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Lesson Introduction
You can blame it on the trains. You can blame it on time management issues. Either way you look at it you're running late for a meeting, an appointment, or a date. Today's Italian lesson covers what's going on with the person who's waiting for you, however anxiously. Join us in this podcast as we discuss how to describe time and anticipation.
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marcod says
June 10, 2008
I saw the match yesterday: Netherlands-Italy 3-0.
And the question is:
dov'è la squadra?! (where is the team?)
roscovanbasten says
June 10, 2008
la squadra non ci sta...
io credo che il Mister sempre scelga i giocatori piu vecchi - i giovani non c'hanno nessun opportunita giocare...
Ieri, c'erano soltanto 2 giocatori negli Azzurri che avevano meno di 30 anni...
E' sempre lo stesso - non importa chi e' il Mister - sempre sceglie vecchioni come Del Piero, Cannavaro...Maldini c'era?? Ho sentito che l'anno prossimo continuara' giocare con il Milan...C'ha 40 anni...incredible...!
Comunque, credo che gli Azzuri ancora abbiano speranza....
Se tutti gli vecchi vanno a casa!
Forza Irlanda!
sandro76 says
June 10, 2008
se tutti gli vecchi? :) I VECCHI!
incredibile!
I made a mistake in the multiple choice exercise!
ma non sono d'accordo :)
the question is about
...ti
the right answer is CALMAti! calm down!
I think that ECCOti is right too!
(here you are!)
;)
Sandro
roscovanbasten says
June 10, 2008
Benvenuti Sandro...and thank you for the correction..
is vecchioni correct to say "Oldies"?
marcod says
June 10, 2008
e bravo Sandro! :) you're right, the computer is not clever enough to see that eccoti (here you are) and eccola (here she is) are both right!
@rosco: we don't usually say vecchioni, we say "vecchietti"! and by the way you're right about the team!
michele says
June 11, 2008
rosco, if you mean for "Oldies"something like an old famous song or an old famous film you could say "un classico" per esempio,
"Sciuscà" è un classico del neorealismo
oppure
questa canzone è un classico di Fabrizio De André
hope this could help you...
BTW: Vecchioni is the surname of a quite well known Italian singer-songwriter, and he wrote and performed in the last decades some good example of what you could say a classico...
chillosk says
June 11, 2008
Andiamo!! - I used to play for the Italian expat team in the Shanghai International Football League and they'd always say this, especially when we were already late for our games! Hahaha, great!
michele says
June 11, 2008
Oops, I've made a typo, I meant "Sciuscià" the famous film (1946) by Vittorio De Sica... and someone would like to know that this strange word it's simply a popular translitteration from "shoe-shine"...
billkaulitzlover says
June 11, 2008
Then, does "eccoli" mean "Here they are" ?
marcod says
June 11, 2008
eruworld, you got it right!! italian can be like lego blocks with these small particles:)
aleco says
June 11, 2008
When I heard this, I thought the conversation was about a train which was running late: "Where's it (the train)?!", "There it is is, let's go".
If the end was "Eccolo", it could also correctly be about a train, right?
catherinem says
June 11, 2008
Excellent point, aleco!
The conversation could be about a number of things. What indicates that it is about a woman is one of the final words, "eccola."
If, as you mention, you want to describe a train that's just arrived, you could say "eccolo!" Train is il treno, so "lo" corresponds to il treno.
If you want to be even more specific, at the beginning you could say:
Dov'è il treno? (Where is the train?)
leoguerrero says
June 13, 2008
Hey Rosco!
Did you use google translations to write that? :D
I don't understan what he said about the squadra and the Italian futball team, can somebody translate it?
michele says
June 13, 2008
Hey Leo, don't be so harsh with Rosco...
For an Italian listener or reader Rosco's sentences are fully understandable. Yes, there is something that you could say more correctly, but the overall meaning it's clear.
If he'd say:
la squadra non ci sta... io credo che il Mister scelga sempre i giocatori piu vecchi - i giovani non c'hanno nessuna opportunità di giocare...
Ieri, c'erano soltanto 2 giocatori negli Azzurri che avevano meno di 30 anni...
E' sempre lo stesso - non importa chi e' il Mister - sceglie sempre vecchioni come Del Piero, Cannavaro...Maldini c'era?? Ho sentito che l'anno prossimo continuera' a giocare con il Milan...C'ha 40 anni...incredibile...!
Comunque, credo che gli Azzuri abbiano ancora speranza....
