Learn how to combine the Italian passato prossimo and imperfetto tenses to convey past occurrences in formal narrations
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| 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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