Learn how to use the second conjugation of Italian verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Buongiorno a tutti. |
| Marco: Marco here. Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 9: If It’s Made in Italy, It’s Gotta be Good. 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 present indicative of verbs ending in –ere. |
| Marco: This conversation takes place in a shop. |
| Consuelo: This conversation is between Melissa and Alessio. |
| Marco: The speakers are friends, therefore, they will be speaking informally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Alessio: Cosa leggi? |
| Melissa: Leggo l'etichetta di questa maglia. |
| Alessio: Perché? |
| Melissa: Perché per me è importante sapere se è fatta in Italia. |
| Alessio: Ah, è vero. Hai ragione! |
| Marco: Let’s here it slowly now. |
| Consuelo: Ciao |
| Alessio: Cosa leggi? |
| Melissa: Leggo l'etichetta di questa maglia. |
| Alessio: Perché? |
| Melissa: Perché per me è importante sapere se è fatta in Italia. |
| Alessio: Ah, è vero. Hai ragione! |
| Marco: And now, with a translation. |
| Alessio Cosa leggi? |
| Marco What are you reading? |
| Melissa Leggo l'etichetta di questa maglia. |
| Marco I'm reading the label of this shirt. |
| Alessio Perché? |
| Marco Why? |
| Melissa Perché per me è importante sapere se è fatta in Italia. |
| Marco Because for me it's important to know whether it is made in Italy. |
| Alessio Ah, è vero. Hai ragione! |
| Marco Ah, that's true. You're right! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, do you usually check labels of a piece of clothing before buying it? |
| Consuelo: I have to confess, I don’t. But I think it’s a good way to recognize goods of a certain quality. |
| Marco: Made in Italy is always a guarantee of excellent products, don’t you think? |
| Consuelo: Of course, but you know Marco even if you read “Made in Italy,” it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is 100 percent made in Italy. |
| Marco: What do you mean? |
| Consuelo: Some goods, they are developed and assembled by an Italian business company can legally earn the label, “Made in Italy.” |
| Marco: Ah, that’s interesting. Thank you, Consuelo. |
| Consuelo: Yes. If more than a certain percentage of a product’s material and manufactory is done in Italy, it can use “Made in Italy” on its label. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is? |
| Consuelo leggere [natural native speed] |
| Marco to read |
| Consuelo leggere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo leggere [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo etichetta [natural native speed] |
| Marco label |
| Consuelo etichetta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo etichetta [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo maglia [natural native speed] |
| Marco shirt |
| Consuelo maglia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo maglia [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo perché [natural native speed] |
| Marco why |
| Consuelo perché [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo perché [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo importante [natural native speed] |
| Marco important |
| Consuelo importante [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo importante [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo sapere [natural native speed] |
| Marco to know |
| Consuelo sapere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo sapere [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: That's the Italian word "perché." |
| Marco: Meaning "why" or "because." |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, you can use "perché" in asking a question but also when you are answering one. For example: "perché non mangi il gelato?" "Why don't you eat ice cream?" |
| Marco: "Perché non mi piace," meaning "because I don't like it." |
| Consuelo: "Perché" is sometimes substituted by the phrase "come mai," which can be translated as "how come" in English. Therefore "il perché" means "the reason why." |
| Marco: And there is also the Italian equivalent for "why not!"… |
| Consuelo: "Perché no!" |
| Marco: Hey, Consuelo, "mangiamo un gelato?" meaning "Shall we eat an ice cream?" |
| Consuelo: "Perché no!" |
Lesson focus |
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In this lesson, we'll see the present indicative of verbs whose infinitive ends in -ere. |
| Consuelo: To conjugate "-ere" verbs at the "presente indicativo" tense, we should follow the same process as with "-are" verbs. |
| Marco: That is, take the infinitive form of the verb, for example "leggere," and drop the ending "-ere." Then you are left with "legg-." |
| Consuelo: Take "legg-" and add the appropriate endings. These are different for each person. "Io" takes "-o," "tu" takes "-i," "lui/lei" takes "-e," "noi" takes "-iamo," "voi" takes "-ete," and "loro" takes "-ono." |
| Marco: Let's now see the conjugation of the regular verb "leggere," meaning "to read." |
| Consuelo: "Io leggo." |
| Marco: "I read." |
| Consuelo: "Tu leggi." |
| Marco: "You read." |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei legge." |
| Marco: "He/she reads." |
| Consuelo: "Noi leggiamo." |
| Marco: "We read." |
| Consuelo: "Voi leggete." |
| Marco: "You read." |
| Consuelo: "Loro leggono." |
| Marco: "They read." |
| Consuelo: In the conjugation of the verb "leggere," please note the alternation between the soft and hard "g." |
| Marco: This happens because "-g" before the vowels "-a", "-o" and "-u" has a sound like the "-g" in "good"; when "-g" is before "-e" and "-i," it has a sound like the "-g" in "general." |
| Consuelo: Some other "-ere" verbs conjugated like "leggere" are "chiudere" |
| Marco: "to close," |
| Consuelo: "spendere" |
| Marco: "to spend," |
| Consuelo: "scrivere" |
| Marco: "to write," and |
| Consuelo "ricevere" |
| Marco: "to receive" |
| Consuelo: It is important to notice that a considerable number of verbs belonging to the second conjugation are irregular. |
| Marco: This means that they do not follow the standard rules. So we have to learn them by heart! |
| Consuelo: Yes as they can either change the stem or the ending, but rarely both. |
| Marco: So much to study! |
| Consuelo: Don't be a cry-baby. |
| Marco: Okay, okay. Some "-ere" verbs like "lèggere" have the stress on the first "-e" of the infinitive, but others have the stress on the second syllable, such as "vedére." In this case, the stress changes. |
| Consuelo: When in doubt, check in a dictionary to see where the stress should fall. |
| Marco: Or just try to listen and repeat the pronunciation other Italians are using! 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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