Learn about the subway system
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Ciao tutti! Benvenuti su ItalianPod101.com. |
| Ciao! Hello and welcome back to Italian Survival Phrases brought to you by ItalianPod101.com. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Italy. You'll be surprised at how far a little Italian will go. |
| Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com, and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. |
| In Italy, riding the rails is one of the best choices you can make to get around and reach all the most important parts of a city. Today, we are going to cover how to get on the subway. |
| As you have learned in the previous lessons, in Italy, you can buy tickets at tobacco shops, news dealers, and vending machines located at subway entrances. |
| Normally in Italy, tickets are the same for all kinds of transportations and can be used for buses, trams, and subway. And in some cities, also some train tickets can be used on other means of transportation. |
| Please don’t get confused. Because usually in Italy, trains and subways don’t share the same tracks. In fact, the local service is provided by the subway, buses, and trams. Instead, trains provide the long-range commutes, the ones between regions. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| So now, let's go and see how to get our subway ticket. As you can remember from the previous lessons covering how to get a bus ticket, we can accomplish this by asking “Excuse me, a subway ticket please.” Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. Scu-si, un big-liet-to del-la me-tro-po-li-ta-na per fa-vo-re. |
| So, as you can see, the sentence doesn’t change from the one we covered in lesson 22, apart from the word Metropolitana, “subway,” which substitutes the word Autobus, "bus". |
| So, you have Scusi “excuse me,” then Un biglietto, “a ticket,” then Della metropolitana, which literally means “of the subway.” Metropolitana is a feminine singular noun, and Della is made up of Di (of) plus La (feminine singular article). |
| And then, we have the usual Per favore, "please." |
| So let's break down these words and hear them once more. Un big-liet-to del-la me-tro-po-li-ta-na. Un biglietto della metropolitana. |
| Let's repeat the entire sentence now. Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. |
| Okay. So now, our location for today’s lesson will be Milano, Milan, where the subway lines are marked by three different colours: green, red, and yellow. |
| Let’s imagine you need to go from Stazione centrale to Duomo, and you need to ask what line you have to take to get there. |
| You can accomplish this by asking, “Excuse me, what line do I need to take for Duomo?” Scusi, che linea devo prendere per il Duomo? Scu-si, che li-ne-a de-vo pren-de-re per il Du-o-mo? |
| Let’s see this sentence word by word. |
| First, you have the usual Scusi, followed by Che linea, which is the Italian for "what line." This is made up by Che, "what," followed by the word Linea, "line." |
| Let's break down these words and hear them one more time. Che li-ne-a. Che linea. |
| Then you have Devo prendere. Made up by Devo, first singular person of the present tense of the verb Dovere, “to have to/must.” Followed by the infinitive of the verb Prendere, "to take." As you can see, we don’t have the literal translation for the expression “do I need,” which in Italian in this case is conveyed by Devo. |
| Let's break down these words and hear them one more time. De-vo pren-de-re. Devo prendere. |
| Finally, you have Per il Duomo. Here we find Per, “for,” and Il, "the," masculine singular definite article. And finally, the name Duomo. |
| Let's break down these words and hear the sentence one more time. Per il Duomo. |
| Scusi, che linea devo prendere per il Duomo? |
| The possible answer to your question could be Deve prendere la linea rossa. De-ve pren-de-re la li-ne-a ros-sa. Which in English is “You need to take the red line.” |
| This sentence as you can see has the same structure you have just heard. Made up by Deve prendere, for the English “you need to take,” followed by La linea rossa, “the red line.” Please note that Deve is the third singular person of the present tense of the verb Dovere, and it is used in the formal way of speech. |
Outro |
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| Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So, buona fortuna, which means “good luck” in Italian. |
| “Excuse me, a subway ticket please.” - Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. |
| Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. |
| Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. |
| “Excuse me, what line do I need to take for Duomo?” - Scusi, che linea devo prendere per il Duomo? |
| Scu-si, che li-ne-a de-vo pren-de-re per il Du-o-mo? |
| Scusi, che linea devo prendere per il Duomo? |
| “You need to take the red line.” - Deve prendere la linea rossa. |
| De-ve pren-de-re la li-ne-a ros-sa. |
| Deve prendere la linea rossa. |
| That’s going to do it for today. Remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment. Ciao ciao! |
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