Learning Italian @MFC? Now you can!

Now come and join the teacher's group, I feel lonely

Why should I?

Roberta is doing totally great!!!! I was right to add her on the teachers' list

Why should I?

Roberta is doing totally great!!!! I was right to add her on the teachers' list

Roberta IS a teacher!

the difference between the use of the auxiliary verb ESSERE (to be) and AVERE (to have) in forming the PASSATO PROSSIMO (present perfect) lies in the main verb being TRANSITIVO (followed by a direct object) or INTRANSITIVO (is never followed by a direct object).

 

ANDARE (to go) is INTRANSITIVO cause it's never followed by a direct object and will form its PASSATO PROSSIMO using ESSERE

 

io sono andato/a

tu sei andato/a

egli è andato/a

noi siamo andati/e

voi siete andati/e

essi sono andati/e

 

The PARTICIPIO PASSATO (past participle) shows gender and number according to the subject performing the action.

 

MANGIARE (to eat) is TRANSITIVO cause it can be followed by a direct object (for example, an apple) and will form its PASSATO PROSSIMO using AVERE

 

io ho mangiato

tu hai mangiato

egli ha mangiato

noi abbiamo mangiato

voi avete mangiato

essi hanno mangiato

 

The PARTICIPIO PASSATO is invariable (masculine/singular)

 

We use PASSATO PROSSIMO when we want to speak about recent facts.

Italians living in Central/southern Italy know how to use PASSATO REMOTO (simple past) and PASSATO PROSSIMO (present perfect) properly, and the use is similar to English.

We in the North never use PASSATO REMOTO in spoken language, we use PASSATO PROSSIMO even when we want to speak about remote stuff.

grazie Prof!

Reading your words is like eating a grammar madeleine, now I'll spend my evening with a complemento oggetto interno

Roberta IS a teacher!

Really?

You don't say!

Roberta, may your soul be blessed forever OMG!! THANK YOU! Italian student over here is very happy

I will seriously need your help (all of you) in September because next year will be a huge year for me in Italian.

And really thank you for this thread, it's awesome and helpful. I almost feel like it was created for me

Now to keep my Italian in summer, what do you advise me to watch? Movies or TV shows? Anything to advise me that is entertaining and that would help me improve and remember the language until September?

Roberta, may your soul be blessed forever OMG!! THANK YOU! Italian student over here is very happy

I will seriously need your help (all of you) in September because next year will be a huge year for me in Italian.

And really thank you for this thread, it's awesome and helpful. I almost feel like it was created for me

Now to keep my Italian in summer, what do you advise me to watch? Movies or TV shows? Anything to advise me that is entertaining and that would help me improve and remember the language until September?

TV shows may be enterteining but poeple there don't speak a correct Italian. At least non for a student who's going to have exams.

If you have at home any movie you like with Italian audio I'd suggest you to begin with whatever you have at home and you like.

If you like cartoons, there a few Italian ones I really love by Enzo D'alò: La freccia azzurra (based on a Gianni Rodari novel), La Gabbianella e il Gatto (based on a Luis Sepulveda novel), Momo (based on a Michael Ende novel).

We also have older cartoons by Bruno Bozzetto (Allegro non troppo, Vip mio fratello superuomo, il Signor Rossi) but they are meant for adult audience and are therefore probably more difficult to understand for non native speakers.

You could try also with the Academy Awards winning movies: Mediterraneo (director: Gabriele Salvatores), La vita è bella (director: Roberto Benigni), Nuovo cinema paradiso (director: Giuseppe Tornatore).

I don't mention La grande bellezza because I've not watched it

My sons have come to manage English very well, sometimes better than I do, watching TV series in original language with english subtitles. Doing this good practice for years really helps, so I think you should start surfing the net and find italian TV series with italian subtitles. I know there are special sites for the download of subtitiles and that everything's easy with english. It might be a little more difficult for Italian material.

The problem is that I'm not that keen onn TV series so I'm not the best person for the job. I used to watch 'UN MEDICO IN FAMIGLIA' some years ago, it was fun.

