Learn about how to use the simple Italian prepositions tra and fra, which you can use to distinguish the members of a group, discuss your position, or set a schedule
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone! I'm Consuelo, and welcome to ItalianPOD101. |
| Marco: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: and tips you won't find in a textbook... |
| Marco: In this lesson, we will continue our study of Italian simple prepositions, delving into tra and fra. This conversation takes place in John's car. |
| Consuelo: The conversation is between John and Laura. The speakers are friends; therefore, the speakers will be speaking informally. |
| Consuelo: Listeners...I have a question... |
| Marco: A question? |
| Consuelo: Yep, I want to know when was the last time you commented? |
| Marco: Ahh, yes! Great question. |
| Consuelo: Stop by ItalianPOD101.com, leave us a comment or just say hi. |
| Marco: haha...okay, you heard Consuelo. |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Laura: Spegni la radio dai, che chiamo Martina. |
| John: Ok, dille che saremo lì fra circa quaranta minuti. |
| Laura: Va bene. |
| Laura: (al telefono) Ciao Martina! Sì, stasera pensavamo di andare al cinema ma tra poco inizia lo spettacolo e non faremo in tempo per il traffico. |
| Martina: (al telefono) Allora venite da me che tra poco ci sarà una festa in pigiama! |
| Laura: (al telefono) Grazie Martina, saremo lì tra circa quaranta minuti! |
| Martina: (al telefono) OK, vi aspetto ragazzi, ciao! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Laura: Spegni la radio dai, che chiamo Martina. |
| John: Ok, dille che saremo lì fra circa quaranta minuti. |
| Laura: Va bene. |
| Laura: (al telefono) Ciao Martina! Sì, stasera pensavamo di andare al cinema ma tra poco inizia lo spettacolo e non faremo in tempo per il traffico. |
| Martina: (al telefono) Allora venite da me che tra poco ci sarà una festa in pigiama! |
| Laura: (al telefono) Grazie Martina, saremo lì tra circa quaranta minuti! |
| Martina: (al telefono) OK, vi aspetto ragazzi, ciao! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Laura: Spegni la radio dai, che chiamo Martina. |
| Marco: Come on; turn off the radio. I'll call Martina. |
| John: Ok, dille che saremo lì fra circa quaranta minuti. |
| Marco: Okay, tell her we'll be there in about forty minutes. |
| Laura: Va bene. |
| Marco: Fine. |
| Laura: (al telefono) Ciao Martina! Sì, stasera pensavamo di andare al cinema ma tra poco inizia lo spettacolo e non faremo in tempo per il traffico. |
| Marco: (on the phone) Hi Martina! Yes, tonight we were thinking of going to the movies but the show starts shortly and we won't make it in time because of the traffic. |
| Martina: (al telefono) Allora venite da me che tra poco ci sarà una festa in pigiama! |
| Marco: (on the phone) Then come to my place, there will be a pajamas party soon! |
| Laura: (al telefono) Grazie Martina, saremo lì tra circa quaranta minuti! |
| Marco: (on the phone) Thanks Martina! We'll be there in about forty minutes! |
| Martina: (al telefono) OK, vi aspetto ragazzi, ciao! |
| Marco: (on the phone) Okay, I'll be waiting for you guys, bye! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: What can you tell us about Italian parties? |
| Cris: Italian parties are crazy! |
| Marco: Is there some special period of the year you may want to suggest to our listeners to enjoy the best parties in Italy? |
| Cristiano: I think summer is probably the best time |
| Cristiano: The most famous one is probably the Costa Azzurra, one of Sardinia island's most beautiful spots. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: pigiama [natural native speed] |
| Marco: pyjamas/pajamas |
| Consuelo: pigiama [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: pigiama [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: radio [natural native speed] |
| Marco: radio |
| Consuelo: radio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: radio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: quaranta [natural native speed] |
| Marco: forty |
| Consuelo: quaranta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: quaranta [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: minuti [natural native speed] |
| Marco: minutes |
| Consuelo: minuti [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: minuti [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: festa [natural native speed] |
| Marco: feast, holiday, party |
| Consuelo: festa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: festa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: aspettare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to wait |
| Consuelo: aspettare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: aspettare [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases we learned in this lesson. The word we'll look at is... |
| Cris: ""dai."" |
| Marco: This word can be used to prompt someone to do something. |
| Cris: Yes, for example, ""Dai andiamo!"" |
