Learn how to use the modal verb stare per
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| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Cristina: Ciao! |
| Jason: Jason here! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com. This is Upper Beginner, Lesson 23 – Talking TV in Italian. |
| Cristina: In this lesson you will learn how to use the modal verb stare per. |
| Jason: In sentences such as… |
| Cristina: ente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale!”. |
| Jason: “Finally! This newscast is about to finish!” |
| Jason: This conversation takes place at home in the living room. |
| Cristina: Giulia e Luca parlano insieme. Sono sorella e fratello. |
| Jason: The conversation is between Giulia and her brother Luca. |
| The speakers are sister and brother, therefore they'll be speaking informal Italian. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG. |
| Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera. |
| Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino." |
| Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione! |
| Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera. |
| Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà. |
| Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino. |
| Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film? |
| Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG. |
| Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera. |
| Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino." |
| Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione! |
| Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera. |
| Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà. |
| Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino. |
| Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film? |
| Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Luca: Oh finalmente! Sta per finire questo telegiornale; sempre le stesse notizie! Non vedo l'ora di godermi il film che inizia dopo il TG. |
| Jason: Finally! This newscast is about to finish; always the same news! I can't wait to watch the movie that starts after the news. |
| Giulia: Cosa hai detto Luca? Eh no! C'è un dibattito sul nucleare. Niente film questa sera. |
| Jason: What did you say, Luca? Oh no! Tonight there's a TV debate on nuclear energy. No movies tonight. |
| Luca: Ma no Giulia! E' un film datato, ma interessante, "I Ragazzi dello zoo di Berlino." |
| Jason: No, Giulia! I don't want to miss this movie. It's dated, but it is an interesting one, "We Children From Bahnhof Zoo." |
| Giulia: Già ieri sera ho sopportato la mamma che ha voluto vedere quel polpettone della "Principessa Sissi." Stavo per andare a letto per la disperazione! |
| Jason: Last night I had to put up with Mom, who wanted to watch that boring movie, "Princess Sissi." I was about to go to bed at nine o'clock out of desperation. |
| Luca: Pensandoci bene, prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. Facciamo così - registro il film e lo guardiamo un'altra sera. |
| Jason: Well…thinking it over, before dinner, I was working on an article that I have to write for work. Let's do this…I'll record the movie and watch it another night. |
| Giulia: Davvero? Il dibattito dura solo 45 minuti. Perchè non lo guardiamo insieme e poi vai a lavorare? Magari ti piacerà. |
| Jason: Really? The debate only lasts forty-five minutes. Why don't we watch it together and then you finish work? You might like it. |
| Luca: Va bene, dai. Potrebbe essere interessante. Guardiamolo per un pochino. |
| Jason: Why not? It could be interesting. Let's watch it for a short while. |
| Giulia: Luca, hai inserito il DVD nel lettore per registrare il film? |
| Jason: Luca, have you inserted the disk in the DVD player to record the movie? |
| Luca: Oh no... mi son dimenticato! |
| Jason: Oh no...I forgot! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jason: Yesterday I was reading an article on the Italian TV. |
| Cristina: What about? |
| Jason: It talked about the beginning of Italian TV. |
| Cristina: So when was Italian TV ‘born’? |
| Jason: The first TV program was officially broadcast in 1954 by the Rai Broadcast Center. |
| Cristina: In Turin. |
| Jason: Yes. The article explained that in the 1950s television was a luxury good and only some bars or restaurant as well as well-to-do families could afford it. |
| Cristina: Oh yes, my grandma used to tell me that. |
| Jason: So those who could spend the money on TV became community leaders and often invited the neighborhood to visit. |
| Cristina: So going to a bar or a café was like going to the cinema. |
| Jason: Probably so. |
| Cristina: What was the first program on TV? |
| Jason: Well it didn’t say but the article explained that the first set of programming for Rai 1 was almost completely educational with no advertising, except for the popular Carosello. |
| Cristina: No commercials?! Very nice! |
| Jason: Apparently some of the most popular shows were quiz and games. |
| Cristina: For example? |
| Jason: Il Musichiere presented by the actor Mario Riva. It was a quiz about songs and music. |
| Cristina: Did the article mention the show Lascia o Raddoppia? |
| Jason: Oh yes. It was very popular. It was something like the game show Deal or No Deal? |
| Cristina: And it was hosted by the legendary Mike Bongiorno. He was a great showman of Italian TV. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: non veder l'ora [natural native speed] |
| Jason: can't wait |
| Cristina: non veder l'ora [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: non veder l'ora [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [natural native speed] |
| Jason: newscast |
| Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: TG (Telegiornale) [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: dibattito [natural native speed] |
| Jason: debate |
| Cristina: dibattito [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: dibattito [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: nucleare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: nuclear |
