Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Marco: Hello, and welcome to 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?
Marco: In today's class, we will focus on the present progressive, gerundio, of -ere and -ire verbs.
Consuelo: This conversation takes place at Melissa's place.
Marco: It's between Melissa and Alessio.
Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian.
DIALOGUE
Alessio: Melissa, che stai facendo?
Melissa: Sto aprendo il vino. Bene, buon appetito. Ti piacciono i crostini?
Alessio: Sì, un pò freddi, ma buoni. Allora sai anche cucinare.
Melissa: Non credo. Sinceramente sto solo leggendo un libro di cucina, però non faccio mai pratica.
Alessio: Melissa, che cos'è questo fumo??
Melissa: Oh no! E' la nostra cena! Le melanzane alla parmigiana!
Alessio: Apri la finestra, non posso respirare.
Melissa: Perfetto! Adesso dobbiamo trovare un'alternativa.
Alessio: Ah, ah! Ordiniamo una pizza?
Melissa: Sì, una soluzione veloce. Non possiamo mangiare questa roba nera!
English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Alessio: Melissa, che stai facendo?
Melissa: Sto aprendo il vino. Bene, buon appetito. Ti piacciono i crostini?
Alessio: Sì, un pò freddi, ma buoni. Allora sai anche cucinare.
Melissa: Non credo. Sinceramente sto solo leggendo un libro di cucina, però non faccio mai pratica.
Alessio: Melissa, che cos'è questo fumo??
Melissa: Oh no! E' la nostra cena! Le melanzane alla parmigiana!
Alessio: Apri la finestra, non posso respirare.
Melissa: Perfetto! Adesso dobbiamo trovare un'alternativa.
Alessio: Ah, ah! Ordiniamo una pizza?
Melissa: Sì, una soluzione veloce. Non possiamo mangiare questa roba nera!
English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Alessio: Melissa, che stai facendo?
Marco: Melissa, what are you doing?
Melissa: Sto aprendo il vino. Bene, buon appetito. Ti piacciono i crostini?
Marco: I'm opening the wine. Well, have a nice meal. Do you like "crostini?"
Alessio: Sì, un pò freddi, ma buoni. Allora sai anche cucinare.
Marco: Yes, a bit cold, but good. So you can also cook.
Melissa: Non credo. Sinceramente sto solo leggendo un libro di cucina, però non faccio mai pratica.
Marco: I don't think so. Honestly, I'm only reading a cookbook, but I never practice.
Alessio: Melissa, che cos'è questo fumo??
Marco: Melissa, what is this smoke?
Melissa: Oh no! E' la nostra cena! Le melanzane alla parmigiana!
Marco: Oh no! It's our dinner! "Melanzane alla parmigiana!"
Alessio: Apri la finestra, non posso respirare.
Marco: Open the window; I can't breathe.
Melissa: Perfetto! Adesso dobbiamo trovare un'alternativa.
Marco: Perfect! Now we have to find an alternative.
Alessio: Ah, ah! Ordiniamo una pizza?
Marco: Ah, ah! Shall we order a pizza?
Melissa: Sì, una soluzione veloce. Non possiamo mangiare questa roba nera!
Marco: Yes, a quick solution. We can't eat this black thing!
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Consuelo: I think these guys can't eat "melanzane alla parmigiana" tonight...
Marco: Melissa burned everything. It's a crime! "Melanzane alla parmigiana" is one of my favorite dishes.
Consuelo: Oh, you like "eggplant parmesan"…
Marco: I love it!
Consuelo: I like it too, but it takes time to prepare, you know.
Marco: Yes, I can't prepare it.
Consuelo: You should do like Melissa and read a "libro di cucina," which is "a cookbook."
Marco: Yes, we saw the result with Melissa.
Consuelo: Come on, it happens that we sometimes forget food in the oven. Poor Melissa, this dinner was a kind of date for her, I guess.
Marco: Consuelo, did you ever burn a romantic dinner you were preparing for a guy?
Consuelo: I'll tell you another time!
VOCAB LIST
Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
The first word we shall see is:
Consuelo: sapere [natural native speed]
Marco: to know
Consuelo: sapere [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: sapere [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: pratica [natural native speed]
Marco: practice
Consuelo: pratica [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: pratica [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: fumo [natural native speed]
Marco: smoke
Consuelo: fumo [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: fumo [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: finestra [natural native speed]
Marco: window
Consuelo: finestra [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: finestra [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: respirare [natural native speed]
Marco: to breathe
Consuelo: respirare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: respirare [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: alternativa [natural native speed]
Marco: alternative, option
Consuelo: alternativa [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: alternativa [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: soluzione [natural native speed]
Marco: solution, result, answer
Consuelo: soluzione [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: soluzione [natural native speed]
: Next:
Consuelo: roba [natural native speed]
Marco: stuff, things
Consuelo: roba [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Consuelo: roba [natural native speed]
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today?
Consuelo: Today we're studying the word "roba."
Marco: "Stuff" or "things"
Consuelo: This is one of those words that you can hear very frequently in Italian.
Marco: Because it indicates something unidentified.
Consuelo: For example, if I say "Quanta roba da mangiare!"
Marco: This means "How many things to eat!"
Consuelo: Yes, because "roba" is a feminine noun always used at the singular.
Marco: So, in this case, "roba" was food.
Consuelo: But what if I say "Questo negozio ha della bella roba?"
Marco: "This shop sells good stuff." In this case, "roba" could be clothes.
Consuelo: Exactly! And what if I say "Ho un pò di roba da fare."
Marco: That stands for "I have a few things to do."
Consuelo: "Sì!" Another word for "roba" could be "cosa."
Marco: "Thing." Thank you Consuelo, this can be very useful!

