Living Italian : A Grammar-Based Course (with key) [4 ed.] 0340596775, 9780340596777

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Revisions by Isabella Marino

living

ltalian Maria

Valgimigli Revisions by Isabella Marino

Hodder & Stoughton A MEMBER OF THE HODDER HEADLINE GROUP

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 0 340 596775

First published 1961 Fourth edition 1994 Impressionnumber 10 9 8 7 Year 1998551997

6

Original copyright © Maria Valgimigli

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.

Typeset by Transet Typesetters, Coventry, England. Printed in Great Britain for Hodder & Stoughton Educational, a division of Hodder Headline Plc, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH by Cox & Wyman,

Reading.

Contents Preface to the fourth edition Introduction: The alphabet. Pronunciation. Punctuation. Accentuation. Capital letters. Pronunciation practice

Section One

1 Definite article: the. Gender of nouns. Reading passage: La classe.

2 Indefinite article: a, an. Cardinal numbers. Forming plural nouns. Reading passage: Una casa. Plural definite article. Agreement of adjectives. Position of adjectives. Ordinal numbers. Days of the week. Reading passage: Un giardino. Subject pronouns. You. Auxiliary verbs: avere, essere. Months of the year. Reading passage: Una sala da pranzo. Interrogatives. Plural of nouns ending in -co, -go, -ca, -ga. Conjugating regular verbs. Reading passage:

11 12 18

Ze 28 34

In citta. Regular verbs. Prepositions. Contracting prepositions. Possession. Reading passage: In campagna. Il primo gioco dell’alfabeto. Direct object pronouns. Partitive construction: some, any. Reading passage: Al mare. Indirect object pronouns. Cardinal numbers. Dates. Age. Reading passage: La montagna. Reflexive verbs. Reflexive pronouns. Conjugating

41

50

56 63

reflexive verbs. Irregular verbs: andare, dare, fare,

stare. Conjunctive pronoun: ne. Reading passage: Un incontro. 10 Possessive adjectives. Possessive pronouns. Relative pronouns. Ordinal numbers. Fractions. Reading passage: Al mercato.

70

LIVING

ITALIAN

Revision

Section Two

11 Forming past participles. Perfect tense. Using the perfect tense. Disjunctive pronouns. Time: lora. Reading passage: Al teatro. 12 Past participles. Perfect tense of auxiliary verbs. Perfect tense of reflexive verbs. Position of adjectives. Irregular adjectives. Reading passage: Alla fattoria. Il secondo gioco dell’alfabeto. 13 Demonstrative adjectives. Irregular verbs: tenere, dire. Reading passage: I laghi. 14 Future tense. Future tense of auxiliary verbs. Using the

78 81 82

88

98

103

future tense. Irregular verbs: potere, volere, venire.

15 16

17 18 19

20

Reading passage: Una lettera. Conditional tense. Geographical terms. Reading passage: La riposta. Irregular plurals of nouns. Regions of Italy. Reading passage: Prepararsi per il viaggio. Nouns ending in: -cia and -gia. Irregular verbs: dovere, salire, uscire, scendere. Reading passage: La partenza. Changes in certain verbs. Negative expressions. Reading passage: Da Londra a Folkestone. Irregular plurals of nouns. Irregular verbs: bere, sapere, conoscere. Reading passage: La traversata della Manica. Adverbs. Forming adverbs. Impersonal verbs. Reading passage: Sul treno continentale.

Revision

Section Three

21 Gerund: ing. Progressive construction. Irregular verbs: mettere, chiudere, venire. Human body. Reading passage: L’arrivo in Italia. 22 Imperfect tense. Imperfect tense of the model verbs. Imperfect tense of the auxiliary verbs. Irregular verbs: scegliere, sedere. Reading passage: Da Genova a Viareggio.

111 118

124 129 134

139 146 149 150

157

LIVING

ITALIAN

23 Using the definite article. Omitting the definite article.

164

Omitting the indefinite article. Irregular verbs:

24

25 26

27 28

29

30

rispondere, scendere, crescere. Reading passage: Pisa. Past definite of regular verbs. Past definite of the model verbs. Using the past definite. Prefixes. Suffixes. Reading passage: Da Viareggio a Firenze. Past definite of irregular verbs. Idiomatic uses of prepositions. Reading passage: Siena. Comparison of adjectives. Comparison of adverbs. Irregular comparison of adverbs. Reading passage: Roma. Subjunctive mood. Present subjunctive of auxiliary verbs. Reading passage: Da Roma a Milano. Subjunctive mood. Present subjunctive of auxiliary verbs. Reading passage: Milano. Imperfect subjunctive. Imperfect subjunctive of the model verbs. Imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary verbs. Compound tenses. Verbs followed by prepositions. Simple and compound tenses of verbs. Reading passage: Venezia. Idiomatic expressions with certain verbs. Classified

170

178 186

196 209

219

231

vocabulary. Reading passage: Il ritorno. Revision

Key to the exercises Appendices

Agreement in compound tenses of reflexive verbs. The passive. The impersonal pronoun: si. O09 He NO Possible combinations of conjunctive pronouns and adverbs. 5 Conjugation of the auxiliary verbs: avere and essere. 6 Conjugation of the model regular verbs. 7 Irregular verbs. Italian — English vocabulary English — Italian vocabulary Grammatical index

238 241 267 267 268 269 271

276 276 278 294 311 329

Abbreviations The following abbreviations have been used in the book:

abb. adj. adv. cond. conj. f. fut. imperf. impers. irr. m. past def. perf. pers. pl. pop. p-p. pres. pron. sing. subj.

abbreviated, abbreviation

adjective, adjectival adverb, adverbial

conditional tense conjugation feminine future tense imperfect tense impersonal irregular masculine past definite tense perfect tense person, personal plural popular past participle present tense pronoun, pronominal singular subjunctive mood

vi

Preface to the fourth edition Living Italian, first published in 1961, has become a highly respected and well established coursebook. It has remained popular during a period when language teaching methods have change constantly and this is a tremendous testimony to the thoroughness and effectiveness of Maria Valgimigli’s original course. This book continues to be useful for learners wanting an organised course which pays careful attention to the systematic building of grammar and vocabulary.

Also, teachers who are looking for additional exercises to supplement other courses will find this book of great value. In this edition, Isabella Marino has retained the carefully structured approach of the original and has modified the content where appropriate to bring the material fully up to date. The course comprises a full introduction to modern Italian, containing sections on all the grammatical and structural essentials of the

spoken language. John Langran Series Consultant

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Introduction THE

ALPHABET

The Italian alphabet consists of 21 letters, as follows: LETTER

PRONUNCIATION

LETTER

PRONUNCIATION

a b c

as ain car bee chee

n o p

ennay as oin not pee

q : s t u Vv Z

coo erray essay tee 00 voo dzayta

d e f g h i l m

dee ay effay dgee acca ee ellay emmay

The letters j (i lunga), k (cappa), w (voo doppia), x (icks), y (ipsilon), do not figure in the Italian alphabet; they are, however, used for the spelling of foreign words.

Note that x is also found in expressions such ex-presidente (expresident), ex-cancelliere (ex-chancellor) and so on.

y has been replaced by i: gioia (joy)

raion (rayon)

k is generally replaced by ch: chilogramma (kilogramme)

The Greek combination ph has been replaced by /

alfabeto (alphabet)

fotografia (photograph, photography)

LIVING

ITALIAN

PRONUNCIATION

Vowels a is pronounced approximately like a in car: sala (room)

caro (dear)

e has two sounds: (a) like ein bell (known as the open e). bello (beautiful) lento (slow) And (b) like ain late (known as the closed e). seta (silk) meno (less) pineta (pine grove) i is pronounced like 7in marine: finire (to finish)

primo (first)

o has two sounds: (a) like o in not (known as the open 0). notte (night) opera (opera, work)

And (b) like oin note (known as.the closed 0). nome (name) ora (hour)

u is always pronounced like 00 in moon: uno (one)

musica (music)

Consonants Of the sixteen consonants

the following ten are pronounced

approximately as in English: b, d, f, 1, m, n, p, q, t, and v. c has two sounds: (a) like cin can, when followed by a, o, u, or by any consonant, including h. cane (dog) che (what, that) con cura (with care, attention) chi (who, whom) crudo (raw)

And (b) like chin chop, when followed by e or i. cena (supper) cima (top, summit)

ce before e or iis pronounced like tch in match:

LIVING

ITALIAN

faccia (face)

g has two sounds: (a) like gin go when followed by a, 0, u or by any consonant, including h.

galante (gallant)

grande (big, great)

gola (throat)

ghirlanda (garland)

gufo (owl) And (b) like gin ginger, when followed by eor i. gentile (kind)

giardino (garden)

gg before e or i is pronounced like dgin edge: oggi (today) h is always silent. Initial h is found only in: ho (J have) hai (you have) ha (he, she has, you have) hanno (they have, you have)

and in.a few foreign words. The letter h prevents confusion between these four forms of the verb avere (to have) and o (07), ai (to the), a (to, at), anno (year). h is also found in a few exclamations:

ah! ahi! ahimé! (oh! ah! alas!)

q is always followed by u and has the same sound as qu in quick: quanto (how much) questo (this) r or rr is trilled in Italian: carne (meat)

qui (here) quota (share, quota) carro (cart)

s has two sounds: (a) like sin sad, when beginning a word before any vowel. sala (hall) sette (seven)

Also in compound words:

sito (site) sole (sun)

LIVING

ventisei (twenty-six)

ITALIAN

trentasette (thirty-seven)

or when doubled: basso (low)

permesso (permission)

or before the consonants f, p, q, and t:

studio (study) squadra (team, group) sputino (snack, light refreshment) And (b) but when intervocalic it usually sounds like sin rose rosa (rose) vaso (vase) And similarly when the noun ends in -ione:

divisione (division)

confusione (confusion)

It is similarly pronounced before b, d, g, 1, m, n, r and v.

z or zz also has two sounds: (a) like ts in its. grazie (thanks, thank you) terrazza (terrace) And (b) like ds in adds. pranzo (dinner)

"mezzo (half)

The following combined letters are of great importance:

ch like chin chemist

,

\ can only be followed by e or i:

gh like gin gun cherubino (cherub) Margherita (Margaret)

chiave (key)

laghi (lakes)

gli has a similar sound to Jliin million: luglio (July) Ventimiglia

except in a very few words where it has the same sound as in English: Anglicano (Anglican) negligere (to neglect)

glicine (wistaria)

gn has a similar sound to niin union or gnin mignonetie: ogni (each, every) signora (madam, lady)

gu before a vowel is always pronounced like gw in Gwendoline: lingua (language, tongue) guida (guide)

LIVING

ITALIAN

sc before e or iis pronounced like sh in ship: scendere (to go down, descend) uscire (to go out) But before a, o, u, and h it has a hard sound like sk: scala (staircase) scopo (aim, purpose) scuro (dark) scherzo (joke) It will be noticed that the Italian language has no nasal sounds.

