Learn about organizing a weekend getaway
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| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Lesson 15: You May See George Clooney at this Italian Lake |
| Jason: Ciao! Jason here. |
| Cristina: Cristina here! Welcome back to ItalianPod101.com's Intermediate Series. This is Lesson 15 - You May See George Clooney at this Italian Lake. |
| Jason: In this lesson you'll learn how to use the gerundio with atonic pronouns. Such as… |
| Cristina: Usandola poche volte all’anno è facile dimenticarsene. |
| Jason: "Since I hardly ever use it, it’s easy to forget it." This conversation takes place at a beach on the lakeside. |
| Cristina: Wendy, Sofia e Simone parlano insieme. |
| Jason: The conversation is between Wendy, Sofia and Simone. The speakers are co-workers, so they'll be speaking informal language. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Simone: Mi son dimenticato la crema solare! |
| Sofia: Te la posso prestare io. |
| Simone: Beh, usandola poche volte all’anno è facile dimenticarsene. |
| Sofia: Si vede che non ami abbronzarti - sei bianco come una mozzarella. |
| Wendy: Oggi pomeriggio ci rifacciamo delle giornate passate chiusi in ufficio. |
| Sofia: Esatto! Alla faccia del nostro capo che ci farebbe lavorare anche nei fine settimana. |
| Simone: Conoscendolo bene però il Signor Crezzi non è così esigente come capo. E’ solo un po’ troppo dedito al lavoro. |
| Wendy: Sarà.. comunque, devo dire che Como mi ha piacevolmente colpita. Il centro storico è incantevole e il lungolago molto romantico. |
| Sofia: Ed è anche una cittadina molto pulita. |
| Simone: Secondo me però vivendoci per qualche tempo sarebbe un po’ noioso. Meglio abitare a Milano e venire qui di quanto in quanto per il weekend. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Simone: Mi son dimenticato la crema solare! |
| Sofia: Te la posso prestare io. |
| Simone: Beh, usandola poche volte all’anno è facile dimenticarsene. |
| Sofia: Si vede che non ami abbronzarti - sei bianco come una mozzarella. |
| Wendy: Oggi pomeriggio ci rifacciamo delle giornate passate chiusi in ufficio. |
| Sofia: Esatto! Alla faccia del nostro capo che ci farebbe lavorare anche nei fine settimana. |
| Simone: Conoscendolo bene però il Signor Crezzi non è così esigente come capo. E’ solo un po’ troppo dedito al lavoro. |
| Wendy: Sarà.. comunque, devo dire che Como mi ha piacevolmente colpita. Il centro storico è incantevole e il lungolago molto romantico. |
| Sofia: Ed è anche una cittadina molto pulita. |
| Simone: Secondo me però vivendoci per qualche tempo sarebbe un po’ noioso. Meglio abitare a Milano e venire qui di quanto in quanto per il weekend. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Simone: Mi son dimenticato la crema solare! |
| Jason: I forgot my sunblock! |
| Sofia: Te la posso prestare io. |
| Jason: I can lend you some. |
| Simone: Beh, usandola poche volte all’anno è facile dimenticarsene. |
| Jason: Well, since I hardly ever use it, it's easy to forget it. |
| Sofia: Si vede che non ami abbronzarti - sei bianco come una mozzarella. |
| Jason: You don't like to get tan, do you? You're as pale as a ghost. |
| Wendy: Oggi pomeriggio ci rifacciamo delle giornate passate chiusi in ufficio. |
| Jason: This afternoon we'll make up for all those days spent closed in the office. |
| Sofia: Esatto! Alla faccia del nostro capo che ci farebbe lavorare anche nei fine settimana. |
| Jason: Exactly! In spite of our boss, who would also make us work on the weekends. |
| Simone: Conoscendolo bene però il Signor Crezzi non è così esigente come capo. E’ solo un po’ troppo dedito al lavoro. |
| Jason: When you get to know him well, Mr. Crezzi is not very demanding as a boss. He's just a bit too devoted to his job. |
| Wendy: Sarà.. comunque, devo dire che Como mi ha piacevolmente colpita. Il centro storico è incantevole e il lungolago molto romantico. |
| Jason: Maybe... Anyway, I have to say that Como has positively struck me. The historical city center is charming, and the lakeside is very romantic. |
| Sofia: Ed è anche una cittadina molto pulita. |
| Jason: And it's also a very clean town. |
| Simone: Secondo me però vivendoci per qualche tempo sarebbe un po’ noioso. Meglio abitare a Milano e venire qui di quanto in quanto per il weekend. |
| Jason: If you live here for some time, though, I think it'd be a bit boring. It's better to live in Milan and come here every now and then for a weekend. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: Now we’re taking a trip in the lake district in North Italy. |
