Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

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

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Ciao a tutti.
Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 2, Lesson 1. Italian Comparisons: He’s in Less Trouble Than I Am? Hello and welcome to the lower intermediate series, season 2 at italianpod101.com where we study modern Italian in a fun, educational format.
Cinzia: So brush up on the Italian that you started learning long ago or start learning today.
Marco: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Cinzia, what are we looking at in this lesson?
Cinzia: In this lesson, we will study the comparativo di minoranza, comparative of minority.
Marco: This conversation takes place in a grocery store.
Cinzia: And it’s between Giulia and Manuel.
Marco: They are friends. Therefore 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 the study tip.
Marco: So we were wondering if you’ve tried it and if so
Cinzia: What do you think of it?
Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comments section for this lesson. Okay let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Giulia: Bravo.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Giulia: Grazie.
Marco: Let’s here it slowly now.
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Giulia: Bravo.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Giulia: Grazie.
Marco: And now, with the translation.
Manuel: Ora prendiamo un po’ di carne.
Manuel: Now, let’s get some meat.
Giulia: OK. Cosa ti piace?
Giulia: Okay, what do you like?
Manuel: Mi piace il maiale. Cosa ne dici di queste fette?
Manuel: I like pork. What do you think about these slices?
Giulia: No, prendi queste, sono meno grasse.
Giulia: No, take these. They have less fat.
Manuel: Ora vorrei del pollo. Questo com’è?
Manuel: Now, I’d like some chicken. How’s this?
Giulia: Questo petto di pollo mi sembra meno fresco di quello.
Giulia: This chicken breast looks less fresh than that one.
Manuel: Allora prendo quello.
Manuel: Then I’ll get that one.
Giulia: Bravo.
Giulia: Good.
Manuel: Tutto merito della mia insegnante.
Manuel: It’s all thanks to my teacher.
Giulia: Grazie.
Giulia: Thank you.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Marco: Whenever I think about Italian meat, I think of Firenze and Toscana.
Cinzia: Well I can understand why. It is after all very famous for its meat cuts.
Marco: Yes, especially the bistecca alla fiorentina, the fiorentina steak, a thick succulent porterhouse cut.
Cinzia: Do you remember the Mad Cow disease scare in the 90s?
Marco: Oh, sure I do!
Cinzia: Well from 1996 to 2001, fiorentina steak was outlawed in Italy.
Marco: Oh yeah but now we and all our listeners can eat it again.
Cinzia: So if you go to Firenze, try it out!
Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: The first word we shall take a look at is
Cinzia: Carne.
Marco: Meat, flesh.
Cinzia: Carne. Carne.
Marco: Next word is
Cinzia: Maiale.
Marco: Pig, pork.
Cinzia: Maiale. Maiale
Marco: And the next word is
Cinzia: Fetta.
Marco: Slice, cut, piece.
Cinzia: Fetta. Fetta
Marco: The next word is
Cinzia: Pollo.
Marco: Chicken.
Cinzia: Pollo. Pollo.
Marco: And the next word is
Cinzia: Petto.
Marco: Chest, breast, bosom.
Cinzia: Petto. Petto.
Marco: And today’s last word is
Cinzia: Insegnante.
Marco: Teacher.
Cinzia: Insegnante. Insegnante
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 carne.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: I vegetariani non mangiano la carne.
Marco: Vegetarians don’t eat meat.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is maiale.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: I maiali sono animali intelligenti.
Marco: Pigs are intelligent animals.
Cinzia: Next we have fetta.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Mangio una fetta di torta.
Marco: I eat a slice of cake.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is pollo.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Mi piace il pollo fritto.
Marco: I like fried chicken.
Cinzia: Next we have petto.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: Compro dei petti di pollo.
Marco: I buy some chicken breasts.
Cinzia: And today’s last word is insegnante.
Marco: So the last sample sentence is
Cinzia: La mia insegnante è giovane.
Marco: My teacher is young.

Lesson focus

Marco: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point.
Cinzia: Similarly to the comparativo di maggioranza, the comparativo di minoranza
Marco: Comparative of minority
Cinzia: Is realized by inserting the adverb “meno” before the adjective or adverb and the preposition Di or Che right after it.
Marco: There can be more than one adjective or adverb. Let’s see some examples.
Cinzia: La tua bicicletta è meno costosa della mia.
Marco: Your bicycle is less expensive than mine. Please note that Della is made up of Di plus La.
Cinzia: Le strade moderne sono meno sicure di quelle antiche.
Marco: Modern roads are less safe than the old ones.
Cinzia: Lucia e Camilla sono meno gentili e disponibili di Maria e Antonietta.
Marco: Lucia and Camilla are less kind and helpful than Maria and Antonietta. Here is a learning tip. Although we could theoretically use the comparativo di minoranza when comparing adverbs, it sounds a bit odd.
Cinzia: Italians tend to use the comparativo di maggioranza instead, switching the two terms of comparison.
Marco: For instance
Cinzia: Carlo parla meno velocemente di me.
Marco: Carlo speaks less fast than me.
Cinzia: That means: io parlo più velocemente di Carlo.
Marco: I speak faster than Carlo. The rules regarding the usage of Che instead of Di explained in previous lessons fully apply to the comparativo di minoranza.
Cinzia: For example, sono meno legato al lavoro che alla famiglia.
Marco: Literally I am less fond of work than family. The second term of comparison is a noun preceded by a preposition.
Cinzia: Penso che sia meno utile spendere che risparmiare.
Marco: I think that spending is less useful than saving. Comparison of two verbs.
Cinzia: Tu reagisci più lentamente che correttamente.
Marco: Literally you react more slowly than correctly. The second term of comparison is an adverb.

Outro

Marco: That just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about the way to drastically improve your pronunciation.
Cinzia: 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 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. Ciao a tutti.
Cinzia: Ciao.

Comments

Hide