PUNCTUATION Punctuation marks The punctuation marks are the same in Italian as in English: punto — lineetta virgola “ ” virgolette punto e vargola ( ) parentesi due punti [ ] parentesi quadra ? punto interrogativo * —_asterisco ! unto esclamativo P \ graffa punti sospensivi They are used much in the same way as in English, except that the lineetta denotes a change of speaker in written conversation.

; ;

The apostrophe The apostrophe is used whenaletter has been elided: l’amica — instead of — la amica l’Italia — instead of — la Italia.

Syllabication Italian words are divided into syllables. The main rules are: (a) Any single consonant between two vowels belongs to the syllable which follows. matita (pencil) ma-ti-ta parola (word) pa-ro-la

LIVING

(b) All double Italian.

consonants

ITALIAN

must be distinctly pronounced

bello (beautiful)

bel-lo

tetto (roof)

tet-to

in

ACCENTUATION Written accents Three accents are used in Italian: the grave ( ~ ), the acute ( ~ ) and the circumflex (“ ).

@ The grave accent is the one most frequently used. It acts mainly as a stress mark. This accent is used: (a) to denote the open sound of e. € (is, it is)

caffé (coffee)

(b) on words which have the stress on the last syllable. citta (town, city) ‘ virtu (virtue) (c) on the following five words. cid (that)

gia (already)

piu (more)

puo (can)

giu (down)

(d) on words of one syllable which otherwise would be confused

with others of the same spelling but of different meaning. é€ (is) da (gives) di (day) si (yes) la (there)

e (and) da (by, from) di (of) si (himself, herself, itself) la (the)

sé (himself, herself, itself)

se (z/)

li (there) té (tea)

li (them) te (you)

@ The acute accent is sometimes seen written in a word over the

LIVING

ITALIAN

letter e, when the e has a close sound.

né (nor)

perché (why, because)

This accent is frequently replaced by the grave accent.

@ The circumflex accent is very rarely used. It is written only on words which have been contracted; such words are found only in

poetry. corre (for)

cogliere (to gather)

Stress or tonic accent (a) In Italian the stress on words usually falls on the last syllable but one: parola (word) Milano (Milan)

In this case the words are known as parole piane. (b) The stress is also found on the last syllable but two: sabato (Saturday) domenica (Sunday) tavola (table)

These are known as parole sdrucciole. (c) Sometimes it is even found on the last syllable but three:

dimanticano (they forget) This is less common

desiderano (they want)

and occurs chiefly in verbal forms; these are

known as parole bisdnacciole. (d) And, finally, there are words with the stress on the last syllable,

but in this case the stress is indicated by a grave accent, as already stated above: qualita (quality) carita (charity)

These are known as parole tronche. Throughout this book, if the stress occurs other than as indicated

in (a) above, the stressed vowel is shown in italic type, or ina

roman type if the word itself is in italic.

LIVING ITALIAN CAPITAL

LETTERS

Capital letters are used in Italian as in English for names of people, countries, towns, rivers and lakes: Roberto Italia Roma Como But small letters are used as follows: (a) For the months

of the year, days of the week, seasons

and

adjectives of nationality. aprile (April) lunedi (Monday)

la primavera (Spring) la lingua italiana (the Italian language)

(b) For titles followed by a proper name. il signor Neri (Mr Neri) la contessa Valli (Countess Valli) (c) For the pronoun io (/), unless it begins a sentence. Io parlo italiano. (J speak Italian.) Anch’io. (J, too.)

Note, however, that the pronouns Lei (singular form) and Loro (plural form), when meaning you, are often written with a capital letter, although there is a contemporary tendency to write them with a small letter, especially since context usually rules out the possibility of confusion:

Dove va Lei, signora? Io vado a Milano. Anch’io.

Where are you going, madam? I am going to Milan. So am I.

PRONUNCIATION

PRACTICE

(a) Amica, regina, matita, caro, chiave, lago, laghi, grande, penna, ogni, figlio, quasi, Roma, Milano, Bologna, Vinci, Rapallo, Napoli, Verona, Genova, Firenze, Pisa, Torino, Venaia.

(b) Grazie.

Prego.

Permesso.

Avanti.

Presente.

Assente.

Buon

LIVING

ITALIAN

giorno. Buona sera. Buona notte. Signore. Signora. Signorina. (c) Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove.

(d) Chi va piano va sano eva lontano. Una rondine non fa primavera.

Il tempo fugge e non ritorna piu. Chi é paziente é sapiente. La salute é la prima ricchezza. A ogni uccello suo nido é bello. Chi ben princzpia é alla meta dell’ opera. L’uomo propone e Dio dispone. Bisogna battere il ferro mentre é caldo. Acqua cheta rovina i ponti.

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1

Section One

GRAMMAR

The definite article: the The is translated by: (a)

il before a masculine noun in the singular beginning with a

consonant, except s impure (i.e. s followed by a consonant), z, gn

Or ps. illibro

the book

il ragazzo _ the boy

(b) lo before a masculine noun in the singular beginning with s impure, Z, gn or ps. lo studente _ the student lozio the uncle lo gnocco _ the dumpling lo psicologo _ the psychologist (c) la before a feminine noun in the singular beginning with a consonant. lapenna the pen la studentessa the student lazia_ the aunt

(d) YF before a masculine or a feminine noun in the singular beginning with a vowel. Yalunno _ the pupil (m) Palunna _ the pupil (f)

Gender of nouns In Italian there are only two genders; every noun must be either masculine or feminine.

As a preliminary guide, it is useful to know that:

LIVING

ITALIAN

(a) nouns ending in -o are masculine. the book illibro il quaderno _ the exercise book There are only a few exceptions to this rule, the most common being: lamano _ the hand laradio the radio

(b)

nearly all nouns ending in -a are feminine:

lapenna

the pen

la matita

the pencil

For masculine nouns ending in -a (eg il poeta _ poet), see Lesson 16. (c)

most nouns ending in -ione are feminine.

la stazione _ the station la televisione _ the television

(d) nouns ending in -e may be of either gender. Those denoting people are easy to remember. il padre _ the father Others may cause confusion. la classe the classroom

Vanimale (m)

the animal

la madre _ the mother

ilnome_

la frase

the name

the sentence

Faced with this confusion, you should try from the beginning to associate all nouns with their corresponding articles. To form the feminine of nouns which denote people and which end in -o, change the -o to -a. il maestro

master

— lamaestra

ilragazzo

boy

— laragazza_

mistress

girl

LIVING

ITALIAN

VOCABULARY la classe il maestro la maestra l’alunno Valunna il tavolo la tavola la sedia

la porta il libro

il quaderno la finestra il banco

la penna la matita é chi ha? dove? dov’é? ecco

class, classroom master, teacher mistress

pupil (m) pupil (6) table

dining table chair door book exercise book window desk pen pencil as who has? where? where is? here ts, here are, there is, there are

on, upon

sotto

la stazione la televisione il nome l’animale la frase la radio lo studio lo studente la studentessa lo zio la zia

il padre

under station television name animal (m)

phrase, sentence radio, wireless

study, studio student (m) student (f) uncle aunt

father

lamadre mother e (or ed before and a vowel) mi passi pass me mi mostri show me

per favore per piacere signore signora signorina

please sir, Mr madam, Mrs Miss

Note that Signore (like all the other titles ending in -ore, such as senatore, professore, dottore) drops the final -e before a name or title.

Useful phrases Buon giorno. Buona sera. Come sta? Bene, grazie, e Lei? Molto bene, grazie.

Good morning (day). .

Good evening. How are you? Well, thank you, and you?

Very well, thank you.

LIVING ITALIAN READING

PASSAGE

La classe Ecco la classe. Ecco il maestro. II libro é sopra il tavolo. Il quaderno € sopra il banco. Ecco I’alunno. L’alunno ha la matita. Ecco

Valunna. L’alunna ha la penna. Ecco la porta. Dov’é la finestra? Mi mostri la sedia, per favore. Ecco la sedia. Mi mostri il tavolo.

Ecco il tavolo. Chi ha il libro? Il maestro ha il libro. Mi mostri il banco. Ecco il banco.

EXERCISES A Translate, and then answer in Italian, the following questions about the passage you have just read:

LIVING

1 Dov’é il libro?

ITALIAN

-6 Dov’é il banco?

2 Dov’é la porta? 3 Chi ha il quaderno? 4 Chi ha la penna?

7 Chi ha la sedia? 8 Chi ha la matita? 9 Dov’é l’alunno?

5 Dov’é la sedia?

10 Dov’é l’alunna?

B Put the correct form of the definite article in front of the following nouns:

1 4\_alunno 2 il maestro 3 {a penna

7a quaderno 8 1A porta 9 tbzio

4 i\ libro

10 il banco

5 3. studente

11 \& finestra

6 A matita

12 ta zia

C Translate into Italian:

1 2 3 4

The The The The

girl and the pencil. boy and the pen. master and the pupil (m). mistress and the pupil (f).

5 6 7 8

The door and the window. The book and the exercise book. Here is the student (m). Here is the student (f).

