In a previous lesson, we looked at the vowel, A. In this lesson, we'll focus on the vowel, E. 

We'll talk a little bit about this vowel from an English speaker's point of view, but the truth is that the best way to start pronouncing this vowel like a native is to listen carefully to the videos and then do each exercise except multiple choice. Each has its way of aiding you. Make it your mission to focus on E. 

Fill-in-the-blank. You hear a word and have to write it. Connecting the sound of E with the written E will set you on your way to getting it. 

The vocabulary review always provides you with the pronunciation of each word on your list. Listen for the E. So many words will contain one! One part of the vocabulary review entails writing the Italian word. 

Then we have Speak. This is an exercise you can do at any stage, and sometimes it's best to do it first. After all, you don't have to write anything. All you have to do is repeat what you hear. Then you will see it and be able to make the connections. And the best part is that you can play back what you've said and see how close it comes to the version you hear. This is good for any level!

Finally, there is Scribe. You listen and then write down what you hear, a dictation exercise, in short. 

As you might have heard, there are two different pronunciations of E's in Italian. One with no diacritical accent and one with an accent: è. The one with the accent is considered open and the plain e is considered closed. This is not always easy for English speakers to discern, so be patient with yourself, but try to listen and repeat. 

One of the shortest words in the Italian language is the word for "and." It's e, all by itself, no accent. Pick just about any video and you'll hear it (sometimes it goes by quickly). 

Sì, e noi facciamo su e giù da Roma a Pomezia con la moto,

Yes, and we go back and forth from Rome to Pomezia on the motorcycle,

Caption 26, Amiche Anna e Marika raccontano...

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When we see or hear two items, they are often connected by either e (and) or o (or). So this is a good way to practice this e. Find two things that go together, like fruits and vegetables. 

Qui, di solito, tutti i giorni si vendono frutta e verdura e anche altre cose.

Here, usually, every day, fruits and vegetables are sold, and other things, too.

Captions 27-28, In giro per l'Italia Firenze - Part 2

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What other things go together? Prosciutto e melone or prosciutto e mozzarella.

Prosciutto e mozzarella! -Prosciutto e mozzarella, giusto, un altro antipasto classico. Come prosciutto e melone poi del resto, però la mozzarella...

Cured ham and mozzarella! -Cured ham and mozzarella, right, another classic appetizer. Like cured ham and melon, for that matter, but mozzarella...

Captions 22-23, Anna e Marika La mozzarella di bufala - La produzione e i tagli - Part 1

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Marito e moglie...

E poi tra moglie e marito è quasi impossibile sapere come vanno le cose.

And besides, between wife and husband, it's almost impossible to know how things go.

Caption 18, Il Commissario Manara S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia - Part 10

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 Destra e sinistra

Ci sono le botteghe a destra e a sinistra... C'è una macchina dietro!

There are shops on the right and on the left... There's a car back there!

Caption 39, In giro per l'Italia Firenze - Part 5

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When we see è, that is, e with a grave accent (descending from left to right), then the meaning changes to "is," "it is," "he is," or "she is." In other words, it's the third person singular of the verb essere (to be).

You'll need this verb when asking and answering questions, such as "Who is that?" "What's that?"

"Chi è quella ragazza?"

"Who is that girl?"

Caption 41, Marika risponde Risposta 1 Pronomi e aggettivi interrogativi

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Sì, è vero, è una ricetta segreta,

Yes, it's true. It's a secret recipe,

Caption 6, Adriano L'arancello di Marina

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If you listen carefully, you might be able to hear that pronouncing è is a little different from e, but it's more important to understand the context and meaning than to get the pronunciation exactly right. It will come with time.  

Sometimes we need an acute accent on an e (rising from left to right) to show which part of the word is stressed. The most common example of this is perhaps the word for "why" and "because": perché. Keep in mind that the pronunciation is not the same as è. It's more like e, but above all, it's stressed. To hear multiple examples of how it's pronounced, see the Yabla dictionary and type in the word you want to hear. Anywhere you see the audio icon, you'll hear the word spoken, either by itself, or in context by clicking on it. 

