Lymbery Sylvia. Colloquial Italian. Parte 1
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Vocabulary
O = Oggetto as in business letters, in spite of being preceded
by ‘Subject’
in qualsiasi momento at any time
la propria volontà your (own) wish
Cultural point
You will notice that the email format uses English. Notice also
mailing list. Zanichelli produces dictionaries, so note their preci-
sion in the use of the word e-mail, although, as has been said, many
Italians use mail. The Italian term is in the passage but is not often
used. The company address is given in the same format that would
appear on headed paper. Sede means ‘Head office’. Partita IVA
is the VAT registration number and Codice Fiscale is the tax refer-
ence number. Individuals also have a Codice Fiscale.
Dialogue 2
Un invito
Angela’s visit to her cousin proved to be the start of a friendship.
Gabriella had promised to take Angela to spend a day at the farm-
house she and her husband are restoring in the country. On one of
Angela’s trips to Italy, Gabriella telephones her at her hotel in Turin.
1 How is Angela going to get to the farmhouse?
2 When must she be ready?
GABRIELLA: Pronto. Angela? Ciao. Sono Gabriella. Come va?
A
NGELA: Gabriella, ciao! Che piacere! Io sto benissimo
grazie. E tu?
G
ABRIELLA: Anch’io, bene, grazie. Senti, questo fine settimana
andiamo in campagna. Ti ricordi che abbiamo una
vecchia cascina? Avevamo detto che ti avremmo
portata a passare una giornata lì. Vuoi venire con
noi questa volta?
ANGELA: Sì, mi farebbe molto piacere. A che ora partite?
240 Unit 16: Progetti e previsioni – che sarà, sarà
GABRIELLA: Ci piacerebbe partire presto. Se passiamo a pren-
derti all’albergo sabato alle otto, ce la fai?
A
NGELA: Certo che ce la faccio. Sarò pronta alle otto.
G
ABRIELLA: Allora, arrivederci a sabato.
Vocabulary
avevamo detto we had said (some time in the past)
Using ce la fai?
ce la fai? (from farcela ‘to manage’) is a widely used idiomatic
expression. The two object pronouns, ce la, do not refer to anything
specific and do not change.
ce la faccio I am managing ce la facciamo
ce la fai ce la fate
ce la fa ce la fanno
Ce la fai? Can you manage (it)?
Non ce la faccio. I can’t manage (it).
Ce l’ho fatta. I did it/I’ve done it.
Two other common expressions use combined pronouns. In these
the first pronoun is a reflexive pronoun and changes with the
subject of the sentence.
andarsene ‘to go (away), to leave’
me ne vado I’m going (away) ce ne andiamo
te ne vai ve ne andate
se ne va se ne vanno
cavarsela ‘to get by’
me la cavo I get by ce la caviamo
te la cavi ve la cavate
se la cava se la cavano
Saying you said you would . . .
Avevamo detto che ti avremmo portata . . .
avevamo detto is the imperfect of the auxiliary plus the past
participle, corresponding to the English ‘we had said’. It puts the
Unit 16: Plans and predictions – what will be, will be 241
saying further back in the past than abbiamo detto ‘we said’. No
problems here. But in Italian, when reporting words that were orig-
inally in the future (ti porteremo ‘we will take you’), you use the
past conditional, not the conditional. The past conditional is made
using the conditional of avere or essere, according to the verb, plus
the past participle. In the following examples the actual words are
shown first and then a reported version:
Arriverò prima delle otto.
Ha detto che sarebbe arrivato prima delle otto.
He said he would arrive before eight.
Ti aiuterò di sicuro.
Mi ha risposto che mi avrebbe aiutato di sicuro.
He answered that he would certainly help me.
Andremo al mare domenica.
Hanno detto che sarebbero andati al mare domenica.
They said they would go to the seaside on Sunday.
Making the past participle agree
Ti avremmo portata . . .
When used with avere, it is usual to make the past participle agree
with a direct object pronoun preceding it. The agreement is also
made with ne:
La mela? L’ho mangiata.
The apple? I’ve eaten it.
– Dove sono i bambini? – Non lo so, non li ho visti.
– Where are the children? – I don’t know, I haven’t seen
them.
