Learn the different ways you can use the Italian preposition da
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| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Cristina: Ciao! |
| Jason: Jason here! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Lesson 15 - talking about a birthday dinner. In this lesson you will learn the difference in the usage of the preposition da . |
| Such as“Questa è una cena da ricordare!” |
| Cristina: “This is a dinner to remember!” |
| Jason: This conversation takes place in a student’s apartment |
| Cristina: Maria, Giulia e Claudia parlano insieme. Sono tre amiche |
| Jason: The conversation is between Maria, Giulia and Claudia. |
| They are friends so the speakers will be speaking informal Italian. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Ciao Elena, buon compleanno! ciao Giulia! Entrate pure. Siete arrivate puntualissime per la cena. |
| Elena: Wow! Che tavola stupenda! Con le candele ed i fiori. Qui ci voleva un abito da cerimonia. |
| Maria: Ma no! E' una cena molto semplice. Sedete pure! La cena è pronta. |
| Giulia: Maria, questa pasta è buonissima! Un piatto da sogno per noi studentesse abituate a mangiare alla mensa dell'università. |
| Elena: Speciale anche questa carne. E questo vino rosso dal sapore fruttato, da dove viene? |
| Maria: E' un regalo di mio zio Angelo che si intende di vini - fa il sommelier. |
| Maria: Ho preparato anche un semifreddo come dolce. |
| Elena: Grazie Maria per aver preparato una cena coi fiocchi per il mio compleanno. |
| Giulia: Proprio una cena da ricordare! |
| Maria: Non esagerare! |
| Giulia: Adesso però, Maria, ti diamo una mano a sparecchiare la tavola e poi ci sono i piatti da lavare. |
| Maria: No, no. Ci mancherebbe altro! E poi... c'è la lavastoviglie! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Maria: Ciao Elena, buon compleanno! ciao Giulia! Entrate pure. Siete arrivate puntualissime per la cena. |
| Elena: Wow! Che tavola stupenda! Con le candele ed i fiori. Qui ci voleva un abito da cerimonia. |
| Maria: Ma no! E' una cena molto semplice. Sedete pure! La cena è pronta. |
| Giulia: Maria, questa pasta è buonissima! Un piatto da sogno per noi studentesse abituate a mangiare alla mensa dell'università. |
| Elena: Speciale anche questa carne. E questo vino rosso dal sapore fruttato, da dove viene? |
| Maria: E' un regalo di mio zio Angelo che si intende di vini - fa il sommelier. |
| Maria: Ho preparato anche un semifreddo come dolce. |
| Elena: Grazie Maria per aver preparato una cena coi fiocchi per il mio compleanno. |
| Giulia: Proprio una cena da ricordare! |
| Maria: Non esagerare! |
| Giulia: Adesso però, Maria, ti diamo una mano a sparecchiare la tavola e poi ci sono i piatti da lavare. |
| Maria: No, no. Ci mancherebbe altro! E poi... c'è la lavastoviglie! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Maria: Ciao Elena, buon compleanno! ciao Giulia! Entrate pure. Siete arrivate puntualissime per la cena. |
| Jason: Hi, Elena, happy birthday! Hi, Giulia! Come on in. You have arrived perfectly on time for dinner. |
| Elena: Wow! Che tavola stupenda! Con le candele ed i fiori. Qui ci voleva un abito da cerimonia. |
| Jason: Wow! What a beautiful table with candles and flowers. We should have worn formal dress. |
| Maria: Ma no! E' una cena molto semplice. Sedete pure! La cena è pronta. |
| Jason: No, no. I prepared a simple dinner. Please have a seat. Dinner is ready. |
| Giulia: Maria, questa pasta è buonissima! Un piatto da sogno per noi studentesse abituate a mangiare alla mensa dell'università. |
| Jason: Maria, this pasta is very tasty! A dreamlike dish for us students who are used to eating at the university cafeteria. |
| Elena: Speciale anche questa carne. E questo vino rosso dal sapore fruttato, da dove viene? |
| Jason: The meat is also special. And this wine that has a fruity taste, where is it from? |
| Maria: E' un regalo di mio zio Angelo che si intende di vini - fa il sommelier. |
| Jason: It's a present from my uncle Angelo who is an expert in wines…he is a sommelier. |
| Maria: Ho preparato anche un semifreddo come dolce. |
| Jason: I also prepared a cake as dessert. |
| Elena: Grazie Maria per aver preparato una cena coi fiocchi per il mio compleanno. |
| Jason: Thank you, Maria, for preparing an excellent dinner for my birthday. |
| Giulia: Proprio una cena da ricordare! |
| Jason: A dinner to remember! |
| Maria: Non esagerare! |
| Jason: Don't exaggerate! |
| Giulia: Adesso però, Maria, ti diamo una mano a sparecchiare la tavola e poi ci sono i piatti da lavare. |
| Jason: Now, let's help you clear the table and wash the dishes. |
| Maria: No, no. Ci mancherebbe altro! E poi... c'è la lavastoviglie! |
| Jason: Don't worry about it! And anyway...I have a dishwasher! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: Today we are going to talk about Renaissance cuisine. |
| Jason: Do you mean we are going to talk about food from the 15th and 16th centuries? |
| Cristina: In some ways. Today I’d like to introduce a Renaissance chef to you. |
| Jason: Sounds interesting… Who is it? |
| Cristina: Well, I ‘m sure you know him. Guess! |
| Jason: Cristina, I really don’t know. Give me a hint. |
| Cristina: Well… he was born near Firenze. And he is considered a genius for all times. |
| Jason: A chef? I have no idea… can the listener guess? |
| Cristina: so… It’s Leonardo da Vinci! |
| Jason: Leonardo da Vinci? Really? |
| Cristina: Not many people know that Leonardo da Vinci had a great passion for cooking, but he actually worked at the Taverna delle Tre lumache, near Ponte Vecchio when he was 20 years old. |
| Jason: I worked in a restaurant too as a waiter during university. |
| Cristina [laughs]: But Leonardo was quickly He was then upgraded to the position of chef and then capocuoco (head chef). |
| Jason: Why? Was he so good? |
| Cristina: He invented various instruments to peel and cut various ingredients. He also studied some ways to absorb bad smells and he built a mechanical device to roast the chicken, the ancient girarrosto. |
| Jason: That’s quite impressive! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: abituato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to be used |
| Cristina: abituato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: abituato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: mensa [natural native speed] |
| Jason: cafeteria |
