I'm curious about the use of the word "ma";  I know it translates literally as "but",  but I've noticed it is often used just to be used, as in the first line of this lesson;  is it just a throwaway? 

grazie, Al

1. conj. BUT
2. inter. indicates surprise, uncertainty or doubt.

I don't quite get what is happening with the grammar in fermo/ferma.  If it's an imperative, how can it have a gender?  And if it's not an imperative, ma cos'è?

Good question. Ferma would be the verb fermare in the imperative, but that's not how it's used in this dialogue. Here it's (stai) ferma, so it's an adjective and not a verb. If I were talking to a man, I'd say (stai) fermo. The verb stare (tu stai) is implied.

For example, when a little boy is getting his hair cut, his parents would normally say:

(Stai) fermo! Keep still/stay put!

If I were talking about a girl, it would be:

(Stai) ferma! Keep still/stay put!

Another great lesson!

Hello, are the plural masculine / feminine of questo : questo/ questi + questa / queste ?

Great concept for learning italian

you got it right!
questo ragazzo / questi ragazzi
questa ragazza / queste ragazze

Thanks,

Kyle

Cos'e questo/a? is only for singular things?

How do I ask about plurals?  Cosa sono questi/e?

Grazie.

Cosa dici?
Che cosa dici
Che dici?

The only slight difference is that using only che alone sounds more colloquial and che cosa  is more used when asking for a definition (che cos'è la sintassi?).

As I said these difference are really small and not very strict and the 3 words are almost always interchangeable.

@jill: correct! good job! brava!!

O.k. Check us out on these:

(Where are you going tonight?)

Dove andare stasera?

'Questa è il mio amico Paolo.'  Should it be Questo?  Do all of these

Questo

mio

amico

point at ‘Paulo?’ 

Does mio point back at the speaker? (‘mia’ for a woman speaker?)

Adesso, andiamo presto!

(“now, let’s speed it up!”)

Charles & Kirsten

"Where are u going tonight?"

if "you" is second person singular is " Dove vai stasera?"

if "you" is second person plural is "Dove andate stasera?"

"Questo", "mio" and "amico" are point to Paolo so they need to be masculine and singular.

I didn't understand the last sentence...anyway the right translation for "now, let's speed it up" is "adesso acceleriamo" or "adesso andiamo più veloce".

Let me know if I cleared it up!!!

The speed it up thing is something Catherine always says in the lesson reviews, kind of a joke.  8^)

Thanks!

Made funnier by the fact that I sound really wacky on that audio clip. I really do have to change that... ;)