Exercise 3
Complete the past participle in the following sentences:
1 E’ arrivata tua mamma? Non l’ho vist _____
2 Hai visto i miei occhiali? Li ho smarrit _____
3 E’ buona questa torta. Ne hai mangiat _____
4 Hai assaggiat _____ anche il gelato?
smarrire to mislay (oggetti smarriti ‘lost property’)
assaggiare to taste, try (food, drink)
242 Unit 16: Progetti e previsioni – che sarà, sarà
Don’t forget that when the verb is conjugated with essere the
participle agrees with the subject.
Anna è andata a comprare il pane.
Anna has gone to buy bread.
More about the future
When talking about the future the present tense is often used, as
indeed it is in English:
Andiamo in campagna questo fine settimana.
We are going to the country this weekend.
Andate al cinema stasera?
Are you going to the cinema this evening?
Lo faccio subito.
I’ll do it immediately.
It is not wrong to use the future in these cases. The future tends
to emphasize intention or advance planning, so Angela says:
Sarò pronta.
I’ll be ready.
Quest’estate andremo in California.
This summer we are going (i.e. we have plans to go) to
California.
The future can be used when contrasting a near future with a more
distant future:
Questa sera non usciamo; venerdi però andremo a teatro.
We aren’t going out tonight; on Friday however we are going
to the theatre.
The following expressions are often associated with the future:
entro giovedì by Thursday
entro domani by tomorrow
fra due ore in two hours’ time
fra due giorni in two days’ time
fra poco in a little while
la settimana prossima next week
l’anno prossimo next year
Unit 16: Plans and predictions – what will be, will be 243
lunedì prossimo next Monday
domani tomorrow
dopodomani the day after tomorrow
A common use of the future is to suggest something is possible,
implying it is likely but you can’t confirm it as fact:
– Dov’è Giorgio?
– Where’s Giorgio?
– Sarà in ufficio.
– He’ll be in his office/he’s likely to be in his office.
Anna è partita questa mattina. Sarà già a Roma.
Anna left this morning. She’s probably already in Rome.
Following from this, you will notice the past conditional used in
journalism, particularly when the journalist is reporting what is
thought to have happened rather than a fact:
Il conducente della macchina si sarebbe addormentato al
volante.
The driver of the car appears to have fallen asleep at the
wheel.
Il ministro avrebbe promesso una nuova riunione con il
sindacato per domani.
It seems the Minister promised a new meeting with the union
tomorrow.
Cultural point
The internet
You will probably want to look for Italian internet sites. Useful
search machines are:
•
•
The Italian Embassy in London has a very useful website
244 Unit 16: Progetti e previsioni – che sarà, sarà
www.google.it
go to the site index. There are also links to many different websites
engines and portals (doubtless the work of a particular enthusiast):
www.altavista.it
(www.embitaly.org.uk), which includes a list of Italian search
holding a variety of information about Italy. When surfing (navi-
gare in internet), you will find English terms widely used or adapted
(e.g. un programma antivirus, un sito, chat (meaning ‘chat room’
as well as the system of exchanging chat), newsgroup). Official
government sites and, even more so, local authority sites are worth
Unit 16: Plans and predictions – what will be, will be 245
visiting. Try, for instance, www.comune.torino.it or www.comune.
roma.it.
17 Un vestito per
un matrimonio
A dress for a wedding
In this unit you will learn about:
• Clothes
• Saying what you think, what you want, what you need etc.:
the present subjunctive
• Small towns, off the beaten track, for you to seek out when
you are in Italy
Dialogue 1
Desidero che mi dia un consiglio
Angela has been invited to a wedding and she thinks it would be
fun to buy an outfit in Italy to wear to it. However, she doesn’t know
the shops well and so she telephones signora Rossi to ask her advice.
She starts by asking how signora Rossi is.
1 Who is getting married?
2 What type of outfit does Angela say she wants?
ANGELA: Mi scusi se La disturbo. La chiamo perché desidero
che mi dia un consiglio.
S
IG.RA R: Ma molto volentieri se posso.
ANGELA: Ecco: la figlia della mia cugina di Torino si sposa a
settembre. Mi piacerebbe comprare un abito per la
cerimonia in Italia ma non so dove si possa trovare
un vestito adatto che non sia troppo impegnativo.
Infatti, bisogna che sia elegante ma se possibile che
si adatti anche ad importanti occasioni di lavoro.
Dunque voglio che sia semplice e anche che abbia un
buon taglio e un bel tessuto.
SIG.RA R: Non c’è nessun problema, anzi mi farebbe molto
piacere accompagnarLa in qualche negozio. Penso che
sia possibile trovare qualcosa che Le piaccia. E’ libera
domani?