Se tutti i vecchi vanno a casa!
Forza Irlanda!
it would be perfect Italian, obviously spoken Italian, and you can see I've changed very few things. There are some colloquial term like la squadra non ci sta, c'ha, c'hanno. Even vecchioni in this context denotes its strongly colloquial usage.
BTW all these expression make me think that Rosco could have used such kind of a dialogue a lot of times with some Roman friend... But, for sure, there's nothing to do with a Google translation!
On the contrary it's pretty fancy his usage of modo congiuntivo in this context, with a perfect expression like io credo che il Mister scelga or even a more studied one like credo che gli Azzuri abbiano ancora speranza.... Rosco, you say the truth, you've already studied Italian somewhere with some extent, isn't it? Many Italians are not able to perform such a correct usage of the modo congiuntivo!
And now, dear Leo, please, let me not to translate it in English, this task it's a better one for Rosco himself, if he likes...
The problem is that all these things would be discussed much more suitably on a intermediate level... So, dear friends of ItalianPod, listen to me, Rosco, and probably many others, need urgently more challenging stuff!
ciao a tutti, con simpatia, Michele.
stevestr says
June 13, 2008
Leo
buddy. How many languages do you know?
spanishlearners says
July 14, 2008
Guys, am I in Spanish pod by mistake? Hi there leo and stevestrv.
It is nice to learn a bit of a language and here a start in Italian. Chao a toti.
kylep says
July 14, 2008
Stevestrv, ciao! Ora so dove sei! :)
christian says
August 8, 2008
What exactly does "l`orologio " cover? Does it include wristwatches, digital clocks, etc? only clocks?
catherinem says
August 10, 2008
Christian-
"l'orologio" covers time pieces: clocks (whether digital or not) and watches. It's a nice catch-all term!
kinn says
August 12, 2008
Hello, I want to speek Italy but i can't. How i can do?
gramalho says
August 22, 2008
So do I my friend !
mariannevdwerf says
August 23, 2008
So you can also say: Hai l'orologio?
which would mean: Do you have a watch?
catherinem says
August 24, 2008
Yes, mariannevdwerf,
To ask if someone has a watch you'd ask hai un orologio? You would ask hai l'orologio? if you want to know if someone has a particular watch (the watch).
Catherine
jenjan_0524 says
September 1, 2008
hello everyone.. im from philippines and im here in italy for about one year and half.. and i still find italian language difficult to learn... i can speak a little but i understand it more than to speak it..
im eager and willing to learn it.. the problem is italian is very complex..
buonagionata tutti..
galeacharles says
September 15, 2008
La squadra di Milano e' piu vecchia e gia perde due partiti. Sono un studente.
galeacharles says
September 15, 2008
jenjan
prova scrive in italiano
galeacharles says
September 15, 2008
Kinn & gramalho
Sono un studente. Per favore screve in italiano.
saphirah says
September 27, 2008
its very good... i love it.. couz i learn...
onikaya says
September 29, 2008
Tres facil! It looks like french, but diferent word roots.
nayelicarolinahurtadoic says
September 29, 2008
hello to everyone!
today was my first lesson!!!
it's so cool learning Italian from this webside
I hope do it great
have a nice afternoon
ciao!!!
belalamaratpetra says
October 6, 2008
possiamo anche dire "ecogli" per the nome that cominciano con the lettere "s ed z" per esempo :
ecogli studente
Bilal
Girdania
marcod says
October 6, 2008
hi belalamaratpetra,
you're right! the article gli precedes nouns starting with z or s.
ecco gli studenti; ecco gli zii.
if we want to omit the object we can use li attached to the end of ecco to form the sentence.
eccoli.
astrostah says
October 7, 2008
che ore sono?
well, i'm here...^-^
i'm a filipina, trying to learn italian!
i think italian is a very sweet language and cool to utter!...utterrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!^-^
nguyen_huong_xuan_201 says
October 8, 2008
Ciao! Piocere di conoscerla!
Il mio nome e`Xuan.
Hi there! I'm Vietnamese and I'm wanting to learn Italian. Today is my first time in here so I hope you'll help me so much. Thank you first.
nguyen_huong_xuan_201 says
October 11, 2008
Can some of you show me how to use verbs in Italian? I don't know about it so I can't use the right tense of verb, the right grammar in my speech. (sorry if my English grammar is not good and make you misunderstanding)
gongqiling says
October 11, 2008
it could be a easier one 4 me 2 study italian......so difficult it is!