| Cristina: nucleare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: nucleare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: datato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: dated |
| Cristina: datato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: datato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: sopportare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to bear with, to put up with |
| Cristina: sopportare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: sopportare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: polpettone [natural native speed] |
| Jason: boring, heavy |
| Cristina: polpettone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: polpettone [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: pensarci bene [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to think over well |
| Cristina: pensarci bene [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: pensarci bene [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: registrare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to record |
| Cristina: registrare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: registrare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: lettore DVD [natural native speed] |
| Jason: DVD player |
| Cristina: lettore DVD [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: lettore DVD [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. |
| Cristina: non veder l’ora |
| Jason: can’t wait |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Non vedo l’ora che arrivino le vacanze di Natale! |
| Jason: I can’t wait for the Christmas holiday to come. |
| Cristina: The expression non vedo l’ora is always followed by a verb and cannot be followed by a noun like it is in English. |
| Jason: The preposition that introduces the verb is di, such as |
| Cristina: La nonna non vede l’ora di abbracciare i nipotini. |
| Jason: Grandma can’t wait to hug her grandchildren. |
| Cristina: Non veder l’ora means desiderare ardentemente. |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: TG (telegiornale) |
| Jason: Newscast or news |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence |
| Jason: Finally! This newscast is about to finish. |
| Cristina: TG is the abbreviation of the word telegiornale and it is formed by the word tele or TV and giornale as newspaper. |
| Jason: But what does TG1 mean? What does one stand for? |
| Cristina: In Italy the number following the code Tg indicates the channel that broadcasts it. So TG1 is on Rai 1 or channel 1. |
| Jason: I see. Let's move on to the grammar! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the verb stare. |
| Cristina: Let’s first review the various meanings and usages of the verb stare. |
| Jason: First, Stare indicates a temporary physical condition and it is often followed by an adverb. |
| Cristina: It is often used as an answer to the question, “Come stai?” |
| Jason: More examples of this usage of stare are answers like sto bene, sto benissimo. |
| Cristina: Or negative answers like non sto molto bene and non sto bene per niente. |
| Jason: Let’s focus on another meaning. |
| Cristina: Stare can also be used to describe a physical position. |
| Jason: It often expresses stillness and in English is often translated with the verb to be rather than the verb to stay. |
| Cristina: Sto vicino all’entrata del negozio. |
| Jason: I’m near the entrance of the shop. |
| Cristina: Another sample sentence is the following |
| Jason: Tonight I will stay at home. I won’t go out. |
| Cristina: The same sentence can be expressed as |
| Jason: Tonight I will stay home. I won’t go out. |
| Cristina. The verb restare is a synonym of stare in this meaning. |
| Jason: Next, we’ll look at the usage of the verb stare when it expresses an action that is happening right now. |
| Cristina: Stare is used to form the presente progressivo and passato progressive (the present and past progressive) |
| Jason: How? |
| Cristina: In Italian stare plus gerundio forms the progressive tenses. |
| Jason: Cristina, help me remember the gerundio. I think I remember it is similar to the –ing form of English, but… |
| Cristina: No worries Jason. It’s very simple. The verbs in –are form the gerund substituting the ending –are with the suffix –ando. |
| Jason: So for example the gerundio of the verb – cantare is cantando. |
| Cristina: Esatto. Next, the verbs in –ere form the gerund substituting the ending –ere with the suffix –endo. |
| Jason: A verb like leggere makes the gerundio as leggendo. |
| Cristina: Corretto! Last, the verbs in –ire form the gerund as substituting the ending –ire with the suffix –endo. |
| Jason: Therefore the gerundio of the verb dormire is dormendo. |
| Cristina: Benissimo! Be careful |
| Jason: So Italian stare plus gerundio forms the progressive tenses. Can you give us some sample sentences? |
| Cristina: Sto andando al supermercato. |
| Jason: I’m going to the supermarket. |
| Cristina: This means you are going right now. |
| Jason: How about a sentence in the past progressive tense? |
| Cristina: Prima di cena stavo lavorando a un articolo che devo scrivere per lavoro. |
| Jason: Before dinner I was working on an article that I have to write for work. |
| Cristina: The past tense applies only to the verb stare, while the gerundio is invariable. |
| Jason: Ok, Now you‘ll learn about one last usage of the verb stare. |
| Cristina: When the verb stare is followed by the preposition per and an infinitive verb, it means 'to be about to do something.' |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Il treno sta per partire. |
| Jason: The train is about to depart. |
| Cristina: It can be used also in the past tense by changing the tense of the verb stare. |
| Jason: Stavo per andare a letto quando ho ricevuto una telefonata. |
| Cristina: I was about to go to bed when I received a phone call. |
Outro |
| 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. |
| Cristina: A presto! |
| Jason: Bye-bye! |
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