Can anyone suggest more?

The movies Giovi suggested are just perfect. I didn't like 'LA GRANDE BELLEZZA' much, especially for the story described, but you might like it, as many did.

As for grammar....I love it. I love how much security it gives, before one can start and fly in a foreign language. You need hard bricks before you decorate the house, don't you

I never watch italian TV, so I really have no clue. But Roby is totally right: tV + subtitles does help a lot. I'll ask a polish friend who is learning italian as well for some good sites, then tell you.

Don't forget youtube. I first decided to improve my english cause I was sick and tired of watching the actors I liked talking in jibberish.

I'm not fond of TV series, but my colleagues used to say that "Tutti pazzi per amore" is quite good.

Another option, inspired by Mika himself, is "Don Matteo".

Now Mika shot his new video in Almeria and mentioned Sergio Leone. Don Matteo's leading man (Terence Hill) shot a load of spaghetti western movies in Almeria in the 70s. Among these not very deep screenplays there's also "My name is nobody", written and partially directed by Leone.

Another option, inspired by Mika himself, is "Don Matteo".

What?

What?

Because of the Terence Hill/ sergio leone connection

I'm back!! Urgent question (by the way, hey everyone )

I cannot make the difference between using the trapassato prossimo and the imperfetto and passato prossimo... Is there a trick or anything? Because I was told to do it as I do in French, but it's much more difficult to seperate them...

For example (the ones in bold character, I don't get them):

Lunedì scorso era l’8 marzo, la festa della donna, e Paolo aveva deciso di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie Teresa. (Volere) fare qualcosa di particolare, qualcosa di diverso dal solito. Prima (pensare) di prenotare un tavolo in un ristorantino romantico, ma poi ci aveva rispensato perché (ricordarsi)(why is this one trapassato?) che ci (loro/andare) (and this one? is it because of "l'anno prima?") anche l’anno prima. Allora l’aveva portata a ballare nella discoteca dove (conoscersi) anni fa, quando ancora (loro/fare) (WHY IMPERFETTO?) l’università. Ma la discoteca, che una volta (chiamarsi) IL GATTO NERO, ora si chama LA BARACCA ed è cambiata molto. Per Paolo e Teresa però quella (essere) ancora la “loro” discoteca e così sono entrati lo stesso. Si sono trovati in una sala buia (non illuminata), con musica altissima e sconsciuta e moltissimi ragazzi che, da come (animarsi) (what does that mean, for it to be imperfetto... I checked in the dictionary and it doesn't make much sense when I read it...) probabilmente (prendere) delle strane droghe. Paolo e Teresa si sono sentiti improvvisamente molto vecchi e (uscire) per andare in una pizzeria che (vedere) dietro l’angolo, prima di entrare in discoteca. Come passa il tempo!

Sorry if it kind of looks like a mess, but I basically copy pasted the revision they gave us, and I really just need explanation...

If anyone answers me, you'd be angels!

I'm the wrong person to help you with grammar rules as I kind of despise them. When I speak french I usually use past tenses as I do in italian, I recall that I've been doing that all my life long and I always had high marks in french (even though I was pretty accurate back then when it came to grammar rules). Anyway, I tried to do it for you but I actually think that more than one choice is right here, so it depends on the choices you wanto to make. You could do it using trapassato prossimo or passato prossimo, it depends on how far in the past you consider it.

In general I usually use trapassato when things happened much time ago, and passato prossimo when they happened recently, so I'd probably go for passato prossimo but then I would do some exceptions I can't even explain.

