Learn the Italian singular indirect object pronouns
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| 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 singular indirect object pronouns. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place in the office. |
| Marco: It's between Ilaria, Alessio, and Alberto. |
| Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Ilaria: Allora ragazzi, sabato è il compleanno di Melissa, cosa facciamo? |
| Alessio: Perchè non le facciamo una festa a sorpresa? |
| Ilaria: Sì, che bell'idea. Lei arriva al ristorante solo con te, ma noi tutti aspettiamo nascosti. |
| Alessio: D'accordo. Cosa le regaliamo? |
| Ilaria: Non lo so, ma io di sicuro le preparo la torta. |
| Alberto: Io mando una e-mail agli altri colleghi e amici. |
| Alessio: Alberto, ti devo chiedere un favore. |
| Alberto: Sì? |
| Alessio: Nella mail scrivi che è una festa a sorpresa, lei non lo deve scoprire. Manteniamo il segreto! |
| Alberto: Certo! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Ilaria: Allora ragazzi, sabato è il compleanno di Melissa, cosa facciamo? |
| Alessio: Perchè non le facciamo una festa a sorpresa? |
| Ilaria: Sì, che bell'idea. Lei arriva al ristorante solo con te, ma noi tutti aspettiamo nascosti. |
| Alessio: D'accordo. Cosa le regaliamo? |
| Ilaria: Non lo so, ma io di sicuro le preparo la torta. |
| Alberto: Io mando una e-mail agli altri colleghi e amici. |
| Alessio: Alberto, ti devo chiedere un favore. |
| Alberto: Sì? |
| Alessio: Nella mail scrivi che è una festa a sorpresa, lei non lo deve scoprire. Manteniamo il segreto! |
| Alberto: Certo! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Ilaria: Allora ragazzi, sabato è il compleanno di Melissa, cosa facciamo? |
| Marco: So guys, Saturday is Melissa's birthday; what shall we do? |
| Alessio: Perchè non le facciamo una festa a sorpresa? |
| Marco: Why don't we have a surprise party? |
| Ilaria: Sì, che bell'idea. Lei arriva al ristorante solo con te, ma noi tutti aspettiamo nascosti. |
| Marco: Yes, what a nice idea. She gets to the restaurant alone with you, but we're all waiting hidden. |
| Alessio: D'accordo. Cosa le regaliamo? |
| Marco: All right. What shall we get her as a present? |
| Ilaria: Non lo so, ma io di sicuro le preparo la torta. |
| Marco: I don't know, but I'll prepare a cake for her for sure. |
| Alberto: Io mando una e-mail agli altri colleghi e amici. |
| Marco: I'll send an e-mail to the other colleagues and friends. |
| Alessio: Alberto, ti devo chiedere un favore. |
| Marco: Alberto, I have to ask you a favor. |
| Alberto: Sì? |
| Marco: Yes? |
| Alessio: Nella mail scrivi che è una festa a sorpresa, lei non lo deve scoprire. Manteniamo il segreto! |
| Marco: In the e-mail, write that it's a surprise party and she must not know about it. Let's keep the secret! |
| Alberto: Certo! |
| Marco: Sure! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, do you like "feste a sorpresa?" |
| Consuelo: Oh yes, I like "surprise parties!" |
| Marco: Where is the most common place for them to take place? |
| Consuelo: Usually, in Italy, it's at home or at a restaurant or pizzeria. |
| Marco: Ah, okay. |
| Consuelo: You know, Marco, we don't have many chain restaurants or fast food in Italy… |
| Marco: That's true! |
| Consuelo: Also, Italians generally like cooking, so it's fun to prepare a feast with your friends. |
| Marco: Why don't you organize one for me here at ItalianPod101.com? |
| Consuelo: Now that you expect it, "Che sorpresa sarebbe?" "What kind of surprise would it be?" |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: ragazzo [natural native speed] |
| Marco: boy, lad, guy |
| Consuelo: ragazzo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: ragazzo [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: compleanno [natural native speed] |
| Marco: birthday |
| Consuelo: compleanno [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: compleanno [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: festa [natural native speed] |
| Marco: feast, holiday, party |
| Consuelo: festa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: festa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: sorpresa [natural native speed] |
| Marco: surprise |
| Consuelo: sorpresa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: sorpresa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: nascosto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: hidden, covered |
| Consuelo: nascosto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: nascosto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: chiedere [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to ask |
