The word for "to follow" in Italian is seguire. It's a transitive verb most of the time, but not all the time. In many cases, it works just like English. It's used for following instructions:
Quindi, ho cominciato a seguire le istruzioni
So, I started following the instructions
e, e nell'arco di un'oretta, ho montato la cassettiera.
and in just about an hour, I assembled the chest of drawers.
Captions 14-15, Marika spiega - Gli attrezzi
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1,2) What if 2 people are trying to put together this chest of drawers. How could the sentence change? (more than one possibility)
When Italians take a course in something, they "follow it."
Allora, innanzitutto, quando si ha la passione del doppiaggio
So, first of all, when one has a passion for dubbing,
o del... della narrazione, è importante seguire un corso:
or for... for narration, it's important to take a course:
Captions 10-11, Arianna e Marika - Il lavoro di doppiatrice
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Alternatively, they do a course with fare.
Certo, ho fatto il corso su internet.
Of course, I've taken the online course.
Vuol vedere l'attestato?
Would you like to see the certification?
Caption 59, Psicovip - Buon Natale Minivip Ep 26
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Seguire is used for following someone, literally.
Ciao. Oggi ti mostro alcune direzioni.
Hi. Today I'm going to show you some directions [prepositions of place and direction].
Seguimi.
Follow me.
Captions 1-2, Marika spiega - Direzioni
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3) What if you are asking someone you don't know to follow you?
This can also be figurative when following what someone is saying.
Mi segui?
Do you follow me?
4) What if you are asking someone you don't know if they follow what you are saying?
You have seen the expression, "Follow us on facebook" which is a figurative way to say you check in on that person or organization, you see what they are up to. Fellini was talking about his audience, his fans, in the following clip.
Siamo sempre seguiti da una platea di romani così molto...
We're always followed by an audience of Romans, so very...
che ci segue con molto affetto e simpatia...
who follow us, with a lot of affection and warmth...
specialmente stasera,
especially this evening,
Captions 3-4, Fellini Racconta - Un Autoritratto Ritrovato
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But there is another way Italians use the verb seguire.
It's somewhat akin to the way fans follow a star, or a trend, but it's a little different. Because rather than "following the leader or the trend," it's the leader, teacher, therapist, or doctor who is checking in on you, treating you, in the case of a doctor or health worker. This way of using seguire is used a whole lot in teacher-pupil relationships, or doctor-patient relationships and the like, and has to do with following a pupil or patient's progress, or simply giving them support, or attention, treatment, or checking in to see how things are going. In some instances, we might say, seguire is "to give guidance on a continuing basis."
We have an example of this use in a new video this week.
It's part of the story about a couple who had to go through quarantine because of Covid-19.
È un metodo attraverso il quale
It's a method whereby
non congestionano i, gli ospedali,
they don't overcrowd the, the hospitals,
per i casi meno gravi,
for the less serious cases,
e ti seguono telefonicamente.
and they attend to you over the phone.
Captions 25-28, COVID-19 - 3) La quarantena
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When we use seguire this way, it basically means someone is there for you in a professional way. We all know what it feels like to have a teacher or doctor who seems like they don't really care about you. They don't seem invested.
Non ti seguono.
They don't check in on you.
But it can also simply mean "to treat," as in giving a treatment.
Sì, sì, ho parlato anche col professore che lo segue. -OK.
Yes, yes. I even spoke with the professor who is treating him. -OK.
Caption 43, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema
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5) What if there is a team of doctors who treat the patient in question?
If you watch Yabla videos, you will see the verb seguire a lot, in all sorts of conjugations and nuances of meanng. Sometimes it's translated as "to follow," but not always.
Let us know if you a translation you don't understand, and we'll try to help out.
"Extra credit"
1) Quindi, abbiamo cominciato a seguire le istruzioni e, e nell'arco di un'oretta, abbiamo montato la cassettiera.
2) Quindi, hanno cominciato a seguire le istruzioni e, e nell'arco di un'oretta, hanno montato la cassettiera.
3) Salve. Oggi le mostro alcune direzioni. Mi segua.
4) Mi segue?
5) Sì, sì, ho parlato anche coi professori che lo seguono. -OK.
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).
A recent segment about Italian Fascism and language focuses on dubbing.
