CBI 1:26 | Talking about yourself in Italian

Coffee Break Italian Season 1 Episode 26 Buongiorno a tutti e benvenuti a Coffee Break Italian Io sono Mark Ciao a tutti, sono Francesca, buongiorno, sono Katie E come state oggi? Io direi "fì, bene, bene, grazie" Diresti bene? Sì molto bene e che ti come stai? Oggi sto benissimo e tu, Mark, come stai? Non c'è male oggi, non sono spostanko ma a parte quello tutto bene Before we move on I'd like to pick up on something that Francesca said during her introduction She said "I would say that I'm quite well today" What did you say? Direi "bene" Direi? That means "I would say a new word for you then" Allora cosa impariamo oggi Francesca, poi spiegarci Sì, oggi facciamo una conversazione al telefono Perfetto Informale Informale, molto importante perché la settimana scorsa abbiamo fatto una conversazione formale, non è vero È verissimo, bravo, ricordi bene Grazie Katie, capisci bene Ti vengono a "What's going on here?" Un po' Poi spiegare, che ne ho detto? Francesca said "something about an informal conversation on the phone" Una conversazione informale Dusta And I said something about "la settimana scorsa" which was last week Abbiamo fatto una conversazione formale La settimana scorsa abbiamo fatto una conversazione formal Abbiamo fatto Ho chiamato Ho chiamato Abbiamo fatto Potremmo che ho fatto Ho fatto Perfetto Mama mia Ok, before we get into all this grammar I think we should start the lesson, cominciamo Sì Allora, questa conversazione informale Francesca, puoi spiegare chi è chi? Sì, io sono Giovanna Ok Tu sei Mark? Molti interessanti Sì, sì E tu, Mark, vuoi parlare con mio marito vincenzo OK, Katie, can you explain this a little bit? Well, I think Mark is funny Giovanna, Giovanna, to speak to her husband vincenzo Molto bene, molto bene Su mio marito is my husband So I am funny to speak to vincenzo OK, siamo pronti? Pronti, sì Pronto Ciao, Giovanna, c'è vincenzo Es, scusa, ma chi parla? Scusa, sono Mark, come stai? Ah, Mark, ciao, tutto bene, tu? Sì, molto bene, grazie Allora, vincenzo a casa? E. no, vincenzo, non è qui, è uscito Ah, va bene Puoi richiamare più tardi? Certo, buona serata Grazie, anche a te, ciao Allora, facciamo questa conversazione ancora una volta La del studio conversation one more time Pronto Ciao, Giovanna, c'è vincenzo Es, scusa, ma chi parla? Scusa, sono Mark Ah, Mark, ciao, come stai? Tutto bene, grazie, te? Sì, tutto bene, grazie Allora, vincenzo, è a casa? E no, vincenzo, non è qui, è uscito Ah, va bene Puoi richiamare più tardi? Sì, certo, buona serata OK, buona serata, anche a te, ciao Pronto, pronto Ciao, Giovanna, c'è vincenzo Hai, Giovanna, è vincenzo, è qui? Exitmente, c'è, literalmente, c'è, or è qui? È qui, è vincenzo, è vincenzo, è qui E poi, Giovanna, c'è qualcosa, è interessante? Scusa, ma chi parla? OK, can you work that out? Excuse me, but is speaking? Who's speaking, chi parla? Parla, of course, non è vero, parlare, parlo parlo, parlo, parlo, parlo, parlo, parliamo, parlate, parlano So, chi parla, who is speaking? And then I said, "scusa, Giovanna, sorry, Giovanna, sono Mark It's Mark, and remember, you see, sono, because you're saying, "I am Mark" Literally, you don't say "E" Mark, it's Mark, in English, we would say "It's Mark" But in Italian, we need to use that first person singular of the verb "sono Mark" Then after that, we did a little bit of "how are you?" "com'est all right?" and all that kind of thing And then I said, "allora, vincenzo, è a casa" A question, which would mean? So, "is vincenzo at home?" See, "vincenzo" è "a casa" "vincenzo" is "at home" so it's like a statement, but, of course, by raising your voice at the end Then you can make it into a question, "vincenzo è a casa?" is "vincenzo è a home?" And let's see what Francesca or Giovanna said in response No, "vincenzo non è qui, è uscito" No, this is pretty tricky if we look at it grammatically, but let's just look at it as a piece of vocabulary for now Let's hear the first part No, "vincenzo non è qui" Katie, what would that mean? I think that's "no, vincenzo" is not here "vincenzo" is "not here, vincenzo, non è qui" And then, Francesca said " è uscito" Now, the "ito" ending here is similar to the "ato" ending that we heard in "o chiamato" Katie, what did "o chiamato" mean? I have called So, if I tell you that the verb usire means "to go out" then any idea is as to what "e uscito" might mean He has gone out He hasn't yet gone out Does "e" not mean "he is" rather than "he