| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| Do you remember how the character said, |
| "What do you say we eat something?" |
| Che ne dici di mangiare qualcosa? |
| Che ne dici di mangiare qualcosa? |
| This sentence follows the pattern here: |
| Che ne dici/dice di + infinitive verb phrase? |
| "What do you say to + infinitive verb phrase?" |
| This is a common pattern to make suggestions in Italian. |
| Here's how the line from the dialogue uses the pattern. |
| Che ne dici di mangiare qualcosa? |
| "What do you say we eat something?" |
| In this sentence, we have: |
| che, meaning "what," |
| ne, meaning "about it." It refers to the idea of doing something — in this case, eating. |
| dici, meaning "you say," |
| di, meaning "about," |
| mangiare qualcosa, meaning " to eat something." |
| So, literally: "What do you say about eating something?" |
| You can also change dici to dice when speaking politely, like: |
| Che ne dice di prendere un caffè? — "Sir, what do you say about having a coffee?" |
| In Italian, we also use another very natural expression to make suggestions: |
| Perché non + present tense verb phrase? |
| "Why don't + present tense verb phrase?" |
| You can use this structure in both formal and informal situations to invite someone to do something. |
| As we saw in the dialogue: |
| Emily, perché non prendiamo anche una bibita? |
| "Emily, why don't we also get a drink?" |
| Let's break it down: |
| Emily, the person being spoken to, |
| perché, meaning "why," |
| non, meaning "not," |
| prendiamo, the present tense of prendere, meaning "we get" or "we take," |
| anche, meaning "also," |
| una bibita, meaning "a drink." |
| So altogether, it literally means: |
| "Emily, why don't we also get a drink?" |
| It's a simple and friendly way to offer a suggestion and involve the other person in the activity. |
| Now you know how to give advice and make suggestions in Italian using phrases like "che ne dici di…" and "perché non…" |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| Signore, che ne dice di provare la cotoletta? |
| "Sir, what do you say about trying the cutlet?" |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Signore, meaning "Sir," is how we politely address someone. |
| che, meaning "what," |
| followed by |
| ne, meaning "about it," |
| next |
| dice, meaning "you say," polite form for "you" when talking formally, |
| di, meaning "about," and provare, meaning "to try," |
| la cotoletta, meaning "the cutlet." |
| So literally: "Sir, what do you say about trying the cutlet?" |
| This sentence uses the che ne dice di + infinitive structure to make a polite suggestion. |
| Here's another example |
| Giuseppe, che ne dici di guardare insieme la partita? |
| "Giuseppe, what do you say about watching the game together?" |
| Giuseppe, che ne dici di guardare insieme la partita? |
| "Giuseppe, what do you say about watching the game together?" |
| Let's try one more, |
| Fa caldo, perché non andiamo in piscina? |
| "It's hot, why don't we go to the pool?" |
| Fa caldo, perché non andiamo in piscina? |
| "It's hot, why don't we go to the pool?" |
| Another one. |
| Mamma, nonna, perché non visitate anche Pisa? |
| "Mom, Grandma, why don't you also visit Pisa?" |
| Mamma, nonna, perché non visitate anche Pisa? |
| "Mom, Grandma, why don't you also visit Pisa?" |
| One last example. |
| Che ne dici di prendere un caffè? |
| "What do you say about having a coffee?" |
| Che ne dici di prendere un caffè? |
| "What do you say about having a coffee?" |
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