Learn the singular direct object pronouns
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hi, my name is Consuelo, and I am joined here by Marco. |
| Marco: Hello, everyone and welcome back to ItalianPOD101.com |
| Consuelo: What are we learning today? |
| Marco: In today's class, we will focus on the singular direct object pronouns. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place at Melissa's place. |
| Marco: It's between Melissa and her housemate Daniele. |
| Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Melissa: Ah, sei sveglio, è molto tardi. |
| Daniele: Sto lavorando a un progetto. Lo devo finire per lunedì. Sei stanca? |
| Melissa: Sì, sono andata in un posto che si chiama Caribe, lo conosci? |
| Daniele: No, non lo conosco. Io non vado mai a ballare. Con chi sei andata? |
| Melissa: Con Alessio. Sei proprio curioso. |
| Daniele: Sei sempre con questo Alessio, è il tuo ragazzo? |
| Melissa: No, è un mio collega di lavoro. |
| Daniele: Sì, sì, ho capito... Ah, è arrivata una cartolina dall'America per te. |
| Melissa: Bene, la leggo subito. |
| Daniele: Chi scrive? |
| Melissa: Tu non sei curioso sei impiccione! |
| Daniele: Ah ah, stai facendo progressi in italiano. Adesso lo parli proprio bene! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Melissa: Ah, sei sveglio, è molto tardi. |
| Daniele: Sto lavorando a un progetto. Lo devo finire per lunedì. Sei stanca? |
| Melissa: Sì, sono andata in un posto che si chiama Caribe, lo conosci? |
| Daniele: No, non lo conosco. Io non vado mai a ballare. Con chi sei andata? |
| Melissa: Con Alessio. Sei proprio curioso. |
| Daniele: Sei sempre con questo Alessio, è il tuo ragazzo? |
| Melissa: No, è un mio collega di lavoro. |
| Daniele: Sì, sì, ho capito... Ah, è arrivata una cartolina dall'America per te. |
| Melissa: Bene, la leggo subito. |
| Daniele: Chi scrive? |
| Melissa: Tu non sei curioso sei impiccione! |
| Daniele: Ah ah, stai facendo progressi in italiano. Adesso lo parli proprio bene! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Melissa: Ah, sei sveglio, è molto tardi. |
| Marco: Ah, you're awake; it's very late. |
| Daniele: Sto lavorando a un progetto. Lo devo finire per lunedì. Sei stanca? |
| Marco: I'm working on a project. I have to finish it by Monday. Are you tired? |
| Melissa: Sì, sono andata in un posto che si chiama Caribe, lo conosci? |
| Marco: Yes, I went to a place called Caribe; do you know it? |
| Daniele: No, non lo conosco. Io non vado mai a ballare. Con chi sei andata? |
| Marco: No, I don't know it. I never go dancing. With whom did you go? |
| Melissa: Con Alessio. Sei proprio curioso. |
| Marco: With Alessio. You're really curious. |
| Daniele: Sei sempre con questo Alessio, è il tuo ragazzo? |
| Marco: You're always with this Alessio; is he your boyfriend? |
| Melissa: No, è un mio collega di lavoro. |
| Marco: No, he's a colleague from work. |
| Daniele: Sì, sì, ho capito... Ah, è arrivata una cartolina dall'America per te. |
| Marco: Yes, I got it... Ah, a postcard from America arrived for you. |
| Melissa: Bene, la leggo subito. |
| Marco: Good, I'll read it immediately. |
| Daniele: Chi scrive? |
| Marco: Who's writing? |
| Melissa: Tu non sei curioso sei impiccione! |
| Marco: You're not curious, you're nosy! |
| Daniele: Ah ah, stai facendo progressi in italiano. Adesso lo parli proprio bene! |
| Marco: Ah ah, You're making progress in Italian. Now you speak it really well. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Consuelo: Melissa is talking to her housemate Daniele. |
| Marco: They live together; they might be friends because he's asking her about personal stuff. |
| Consuelo: This doesn't necessarily mean they're good friends. In Italy, people can be very sharp sometimes! |
| Marco: That's true, but it's also true that it's easy in Italy to build a close friendship with someone in a short time. |
| Consuelo: That's also true. I think that for a foreigner, it's a good experience to live in the same apartment with Italians. |
| Marco: Sure, they can give you many tips about the city—things that probably are not easy for a foreigner to understand. |
| Consuelo: And you can practice your Italian every day! |
| Marco: Another good point! |
| Consuelo: It can be really fun to share an apartment in Italy with your Italian friends! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: sveglio [natural native speed] |
| Marco: awake, clever |
| Consuelo: sveglio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: sveglio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: progetto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: project, plan |
| Consuelo: progetto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: progetto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: lunedì [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Monday |
| Consuelo: lunedì [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: lunedì [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: curioso [natural native speed] |
