Dialogue

Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Cinzia: Hello everyone! I'm Cinzia, and welcome to ItalianPOD101.
Marco: With us, you'll 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...
Marco: In this lesson we will explain the imperfetto and passato prossimo tense agreement in narrations This conversation takes place on the streets of Italy
Cinzia: And it's between John and Laura They are friends therefore they will be speaking informally
DIALOGUE
Laura: Ieri ha nevicato!
John: Sì, ho visto.
Laura: Mentre andavo in ufficio ho scattato delle foto ai tetti.
John: Perché ai tetti?
Laura: Sono belli quando sono coperti di neve.
English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Laura: Ieri ha nevicato!
John: Sì, ho visto.
Laura: Mentre andavo in ufficio ho scattato delle foto ai tetti.
John: Perché ai tetti?
Laura: Sono belli quando sono coperti di neve.
English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Laura: Ieri ha nevicato!
Marco: Yesterday, it snowed!
John: Sì, ho visto.
Marco: Yes, I saw.
Laura: Mentre andavo in ufficio ho scattato delle foto ai tetti.
Marco: While I was going to the office, I took some pictures of rooftops.
John: Perché ai tetti?
Marco: Why rooftops?
Laura: Sono belli quando sono coperti di neve.
Marco: They are pretty when they are covered in snow.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Cinzia: Snow in old Italian cities is just wonderful!
Marco: I guess only if you don’t have to go to school or work!
Cinzia: Always thinking about practical things! Think about the atmosphere!
Marco: You’re right as always. I loved to walk in the desert streets of Venice after it snowed, you could just hear the sound of your footsteps crushing the ice!
Cinzia: That’s more like it!
VOCAB LIST
Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
: The first word we shall see is:
Cinzia: nevicare [natural native speed]
Marco: to snow
Cinzia: nevicare [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: nevicare [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cinzia: scattare una foto [natural native speed]
Marco: to take a picture
Cinzia: scattare una foto [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: scattare una foto [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cinzia: foto [natural native speed]
Marco: photo, picture
Cinzia: foto [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: foto [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cinzia: tetto [natural native speed]
Marco: roof, rooftop
Cinzia: tetto [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: tetto [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cinzia: coprire [natural native speed]
Marco: to cover, screen, blanket
Cinzia: coprire [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: coprire [natural native speed]
: Next:
Cinzia: neve [natural native speed]
Marco: snow
Cinzia: neve [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Cinzia: neve [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.
Cinzia: The first word we will look at is
nevicare
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Domani dovrebbe nevicare.
Marco: It should snow tomorrow.
Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is
scattare una foto
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Mi può scattare una foto.
Marco: Can you take a picture?
Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is
foto
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Posso scattare una foto?
Marco: Can I take a picture?
Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is
tetto
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: C’è un gatto sul tetto.
Marco: There’s a cat on the roof.
Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is
coprire
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Fa freddo, copriti!
Marco: It’s cold, cover yourself!
Cinzia: Today's last word/expression is
neve
Marco: And the sample sentence is?
Cinzia: Giochiamo nella neve?
Marco: Let’s play in the snow.

Lesson focus

Marco: The tense agreement between passato prossimo and imperfetto tense is essential to comprehend how to convey past occurrences in formal narrations.
Cinzia: The main features of both tenses have already been introduced in previous classes. In today's class we will see how to correctly combine them.
Marco: The passato prossimo tense is used to express definite actions, which can be inserted into a precise, definite temporal context.
Marco: The imperfetto tense is principally used to describe any element of the narration that provides additional information to the main actions.
Cinzia: Within the limits we have just explained, they can be used rather freely.
Marco: Yes, the speaker is thus able to stress particular actions over the rest of the sentence. For instance
Cinzia: Ieri nevicava.
Marco: Yesterday it snowed. imperfetto
Cinzia: Ieri ha nevicato.
Marco: Yesterday it snowed. passato prossimo
Cinzia: Grammatically speaking, both sentences are correct.
Marco: However, in the first sentence the speaker casually illustrates an event that occurred,
whereas in the second he/she wishes to point out that it did snow yesterday.

Outro

Marco: That just about does it for today.
Marco: Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to learn.
Cinzia: That's why we have 3 types of quizzes.
Marco: Vocabulary, grammar, and content specific.
Cinzia: Each quiz targets specific skill...
Marco: And together these quizzes will help you
master several fundamental skills. :
Cinzia: You can find them in the learning center at
Marco: ItalianPod101.com
Marco: Ciao a tutti!
Cinzia: A presto!"

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