us know and we'll try to shed some light on them. newlsetter@yabla.com
1) Mi dispiace che mi abbiano bocciato.
This may be open to question because the kid knows they flunked him, but some would argue that the subjunctive should have been used.
2) Lo sapete che abbiamo bisogno di voi. -Sta sbattuta, Elisa.
3) Io... io so che Karin è andata via apposta.
4) Io... io penso che Alfredo sia andato via apposta.
4b) Io... io so che Alfredo è andato via apposta.
Rispondere, with its English cognate "to respond" seems like it would be a very easy verb to use, and sometimes it is, indeed, easy. The verb rispondere translates as both "to respond" (its cognate) and "to answer" (a verb English inherited from the Old Norse "andsvar").
As with many verbs, by using a modal verb, we can keep the main verb in the infinitive, thereby avoiding the need to remember how to conjugate it.
Senti... Posso parlare con Luca?
Listen... Can I speak with Luca?
No, Luca non può rispondere, ha avuto un problema.
No, Luca can't answer, he had a problem.
Captions 49-50, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro
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If we don't include an object in the sentence, there are no complications. In the following example, we could also have translated rispondere with "to respond."
Va bene, allora seguo anch'io la normale procedura
All right, then I will also follow normal procedure
e prima di rispondere chiamo il mio avvocato.
and before I answer, I'll call my lawyer.
Captions 25-26, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP8 - Fuori servizio
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1) What if the speaker used the conjunction che (after prima) as an alternate way to say the same thing?
Once we start involving an object in our sentence (such as "the question"), we have to keep in mind that rispondere is an intransitive verb (meaning it doesn't take a direct object), so if I want to say, "I answer the question" in Italian, I have to use a preposition after the verb followed by an indirect object (in this case, la domanda (the question). Think: "I respond to the question."
Rispondo alla domanda (I answer the question/I respond to the question).
Se la sente di rispondere a qualche domanda? -Sì.
Do you feel you can answer a few questions? -Yes.
Caption 38, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP4 - Le Lettere Di Leopardi
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2) Can you ask this same question to someone you are on familiar terms with?
Non ha risposto alla mia domanda. Che cosa vuole?
You haven't answered my question. What do you want?
Caption 40, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1
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3) Can you say the same thing informally?
In English, "to respond" is intransitive and "to answer" is transitive, so we use them two different ways and we rarely have to think about it. We might think of using "to respond" in more formal situations.
I can respond to your letter or I can answer your letter.
But when we are translating from English to Italian, we have to remember that we need a preposition after rispondere.
We can also use rispondere where the indirect object is a person, perhaps expressed with a personal pronoun, as in the following example. In this case, we use "to answer" in our translation. "To respond" wouldn't work.
Toscani, per favore rispondimi. È importante, dai.
Toscani, please answer me. It's important. Come on.
Caption 56, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP9 - L'amica ritrovata
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Memorizing rispondimi is a good idea. You never know when someone is going to faint and it's also handy to have when arguing with someone. Above all, remember that mi stands for a me (to me) so we do have a preposition (in this case a [to]).
4) How would you say the same thing to a person you don't know very well? And for the record, you wouldn't say dai. Can you think of an alternative?
In the following clip, we have an indirect object pronoun in the Italian, but none in the English. These days, we might say "I didn't pick up," "I didn't answer the phone," I didn't answer your call," "I didn't return your call." But we probably wouldn't say "I didn't answer you" unless it were an email or a letter. In this context, we think of answering the phone, not the person.
Sì, lo so, mi hai chiamato cento volte, però io non ti ho risposto
Yes, I know, you called me a hundred times, but I didn't answer
perché ho avuto un sacco di cose da fare, Teresa.
because I had a bunch of things to do, Teresa.
Captions 23-24, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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5) The above clip is very informal, between brother and sister, but he could have said he hadn't answered the phone. How could he have phrased it?
There are plenty of instances in which Italians insert an indirect object pronoun, where in English, none is called for. It's just something to be aware of.
We hope this lesson has provided some clarity about using the verb rispondere. If you have more questions, don't hesitate to write to us at newsletter@yabla.com
1) Va bene, allora seguo anch'io la normale procedura e prima che risponda, chiamo il mio avvocato.
1b) Va bene, allora seguo anch'io la normale procedura e prima che risponda io, chiamo il mio avvocato.
2) Te la senti di rispondere a qualche domanda? -Sì.
3) Non hai risposto alla mia domanda. Che cosa vuoi?
4) Agente Toscani, mi risponda, per favore. È importante, la prego.
5) Sì, lo so, mi hai chiamato cento volte, però io non ho risposto al telefono/alla tua chiamata perché ho avuto un sacco di cose da fare, Teresa.
In a recent segment of Sposami, there is talk of modeling wedding gowns. The verb used at one point is indossare. If we look closely, we might recognize the root word dosso, which in Dante's time, was a variant of the noun dorso, meaning "spine," or "back."
We can make the clothing connection with the English hyperbolic idiom "giving someone the shirt off one's back," referring to generosity. The noun dosso is no longer used to mean "back," exactly, but it means "bump," such as a bump in the road or a speed bump.
In a previous lesson we talked about the adverb addosso or di dosso (which brings images of someone on your back). So even though we don't use dosso to mean "back" anymore, it has been incorporated into other words and phrases that have become crystalised as standard.
In this lesson, we will look at the verb indossare and other verbs that have to do with putting clothes on. We talked about taking clothes off in this lesson!
Practice: At the end of some video examples, there's a little grammar question, giving you the chance to expand on the example itself. You'll find the answers at the bottom of the page. Don't worry if they give you trouble, as they are aimed at more advanced learners. It may be an opportunity to find out what you don't know and to ask us questions! We'll be glad to give you some answers. Make sure to read the full lesson before answering the questions, as they might refer to examples further down the page.
If we have to model an outfit, we have to wear it, but in this case, it's wearing something with the specific purpose of displaying it. Indossare is the best choice if we are looking for a verb.
E poi, se proprio servisse di indossare un abito,
And besides, if it were really necessary to model a dress,
posso farlo io. -No, tu no.
I can do it. -No, you can't.
Captions 32-33, Sposami - EP 2 - Part 3
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1) Nora starts her sentence in the subjunctive but finishes it in the indicative rather than the conditional (not really correct). What if she were to finish it in the conditional? What would she have said?
Regarding the video clip, the translation of indossare could also have been "to put on," or "to wear," but we thought it was important to make the distinction regarding the purpose: not putting something on to go and buy milk, but to put it on display. And let's remember that "to model" in this context can't be translated into Italian with modellare. That doesn't quite work (false friend).
When we talk about modeling a dress or outfit, it's sometimes done by a professional model. Although the term modella (usually in the feminine version) is used to mean "fashion model," the more "Italian" term is indossatrice. During the period of Italian fascism, foreign words were rooted out, including the commonly used French noun mannequin. By law, it had to be replaced by indossatrice.
If you haven't seen the documentary about the Italian Language and Italian Fascism (on Yabla), check it out. Ne vale la pena (it's worth the effort). There is mention of removing words like modella or the French "mannequin" from the language and using a more Italian word.