has" So, is that a little like the French? Very well spotted, the "o chiamato" "e" means "he is" And normally we would say "he has done something" "a chiamato, he has called" "a manjato, he has eaten" But when we're using the verb usire and some other verbs we use "e" meaning literally "he is gone out" It is like the French we don't need to worry too much about it just now and I don't really want to say much more because it's perhaps a little too complicated for less than 26 of our course but stick in with your coffee brecchitalia and we'll teach you all you need to know Okay, so then I went on and I said "va bene" which means "and Giovanna then said" "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" Can we hear that again in Francesca please? "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" Okay, did you remember what "Poi" means? You can or can you? Or can you exactly? So it's followed by an infinitive, in this case "ri chiamare" so we know what happens when we put "ri" onto the beginning of a word "ri chiamare" mean "to call back" or "to call again" "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" I'm not sure if we've done "piu tardi" before can you work out what it might mean? It sounds a little like the French so I'm going to guess later Later yes "piu tardi" or "piu tardi" in Italian So "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" I'll try "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" Can you call back later? I said "certo" "buona serata" which would mean "have a nice evening" "have a nice evening" Remember "buona serata" lovely phrase "have a nice evening" It's a little bit different from "buona sera" because the "serata" part refers more to the sort of duration of the evening "buona serata" "buona giornata" "have a good day" rather than just "buon giorno" "good day" "buona giornata" "have a good day" Ok, fairly straightforward, or conversation, a few new things in there "Poi ricchiamare più tardi" Can you call back later? And then that quite tricky part "e ushito" Now just while we're talking about "e ushito" It's maybe worth mentioning also if in a different situation if someone were phoning "vincenso" looking for "juvanna" and "juvanna" had gone out then "vincenso" wouldn't say "e ushito" Francesca, what would "vincenso" say in that situation? "e ushita" because in this case we're talking about a female "juvanna" "e ushita" that only happens when we're using that "e ushita" "e ushito" for a male Again, don't worry about it, it's just so that you recognise it if someone were to say "e ushita" then you're saying "she has gone out" ok? Tutto bene? - Okay, I think it's time to move on to something a little different. And that is where we're going to improve or increase the range of expressions that we have to talk about ourselves. The fact is, over these next few lessons, we're going to be increasing those of phrases, those that area of vocabulary for talking about ourselves, because when you're traveling in a Italian speaking area, one of the main things that you have to do is get to know people and chat to people. So it's always useful to be able to see a little more about yourself. Katie, you already know how to say quite a lot about yourself. For example, - "Come ti chiami". - "Mi chiamo Katie". - "Dove abiti". - "Abito a glasco in Scotia". - "Hay fratelli o sorelle". - "Sí o due fratelli". - "Como si chiamano". - "Si chiamano fraser e gregar". - "E parli molto bene in italiano". - "No". - "Sto imperando in italiano da. " - "No, ve mesi". - "No, ve mesi". Bravo, brava. - "Morto bene". But there are other things that it's useful to know how to say. For example, we might be wondering about what you're doing here or indeed someone might want to ask you about your age or the age of your children or the people that you're with or something like that. Obviously, we've got to be careful with ages. We don't want to be too rude and ask people their age if it's not appropriate. But nonetheless, it's useful to be able to talk about, for example, my children are on holiday with me, someone asks what age are your children. Let's start with that. Let's talk about age because age in Italian is a little different from in English. Francesca, non ti chiedo quan ti anni ai, ma? "Como si dice, how old are you?" - "Si dice, quan ti anni ai?" So listen again to that. - "Quante anni ai?" - "Literally, that means how many years do you have? We already know "i" from the verb "avere". So, Katie, let's