Learn how to ask how much "these" cost in Italian by forming the plural of the Italian demonstrative adjective questo
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Cinzia: Buon giorno! Mi chiamo Cinzia. |
| Marco: Marco here. Newbie Series, season 1, lesson 13 - Don't Let Them Give You the Boot! Buon giorno a tutti! Hello and welcome to ItalianPod101.com. My name is Marco. And I’m joined here by Cinzia. |
| Cinzia: Hello and welcome to the Newbie Series of ItalianPod101.com. |
| This series focuses on the essentials of Italian for anyone who wants to start learning. |
| Cinzia: So our dear listeners, join us for this lesson on Italianpod101.com. |
| Marco: The focus of this lesson is plural forms of the demonstrative adjective questo. |
| Cinzia: This conversation takes place in an Italian shop. |
| Marco: And it is between Laura and a shop clerk. |
| Cinzia: They will be speaking formal Italian. Don't forget to press the center button on your ipod to see the lesson transcript in your display. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laura: Mi scusi, quanto costano queste scarpe nere? |
| Commesso: Costano centocinquanta euro, signorina. |
| Laura: Umm... E questi sandali marroni? |
| Commesso: I sandali costano ottantatre euro. |
| Laura: Va bene, grazie. Ci vorrei pensare un po'. |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly. |
| Laura: Mi scusi, quanto costano queste scarpe nere? |
| Commesso: Costano centocinquanta euro, signorina. |
| Laura: Umm... E questi sandali marroni? |
| Commesso: I sandali costano ottantatre euro. |
| Laura: Va bene, grazie. Ci vorrei pensare un po'. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Laura: Mi scusi, quanto costano queste scarpe nere? |
| Marco: Excuse me, how much do these black shoes cost? |
| Commesso: Costano centocinquanta euro, signorina. |
| Marco: They cost one hundred and fifty euros, Miss. |
| Laura: Umm... E questi sandali marroni? |
| Marco: Ooh...and these brown sandals? |
| Commesso: I sandali costano ottantatre euro. |
| Marco: The sandals cost eighty-three euros. |
| Laura: Va bene, grazie. Ci vorrei pensare un po'. |
| Marco: Okay, thank you. I'd like to think about it. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: So Marco, would you take me shopping tomorrow? |
| Marco: It depends if the shoes you want to buy are not as expensive as these ones. |
| Cinzia: Well, I would like to go to D&G shops, or Valentino shops... |
| Marco: Well... that's more expensive isn't it? |
| Cinzia: Yeah, but I will be happy anyway, even if you bring me to a local market. |
| Marco: But wait wait, we have the company credit card! |
| Cinzia: That's great! But wait! You cannot use credit card in a local market. |
| Marco: I meant we can use it at the big shops! |
| Cinzia: Ok! So let's go D&G shops! |
| Marco: Yes, and point on the credit card of the company! Yay! But no, seriously, let's get on with the vocabulary. |
| Cinzia: Oh Marco, my god you are so boring, as always! |
| Marco: Yes, but vocabulary it is! Sorry! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at today’s vocabulary. First... |
| Cinzia: quanto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: how much |
| Cinzia: quanto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: quanto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: costare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to cost |
| Cinzia: costare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: costare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: queste [natural native speed] |
| Marco: these (feminine plural) |
| Cinzia: queste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: queste [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: scarpe [natural native speed] |
| Marco: shoes (feminine plural) |
| Cinzia: scarpe [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: scarpe [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: nere [natural native speed] |
| Marco: black (feminine plural) |
| Cinzia: nere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: nere [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: questi [natural native speed] |
| Marco: these (masculine plural) |
| Cinzia: questi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: questi [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: sandali [natural native speed] |
| Marco: sandals (masculine plural) |
| Cinzia: sandali [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: sandali [natural native speed] |
| Marco: Next word |
| Cinzia: marroni [natural native speed] |
| Marco: brown (masculine plural) |
| Cinzia: marroni [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: marroni [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Cinzia: So now, let’s have a look at the usage for some of the words and expressions. The first word we will look at is quanto. |
| Marco: Cinzia, can you give us an example sentence please? |
| Cinzia: Quanto costa un panino? |
| Marco: “How much does a sandwich cost?” |
| Cinzia: OK. The next word is queste |
| Marco: Let’s have an example |
| Cinzia: Queste arance. |
| Marco: “These oranges.” |
| Cinzia: Next word is scarpe |
| Marco: One example please. |
| Cinzia: Le scarpe di Prada. |
| Marco: “Prada's shoes.” |
| Cinzia: Uhu! Nice! |
| Marco: I also like Prada style, the black and white style of shoes and bags... Do you like it? |
| Cinzia: No. |
| Marco: Why not? |