Parole straniere e borghesia sono mali da estirpare.
Foreign words and the bourgeoisie are evils to be rooted out.
[Mannequin - Indossatrice]
[Mannequin – indossatrice] (fashion model)
Captions 6-7, Me Ne Frego - Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana
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That said, the verb indossare is used all the time by Italians. It's transitive, so we can use the question word "what."
Al momento della scomparsa,
When she went missing,
indossava un paio di jeans chiari,
she was wearing a pair of light colored jeans,
delle scarpe da ginnastica anonime...
unbranded sneakers...
Captions 37-38, Chi m'ha visto - film - Part 7
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2) How would you say this using the adjective vestito?
The basic verb for getting dressed is vestire (to dress), used in the reflexive, vestirsi. In other words, it's not a transitive verb. Here the question is come (how) rather than cosa (what).
Eh, scusate, commissario, ma come ci dobbiamo vestire? -Eh, infatti.
Uh, sorry Commissioner, but how should we dress? -Yeah, exactly.
Il tema della festa è anni ottanta, quindi regolatevi.
The theme of the party is the eighties, so act accordingly.
Captions 39-40, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP4 - Miss Maremma
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The question word in our example is come (how), which we commonly answer with an adverb or adverbial phrase. We can't follow it with a noun, as with indossare. Sometimes we choose one word over the other depending on how we want to construct the phrase, or what we want to include or exclude.
3). But what if he had used the question word "what?" How could he have posed the question?
The verb vestire is often transformed into the adjective vestito. In this case, the person is already dressed.
Mamma è morta sei mesi fa
Mom died six months ago
e papà aveva organizzato una messa in suffragio.
and Dad had organized an intercession mass.
Ecco perché era vestito così elegante.
That's why he was dressed so elegantly.
Captions 20-22, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP2 - L'addio di Lara
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4) Maybe we could modify the second sentence in the example above — to say something similar — using the verb indossare. You will have to come up with a direct object noun to make it work.
Let's keep in mind that vestito is also a noun meaning "dress" or, for a man, "suit."
Just as in English, Italian uses the verb mettere (to put). But whereas in English, we say "to put on," Italian uses the reflexive form mettersi (to put on [oneself]).
Tu che cosa ti metti? Io avevo pensato di mettermi il vestito rosso.
What are you going to wear? I thought of wearing my red dress.
Caption 34, Anna e Marika - Il verbo pensare
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In this last example, the question is che cosa (what [thing]?). So we will need a noun as an answer. The formula is reflexive verb mettersi + noun.
5) We can do 2 exercises with this example.
a) Use the transitive verb indossare in the question and in the answer. In this case it is a learning exercise, but an unlikely real-life option!
b) Ask the question with come. You can still use mettersi or indossare in the answer, or you can come up with something using the same verb as in the question. In this case you'll need to be creative.
We'll often hear someone giving this order to someone else.
Dai, forza, vestiti.
Come on, get dressed.
Caption 21, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP12 - La donna senza volto
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6) If you were giving this command to a bunch of kids, what would you say? Tip: Don't worry that dai is singular. it's an expression that stays in the singular.
But attenzione. As you can hear in the example, in the previous example in the imperative, the stress is on the first syllable. It looks exactly like the plural of the noun vestito, (dress, suit) as in the following example, but sounds different. When used in the plural, i vestiti means "clothes."
Eh, andate a cercare i vestiti per la festa. Forza, via, via.
Yeah, go find some clothes for the party. Go on, get going, get going.
Caption 42, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP4 - Miss Maremma
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Once you have dressed, you are wearing something. We can use indossare, of course, but we can also use the verb portare (to carry).
7) Let's say you are asking this question, not to a friend, but to your boss, or to your Italian mother in law, with whom you are on formal terms. What would you say?
Secondo me dovresti portare la gonna più spesso
In my opinion, you should wear a skirt more often.
perché ti sta molto bene.
It looks very good on you.
Caption 25, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde
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8) What's another way to say the same thing? There's more than one!
We've talked about different verbs we can use to talk about getting dressed and wearing clothes: vestire (used reflexively) indossare (transitive), mettersi un vestito (reflexive with a direct object), portare (transitive). Find out more about clothing in this video from Marika. Adriano also talks about clothes to wear in the different seasons.
Now to some solutions for the quiz questions scattered throughout the lesson:
1) E poi, se proprio servisse di indossare un abito, potrei farlo io. -No, tu no.
2) Al momento della scomparsa, era vestita con un paio di jeans chiari, delle scarpe da ginnastica anonime...
3) Eh, scusate, commissario, ma cosa ci dobbiamo mettere?
4) Ecco perché indossava un vestito così elegante.
5a) Tu che cosa indossi/indosserai? Io avevo pensato di indossare il vestito rosso.
5b) Come ti vesti? Io avevo pensato di vestirmi di rosso.
Io avevo pensato di vestirmi con il vestito rosso.
Io avevo pensato di mettermi il vestito rosso.
6) Dai, forza, vestitevi!
7) Secondo me dovrebbe portare la gonna più spesso perché le sta molto bene.
8) Secondo me dovrebbe indossare la gonna più spesso perché le sta molto bene.
Secondo me dovrebbe mettersi la gonna più spesso perché le sta molto bene.
Afterword: When we use the reflexive verb vestirsi, it's tricky because we can't use a direct object after it as we can with mettersi. We need the conjuction con (with) after it, or an adverbial phrase, which answers the question come (how).
One such phrase that comes to mind is: Vestirsi a cipolla (to dress in layers).
Quando vado in montagna, mi vesto sempre a cipolla (I always dress in layers [literally, "onion-style") when I go mountain climbing).
Send your questions or comments to newsletter@yabla.com and thanks for reading!
We've talked about noticing things or not in various ways.
And we mentioned a couple of standalone phrases or expressions regarding noticing things, such as:
Ti rendi conto (do you realize)?
C'hai fatto caso (did you notice)?
Non c'ho fatto caso (I didn't notice).
There are other ways to call someone's attention to something, give them information, or a warning about something. Here are seven. We note that these verbs are almost always followed by the conjunction che (that). Since we are not talking about hypotheses, but rather statements of fact, we don't use the subjunctive in this case, as we often do after che.
New feature: At the end of each example, there's a little grammar question, giving you the chance to expand on the example itself. You'll find the answers at the bottom of the page. Don't worry if they give you trouble, as they are aimed at more advanced learners. It may be an opportunity to find out what you don't know and to ask us questions! We'll be glad to oblige.
We looked at notare in another lesson. Instead of using notare (to notice) by itself, in the imperative, for example, we can say far notare (to "make someone notice," to point out). There is often a particle representing the object pronoun and the preposition in the mix. In following example, Daniela is pointing out something to her class so she uses the second person plural vi (to you). Note that it comes before the verb!
Infine, vi faccio notare che
To finish up, I will point out to you that
"in effetti", come espressione a sé stante,
"in effetti," as a standalone expression,
come espressione singola,
as an expression on its own,
senza aggiungere altre parole dopo,
without adding other words after it,
si usa per affermare che si è convinti di qualcosa.
is used to affirm that we are convinced of something.
