Learn two more ways you can use the imperfect verb tense in Italian as a substitute for other tenses and when you're relaying what happened in a dream
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone! I'm Consuelo, and welcome to ItalianPOD101.com. |
| Ruggero: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights... |
| Ruggero: ...and tips you won't find in a textbook. |
| Ruggero: In today's class, we continue focusing on how to employ the imperfetto tense. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place on the street. |
| Ruggero: It's between Ilaria and Alessio. |
| Consuelo: In this conversation, they will be speaking informal Italian. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Alessio: Ilaria, volevo farti le mie congratulazioni per la tua promozione. |
| Ilaria: Grazie, mille Alessio. Hai la macchina? Mi dai un passaggio? |
| Alessio: Certo! Dove ti porto? |
| Ilaria: Mi puoi lasciare al supermercato? Accidenti dovevo andarci in pausa pranzo, adesso sono stanca e non mi ricordo cosa devo comprare. Volevo preparare le linguine allo scoglio stasera... Quindi pesce... |
| Alessio: Che buone! |
| Ilaria: Comunque ho intenzione di organizzare una cena a casa mia per festeggiare la mia promozione, così brindiamo anche Melissa. |
| Alessio: Ma come?! Festeggiamo ancora il suo compleanno? |
| Ilaria: Ma no, mi ha confessato che vuole prolungare il suo soggiorno in Italia. Non lo sapevi? |
| Alessio: Oh. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Alessio: Ilaria, volevo farti le mie congratulazioni per la tua promozione. |
| Ilaria: Grazie, mille Alessio. Hai la macchina? Mi dai un passaggio? |
| Alessio: Certo! Dove ti porto? |
| Ilaria: Mi puoi lasciare al supermercato? Accidenti dovevo andarci in pausa pranzo, adesso sono stanca e non mi ricordo cosa devo comprare. Volevo preparare le linguine allo scoglio stasera... Quindi pesce... |
| Alessio: Che buone! |
| Ilaria: Comunque ho intenzione di organizzare una cena a casa mia per festeggiare la mia promozione, così brindiamo anche Melissa. |
| Alessio: Ma come?! Festeggiamo ancora il suo compleanno? |
| Ilaria: Ma no, mi ha confessato che vuole prolungare il suo soggiorno in Italia. Non lo sapevi? |
| Alessio: Oh. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Alessio: Ilaria, volevo farti le mie congratulazioni per la tua promozione. |
| Ruggero: Ilaria, I wanted to congratulate you on your promotion. |
| Ilaria: Grazie, mille Alessio. Hai la macchina? Mi dai un passaggio? |
| Ruggero: Thanks a lot, Alessio. Do you have the car? Can you give me a ride? |
| Alessio: Certo! Dove ti porto? |
| Ruggero: Sure! Where shall I take you? |
| Ilaria: Mi puoi lasciare al supermercato? Accidenti dovevo andarci in pausa pranzo, adesso sono stanca e non mi ricordo cosa devo comprare. Volevo preparare le linguine allo scoglio stasera... Quindi pesce... |
| Ruggero: Can you leave me at the supermarket? Gee, I should have gone during the lunch break; now I'm tired and don't remember what I have to buy. I wanted to prepare linguine allo scoglio tonight... Therefore, fish... |
| Alessio: Che buone! |
| Ruggero: So good! |
| Ilaria: Comunque ho intenzione di organizzare una cena a casa mia per festeggiare la mia promozione, così brindiamo anche Melissa. |
| Ruggero: Anyway, I plan to organize a dinner at my house to celebrate my promotion, and this way we can toast to Melissa. |
| Alessio: Ma come?! Festeggiamo ancora il suo compleanno? |
| Ruggero: How come? Are we still celebrating her birthday? |
| Ilaria: Ma no, mi ha confessato che vuole prolungare il suo soggiorno in Italia. Non lo sapevi? |
| Ruggero: No. She has admitted she wants to extend her stay in Italy. Didn't you know? |
| Alessio: Oh. |
| Ruggero: Oh. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ruggero: I've heard of "linguine allo scoglio." It's so good. |
| Consuelo: I know! Ilaria wants to cook, but she's so tired that can't think of what she needs to buy. But please stop talking about food. |
| Ruggero: Yes, you're right. Alessio is taking Ilaria to the supermarket by car, but Consuelo, did you notice? When talking about Melissa, Alessio didn't know how to answer. |
| Consuelo: Oh right, you mean when he didn't know she's going to stay longer in Italy. He looks surprised! |
| Ruggero: She probably didn't say a word to him. |
| Consuelo: Anyway, I'm sure he's happy about that! |
| Ruggero: Of course he is. |
| Consuelo: We'll know what's going on in the next lesson. |
| Ruggero: So be sure not to miss it! |
| Consuelo: "Sì, non perdete la prossima lezione!" |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Ruggero: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: passaggio [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: lift, ride |
| Consuelo: passaggio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: passaggio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: supermercato [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: supermarket |
| Consuelo: supermercato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: supermercato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: linguine [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: long, flat pasta |
| Consuelo: linguine [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: linguine [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: scoglio [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: rock |
| Consuelo: scoglio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: scoglio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: comunque [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: however, anyhow, anyway, whatever |