Lunedì scorso era l’8 marzo, la festa della donna, e Paolo ha deciso di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie Teresa. Voleva fare qualcosa di particolare, qualcosa di diverso dal solito. Prima ha pensato di prenotare un tavolo in un ristorantino romantico, ma poi ci ha rispensato perché si è ricordato che ci erano andati anche l’anno prima. Allora l’ha portata a ballare nella discoteca dove si sono conosciuti anni fa (I know that here trapassato sounds good but they still know each other so it just sounds better passato imperfetto to me, sorry. Trapassato sounds like something that occued and ended in the past), quando ancora facevano l’università (imperfetto because university lasted many years). Ma la discoteca, che una volta si chiamava IL GATTO NERO, ora si chiama LA BARACCA ed è cambiata molto. Per Paolo e Teresa però quella era ancora la “loro” discoteca e così sono entrati lo stesso. Si sono trovati in una sala buia (non illuminata), con musica altissima e sconosciuta e moltissimi ragazzi che, da come si animavano (it doesn't make sense, agitavano is way better) probabilmente avevano preso (I don't know why but trapassato sounds better) delle strane droghe. Paolo e Teresa si sono sentiti improvvisamente molto vecchi e sono usciti per andare in una pizzeria che hanno visto dietro l’angolo, prima di entrare in discoteca. Come passa il tempo!

Now let's wait for some teacher, I really can't help you that much, sorry.... I prefer instinct over grammar

I'm the wrong person to help you with grammar rules as I kind of despise them. When I speak french I usually use past tenses as I do in italian, I recall that I've been doing that all my life long and I always had high marks in french (even though I was pretty accurate back then when it came to grammar rules). Anyway, I tried to do it for you but I actually think that more than one choice is right here, so it depends on the choices you wanto to make. You could do it using trapassato prossimo or passato prossimo, it depends on how far in the past you consider it.

In general I usually use trapassato when things happened much time ago, and passato prossimo when they happened recently, so I'd probably go for passato prossimo but then I would do some exceptions I can't even explain.

 

Lunedì scorso era l’8 marzo, la festa della donna, e Paolo ha deciso di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie Teresa. Voleva fare qualcosa di particolare, qualcosa di diverso dal solito. Prima ha pensato di prenotare un tavolo in un ristorantino romantico, ma poi ci ha rispensato perché si è ricordato che ci erano andati anche l’anno prima. Allora l’ha portata a ballare nella discoteca dove si sono conosciuti anni fa (I know that here trapassato sounds good but they still know each other so it just sounds better passato imperfetto to me, sorry. Trapassato sounds like something that occued and ended in the past), quando ancora facevano l’università (imperfetto because university lasted many years). Ma la discoteca, che una volta si chiamava IL GATTO NERO, ora si chiama LA BARACCA ed è cambiata molto. Per Paolo e Teresa però quella era ancora la “loro” discoteca e così sono entrati lo stesso. Si sono trovati in una sala buia (non illuminata), con musica altissima e sconosciuta e moltissimi ragazzi che, da come si animavano (it doesn't make sense, agitavano is way better) probabilmente avevano preso (I don't know why but trapassato sounds better) delle strane droghe. Paolo e Teresa si sono sentiti improvvisamente molto vecchi e sono usciti per andare in una pizzeria che hanno visto dietro l’angolo, prima di entrare in discoteca. Come passa il tempo!

 

Now let's wait for some teacher, I really can't help you that much, sorry.... I prefer instinct over grammar

Honestly dear, I think you're right overall... I think this is what all native Italian speakers would tell me because I think there is no magic trick behind it, it's definitely depending on a timeline of some sort, or by instinct and how it sounds like.

Funnily enough, in the text that you corrected me (thanks btw ) There were stuff that my teacher thought would be more imperfetto than passato prossimo... Gosh that's the tricky part of languages

Hi dear

the starting point is 'era l'8 marzo', which is definitely something that happened in the past. All actions which took place BEFORE that time must be in 'trapassato prossimo'.

ex.: Lunedì scorso era l'8 marzo e paolo aveva deciso di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie

if the starting point was 'oggi è l'8 marzo', all actions describing what I've done today must be in 'passato prossimo'.

ex.: oggi è l'8 marzo e Paolo ha deciso di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie.