Captions 47-51, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Infatti - In effetti
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Q1) If Daniela were giving a private lesson, and thus were speaking to just one person, what do you think she would say?
Similar to far notare is fare presente. I'm calling your attention to some fact or situation. I'm presenting you with some information. I'm making you aware of it.
Ottimo lavoro, Arianna.
Great work, Arianna.
Ti ringrazio per avermi fatto presente la situazione.
Thank you for letting me know about the situation.
Captions 45-46, Italiano commerciale - Difficoltà con colleghi e contratti
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Q2) If I were speaking on behalf of my company, how could I change this sentence?
Ma anche la città di Genova, con i suoi vicoli, è molto affascinante
But also the city of Genoa, with its alleys, is very appealing
e da segnalare anche l'Acquario di Genova,
and one should also mention the Genoa Aquarium,
che è molto famoso.
which is very famous.
Captions 79-80, L'Italia a tavola - Interrogazione sulla Liguria
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In the previous example, we could have translated it with "to point out" or "to call attention to."
Q3) If you were telling one other person about about the Genoa acquarium, what could you say? This is harder than the previous example, and there is not only one possibility.
Signor Pitagora, La volevo avvertire
Mister Pitagora, I wanted to let you know
che per trovare i soldi per la sua operazione,
that to get the money for your operation,
mio fratello ha rinunciato a tutti i diritti sull'azienda.
my brother gave up all his rights to the company.
Captions 95-97, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema
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There are other nuances of avvertire, but for now we will stick with the one that means "to warn," "to let someone know." You are turning someone's attention to something. Avvertire can be used with a menacing tone, as a warning.
Q4) The example uses the (singular) polite form (which is actually the third person singular), but what if you were telling a colleague or friend the same thing? What might you say?
I fratelli Troisgros,
The Troisgros brothers,
quando comunicai loro che volevo tornare a Milano,
when I communicated to them that I wanted to return to Milan,
ci rimasero male.
were disappointed.
Captions 45-46, L'arte della cucina - I Luoghi del Mondo
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This is a cognate that is easy to understand, but in addition to its meaning "to communicate" in general, Italians often use it to let you know something, sort of like avvertire. It might have been more authentic to translate it as "when I let them know that I wanted to return to Milan..." or "when I informed them..."
This is an interesting example because it contains the verb comunicare (to communicate) in the passato remoto (remote past tense), first person singular. And in addition, the object personal pronoun is the third person plural. We don't see this very often in everyday conversation.
Q5) It would be perhaps more common these days to hear this kind of sentence expressed in the passato prossimo, which, we recall, is used, not as the present perfect in English, but as the simple past tense: something over and done with. Try conveying this same message using the passato prossimo.
Be', ma allora dobbiamo subito avvisare qualcuno, eh.
Well, so then we should alert someone right away, huh.
Caption 35, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E3 - Una piccola bestia ferita
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Q6) In the previous example, we don't know who to alert. But we do have to alert someone. What if we do know who to alert? Let's say we have already been talking about that person, say, someone's father— Masculine, singular. How could we construct this sentence? There's more than one correct solution.
Another cognate is of course, informare. So if nothing else comes to mind, informare works as a great verb for letting someone know something.
Be', ho dovuto informare tutti i nostri attuali inserzionisti
Well, I've had to inform all our current advertisers
che tutti i contratti futuri
that all future contracts
subiranno un aumento del prezzo del trenta per cento.
will undergo a thirty percent increase in cost.
Captions 21-22, Italiano commerciale - Difficoltà con colleghi e contratti
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Eh... -Va bene, va bene, va bene, tenetemi informato.
Uh... -OK. OK. OK. Keep me informed.
Caption 33, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP4 - Le Lettere Di Leopardi
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In the previous example, we have a new element: the verb tenere (to hold, to keep). It's pretty close to how we do it in English, which is great news, vero?
Q7) What if you are telling just one person to keep you informed? How would you say that?
As you can see, each verb has a slightly different meaning, but all are used to call attention to something and to share information.
Answers:
A1) Ti faccio notare che...
A2) Ti ringrazio per averci fatto presente la situazione.
A3) e ti segnalo anche l'acquario...
e ti posso anche segnalare l'acquario...
A4) Susanna, ti volevo avvertire che...
A5) I fratelli Troisgros, quando ho comunicato loro che volevo tornare a Milano, ci sono rimasti male.
A6) Be', ma allora lo dobbiamo avvisare subito, eh.
Be', ma allora dobbiamo avvisarlo subito, eh.
A7) Tienimi informato (or if you are a female: tienimi informata).
What are some expressions you use everyday that you wish you knew how to say in Italian? Let us know and we'll try to provide some answers.
Let's look at 4 more ways to use the noun il conto in everyday conversation. The first two involve prepositions:
When we do something on someone's behalf, we use per conto di.
La leggenda racconta di miniere dove a scavare erano dei nani
The legend tells of mines where dwarfs were excavating
per conto del re Laurino.
on behalf of the king Laurin.
Captions 23-24, Meraviglie - EP. 5 - Part 10
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Oltre a questo lavoro giornalistico più specifico,
Besides this more specific journalistic job,
lavoro anche come, come responsabile di uffici stampa
I also work as head of press offices
per conto di varie realtà.
on behalf of various organizations.
Captions 1-3, Francesca Vitalini - Fare la giornalista pubblicista
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An expression we might see in a contract about power of attorney is:
agire in nome e per conto di (to act in the name of and on behalf of)
This expression can also mean "of one's own" and is used quite frequently as in the following example.
Perché la mi' figliola [mia figlia] c'ha già tanti problemi per conto suo.
Because my daughter has enough problems of her own.
Caption 37, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso
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It can also mean on one's own:
Non faccio in tempo a venire a casa per pranzo. Mangio per conto mio.
I don't have time to come home for lunch. I'll eat on my own.
If we use the preposition su (on) then it can mean "about." We usually use it in reference to people.
No, io devo smentire delle cattiverie che girano sul mio conto.
No, I have to prove wrong the maliciousness that's circulating about me.
Caption 11, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto
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Anche se ultimamente si dicono un sacco di cose sul suo conto...
Even though lately they've said a lot of things about her...
Caption 30, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP1 - Matrimonio con delitto
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These next examples involve a verb plus conto:
Mah, la libertà è una grossa parola,
Well, freedom is a strong word,
perché bisogna sempre tener conto
because we always have to take into account
delle persone che abbiamo intorno.
the people we're surrounded by.
Captions 22-23, Che tempo che fa - Monica Bellucci
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Here's an example using the particle ne (about it, of it) as well. It takes the place of di qualcosa (about/of something):
Tu vedrai che i giudici ne terranno conto, ascoltami.
You will see that the judges will take it into account, listen to me.
Caption 23, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola
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When someone is telling you to listen to how things add up, or how things fit together, they might say:
Fai conto... (take this into consideration, do the math..., let's see... figure this in...)