| Marco: ""Come on, let's go."" |
| Cris: Or to continue doing something. |
| Marco: This is especially true in sports. It may happen that you hear some people saying ""dai dai dai dai, no!"" |
| Cris: Haha. This is especially true in soccer, when the attacking team is getting closer to the goal, but then misses! |
| Marco: And it happens all too often! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cris: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: Today, we are going to continue with the study of the |
| Cris: ""preposizioni semplici"" |
| Marco: ""simple prepositions."" |
| Cristiano: The focus of this lesson is on the Italian prepositions ""fra"" and ""tra."" |
| Marco: The prepositions ""tra"" and ""fra"" are utterly equivalent to each other and can thus be freely interchanged. They are used in the following circumstances… |
| Marco: to express the amount of time that elapses before an action takes place in the future. For example… |
| Cris: ""Inizierò a lavorare tra tre giorni."" |
| Marco: ""I'll start working in three days."" |
| Cris: ""Lo spettacolo comincia fra cinque minuti."" |
| Marco: ""The show starts in five minutes."" |
| Cris: ""Ci vediamo tra un quarto d'ora."" |
| Marco: ""I'll see you in fifteen minutes."" |
| Marco: to express the position, both in proper and figurative sense, of something/someone between two other terms. For instance… |
| Cris: ""La chiesa si trova fra la piazza e il parco."" |
| Marco: ""The church is between the square and the park."" |
| Cris: ""C'è del risentimento tra loro."" |
| Marco: ""There's a harsh feeling between them."" |
| Cris: ""L'anfiteatro si trova fra Via Mazzini e il comune."" |
| Marco: ""The amphitheatre lies between Via Mazzini and the City Hall."" |
| Marco: The prepositions ""tra"" and ""fra"" could be also used when talking about groups, to single out some members or parts. |
| For example… |
| Cris: ""Sono l'unica fra noi che parla tedesco."" |
| Marco: ""I'm the only one among us who speaks German."" |
| Cris: ""Era il solo ragazzo della festa, come si dice in italiano 'Beato tra le donne.'"" |
| Marco: ""He was the only guy at the party, as it goes in Italian (literally) 'Lucky fellow among women.'"" |
| Cris: ""Ci sono tre ragazze tra loro che vogliono studiare italiano."" |
| Marco: ""There are three girls among them who want to study Italian."" |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Marco: Make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards in the learning center. |
| Consuelo: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards... |
| Marco: They work... |
| Consuelo: They really do help memorization. |
| Marco: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Consuelo: ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco: Okay.... |
| Marco: Arrivederci! |
| Consuelo: Ciao!" |
13 Comments
HideHi everyone!
Thank you for posting!
@Steven, dì + le becomes "dille", to make it easier the pronunciation.
@Anne, that was a typo! We have fixed it. Usually "pigiama" is singular in Italian. If you want to use the plural form, please say "pigiami", "dei pigiami".
Grazie e a presto!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ciao
Scusi, What exactly is 'pajama' (PDF)? Should it be 'pyjamas'? If that is the case, it needs to be plural so would it use 'un'? Come si dice 'a pair of pygamas' o 'some pygamas' (della pigiama??) in italiano?
Grazie
Anne
Thank you Ofelia, but can you explain if there is a rule behind the use of double 'll' ?
Hi Steven,
Yes, you are right!
"Dille" is made of "dì", 2nd person singular imperative present, and "le" meaning "her, to her".
Grazie!
Keep up the good work :smile:
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
In the sentence "Ok, dille che saremo lì fra circa quaranta minuti." can you please explain or tell us where it is explained how the word "dille" (tell her) was formed? It looks like it comes from "dire" and "le"
Grazie.
Ciao Antonio,
Consuelo says "Ancora una volta, lentamente", that means "One more time, slowly".
Grazie e a presto!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ciao.
Antonio here.
In previous lessons, we've heard "ascoltiano lo lentamente..." Now it has changed. What is the difference??
Antonio
Sarei in Italia tra sei mesi. I would be in Italy in 6 monthes.
Sono tra la mia aspirazione e il mio principio. I am between my ambition and principle.
Siamo cinque uomini fra l'ufficio. We are 3 men in the office.
Thanks again. Just about what I thought you might say. Nice to get validation from an authority.
Ken,
Here's the answer from our resident native speaker:
"Yes you can, it is not wrong. It all depends on the person you are speaking to or writing to, and their age, background etc. For instance, I would personally use a local slang word or use 'interessante or veramente interessante' to express the same thought. However, you may hear a young girl with a super excited tone of voice saying to her girlfriends "ho conosciuto un tipo interessantissimo"."