Learn how to use formal Italian imperative and personal pronouns
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
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.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Jason: Ciao! Jason here. Welcome to ItalianPod101.com! |
| Cristina: Cristina here! Intermediate. Lesson 2 – Sending Registered Mail in Italy. |
| Jason: In this lesson you'll learn how to use the formal imperative and personal pronouns. Such as |
| Cristina: “Post me this letter!” |
| Jason: “This is your receipt. Please keep it”. |
| Cristina: ”Questa è la sua ricevuta. La conservi” |
| Jason: This conversation takes place at the post office. |
| Cristina: Sara parla con due impiegati. |
| Jason: The conversation is between Sara and the post office clerks. |
| They are Sara, who is a music teacher, and two clerks, so the speakers will be speaking formal Italian. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sara: Sto andando in posta per spedire una raccomandata. |
| James: Imbucami allora questa lettera - mi fai un grosso piacere. |
| Sara: Certo, non ci sono problemi. |
| Impiegato: Buongiorno, desidera? |
| Sara: Ho bisogno di fare una raccomandata con ricevuta di ritorno. Posso avere l’apposito modulo da compilare? |
| Impiegato: E’ lì sul bancone di destra - lo compili e lo consegni al primo sportello. |
| Sara: Ecco fatto. Penso di avere compilato il modulo in tutte le sue parti. Provi a controllare. |
| Impiegato: Manca la Sua firma. Guardi, la metta qui. |
| Sara: Che sbadata! E quanto viene? |
| Impiegato: Sono 5€ e 60 centesimi. |
| Sara: Ecco. |
| Impiegato: Questa è la sua ricevuta. La conservi. Le potrebbe servire in caso di problemi con la Sua raccomandata. |
| Sara: Va bene. Grazie. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sara: Sto andando in posta per spedire una raccomandata. |
| James: Imbucami allora questa lettera - mi fai un grosso piacere. |
| Sara: Certo, non ci sono problemi. |
| Impiegato: Buongiorno, desidera? |
| Sara: Ho bisogno di fare una raccomandata con ricevuta di ritorno. Posso avere l’apposito modulo da compilare? |
| Impiegato: E’ lì sul bancone di destra - lo compili e lo consegni al primo sportello. |
| Sara: Ecco fatto. Penso di avere compilato il modulo in tutte le sue parti. Provi a controllare. |
| Impiegato: Manca la Sua firma. Guardi, la metta qui. |
| Sara: Che sbadata! E quanto viene? |
| Impiegato: Sono 5€ e 60 centesimi. |
| Sara: Ecco. |
| Impiegato: Questa è la sua ricevuta. La conservi. Le potrebbe servire in caso di problemi con la Sua raccomandata. |
| Sara: Va bene. Grazie. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| All’ufficio postale |
| JasonAt the post office |
| Jason: I'm going to the post office to send a registered letter. |
| Sara: Sto andando in posta per spedire una raccomandata. |
| Jason: Then mail this letter for me. It'd be a big favor. |
| James: Imbucami allora questa lettera - mi fai un grosso piacere. |
| Jason: Sure, no problem. |
| Sara: Certo, non ci sono problemi. |
| Jason: Good morning. How may I help you? |
| Impiegato: Buongiorno, desidera? |
| Jason: I need to send a registered letter with an acknowledgment of receipt. Can I have the appropriate form to fill in? |
| Sara: Ho bisogno di fare una raccomandata con ricevuta di ritorno. Posso avere l’apposito modulo da compilare? |
| Jason: It's on the right counter. Please fill it in, and then hand it in at the first window. |
| Impiegato: E’ lì sul bancone di destra - lo compili e lo consegni al primo sportello. |
| Jason: I'm done. I think I've filled in all parts of the form. Please check it for me. |
| Sara: Ecco fatto. Penso di avere compilato il modulo in tutte le sue parti. Provi a controllare. |
| Jason: Your signature is missing. Please write it here. |
| Impiegato: Manca la Sua firma. Guardi, la metta qui. |
| Jason: How silly of me! And how much is it? |
| Sara: Che sbadata! E quanto viene? |
| Jason: It's five euros and sixty cents. |
| Impiegato: Sono 5€ e 60 centesimi. |
| Jason: Here you are. |
| Sara: Ecco. |
| Jason: This is your receipt. Please keep it. It could be useful if there are any problems with your registered mail. |
| Impiegato: Questa è la sua ricevuta. La conservi. Le potrebbe servire in caso di problemi con la Sua raccomandata. |
| Jason: Okay. Thank you. |
| Sara: Va bene. Grazie. |
| Jason |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: Jason, do you know how postal system used to work in ancient times? |
| Jason: Actually I don’t. |
| Cristina: It’s very interesting – some documents prove that messengers with horses were used to bring messages to people as early as 4000 B.C. |
| Jason: Really? |
| Cristina: Yes, and Egypt also had a quite developed system that was used by the Pharaohs and by intellectuals and businessmen. Messages on papyrus were exchanged by water. |
| Jason: Clever! What about the Romans? I heard they had quite a developed system, thanks to the existence of 200,000 kilometers of roads throughout the Empire and above all in Italy. |
| Cristina: Yes, that’s why it only took about 24 hours for a cursores (the Roman postmen) to cover a distance of 270 Km to deliver a letter. |
| Jason: And how does the postal system work now in Italy? |
| Cristina: Well, the system is called Poste Italiane, and it is also a banking system. At the post office you can carry out all the services related to mailing as well as opening a saving and checking account called Conto Posta. |
| Jason: How do I recognize a Post Office in Italy? |