| Consuelo: comunque [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: comunque [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: confessare [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: to admit |
| Consuelo: confessare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: confessare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: prolungare [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: to extend |
| Consuelo: prolungare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: prolungare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: soggiorno [natural native speed] |
| Ruggero: stay |
| Consuelo: soggiorno [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: soggiorno [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Ruggero: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Ruggero: Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: Today we're studying the verb "confessare." |
| Ruggero: "To admit" or "to confess." |
| Consuelo: We use this verb when "confessiamo un crimine o una colpa." |
| Ruggero: When "we confess a crime or a fault." |
| Consuelo: We can also "confessare di avere fatto qualcosa." |
| Ruggero: We can "admit having done something." For example, what? |
| Consuelo: "Confessare di avere fatto un errore, una debolezza..." |
| Ruggero: "To confess having made a mistake" or "to admit having a weakness." Or like Melissa did, "to confess an intention" or "to confess a secret." |
| Consuelo: Yep! "Confessare un intenzione, un segreto." Please remember that this verb is used also on religious occasions. |
| Ruggero: Ah okay, when making one's confession at church. |
| Consuelo: Right, but in this case we use the reflexive form of this verb, "confessarsi." |
| Ruggero: "To confess oneself." |
| Consuelo: Ruggero, "È tempo di confessare!" "It's time to confess!" |
| Ruggero: "Never!" "Mai!" |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Ruggero: In today's class, we continue focusing on how to employ the "imperfetto" tense. |
| Consuelo: In the previous lesson, we covered some of the main uses for the "imperfetto" tense. |
| Ruggero: Today we are considering other two common ways to use it. |
| Consuelo: One of these two actually replaces another possible tense. |
| Ruggero: What do you mean? |
| Consuelo: The usage of "imperfetto" is sometimes optional instead of using other tenses, such as when a verb is conjugated at the "imperfetto" instead of the "condizionale." ("conditional") in phrases expressing requests or regrets. |
| Ruggero: For instance? |
| Consuelo: In the dialogue, Alessio says, "Volevo farti le mie congratulazioni." |
| Ruggero: "I wanted to congratulate you." |
| Consuelo: "Volevo" is used instead of "vorrei," the conditional. |
| Ruggero: Or when Ilaria says, "Dovevo andarci in pausa pranzo." |
| Consuelo: In this case, it replaces a past conditional, "Sarei dovuta andarci in pausa pranzo." "I should have gone during the lunch break." |
| Ruggero: Another example in the conversation is when she adds, "Volevo preparare le linguine." "I wanted to prepare linguine." |
| Consuelo: Instead of saying "Avrei voluto preparare le linguine." |
| Ruggero: At "condizionale passato." |
| Consuelo: We use "imperfetto" in other sentences like "Volevo incontrare Michele stasera," meaning "Avrei voluto incontrare Michele stasera." |
| Ruggero: "I wanted to meet Michele tonight." |
| Consuelo: Or "Peccato, potevo visitare gli Uffizi oggi." You can also say "Peccato, avrei potuto visitare gli Uffizi oggi." |
| Ruggero: "I could have visited the Uffizi Gallery today." Okay, let's go on with the other usage now. |
| Consuelo: We use the "imperfetto" tense when telling someone a dream we had. |
| Ruggero: It is something that happened in the past, but since it recalls an indefinite lapse of time, we use this "not exact" tense. |
| Consuelo: In the "dream world," we never use the "passato prossimo." Listen..."Ho sognato che avevo dei poteri soprannaturali." |
| Ruggero: Wow, cool. "I dreamed I had some supernatural powers." What else did you dream, Consuelo? |
| Consuelo: "Stanotte ho sognato che vincevo alla lotteria e mi compravo un aeroplano." |
| Ruggero: "Last night, I dreamed I won the lottery and I bought an airplane for myself." That's a very common dream. Where did you go with your airplane? |
| Consuelo: "Andavo lontano, lontano." |
Outro |
| Ruggero: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Listeners, can you understand Italian TV shows, movies or songs? |
| Ruggero: 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. |
| Ruggero: Line-by-line audio. |
| Consuelo: Listen to the lesson conversations Line-By-Line, and learn to understand natural Italian fast! |
| Ruggero: It's simple really. |
| Consuelo: With a click of a button, listen to each line of the conversation. |
| Ruggero: Listen again and again, and tune your ear to natural Italian. |
| Consuelo: Rapidly understand natural Italian with this powerful tool. |
| Ruggero: Find this feature on the lesson page under Premium Member resources at ItalianPod101.com. |
7 Comments
HideHai una macchina?
Ciao E,
la tua frase è perfetta. Keep up the good work!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
No, purtroppo non ho una macchina.
Hi Donna,
Thank you for posting!
"That’s what I was thinking" is "E' proprio quello che stavo pensando."
Keep up the good work!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Che quello che pensavo! ( That’s what I was thinking?)
Mmmmmmmmmmm buonissima!
Grazie, Donna
Hi Donna,
"Linguine (similar to spaghetti) allo scoglio" refers to pasta with seafood.
It's delicious: you should try it!😜
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ma linguine allo scoglio...cosa c’è?