Dialogue

Vocabulary

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Notes

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.

Or sign up using Facebook
Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Consuelo: Ciao a tutti. Ben venuti.
Marco: Marco here. Upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson #13. Do You Want To Buy It From the Italian Store or Do it Yourself?
Consuelo: Hi, my name is Consuelo and I am joined here by Marco.
Marco: Hello everyone and welcome back to italianpod101.com
Consuelo: What are we learning today?
Marco: In today’s class, we will focus on the preposition Da and its usage.
Consuelo: This conversation takes place in a shop.
Marco: And it’s between Claudia and Irene.
Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian.
Marco: Let’s listen to the conversation.
DIALOGUE
Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone!
Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte?
Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James?
Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata.
Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa...
Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi?
Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri!
Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda!
Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri.
Claudia: Quanto costano?
Irene: Poco.
Claudia: Allora vanno bene.
Marco: Let’s here it slowly now.
Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone!
Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte?
Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James?
Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata.
Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa...
Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi?
Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri!
Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda!
Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri.
Claudia: Quanto costano?
Irene: Poco.
Claudia: Allora vanno bene.
Marco: And now, with the translation.
Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone!
Irene: Why did we come to Ikea? I hate this place. Look at how many people!
Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte?
Claudia: We have to buy some glasses. Did you notice that our guests drink wine from milk cups?
Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James?
Irene: Oh yeah, as a matter of fact... Yesterday you were tired and we didn't talk, but tell me, how was New York? Did you meet James?
Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata.
Claudia: Yes, I had three hours free; I went to his place... But... I don't know. I feel that we are drifting further apart. This relationship is too complicated.
Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa...
Irene: Clau, he lives in America, quite a big complication, I guess...
Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi?
Claudia: You're right, but I want to stay with him... And you? Did you clear things up with Mirco then?
Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri!
Irene: Look at how pretty these light blue glasses are!
Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda!
Claudia: Hello? I've asked you a question!
Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri.
Irene: Eh? Mirco? Yes, now everything is fine. Do you or don't you like these light blue glasses? It's a six-person set. They also give you coasters.
Claudia: Quanto costano?
Claudia: How much are they?
Irene: Poco.
Irene: Not much.
Claudia: Allora vanno bene.
Claudia: They're fine then.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Marco: The girls are shopping at Ikea. Is it popular in Italy?
Consuelo: Oh yes it is. Recently more and more Ikea stores are opening.
Marco: Why? You have many skilled craftsmen who can make furniture in Italy.
Consuelo: That’s true but those are extremely expensive. It’s all a matter of money I guess.
Marco: The crisis brought Italians to save money somehow.
Consuelo: Sure in the past, the families of brand new married couple really cared about the house: good design products and good furniture. But now we are so into these fai da te style.
Marco: What is Fai da te?
Consuelo: That is DIY Do it yourself.
Marco: Ah okay! You can save money if you work hard.
Consuelo: It seems so but sometimes it is so complicated to put together a simple shelf.
Marco: Ahaha, it can be fun though.
Consuelo: For you probably. For me, it’s just tiring and boring.
Marco: If you all buy furniture at Ikea in Italy, you are going to have all the same furnishings in houses.
Consuelo: That is exactly what is happening right now.
VOCAB LIST
Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we should see is
Consuelo: Accorgersi.
Marco: To notice, realize.
Consuelo: Accorgersi. Accorgersi.
Marco: And next we have
Consuelo: Ospite.
Marco: Guest.
Consuelo: Ospite. Ospite
Marco: And the next word is
Consuelo: Tazza.
Marco: Cup, mug.
Consuelo: Tazza. Tazza.
Marco: And next we have
Consuelo: Allontanarsi.
Marco: To drift away, go away, move away.
Consuelo: Allontanarsi. Allontanarsi
Marco: And next we have
Consuelo: Relazione.
Marco: Relationship, affair.
Consuelo: Relazione. Relazione
Marco: And next we have
Consuelo: Complicato.
Marco: Complicated.
Consuelo: Complicato. Complicato
Marco: And next we have
Consuelo: Abbastanza.
Marco: Enough, quite, fairly, rather.
Consuelo: Abbastanza. Abbastanza
Marco: And today’s last word is
Consuelo: Bicchiere.
Marco: Glass.
Consuelo: Bicchiere. Bicchiere.
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Marco: So Consuelo, what word are we studying today?
Consuelo: The Italian verb allontanarsi.
Marco: To drift away, to go away or to move away.
Consuelo: In the dialogue, Claudia uses this verb when describing her relationship with the American guy. She says: ci stiamo allontanando.
Marco: We are drifting further apart.
Consuelo: So this one is the more emotional meaning of this verb that is the same as in mi sto allontanando dal mio migliore amico.
Marco: I am drifting away from my best friend. Please notice that the preposition to use is Da, meaning from.
Consuelo: Well said. Allontanarsi also means to go away in more literal terms.
Marco: Al-lon-ta-nar-si. I can hear the adjective lontano far inside this word. That makes sense.
Consuelo: Si, andare lontano, to go far away.
Marco: When using it at the imperative, it can be useful I think.
Consuelo: Sure, like in: è pericoloso, allontanatevi.
Marco: It’s dangerous. Go away.
Consuelo: Remember that allontanarsi is a reflexive verb.
Marco: Good hint. Thank you Consuelo.

