Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Ciao tutti! Benvenuti su ItalianPod101.com.
Ciao! Hello and welcome back to Italian Survival Phrases brought to you by ItalianPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Italy. You'll be surprised at how far a little Italian will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com, and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
In this lesson, we'll learn about a place crucial to your travels in this modern age: the Internet café.
Internet cafés can be found in almost every Italian town. I say "almost," and please don't be surprised because some small towns might not have any means of connecting to the net.
Normally, you find Internet cafés in the big main cities. But if you are in a very small town, don't be scared and try to go back and get used to the old standards of communication.
GRAMMAR POINT
In Italy, an Internet café is called in the same way: internet café. But you can also hear many young people calling it "internet point."
This place in Italy is pretty different from the international Internet cafes everyone is used to. In fact, young people normally surf the net at home and aren't used to going out in order to use the internet. Apart from this, you have the chance to have your own Internet card which you can ask for at the counter, and that gives you discounts all the time you go and connect.
So, let's imagine you're at the reception and you need to ask how much the connection and for how long.
"Excuse me, how much is it per hour?" Scusi quant'è all'ora? Scusi quant'è all'ora? Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time. Scu-si quan-t'è al-l'o-ra? Scusi quant'è all'ora? This sentence is made up by Scusim and then Quant'è, which we have already seen in previous lessons. Followed by All'ora. Be careful because All'ora is made up by two words, even though it sounds as just one and it can be confused with the conjunction Allora, which means "then." This is not our case. In fact, the first word comes from Alla, a feminine articled preposition without the ending a, but with the apostrophe because of the next word starting with a vowel, Ora, which is the Italian for "hour".
So, together we have Scusi quant'è all'ora? Which literally means "Excuse me, how much is it per hour?" Please note that the word "it" is not necessary in Italian. You will probably be answered with something like All'ora viene, and then the price of the connection per hour. All'ora viene. All'ora viene. Or even All'ora sono, and the price. All'ora sono. All'ora sono. Both sentences mean "per hour is..."
In these phrases, All'ora, which you have just seen is followed by Viene, the third singular person of the verb Venire, "to come", in the first case. Then is followed by Sono, the third person plural of the verb Essere, "to be," in the second case.
So, these two sentences are very easy to understand and have both the same meaning and will be always followed by the price. So, a number, plus the word Euro.
Let's imagine for example that the clerk says, "Per hour is 2 Euros". All'ora sono due euro. All'ora sono due euro. Let's break these words down and hear them one more time. Al-l'o-ra so-no du-e eu-ro. All'ora sono due euro.
So, now you are ready to ask for a point card!
"Can I make a point card?" In Italian is Posso fare una carta punti? Pos-so fa-re u-na car-ta pun-ti? Let's break it down by syllable and hear it one more time. Pos-so fa-re u-na car-ta pun-ti? Posso fare una carta punti?
Posso is the first singular person of the verb Potere, "can," and it means "can I." It's followed by the infinitive of the verb Fare, "to do." And then, you have Una carta punti, "a point card." Please remember that in Italian, it's usual to find the adjective after the noun. So, Carta, which is the Italian word for "card," comes first. And then, you have Punti that is the plural of Punto, "point." So, all together we have Posso fare una carta punti? Which literally means "Can I make a card points?" But, it has to be translated to as "Can I make a point card?"

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, buona fortuna, which means “good luck” in Italian.
"Excuse me, how much is it per hour?" - Scusi quant'è all'ora?
Scusi quant'è all'ora?
Scusi quant'è all'ora?
"Per hour is 2 Euros." - All'ora sono due euro.
All'ora sono due euro.
All'ora sono due euro.
"Per hour is 2 Euros." - All'ora viene due euro.
All'ora viene due euro.
All'ora viene due euro.
"Can I make a point card?" - Posso fare una carta punti?
Posso fare una carta punti?
Posso fare una carta punti?
That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Ciao ciao!

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