Dialogue

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Buongiorno a tutti.
Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 2, Lesson 2. Italian Comparisons of Equality: As Easy As This!
Cinzia: Hello everyone. I’m Cinzia and welcome to italianpod101.
Marco: With us, you learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons.
Cinzia: We also provide you with cultural insights
Marco: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In this lesson, we will study the Comparativo di uguaglianza, comparative of equality.
Cinzia: This conversation takes place in a supermarket.
Marco: And it is between Manuel and Giulia.
Cinzia: Since they are friends, they will be speaking informal Italian.
Marco: 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 of this lesson. Okay let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Giulia: In Argentina, la carne è buona?
Manuel: La carne argentina è tanto buona quanto la carne italiana.
Giulia: Davvero?
Manuel: Sì.
Giulia: E la frutta argentina com’è?
Manuel: Le pesche argentine sono così succose come le pesche italiane.
Giulia: Allora sono proprio buone.
Manuel: Ora cerchiamo la verdura.
Giulia: OK.
Marco: Let’s here it slowly now.
Giulia: In Argentina, la carne è buona?
Manuel: La carne argentina è tanto buona quanto la carne italiana.
Giulia: Davvero?
Manuel: Sì.
Giulia: E la frutta argentina com’è?
Manuel: Le pesche argentine sono così succose come le pesche italiane.
Giulia: Allora sono proprio buone.
Manuel: Ora cerchiamo la verdura.
Giulia: OK.
Marco: And now, with the translation.
Giulia: In Argentina, la carne è buona?
Giulia: Is meat good in Argentina?
Manuel: La carne argentina è tanto buona quanto la carne italiana.
Manuel: Argentinean meat is as good as Italian meat.
Giulia: Davvero?
Giulia: Really?
Manuel: Sì.
Manuel: Yes.
Giulia: E la frutta argentina com’è?
Giulia: And how’re Argentinean fruits?
Manuel: Le pesche argentine sono così succose come le pesche italiane.
Manuel: Argentinean peaches are as juicy as Italian ones.
Giulia: Allora sono proprio buone.
Giulia: Then they are really good.
Manuel: Ora cerchiamo la verdura.
Manuel: Now let’s look for vegetables.
Giulia: OK.
Giulia: OK.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Cinzia: Marco, you are so cruel.
Marco: Me? why?
Cinzia: It’s winter and we are talking about peaches.
Marco: Oh sorry! I forgot you love Italian peaches.
Cinzia: Maybe at this time of the year peaches in Australia are getting ripe.
Marco: We should find an excuse to use the company jet and go there.
Cinzia: Umm company jet? We have a company jet?
Marco: Actually we don’t have a jet.
Cinzia: I thought so.
Marco: But we do have today’s vocabulary. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: First of all
Cinzia: Tanto quanto.
Marco: As as.
Cinzia: Tanto quanto. Tanto quanto.
Marco: The next word is
Cinzia: Frutta.
Marco: Fruit.
Cinzia: Frutta. Frutta.
Marco: And next we have
Cinzia: Così come.
Marco: As as.
Cinzia: Così come. Così come.
Marco: Next we have
Cinzia: Succoso.
Marco: Juicy.
Cinzia: Succoso. Succoso.
Marco: And the next word is
Cinzia: Ora.
Marco: Now.
Cinzia: Ora. Ora
Marco: And today’s final word is
Cinzia: Verdura.
Marco: Vegetable, vegetables.
Cinzia: Verdura. Verdura
Marco: Let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Cinzia: First of all, we have tanto quanto.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Sono tanto paziente quanto tranquillo.
Marco: I am as patient as calm.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is frutta.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: Al supermercato si può trovare frutta da tutto il mondo.
Marco: At the supermarket, you can find fruits from all over the world.
Cinzia: Next we have così come.
Marco: And the sample is
Cinzia: La filosofia è così importante come la storia.
Marco: Philosophy is as important as history.
Cinzia: Next we have an adjective succoso.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Questa arancia è così succosa.
Marco: This orange is so juicy.
Cinzia: The next word we will look at is ora.
Marco: And the sample sentence is
Cinzia: Ora torniamo a casa.
Marco: Now let’s go back home.
Cinzia: And today’s last word is verdura.
Marco: So today’s last sample sentence is
Cinzia: Non mi piace la verdura.
Marco: I don’t like vegetables.

Lesson focus

Marco: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. The Comparativo di uguaglianza, comparative of equality is realized by inserting tanto or così before the adjective or adverb and quanto or come right after it.
Cinzia: Please remember that there can be more than one adjective or adverb.
Marco: When the objects of comparison not the terms of comparison are adjectives or adverbs, we can employ either tanto quanto or così come.
Cinzia: In this circumstance, they are considered adverbs and never change their form.
Marco: We can never use tanto come or così quanto. Here are some examples.
Cinzia: Le macchine rosse sono tanto veloci quanto quelle verdi.
Marco: Red cars are as fast as the green ones.
Cinzia: Io sono tanto alto quanto te.
Marco: I am as tall as you.
Cinzia: La tua felicità è così importante come la mia.
Marco: Your happiness is as important as mine. The couple così come is less frequently used than tanto quanto and, well, it sounds a bit old fashioned.
Cinzia: Italians almost always prefer to employ tanto quanto rather than così come
Marco: When the objects of comparison are verbs, we can use only tanto quanto. For example,
Cinzia: Ho mangiato tanto quanto Paolo.
Marco: I ate as much as Paolo.
Cinzia: Suonare uno strumento è tanto bello quanto scrivere poesie.
Marco: Playing an instrument is as nice as writing poems.
Cinzia: Mi piace tanto studiare la storia quanto leggere la letteratura.
Marco: I like studying history as much as reading literature.
Cinzia: And now one last learning tip.
Marco: Note that tanto and così may be normally implied.
Cinzia: We need of course to keep tanto or come. For instance, Serena è piacevole quanto intelligente.
Marco: Serena is as pleasant as intelligent.

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.
Cinzia: Bye bye.

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