Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Consuelo: Ciao
Marco: Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 8: How Much Does that Italian Accessory Cost? 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 all 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 asking the price of goods and the conjugation of the present indicative of verbs ending in –are.
Marco: This conversation takes place in a shop.
Consuelo: The conversation is between Melissa and the clerk.
Marco: The speakers are not friends, therefore, they will be speaking formally. Let’s listen to the conversation.

Lesson conversation

Melissa: Mi scusi, quanto costa questa cintura?
Commesso: Costa venticinque euro.
Melissa: E quanto costano questi occhiali da sole? Sono così carini!
Commesso: Gli occhiali costano centoventi euro.
Melissa: Ah, la ringrazio. Compro solo la cintura.
Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now.
Melissa: Mi scusi, quanto costa questa cintura?
Commesso: Costa venticinque euro.
Melissa: E quanto costano questi occhiali da sole? Sono così carini!
Commesso: Gli occhiali costano centoventi euro.
Melissa: Ah, la ringrazio. Compro solo la cintura.
Marco: And now with the translation.
Melissa Mi scusi, quanto costa questa cintura?
Marco Excuse me, how much does this belt cost?
Commesso Costa venticinque euro.
Marco It costs twenty-five euros.
Melissa E quanto costano questi occhiali da sole? Sono così carini!
Marco And how much do these sunglasses cost? They're so cute!
Commesso Gli occhiali costano centoventi euro.
Marco The sunglasses cost one hundred and twenty euros.
Melissa Ah, la ringrazio. Compro solo la cintura.
Marco Ah, thank you. I'll buy only the belt.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Consuelo: Hey, Marco, did you know that in Italy prices of goods must be always displayed?
Marco: Oh, really?
Consuelo: Yes, there is a law that obliges shops' owners to display the price of every type of good to protect the consumers. But you know, not all of them actually do it.
Marco: Ah, I see. That's why Melissa asked the price…?
Consuelo: Yes, but sometimes it's better to ask even when prices are displayed…
Marco: Why?
Consuelo: Because there can be a mistake on the tag or a special offer that is not written.
Marco: Ah interesting, this can help our listeners while they're doing shopping in Italy.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is…
Consuelo costare [natural native speed]
Marco to cost
Consuelo costare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo costare [natural native speed]
Next:
Consuelo questa [natural native speed]
Marco this (feminine singular)
Consuelo questa [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo questa [natural native speed]
Next:
Consuelo cintura [natural native speed]
Marco belt
Consuelo cintura [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo cintura [natural native speed]
Next:
Consuelo occhiali da sole [natural native speed]
Marco sunglasses
Consuelo occhiali da sole [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo occhiali da sole [natural native speed]
Next:
Consuelo comprare [natural native speed]
Marco to buy, to purchase
Consuelo comprare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo comprare [natural native speed]
Next:
Consuelo solo [natural native speed]
Marco only
Consuelo solo [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo solo [natural native speed]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today?
Consuelo: That's the Italian word "solo."
Marco: "Solo" has actually two meanings. First it can be an adverb, meaning "only."
Consuelo: In that case, we can also use the word "soltanto," which has the same meaning. For example, "Compro solo una mela" or "compro soltanto una mela."
Marco: "I buy only an apple."
Consuelo: The other meaning of "solo" is "lonely" or "alone" with the function of an adjective.
Marco: So if I want to say "I feel lonely," I can use "solo," right?
Consuelo: Yes, you should say "mi sento solo." "Ti senti solo Marco?" meaning "Do you feel lonely, Marco?"
Marco: Oh no, no. "Non mi sento solo," meaning "I don't feel lonely!"

Lesson focus

Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point.
Marco: The focus of this lesson is on asking the price of goods and the present indicative of verbs whose infinitive ends in "–are."
Consuelo: The verb "costare," meaning "to cost," works in Italian exactly like its English equivalent.
Marco: To conjugate the verb at the "presente indicativo" tense, first take the infinitive. For example, "comprare"…
Consuelo: And drop the ending "–are." In this case, we are left with "compr-."
Marco: Take "compr" and finally add the appropriate endings. These are different for each person…"-io" takes the "-o," "tu" takes the "-i," "lui/lei" takes "-a,","noi" takes "-iamo," "voi" takes "-ate," and "loro" takes "-ano."
Marco: And now let's see the conjugation at the present indicative of the verb "comprare," meaning "to buy."
Consuelo: "Io compro"
Marco: "I buy"
Consuelo: "tu compri"
Marco: "you buy"
Consuelo: "lui/Lei compra"
Marco: "he/she/it buys"
Consuelo: "noi compriamo"
Marco: "we buy"
Consuelo: "voi comprate"
Marco: "you buy"
Consuelo: "loro comprano"
Marco: "they buy"
Consuelo: Other "-are" verbs conjugated like "comprare" are "abitare"
Marco: "to live,"
Consuelo: "amare"
Marco: "to love,"
Consuelo: "arrivare"
Marco: "to arrive,"
Consuelo: "ascoltare"
Marco: "to listen to,"
Consuelo: "ballare"
Marco: "to dance,"
Consuelo: "cantare"
Marco: "to sing," and so on.
Consuelo: An important element of verbs is their stress.
Marco: As we've already seen in the singular forms and the third person plural, the stress is on the vowel of the verb's stem.
Consuelo: While the stress of the first and second person plural is on the theme vowel (in this case, "-a-"), which is simply the second to last vowel, just as it is in the infinitive.
Consuelo: That's why we say "compriàmo" instead of "còmpriamo."
Marco: That’s just about does it today.
Consuelo: Ready to test what you just learned?
Marco: Make this lesson’s vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flash cards in the learning center.
Consuelo: There is a reason everyone uses flash cards
Marco: They work.
Consuelo: They really do help the memorization.
Marco: You can get the flash cards for this lesson at…
Consuelo: ItalianPod101.com.
Marco: Okay.

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