Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how the civil servant says,
"Your e-mail address, please."
Il suo indirizzo e-mail, per favore.
Let's start with the phrase, indirizzo e-mail, meaning "e-mail address." Indirizzo e-mail.
This starts with indirizzo. "Address." Indirizzo. Indirizzo.
In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Indirizzo is masculine and singular — a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence.
Next is e-mail. "E-mail." e-mail. e-mail.
Together, it's indirizzo e-mail. This literally means "address e-mail," but it translates as "e-mail address." Indirizzo e-mail.
Before this is il suo, meaning "your" in this formal context. Il suo.
Note suo fundamentally means "his," "hers," or "its," but it's also a formal way to say "your" when speaking to someone directly using formal Italian. Suo. Suo.
Now, you might be more familiar with tuo, an informal word for "your," as in il tuo indirizzo e-mail, an informal way to say "your e-mail address." As this is a city office setting, the formal form, suo, is more appropriate.
Because indirizzo is masculine singular, suo is masculine singular to agree with it.
Before suo is the article il. Think of it like "the" in English. Il (clearly enunciated). Il.
Il is also masculine and singular to agree with indirizzo.
Note: in this sentence, the article, il, does not have a corresponding English translation.
In Italian, possessive adjectives, like mio, "my," tuo, "your," suo, the formal word for "your," and so forth, often pair with an article, like the il in il suo.
Together, it's il suo, a formal phrase for "your." Il suo.
All together, il suo indirizzo e-mail. "Your e-mail address." Il suo indirizzo e-mail.
Last is per favore, meaning "please." Per favore. Per favore.
All together, it's Il suo indirizzo e-mail, per favore. "Your e-mail address, please."
Il suo indirizzo e-mail, per favore.
Remember this request. You'll hear it again later.
Let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Karen says,
"My e-mail address is karen@innolang.com."
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è karen@innolang.com (kappa a erre e enne chiocciola innolang punto com).
Do you remember how to say "e-mail address?"
Indirizzo e-mail. "e-mail address." Indirizzo e-mail.
Before this is the phrase il mio, "my." Il mio.
Mio means "my." Mio. Mio.
In this sentence, mio is masculine singular to agree with indirizzo.
Before this is the article, il. Think of it like "the" in English. Il.
Il is also masculine and singular to agree with indirizzo.
In this sentence, the article il does not have a corresponding English translation.
Together, it's il mio. "My." Il mio.
All together it's Il mio indirizzo e-mail. "My e-mail address." Il mio indirizzo e-mail.
Next is è, "is," as in "my e-mail address is." È. È.
È is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere.
Together, it's Il mio indirizzo e-mail è… "My e-mail address is.…" Il mio indirizzo e-mail è…
Next is Karen's e-mail address: karen@innolang.com (kappa a erre e enne chiocciola innolang punto com).
karen@innolang.com (kappa a erre e enne chiocciola innolang punto com).
Note how Karen says her e-mail address.
First is Karen's name spelled out. Kappa, a, erre, e, enne.
Next is the "at sign," which is chiocciola in Italian. Chiocciola. Chiocciola.
After this is the domain name, innolang, pronounced in Italian. Innolang.
And last is punto com. "Dot com." Punto com. Punto com.
All together, it's Il mio indirizzo e-mail è karen@innolang.com (kappa a erre e enne chiocciola innolang punto com).
"My e-mail address is karen@innolang.com."
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è karen@innolang.com (kappa a erre e enne chiocciola innolang punto com).
The pattern is
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è {E-MAIL ADDRESS}.
"My e-mail address is {E-MAIL ADDRESS}.
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è {E-MAIL ADDRESS}.
To use this pattern, simply replace the {E-MAIL ADDRESS} placeholder with your e-mail address.
Imagine your e-mail address is carla@innolang.com (ci a erre elle a chiocciola innolang punto com). Ci a erre elle a chiocciola innolang punto com.
Say,
"My e-mail address is carla@innolang.com."
Ready?
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è carla@innolang.com (ci a erre elle a chiocciola innolang punto com).
"My e-mail address is carla@innolang.com."
Il mio indirizzo e-mail è carla@innolang.com (ci a erre elle a chiocciola innolang punto com).
When giving your e-mail address in Italian, if the domain name is well-known, you don't need to spell it out.
For example, if your e-mail address has the domain, "gmail," as in "gmail.com," you can just say, gmail.
Outside of well-known domain names, however, it will usually be necessary to spell it out.

Comments

Hide