Like many expressions, there are some people who use this expression regularly, and others who never use it. It can be added into a sentence as is, on its own. Instead of doing the math oneself, the speaker is having you participate. It's a modo di dire.
Ci vogliono, fai conto, tre ore per andare da Pisa a Bologna in macchina.
It will take — you should count — three hours to go from Pisa to Bologna by car.
Cammina, cammina. Sai quanti chilometri faccio io al giorno?
Yeah, walk. You know how many kilometers I do per day?
-Quanti? -Fai conto tre pedinamenti, per dire, eh.
-How many? -Figure three tails, to give you an idea, huh.
Captions 14-15, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP6 - Sotto tiro
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Fare conto can also be used with che (that) to make a more complex sentence.
Fai conto che io faccio tanti kilometri al giorno.
Take into account that I do three kilometers per day.
Fare conto doesn't necessarily have to do with numbers or counting. It can also mean "to assume that" or even "to pretend that" in certain contexts and in this case it takes the subjunctive.
Fai conto che io sia tua madre (anche se sono la zia), e devi fare quello che dico io.
Think of me as your mother (even though I am your aunt) and you have to do as I say.
We hope these ways for using il conto will be useful to you. Maybe you will hear them used in a movie, or when an Italian is explaining something to you. Now you know!
Can you think of other ways this noun is used? Let us know at newsletter@yabla.com.
In a previous lesson, we talked about the noun conto as part of the phasal verb rendersi conto (to realize). A learner has written in asking if this can be synonymous with accorgersene (to notice, to realize). The answer is yes, sometimes, depending on the context. There is a lesson on the pronominal, reflexive verb accorgersene, so check it out.
In this lesson, we will continue to look at the noun il conto and how it fits into various expressions, with meanings that might seem to depart from the cognate "account." But let's keep in mind that in many cases, although English speakers prefer different turns of phrase, we can connect these with "account," if we look hard enough. After all, in English, we use the word "account" in lots of different ways, too.
Here are some examples from Yabla videos of how people use conto or conti in authentic speech.
Dopotutto bisogna fare i conti con i propri limiti ogni tanto, o no?
After all, one has to come to terms with one's own limits, every now and then, right?
Caption 2, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 9
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The previous example is from the biopic about Adriano Olivetti, which has been proven to be quite popular with subscribers. At the Olivetti typewriter factory, they're talking about selling it!
In the example below, the subject is Covid-19, and the fact that we have to come to terms with it, to reckon with it. Different translations but a similar concept.
Come ormai tutti sapete, non solo l'Italia,
As everyone knows by now, not only Italy
ma tutto il mondo sta cominciando a fare i conti
but the whole world is starting to have to reckon
con questa [sic: questo] assassino invisibile.
with this invisible killer.
Captions 7-9, COVID-19 - Andrà tutto bene
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So we're talking about dealing with something, facing something, taking something into consideration, taking something into account, or even taking stock.
Here's a practical situation in which one might use fare i conti. This time it does have to do with money.
Let's say I have someone do a job for me, say, getting a swimming pool up and running after the winter, and afterwards, I want to know how much I have to pay for it. Instead of just saying quanto ti devo? (how much do I owe you?), I can be a bit more roundabout. I can leave the door open for a conversation and allow for a justification of the fee I will be paying, compared to the initial preventivo (estimate), or for talking about a discount. I am letting the person I hired know that I am ready to settle up or at least to determine how much it will come to.
Dobbiamo fare i conti (we have to tally up, or "Let's figure out how much I owe you").
We can make the act of tallying up more casual, perhaps less about money, by using un po' (a little, a few) or due (two), which doesn't really mean the number 2, but is a generic low-grade plural to mean "some." In the following example, the number due (two) could replace un po'.
Che poi se facciamo un po' di conti,
Which, after all, if we do the math here,
sono sempre io a perdonare per prima.
I'm always the first one to forgive.
Captions 10-11, La Ladra - EP. 8 - Il momento giusto
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Uno si fa due conti e inizia a pensare
You add things up and start thinking
che se tutti si vogliono innamorare, un motivo ci sarà.
that if everyone wants to fall in love, there must be a reason.
Captions 42-43, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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Another expression with conti comes from math and accounts, but has to do with summing up. It's a way of saying, "All in all," "in the end," "all things considered," "after all is said and done..."
Be', in fin dei conti, si tratta solo di ratificare uno stato di fatto.
Well, in the end, it's just a matter of ratifying a state of affairs.
Caption 15, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 5
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An expression that is used both in talking about money and about pretty much anything, is the the equivalent of "things don't add up."
E hai scoperto qualcosa?
And did you discover anything?
-Non ancora, ma i conti non tornano.
-Not yet, but things don't add up.
Captions 20-21, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne
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There is still plenty to say about the noun conto, but we'll save it for next time! So stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
There's a word that Italians use every day in various contexts, with different nuances. If you follow Yabla's instagram account, you will have seen a reference to this recently. Poi facciamo i conti is something parents might say to their kids. The kids did something bad, but they are out in public, maybe having a good time. "We'll settle this later," is what they are saying with Poi, facciamo i conti.
But let's unpack this phrase, and to start with, the noun involved: il conto. If we look up conto in the dictionary, this is what we get: So one very common meaning of il conto is "the bill" or "check" you ask for after eating in a restaurant. It suffices to say:
Il conto per favore (the check please).
Here is another example from authentic conversation:
Eh, Marika, chiediamo il conto allora? -Sì.
Uh, Marika, so shall we ask for the bill? -Yes.
Scusi, posso avere il conto, per favore?
Excuse me, can I have the bill please?
-Vi porto subito il conto. -Grazie. -Grazie.
-I'll bring you the bill right away. -Thanks. -Thanks.
Captions 60-61, Anna e Marika - Un Ristorante a Trastevere
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Another way in which Italians love to use the noun conto is in the reflexive phrasal verb rendersi conto (to realize):
Avevo capito che, in tutti questi anni, è stata innamorata di lui.
I'd figured out that, for all these years, she'd been in love with him.
E per trent'anni gli ha dato del Lei, ma ti rendi conto?
And for thirty years she addressed him formally, can you imagine that?
Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva
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This is such a common Italian modo di dire that it is definitely worth learning. Even though there are various ways we translate this into English depending on the context, it's a good idea to pay attention to hearing it and to try and get a sense of when it's used, without trying to figure out its precise English equivalent. We translators are obliged to, but learners can just learn by listening.
Ti rendi conto is what you say when you are shocked and surprised by something and find it hard to believe and it can even stand alone as a value judgment, often negative.
Ma ti rendi conto? Can you fathom that? Do you have any idea?
Of course, if you are speaking formally, to your boss, for example, it's a bit different: We use the third person singular (= formal second person) reflexive.
La stampa locale ci sta addosso.
The local press is on our backs.
È trapelata quella storia assurda
This absurd story has leaked
degli incontri clandestini della De Santis a casa Sua.
about De Santis's clandestine meetings at your house.
Ma si rende conto?
Do you have any idea?