Lunedì scorso era (narrative tense) l’8 marzo, la festa della donna, e Paolo aveva deciso (before 8 marzo) di fare una sorpresa a sua moglie Teresa. Voleva fare qualcosa di particolare, qualcosa di diverso dal solito. Prima aveva pensato (before 8 marzo) di prenotare un tavolo in un ristorantino romantico, ma poi ci aveva rispensato (before 8 marzo)perché si era ricordato (before 8 marzo) che ci erano andati (before 8 marzo) anche l’anno prima. Allora l’aveva portata a ballare nella discoteca dove si erano conosciuti anni fa, quando ancora facevano (imperfetto because it describes a duration) l’università. Ma la discoteca, che una volta si chiamava IL GATTO NERO, ora si chiama LA BARACCA ed è cambiata molto. Per Paolo e Teresa però quella era ancora la “loro” discoteca e così sono entrati lo stesso (now the narration turns to present/passato prossimo because it describes what's happened ON 8 marzo). Si sono trovati in una sala buia (non illuminata), con musica altissima e sconosciuta e moltissimi ragazzi che, da come si AGITAVANO (makes sense) (it's a progressive, continuos action - si stavano agitando could have been ok too) probabilmente avevano preso (before that moment) delle strane droghe. Paolo e Teresa si sono sentiti improvvisamente molto vecchi e sono usciti per andare in una pizzeria che avevano visto (before that moment) dietro l’angolo, prima di entrare in discoteca. Come passa il tempo!

I hope I've been of any help. Feel free to ask whenever you need!

Honestly dear, I think you're right overall... I think this is what all native Italian speakers would tell me because I think there is no magic trick behind it, it's definitely depending on a timeline of some sort, or by instinct and how it sounds like.

 

Funnily enough, in the text that you corrected me (thanks btw ) There were stuff that my teacher thought would be more imperfetto than passato prossimo... Gosh that's the tricky part of languages

 

I hope I've been of any help. Feel free to ask whenever you need!

And here's the scientific explanation to instinctive drives

Oh. My. God. THANK YOU!!! I get it now! It's that simple! Grazie Mille Robertina xxx

Ciao a tutti!!!

Please, could someone help me with something I need to translate from English to Italian?

Grazie mille!!

Ciao a tutti!!!

 

Please, could someone help me with something I need to translate from English to Italian?

 

Grazie mille!!

Of course!

Ciao a tutti!!!

 

Please, could someone help me with something I need to translate from English to Italian?

 

Grazie mille!!

Oh, finally something easy. That would be fun

We're used to do the opposite and whenever we are asked to translate from English to Italian, it feels like holidays

Oh, finally something easy. That would be fun

We're used to do the opposite and whenever we are asked to translate from English to Italian, it feels like holidays

Hahahah well said!

Oh, finally something easy. That would be fun

We're used to do the opposite and whenever we are asked to translate from English to Italian, it feels like holidays

*Hides in corner* Sorry for that

Hi there!

Can you please explain me the words: figa, sfigata, figata or something like this? Are they normal or not very? I hear them all the time at XF, but I'm totally confused by google translate.

Hi there!

Can you please explain me the words: figa, sfigata, figata or something like this? Are they normal or not very? I hear them all the time at XF, but I'm totally confused by google translate.

Well. hopefully at XF "figa" is used as an adjective : in this case the English word is "cool"

"questa canzone è figa" This is cool song

The same for "figata": a cool thing (or situation, or performance)

"sfigato" may be translated with "loser"

Well. hopefully at XF "figa" is used as an adjective : in this case the English word is "cool"

"questa canzone è figa" This is cool song

The same for "figata": a cool thing (or situation, or performance)

"sfigato" may be translated with "loser"

And why hopefully?

Oh, God, they sound so alike! Or they doesn't change in gender? Can there be Sfigata?

Thank you for answering!

And why hopefully?

Euh.... cause the actual meaning of that word as a noun is something that Mika doesn't like. Come on. Don't make me go further. Anyway it would be out of place and kind of rude to use it in its real meaning during a live show for families. Even though Victoria said something like "you douchebags/dicks" so I guess, it would be fine at the end of the day.

 

Oh, God, they sound so alike! Or they doesn't change in gender? Can there be Sfigata?