Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

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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