| Consuelo: chiedere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: chiedere [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: mantenere [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to keep, to maintain, to preserve |
| Consuelo: mantenere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: mantenere [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: segreto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: secret |
| Consuelo: segreto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: segreto [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 verb "mantenere." |
| Marco: "To keep," "to maintain," or "to preserve." |
| Consuelo: As we heard in today's conversation, we use this verb when talking about a secret. "Mantenere un segreto." |
| Marco: "Mantenere" is a common verb in Italian. Can you tell our listeners some other expressions? |
| Consuelo: Sure, how about "Mantenere la calma." |
| Marco: "To keep one's calm," "to cool the temper," "or to stay cool." |
| Consuelo: We also say, "Mantenere le distanze." |
| Marco: "To keep a distance" or "to keep aloof." |
| Consuelo: In the meaning of "to preserve something," we use it in phrases like "Le condizioni climatiche hanno mantenuto gli scavi intatti." |
| Marco: "The weather conditions have kept the excavations intact." |
| Consuelo: Or "Questo tessuto mantiene una buona qualità." |
| Marco: "This textile maintains a good quality." Thank you, Consuelo, I think our listeners know how to better use "mantenere" now. |
| Consuelo: "Lo spero!" "I hope so!" |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In today's class, we focus on "indirect object pronouns." |
| Consuelo: "I pronomi indiretti." |
| Marco: First of all, what is an indirect object noun? |
| Consuelo: An indirect object noun is the person or the thing indirectly affected by the action of the verb. |
| Marco: It answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom?" |
| Consuelo: So, in English, if we have a noun preceded by "to" or "for," in Italian the preposition used is "a." |
| Marco: For example? |
| Consuelo: "Compriamo un libro a Francesca." |
| Marco: "We buy a book for Francesca." |
| Consuelo: Or "Penso sempre a te." |
| Marco: "I always think about you." |
| Consuelo: Now, indirect object pronouns replace indirect object nouns. |
| Marco: "I give a present to Frank" would become "I give 'him' a present." |
| Consuelo: The form of the pronoun depends on the gender and the number of the noun it replaces. |
| Marco: Today we are covering the singular forms, which are… |
| Consuelo: "Mi." |
| Marco: In English, "to me" or "for me." |
| Consuelo: "Ti." |
| Marco: "To you" or "for you." |
| Consuelo: "Le." |
| Marco: This can be "to her" or "for her" or "to you" or "for you" when used at the courtesy form. |
| Consuelo: Then we have "gli." |
| Marco: "To him" or "for him." |
| Consuelo: Just like direct object pronouns, the "pronomi indiretti" always precede the verb, and in a negative statement they are placed between "non" and the verb. |
| Marco: For instance? |
| Consuelo: "Mi offri la cena?" |
| Marco: "Are you offering me dinner?" |
| Consuelo: In the dialogue, they use the pronoun "le," which replaces "to Melissa" or "to her," as in "Le preparo la torta." |
| Marco: "I'll prepare a cake for her." |
| Consuelo: Furthermore, indirect object pronouns are identical to direct object pronouns when combined with the modal verbs. |
| Marco: Such as "dovere," which means "must" or "to have to"; "potere," which means "can"; or "volere," which means "to want." In this case, they may either be attached to the infinitive, which drops the final "-e," or precede the conjugated verb. |
| Consuelo: In the conversation, we heard Alessio saying, "Ti devo chiedere un favore." |
| Marco: "I have to ask you a favor." |
| Consuelo: Take the phrase "Posso farLe una domanda?" |
| Marco: "Can I ask you a question?" |
| Consuelo: Here "Le" replaces the courtesy form "a lei." |
| Marco: Please remember that "le" and "gli" never drop the vowel before a verb beginning with a vowel or an "-h." |
| Consuelo: "Le insegno matematica." |
| Marco: "I teach her mathematics." |
| Consuelo: Or "Gli offro la cena." |
| Marco: "I offer him dinner." We'll continue analyzing "pronomi indiretti" in the next lesson. |
| Consuelo: And we'll give you also a list with the main verbs that require the preposition "a." |
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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