9 Pass me the chair, please. 10 Thank you. Show me the table. D Translate into Italian:

Good morning, madam. Good morning, sir. How are you? Well, thank you, and you? Very well, thank you. Where is the teacher (f)?

Who has the book? Show me the pencil, please. DN OF P Or OTM © Pass me the exercise

book, please.

LIVING

ITALIAN

10 Thank you, madam.

E Complete the following and then translate into English: Il maestro ha —_ libro e ow penna.

Mi mostri &_ televisione. Dov’é _|_ animale? Per favore, signore, mi passilo sedia.

Il quaderno é sotto tavolo. La matita é sopra radio. Mi mostri i quaderno, per favore. Ecco“0 studio. La ragazza ha SOX matita. aOF SOO De P OTD Dov’é UL studente?

2 GRAMMAR

The indefinite article: -a, an A, an is translated by: (a)

un before masculine nouns in the singular, except those

beginning with s impure or with z. un libro a book unamico

a friend (m)

(b) uno before a masculine noun in the singular beginning with s impure, z or gn. uno spillo a pin uno zio_ an uncle uno gnomo_ a gnome (c)

una before a feminine noun in the singular beginning with

a consonant.

una penna

a pen

una sala

a room

(d) um’ before a feminine noun in the singular beginning with a vowel. un’amica

afriend (f)

un’ora

Cardinal numbers 1 2 3

uno due

4 5

quattro cinque

10 11

dieci undici

6

sei

12.

dodici

tre

7 8 9

sette otto nove

an hour

LIVING

ITALIAN

Note that uno, with its different forms un, una, un’ as explained

above, is the only number which changes its form according to

the noun which follows.

Forming plural nouns (a) Masculine vowel to -i.

nouns

ending in -o, -a or -e change

libro > libri poeta > poeti (b)

the final

padre — padri

To form the plural of nouns ending in -io omit the -o, unless

the -i- is stressed, in which case change -io to -ii. figlio — figli Zio — Zii (c)

Feminine nouns ending in -a change -a to -e.

(d) Feminine nouns ending in -e change -e to 4. madre — madri The plural of the feminine nouns la mano (hand), Parma (weapon, arm) and lala (wing) are le mani, le armi, and le ali.

VOCABULARY una casa

un giardino una sala un salotto una sala da pranzo una cucina un ragazzo una ragazza un giornale una rivista un amico

house

garden hall, room lounge, living-room dining-room kitchen boy girl newspaper magazine Jriend (m)

un’amica

friend (f)

un’ora uno spillo che? c’é

hour pin what? there is; is there? who is? } bani ale

chi é? che ha? or che cosa ha? questo, questa a destra a sinistra

this (m), this (f) to the right to the left

LIVING

ITALIAN

Useful phrases Gore pesio?

}

Che (cosa) € questo?

What is this?

Permesso. Avanti. Mi scusi. Prego.

Allow me; excuse me. Forward, come in. Excuse me. Please; don’t mention it.

READING

PASSAGE

Una casa Ecco un giardino. Ecco una casa. Ecco una porta. A destra c’é la sala da pranzo. A sinistra c’é il salotto. Ecco la cucina. La casa ha quattro porte e sei finestre. Ecco il padre. Ecco la madre. Il padre ha un giornale. La madre ha una rivista. Ecco una ragazza. Ecco

due ragazze. Ecco un ragazzo. Ecco due ragazzi. Chi é questa ragazza? E Maria. Chi é questo ragazzo? E Giovanni. Maria ha un libro. Giovanni ha un quaderno.

BAER CHS ES A Translate, and then answer in Italian, the following questions about the passage you have just read: 1 Dov’é la casa?

2 3 4 5

Dov’é la porta? Che c’éasinistra? Che c’é a destra? Chi € questa ragazza?

6 Chi € questo ragazzo?

7 8 9 10

Che Che Che Che

cosa cosa cosa cosa

ha ha ha ha

il padre? la madre? Maria? Giovanni?

B Put the correct form of the indefinite article in front of the follow-

ing nouns: 1. aia 2 at casa

3

20

——amico 2 epiria

LIVING

ITALIAN

5 —amica 6 —_ rivista

Do sale 10 __ giornale

7 — ragazzo

11 __ padre

8... 210

12 ~_ studente

C Translate into Italian:

A boy and agirl. A father and a mother. A student (m) and a pupil (f). A house and a garden. To the right there is a door. To the left there is a window. Here is a dining-room. Here is a lounge.

A newspaper is on the chair. 10 A magazine is under the table. Ot OM ~T CO DD OO © P

D Translate into Italian: 1 Good evening, sir.

2 3 4 5

Good evening, madam. Where is the dining-room? To the right, madam. Where is the lounge?

6 7 8 9 10

What Itis a What It is a

6 7 8 9 10

Mi passi tre Mi mostri due Ecco cinque Ecco sette Ecco nove

To the left, sir.

is this? magazine. is this? newspaper.

E Complete with a noun: 1 2 3. 4 5

Ecco un Ecco una Ecco un’ Mi mostri una Chi ha uno

:

21

3 GRAMMAR

Plural of the definite article The plural of il is i The plural of la is le The plural of I (m) is gli The plural of P (f) is le

The plural of lo is gli

il libro la penna Valunno Valunna lo studente

— — — — ~—

ilibri le penne gli alunni le alunne glistudenti

Agreement of adjectives All adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they qualify: (a) If the adjective ends in -o the feminine is formed by changing the -o to -a. nero black (m) italiano Jtalian(m)

— —

nera (f) italiana (f)

The plural is formed by changing the -o to -i and the -a to -e. un ragazzo italiano -—> due ragazzi italiani una ragazza italiana — due ragazze italiane

22

LIVING

(b)

ITALIAN

If the adjective ends in -e, it remains the same for the femi-

nine singular. To form the plural for both genders change the -e to -i. un ragazzo inglese — due ragazzi inglesi una ragazza inglese —+ due ragazze inglesi

Position of adjectives The general rule for the position of adjectives is that they follow the noun,

particularly where

nationality. un libro nero una penna nera un libro quadrato una tavola rotonda un signore italiano una signora italiana un signore spagnolo una signora greca

the adjective refers to colour and

a black book a black pen a square book a round table an Italian gentleman an Itahan lady a Spanish gentleman a Greek lady

Ordinal numbers Ist

primo

2nd 3rd

secondo terzo

4th

quarto

Sth 6th 7th

quinto sesto settimo

Ordinal numbers used as adjectives, agree with the noun they qualify and usually precede it. il primo giorno the first day the first week la prima settimana the first months i primi mesi the first lessons le prime lezioni Note that whereas English tends to use the present perfect in sentences of the

e: ‘It is the first time I have seen him’, Italian uses the

present tense: ‘E la prima volta che lo vedo’.

LIVING

ITALIAN

Days of the week: i giorni della settimana lunedi martedi mercoledi giovedi venerdi sabato domenica

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

As already stated, days of the week are written with a small initial letter.

VOCABULARY l’entrata

entrance

azzurro (-a)

blue

l albero il fiore Verba

tree flower grass

blu bruno (-a) marrone

blue dark brown brown

la foglia il garofano il papavero

leaf carnation poppy

grande piccolo (-a) molto (-a)

big small much, a lot

la rosa

«

rose

molti (-e)

daisy butterfly colour idea month

la lezione bianco (-a) nero (-a)

lesson white black

a vowel) ci sono

giallo (-a)

yellow

dove sono?

where are?

rosso (-a)

red

quanto (-a)

how much?

quanti (-e)

how many?

verde celeste

si no piu meno di (or d’ before

many

la margherita la farfalla il colore Videa il mese

green pale blue

24

‘yes no more

there are; are there?

LIVING

ITALIAN

Useful phrases Di che colore € questo? Che € questo?

What colour is this? What is this?

Che sono questi? Quanto fa sette piu tre?

What are these? How many are seven plus three?

Sei meno cinque fa uno.

(Lit. How much make... 2) Six minus five are one.

READING

PASSAGE

[2] Un giardino Ecco un giardino. Questo giardino € piccolo. Ecco un albero. Sotto l’albero c’é un piccolo tavolo verde e ci sono due sedie verdi. Ci sono

molti fiori in questo giardino, fiori rossi, gialli e

celesti. Le foglie di questi fiori sono verdi. L’erba é verde. Ecco un piccolo ragazzo. Il ragazzo ha tre fiori. Questi fiori sono papaveri. Ecco una piccola ragazza. La ragazza ha dieci fiori, e questi fiori sono margherite. La madre di questa ragazza ha quattro rose. Il padre ha due garofani. Ecco una farfalla; questa farfalla é gialla.

25

LIVING

ITALIAN

EXERCISES A Translate,

and

then

answer

in Italian,

the following questions

about the passage you have just read:

E grande il giardino? Che c’é sotto I’albero? Di che colore é l’erba? Di che colore é la rosa? Quanti papaveri ha il ragazzo? Quante margherite ha la ragazza? Chi ha quattro rose? Chi ha due garofani? DOH 09 Or O OTM Quanto fa sei pil due? 10 Quanto fa nove meno quattro? B Translate into Italian:

Here is the garden. Where is the entrance? This table is round. Where are the chairs?

There is a boy under the tree. There are many butterflies in this garden. What is this? What are these? DD OF B® Ot O OTD Here is the teacher. 10 Here are the students.

C Translate into English: 1 Questo signore é italiano.

Questa signora é inglese. Questi ragazzi sono italiani. Queste ragazze sono inglesi. Ecco un quaderno rosso. Ecco una matita gialla. Ecco un libro verde. DO OO P Ot ® COT Ecco due penne nere.

26

LIVING

ITALIAN

9 Dieci pit: due fa dodici. 10 Undici meno due fa nove. D Translate into Italian:

1 One red rose and two carnations. One butterfly and three flowers. Four tables. Five gardens. Six trees.

Seven flowers. This red book. This black pen. NO O09 OTP ®m OT © These yellow flowers. 10 These green pencils.