Captions 1-4, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola
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But apart from that expression, rendersi conto di qualcosa is "to realize something."
Viene definita sindrome della mantide religiosa;
It's called the "praying mantis" syndrome;
consciamente non si rende conto di essere un'assassina.
she doesn't consciously realize that she's an assassin.
Captions 8-9, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso
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This is something you can say in the negative when you failed to notice something or were unaware of something you did. In our next example, the speaker uses that little particle ne, which stands for "it" or "about it." Note that when we use rendersi conto in the present perfect, we use the auxiliary verb essere (to be) because the verb is reflexive. Forming these turns of phrase is a bit of a challenge for learners!
E quindi l'ha uccisa.
And so you killed her.
Ma io non volevo, io...
But I didn't want to. I...
non me ne sono neanche reso conto.
I didn't even realize it.
Una notte ho deciso di affrontarla.
One night I decided to confront her.
Captions 4-7, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia
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Un conto can often be translated as "thing," when you are talking about evaluating a situation: Here the dialogue is about stealing items from a hotel room.
Un conto è se ti pigli una saponetta,
It's one thing if you swipe a soap
che non se ne accorge nisciun [nessuno]...
because no one will notice...
Captions 75-76, L'oro di Scampia - film - Part 10
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Ci siamo resi conto che c'è tanto da dire sul conto della parola
We've realized that there is a lot to say on the subject of the word
"il conto", insieme ad il suo plurale, "i conti".
il conto and its plural: i conti.
To be continued! We will talk about fare i conti, sul conto di, fare conto, and more! Thanks for reading!
A new movie coming to Yabla is Fino a qui tutto bene. You might have read about it in the newsletter. The title is worth talking about, since it includes the preposition fino, which can cause confusion sometimes.
Fino is a preposition, basically meaning "up to" or until. It can be combined with other prepositions to mean a few other things, too. Check out Daniela's lessons about fino.
If you are filling a glass, you can say, fino a qui or fino a qua (up to here) indicating with your finger. But it can also be about time, as in the title of the movie.
Tutto bene is what we say or ask when we want to talk about everything being OK.
Tutto bene (Everything OK)?
Tutto bene (Everything's fine).
If you want to be polite, you can say, tutto bene, grazie.
Or, we can qualify our statement:
Fino a qui, tutto bene (So far, so good — up to this point, everything is fine).
You might be thinking about finché and finchè non, so we'll include them briefly.
There are a couple of lessons about these
Finché is a shortened version of fino a che, meaning "per tutto il tempo che..."
Although it's not always the case, we can usually translate finché as "as long as."
Per molto tempo l'ho custodita con cura, finché ho potuto.
For a long time I took care of it carefully, as long as I could.
Caption 46, Dottor Pitrè - e le sue storie
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We will often see finché followed by non: finché non.
This will be translated as "until."
Eravamo soci, finché non l'ho beccato a rubare.
We were partners, until I caught him stealing.
Caption 4, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena
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So fino a qui = up to a certain point (in time).
We can also say, finora — a shortened version of fino ad ora to mean the same thing. In fact, finora is specific to time.
If now is the time of arrival, it can also be the time of departure. So we can say:
D'ora in poi (From now on).
D'ora in avanti (From now on).
For more on this, see part 2 of Daniela's video lesson about ora (now).
As she mentions, we can also say, fin d'ora or fin da ora (starting now, already, from this moment).
Anzi, le sono grata fin da ora.
In fact, I'm grateful from this moment on.
Caption 52, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP8 - Morte di un buttero
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The person is basically saying he or she is already grateful. This is something you might say or hear when you are wondering when your insurance will be valid. -Starting right now. Fin d'ora.
We hope this lesson has given you some tools for talking within a timeline.
| fino a qui | finora | ora | fin da ora | fin d'ora | d'ora in poi | d'ora in avanti |
| up to this point | up to now | now | starting now | starting now | from now on | from now on |
Finché and finchè non are not relative to ora (now), but to a designated time.
Finché refers to the duration of time when something is true (as long as).
Finché non refers to the moment before something changes (until).
If it is sufficiently clear, non might be left out.
In a previous lesson we talked about the preposition in, and in a subsequent lesson we talked about how we modify the preposition in when a definite article follows it. The preposition a works in a similar way, and sometimes means the same thing as in, but certainly not always.
A is used to refer to places, both going somewhere and being somewhere. Sound familiar? Yes. Just like in, a can mean "to" (indicating direction to a place) or "at" (indicating being in a place). Consider this short example.
OK, ho finito. Vado a casa (OK, I'm done. I'm going home).
Che bello! Finalmente sono a casa (How great! I'm finally home)!
Note that if I say sono in casa, I imply that I am inside the house, whereas if I say sono a casa, it might mean I am at home, but outside in the garden!
If we look at the preposition a in the dictionary, there's a long list of meanings, or rather, uses. But in this lesson, we'll look at just a few of the most common ways you need to know how to use this preposition.
We also say a scuola with no article. This is similar to English.
Sono a scuola (I'm at school).
Sto andando a scuola (I'm going to school).
Although these locations without an article are exceptions, they are important ones, since most of us have a home and many of us go to school or have kids or friends who go to school. Another perhaps less crucial one is a teatro ("to" or "at the theater").
In most other cases regarding places, we do need a definite article after the preposition, as in:
A me e a Vladi piace andare a ballare la sera,
Valdi and I like to go dancing at night,
uscire con gli amici,
going out with our friends,
andare a vedere qualche bel film al cinema
going to see a good film at the movies
e fare molto sport.
and playing a lot of sports.
Captions 17-20, Adriano - la sua ragazza
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Dall'Umbria alla Toscana, il passo è breve.
From Umbria to Tuscany, it's but a short way.
Caption 2, Meraviglie - EP. 4 - Part 6
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But for now, let's look at some other ways we use the preposition a.
We use a to talk about "when" or "until when."
For example, when we talk about "at what time" something is going to happen, we use a and in this case we use a definite article when talking about "at what time."
La mattina mi sveglio intorno alle otto.
In the morning I wake up at around eight o'clock.
Caption 5, Adriano - Giornata
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Why is it le otto? Isn't that plural? Yes. We use the feminine plural definite article (le) because there's a "hidden" word: le ore (the hours). Think of a clock striking the hours. So, yes. Time, when considered by the clock, is expressed in the plural, and of course, it takes some getting used to. For more about telling time, see this video from Marika.
But if we are talking about noon or midnight, then it's in the singular and there is no article.
Io mi ricordo che a casa mia si mangiava, allora, il,
I remember that at my house we'd eat, then, the,
a mezzogiorno si mangiava: il primo,
at noon we'd eat: the first course,
la carne, il contorno e la frutta.
meat, vegetable and fruit.
Captions 33-35, L'arte della cucina - La Prima Identitá
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We also use a when we talk about until what time something will go on.
Sì, ma fino a mezzanotte il commissario sono io.
Yes, but until midnight, I'm the commissioner.
Caption 74, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP12 - Le verità nascoste
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When we mention the months or a holiday, we use a:
Sembrava che la nebbia ci fosse
It seemed as though there was fog
anche a Ferragosto.
even at/on Ferragosto (national holiday on August 15th).
