Welcome to Can-Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com. |
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for something at a grocery store in Italian. |
For example, "This, please." is |
Questo, per favore. |
Adam Russo is at a small grocery store. |
After finding something he wants, he points at the item and asks for it. |
Before you hear the conversation, let's learn some of its key components. |
questo |
"this" |
questo |
questo |
prego |
"here you are" |
prego |
prego |
Questo, per favore. |
Prego! |
Once more with the English translation. |
Questo, per favore. |
"This, please." |
Prego! |
"Here you are!" |
Let's break down the conversation. |
Do you remember how Adam Russo says, |
"This, please." |
Questo, per favore. |
This standard way of asking for something follows a simple pattern. |
First is questo. "This." Questo. Questo. |
Questo is the masculine, singular form of the word for “this.” If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use questo. |
It refers to something which is near the speaker. Adam uses it because he’s pointing at something which is near to him. |
Next is per favore. "Please." Per favore. Per favore. |
All together, it's Questo, per favore. "This, please." |
Questo, per favore. |
Do you remember how the clerk says, |
"Here you are." |
Prego. |
Prego literally means, " pray," but it translates as "Here you are," in this situation. Prego. Prego. |
Note: Prego has multiple meanings depending on the situation. |
For example, Prego means "You’re welcome" after someone says "Thank you," grazie. |
It can also mean "How can I help you," in a shop or business; "Come in" when inviting someone into a room; or "After you" when you'd like to offer someone the chance to go first. |
In this case, the word is used as an invitation to take something. "Here you are. Go ahead." |
Prego is from the verb, pregare. "To pray." Pregare. |
Prego. "Here you are," in this case. |
Prego. |
The pattern is: |
ITEM, per favore. |
ITEM, "please." |
ITEM, per favore. |
To use this pattern, simply replace the ITEM placeholder with the thing you want. |
Note: This pattern requires a demonstrative pronoun, which is determined by the location, gender and the number of the desired item. |
Imagine you’d like something from across the room. The pronoun to indicate something far from a speaker is quello, "that." Quello. Quello. |
Say |
"That, please." |
Ready? |
Quello, per favore. |
"That, please." |
Quello, per favore. |
The phrases, Questo, per favore, and Quello, per favore can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Italian. |
If you don’t know the name of an item and consequently its gender, you can use these masculine pronouns. |
For items that are plural, use questi, or "these," as the default. Questi. |
Use quelli, or "those," for things that are far from you. Quelli. |
Remember, these can be used to refer to an item without knowing its name in Italian. |
Again, the key pattern is |
ITEM, per favore. |
ITEM, "please." |
ITEM, per favore. |
Let’s look at some more examples. |
Listen and repeat or speak along with the native speakers. |
Questo, per favore. |
"This, please." |
Questo, per favore. |
Quello, per favore. |
"That, please." |
Quello, per favore. |
Questi, per favore. |
"These, please." |
Questi, per favore. |
Quelli, per favore. |
"Those, please." |
Quelli, per favore. |
Questo e quello, per favore. |
"This and that, please." |
Questo e quello, per favore. |
Did you notice how the last speaker used a different sentence pattern? |
Questo e quello, per favore. |
“This and that, please.” Questo e quello, per favore. |
He used the words Quello and questo together. |
Questo. "This." Questo. |
Quello. "That." Quello. |
When requesting multiple items, you can join them with the conjunction, e, meaning "and." |
E. "And." E. |
The pattern is |
ITEM e ITEM, per favore. |
ITEM and ITEM, please. |
Let’s review the key words. |
Quello. |
"That." |
Quello. Quello |
Questi. |
"These." |
Questi. Questi. |
Quelli. |
"Those." |
Quelli. Quelli. |
Let's review. |
Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speakers, focusing on pronunciation. |
Ready? |
Do you remember how to say "please?" |
Per favore. |
Per favore. |
Do you remember how Adam says, |
"This, please." |
Questo, per favore. |
Questo, per favore. |
Do you remember how the clerk says, |
"Here you are!" |
Prego! |
Prego! |
When you don't know the name of something, do you remember the word for “that?” |
Quello. |
Quello. |
When you don’t know the name of something, do you remember the word for “these?” |
Questi. |
Questi. |
Let's practice. |
Imagine you’re Adam. You’re at the grocery store to buy some bread, but you don't know the word. Instead you point at it and say, "this" or questo. |
Ready? |
Questo, per favore. |
Prego! |
Listen again and repeat. |
Questo, per favore. |
Questo, per favore. |
Let's try another. |
Imagine you’re Isabella , and you see some small snacks you’d like to try. |
Ask for "these," or questi. |
Ready? |
Questi, per favore. |
Prego! |
Listen again and repeat. |
Questi, per favore. |
Questi, per favore. |
Let’s try one more. |
Imagine you’re Emily , and you see a sandwich in the showcase far away. |
Ask for "that," or quello. |
Ready? |
Quello, per favore. |
Prego! |
Listen again and repeat. |
Quello, per favore. |
Quello, per favore. |
This is the end of this lesson. |
In this lesson, you learned how to request something by pointing, an essential skill for shopping at a grocery store. |
Remember, these Can Do lessons are about learning practical language skills. |
What's next? |
Show us what you can do. |
When you're ready, take your assessment. |
You can take it again and again, so try anytime you like. |
Our teachers will assess it, and give you your results. |
Keep practicing — and move on to the next lesson! |
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