Learn certain Italian expressions and words that, due to their graphic similarity to other English terms, might mislead you in determining their proper meaning
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Cinzia: Buongiorno a tutti. |
| Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 1, Lesson 14. Does Anything Beat Italian Ice cream? |
| Cinzia: Hello everyone. I am Cinzia and welcome to italianpod101. |
| Marco: With us, you will learn to speak with fun and effective lessons. |
| Cinzia: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. |
| Cinzia: In this lesson, you will learn about certain expressions and words that, due to their graphic similarity to other English terms, might mislead students as to recognize their proper meaning. |
| Marco: This conversation takes place in a square in Milano. |
| Cinzia: And it’s between Giulia and Manuel. |
| Marco: Because the speakers are friends, they will be speaking informal Italian. Now, before we listen to the conversation |
| Cinzia: We want to ask |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes while you listen? |
| Cinzia: We received an email about this study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you tried it and if so |
| Cinzia: What do you think of it? |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comments section of this lesson. Okay let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Giulia: Finalmente hai fatto una cosa giusta! |
| Manuel: Cosa vorresti dire? |
| Giulia: Niente. |
| Manuel: Dai dimmi! |
| Giulia: Hai trovato un bel posto dove portarmi a cena. |
| Manuel: Pretendi che ti porti a cena ogni sera in un ristorante lussuoso? |
| Giulia: Ma no! È che di solito andiamo solo a prendere un gelato. |
| Manuel: Ma il gelato italiano è così buono! |
| Giulia: Haha. Hai ragione, ti perdono! |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Giulia: Finalmente hai fatto una cosa giusta! |
| Manuel: Cosa vorresti dire? |
| Giulia: Niente. |
| Manuel: Dai dimmi! |
| Giulia: Hai trovato un bel posto dove portarmi a cena. |
| Manuel: Pretendi che ti porti a cena ogni sera in un ristorante lussuoso? |
| Giulia: Ma no! È che di solito andiamo solo a prendere un gelato. |
| Manuel: Ma il gelato italiano è così buono! |
| Giulia: Haha. Hai ragione, ti perdono! |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Giulia: Finalmente hai fatto una cosa giusta! |
| Giulia: At last you have done a good thing! |
| Manuel: Cosa vorresti dire? |
| Manuel: What do you mean? (Literally, What do you want to say (with that)?) |
| Giulia: Niente. |
| Giulia: Nothing. |
| Manuel: Dai dimmi! |
| Manuel: Come on, tell me! |
| Giulia: Hai trovato un bel posto dove portarmi a cena. |
| Giulia: You've found a nice place to take me out to dinner. |
| Manuel: Pretendi che ti porti a cena ogni sera in un ristorante lussuoso? |
| Manuel: Do you expect me to take you to dinner every night at a luxurious restaurant? |
| Giulia: Ma no! È che di solito andiamo solo a prendere un gelato. |
| Giulia: No way! It's just that usually we only go and get an ice cream. |
| Manuel: Ma il gelato italiano è così buono! |
| Manuel: But Italian ice cream is so good! |
| Giulia: Haha. Hai ragione, ti perdono! |
| Giulia: Ha ha. You are right; I forgive you! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: Ah! Italian gelato. It is just così buono. |
| Marco: Yes it really is. |
| Cinzia: How often do you go to a Gelateria? |
| Marco: I go about once a week to the ice cream shop. |
| Cinzia: It is very common to see couples young and old going to buy a gelato on the weekend. |
| Marco: Or in summer time nearly every evening. |
| Cinzia: But I do understand how Giulia might get bored of going there every time she has a date with Manuel. |
| Marco: Yes, very understandable. |
| Cinzia: But she also understands that for Manuel, gelato is something new and tasty. That is why she says ti perdono. |
| Marco: I forgive you but now we have to take a look at today’s vocabulary. Mi perdoni? |
| Cinzia: Si, ti perdono. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. Today’s first word is |
| Cinzia: Finalmente. |
| Marco: At last, finally. |
| Cinzia: Finalmente. Finalmente. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Voler dire. |
| Marco: To mean. |
| Cinzia: Voler dire. Voler dire. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Dai. |
| Marco: Come on. |
| Cinzia: Dai. Dai. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Pretendere. |
| Marco: To expect |
| Cinzia: Pretendere. Pretendere. |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: Lussuoso. |
| Marco: Luxurious. |