BTW,Is it true that most italians use more often presente indicativo(for the most time?)and...it takes the place of futuro simplice...passato prossimo~imperfetto ecc....
:)
kristina_vrankic says
October 14, 2008
IIIII LOOOOVE ITALIAN!!!! Can someone tell me the numbers and their using in some examples, please?? I mean is some number always used in same way??
no, it is not dificult..just be patient, stay calm, and keep trying!!!! step by step and repeat enough!!!!! something thats worthy you cant get easyly!!! good luck!!!!
this is cool!!I want to become professore de italiano.(-: hope i said right! Ciao!!!--sorry because of my english!
catherinem says
October 14, 2008
@gongqiling:
Yes it's true that Italians often use presente indicative to describe things they'll be doing in the near future. Where we'd say, in English,
I'll get the newspaper.
In Italian, we'd say,
Prendo il giornale.
This isn't always the case, and is definitely not the case with events that have recently occurred. I just washed my hands would be:
Mi sono appena lavata le mani.
When discussing remote past, Italians often choose not to use passato remoto and instead use passato prossimo, though this often differs by region.
I hope this helps!
@kristina_vrankic:
I'm not sure if what you're looking for are cardinal numbers or ordinal numbers. Check the grammar guide for a thorough treatment of Italian numbers. I'll be preparing an entry today! Grammar guide.
amoremio1 says
October 22, 2008
Good morning to all,
I was in Italy 5 years, I am Safety Engineer, it is a nice to learn any other language, especially if it is sweet language like Italian.
The Italian language it is not difficult, but you should have an Italian to guide you if you have a mistake!!!
My problem is I didn't use this language more than 7 years!!!
I forgot many things about this language; I feel sorry for my self!!!!
This is what I want to share with u.
Sorry for my English, maybe it is not clear!
ire_ne says
October 22, 2008
Don`t be sorry amoremio for your english, everything`s clear!
So...ItalianPod is a good chance for u to "recover" your italian ;-)
ranran850412 says
January 14, 2009
I have a suggestion,you kown many people are not fluent in Italian dialogue.Can you help us add the english translation of the dialogue?I think it will be better for our study!Thanks a lot!
threecats33 says
January 15, 2009
hi ranran, you should download the pdfs of the lessons, then you can read the Italian & the English translations.
iwillgotoiatly says
July 15, 2009
this is so fun
catherinem says
July 16, 2009
@iwillgotoitaly Glad you're enjoying the lessons! If you have any questions, just ask!
blueschaeffer says
August 16, 2009
does mezza mean "half"? as in ten hours and a half?
grazi!
catherinem says
August 16, 2009
@blueschaeffer
Exactly right: mezza means half. (You know it's referring to "hour" because it's mezza and not mezzo.)
Che ore sono? What time is it?
Sono le due e mezza. It's two thirty.
victoriashehadie says
October 10, 2009
Hi!
I am Victoria and I am from Sydney Australia.
I am going to Italy in late November to late Jan for exchange. This has been very helpful!
Grazie!
X
catherinem says
November 3, 2009
@Victoria
Glad that you've found the site helpful! If you have any questions about what you're learning, just post them here in the community section.
trungle2009 says
November 17, 2009
Dear Catherinem,
It seems that when you and Marco speak in the natural speed, the word "e" is disappear. Is that right that Italian pronunciation also has linking sound like the English?
And one more thing, can you give me some suggestion for practicing Italian. I am at newbie level and I hope to practice what I have just learned. If not, it's easy to forget!
Ciao e grazie.
catherinem says
November 17, 2009
@trungle2009
There's no rule about dropping a vowel sound in Italian pronunciation. In fact, pronunciation really varies according to region.
It might sound like the "e" sound gets swallowed, but in fact I wouldn't do this on purpose. It's a natural consequence of words "blurring" together when we speak quickly (like you say, we do this sometimes in English, too).
My suggestion for practicing is to speak as much as possible! Skype is a great resource if you want to do a language exchange. I also recommend watching Italian movies and listening to Italian music. There's an entire thread in our Community section on Italian music (and Italian Poddies' favories).
renjuthomas says
Dear Friends, It was my first lesson. It is Highly appreciable.February 16, 2010
tonio70 says
2 days ago
Dear Catherinem,
I just signed on to this site and I am not sure why I never did earlier. I am enjoying this site very much and the newbie lessons are just the right blend of information and humor, both of which make me want to continue onward.
Thanks guys,
Antonio