Lesson focus

Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point.
Marco: In today's class, we continue focusing on the present progressive.
Consuelo: The "gerundio," as we already covered in the last lesson, expresses an action that is currently in progress…
Marco: Or an action that is continuing in a short period of time.
Consuelo: It is important to note that the "gerundio" is never used to describe an event that may happen in the future, as happens in English. The translation with the "-ing" form may confuse.
Marco: The present progressive in Italian is composed of the verb "stare" ("to stay" or "to be") plus the gerund.
Consuelo: In the last lesson, we covered the gerundio form for "-are" verbs, "-ando." In this lesson, we have "-ere" and "-ire" verbs.
Marco: In order to form the "gerundio" of "-ere" and "-ire" verbs, drop these stems and in both cases add "-endo."
Consuelo: As in "correre," meaning "to run," which becomes "correndo," "running."
Marco: Or "dormire," meaning "to sleep," which becomes "dormendo," "sleeping."
Consuelo: Only a few verbs of the second and third conjugations are irregular. The most common are "bere," meaning "to drink," which becomes "bevendo," "drinking."
Marco: And "dire," meaning "to say," which is "dicendo," "saying," at the gerund. Let's hear some sentences now.
Consuelo: Okay, the first is with "scrivere," meaning "to write." "Sto scrivendo un articolo per un giornale famoso."
Marco: "I am writing an article for a famous newspaper."
Consuelo: The next is with the verb "partire," meaning "to leave." "Giovanni sta partendo per la Sicilia."
Marco: "Giovanni is leaving for Sicily."
Consuelo: In our dialogue, we also heard "leggendo," which is from "leggere," meaning "to read."
Marco: As in when Melissa says "I'm only reading a cookbook."
Consuelo: "Sto solo leggendo un libro di cucina."
Marco: In the conversation, we also had the verb "aprire," meaning "to open," at the "gerundio." Can we see the entire conjugation for this verb?
Consuelo: Sure. Let's start! "Io sto aprendo."
Marco: "I am opening."
Consuelo: "Tu stai aprendo."
Marco: "You are opening."
Consuelo: "Lui/Lei sta aprendo."
Marco: "He/she/it is opening."
Consuelo: "Noi stiamo aprendo."
Marco: "We are opening."
Consuelo: "Voi state aprendo."
Marco: "You are opening."
Consuelo: "Loro stanno aprendo."
Marco: "They are opening." Please remember to look at the lesson notes!

Outro

Marco: That just about does it for today.
Consuelo: Listeners, can you understand Italian TV shows, movies or songs?
Marco: How about friends and loved ones? conversations in Italian?
Consuelo: If you want to know what's going on, we have a tool to help.
Marco: Line-by-line audio.
Consuelo: Listen to the lesson conversations Line-By-Line, and learn to understand natural Italian fast!
Marco: It's simple really.
Consuelo: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation.
Marco: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural Italian.
Consuelo: Rapidly understand natural Italian with this powerful tool.
Marco: Find this feature on the lesson page under Premium Member resources at ItalianPod101.com.

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