| Cristina: mensa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: mensa [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: fruttato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: fruity |
| Cristina: fruttato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: fruttato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: intendersi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to be an expert in, to know something about |
| Cristina: intendersi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: intendersi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: semifreddo [natural native speed] |
| Jason: semifreddo/ ice cream cake |
| Cristina: semifreddo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: semifreddo [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: coi fiocchi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: excellent |
| Cristina: coi fiocchi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: coi fiocchi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: dare una mano [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to give a hand |
| Cristina: dare una mano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: dare una mano [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: sparecchiare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: clear |
| Cristina: sparecchiare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: sparecchiare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: ci mancherebbe altro! [natural native speed] |
| Jason: Don't mention it!, Don't worry about it! |
| Cristina: ci mancherebbe altro! [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: ci mancherebbe altro! [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: lavastoviglie [natural native speed] |
| Jason: dishwasher |
| Cristina: lavastoviglie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: lavastoviglie [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Jason: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jason: The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: intendersi |
| Jason: to be an expert, to know a lot about something |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Carlo si intende di computer e mi dà sempre dei buoni consigli. |
| Jason: Carlo is an expert at computers and always advises me well. |
| Cristina: Intendersi is a reflexive verb so in the present tense the particle si must be declined and must precede the main part of the verb. Therefore Carlo si intende. |
| Jason: Does intendersi require a preposition? |
| Cristina: yes, it is followed by the preposition di. Quindi, Carlo si intende di computer. |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: dare una mano |
| Jason: to give a hand, to help. |
| I think I’ve heard a similar word before: dare la mano. Does it mean the same? |
| Cristina: No, it’s quite different. Dare la mano means to shake hands! |
| Jason: Oh, that’s very different. I should be careful. Can you give me an example sentence of dare una mano? |
| Cristina: Ti diamo una mano a sparecchiare. |
| Jason: This means We'll give you a hand to clear the table. |
| Cristina: Esatto. Here the person to be helped is expressed by the indirect pronoun ti. Remember that it can also be introduced by the preposition a. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Oggi do una mano a Maria con i compiti. |
| Jason: Today I'll give Maria a hand with doing the homework. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the preposition da. |
| Cristina: The preposition da has three basic meanings |
| Jason: First, together with the verb venire it is used to express the place of origin. |
| Cristina: For example,Vengo da Brescia. |
| Jason: I come from Brescia. |
| Cristina: Second, da is used to express the person you stay at and go to. |
| Jason: Vado a cena da Mario. |
| Cristina: I go for dinner at Mario’s. |
| Jason: That’s why so many restaurants and pizzeria is in Italy are called Da plus a person’s name, like Da Mario! |
| Cristina: Esatto! Last, the preposition da expresses the place where someone or something is coming from. |
| Jason: Anna arriva dal lavoro alle 8. |
| Cristina: Anna comes back from work at 8. |
| Jason: Other than the usages described above, the preposition da can also express a way of being. |
| Cristina: It expresses the way someone or something is. |
| Jason: It conveys the meaning of ‘how’ something or somebody is. |
| Cristina: For example, Federica ha un vestito da vera signora. |
| Jason: You can also say... |
| Cristina: Federica ha un vestito come una vera signora. |
| Jason: In English the closest translation would be Federica has a lady-like dress/ elegant dress. |
| Cristina: yes, that’s right. So da expresses how the dress is. |
| Jason: Can you give me another example? |
| Cristina: E’ un piatto da sogno per noi studentesse. |
| Jason: It means E’ un piatto come un sogno per noi studentesse. |
| Cristina: And in English It’s a dream-like dish for us students. |
| Jason: All right! I got it. |
| Cristina: Let’s now look at some other usages of da that are similar to this one. |
| Jason: The preposition da can describe the quality of someone or something. |
| Cristina: It can be substituted by con, che ha. |
| Jason: An example can be Un ragazzo dai capelli neri. |
| Cristina: Un ragazzo che ha i capelli neri or Un ragazzo con i capelli neri. |
| Jason: In English this sentence becomes 'A boy with black hair.' |
| Cristina: Next you’ll learn about one more usage of the preposition da, when da is used together with a verb. |
| Jason: When da is used in front of a verb, the meaning of the sentence is ‘that needs to’. Here is an example. |
| Cristina: Questa è una cena da ricordare. |
| Jason: Questa è una cena che bisogna ricordare. |
| Cristina: In English the above example is translated as This is a dinner to be remembered or This is a dinner that needs to be remembered. |
| Jason: Another example is… |
| Cristina: Ci sono dieci magliette da stirare. |
| Jason: Da stirare means that need to be ironed. |
| Cristina: Sì, ci sono dieci magliette che bisogna stirare. |
| Jason: So, there are ten T-shirts to be ironed. |
| Jason: OK. That's all for this lesson. In the lesson notes, you can find more examples on this grammar point. So be sure to read them everyone. |
| Cristina: A presto! |
| Jason: Bye-bye! |
Outro |
| Jason: That just about does it for today. |
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