| Marco: curious |
| Consuelo: curioso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: curioso [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: collega [natural native speed] |
| Marco: coworker |
| Consuelo: collega [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: collega [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: cartolina [natural native speed] |
| Marco: postcard |
| Consuelo: cartolina [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: cartolina [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: impiccione [natural native speed] |
| Marco: nosy |
| Consuelo: impiccione [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: impiccione [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: progresso [natural native speed] |
| Marco: progress, improvement |
| Consuelo: progresso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: progresso [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 words "curioso" and "impiccione." |
| Marco: "Curious" and "nosy." |
| Consuelo: As in English, the meaning is basically the same, but the usage is different. |
| Marco: "Curioso," which means "curious," is more formal. People and also animals can be "curiosi" about something. |
| Consuelo: By the way, "impiccione" implies an offensive meaning. |
| Marco: "Impiccione," which means "a nosy person," "is someone who likes to meddle in other peoples' affairs." |
| Consuelo: "A un impiccione piace impicciarsi degli affari degli altri." |
| Marco: Obviously, only human beings can be "impiccioni." |
| Consuelo: That's a human quality! |
| Marco: Is it a quality? Mmm… I don't think so… |
| Consuelo: Anyway, be careful when using this word with someone because he or she can be offended. I said can be—Daniele is not offended by Melissa because she's a friend. |
| Marco: But it is commonly used and you can hear it related to someone who's not present in that moment. Who are usually the "impiccioni in Italia?" |
| Consuelo: Ah, the neighbors, your mother-in-law, a shop's owner… |
| Marco: That's interesting, "Grazie," Consuelo! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In today's lesson, we are focusing on singular direct object pronouns. |
| Consuelo: Before we go any further, it is important to clarify what a direct object is. |
| Marco: A direct object is a word or a phrase that receives the action of a verb and answers the questions "What?" or "Whom?" |
| Consuelo: Take, for example, the phrase "Io compro il giornale." |
| Marco: "I buy the newspaper." What do I buy? The newspaper. |
| Consuelo: The newspaper is the direct object. Next is "I bambini chiamano la mamma." |
| Marco: "Kids call the mom." Whom do they call? The mom. |
| Consuelo: The mom is the direct object. |
| Marco: Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns. |
| Consuelo: The form of the pronoun depends on the gender and the number of the noun it replaces. |
| Marco: Now we'll give you the singular forms. |
| Consuelo: Let's start with "mi." |
| Marco: In English, "me." |
| Consuelo: Then we have "ti." |
| Marco: "You." |
| Consuelo: Then we have "La" with an uppercase "-l." |
| Marco: This stands for "you," the courtesy form. |
| Consuelo: Next we have "lo." |
| Marco: That is both "it" and "him" and is masculine. |
| Consuelo: The last is "la." |
| Marco: Which is "her" and "it" and is feminine. Consuelo, let's try some examples now. |
| Consuelo: Okay, but please remember that a "pronome diretto," a "direct pronoun," precedes the verb. |
| Marco: And in a negative statement, it is placed between the noun and the verb. |
| Consuelo: Listen. "Compro il dizionario e lo uso." |
| Marco: "I buy the dictionary and I use it." |
| Consuelo: Marco, "Conosci questa cantante?" "Do you know this singer?" |
| Marco: "No, non la conosco." "No, I don't know her." |
| Consuelo: Here the direct object pronouns are "lo," referring to "il dizionario," and "la," which replaced "la cantante." |
| Marco: When combined with modal verbs like "dovere," meaning "must" or "have to"… |
| Consuelo: "Potere," meaning "can"… |
| Marco: And "volere," meaning "to want," the direct object pronoun may either be attached to the infinitive, which drops the final "-e"… |
| Consuelo: Or it may simply precede the conjugated verb. |
| Marco: For instance? |
| Consuelo: "Questo film è divertente, vorrei vederlo di nuovo." |
| Marco: "This movie is funny; I'd like to see it again." |
| Consuelo: "Non possiamo invitarla a cena." |
| Marco: "We can't invite her for dinner." |
| Consuelo: Here the direct object pronoun is attached to the infinitive. "Dov'è Roberto? Lo devo incontrare." |
| Marco: "Where is Roberto? I have to meet him." |
| Consuelo: "Questa borsa è carina, la voglio comprare." |
| Marco: "This purse is cute; I want to buy it." |
| Consuelo: Here the "pronome diretto" is placed right before the conjugated modal verb. |
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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