Learn how to say the Italian equivalents of "there is" and "there are"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Ciao |
| Marco: Marco here. Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 16 – That’s It, There’s No More Italian Ice Cream for You. Hello and welcome to the Absolute Beginner Season 1 at ItalianPod101.com where we study modern Italian in a fun educational format. |
| Consuelo: So brush up on the Italian that you started learning long ago or start learning today. |
| Marco: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Consuelo, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Consuelo: In today’s class, we will focus on the structures "c'e'," meaning "there is," and "ci sono," meaning "there are." |
| Marco: This conversation takes place on the street. |
| Consuelo: It’s between Melissa and Alessio. |
| Marco: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will be speaking informally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Alessio: Piazza della Signoria è bella, no? |
| Melissa: Eh, sì, una meraviglia, poi oggi con questo sole.... |
| Alessio: Melissa, hai una macchia enorme di cioccolato sulla giacca! |
| Melissa: Oh no. E adesso? |
| Alessio: Aspetta, c'è una fontanella qui vicino. Puliamo la giacca con l'acqua, andiamo. |
| Melissa: Grazie, sei molto gentile. Brrr, ma quest'acqua è molto fredda! |
| Alessio: Ah ah ah, ci sono delle macchie anche sui tuoi jeans! |
| Melissa: Ma no! Che pasticcio. |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Alessio: Piazza della Signoria è bella, no? |
| Melissa: Eh, sì, una meraviglia, poi oggi con questo sole.... |
| Alessio: Melissa, hai una macchia enorme di cioccolato sulla giacca! |
| Melissa: Oh no. E adesso? |
| Alessio: Aspetta, c'è una fontanella qui vicino. Puliamo la giacca con l'acqua, andiamo. |
| Melissa: Grazie, sei molto gentile. Brrr, ma quest'acqua è molto fredda! |
| Alessio: Ah ah ah, ci sono delle macchie anche sui tuoi jeans! |
| Melissa: Ma no! Che pasticcio. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Eh, sì, una meraviglia, poi oggi con questo sole.... |
| Marco Oh yes, it's wonderful, especially today with this sun.... |
| Alessio Melissa, hai una macchia enorme di cioccolato sulla giacca! |
| Marco Melissa, you've got a huge chocolate stain on your jacket! |
| Melissa Oh no. E adesso? |
| Marco Oh no. What now? |
| Alessio Aspetta, c'è una fontanella qui vicino. Puliamo la giacca con l'acqua, andiamo. |
| Marco Wait, there's a drinking fountain near here. Let's clean the jacket with water. Let's go. |
| Melissa Grazie, sei molto gentile. Brrr, ma quest'acqua è molto fredda! |
| Marco Thank you, you're very kind. Brrr, this water is very cold! |
| Alessio Ah ah ah, ci sono delle macchie anche sui tuoi jeans! |
| Marco Ah ah ah, there are some stains even on your jeans! |
| Melissa Ma no! Che pasticcio. |
| Marco No! What a mess. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, usually there are many drinking fountains in Italian cities, right? |
| Consuelo: Oh yes, you are totally right. Italians drink a lot of water actually. You know, drinking fountains were first built by Romans. |
| Marco: Ah, that's why in Rome there's one at almost every corner. |
| Consuelo: In a small city like Venice, we can count almost 122 drinking fountains. |
| Marco: Wow, that's a lot! Melissa and Alessio are in Florence; what about drinking fountains in Florence? |
| Consuelo: As in all the other cities in Italy, they are considered to be pieces of architecture, but in Florence they're seen as examples of Renaissance drinking fountains. |
| Marco: They're beautiful to see, and they are useful as well. |
| Consuelo: Especially in summer! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is… |
| Consuelo macchia [natural native speed] |
| Marco stain |
| Consuelo macchia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo macchia [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo enorme [natural native speed] |
| Marco huge, enormous |
| Consuelo enorme [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo enorme [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo fontanella [natural native speed] |
| Marco drinking fountain |
| Consuelo fontanella [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo fontanella [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo pulire [natural native speed] |
| Marco to clean |
| Consuelo pulire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo pulire [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo freddo [natural native speed] |
| Marco cold |
| Consuelo freddo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo freddo [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo pasticcio [natural native speed] |
| Marco mess, jam, trouble |
| Consuelo pasticcio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo pasticcio [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: The Italian word "pasticcio." |
| Marco: "A mess." |
| Consuelo: As we've heard in the dialogue, Melissa says "che pasticcio." |
| Marco: Oh yes, because she stained both her jacket and jeans with the ice cream! |
| Consuelo: When someone makes a "pasticcio," meaning "a mess," he is called "pasticcione" in Italian. |
| Marco: And what if it is a woman? |
| Consuelo: In that case, she would be a "pasticciona." |
| Consuelo: So if "pasticcio" is "a mess," what is the meaning of the colloquial verb "pasticciare?" |
| Marco: That should be "make a mess," right? |
| Consuelo: Yes, it is so. We have other nice expressions using this word; for example, "mettersi nei pasticci," meaning |
| Marco: "get into trouble." |
| Consuelo: "Un bel pasticcio," meaning |
| Marco: "a nice mess." |
| Consuelo: "Essere in un pasticcio." |
| Marco: Oh, that's "to be in a pickle." "Grazie," Consuelo. |
| Consuelo: "Prego!" |
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In today's lesson, we'll focus on the structures… |
| Consuelo: "C'è," meaning |
| Marco: "there is." And… |
| Consuelo: "Ci sono," meaning |
| Marco: "there are." As in English, "c'è" is used only with singular nouns. For example… |
| Consuelo: "C'è un gatto sul divano," meaning |
| Marco: "There is a cat on the sofa." Or… |
| Consuelo: "C'è qualcuno alla porta," meaning |
| Marco: "There is someone at the door." |
| Consuelo: "Ci sono," like its English equivalent, "there are," is used only with plural nouns. |
| Marco: For example? |
| Consuelo: "Ci sono dei regali sotto l'albero di Natale," meaning |
| Marco: "There are some presents under the Christmas tree." Or… |
| Consuelo: "Ci sono delle belle scarpe in vetrina," meaning |
| Marco: "There are some cute shoes in the shop window." |
| Consuelo: The negative form is conveyed with "non c'è" or "non ci sono." |
| Marco: So you just need to add "non" before "c'è" or "ci sono." For example… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è più pane!" meaning |
| Marco: "There's no more bread!" |
| Consuelo: "Non ci sono problemi," meaning |
| Marco: "There are no problems." |
| Consuelo: You just need to add "non" to make the negation! |
| Marco: Please remember that in Italian, double negations don't nullify or cancel out each other. That's why "there is no one" is translated as… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è nessuno." |
| Marco: And we translate "there is nothing" as… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è niente." |
| Marco: "Non c'è niente" is often used when followed by the preposition "da" plus an infinitive. For instance… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è niente da fare," meaning |
| Marco: "There is nothing to do." We can say also… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è niente da bere," meaning |
| Marco: "There is nothing to drink." Or… |
| Consuelo: "Non c'è niente da dire," meaning |
| Marco: "There is nothing to say." |
| Consuelo: And so on… |
Lesson focus |
| Marco: That’s just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Consuelo: The voice recording tool. |
| Marco: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Consuelo: Record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Marco: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Consuelo: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Marco: Compare it to the native speakers. |
| Consuelo: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. |
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