E Put the correct plural form of the definite article in front of the following nouns: 1 2 3 4 5

—— fiori

6 —_ studenti

= Pose

7 —~ garofani

— colori =— ater —— giorni

Bs aie o. .. caae 10 ~~ giardini

27

4 GRAMMAR

Subject pronouns The personal subject pronouns are: I you (familiar form sing) egli, ella, Lei noi voi essi, esse, Loro

lui, esso lei, essa

he, it she, it you (polite form m and f sing)

we you (familiar form pl) loro loro

they (m) they (f) you (polite form m and fpl)

In Italian the subject pronouns are usually omitted before the verb as nearly all the verbal forms may be recognised by their terminations. These pronouns must, however, be used in the follow-

ing cases:

(a) for emphasis. Io non parlo italiano, signora. (b)

I do not speak Italian, madam.

when there are two subjects in contrast.

Carlo parla italiano, io parlo francese.

Carlo speaks Italian, I speak French.

(c) after the word anche (too, also, even). Roberto parla francese, Roberto speaks French,

LIVING

ITALIAN

anch’io parlo francese.

I too speak French.

egli (fem. = ella) and lui (fem. = lei) are used only for persons. egli and ella are used in writing, lui and lei in both conversation

and writing, and for emphasis. esso (fem. = essa) is used for persons, animals or things and is more often found in writing than in speech.

Note that 7¢, used as a subject pronoun, Italian. |

is seldom

expressed in

Dov’é il giornale?

Where is the newspaper?

E sopra il tavolo. Dov ’é?

It is on the table. Where is it2

You In Italian there are four ways of translating you as a subject pronoun: tu, Lei, voi and Loro.

(a)

tu, known as the familiar form, is used when speaking (or

writing) to a relation, an intimate friend, a child or an animal. The plural of tu is voi.

Tu parli italiano molto

You speak Italian very well,

bene, Roberto.

Roberto.

Voi pronunciate bene queste parole, ragazzi. (b)

Lei, known

You pronounce these words well, children.

as the polite form, is used when addressing a

lady or a gentleman with whom you are not on intimate terms. The plural of Lei is Loro. This form is derived from an old expression similar to Your Lordship or Your Ladyship. Lei must be followed by the verb in the third person singular, Loro by the verb in the third person plural. Lei and Loro are often spelt with a capital letter, and it must be remembered that they are, in any case, omitted

more often than not. Lei é molto gentile, signora.

You are very kind, madam.

Loro sono molto gentili,

You are very kind, gentlemen.

signori. Come sta, signora?

How are you, madam?

29

LIVING

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(Lei being understood).

Come stanno, signorine?

How are you, ladies?

(Loro being understood).

(c) voi, besides being the plural form of tu, is used in commerce. Il prezzo che (voi) domandate — The price you are asking is high. é alto.

The auxiliary verbs avere and essere Now let us study the present indicative of the auxiliary verbs avere (to have) and essere (to be) with all the subject pronouns.

PRESENT INDICATIVE Avere

to have

Essere

to be

io ho

I have

10 sono

Iam

tu hai

you have

tu sei egli, lui, =f ella, lei, essa é

you are he, it is

Lei

you are we are you are they are they are you are

egli, lui, esso he, it has ella, lei, essa hna she, it has Lei you have

noi abbiamo we have voi avete you have essi, loro they have esse, loro hanno they have Loro you have

noi siamo voi siete essi, loro esse, loro Loro

sono

she, it is

Note that to form the negative, place non in front of the verb: iononho_ Ihave not iononsono Jam not The interrogative is formed by leaving the verb and pronoun as they stand and either by inflecting the voice, as you do in English when denoting surprise: Lei ha una macchina? You have a car? Giovanni ha un telefono? Has Giovanni got a telephone?

30

LIVING

ITALIAN

or by using non é vero? (is it not?): Il libro € caro, non é vero? La tavola é rotonda, non é vero?

The book is dear, is it not? The table is round, isn’t it?

(Non é vero is frequently reduced to vero? in spoken Italian.)

Months of the year: i mesi dell’anno gennaio January febbraio February marzo March aprile Apml maggio May giugno June

luglio July agosto August settembre September ottobre October novembre November dicembre December

VOCABULARY il pranzo

dinner

il bicchiere

glass

la credenza

sideboard

Vora

hour, the time

la tovaglia iltovagliolo

tablecloth _serviette, table napkin vase plate, dish knife _fork spoon

il figlio son la figlia daughter i figli the children pronto ready il signor Valli Mr Valli quale or qual = which

il vaso il piatto il coltello laforchetta il cucchiaio

READING

PASSAGE

Una sala da pranzo Ecco una sala da pranzo. In questa sala c’é una grande tavola, ci sono sei sedie ed una credenza a sinistra. Sopra la tavola c’é una tovaglia bianca, e c’é un vaso di fiori; questi fiori sono rose. Ci

31

LIVING

ITALIAN

sono piatti, coltelli, forchette, cucchiai, bicchieri e tovaglioli. 1

pranzo é pronto. Ecco il pradre, il signor Valli, la madre, la signora Valli, e i due figli, Pietro e Mario.

EXERCISES A Translate these questions on the passage, then answer them in Italian:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100

Che c’é in questa sala da pranzo? Echec’e sopra la tavola? Quante sedie ci sono? Che c’éasinistra? Che fiori ci sono in questo vaso? Chiéil padre? Chi é la madre? Chi sono i due figli? Qual é il primo mese dell’anno? Qual é il secondo mese?

B Put the subject pronoun before these verbal forms: 1 __ abbiamo eee 3 —_ho

4 __ siamo otha 6 —_ siete

32

LIVING

7 256i 8 __ sono

C Puta

ITALIAN

9) ssp ha 10 — hanno

suitable adjective after the following nouns:

1 Il padre é La madre é Ecco un fiore Ecco una tavola Questa sala da pranzo é€ Questo vaso é Questi fiori sono Queste sedie sono ®m DO OO CoOnsT OUP 9 I papaveri sono 10 L’erbaé D Translate into Italian:

1 Ihave

6 you (polite form sing) are

2 he has 3 we have

7 they have 8 Iam

4 she is 5 we are

9 you (polite form pl) have 10 we are not

E Translate: 6 the fourth day

1 three knives

7 the first year

2 four forks 3 two glasses

8 we have a small house

4 five hours

9 you (sing) are Italian.

5 the second month

10 I haven’t a glass.

33

5 GRAMMAR

Interrogatives The following are all pronouns and are invariable. Chie Who? Whom? Che? Che cosa? What? Cosa?

Chi é questo ragazzo?

Chi é questa ragazza? Chi sono queste signore? The words

dove?

Who is this boy?

‘Who is this girl? Who are these ladies?

where? (usually dow’ before

how? and perché? why? are also invariable. Dov’é Maria? Dov’é Giovanni?

a vowel), come?,

Where is Maria? Where is Giovanni?

Dove sono le signore?

Where are the ladies?

Come sta?

How are you?

Perché non compra una villa? — Why do you not buy a villa? Note that perché also means because. Perché (io) non ho denaro. Because I have no money.

The following interrogatives may be used as pronouns or adjectives, but they are variable and therefore agree in number and gender with their nouns. Quanto? How much? Quale? Which? Quanti? How many?

Used adjectively: Quanto denaro?

How much money?

34

LIVING

ITALIAN

Quanta carne? Quanti giorni? Quante settimane? Quale giorno? Quali settimane?

How much meat? How many days?

How many weeks? Which day? Which weeks?

Used as pronouns:

Quale? Quali?

Which one? Which ones? How many? I have two pens, which one do you prefer? Here are some English newspapers, which ones do you want?

Quanti? Ho due penne, quale preferisce? Ecco dei giornali inglesi, quali deszdera?

Plurals of nouns ending in -co, -go, -ca, -ga Nouns and adjectives ending in -co and -go generally insert h in the plural to keep the hard sound. The general rule is that if the stress falls on

the last syllable but one, insert the h, otherwise

change the -o to -i in the normal way: i fuochi ilfuoco _fire — lungo long tedesco German

ad =

lunghi tedeschi

=v

i medici magn ici

but

il medico

magnifico

doctor

magnificent

—

There are exceptions, however, two of which are:

Vamico frend gli amici greco Greek ~— greci Feminine nouns and adjectives ending in -ca and -ga always take h in the plural: la barca boat = le barche lunga long —- lunghe magnifica magnificent magnifiche

35

LIVING

ITALIAN

Conjugating regular verbs Italian verbs are divided into three conjugations; these are determined by their infinitive endings. The first conjugation ends in -are. The second conjugation ends in -ere. The third conjugation ends in -ire. parlare to speak vendere to sell capire to understand

The stem or root of all regular verbs never changes. The stem is the part preceding the infinitive ending: parl-are vend-ere cap-ire Different endings are added to the stem to denote the person, the number, the tense and the mood.

With parlare and vendere as model verbs of the first and second conjugations, now let us study the present indicative, together with the subject pronouns. The third conjugation will be studied in Lesson 6.

PRESENT INDICATIVE

Parlare

to speak

io parlo tu parli egli ella f{parla Lei noi parliamo voi parlate essi

esse joman Loro

Vendere

I speak you speak he speaks she speaks you speak —_we speak you speak

io sell

io vendo tu vendi egli ella hrenae Lei noivendiamo — voi vendete

they (m) speak | essi

they (£) speak you speak

I sell you sell he sells she sells you sell we sell you sell they (m) sell

esse frasion they (£) sell Loro you sell

36

LIVING

ITALIAN

The Italian present translates not only the simple present J speak, but also the progressive IJ am speaking and the emphatic J do speak, although it is also possible to translate I am speaking by the progressive construction (Io) sto parlando (cf. Lesson 21). Note that the verb to do used as an auxiliary is not translated in Italian.

Note the following common endings in the present indicative of all regular verbs: The first person singular ends in -o. The second person singular ends in -i.

The third person singular ends in -a or -e. The first person plural ends in -iamo. The second person plural ends in -ate, -ete, -ite (Lesson 6). The third person plural ends in -ano or -ono.