Caption 26, L'arte della cucina - L'Epoca delle Piccole Rivoluzioni
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E si possono pagare con varie rate, anche non tutte insieme.
And you can pay in various installments, not all at once.
Varie rate che scadono ogni semestre,
Different installments that are due every semester,
perché l'anno dell'u'...
because the school year...
l'anno in cui si frequenta l'università è diviso in due semestri.
the year in which you attend university is divided into two semesters.
-Il primo che va da settembre a gennaio,
-The first that goes from September to January,
e il secondo, va da? -Il secondo va da febbraio a luglio.
and the second, goes from? -The second goes from February to July.
Captions 18-22, Serena - sistema universitario italiano
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And finally, we use a when we say what something is like, what something is made of, or in what way something is done. We often use "with" for this in English, or we use an adjective. This topic is addressed in the Yabla lesson: A Righe or a Quadretti?
We talk about olio di oliva spremuto a freddo (cold-pressed olive oil).
In the following example, Monica Bellucci is describing how she goes about her career. Note that since istinto (instinct) starts with a vowel, she adds a d to the a!
Ma io non ho una formula, guarda,
Well I don't have a formula, look,
vado a m'... vado avanti molto ad istinto.
I go... I go along very much by instinct.
Caption 47, That's Italy - Episode 1 - Part 3
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Here are two expressions, one with a and one with in, that essentially mean the same thing. You just have to remember which is which. They are worth memorizing.
Ad ogni modo, mi piace tanto.
In any case, I like her a lot.
Caption 36, Adriano - la sua ragazza
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In ogni caso, anche se sapevo che era veramente una cosa folle,
In any case, even though I knew it was really a crazy thing,
ho deciso di prendere Ulisse.
I decided to take Ulisse.
Captions 28-29, Andromeda - La storia di Ulisse
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Looking forward to seeing you in the next lesson. A presto!
We recently talked about the preposition in: what it means and how to use it. While we don't always use an article with the noun following it, we often do. And when we do use in with a definite article, we combine the preposition and the article to form what we call una preposizione articolata (an "articled" preposition).
Basically, the n, instead of being at the end of the preposition in, gets moved to the beginning of the word and is followed by an e. After that, the ending will change according to the gender and number of the definite article, as well as whether the word following it starts with a vowel.
Here's the list:
(in + il) nel
(in + lo) nello
(in + l') nell'
(in + la) nella
(in + i) nei
(in + le) nelle
Nel frattempo, riempiamo una pentola d'acqua.
In the meantime, we'll fill a pot with water.
Caption 21, L'Italia a tavola - Penne alla Toma Piemontese
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We say nel because it's il frattempo. But here's a tip. Actually, we rarely say il frattempo. Most of the time you will find the noun frattempo together with the preposition nel. It's curious because the noun frattempo already comes from another preposition fra (between) and the noun tempo (time). In English we can say "in the meantime" or "meanwhile," which mean almost the same thing. But we need to translate both of these as nel frattempo or, alternatively, nel mentre, which means the same thing.
Questo è fondamentale quando ci si trova
This is fundamental when you find yourself,
appunto nello studio di doppiaggio
in fact, in the dubbing studio
a dover affrontare un, un testo oppure un personaggio.
and need to deal with a script or a character.
Captions 16-17, Arianna e Marika - Il lavoro di doppiatrice
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We say nello because we say lo studio (the studio). So here, you have to pay attention to the first letter of the word following the preposition. It will start with an S plus a consonant, or a Z, and sometimes Y.
Quanti libri hai nello zaino?
How many books do you have in your backpack?
Caption 9, Marika spiega - La particella NE
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Oppure nello yogurt, la mela sciolta diciam'...
Or else in some yogurt, an apple dissolved, let's say...
ridotta a polpa nello yogurt, sempre sul viso, è idratante.
reduced to a pulp in some yogurt, again on the face, is moisturising.
Caption 22, Enea - Mela Part 2
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Il tasto "play" e "pause"
The "play" and "pause" button
si trova esattamente nello stesso punto del pannello di controllo.
is located in exactly the same spot on the control panel.
Captions 15-16, Italian Intro - Serena
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We use l' when the first letter of the word following the article starts with a vowel. We double the L and add an apostrophe.
Nell'ultimo ventennio,
In the last twenty years,
i coronavirus si sono imposti all'attenzione del mondo
coronaviruses have caught the attention of the entire world
in tre momenti precisi.
in three precise moments.
Captions 27-29, COVID-19 - Domande frequenti
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Allora, può intagliare così,
So, they can make an incision like this,
può intagliare un pomodoro così,
they can cut a notch in a tomato like so,
mettere una pentola d'acqua a bollire
put up a pot of water to boil,
e tenere i pomodori
and keep the tomatoes
nell'acqua bollente per dieci minuti.
in the boiling water for ten minutes.
Captions 10-14, L'Italia a tavola - La pappa al pomodoro
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È da circa otto minuti che i nostri spaghetti
It's been about eight minutes that our spaghetti
stanno cuocendo nella pentola.
has been cooking in the pot.
Caption 38, Adriano - Spaghetti pomodoro e aglio
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E due luoghi sacri si trovano proprio nei punti più alti della città.
And two sacred places are found right at the highest points of the city.
Caption 12, Meraviglie - EP. 1 - Part 10
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Leonardo, molto spesso, nelle sue opere,
Leonardo, very often in his works,
faceva le figure centrali
made the central figures
quasi fossero delle piramidi
almost as if they were pyramids
e poi i dodici apostoli sono suddivisi in gruppi di tre.
and then, the twelve apostles are divided into groups of three.
Captions 10-13, Meraviglie - EP. 3 - Part 12
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Olivetti è sempre riuscito nelle cose che ha intrapreso.
Olivetti has always succeeded in the things he has undertaken.
Caption 46, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2
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In future lessons, we will talk about other preposizioni articolate that follow these same principles.
See this lesson about di (of):
See this lesson about in (to, in, at).
In a previous lesson, we talked about how to say hello and goodbye in Italian: There are formal and informal ways of doing so. And the very first lesson Daniela teaches in her popular series of classroom lessons is about how to greet people: salutare.
Oggi impariamo le forme di saluto.
Today we're going to learn ways to greet people.
Caption 5, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Salutare
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Before looking at the everyday meanings of salutare, we should acknowledge that it does also mean "to salute," as one would salute in the military, or salute the flag. But that is a very small part of the picture!
In addition to knowing how to greet people — a very important thing in Italian — we also use the verb salutare itself, quite often, to talk about greetings and greeting someone, as well as within the greeting or leave-taking itself, but what exactly does it mean? In fact, it's a little tricky. Just as ciao can mean "hi" or "bye," salutare can mean "to say hello" or "to say goodbye." Let's look at the verb salutare in context to get a better idea of how it's used.
Saying goodbye can be tough.
È arrivato il momento di salutarci, mi pare, no?
The time has come to say goodbye (to each other), I think, right?
-Eh. -Sì.