imagine, keep it simple. Let's imagine you are 10 years old. How do you say "I am 10 years old", thinking about the fact that to ask the question is how many years do you have? Therefore, you'll be answering "I have 10 years". "Perfecto", "Oh, 10 anni". - "Si, molto bene". - "Soké ti, las aschi te question, quanti anni ai?" "O, 24 anni, e tu, Marc, quanti anni ai?" - "O, 43 anni". - "Corante tre, is that all?" Yes, thank you very much. It is indeed all. "O, 43 anni, I have 43 years, so how many years do you have quanti anni ai?" But let's think about it. How would we say "Ah, what age is your son?" Let's see if we can work that out. We'll give our listeners some time to think and Katie some time to think too. What age is your son? Let's think about this then. What age is your son would become how many years has your son? Katie? "Quanti anni ai tu o figlio?" - "Quanti anni ai tu o figlio?" "Ok, quanti anni ai tu o figlio?" - "So how many years has your son, how old is your son?" And of course, how many years has your daughter or how old is your daughter would be? Now there might be the situation that you could perhaps be buying a train ticket or something like that where you need to have a particular age in order to get a particular reduction, for example. So in that case, it would not be "tu o figlio" or "tu o figlia" because the person speaking to you would be using a formal form. Now think back to how hotel receptionist might have asked you, "Can I have your passport?" Katie, can you remember the word for "your" in a formal situation? Il suo passaporto? - Molto bene. Il suo passaporto. And there we're talking about il suo passaporto. Remember when it's a thing or when it's not a member of the family, then you're using the il or the la definite article too. So il suo passaporto or, for example, la sua carta di credito. But if we're talking about your son, how would we say, "How old is your son in that formal way?" - Quanti anni a' il suo figlio? Are you sure about il suo figlio? We're talking about a member of the family here. - So suo figlio? Quanti anni a' suo figlio? Or how old is your daughter? Quanti anni a' suo figlia? - Sua figlia. - Minissimo. Okay, we're going to take a short break there and we'll be back in just a moment. Here at Coffee Break Italian, we want to help you turn your downtime into due time. Wojfa Rompadi Pratica joins us on Facebook three times a week and puts your Italian to work with our language challenges and cultural insights as they say "Practice makes perfect" or "in italiano" la pratica rende perfetti. Head over to facebook.com/cofibreitalian. A presto allora. Okay, let's get on with the lesson. Okay, another situation, maybe that if you're making conversation with people, they may want to ask "have you got children?" How do you say "have you" or "do you have" Katie? - I or A. - I or A, yeah. Let's stick to the informal form here. Okay, so "have you children?" Do you have children? Do we know the one for our children? - Bambini. - Bambini, yeah. So bambini would be children in the plural. Bambino, bambina, bambini, or bambine. Si può dire, bambine. Bambine. If you're talking about lots of female children, but "I bambini, do you have children?" Katie, question for you here. How would you say then? How old are they? Quanti anni anno? Benissimo. Quanti anni anno. Let's hear that again from Francesca. Quanti anni anno? A couple of double consonants in there. Quanti anni anno. Quanti anni anno. Okay, so how old are they? And if you wanted to say "my son is 14" and "my daughter is 10", go for it, Katie. Mi o figlio a 14 anni e mi a figlia a 10 anni. Perfecto. Another area that is important when you're traveling in a foreign country is to be able to see why you're there. Perhaps you're on holiday. Perhaps you're studying. Perhaps you're working or perhaps you're just traveling through. And it's always useful to be able to see that. Now the question, why are you in Italy? Francesca would be? Perche sei in Italia? Listen again. So Katie, perche sei in Italia? Looking at those four words, perche, why? Sei. That's from the verb. Sei. Sei in Italia? In Italy. Why are you in Italy? Let's think about some of the possible answers. What might you say? Sono invacanza. Sono invacanza. I am on holiday. And if you were asked the question, siete qui in Italia. Why are you here in Italy? But we're talking about siete there. What's happening there? You're talking to more than one person. Exactly. So if I were talking to you