Lesson focus

Consuelo: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point.
Marco: In today’s lesson, we will focus on the preposition Da and its uses.
Consuelo: Yep. We continue our trip through Italian prepositions.
Marco: Today we have Da which in English stands for since, from or by.
Consuelo: Da can have many different meanings in Italian.
Marco: Let’s go on with its articulated forms first.
Consuelo: Okay. Those are dal, dallo, dagli, dai, dalla and dalle.
Marco: Please remember. The articulated forms are the combination of the simple preposition, in this case Da, plus the definite articles.
Consuelo: Now we can go on analyzing the different uses of Da.
Marco: It is used to indicate the origin or the source of someone or something.
Consuelo: Like in: vengo da Milano.
Marco: I come from Milan.
Consuelo: Or: l’aria entra dalla finestra.
Marco: The air comes in from the window. Da is also used to express a sense of separation. For example
Consuelo: Ha divorziato da suo marito.
Marco: She divorced her husband.
Consuelo: Or: mi allontano da te.
Marco: I move away from you. The next usage covers how to indicate at the house, at the office or at a business of someone.
Consuelo: For instance: stasera, andiamo da Maria.
Marco: Tonight, we are going to Maria’s place.
Consuelo: Vado dal dentista.
Marco: I am going to the dentist.
Consuelo: Now let’s go on with the other usages for this proposition.
Marco: A common path is a verb at the present indicative plus Da plus an expression of time.
Consuelo: Like in: studio l’italiano da un anno.
Marco: I’ve been studying Italian for 1 year. We express the so called temporal meaning.
Consuelo: Da quanto tempo aspetti?
Marco: How long have you been waiting for?
Consuelo: Also, in the last case, we indicated an action that began in the past and is still going on in the present.
Marco: English in contrast uses the present perfect tense.
Consuelo: So please don’t be confused.
Marco: Good. Let’s go on now. Da is very useful in Italian.
Consuelo: Because we use it also to indicate the purpose.
Marco: Listen to the following examples.
Consuelo: Indosso un abito da sera.
Marco: I am wearing an evening dress. Here the purpose of the dress is specified.
Consuelo: Quello è un cavallo da corsa.
Marco: That is a racehorse.
Consuelo: One of the many uses of Da concerns the passive form.
Marco: In this case, in English, it is usually translated into by. Listen.
Consuelo: Un quadro dipinto da Tiziano.
Marco: A painting painted by Tiziano.
Consuelo: Or: una legge emanata dal governo.
Marco: A law enacted by the government.
Consuelo: Both statements wear the passive form, il passivo.
Marco: Da is used also to indicate the quantity or the quality of something.
Consuelo: Like in: una borsa da 100 euro.
Marco: A 100 Euro purse.
Consuelo: Una cosa da niente.
Marco: That in English is called a trifle.
Consuelo: Furthermore, the preposition Da is used in certain idiomatic expressions like: d’altra parte
Marco: On the other hand.
Consuelo: Farsi da parte
Marco: Stand aside.
Consuelo: Da parte di
Marco: From.
Consuelo: Tanto da
Marco: So much to.
Consuelo: Da morire
Marco: To die for.
Consuelo: Lastly, Da can be found in some special verbal constructions.
Marco: Such as
Consuelo: Difendersi da
Marco: To defend oneself from
Consuelo: Dipende da
Marco: To depend on
Consuelo: Tradurre da
Marco: To translate from
Consuelo: Pretendere qualcosa da qualcuno
Marco: To expect something from someone.

Outro

Marco: That just about does it for today.
Consuelo: Attention premium members, have you used the grammar bank.
Marco: The grammar bank is a one stop collection of detailed write ups on Italian grammar.
Consuelo: This is a must have tool for mastering Italian.
Marco: Learn the basic formations.
Consuelo: Read sample sentences
Marco: And study teacher tips which will really help you master the construction of the Italian language.
Consuelo: Go to the resource material section on Italianpod101.com and click grammar bank.
Marco: Arrivederci.
Consuelo: Ciao.

Comments

Hide