Verbs conjugated like parlare: | Verbs conjugated like vendere: comprare entrare

domandare mostrare

to buy to enter (followed by the preposition

ricevere credere

to receive to believe

ripetere to repeat peardere to lose

in before nouns) to ask to show

Note that infinitives of verbs ending in -ere have the stress on the third syllable from the end, like essere.

As already stated, the subject pronouns are rarely used in Italian, except for clarity or emphasis. In conversation, lui (he) and lei (she) with the plural loro (they)

are used in preference to the other third person pronouns. (Note the small initial letter, and do not confuse these pronouns with Lei and Loro, the polite forms for you.)

37

LIVING

ITALIAN

VOCABULARY la citta (pl. = citta) in citta

alcuno, alcuni alcuna, alcune altro

town

in town, into town

lVedificio la cattedrale il duomo

parlare

to speak

vendere

to seli

cathedral the city cathedral

le quattro stagioni la primavera

the four

(eg. Il

il municipio

\

other

building

Duomo such as in Florence) church

la chiesa

\ some, any

town hall

il comune il museo

museum

la piazza

Square

il viale la via la scatola il fazzoletto

avenue road, street box handker-

la stagione

chief season

tutto (-a)

all

lestate (f) l’autunno l’inverno

summer

lungo largo corto

long wide

stretto

anno dell’anno il denaro (or danaro)

READING

S€ASONS

spring autumn

winter

short

narrow year of the year mone?

i soldi (m pl. popular) il negozio

shop

lultimo con

last with

money

PASSAGE

=] In citta In una citta ci sono molti edifici. In questa piazza, a sinistra c’é

una cattedrale, a destra c’é un museo. In un’altra piazza c’é il municipio. Alcune vie sono lunghe, altre sono corte. I viali sono

38

LIVING

ITALIAN

lunghi e larghi. Due signore etrano in un negozio e comprano una tovaglia bianca e dodici tovaglioli. Una signorina compra una scatola con sei fazzoletti. Le quattro stagioni dell’anno sono la primavera, l’estate, l’autunno, l’inverno. La primavera é la prima sta-

gione, l’inverno é |’ultima.

municipio cattedrale piazza

EXERCISES A Translate, then answer in Italian:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 10

Che c’é in questa piazza, a destra? E che c’é a sinistra? Dov’é il municipio? Sono lunghe tutte le vie? Sono stretti iviali? Dove entrano le due signore? Che comprano? Che compra la signorina? Quanti giorni ci sono in una settimana? Quante stagioni ci sono in un anno?

39

LIVING

ITALIAN

B Puta suitable subject pronoun in front of the following verbs and translate:

1 __ compriamo 2 ——parlo 3 —_ vende 4 ___trovate 5 __ non riceve

a —— —— —— fodwot ow m ——

CLEGO non compra vendono mostri riceviamo

C Translate into Italian:

1 2 3 4 5

Ido not sell we buy she believes Iam speaking they believe

we find he speaks I lose they find —_eOo~trm ooyou (tu, voi, Lei, Loro) buy

D Put into the plural:

1 Questo fazzoletto é bianco. . 7 Questa scatola é bianca. 8 Il giardino é lungo. La porta é larga. 9 #® Ov HO O9 Questo ragazzo é tedesco. 10 ma Questa ragazza é tedesca.

Questo signore compra la casa. Questa signora parla italiano.

L’alunno passa il quaderno. L’alunna ripete la lezione.

E Translate into English: —

A destra c’é il muncipio. A sinistra c’é un negazio. Ci sono due chiese in questa via. Mi passi la rivista francese, per favore. Dov’é il museo, signora, per favore? Mi scusi, signore, dov’é il duomo?

Che cos’é questo? E un giornale tedesco. Che cosa sono questi? —OF ND OO # OTM oO Sono due giornali tedeschi.

40

6 GRAMMAR

Regular verbs (continued) In the third conjugation the verbs are in two groups: (1) those conjugated like capire (to understand). (2) those conjugated like servire (to serve). The endings of the present indicative are the same for both groups, but those in the first group take -isc- between the stem and the ending in all the persons of the singular and in the third person plural.

Now study a model verb in each of the groups. (See pages 196-7 for further examples.)

PRESENT INDICATIVE Capire

to understand

10 Capisco

I understand

tu capisci

you understand

egli

ella } capisce Lei noi capiamo voi capite

he understands

she understands you understand we understand you understand

essi

they (m) understand

esse Jeapicono Loro

they (f) understand you understand

4l

LIVING

Servire

to serve

10 servo

I serve

tu servi egli

you serve he serves

ella Lei

ITALIAN

serve

he/she serves

you serve

noi serviamo

voi servite essi servono esse Loro

we serve

you serve they (m) serve they (f) serve you serve

The negative is, as already stated, formed by placing non before the verb: (Io) Non capisco. (Io) Non servo.

I do not understand I do not serve.

The interrogative is formed either by placing the subject after the verb: Capisce (Lei)? Capiscono i ragazzi?

‘Do you understand? Do the boys understand?

or by mere intonation of the voice.

Prepositions

These prepositions are used in the normal way before the indefinite article: a un ragazzo da una signora

to a boy from a lady

Note that da is not elided here.

42

LIVING

ITALIAN

Contracting prepositions However, when these prepositions precede the definite article, they are joined to it and form one word: al ragazzo (a+ il) to the boy dalla signora (da+la) _from the lady Now let us take the preposition a with all the different forms of the definite article.

ati. >

al

al ragazzo

at+la — alla aa3>0>*...all

alla ragazza all’alunno

atlo

—

allo

all’alunna allo studente allo zio

att) a+gli

> —

aa agli

ai ragazzi agli studenti agli zii

agli alunni Note also these forms:

from the,

da+il

—

dal

da+la

—

dalla

of the,

di+il

-*

del

in the,

di+la in+il int+la

~— — —

della nel nella

on the,

su+il

—

sul

su+la

—

sulla

The preposition con (with) usually contracts only with the masculine il and i, or it may be written as two words if desired — both ways are correct.

col (or con il) ragazzo coi (or con i) ragazzi

with the boy with the boys

In writing, all the other contractions with con are obsolete. At the spoken level, most of the contractions tend to be maintained.

43

LIVING

ITALIAN

This table will help you see, at a glance, the prepositions contracted with the definite article:

a (to, at) da (from, by)

di (of) in (in) su (on) con (with)

con la | con!’

Possession In Italian, possession is shown by the use of the preposition di (usually d’ before a vowel unless the vowel is the first letter of a proper name: cf. un quarto d’ora but la penna di Anna). There is no equivalent to the English ’s: Anna’s pen. il libro di Maria Maria’s book il libro del ragazzo the boy’s book le penne dei ragazzi the children’s pens

LIVING

ITALIAN

VOCABULARY la campagna in campagna

country in or into

the country il sole l’uccello

sun bird

la giornata

whole day

Che bella

What a

giornata! il cestino la cosa

il pane il formaggio il prosciutto la bottiglia la limonata laranciata la frutta (pl le frutta) la (prima) colazione vicino a

beautiful day! basket

thing bread cheese ham bottle lemonade orangeade

fruit breakfast

lontano da

(usually used adverbially, ve without agreement) pieno altrettanto a Lei

dentro fuori ora, adesso splendere(E/A) cantare passare(E/A)

full the same to you inside outside now to shine to sing to pass,

spend aprire tirare tirare fuori cominciare

(time) to open

to draw, pull to pull out

to begin

mangiare

to eat

(usually used

vedere

to see

adverbially, ie without agreement)

dice (from dire, to say)

(he) says

rispondere la domanda

to reply

near

question

LIVING

ITALIAN

Note that vicino (near) is followed by a: vicino a Lei

near you

entrare (io enter) is followed by the preposition in before a noun: entriamo in una casa we enter a house cominciare (to begin) is followed by the preposition a before another verb: cominciamo a parlare we begin to speak

READING

PASSAGE

=] In campagna E primavera, il sole splende e gli uccelli cantano. Roberto e tre altri ragazzi passano la giornata in campagna. Ora sono sotto un albero e vicino all’albero hanno un cestino. Che c’é in questo cestino? Molte cose per il pranzo dei ragazzi. Roberto apre il cestino e tira fuori pane, formaggio, prosciutto, frutta e due bottiglie. Una bottiglia € piena di limonata, l’altra é piena d’aranciata. E

Vora di colazione — i ragazzi cominciano a mangiare. Una signora vede i ragazzi e dice (says) — Buon appetito. — Grazie, altrettanto a Lei, signora, rispondono i ragazzi.

46

LIVING

ITALIAN

EXERCISES A Answer in Italian:

1 Dove sono Roberto e gli altri tre ragazzi? Che cosa c’é vicino all’ albero? Che cosa c’é nel cestino? Chi apre il cestino? Che c’é in una bottiglia? E nell’altra? Cosa dice la signora? Che rispondono i ragazzi? HO OO P Ot MD COs B Translate into English:

1 della signora

6 con gli studenti

2 sul libro 3 dall’alunno

7 per il signore 8 con lazia

4 nello studio 5 al maestro

9 nel giardino 10 dagli zii

C Translate:

I ragazzi capiscono quasi (almost) tutto. Noi rispondiamo alle domande.

Il maestro non é nello studio. I giornali sono sulla tavola. La frutta é nel cestino. Questa bottiglia é piena d’acqua. Sotto questa sedia c’é una rivista. Ecco i libri della ragazza. Questo uccello canta bene. I quaderni degli studenti sono sull’erba. DOH OF P Or OTD SO

St

D Translate into Italian:

1 There is a bottle on the grass. 2 There are two boys near the tree. 3 The sun is not shining now.

47

LIVING

4 5 6 7 8 9

ITALIAN

A bird is singing. Ido not see the bird. We begin to speak Italian. Ido not understand. Do you understand, Roberto? The students reply well.

0 Here is a book for you, Madam.

E (a) Translate:

1 2 3 4 5

the lady’s basket the boy’s hand Anna’s lunch two bottles of lemonade near the house

6 7 8 9 10

far from the tree in the basket of the girl to the gentleman from the master

(b) Write the present indicative of avere and essere in the negative form, eg io non ho, etc, io non sono, etc.

