Learn how to use the correlated Italian e se ("what if") structure for other hypothetical situations
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Cinzia: Buongiorno. |
| Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 1, Lesson 24. Let’s Buy Pasta at the Italian Grocery Store. Hello and welcome back to the italianpod101.com, the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Italian. I am joined in the studio by |
| Cinzia: Hello everyone, Cinzia here. |
| Marco: In this lesson, we will learn about the ipotesi interrotta, the interrupted hypothesis. |
| Cinzia: This conversation takes place at Manuel’s house. |
| Marco: And it is between Giulia, Marcella and Manuel. |
| Cinzia: The speakers are friends. Therefore they are speaking informal Italian. |
| Marco: Don’t forget. You can leave us a comment on this lesson. |
| Cinzia: So if you have a question |
| Marco: Or some feedback. |
| Cinzia: Please leave us a comment. |
| Marco: It’s very easy to do. Just stop by italianpod101.com |
| Cinzia: Click on comments, enter your comment and name and that’s it. |
| Marco: We are looking forward to hearing from you. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Giulia: Bene, si è fatto tardi, dobbiamo andare. |
| Marcella: Ciao Manuel, grazie di tutto. |
| Manuel: Di nulla, il piacere è stato mio. |
| Giulia: Ricordati che domani andiamo al supermercato alle quattro. |
| Manuel: Certamente. Però, se avessimo la macchina... |
| Giulia: Lo so, potremmo andare alla Triennale. Sarà per un’altra volta. |
| Marcella: Ora dobbiamo veramente andare, ci vediamo domani sera. |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Giulia: Bene, si è fatto tardi, dobbiamo andare. |
| Marcella: Ciao Manuel, grazie di tutto. |
| Manuel: Di nulla, il piacere è stato mio. |
| Giulia: Ricordati che domani andiamo al supermercato alle quattro. |
| Manuel: Certamente. Però, se avessimo la macchina... |
| Giulia: Lo so, potremmo andare alla Triennale. Sarà per un’altra volta. |
| Marcella: Ora dobbiamo veramente andare, ci vediamo domani sera. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Giulia: Bene, si è fatto tardi, dobbiamo andare. |
| Giulia: Well, it got late; we have to leave. |
| Marcella: Ciao Manuel, grazie di tutto. |
| Marcella: Bye, Manuel; thanks for everything. |
| Manuel: Di nulla, il piacere è stato mio. |
| Manuel: No problem; it was my pleasure. |
| Giulia: Ricordati che domani andiamo al supermercato alle quattro. |
| Giulia: Don't forget that tomorrow we'll go to the grocery store at four p.m. |
| Manuel: Certamente. Però, se avessimo la macchina... |
| Manuel: I won't. However, if only we had a car... |
| Giulia: Lo so, potremmo andare alla Triennale. Sarà per un’altra volta. |
| Giulia: I know, we could go to the Triennale. It'll be for another time. |
| Marcella: Ora dobbiamo veramente andare, ci vediamo domani sera. |
| Marcella: We really need to leave now; I'll see you guys tomorrow evening. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: In one of Giulia’s lines, there is a very interesting translation. |
| Marco: What is that? |
| Cinzia: Well in Italian, we say ricordati, but in English it is translated as don’t forget. |
| Marco: Oh yes! If it were a literal translation, it would be remember. |
| Cinzia: Or we could say non dimenticarti, that is the literal translation of don’t forget. |
| Marco: Yes but it would mean I don’t want you to forget. So it has a sort of negative meaning to it right? |
| Cinzia: Yes. So in this dialogue, it is best to use the Italian ricordati. |
| Marco: And the English don’t forget. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Cinzia: Now for the vocabulary. |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. First we have an expression. |
| Cinzia: Farsi tardi. |
| Marco: To get late. |
| Cinzia: Farsi tardi. Farsi tardi. |
| Marco: Next we have another expression. |
| Cinzia: Di nulla. |
| Marco: No problem. |
| Cinzia: Di nulla. Di nulla. |
| Marco: The next word is |
| Cinzia: Piacere. |
| Marco: Pleasure. |
| Cinzia: Piacere. Piacere. |
| Marco: Next word is |
| Cinzia: Ricordare. |
| Marco: To remember, recall, not forget. |
| Cinzia: Ricordare. Ricordare. |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Cinzia: Certamente. |
| Marco: Certainly. |
| Cinzia: Certamente. Certamente. |
| Marco: And today’s last word is |
| Cinzia: Però. |
| Marco: However, though, but. |
| Cinzia: Però. Però. |
| 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 expression we will look at is farsi tardi. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: è meglio andare ora prima che si faccia tardi. |
| Marco: We’d better leave now before it gets late. |
| Cinzia: The next expression we will look at is di nulla. |
| Marco: And the sample is |
| Cinzia: Ti ringrazio del tuo aiuto. Di nulla. |
| Marco: Thanks for your help. No problem. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is piacere. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Ho avuto il piacere di incontrare tuo fratello. |
| Marco: I had the pleasure of meeting your brother. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will look at is ricordare. |
| Marco: And the sample is |
| Cinzia: Ricordati di fare i compiti. |
| Marco: Don’t forget to do your homework. |
| Cinzia: The next word is certamente. |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is |
| Cinzia: Puoi prestarmi 10 Euro? Certamente. |
| Marco: Can you lend me 10 Euros? Sure. |
| Cinzia: And today’s last word is però. |
| Marco: And the sample is |
| Cinzia: Ho comprato il biglietto, però non posso andare al concerto. |
| Marco: I bought the ticket, however I can’t go to the concert. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. Although grammatically speaking the ipotesi interrotta, interrupted hypothesis, belongs to the if clause category, it is used in different semantic context. |
| Cinzia: Since it consists of just the subordinate clause, it doesn’t refer to a predetermined cause-effect relation. |
| Marco: As its English equivalent, it conveys a desire, an aspiration whose meaning can be understood only by the context it is inserted into. |
| Cinzia: And let’s not forget that this structure always carries a strong emotional value. |
| Marco: Right. Let’s see some examples. |
| Cinzia: Se avessi più soldi, andrei in vacanza in Australia, comprerei un’automobile nuova... |
| Marco: If I had more money, I’d go on vacation in Australia, I’d buy a new automobile. The range of emotions that can be expressed is very wide including anger |
| Cinzia: Se ti prendo... |
| Marco: If I catch you. Disappointment. |
| Cinzia: Se solo non mi fossi ammalato... |
| Marco: If only I didn’t get ill. Nostalgia. |
| Cinzia: Se solo avessi ancora 20 anni... |
| Marco: If only I were still 20, and so on. Let us now see the next grammar topic. |
| Cinzia: The what if structure is made using the conjunctions E plus Se. |
| Marco: Literally, and plus if. |
| Cinzia: Contrary to the ipotesi interrotta, the subordinate clause expresses only a rhetorical question. |
| Marco: We could say it was an alternative interpretation of something we take for granted. For example |
| Cinzia: E se tuo fratello fosse ancora in Italia. |
| Marco: What if your brother is still in Italy. |
| Cinzia: E se la classe politica ci stesse mentendo. |
| Marco: What if the political class has been lying to us. This hypothesis is realized in Italian using the congiuntivo imperfetto, imperfect subjunctive, thus linking it to type 2 conditional sentences. |
| Cinzia: In this case, the subordinate clause is just an open question. |
| Marco: And it has a sort of controversial or polemical attitude. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. Cinzia, I would like to share a study tip our listeners 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, gets 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. Ciao. |
| Cinzia: Ciao ciao. |
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