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! |
18 Comments
HideHave you ever used the post office in Italy?
Hi Deryl,
The infinitive is used only in INFORMAL negative imperatives and it is ok to put the pronoun after the infinitive.
As for the positive imperative and the formal negative imperative, we can't use the infinitive.
A presto,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Can't you place the pronoun after the infinitive verb when using both positive and negative imperative statements? For example:
Si manca la sua firma. Metterla qui.
or in the negative.
Non metterla li.
Hi PB,
Thank you for posting. We'll consider your feedback for the future lessons.
Sincerely,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Does anyone else find the accent of the male actor in the post office very difficult to understand? It almost feels like bits of sounds are missing.
Hi Mary Werber ?
Thank you for posting!
Please be careful, "mi sono sbadata" should be "ero sbadata" or "mi sono distratta" ?
Grazie e a presto!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Grazie mille Jason e Cristina per questa lezione. Gli esempi che usano per spiegare il vocabolario sono molto utili. Anche io forse mi sono sbadata quando ho scritto il mio cognome che e' Werner invece di Werber.
Hi Mary-Lou,
"Imbuca-mi" means "post for me." It's a very common colloquial form.
The meaning is the same as "Imbuca."
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Can you please explain why speaker B in the second line of the dialogue uses 'imbucami'? Is he using informal Italian?
Hi Hilary,
"Per cortesia" and "per favore" are very similar, both mean "please," but the first one is not as common as "per favore" or "per piacere."
"Per esteso" means "in full" and it's commonly used with the verb "scrivere" (to write). "Scrivere per esteso" means "to write in full (without shortening words).
I hope this helps!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Per favore, qual'è la diferenza tra 'per esteso', ' per cortesia' e 'per favore'? Please, way is the differente between 'per esteso', 'per cortesia' e 'per favore'?