LIVING

ITALIAN

IL PRIMO Gioco DELL’ ALFABETO This Alphabet Game is intended to help you revise the vocabulary studied

in the lessons; the Italian translations

of the

given words are in alphabetical order. Example

1

August

agosto

2 3

(the) glass (the) house

(il) bicchiere (la) casa

Note that the article must not be omitted, placed, in brackets, before or after the noun.

Now translate into Italian: April white (the) knife

Sunday here is, here are

February (the) garden

have you? (polite form) (the) winter

July

(the) pencil

(the) (the) (the) (the)

nine October first this rose student table eleven

Friday (the) uncle

49

but should

be

7 GRAMMAR

Direct object pronouns The direct object pronouns are as follows:

you him or it (m) her or it (f)

us you them (m)

i

i ‘

them (f)

you (m or f sing, polite form)

i

you (m pl, polite form) you (f pl, polite form)

They are placed immediately before the verb except in a few cases which will be explained later. Note that the forms Li and Le are so rare in both speech and writing that it might be advisable to use Loro for both; unlike the other direct object pronouns, Loro follows the verb. I see him or it I see her or it we see them (m) we see them (f) Mania sees me I have it we invite him

io lo vedo io la vedo noi li vediamo noi le vediamo Maria mi vede io Pho noi l’invitiamo

you invite us

Lei ci invita

Note that mi, ti, lo, la and vi drop the vowel and take an apos-

trophe before a verb beginning with a vowel or h.

50

LIVING

ITALIAN

The partitive construction: some, any (a) Some or any before a noun is usually translated by di and the contracted form of the definite article, when it stands for a part of something:

del pane

some bread

della carne degli spinaci dell’acqua

some meat some spinach some water

(Lei) ha del pane?

Have you any bread?

However, it is omitted in negative sentences if the noun is collective or plural:

Non ho pane

I have no bread. or I haven't any bread.

Non abbiamo libri.

We have no books.

It may also be omitted in cases of enumeration: Ho penne, matite elibri.

I have pens, pencils and books.

(b) Some or any is translated by alcuno, with its different forms alcuna (f), alcuni (m pl) and alcune (f pl), by qualche, when some

or any indicates a few, or by un poco (un po’), a litile. un po’ di pane a little bread Alcuni (-e) agrees in gender with the noun to which it refers: alcuni libri some books alcune penne some pens

Qualche must be followed by a noun in the singular, and any adjective or verb used in connection with it must also be in the singular:

qualche libro

some books

VOCABULARY la vacanza la salute il tempo

51

holiday health weather, time

LIVING

ITALIAN

il bagno

bathe, bath

lasciugamano

towel

il costume da

bathing

l’ombrellone

large

la sedia a sdraio abbronzato

umbrella deckchair bronzed, tanned

bagno il vino

il pane la carne lo zucchero la cabina

la spiaggia la fine sempre spesso durante una volta due volte

qualche volta la famiglia lVaria il sole ma

costume

wine bread meat

sano calmo mosso mare grosso forte quasi molto tempo un poco (orun

sugar cabin beach end always

often during

healthy calm rough (sea)

rough sea strong almost

long time

once twice sometimes

affittare

to rent, hire

family

portare

to carry,

imparare dopo

bring to learn after

a little

po’)

aur

READING

PASSAGE

Al mare Durante i mesi estivi, giugno, luglio ed agosto, molte famiglie passano le vacanze al mare. L’aria del mare é sana. Sulla spiaggia ci sono cabine con tavoli e sedie. Alcune famiglie affittano una cabina per due otre settimane; portano i costumi da bagno e gli asciugamani e passano molte ore sulla spiaggia. Il mare non é sempre calmo, qualche volta é mosso. II sole é forte durante’i mesi di luglio e agosto ma ci sono gli ombrelloni e, sotto questi ombrel -

52

LIVING

ITALIAN

loni, le sedie a sdraio. I ragazzi passano molto tempo nel mare e, dopo un bagno, hanno sempre molto appetito. Alla fine delle vacanze sono abbronzati.

EXERCISES A Answer in Italian:

Quali sono i mesi estivi? Dove passa (Lei) le vacanze d’estate?

E sempre calmo il mare? Che c’é sulla spiaggia? Che c’é sotto gli ombrelloni? E sana |’aria del mare? Lei preferisce il mare o la campagna? Dove passano molto tempo i ragazzi? DD 09 BP OU CONT B Complete with the partitive article and translate: 1 Maria ha —_ penne. 2 Roberto ha — libri.

53

LIVING

ITALIAN

Ecco __ pane. Ecco —_ frutta. Io ho __ acqua fresca. Lei ha —__ vino rosso. Questa signora compra —_ riviste. Questo signore compra —_ giornali. OO P OF ®m CONT C Translate

Maria understands it (f). Giovanni learns it (m). We find them (m).

They lose them (f). We see you (familiar form). Anna sees us. We have them (f) I have them (m). Anna has it (f). OO ND OF OP oOTm

10 They do not have it (m).

D Complete with a noun:

Io ho del ‘ Noi abbiamo della Essi comprano dello I] maestro mostra dei Maria compra delle Non capisco la Anna compra un La signora vede il Il signore vede la Ne OF or oomorwrom 10 Noi affittiamo una

.

E Translate:

1 a 3 4 5

We do not see the beach. You find a cabin.

They speak to the lady. He understands this lesson.

She buys some bread.

54

LIVING

ITALIAN

6 I buy some sugar. 7 Have you any Italian friends (m)? 8 No, I have no Italian friends (m).

9 Have they any English friends (f)? 10 Yes, they have many English friends (f). F Write the present tense of comprare and vendere in the negative form. 1 non compro, etc.

2 non vendo, etc.

55

8 GRAMMAR

Indirect object pronouns The indirect object pronouns are:

to me to you to him to her

i i

to you (m + f)

to us to you to them (m + f) to you (m +f)

These pronouns, with the exception of loro and Loro, usually precede the verb, except in certain cases which will be explained in a later lesson.

Maria mi parla (Io) le parlo. Roberto ci parla. (Noi) gli parliamo. Giovanni parla Loro. (Noi) parliamo loro. Io gli mando una lettera.

Maria is speaking to me. I am speaking to her. Roberto is speaking to us. We are speaking to him. Giovanni is speaking to you (pl). We are speaking to them. I send himaletter.

Note that the object is indirect when it is preceded by to or when to is understood, as in the last example. Also loro as an indirect object pronoun following the verb can be, and often is (especially in the spoken language), rendered by gli preceding the verb. Thus the example above, (Noi) parliamo loro may be rendered (Noi) gli parliamo. This use is gaining ground at the written level,

56

LIVING

ITALIAN

too, although it is still considered inelegant. Cardinal numbers (continued) 13 14 15

tradici quattordici qumdici

31 32 33

trentuno trentadue trentatreé

16 17 18 19

sedici diciassette diciotto diciannove

34 40 41 50

trentaquattro quaranta quarantuno cinquanta

20 21 22 23 30

venti ventuno ventidue ventitre ‘trenta

60 70 80 90 100

sessanta settanta ottanta novanta ~cento

Note the following: (a) Venti (20), trenta (30), quaranta (40), and so on up to 100

drop the final vowel when combined with uno and otto: ventuno (21), ventotto (28), trentuno (3/) (b) The eof tre (3) when used by itself has no accent but when it

is combined with another number a grave accent is placed over it: ventitré, trentatré (c) Cento (100) , has no plural form:

eg

duecento

two hundred

(d) Mille (1,000) has an irregular plural mila:

cinquemila

_five thousand

(e) Oncis not translated before cento and mille:

one thousand six hundred and forty And is not translated between numbers. milleseicentoquaranta

(£) Un milione (plural milioni) (1,000,000) . Insert the preposition di or d’ after milione when a noun follows: one million inhalitants un milione d’abitanti

57

LIVING

ITALIAN

Dates In Italian, the cardinal numbers are used to express the days of the month, with the exception of primo (first). On and of are not translated, and the article il (I’) is omitted when preceded by the day of the week. il primo aprile (il 1° aprile) on the first of April martedi, due luglio Tuesday, July 2nd l’otto dicembre December 8th il 1900 1900 nel 1944 in 1944 nel settembre del 1960 in September 1960 Note that in Italian, there are two ways of expressing centuries; The

seventeenth

century,

for

example,

can

be

translated

diciassettesimo secolo or il Seicento (cf. the 1600s).

Age Age is expressed by means of the verb avere. Quanti anni ha Roberto? How old is Roberto? Ha nove anni. He is nine years old. Quanti anni ha Lei? How old are you? Ho diciannove anni. I am nineteen years of age. Quanti anni ha il padre How old is Maria’s father? di Maria? Ha quarantasette anni. He ts forty-seven.

VOCABULARY il villaggio la collina la montagna il bosco il lago il temporale

village hill mountain wood lake storm

il piacere

il sentiero lombra

pleasure, favour » path, footpath shade

all’ombra

in the shade

la cartolina

postcard

il

LIVING

la fine l’anno bisestile la parola la data

end

la pagina

page

il numero fresco freddo profondo alto basso difficile

leap year

ITALIAN

facile di solito

easy

ogni

each, every to last a

word date

durare(E) molto cambiare diventare (EF) camminare preferire nuotare mandare

number

fresh, cool cold

deep high low difficult

READING

PASSAGE

La montagna

59

usually

long time to change to become to walk

to prefer to swim to send

LIVING

ITALIAN

L’aria di montagna é fresca e sana. Alcune famgglie preferiscono la montagna al mare. Ci sono dei piccoli villaggi, delle colline, dei boschi e dei laghi di montagna. L’acqua di questi laghi é molto fredda. Qualche volta ci sono dei temporali, ma, di solito, non

durano molto. Alla fine de l’estate le foglie degli alberi cambiano colore e diventano gialle, quasi rosse. Il sole é forte, ma é un piacere camminare nei sentieri dei boschi, all’ombra degli alberi.

