Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Rosa asks,
"Is this your family?"
Questa è la sua famiglia?
Let's start with the word, famiglia, "family." Famiglia. Famiglia.
In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Famiglia is feminine and singular — a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence.
When using formal Italian, sua translates as "your." Sua. Sua.
Before this is la sua, meaning "your" in this formal context. La sua.
Note sua fundamentally means "his," "hers," or "its," but it's also a formal way to say "your" when speaking to someone directly using formal Italian. Sua. Sua.
Now, you might be more familiar with tua, an informal word for "your," as in la tua famiglia, "your family (informal)." As this is a conversation between two adults that don't know each other very well, the formal form, sua, is more appropriate.
Sua is feminine and singular to agree with famiglia.
Before sua is the article la. Think of it like "the" in English. La. La.
La is also feminine and singular to agree with famiglia.
Note: in this sentence, the article, la, does not have a corresponding English translation.
In Italian, possessive adjectives, like mia, "my," tua, "your," sua, the formal word for "your," and so forth, often pair with an article, like the la in la sua.
Together, it's la sua, a formal phrase for "your," in this context. La sua.
All together, la sua famiglia translates as "your family." La sua famiglia.
Moving to the start of the sentence, questa, "this." Questa. Questa.
Note: Questa is in the feminine singular form to agree with famiglia.
Next is è, "is," as in "this is..." È. È.
È is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere.
All together, it's Questa è la sua famiglia? This literally means "This is your family?" But it translates as "Is this your family?" Questa è la sua famiglia?
Note the rising intonation of the sentence to indicate that it's a question.
Questa è la sua famiglia?
Remember this question. You'll hear it again later.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Karen says,
"Yes. This is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me."
Sì. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia e io.
This starts with sì, meaning, "yes." Sì. Sì.
It answers Rosa's yes-or-no question, "Is this your family?"
Questa è la sua famiglia?
After this, Karen points to the picture and says,
Questa è la mia famiglia.
Let's start with the word, famiglia, "family." Famiglia.
Do you remember the gender and number of famiglia?
Feminine and singular.
Before this, it's la mia, a phrase meaning "my." La mia.
Mia. "My." Mia. Mia.
In this sentence, mia is feminine and singular to agree with famiglia.
Before mia is the article la. Think of it like "the" in English. La.
La is also feminine singular to agree with famiglia.
Again, in this case, the article la does not have a corresponding English translation.
Together, it's la mia, a phrase for "my." La mia.
All together, la mia famiglia translates as "my family." La mia famiglia.
Moving to the start of the sentence, questa, "this." Questa.
Note: Questa is in the feminine singular form to agree with famiglia.
Next is è, "is." È.
All together, it's Questa è la mia famiglia. "This is my family." Questa è la mia famiglia.
After this is mio marito. "My husband." Mio marito.
Marito, "husband." Marito. Marito.
Mio. "My." Mio.
Mio is masculine and singular to agree with marito.
Mio marito.
Next, Mio figlio. "My son." Mio figlio.
Figlio, "son." Figlio. Figlio.
Mio, "my."
Mio is masculine and singular to agree with figlio.
Mio figlio.
After this is mia figlia, "my daughter." Mia figlia.
Figlia, "daughter." Figlia. Figlia.
Mia, "my." Mia.
Mia is feminine and singular to agree with figlia.
Mia figlia.
Next is e, "and." E. E.
And last is io, which translates as "me" in this context. Io. Io.
All together, Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia e io. "This is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me."
Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia e io.
The pattern is:
Questa è la mia famiglia. {FAMILY MEMBER}, {FAMILY MEMBER}, {FAMILY MEMBER} e io.
This is my family. {FAMILY MEMBER}, {FAMILY MEMBER} , {FAMILY MEMBER}, and me.
To use this pattern, simply replace the {FAMILY MEMBER} placeholders with the appropriate word for "my" and members of your family. Remember that the word for "my" will be mio when your family member is male and mia when the family member is female.
Imagine your family members are your wife, your son, your daughter, and you.
Moglie is "wife." Moglie. Moglie. This is a feminine noun. Therefore "my wife" is mia moglie. Mia moglie.
Say
"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter, and me."
Ready?
Questa è la mia famiglia. Mia moglie, mio figlio, mia figlia e io.
"This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter and me."
Questa è la mia famiglia. Mia moglie, mio figlio, mia figlia e io.
In Italian, possessive adjectives, like mia, "your," are preceded by definite articles, like la in la mia famiglia, "my family."
However, there is an exception.
When talking about singular family members, don't use the definite article.
For example, mia moglie, "my wife," and mio marito "my husband."

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