| Cristina: It’s easy, there is usually a round yellow sign with the letters PT in blue, just outside the post office. As a matter of fact, yellow and blue are the official colors of the Poste Italiane. |
| Jason: Good to know! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: raccomandata [natural native speed] |
| Jason: registered letter |
| Cristina: raccomandata [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: raccomandata [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: imbucare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to mail, to post |
| Cristina: imbucare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: imbucare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: ricevuta di ritorno [natural native speed] |
| Jason: acknowledgment of receipt |
| Cristina: ricevuta di ritorno [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: ricevuta di ritorno [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: apposito [natural native speed] |
| Jason: appropriate |
| Cristina: apposito [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: apposito [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: bancone [natural native speed] |
| Jason: counter |
| Cristina: bancone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: bancone [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: sportello [natural native speed] |
| Jason: door, window, counter |
| Cristina: sportello [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: sportello [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: firma [natural native speed] |
| Jason: signature |
| Cristina: firma [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: firma [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: mettere la firma [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to write here, to sign |
| Cristina: mettere la firma [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: mettere la firma [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: sbadato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: silly |
| Cristina: sbadato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: sbadato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: ricevuta [natural native speed] |
| Jason: receipt |
| Cristina: ricevuta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: ricevuta [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: The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: IMBUCARE |
| Jason: "Post into the letterbox." |
| Cristina: This word comes from the noun buca postale, the "letter box". It means "to put a letter or a postcard in the buca postale." |
| Jason: A more general word would be "send" a letter or a postcard. |
| Cristina: Spedire una lettera o una cartolina. But beware of the reflexive form! |
| Jason: Why? Does it have another meaning? |
| Cristina: Yes, IMBUCARSI means "to hide" or "to gatecrash at a party." |
| Jason: Can you give us an example? |
| Cristina: Sabato scorso ci siamo imbucati al compleanno di Paolo. |
| Jason: "Last Saturday we gatecrashed at Paolo’s birthday party." |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: It is METTERE LA FIRMA |
| Jason: "Write your signature." |
| Cristina: It has the same meaning as firmare. |
| Jason: "To sign". |
| Cristina: It’s important to remember that in Italian it is not possible to say scrivere la firma… |
| Jason: as it is in English. |
| Cristina: Metti una firma sulla cartolina prima di imbucarla. |
| Jason: "Write your signature on the postcard, before mailing it." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the formal imperative together with pronouns. |
| Cristina: Let’s start reviewing the formation of imperativo formale (Lei). |
| Jason: In the third person singular the imperativo is created using the following endings… |
| Cristina: -i for all verbs ending in –are and -a for all verbs ending in –ere and –ire. |
| Jason: For example "to work" |
| Cristina: lavorare |
| Jason: that becomes… |
| Cristina: LAVORI! |
| Jason: Or "to take" |
| Cristina: prendere |
| Jason: that becomes… |
| Cristina: PRENDA! |
| Jason: And "to sleep" |
| Cristina: dormire |
| Jason: that becomes… |
| Cristina: DORMA! |
| Jason: What about the irregular verbs? |
| Cristina: Some verbs ending in –ire are irregular and they take the –ISCA ending |
| Jason: Like “finire” |
| Cristina: FINISCA! |
| Jason: and “preferire” |
| Cristina: PREFERISCA! |
| Jason: Is the negative form created by simply adding the adverb “non” to the imperative? |
| Cristina: Esatto. As in ¬– Non scriva qui la data di nascita. |
| Jason: "Do not write your date of birth here, please." |
| Jason: You will now learn more about the position of the pronouns when used with the imperativo formale. |
| Cristina: The pronouns always precede the imperative. |
| Jason: For example… |
| Cristina: LO compili e LO consegni al primo sportello. |
| Jason: "Please fill it in and then hand it in at the first window." |
| Cristina: Questa è la sua ricevuta. LA conservi. |
| Jason: "This is your receipt. Please hold on to it." |
| Cristina: If the sentence is negative the pronoun goes between the adverb non and the verb in the imperative form. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Oggi c’è freddo – la giacca è troppo leggera. Non LA metta. |
| Jason: "Today it’s cold – the jacket is too light. Do not wear it." Can you do another example? |
| Cristina: La disturbo? Non LO dica neanche per sogno! |
| Jason: "Do I bother you? Don’t even mention it!" |
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! |
Comments
Hide