Running Late for a Conference in Italy

Learn how to use the Italian verbs volerci and impiegare as well as how to hail a taxi when you're in Italy

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Lesson focus
INTRODUCTION
Betsey: Hi everyone! Welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower beginner, Season 1 Lesson 24 - Running Late for a Conference in Italy. I’m Betsey.
Ofelia: Ciao! I’m Ofelia.
Betsey: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to get a taxi.
Ofelia: You'll also learn about the verbs volerci and impiegare. This conversation takes place in the street.
Betsey: It’s between Mieke and a taxi driver. The speakers don’t know each other, so they’ll be using formal language.
Ofelia: Ascoltiamo.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Ofelia: In this lesson we’ll talk about Slow Food.
Betsey: Slow Food is an international movement that has spread to 150 countries.
Ofelia: It was founded by an Italian, Carlo Petrini, in 1986.
Betsey: You can tell from its name that it’s meant to be an alternative to the fast food lifestyle.
Ofelia: Exactly. It promotes the production and consumption of locally grown and organic food, and it’s against genetically modified foods.
Betsey: How did it start?
Ofelia: When the movement started in Italy, it aimed to preserve traditional and regional cuisine.
Betsey: I see.
Ofelia: It also pays a lot of attention to educating the young generations about learning how to cook, rather than buying ready-made meals. And to giving kids healthy, home-made packed lunches to take to school.
Betsey: Do they hold workshops and activities in schools?
Ofelia: Oh yes, as well as workshops for children and adults in supermarkets, squares, farms and of course at the Saloni del gusto, great food fairs.
Betsey: Interesting.
Ofelia: One of the most popular mottos of the movement is Mangia bene e cresci meglio.
Betsey: Which is literally, “Eat well and grow better.” Okay, now let’s move onto the vocab.
KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES
Betsey: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Ofelia: The first word is... TASSISTA
Betsey: Meaning “TAXI DRIVER”
Ofelia: The word tassista is an Italianization of the English word ‘taxi’ plus the suffix –ista, which is the most common ending for jobs. It is both a masculine and feminine noun - il tassista or la tassista
Betsey: What’s an example with a feminine noun?
Ofelia: Mia zia fa la tassista.
Betsey: My aunt is a taxi driver.
Betsey: Ok, what's the next one we'll look at?
Ofelia: VOLERCI
Betsey: TO TAKE
Ofelia: Volerci means ‘to take’, in terms of time. A synonym is impiegare. They are both followed by nouns that indicate time, like minuti
Betsey: ...minutes...
Ofelia: or tempo and ore
Betsey: “time” and “Hours”.
Betsey: What are some examples?
Ofelia: Se andiamo in macchina a Roma, ci vogliono 6 ore.
Betsey: If we go to Rome by car, it‘ll take 6 hours.
Ofelia: L’autobus impiega mezz’ora da qui alla stazione.
Betsey: The bus takes half an hour from here to the station.
Betsey: The last one we'll look at is...
Ofelia: IN TEMPO
Betsey: IN TIME
Ofelia: Yes, it means “in time” or “soon enough”. For example Spero di arrivare in tempo, “I hope I can arrive in time.” A similar expression in Italian is in orario.
Betsey: Ok, what are some examples with these two?
Ofelia: Sei arrivato appena in tempo.
Betsey: You have arrived just in time.
Ofelia: A scuola arrivo sempre in orario.
Betsey: “I always arrive at school in time.” Okay, now onto the grammar.
Betsey: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the verbs...
Ofelia: volerci and impiegare.
Betsey: Both mean ‘to take time’
Ofelia: Let’s first have a look at the verb volerci
Betsey: As we said, it means ‘to take time’.
Ofelia: The infinitive mood of the verb volerci looks different from the usual ending. That’s because the verb volere meaning “to want” is combined with the pronoun ci.
Betsey: So, in the dictionary, you will find volere.
Ofelia: Right, there are only two forms of the verb volerci. One is ‘CI VUOLE’
Betsey: ….In the case of a singular noun
Ofelia: Here is a sample sentence. Ci vuole un’ora per arrivare a Roma.
Betsey: It takes one hour to get to Rome.
Ofelia: In the case of a plural noun, it becomes Ci vogliono.
Betsey: Can you give us an example?
Ofelia: Ci vogliono anni per imparare a suonare il pianoforte.
Betsey: It takes years to learn how to play the piano.
Ofelia: The verb volerci is always followed by expressions of time, like ora/ore,
Betsey: Hour/hours
Ofelia: giorni, mesi
Betsey: days, months
Ofelia: tanto tempo, poco tempo
Betsey: a lot of time, a little time
Ofelia: Here’s another example: Ci vogliono 20 minuti da qui alla stazione.
Betsey: It takes 20 minutes from here to the station.
Ofelia: As you may have noticed, the subject of the sentence is the noun following the verb volerci. So the only possible forms are ci vuole plus a singular noun, and ci vogliono plus a plural noun.
Betsey: Ok, let’s hear an example.
Ofelia: Ci vuole tanto tempo per imparare a giocare bene a golf.
Betsey: It takes a long time to learn how to play well golf.
Ofelia: Now let’s look at the verb impiegare
Betsey: Impiegare translates as ‘to take time’, just like volerci.
Ofelia: Impiegare is a regular verb that follows the usual declension of verbs ending in ‘-are’.
Betsey: Can you give us the conjugation?
Ofelia: Sure, here it is: Io impiego
I take time
Tu impieghi
You take time
Lui/lei impiega
He/she takes time
Noi impieghiamo
We take time
Voi impiegate
You take time (plural)
Loro impiegano
They take time
Betsey: Now, this word is used in a different type of sentence construction from volerci.
Ofelia: Yes, because when using impiegare, the subject of the sentence is “I,” “you,” “he/she”, “we”, “you,” and “they”, and not the quantity of time.
Betsey: So all the forms of the verb are possible.
Ofelia: The expressions of time, like for example “30 minutes”, “one hour”, “20 years” and so on, become the object.
Betsey: For example…
Ofelia: Impiego due ore per arrivare al lavoro.
Betsey: It takes me two hours to get to work.
Ofelia: Quanto tempo impieghiamo a preparare questa ricetta?
Betsey: How long will it take us to prepare this recipe?
Ofelia: Now let’s compare two sentences using volerci and impiegare
Betsey: It is actually possible to use either of them in the same sentence, because they both convey the same idea. Can you give us the two alternative sentences please Ofelia:?
Ofelia: Ci volgliono 30 minuti per andare al mio ufficio. OR
Impiego 30 minuti per andare al mio ufficio.
Betsey: Both mean “It takes 30 minutes to get to my office.” Ok listeners, remember to check the lesson notes to reinforce what you’ve learned in this lesson.
Outro
Betsey: OK. That's all for this lesson.
Ofelia: Thank you all for listening! A presto!
Betsey: See you next time!

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Running Late for a Conference in Italy

Want to Understand & Master the Italian Dialogue 100%?

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Lesson focus

Outro