| Cinzia: Because Prada is not my style! |
| Marco: What is your style then? |
| Cinzia: Well, as you can imagine, I like my own style. |
| Marco: So you mean you take pieces or ideas from other styles and you make your own Cinzia's style? |
| Cinzia: Of course. |
| Marco: Ok then, we shall have Cinzia' style brand in a few months. |
| Cinzia: The next word we will see is nere. |
| Marco: And the example is? |
| Cinzia: Le olive nere. |
| Marco: “Black olives.” |
| Cinzia: Next word is questi |
| Marco: One example please. |
| Cinzia: Questi pomodori. |
| Marco: “These tomatoes.” |
| Cinzia: Next word is sandali |
| Marco: One example please. |
| Cinzia: I sandali di cuoio. |
| Marco: “leather sandals.” Speaking about leather, Italian leather is very good isn't it? |
| Cinzia: Yes, one of the best in the world. |
| Marco: Yes, I'd like to buy a pair of leather sandals, especially now that it's getting warmer and warmer. |
| Cinzia: Yes, true, I've already bought a pair. |
| Cinzia: The last word for today is marroni |
| Marco: One last example. |
| Cinzia: Gli occhi marroni. |
| Marco: “Brown eyes.” |
| Cinzia: Like yours, Marco? |
| Marco: Yes! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: In today’s lesson we shall learn how to use the plural forms of the demonstrative adjective questo “this”. |
| Cinzia: yes, previously seen in Newbie lesson 12. |
| Marco: As the demonstrative adjectives have to agree with the nouns they refer to in both gender and number. |
| Cinzia: We shall learn today the masculine and the feminine plural forms, whose English equivalent would be “these”. |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the patterns and how they are formed. |
| Cinzia: Use questi before any masculine plural noun, either starting with a consonant or a vowel. |
| Marco: For example... |
| Cinzia: Questi mocassini. |
| Marco: "These moccasins". |
| Cinzia: Questi zoccoli. |
| Marco: "These clogs". |
| Cinzia: Questi stivali. |
| Marco: "These boots". |
| Cinzia: Questi accessori. |
| Marco: "These accessories". |
| Cinzia: Use queste before any feminine, plural noun either starting with a consonant or a vowel. |
| Marco: For example... |
| Cinzia: Queste ciabatte. |
| Marco: "These slippers". |
| Cinzia: Queste isole. |
| Marco: "These islands". It is actually so easy here! |
| Cinzia: Really? |
| Marco: Yes, you use questi before any masculine plural noun, while you use queste before any feminine plural noun. That's it. One for masculine plural, one for feminine plural. |
| Cinzia: True, it's pretty easy. |
| Marco: So Italian is easy! |
| Cinzia: No... Marco... it isn't. |
| Marco: But it's fun, isn't it? |
| Cinzia: Yes of course it's fun, with us! |
| Marco: Yes, especially with Cinzia! |
| Cinzia: Oh my god! A compliment! |
| Marco: Yes, just because I'm getting tired, and that's why this is the end of today's lesson. |
| Cinzia: Do you want me to leave? |
| Marco: No, it's really the end of today's lesson. |
| Cinzia: Ohh!! I'm so sad! |
Outro |
| Cinzia: Be sure to check out the vocabulary lists with audio in the Learning Center at ItalianPod101.com. Also, ask us a question in the forum, or leave us a comment. |
| Marco: See you soon! |
| Cinzia: Ci vediamo presto! Ciao ciao! |
| Marco: Ciao! |
23 Comments
HideCinzia just loves shopping for a nice pair of shoes. What about you?
Ciao Bill,
ottimo lavoro, tutto perfetto!
👍👍👍
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Uh oh! Vedo un'errore di ortografia.
francobolli, non fancobolli.
Mi scusi! Quanto costano queste cartoline?
Costano cinquanta centesimi a testa.
Bene! Prendo queste cinque.
Vorebbe dei fancobolli?
No, grazie.
Fanno due euro et cinquanta centisimi.
Ecco qua.
Grazie.
Prego.
Grazie in anticipo!
Hi Becky,
thanks for you question.
Use "quanto costano" to ask about something plural (e.g.: those shoes)
Use "quanto costa" to ask about something singular (e.g.: that book)
A presto,
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
What is the difference between saying ‘quanto costano’ or ‘quanto costa’?
Ciao Matt,
Thank you very much for your great feedback!
We're glad you're enjoying the lessons!
Hope to see you often at ItalianPod101.com ;)
Cristiane
Team ItalianPod101.com
Cinzia does make learning Italian FUN!!
Hi Tom and Karen,
In the case of "ci vediamo", "ci" (meaning "we, each other") expresses reciprocity.
We can have other similar cases only with plural subjects and with verbs, which refer to mutual actions. Here are some examples:
Luca e Maria si amano. = "Luca and Maria love each other."
I fratelli si abbracciano. = "The brothers hug each other."
Voi vi salutate. = "You great each other."
I hope this helps!
Grazie,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ciao tutti!
We had the same question about "Ci vorrei pensare un po'" Thanks for your explanation, we now understand it better.
We have also seen the phrase "ci vediamo presto" for "we see each other soon" or "see you soon".
Is vedere another verb that requires 'a' with it? Or it this a reflexive usage?
Thanks for your explanations so far, it helps a lot!
Tom and Karen
Hi Dean,
In "Quanto costano queste scarpe nere?" "quanto" is an adverb, so it can't change.
In general, in "Quanto costa/costano?", "quanto" never changes.
In other sentences "quanto", if used as pronoun or adjective, can change.
For example: "Quante mele vuoi?", "How many apples do you want?"
I hope this helps!
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com