-Yeah. -Yes.
Caption 1, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP12 - Le verità nascoste
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The previous example is just one instance of the verb within the segment of the Commissario Manara episode, an episode in which Luca Manara is about to leave his present job and go back to Milan.
Here's another little scene from the same episode and segment about saying goodbye. One thing to notice is that while in the previous example, salutarci means "to say goodbye to each other" (reciprocal reflexive), in the example below, salutarci means "to say goodbye to us." That pesky ci again!
Brigadiere, ma che sei venuto a salutarmi?
Brigadiere, what, did you come to say goodbye to me?
Caterina. -Povero cagnozzo, gli mancherai, eh.
Caterina. -Poor doggy, he'll miss you, yeah.
Io non posso credere che te ne saresti andato senza salutarci.
I can't believe that you would leave without even saying goodbye to us.
-No, veramente...
-No, actually...
sono passato davanti a casa Sua, -Eh. -ma Lei non c'era.
I came by your house, -Huh. -and you weren't there.
Comunque, io sono veramente contento che Lei sia venuta a salutarmi,
Anyway, I'm very happy that you came to say goodbye to me,
perché voglio dirLe grazie.
because I want to say thank you to you.
Captions 42-47, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP12 - Le verità nascoste
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When we want to take our leave, or end a phone call, we can say:
Ti devo salutare (I have to say goodbye, I have to hang up, I have to go).
Ti saluto, vado a casa. (I'll be going. I'm going home).
So salutare often means "to say goodbye." But it also means "to say hello," "to greet." In the following example, a grandpa is telling his grandchildren to say hello to their grandmother.
Quanto mi siete mancati. -Salutate la nonna.
How I've missed you! -Say hello to Grandma.
Caption 9, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 3 - S3EP1: Ciao famiglia
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In the following example, Olivetti is greeting an old, estranged friend (he says ciao) who pretends not to see him.
Mauro!
Mauro.
Ciao, Mauro.
Hello, Mauro.
Cos'è? Non mi saluti?
What's the matter? You're not saying hello to me?
Captions 12-14, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2
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But in the next example, the people conversing are being formal with each other. The speaker calls the lady signora. And thus, he uses the formal, second-person imperative.
Arrivederci, signora.
Goodbye, ma'am.
E mi saluti suo marito, eh.
And greet your husband, huh?
Ci tengo tanto, ah. Me lo saluti tanto, eh?
It means a lot to me. Greet him warmly, huh?
Captions 74-77, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP6 - Reazione a Catena
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As we said, Manara is speaking formally. He says me lo saluti (greet him for me) using the imperative. He could also be saying "Give my regards to your husband." But if he were talking to a friend, he could put this all in one single word including two pronouns stuck to the verb. Saluta (greet) + me (for me) lo (him) / la (her).
Salutamelo.
Salutamela.
In some contexts, (and as we saw in the very first video example), we use the noun form il saluto or un saluto (a greeting, a salutation) instead of the verb salutare.
Parliamo ora dei saluti informali.
Let's now talk about informal greetings.
Caption 24, Marika spiega - Saluti verbali e a gesti
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In the following example, we see a typical way of saying, "I won't ever talk to you again." But Italians give it a different twist. They say they are going to "take away" "saying hello," as in, "I'm not even going to greet you!" The verb is togliere (to remove).
La chiamo e gli [sic: le] dico che non ci vado.
I'll call her and tell her I'm not going.
Ch'aggia fa' [napoletano: che devo fare]?
What can I do?
-Fallo e ti tolgo il saluto.
-You do that and I won't talk to you anymore.
Captions 36-38, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia
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Un saluto or saluti is what you might write on a postcard while you're on vacation somewhere. It's often in the plural:
Ciao vecchio. Saluti da Rio, Max.
Hi, old timer. Greetings from Rio, Max.
Caption 40, La Ladra - Ep. 10 - Un ignobile ricatto
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Salutare can also be interpreted to mean "to give one's regards to" so we often see saluti at the end of a short business email.
It can appear by itself or be embellished as follows:
Distinti saluti ([best] regards)
Cordiali saluti (kind regards)
That's it for this lesson, and we'll see you soon. A presto.
This business of gender in Italian can be so tricky for non-native speakers. When we hear a word, we don't always pay attention to the ending of a noun. It can easily get lost, so when we then have to actually say the word, for example, when looking for something in a shop, the doubt surges up. Which is it: a or o? So yes, we basically know the word, but the gender, and thus, the ending, escapes us. It's a great reason to learn a noun with its article, as we try to help you do in our Yabla vocabulary reviews at the end of our videos.
Alas, even people who have been living in Italy for years and years still have these doubts from time to time and get it wrong sometimes.
Let's look at one such word, or rather two. Because the same word with a different ending can mean something quite different. At the same time, we can usually find a connection between the two words through its root, or through the verb the noun came from, and that's always kind of fun (for us nerdy-type learners among us).
I go into a shop to buy a new bathroom scale. Is it un bilancio or una bilancia???? There's that embarrassing moment when you can't remember which it is. At that moment, you desperately try a workaround, using a different word like una cosa per pesarsi (something for weighing oneself). In fact, we can also call a bathroom scale a pesapersone (which luckily, can be either masculine or feminine!).
To get to the root of a word, which can sometimes help us understand it, we look to Latin, the source of most Italian words. We often look to the verb, but it turns out that in this case, the noun came first.
We have the late Latin noun "bilanx," made up of "bi-," meaning "two" and "lanx" meaning "plate." Picture an old fashioned type of scale that is made up of precisely that: two suspended plates on which to place the weights and the items you want to weigh.
With this image, you can remember the feminine goddess of justice, holding up the scale. And that can help you remember that the word for scale is la bilancia and it's feminine.
Prego, alla bilancia.
Please, on the scale.
Bene, abbiamo finito. Rivestitevi.
Good, we're done. Get dressed again.
Captions 11-12, La Tempesta - film
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Certainly, Italians get on a bathroom scale just as often as anyone, but they also use a little scale in the kitchen, to weigh items like la pasta, la farina (flour), lo zucchero (sugar), il riso (rice), etc.
From the noun la bilancia, we derive the verb bilanciare (to balance). You can balance the books or accounts, or you can balance the weights on an old-fashioned mechanical scale. The following example is from an explanation of the economy with the board game Monopoly as a model. It's describing the role of the Bank.
Cioè, immette liquidità nella partita per
That is, it issues liquidity into the game
bilanciare la sfortuna dei giocatori
to balance the misfortunes of the players,
o semplicemente l'eventuale mancanza di contante.
or simply the potential lack of cash.
Captions 26-27, l'Economia Spiegata Facile - Perché le banche ci prestano i soldi?
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Bilanciare also has a reflexive form bilanciarsi. In this case it's intransitive. You might use this form if you are walking a tightrope, or carrying packages.
If it's about money, you are probably looking for the masculine il bilancio. It can mean the budget, the balancing of the budget, or the accounts.
This example is about cooking the books.
Che cosa ha fatto? Che cosa non ha fatto?
What did he do? What didn't he do?