EXERCISES A Answer in Italian:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Com’é l’aria di montagna? Che cosa c’é in montagna? Com’é l’acqua dei laghi? Che data é oggi? Quanti giorni ci sono del mese di settembre? Diche colore sono le foglie in autunno? Cammina molto (Lei)?

8 Nuota (Lei)?

9 Preferisce il mare alla montagna? 100 Quanti giorni ci sono in un anno bisestile? B Translate:

On June Ist.

On December 11th. There are twenty-eight days in the month of February. There are three hundred and sixty-five days ina year. Today is October 28th. This year is not a leap year. This leaf is nearly yellow. This path is short. These lakes are very deep. —OCP These mountains are high. De OO COTS SO

LIVING

ITALIAN

C Translate:

I speak to her. We speak to him. She speaks to me. You speak to them. We send him a newspaper. She sends us a postcard. I send her a box of handkerchiefs. Maria sends me aletter. The children send us some flowers. ND OF Ove OMOnwTm 1 0 You send him a magazine. D Translate:

Quanti anni ha questo ragazzo? Ha quasi sette anni. Quanti anni ha Lei? Ho diciotto anni. Giovedi, quindici maggio. Nel millenovecentoquarantasei. Ci sono tre mesi in ogni stagione. Ci sono duecentosei pagine in questo libro. L’Italia ha cinquanta milioni d’abitanti. In un anno bisestile ci sono trecentosessantasei giorni. asl COW WH UA MWH fal

E Translate:

This mountain is high. This hill is low. The month of February is short. The air is fresh. Here is a wood. These leaves are nearly yellow. Each season lasts three months. Friday, July 10th, 1959.

Four hundred and thirty-eight. Two thousand seven hundred and sixty. —_OCP SCwO eH DN OO OTS

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LIVING

F Write the present indicative of: 1 diventare(E) (to become) io divento, tu diventi .. .

2 credere (to believe) io credo, tucredi

...

preferire (to prefer) io preferisco, tu preferisci ...

sentire (to hear) io sento, tu senti .

62

ITALIAN

9 GRAMMAR

Reflexive verbs and reflexive pronouns Reflexive verbs are those whose subject and object are the same person or thing. Iwash myself, she enjoys herself, it stops itself. Sometimes a verb is reflexive in Italian but not in English; these

verbs.are easy to recognise in Italian as they always have the reflexive pronoun si (oneself) appended to the infinitive. Note that the final -e of the infinitive is omitted: lavare lavarsi divertire

to wash to wash oneself to amuse

to enjoy oneself

divertirsi

is often omitted in English, it

Whereas the reflexive pronoun must always be used in Italian:

I am getting ready.

Io mi preparo.

She is/You are (polite form

Lei si avvicina alla stazione.

sing.) approaching the station.

Note that not only the reflexive pronoun si but any of the conjunctive pronouns, except loro and Loro, may thus be appended to the infinitive of a verb:

I am going to buy it. We are going to see them. I am going to speak to him.

Vado a comprarlo. Andiamo a vederli. Vado a parlargli.

63

LIVING

ITALIAN

Here are the reflexive pronouns: mi ti si

myself yourself himself, herself, itself, yourself

ci ourselves vi yourself, yourselves si __ themselves (m and f), yourselves

Note that mi, ti, si, etc. can also mean to/for myself, to/for yourself, to/for himself, herself, itself, themselves and so on.

Conjugating reflexive verbs The present indicative of reflexive verbs follows this pattern: PRESENT INDICATIVE

Lavarsi

to wash oneself

. Divertirsi

10 mi lavo tu ti lavi

to enjoy oneself

10 mi diverto tu ti diverti

egli

egli

ella }si lava Lei

ella } si diverte Lei noi ci divertiamo | voi vi divertite

noi ci laviamo voi vi lavate essi esse }$ si lavano Loro

essi

esse } si divertono Loro

In the negative and interrogative form of all reflexive verbs non is placed before the reflexive pronoun:

Io non mi diverto. Non ti diverti (tu)?

Non si diverte (Lei)?

I am not enjoying myself. \

Are you not enjoying yourself?

Note that the pronoun si, apart from its uses as himself, herself, themselves, etc. is widely used as an impersonal pronoun, thereby providing a partial alternative to the passive (cf. Appendix 3).

64

LIVING

ITALIAN

Irregular verbs: andare, dare, fare, stare Having studied the present indicative of the regular verbs ending: PRESENT INDICATIVE Fare to make, do faccio fai fa facciamo fate fanno

Stare to be, stay sto stai sta stiamo state stanno

in -are now look at the only four irregular verbs which end in -are. Note that the third person singular of the verb dare has a grave accent over the vowel; and in the third person plural note the -anno in all four verbs. Note also the peculiar use of fare in the construction far fare qualcosa (to have something done); cf. Lesson 30 under fare.

The conjunctive pronoun ne Another conjunctive pronoun to be studied is ne, meaning some,

any, some of it, any of it when referring to a substantive previously mentioned. Used as an adverb, ne means from there. Have you any books? Lei ha dei libri? Yes, I have many (of them). Si, ne ho molti. Has Maria any pens? Maria ha delle penne? Yes, she has two (of them).

Si, ne ha due.

In English, of them is understood, but ne must not be omitted in

an Italian sentence when an adjective of quantity or number follows the verb. Note that the pronouns mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le and ne can be

65

LIVING

ITALIAN

appended to the interjection ecco (here is/are/am, there is/are/am). eccomi eccoti eccolo

here/there I am

here/there you are here/there he/it is

VOCABULARY l’incontro la vetrina

la compera il guanto

il cappello la sciarpa il prezzo larticolo il nailon la seta luscita davanti a tutt’e due

tutt’e quattro ammalato alzarsi desiderare incontrare fermare fermarsi } conversare

meeting shop window purchase glove hat

lentrata il ristorante

restaurant

Porologio

watch

entrance

(or clock)

il genitore

price

la biblioteca la borsa nuovo

article

poi

scarf

nylon

puro

verso insieme far la spesa

silk exit

in front of both all four all to get up

fare colazione

fare una

passeggiata

to want

finire escono (from uscire(E), irr.) mentre

to meet

to stop to chat

riposarsi to rest far delle spese }todosome far delle compere J shopping

quando

66

parent library

bag, purse new then pure towards

together to do the shopping to have lunch

to go fora walk

to finish they go out while, whilst

when

LIVING

ITALIAN

READING

PASSAGE

Un incontro Anna incontra un’amica, Maria, in citta e tutt’e due fanno delle

compere minuto. sciarpe, entrano

insieme. Si fermano davanti ad un negozio per qualche Nella vetrina di questo negozio vedono guanti, cappelli e ma non c’é il prezzo di questi articoli. Le due signorine nel negozio e domandano il prezzo delle sciarpe. Anna

deszdera_ una

sciarpa verde,

di nailon,

celeste, di seta pura. Le comprano, Mentre

econo

incontrano

due

Maria

ne desidera una

poi vanno altre

amiche;

verso I|’uscita. Caterina

e

Margherita, conversano un poco insieme, poi entrano tutt’e quattro in un ristorante a mangiare.

EXERCISES A Answer the following: 1 Dove vanno Anna e Maria? Dove si fermano? Che c’é nella vetrina? Ci sono i prezzi degli articoli? Che fanno le signorine? Che cosa compra Anna? Che cosa compra Maria? DO Lei preferisce il nailon alla seta? OO Pf Ot EM ~T CO

67

LIVING

ITALIAN

9 Chi incontrano quando econo dal negozio? 10 Dove vanno tutt’e quattro?

B Replace the infinitive by the correct form of the present indicative of each verb: Questa ragazza (alzarsi) presto. Rosa (comprare) molte cose. Noi (divertirsi) molto. Loro (ricevere) una lettera. Io (finire) la lezione.

Lei (divertirsi) oggi. Carlo (avere) dei libri. Giovanni e Roberto (essere) contenti. OW DOH 09 B® Or OTM Anna e Caterina (parlare) italiano.

10 Maria (capire) questa lezione. C Translate:

I have some new gloves. Here they are. Maria has some letters. Here they are. Where are the silk scarves? There they are in the window. Where are you going? What are you doing? How are you, ladies? We are all well, thank you. eH DN 09 PR OF O OTD I stay at home (a casa) every Tuesday. 10 These children are not well.

D Place the reflexive pronoun before the verbs and translate: 1 2 3 4 5

__ diverte —alziamo —__ divertono __ lavate — alzano

6 __ divertite 7 —lavano 8 __alzo ow 10 __ divertiamo

E Translate:

1 Questo ragazzo si diverte.

68

LIVING

ITALIAN

Maria non va in citta ogni giorno. Questa sciarpa non é di nailon. Questa lezione non éfacile. Questi ragazzi non stanno bene. Noi ci divertiamo al mare. Anna va spesso ai negozi. Facciamo una passeggiata in campagna. Si diverte Lei, signorina? Si, grazie, mi diverto molto. CoO DD OO OVP OTS

69

10 GRAMMAR

Possessive adjectives and pronouns Italian uses the possessives both as adjectives and as pronouns. They are usually preceded by the definite article, and they agree with the thing or person possessed. ilmio imiei

mine mine

lasua lesue

‘

il mio libro i miei libri lasua penna

my book my books his (or her) pen

le sue penne

his (or her) pens

his (or hers) his (or hers)

il mio

la mia

le mie

il tuo

my

mine

la tua

le tue

your

yours

il suo

la sua

le sue

il Suo

his, her, its | his, hers, its

la Sua

le Sue

yours

il nostro il vostro il loro il Loro

la la la la

le le le le

ours yours theirs

nostra vostra loro Loro

70

nostre vostre loro Loro

yours

LIVING

ITALIAN

You can see in the examples and box above that each possessive has four forms: masculine singular, masculine singular and feminine plural. Il suo, la sua, may refer to four persons,

plural, feminine

his, her, its and your

(polite form, frequently spelt il Suo, etc.). If there is any doubt as to the person referred to, confusion may be avoided by using di lei (of her) or di lui (of him).