Perché ti lamenti?

Why are you complaining?

Caption 7, Acqua in bocca Mp3 Marino - Ep 2

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Ah, a proposito c'è un pane che proprio non mi piace che è quello Toscano perché è senza sale.

Ah, by the way there's a bread that I really don't like which is the Tuscan kind because it's without salt.

Captions 23-24, Anna e Marika Il pane

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In the previous example, you will also hear different e's. Note the very slight difference between the è in c'è and the e in che. But don't worry if you don't hear the difference. 

More about the double-duty word perché here.

Keep in mind that not all Italians pronounce their vowels exactly the same way. This happens in English too. Once you start hearing the differences, you'll see that it's kind of fun to guess where someone is from. 

See you in the next lesson!

Let's talk about a word that is used a lot in Italian to mean more than its one-word, traditional translation. We're talking about sotto (under, underneath, below). Not only is it a preposition, but it's also an adverb and sometimes a noun. It can combine with other words to take on a new meaning, and in this lesson, we will just mention a few of the common ways it's used to mean something different than what we might expect.

Sotto can mean "down" 

Sotto is often preceded by qua, qui, or là when indicating something either close by or further away, but in a downward direction.

E qua sotto c'è il fiume Tevere.

And down here is the river Tiber.

Caption 19, Anna e Marika - Trattoria Al Biondo Tevere

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When we talk about the stories or floors in a building or house, we can use sotto to indicate a lower floor. Usually, in this context, it's preceded by di (of).

Andiamo giù a vedere che cosa c'è al piano di sotto.

Let's go down to see what's on the lower floor.

Caption 23, In giro per l'Italia - Firenze

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When you want to talk about downstairs, you can also use sotto.

Ah, perché non è di sotto?

Ah, because she's not downstairs?

Caption 4, Sposami - EP 4 - Part 9

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Vai di sotto!

Go downstairs! 

In front of

Sometimes sotto means "in front of," usually referring to a house, a building, or... one's nose. Lots of people live on the upper floors of apartment buildings, so you have to go down to get to the front of the building.

Appena ha visto i carabinieri sotto casa Sua,

As soon as you saw the carabinieri in front of your house,

se n'è scappato tipo "Fuga di mezzanotte".

you ran away, "Midnight Express" style.

Captions 8-9, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore - S1 EP2 Come piante fra sassi

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Sotto il profilo

Sotto il profilo is used to mean something to the effect of "in terms of" or "as regards." Il profilo is a true cognate and friend of "the profile," but it's used figuratively here.

Rita abbia dedicato la sua vita a fare crescere la sua anima

Rita devoted her life to nurturing her soul,

e non soltanto sotto il profilo della ricerca scientifica, eh.

and not only in terms of her scientific research, uh.

and not only as regards her scientific research, uh.

Captions 41-43, Illuminate - Rita Levi Montalcini

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On hand

Here, the Italian expression uses the preposition sotto, but the English one uses the preposition "on."

Eh... eh, non è questione di non avere nessuno sottomano,

Uh... uh, it's not a question of not having anyone on hand,

è che è molto difficile trovare la donna giusta.

it's that it's very difficult to find the right woman.

Captions 28-29, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro

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Handy 

Sottomano can also mean "handy," or "close by."

Non ho il numero sottomano ma lo posso cercare nella rubrica.

I don't have the number handy, but I can look it up in my address book.

Sotto as a noun

When you are talking about a 2-piece outfit, such as pyjamas, bikini, or athletic wear, you can refer to the bottoms as il sotto (the bottom part).

We have just scratched the surface of sotto but if you absorb all these meanings (or even one or two), you will be one step closer to becoming fluent.

Why not check out Marika's video about adverbs of place (avverbi di luogo)? Attenzione: Sometimes what are considered adverbs in Italian might be considered prepositions in English.

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