| Jason: Great, I love that area, especially lake Como. |
| Cristina: Il lago di Como. |
| Jason: The one that has the shape of an upside-down ‘Y’. |
| Cristina: Il lago di Como the third-largest lake in the country and although it’s narrow enough that you can see across it easily, it is one of Europe’s deepest lakes. |
| Jason: I didn’t know that. The only thing I know is that George Clooney has a beautiful villa on the shore of the lake. |
| Cristina: Yes that’s right. But lake Como was a very popular spot for weekend get-aways or holidays for both Italians and Northern Europeans, among other tourists, long before George Clooney discovered the beauty of the place. |
| Jason: It makes sense. There are some stunning views of the lake. |
| Cristina: And some of the towns are so charming. |
| Jason: Like Bellaggio at the intersection of the branches of the lake. |
| Cristina. Esatto. And I also like Como and its gothic church, the last church built in gothic style in Italy. |
| Jason: Once I visited Villa Carlotta but I don’t remember the name of the town. |
| Cristina: Ah, it’s Tremezzo. |
| Jason: Villa Carlotta is a must-see. It was built in the 17th century and has an elaborate and beautiful Italian garden. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: di tanto in tanto [natural native speed] |
| Jason: now and then |
| Cristina: di tanto in tanto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: di tanto in tanto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: crema solare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: sunblock, sun cream |
| Cristina: crema solare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: crema solare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: abbronzarsi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to sunbathe, to get a tan |
| Cristina: abbronzarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: abbronzarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: essere bianco come una mozzarella [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to be as pale as a ghost |
| Cristina: essere bianco come una mozzarella [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: essere bianco come una mozzarella [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: rifarsi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to make up |
| Cristina: rifarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: rifarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: alla faccia di [natural native speed] |
| Jason: in spite of |
| Cristina: alla faccia di [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: alla faccia di [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: fine settimana [natural native speed] |
| Jason: weekend |
| Cristina: fine settimana [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: fine settimana [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: dedito [natural native speed] |
| Jason: devoted, dedicated |
| Cristina: dedito [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: dedito [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: colpire [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to strike |
| Cristina: colpire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: colpire [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: lungolago [natural native speed] |
| Jason: lakeside, promenade |
| Cristina: lungolago [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: lungolago [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Jason: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jason: Let's take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: RIFARSI |
| Jason: TO MAKE SOMETHING UP FOR. |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Voleva rifarsi del denaro perduto, ma non ci riuscì. |
| Jason: He wanted to make up for the money he had lost, but he didn’t manage to. |
| Cristina: Besides the meaning of ‘make up for’ rifarsi is often used as a synonym of vendicarsi |
| Jason: For example… |
| Cristina: Il signor Bonni voleva rifarsi dei torti subiti dai vicini e avvelenò il loro cane. |
| Jason: "Mr. Bonni wanted to get revenge on his neighbors and he poisoned their dog." |
| Cristina: Rifarsi also means ritornare or ridiventare. |
| Jason: Can you give us a sample sentence? |
| Cristina: Il tempo si è rifatto bello. |