Maria legge il suo giornale.

Maria is reading her newspaper.

But if you want to say Maria is reading his newspaper, you translate: Maria legge il giornale di lui.

The article is not used before the possessive when it precedes a noun denoting family relationships, provided that: (a) the noun is in the singular (b) the noun is not qualified by an adjective (c) the noun is not diminutive (d) the possessive is not loro or Loro (their or your)

my mother, my father

mia madre, mio padre

but la mia buona madre } la mia piccola4 sorella ;

my good mother my little sister

la mia sorellina

my brothers their father your mother

i miei fratelli il loro padre la Loro madre

The article should be used when one is speaking of the following relations: nonna_ grandmother nonno_ grandfather papa \ dad, daddy mamma _ mother

babbo

;

Note that although il mio nonno/babbo/papa and la mia hear nonna/mamma are technically more correct, you will also often. mio nonno/babbo/papa and mia mamma/nonna fairly

7\

LIVING

ITALIAN

The indefinite article may also be used before a possessive: un mio libro a book of mine (or one of my books) due miei libri two of my books molti miei amici many of my friends Ofis not translated.

Relative pronouns The most frequently used relative pronouns in Italian are che and cui: che cui

who, whom, which, that (to, etc.) whom, which

Both are invariable and both are used for persons or things. Che is used as subject or direct object of a verb; although often omitted in English, it may never be omitted in Italian: la signora che parla il libro che compro

the lady who is speaking the book I am buying

Cui is used when the relative is an indirect object or when it is governed by a preposition. la signora a cui parlo the lady to whom I am speaking il libro di cui parlo the book of which I am speaking

There is also another relative pronoun which refers to persons or things, viz: il quale (f. = la quale, with the plurals i quali and le quali). This pronoun is used instead of che or cui to avoid ambiguity. When il quale is governed by a preposition, this preposition and the article combine to form one word as already shown in Lesson 7. La sorella del professore, alla The professor’s sister to whom quale ho mandato la cartolina. _I sent the postcard. The relative pronoun

whose is translated by il cui, la cui, etc. The

article agrees with the noun which follows: Questa ragazza, il cui cane é

This girl, whose dog is lost,

perduto, étriste.

is sad.

72

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ITALIAN

Ordinal numbers (continued) 8th | ottavo 9h nono 10th decimo llth wundicesimo 12th dodiceimo

13th 20th 2Ist 22nd 30th

trediceimo, etc. ventesimo ventuneimo ventidueimo trentesimo, etc.

Ordinal numbers, except Ist to 10th, are formed by dropping the final vowel of the cardinal number and adding -esimo: undici 11 — undiceaimo I[I1th dodici 12 — dodicaimo 12th venti 20 — venteimo 20th

but the last vowel of 23, 33, 43, etc., being a stressed vowel, is not omitted: ventitresimo _ventitré — trentatresimo trentatré ~—

Remember that ordinal numbers are adjectives and must agree with the noun: the second month il secondo mese first season the la prima stagione the first days i primi giorni the first weeks le prime. settimane Ordinal numbers names of rulers:

are used in Italian without

Enrico quinto

Henry V

Pio decimo

Pius X

the article after

They are also used after a few words such as canto, capitolo, volume, lezione and so on. Volume 2 Volume secondo Canto 7 Canto sattimo

Capitolo quarto

Lezione nona

Chapter 4

Lesson 9

Fractions Fractions are formed as in English by using the cardinal numeral as the numerator and the ordinal numeral as the denominator:

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LIVING

un terzo tre quarti

ITALIAN

quattro quinti

one third three-quarters

four-fifths

mezzo (or mezz’) half, when used as an adjective, agrees with the noun: a half bottle una mezza bottiglia half an hour

una mezz’ora

but is usually invariable when the noun comes first: one bottle and a half una bottiglia e mezzo an hour and a half un’ora e mezzo However, una bottiglia e mezza and un’ora e mezza are acceptable alternatives and quite common. Note that the noun halfis la x

meta.

VOCABULARY il mercato la collaboratrice domsstica la macelleria

il macellaio il manzo il vitello l’agnello il pesce il pescivendolo la sogliola il merluzzo la triglia la verdura il pisello il fagiolino

market servant

lo zucchino

small marrow

gli spinaci il fruttivendolo la pera

spinach fruiterer

la mela

apple peach

butcher’s shop butcher

beef

la pesca

pear

veal, calf lamb fish Sishmonger sole cod mullet vegetables

luva il melone il cocomero la macedonia di frutta il(la) nipote l’esercizio

il tipo

exercise type

pea

qui, qua

here

French bean

poi

then dear, expensive

caro

&

74

grapes melon

water melon fruit salad nephew (niece)

LIVING

crudo cotto Oo 0...0

eccetera

ITALIAN

raw cooked or either...or

estivo mi dica stare(E) acasa_ vuole (from

etcetera (etc.)

(abb. ecc.)

gradito

summer (adj.) tell me to stay at home he, she, it

volere

wants, you

(E/A) irr.)

(polite sing.)

welcome

want

Note that the word la frutta is a collective term meaning fruit in general, although you may well hear una frutta (a fruit). Technically, this is an unacceptable term, although, paradoxically,

the plural form, le frutta (ie. treating frutta as a countable noun)

is quite regular. Frutto is largely a metaphorical term: I frutti del mio lavoro (The fruits of my labour).

READING

PASSAGE

Al mercato Ogni mattina, Rosa, la collaboratrice domatica della signora Valli, si alza presto e va al mercato. Vicino al mercato c’é una macelleria

dove Rosa compra la carne: manzo, vitello o agnello. Quando la signora Valli vuole del pesce, Rosa lo compra dal pescivendolo: sogliola, merluzzo, triglia, ecc. Guarda i prezzi della verdura; piselli, fagiolini, zucchini; poi della frutta: mele, pere, uva, meloni e cocomeri. La frutta é buona per la salute, e non é cara nei mesi estivi: cosi

ogni famiglia ne mangia molta, o cruda o cotta. La macedonia di frutta é sempre gradita, non é vero? Ogni domanica la signora Valli prepara una macedonia di frutta e invita i suoi nipoti a pranzo. Buon appetito a tutti!

75

LIVING

ITALIAN

EXERCISES A Answer in Italian:

Chi é Rosa? Dove va ogni mattina? Che cosa compra al mercato? Mangia molta carne Lei? Preferisce il pesce? Mi dica i nomi di tre tipi di frutta. NO O09 BP Ot “IO Ei nomi di tre tipi di verdura? B Translate the word in brackets:

1 Ecco (my) giardino. Ecco (his) casa.

Dov’é (your) sorella? Dov’é (their) fratello?

Ecco (my) penna. Ot NO OO & ®

Ecco (her) libro.

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LIVING

2 8 9 10

ITALIAN

Dove sono (your) genitori? Dove sono (his) zii?

Queste sono (her) sorelle. Questi sono (my) fratelli.

C. Translate:

The first house. Chapter three. Henry VIII. Volume six. Lesson five. The ladies who are speaking Italian are English. The gentlemen of whom you are speaking are French. The boy to whom I give the book. DO 09 OP ©OTH The girl from whom I receive aletter. 10 The students who are in this classroom.

11 Half of this pear is for you (polite form). 12 Thirty minutes make half an hour. D Translate:

Mio fratello va alla biblioteca. Scrivo l’esercizio nel mio quaderno. Gli studenti studiano le loro lezioni. Rispondo alla lettera di mia madre. Scrivo una cartolina alla mia amica. Io sto bene ma mia sorella é ammalata. Il fratello del mio amico é al mare. I miei genitori stanno bene. Ecco l’orologio di mio padre. Ecco la borsa di mia madre. —"OC eH DD OO OTM SO E Translate:

1 2 2 4 5

I am not going to the market. My father is going to town. Anna is not here today. We are very well, thank you. My sister is not well.

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LIVING

ITALIAN

6 My brothers are in the country. 7 Our friends are at the seaside. 8 Have you any brothers, Maria? 9 Yes, I have two brothers and three sisters.

REVISION A Translate and put into the plural: 1 2 3 4 5

this the the the the

the garden

book door idea uncle lesson

the the the ooao ro the

window name student (m) student (f)

B Complete with a suitable noun: 10

(oa Le I

italiano francese

inglesi gialle rossi

italiana tedesche tedeschi

Molti Molte MOND COO

C Translate:

Maria and Giovanni have many friends. Anna and Roberto are Italian. They speak French. We receive a postcard. You receive a letter. Their children are well. I do not understand all these words. We understand our lesson because it is easy. Ne OF P OF CowTm D Answer in Italian:

1 Come sta, signorina (0 signore)? 2 Dov’é il Suo quaderno? 3 Qual é il terzo mese dell’anno?

78

lunghi lunghe

LIVING

ITALIAN

Qual é la quarta stagione dell’anno? Di che colore é l’erba? Di che colore é il Suo dizionario? Capisce (Lei) questa lezione? Capscono (Loro) tutte le parole?

Quanto fa tredici piu due? 1SCO OTD OPQuanto fa diciannove meno tre? E Translate:

1 in my box 2 on the tree 3 for the lady 4 in their garden 5 at your house

6 with our student (m) 7 from the friend (m) 8 of his uncle 9 to the student (f) 10 of the master

F Put the answers to Exercise E into the plural.

G Write in letters:

28, 35, 49, 52, 69, 100, 460, 1000, 5800, 1,000,000, 2/5, 1/,, 3/4, 1/;. H Translate 1 On the 6th of May

4 This is the third watch I have

2 On the Istof July

bought.

3 In 1949

5 This is the first time I have seen him.

I Complete with a suitable adjective: 4 Questa casa é 5 Questi signori sono

1 I ragazzi sono 2 Le ragazze sono 3 Questo giardino é

J Translate: 1 Isee the master, I see him. 2 We see the mistress, we see her.

3 Mary speaks to him. 4 John speaks to her. 5 The teachers speak to us.

79

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