Vocabulary notes
ecco ‘well’ (in this context). Here, Angela is indicating she is about to
give an explanation, a common use of ecco.
vestito ‘clothes, a dress, an outfit’. The word can be applied to clothes
for men or women.
abito ‘a dress’ (for a woman), ‘a suit’ (for a man). Add da uomo or da
donna when necessary.
impegnativo ‘exacting, binding’. Angela doesn’t want to buy something
that will be suitable only for the wedding. There is also the idea that
it should not cost too much. un impegno is ‘a pledge’; but also ‘an
engagement’. sono impegnato/a means ‘I have an engagement’.
tessuto ‘fabric, material’ (also stoffa)
Language points
Saying what you think, what you
want, what you need: the present
subjunctive
We explained in Unit 15 that the subjunctive is used when there
is an element of subjectivity in the way the action is being
presented. In Dialogue 1 above a number of present subjunctives
occur. Be warned: they do not always translate neatly into a similar
English structure.
Desidero che mi dia un consiglio.
I want you to give me some advice.
Bisogna che sia semplice ma che si adatti anche ad importanti
occasioni di lavoro.
It needs to be elegant but it must adapt to important working
occasions as well.
Voglio che sia semplice e che abbia un buon taglio . . .
I want it to be simple and to have a good cut . . .
(to be well cut) . . .
Unit 17: A dress for a wedding 247
Penso che sia possibile trovare qualcosa che Le piaccia.
I think it is possible to find something you will like.
Form
The form is not difficult. There are two types: (1) verbs in -are;
and (2) the rest. In the singular, there is one form for all persons.
For this reason the subject pronouns are often used with the
subjunctive. The -ire group subdivides: verbs that have -isc- in the
present indicative also have it in the present subjunctive. You will
also notice one form that is the same as that of the present indica-
tive for all verbs. Which is it? Also, as you look, think whether
one of the parts reminds you of another mood you have met.
(io) parli venda capisca parta
(tu) parli venda capisca parta
(lui/lei) parli venda capisca parta
(noi) parliamo vendiamo capiamo partiamo
(voi) parliate vendiate capiate partiate
(loro) parlino vendano capiscano partano
The stress in the third person plural is always, as in many other
moods and tenses, on the antepenultimate syllable: pa
rlino,
capi
scano etc.
Yes, the first person plural, the noi form, is the same as for the
present indicative. And the singular form is the same as that of
the formal imperative (-are verbs: scusi; other verbs: senta, dica).
Verbs that are irregular in the formal imperative are also irregular
in the subjunctive. Common irregular subjunctives are:
essere avere andare fare dare dire venire
sia abbia vada faccia dia dica venga
sia abbia vada faccia dia dica venga
sia abbia vada faccia dia dica venga
siamo abbiamo andiamo facciamo diamo diciamo veniamo
siate abbiate andiate facciate diate diciate veniate
siano abbiano vadano facciano diano dicano vengano
248 Unit 17: Un vestito per un matrimonio
The perfect subjunctive is formed with avere or essere and the past
participle:
Credo che abbia finito di piovere.
I think it has stopped raining.
Uses
When is the present subjunctive used? This is more difficult to
grasp than the form and a comprehensive treatment is beyond the
scope of this introductory book. The subjunctive is used mostly in
subordinate clauses, and is usually preceded by che. The most
frequent uses are the following:
(1) After verbs expressing an opinion, or perhaps casting doubt:
penso che . . ., credo che . . .; the negative in particular casts doubt:
non penso che . . ., non so se . . . :
Penso che sia possibile . . .
I think it is possible . . .
Credo che abbia finito . . .
I think he/she has finished . . .
(I think so, but I am not sure)
Non so se sia possible . . .
I don’t know whether it is possible . . .
Spero che venga . . .
I hope you’ll come . . .
In the last case (from Unit 16, Dialogue 1) the use of the sub-
junctive implies doubt. sperare can also be used followed by the
indicative, indicating the speaker thinks the event will take place.
Remember secondo me. It is a way of saying what you think
without needing a subjunctive, or indeed a verb (see Unit 5,
Dialogue 1).
(2) After verbs expressing desire, will, regret, fear and some other
emotions: the most common is desire ‘wanting’:
Desidero che mi dia un consiglio.
I want you to give me some advice.
Voglio che sia semplice.
I want it to be simple.
Unit 17: A dress for a wedding 249