| Jason: "The weather turned nice again." |
| Cristina: In colloquial language rifarsi is used to talk about plastic surgery. |
| Jason: An example? |
| Cristina: Hai notato? Sara si è rifatta il seno. |
| Jason: "Have you noticed? Sara had her breasts redone." |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: FINE SETTIMANA |
| Jason: WEEKEND |
| Cristina: Fine settimana is a very common word but it’s important to remember that it is masculine. |
| Jason: Even if settimana is a feminine noun? |
| Cristina: Compound nouns usually follow the rule that their gender is determined by the second word, in this case it would be settimana. But this is an exception. |
| Jason: So the definite article before fine settimana is il. |
| Cristina: Esatto. It’s also important to remember that when used as a plural noun it stays unchanged. |
| Jason: I fine settimana. |
| Cristina: Perfetto! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cristina: In this lesson, we’ll focus on the use of gerundio with atonic pronouns. |
| Jason: Can you help me remember what atonic pronouns are? |
| Cristina: In Italian, pronouns can be divided in two groups - tonici e atoni. |
| Jason: The Pronomi tonici or forti meaning "strong" are those that have a strong emphasis in the sentence. |
| Cristina: Esatto. For example, Voglio incontrare te e non tua sorella. |
| Jason: "I want to meet you and not your sister." |
| Cristina: The Pronomi atoni or deboli meaning "weak" are those that do not have particular significance |
| Jason: and are usually unstressed. |
| Cristina: For example the pronoun ti in the sentence, Ti telefono alle 8. |
| Jason: "I’ll call (you) at 8." |
| Cristina: Is it better now? Ok, now let’s focus on the position of atonic pronouns with tenses like infinito or infinitive. |
| Jason: The pronoun is always attached to the end of the verb. Here is a sample sentence… |
| Cristina: Puoi farmi una fotografia? |
| Jason: "Can you take a picture of me?" |
| Cristina: The word farmi is composed of the infinitive verb fare and the pronoun me which means "to me." |
| Jason: What happened to the letter –e of the verb fare? |
| Cristina: Well, remember that the last –e of the infinitive drops when a pronoun is added. |
| Jason: Ok, got it. |
| Cristina: Let’s now review the use of imperative with atonic pronouns. |
| Jason: Also when the verb is in the imperative form, the pronoun is always attached to the end of the verb. Here is a sample sentence with the imperative in the TU form… |
| Cristina: Passami il sale per favore. |
| Jason: "Pass me the salt, please." |
| Cristina: The imperative of the verb passare is passa! |
| Jason: and mi means "a me," "to me" |
| Cristina: But remember that the formal imperative or imperativo formale (with Lei) does not follow the same rule. The pronoun precedes the verb. |
| Jason: Can you give us a sample sentence? |
| Cristina: Questa è la medicina. La prenda due volte al giorno prima dei pasti. |
| Jason: "This is your medicine. Take it twice a day before the meals." |
| Cristina: Like with the infinitive and imperative, all atonic pronouns are also attached also the end of the adverb ‘ecco’. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Anche Giulia viene a questa festa. Ah, eccola che arriva! |
| Jason: "Also Giulia is coming to this party. Ah, here she is coming!" |
| Cristina: Eccola is made of two words, the adverb ecco and the pronoun la. Jason |
| Cristina: Let’s now look at the position of atonic pronouns with gerundio. |
| Jason: The atonic pronouns are always attached to the end of the verb. |
| Cristina: Here is an example – Rivedendola ho capito di essere ancora inamorato di lei. |
| Jason: "When I saw her, I understood that I was still in love with her." |
| Cristina: The gerundio is rivedendo from the verb rivedere. |
| Jason: La is the pronoun for la ragazza. |
| Cristina: esatto |
| Jason: Can you give one more sample sentence? |
| Cristina: Secondo me però vivendoci per qualche tempo sarebbe un po’ noioso. |
| Jason: "If you live here for some time though I think it’d be a bit boring." |
| Cristina: Vivendo is the gerundio presente of vivere |
| Jason: ci is the pronoun used to replace nouns that indicate a place, in this case a Como. |
Outro |
| Jason: OK. That's all for this lesson. In the lesson notes, you can find more examples on this grammar point. So be sure to read them. |
| Cristina: A presto! |
| Jason: Bye-bye! |
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