| Cinzia: Lussuoso. Lussuoso. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Ma no. |
| Marco: No way. |
| Cinzia: Ma no. Ma no. |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: Solo. |
| Marco: Only. |
| Cinzia: Solo. Solo. |
| Marco: Today’s last word is |
| Cinzia: Perdonare. |
| Marco: To forgive |
| Cinzia: Perdonare. Perdonare. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Cinzia: The first word we will look at is finalmente. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Finalmente siamo arrivati a casa. |
| Marco: We came back home at last. |
| Cinzia: Next we have an expression, voler dire. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Sergio non voleva dire che tu sei stato scortese. |
| Marco: Sergo didn’t mean that you were rude. |
| Cinzia: The next word is dai. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Dai, andiamo. |
| Marco: Come on, let’s go. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is pretendere. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Pretendi che tutti ti aspettino sempre? |
| Marco: Do you expect everybody to always wait for you? |
| Cinzia: The next word is lussuoso. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Ho comprato una macchina lussuosa. |
| Marco: I bought a luxurious car. |
| Cinzia: Did you? |
| Marco: No. |
| Cinzia: What would you buy, Lamborghini? |
| Marco: No, too expensive. I mean, even if I had all that money, I don’t think I’d actually want to put it in a car. |
| Cinzia: You want? |
| Marco: I would like… |
| Cinzia: I will. |
| Marco: I would like to have an Alfa Romeo, of course a nice car, but Ferrari, it’s too much for me. I couldn’t see myself driving a Ferrari. We said it already once I think. |
| Cinzia: Really? |
| Marco: Yeah. |
| Cinzia: Oh! |
| Marco: You like the very luxurious things. |
| Cinzia: Of course. |
| Marco: For me, it’s just use. If it’s useful, okay. |
| Cinzia: Okay next we have an expression, ma no. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Sei stato tu a rompere il vaso? Ma no. |
| Marco: Was it you that broke the vase? No way. |
| Cinzia: The next word is solo. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Ho solo 20 Euro. |
| Marco: I only have 20 Euros. |
| Cinzia: The last word we will look at is perdonare. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Sono in ritardo. Mi perdoni? |
| Marco: I am late. Would you forgive me? |
| Cinzia: No. |
| Marco: Why not? Would you forgive somebody…. |
| Cinzia: I hate people who are late. |
| Marco: Really? |
| Cinzia: Of course. I always get on time and most of the times actually I get earlier. |
| Marco: What would be the longest time you would wait for somebody? 10 minutes, 20? Depends on the person yeah. |
| Cinzia: Yeah it depends on the person. |
| Marco: So let’s say a normal friend. |
| Cinzia: 10 minutes. |
| Marco: 10 minutes? |
| Cinzia: Yeah. |
| Marco: Would you go away or will you stay around there? |
| Cinzia: I will just try to hear from him or her and see… |
| Marco: What happened? |
| Cinzia: Yeah but then I’ll just disappear. |
| Marco: Cinzia will disappear. |
| Cinzia: Yes forever. |
| Marco: So don’t be late with your comments. |
| Cinzia: You better not. And now let’s take a look at today’s grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: Technically named false cognates in English. |
| Cinzia: False friends. |
| Marco: These expressions and words are the learner’s most deceptive friends, because they are very similar to other English words but their meaning is completely different. |
| Cinzia: Right and we shall now see the most widely used false cognates and their proper translation. Tom vive attualmente a Roma. |
| Marco: Tom lives presently in Rome. |
| Cinzia: So as you can see, the Italian word attualmente is very similar to the English one actually but they don’t have the same meaning. So be careful. |
| Marco: Because actually in Italian means |
| Cinzia: In realtà. Let’s take a look at one more example. John è molto annoiato. |
| Marco: John is really bored. Hah! This is very nice. |
| Cinzia: Oh yes, it’s a verb. |
| Marco: Yes and annoiato is very, very similar to the English |
| Cinzia: Annoyed. |
| Marco: Very similar. Let’s go with it slowly now. Annoiato and the English |
| Cinzia: Annoyed. |
| Marco: It’s so close. |
| Cinzia: Yes they – they are very look alike even the sound |
| Marco: Yes, yes. |
| Cinzia: But annoyed has to be translated as infastidito. |
| Marco: So it’s very different in this case. |
| Cinzia: Yes it is. |
| Marco: One more false friend is in the following phrase. |
| Cinzia: Il datore di lavoro vuole assumere Mike. |
