Lesson Transcript

Hello everyone, welcome back to ItalianPod101.com.
My name is Desy.
Mi chiamo Desy.
And in this video, we're going to talk about the command,
let's in English, let's.
Facciamo
And in Italian, the expression let's do something doesn't have a verb that forms it,
it only actually uses the verb of the action already in the imperative form.
So for example, if in English I want to say let's go, in Italian I just say andiamo,
andiamo, which is the imperative form of we go, so we go, andiamo.
You don't say the subject, noi andiamo, you just say andiamo, and that's a general invitation,
an exhortation or a command.
Let's go.
Facciamo una torta per Luca.
Let's make, let's bake a cake for Luca.
Andiamo al mare.
Let's go to the sea.
If you're suggesting something that maybe you could say, andiamo al mare, che ne dici?
What do you think about it?
Proviamo.
Let's try.
It's actually easy because the imperative form is the same as the present tense, you
just don't have to say the subject, so noi andiamo becomes andiamo.
But the thing is that let is not only used for suggestions in English, right?
So in that case, there are other expressions that you may want to know in Italian.
For example, the verb lasciare, which literally means to let, okay?
For example, lascialo andare, let him go, lascialo andare, lasciare, io lascio andare,
I let him go.
For example, talking about kids, lascialo andare alla festa, let him go to the party,
lascia andare Sofia con le amiche, let Sofia go with her friends, lascia.
Again, here though, it's imperative form.
The verb lasciare would go as in io lascio, tu lasci, lui lascia, noi lasciamo, voi lasciate,
loro lasciano.
Be careful though, because if you use that with the reflexive form, so lasciarsi, noi
ci lasciamo, that means that we're breaking up, io lascio il mio ragazzo, I break up with
my boyfriend, loro si sono lasciati ieri, they broke up yesterday.
But in general, lasciare, not lasciarsi is used as in to permit, to allow, to let go,
so it may be useful.
For example, lascia perdere, let it go, lascia perdere, leave it basically, just let it be,
lascia perdere, lasciami stare, let me be, lasciami stare, stay in this case is just
to be, so let me be, lasciami stare, lascia la stare, let her be.
Another useful expression for let me do something, again here you can use the verb lasciare,
so lasciami fare questo, let me do this, or fammi fare, or fammi something, let me, fammi,
so you make me.
Let me go to the party, but literally make me go to the party, fammi andare alla festa,
fammi vedere cos'hai lì, let me see what you have there, fammi vedere cos'hai lì,
Falle to her, falle sapere cosa decidi, falle sapere cosa decidi, let her know what you decide.
So let's say that in order to translate the English let's, in Italian you have three options,
the first one is to use the imperative form, which is the easiest in my opinion, so you
could just say andiamo, as in let's go, or you can use the verb lasciare, or far fare,
so to make do, literally.
Let's sum up the three of them in an example, let's assume that you are at a restaurant
celebrating your anniversary with your girlfriend, for example, and then you ask her if she's
ready to leave, vuoi andare a casa, you wanna go home, vuoi andare a casa, sì andiamo,
yes let's go, sì andiamo, imperative form, then you go to the counter in order to pay
and she says let's split it, dividiamo, let's split it, but you insist and you want to pay,
no, lasciami pagare, let me pay, no, lasciami pagare, è un'occasione speciale,
it's a special occasion, lasciami pagare.
And she says proprio perché è un'occasione speciale, exactly because it's a special occasion,
fammi contribuire, make me, let me contribute, fammi contribuire, but not like make me do
something like you have to force me to do something but just let me, fammi contribuire.
And that would end your special night, la vostra notte speciale.
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