Learn how to use the structure a + infinitive as an alternative way to form subordinate clauses hypothetical periods
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Cinzia: Buongiorno. |
| Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 1, Lesson 22. This Italian Pasta will be Ready in 5 Minutes. |
| Cinzia: Hello everyone. I am Cinzia and welcome to italianpod101. |
| Marco: With us, you will learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Cinzia: We also provide you cultural insights |
| Marco: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. |
| Cinzia: In this lesson, you will learn about using the A+ infinitive to realize hypothetical clauses. |
| Marco: This conversation takes place at Manuel’s apartment. |
| Cinzia: And it’s between Manuel, Marcella and Giulia. |
| Marco: The speakers are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informal Italian. |
| Cinzia: Ciao. Hello, I am Cinzia and welcome to the lower intermediate series at italianpod101.com |
| Marco: This lesson is one part of the lower intermediate series. |
| Cinzia: You can find the rest of the lessons at |
| Marco: Italianpod101.com. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Manuel: La pasta dovrebbe essere pronta in cinque minuti. |
| Giulia: Il sugo è pronto. Ad avere un po’ di cipolla, avrei preparato il “sugo Giulia”. |
| Marcella: È perfetto anche così. |
| Manuel: Vi piace Claudio Baglioni? Ascolto sempre le sue canzoni per le mangiate di mezzanotte. |
| Giulia: Non dire nulla, ingrasso solo a pensarci! |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Manuel: La pasta dovrebbe essere pronta in cinque minuti. |
| Giulia: Il sugo è pronto. Ad avere un po’ di cipolla, avrei preparato il “sugo Giulia”. |
| Marcella: È perfetto anche così. |
| Manuel: Vi piace Claudio Baglioni? Ascolto sempre le sue canzoni per le mangiate di mezzanotte. |
| Giulia: Non dire nulla, ingrasso solo a pensarci! |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Manuel: La pasta dovrebbe essere pronta in cinque minuti. |
| Manuel: The pasta should be ready in five minutes. |
| Giulia: Il sugo è pronto. Ad avere un po’ di cipolla, avrei preparato il “sugo Giulia”. |
| Giulia: The sauce is ready. If I had some onion, I'd have prepared "Giulia's special." |
| Marcella: È perfetto anche così. |
| Marcella: It's perfect also this way. |
| Manuel: Vi piace Claudio Baglioni? Ascolto sempre le sue canzoni per le mangiate di mezzanotte. |
| Manuel: Do you like Claudio Baglioni? I always listen to his songs for midnight square meals. |
| Giulia: Non dire nulla, ingrasso solo a pensarci! |
| Giulia: Don't say a word; I put on weight just thinking about it! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Since you seem so good at cooking, do you have any Cinzia special? |
| Cinzia: Well sure I do but it’s a secret. |
| Marco: Alright. I am sure all great chefs have a secret recipe or ingredient. |
| Cinzia: Sure they do. |
| Marco: And you are not going to tell us yours. |
| Cinzia: Nope. |
| Marco: Come on, nobody is listening. I have just stopped the recording. |
| Cinzia: Are you trying to trick me? The recording is still on. |
| Marco: You got me this time. |
| Cinzia: On we go with the vocabulary then. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Okay. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word is |
| Cinzia: Pronto. |
| Marco: Ready, hello, when picking up the phone. |
| Cinzia: Pronto. Pronto. |
| Marco: The next word is |
| Cinzia: Cipolla. |
| Marco: Onion. |
| Cinzia: Cipolla. Cipolla. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Perfetto. |
| Marco: Perfect. |
| Cinzia: Perfetto. Perfetto. |
| Marco: And the next word is Cinzia? |
| Cinzia: Così. |
| Marco: So, this way. |
| Cinzia: Così. Così. |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Cinzia: Mangiata. |
| Marco: Square meal. |
| Cinzia: Mangiata. Mangiata. |
| Marco: And today’s final word is |
| Cinzia: Ingrassare. |
| Marco: To gain weight. Get fat. |
| Cinzia: Ingrassare. Ingrassare. |
| 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 pronto. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Siamo pronti per uscire? |
| Marco: Are we ready to leave? |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is cipolla. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: La cipolla ha molte proprietà terapeutiche. |
| Marco: Onion has many therapeutic properties. |
| Cinzia: The next word is perfetto. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: è perfetto. |
| Marco: It’s perfect. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is così. |
| Marco: And the sample is |
| Cinzia: Tutti lo chiamano così. |
| Marco: Everybody calls him this way. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is [*] |
| Marco: And the sample is |
| Cinzia: Ieri ho fatto una mangiata memorabile. |
| Marco: Yesterday I had an unforgettable square meal. |
| Cinzia: And today’s last word is ingrassare. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Antonio ha sempre paura di ingrassare. |
| Marco: Antonio is always afraid of putting on weight. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. In all three times of Italian if clauses, the subordinate clause may be realized using the A plus infinitive structure. |
| Cinzia: Let us not forget that it may be AD when the following infinitive starts with a vowel. |
| Marco: Excellent reminder. Now this informal way is normally used in a spoken language. So it should be avoided in formal speech and writings. |
| Cinzia: As for the gerund we studied in previous classes, the subject of both phrases must be the same. |
| Marco: So don’t forget it. Furthermore since the structure A plus infinitive is impersonal, the subject of the sentence is explicitly stated only in the main clause. For example |
| Cinzia: Se avessi tempo, andrei al cinema. |
| Marco: If I had time, I’d go to the cinema. |
| Cinzia: Ad avere tempo, andrei al cinema. |
| Marco: If I had time, I’d go to the cinema. |
| Cinzia: Se fossi stato disonesto, avrei guadagnato molti soldi. |
| Marco: If I had been dishonest, I’d have made a lot of money. |
| Cinzia: Ad essere disonesto, avrei guadagnato molti soldi. |
| Marco: If I had been dishonest, I’d have made a lot of money. The structure A or AD plus infinitive is usually used to emphasize a subordinate clause over the main one. |
| Cinzia: This way it is stressing the condition over the result. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. Cinzia, I would like to share a study tip our listener shared with us. |
| Cinzia: Ah you are talking about the student who uses just the conversation tracks to review the lessons. |
| Marco: Cinzia, you read my mind. Yes, a listener of ours listens to each lesson several times. |
| Cinzia: Then afterward, get the conversation only track from our site. |
| Marco: She then listens to them on shuffle again and again. She created her own immersion program using italianpod101.com |
| Cinzia: This is a great idea. Please give it a try and let us know what you think. |
| Marco: Okay. Arrivederci. |
| Cinzia: Ciao a tutti. |
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