What's doppiaggio (dubbing)? After receiving a translation of a script, an actor, in a special recording booth with a monitor, has to watch a movie, adapting what he or she reads to what the actor on the screen is saying. The meaning and intention have to be there, and at the same time, there must be the same number of syllables, more or less, so that it can look convincing. It’s a huge, creative, and painstaking job. Historically, Italians have been champions at this. Dubbing provides a way for people to enjoy foreign movies. When dubbing started out in Italy, lots of people all over the country had never learned to read. They were analfabeti (illiterate).
Nel millenovecentotrentatré viene inventato il doppiaggio,
In nineteen thirty-three dubbing is invented,
che permette ai film di circolare in vari paesi.
which allows for films to be distributed in various countries.
Uno dei più complessi e magici trucchi cinematografici.
One of the most complex and magical cinematographic tricks.
Captions 11-13, Me Ne Frego - Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana
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Even today, although many Italians read a lot, there are still those who aren't comfortable or just don’t enjoy reading. When given the choice of a dubbed movie or one with subtitles, dubbing wins most of the time. This is certainly a generalization, but the fact that you need to go to a special art movie theater to find a movie in its original language with subtitles bears witness to this.
There are arguments for both dubbing and using subtitles, each having vantaggi (advantages) and svantaggi (disadvantages). Luckily, in this digital age, you can often choose your language when watching at home on DVD, streaming, or even on commercial TV. It comes down to personal preference as well as familiarity with the original language of the movie. Culture, tradition, and economics determine what happens in the movie theater.
There was a time when it was popular to dub Italian films in post-production, rather than record the sound live. At the outset, it may have been for technical reasons, as recording live sound is complicated, but for some directors, like Fellini, it was part of their art. And of course, in many filmmaking situations, there comes a time when dubbing is needed to fix mistakes made by actors or for technical reasons. So the dubbing booth is part of making movies.
Italians, having had a lot of practice over the years, happen to be extremely good at dubbing.
Here at Yabla, of course, we promote watching a video in the original language. It’s hard to learn a foreign language if you never hear it spoken. And being able to turn the subtitles on and off with a click is pretty handy.
Speaking of Yabla, two people on our talent force have worked in the field of dubbing.
Eh, all'inizio sì,
Yeah, at the beginning, yes;
lo facevo come [sic], doppiavo grandi artisti e attori.
I did that like I dubbed famous artists and actors.
Poi, eh, mi sono concentrata molto sui documentari.
Then, ah, I started concentrating a lot on documentaries.
Captions 14-15, Marika e Daniela - Daniela Bruni, voice over
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Inoltre, questo... in questo corso si impara a interpretare:
In addition, this... in this course one learns to act:
interpretare un personaggio, interpretare un testo.
to play a role, to interpret a script.
Questo è fondamentale quando ci si trova appunto
This is fundamental when you find yourself, in fact,
nello studio di doppiaggio
in the dubbing studio
a dover affrontare un, un testo oppure un personaggio.
and need to deal with a script or a character.
Captions 14-17, Arianna e Marika - Il lavoro di doppiatrice
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The verb doppiare comes from the noun doppio. Its cognate is “double” in English. And sometimes it means just that, as in the following example, where it functions as an adjective. Note how the ending of the adjective changes according to the gender of the noun it modifies.
Ecco qua, doppia senape e doppio ketchup.
Here you are, double mustard and double ketchup.
-Bella schifezza.
-Nice bit of junk food.
Caption 7, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne
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But more often than not, it means “twice,” as in the following example.
E per metterci magari anche il doppio del tempo?
And maybe takes even twice as much time?
Caption 7, Marika spiega - Proverbi italiani
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Italians use sdoppiare to mean “to duplicate, to copy” when referring to CDs or cassettes. It is the negation of doppiare, and means “to split” but it also means “to make something into two.”
Mi potresti sdoppiare questo CD?
Could you copy this CD for me?
Interestingly enough, the verb “to dub” comes from “double” and came into use in the nineteen twenties. We use the verb “to dub” to refer to replacing speech in a movie, but also to copy from one tape to another (sdoppiare).
As Arianna tells us, you can go to school to get professional training in dubbing. Apart from dubbing actual movies, producers need dubbers for corporate videos, voice-overs for documentaries, and voices for cartoon characters. It’s a career choice that doesn’t immediately come to mind, but one that will never become obsolete.
See this fascinating article in English about the practice of dubbing in Italian cinema.
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