| Marco: The employer wants to hire Mike. |
| Cinzia: So we have the Italian verb assumere very similar to the verb assume. |
| Marco: To assume. That in Italian would actually be translated as |
| Cinzia: Presumere. |
| Marco: So be careful. Don’t assume that assume is the same as assumere. That was difficult. And now the classic false friend. |
| Cinzia: Yes and the classic mistake. |
| Marco: Yes. Everyone does it. |
| Cinzia: Even we Italians read the English. |
| Marco: Yes I mean it is two way. |
| Cinzia: Yes. |
| Marco: It is not only English to Italian but also Italian to English. |
| Cinzia: Yeah of course. |
| Marco: So go with this one Cinzia. |
| Cinzia: I miei parenti vengono da Napoli. |
| Marco: My relatives come from Naples. |
| Cinzia: So my dear listeners, as you can see, parenti is the Italian word very similar to parents. |
| Marco: Yes but it has to be translated as relatives because parent in Italian is |
| Cinzia: Genitore. |
| Marco: So don’t mix this up. Let’s give it to you one more time slowly. |
| Cinzia: Parenti |
| Marco: Relatives and |
| Cinzia: Genitori |
| Marco: Parents. |
Outro |
| Marco: But wait, there is more. A lot more of these false friends in the PDF. We can stay here the whole day just going with false friends. |
| Cinzia: Yes so please download the PDF. |
| Marco: And that just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about the way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Cinzia: It’s the voice recording tool. |
| Marco: Yes the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Cinzia: Record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Marco: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Cinzia: So you will record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Marco: Compare it to the native speakers. |
| Cinzia: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. Arrivederci, a presto. |
| Cinzia: Ciao ciao. |
16 Comments
HideHi everyone,
Thank you for posting.
@Carla, "ti porto" is not correct, because refers to something another person than the speaker is thinking. So the conjunctive "ti porti" is correct.
@Candy, thank you, that seems to be an effective studying strategy!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
I first look at the lesson dialog and vocabulary. I then read the lesson transcript while listening to the audio lesson. I get more understanding of the lesson that way.
For the sentence,
"Pretendi che ti porti a cena ogni sera in un ristorante lussuoso? "
Why is it,
" ti porti "
And not
"ti porto" ?
Thank you!
Ciao Carol,
Le due frasi sono molto simili, quasi intercambiabili.
Come hai detto tu, "cosa vorresti dire" è leggermente più cortese dell'altro.
The two sentences are very similar, almost interchangeable.
As you said, "cosa vorresti dire" sounds slightly more polite than the other.
A presto!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Buongiorno Italianpod101.com!
Quale sia la differenza tra le frasi:
Cosa vorresti dire?
Cosa vuoi dire?
Ho capito che "vorresti" è condizionale del verbo volere e "vuoi" è presente indicativo e tutti e due sono 2° persona singolare. Potrebbe la prima frase che sia di cortesia?
Grazie in anticipo!
Carol
Ciao a tutti!
@Simon, Grazie mille!
@Hilary, those are not included, because the lesson develops a different topic. Please find "il, lo, la" in this lesson: Italian Direct Object Pronouns
A presto,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Nel sezione vocabulario, perchè non inclusi 'il, lo o la' (maschile o feminile). Penso che sarebbe più utile per noi. Grazie.
Ciao Ofelia,
Sono felice a aiutarvi. Anche, mi piace i 'cultural insight' alla fine, e spesso cerco la città o spettacolo ecc. sul google dopo la lezione :)
I am happy to help you. Also, I like the 'cultural insight' at the end, and often I search for the city or the event etc. on google after the lesson :)
Grazie,
Simon.
Ciao Simon,
Grazie per il tuo feedback sui PDFs. È molto utile per noi.
Good catch! Bravo!
We have fixed the typo. Abbiamo corretto l'errore.
Saluti,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ho trovato un errore piccolo nel pdf. Su pagina 4, l'esempio per 'lussuoso' è >, ma penso che debba essere >?
I found a small mistake in the pdf. On page 4 the example for 'lussuoso' is >, but i think that it ought to be >?
In risposta alla tua domanda, i pdf sono troppo utile! Ho fatto lezioni 1-5 senza i pdf, ma adesso penso che io impari più meglio con i pdf!
In response to your question, the pdfs are very useful! I did lessons 1-5 without the pdfs, but now I think that I learn a lot better with the pdfs!
Grazie,
Simon.