and your partner, and I said, "Perche siete qui in Italia?" How would you say we are on holiday? Siamo in vacanza. Siamo in vacanza. Okay, now you might want to say, "I am on holiday with my family." How do you see that? Sono invacanza con la mia famiglia. Or perhaps, "I am on holiday with my partner with my boyfriend, Katie." Sono invacanza con il mio compagno. Con il mio compagno, well done, you remember that's il mio. He's not a blood relation, so you have to say il mio, con il mio compagno. Oh, I ran into it with my girlfriend, Francesca, that would be. Sono invacanza. con la mia compagna. Okay, again con la mia, or con il mio, for boyfriend, girlfriend, partner. But what about "I am on holiday with my mother"? Sono invacanza con mia madre. Bene, sì, sono invacanza con mia madre. Okay, what about if you're not on holiday, perhaps? You are working. I am working. Francesca, can you help us with this? Because we're going to be looking at a slightly different form here. "I am working in Italy." Sto lavorando in Italia. Listen again. Sto lavorando in Italia. I really like this form because it's nice and easy to use. And we've heard it before. I think we heard sto cercando un giornale, or something like that. I'm looking for a newspaper. Sto, "I am doing something." And then the "ando" form of the verb. So in this case, lavorando. From the verb "lavorare" to work. So "I am working," Francesca is. Sto lavorando. Kitty, how would you say "I am speaking"? Sto parlando. Molto bene, how would you say "I am helping"? Sto aiutando. Molto bene, how would you say "I am eating"? Sto mangiando. Molto bene, in case you're there. It's each time we just replace the "are" at the end of the verb with "ando". Sto mangiando. Sto comprando. Sto chiamando. I am calling. But here, sto lavorando in Italia. I am working in Italy. And it's worth pointing out here that when we say sto lavorando in Italia, it means it's almost like a temporary thing. I am working in Italy at the moment. If you wanted to say "I work" in Italy, then in that case you wouldn't say "sto lavorando", you would just use the normal verb "from lavorare", which becomes "I work". Lavoro. Lavoro. Qui in Italia. Lavoro. Qui in Italia. So no the difference there. Lavoro qui in Italia. I work here in Italy versus "sto lavorando". Qui in Italia. I am working here in Italy at the moment. So the thing you might want to say is that I am on a business trip. So we're going to use "sono", "I am here". And let's see, "I am in trip of business". In the strange Italian. "I am in the trip of business". We've heard the word "viaggio" before "gernie" or "trip". So I am on a business trip. "I am in trip of business". Let's return to "lavoro" and "lavorare" for a moment, because there's another expression, another sort of format you can use here. And that would be "I am here for work". How would we see that, Francesca? "Sono qui per lavoro". Listen again. "I am here for work". And we can actually use this construction in a number of situations. Let's try saying, for example, "I am here for studies studying". "Sono qui per studio". And another one which Francesca has quickly written down here and passed over to me, which is a lovely one. I am here for love. "Sono qui per amore". And just a question, is that in order to find love or is it because we've already identified someone in particular? Usually you have already identified and you have been identified by someone. "I am here for love". "Allora, siamo qui per aiutavi con il vostro italiano. We are here to help you with your Italian, but time has run out for this episode. So that's where we're going to leave it today. Okay, perhaps a little challenge for you this week would be answering the question, "Per che sei in Italia? Why are you in Italy or, perhaps if you're not in Italy, "Per che voi andare in Italia? Why do you want to go to Italy?" You will be delighted to read your answers to that on our social media channels. You can find it more about them by going to Facebook.com/coffeebreakitalian And of course there there's lots more information about coffeebreakitalian and you can join the Coffeebreakitalian Learning Community and indeed we're also on Twitter. "Si, a te l'erne Italian". That is it for this episode of Coffeebreakitalian. We hope you've enjoyed it and as a separate we hope you've learned lots grazie molte e adi vedercie. Ciao ragazzi, alla prossima! This is the production of the Radio Linguah Network. Find out more at radialingua.com.