Fallimento, falso in bilancio, bancarotta fraudolenta.
Bankruptcy, tampering with the books, fraudulent bankruptcy.
Captions 63-64, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde
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Here are some common phrases with bilancio, which is used a bit differently from English.
fare il bilancio, chiudere il bilancio (to draw up the balance sheet)
far quadrare il bilancio (to balance the books)
chiudere il bilancio in attivo/passivo (to make a profit/loss)
fare il bilancio della situazione (fig) (to assess the situation)
This lesson is dedicated to an old friend who had trouble with bilancia and bilancio. Are there words you have trouble remembering? Words that change meanings between masculine and feminine? The next lesson could be dedicated to you! Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com.
There are a lot of things to do in the summer, but Italians talk about them a bit differently than English speakers do. The word we will hear all the time in Italy, at least if we're within a two hour drive from the coast, is il mare.
As you can see from the following example, we talk about the beach, because for the most part, we have sandy beaches. But Italy, being a peninsula (penisola in Italian) is surrounded on three coasts by the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, so it's a vital part of the country itself. The sea has different names depending on what part of Italy it touches on.
Infatti, io e Giorgia siamo andate insieme al mare.
In fact, Giorgia and I went to the beach together.
Caption 21, Francesca e Marika - Il verbo andare coniugazione
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For more vocabulary about the beach, check out these videos:
This one is about a beach very close to Pisa, something to keep in mind if you visit Pisa in the summer.
In giro per l'Italia - Pisa e dintorni - Part 3
Finalmente siamo arrivati al mare. [Marina di Pisa]
We've finally arrived at the seaside. [Marina di Pisa]
Caption 1, In giro per l'Italia - Pisa e dintorni
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Here's a wonderful series about the Aeolian Islands off the coast of Sicily. They are breathtakingly beautiful and well worth a visit. If you can't visit, watch the videos!
https://italian.yabla.com/videos.php?program_id=1680
La località isolata e selvaggia di grande bellezza naturale,
The wild and isolated village, with its great natural beauty,
si può raggiungere solo via mare.
is only reachable by sea.
Caption 11, Linea Blu - Le Eolie
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But let's say you like to swim, but in a pool rather than in the sea.
When you go to a pool regularly, to swim laps, then you can say faccio nuoto (I'm a swimmer, I swim): In the following example, Annamaria Mazzetti trains for Olympic triathlons.
Facciamo nuoto, bici, corsa tutti i giorni.
We swim, cycle, and run every day.
Caption 14, Le Olimpiadi 2012 - Annamaria Mazzetti
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But let's say you want to go kayaking (andare in canoa), the instructor will ask you:
Sai nuotare?
Do you know how to swim?
Caption 68, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP5 - Mondo sommerso
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If not, they will give you a life jacket or life preserver (un salvagente).
But let's say you're at the beach and you just want to go in the water and play in the waves. It sounds strange to us, because many of us have learned that bagno means bathroom...
Noi amici, trascorriamo il tempo giocando,
We friends pass the time playing,
oppure nelle giornate estive facciamo il bagno
or else, on summer days we go swimming
e... invece, in quelle invernali veniamo qui per chiacchierare.
and... and on winter ones we come here to talk.
Captions 16-18, Amiche - sulla spiaggia
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So if someone asks you: "Facciamo il bagno?" you will know they want you to go in the water at the beach or at the pool (in piscina).
Finally, one thing Italians say all the time during the summer is:
Ah, che caldo!
Oh, it's so hot!
Caption 1, Andromeda - in - Storia del gelato
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Caldo is an adjective meaning "hot", but also a noun meaning "heat": il caldo.
Enjoy your summer, or looking forward to summer, depending on where you are.
In a previous lesson, we looked at some Italian words that have to do with "right": retto and its feminine form retta. We mentioned that there are other words that can mean "right" and so in this lesson, we will look at two more: diritto, dritto. Sometimes they mean "right" and sometimes they don't, but they are very good words to know!
If we look at the dictionary entry for dritto, we also find diritto, so they are very closely related and can often be used interchangeably. And sometimes it's hard to tell if someone is saying one or the other. But there are cases where you can't swap them.
When you have rights (or not), then you use diritto as a masculine noun. Dritto won't work in this case!
Mi dice con che diritto ha fermato Stefano?
Will you tell what right you had to detain Stefano?
Caption 48, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro
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As in English, we can talk about rights in general: equal rights, civil rights, etc., thus using the plural.
Anch'io ho i miei diritti e la mia dignità di lavoratore.
I also have my rights and my dignity as a worker.
Caption 6, Ma che ci faccio qui! - Un film di Francesco Amato
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While a single law is una legge, law in general is referred to as diritto or giurisprudenza. Here, too, dritto won't do.
Mi sono appena iscritto alla facolta di Diritto.
I'm just enrolled in Law school.
Although dritta as a noun almost surely derives from the verb dirigere, it has become a colloquial but widely used feminine noun in itself. In this case, someone is heading you in the right direzione (direction) by giving you some good advice or a tip. Diritta doesn't work here.
Gli ho solamente dato qualche dritta su come tenere
I just gave him a few tips on how to keep
pulito il lastricato dalla gramigna. -Ah!
the flagstones free of weeds. -Ah.
Captions 53-54, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro
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We can use the noun form dritto/dritta to describe someone who is sly, a smooth operator.
La dritta can also indicate the right-[hand] side, the one used to direct (dirigere). On a ship, it's the starboard side. On a medal il dritto is the "front" side. In knitting, dritto is a plain stitch.
Just as with "right" in English, diritto can be either an adjective or a noun, but it can also be an adverb.
One thing a parent might tell a child is:
Valentina, sta dritta.
Valentina, stand up straight.
Caption 10, Fellini Racconta - Un Autoritratto Ritrovato
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As we found in the lesson on retto, "straight" and "right" are close cousins in English. Think of the word "upright."
One way we use the adverb dritto or diritto is when we give directions, so this is super important. Whether you say diritto or dritto, people will understand you just fine.
Here, Daniela is teaching us about giving directions.
OK? Allora, andare a destra, andare a sinistra,
OK? So, "to go to the right," "to go to the left,"
andare dritto, andare sempre dritto, andare tutto dritto.
"to go straight," "to go straight ahead." "to go straight ahead."
Captions 53-54, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Chiedere informazioni
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"Rigare dritto" vuol dire comportarsi bene.
"To toe the line" [to make a straight line] means "to behave."
Caption 14, Marika commenta -La Ladra - Espressioni idiomatiche
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Check out Marika's video where she says a bit more about the expression rigare dritto or filare dritto.
In the following example, we could also say the shot went right to the heart.
Un colpo di pistola dritto al cuore a distanza ravvicinata, ma...
A gunshot direct to the heart at close range, but...
Caption 16, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E2 - Un amore pericoloso
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There is certainly more to say about these fascinating and important words, but your head must be full by now. Keep your eyes and ears open as you watch Yabla videos. These words will be peppered all through them. Let us know your questions and doubts, and we'll get back to you. Write to us at newsletter@yabla.com
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