Learn how to ask where you can buy something
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| INTRODUCTION |
| 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 will 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. |
| Have you ever been in a city you don’t know at all and you are looking desperately for something you need and you cannot find it? |
| It happened so many times to me! Wandering around without knowing where to go to reach for example a bar, a phone, a restroom! |
| Don’t worry! If you go to Italy, thanks to our Survival Phrases you will always be able how to ask for information and help. |
Lesson focus |
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| So today we would like to introduce you a phrase that will help you track down that specific something you’re looking for. "Where can I find…?" in Italian is Dove posso trovare…? and then you add the name of the specific thing you are looking for. |
| In this sentence, there is a basic structure you will be able to use in any other situation you will need to get something. This structure is made up by the adverb dove “where” followed by posso which comes from the verb potere “can” and then the infinitive of the verb trovare “to find." |
| Let’s break it down by syllable: Dove posso trovare…? |
| Now let's hear it once again: Dove posso trovare…? |
| So now let’s go and see what kind of things you might need if you’re traveling abroad. Let’s imagine you’re walking through a beautiful old stylish town in Tuscany and it’s very hot and you need to get something to drink, so let’s go and try to ask where you can find a bar! |
| “Where can I find a bar?” in Italian is Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| So as you can easily note, you have the structure you have just seen Dove posso trovare, followed by the thing you are looking for: un bar “a bar." Bar is a very easy noun, the same in Italian and English, but be careful when using it in Italian: it’s a masculine noun and it doesn’t change in its plural form. In this case, it is preceded by the masculine singular indefinite article un or in English "a." |
| Let's break down this sentence: Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| Now let's hear it one more time: Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| With this form you can go anywhere you need and ask for anything you are looking for. There is another form you could use if you wanted to be more polite and wanted to use a different expression. Let’s imagine you are looking for a phone this time. |
| "Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a phone?" Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? |
| So, don’t you think this is more formal? Of course it is. |
| So what do we have here? We have scusi “excuse me” then a new form never seen till now, which is sa dirmi made up by the third singular person of the verb sapere “to know," followed by dirmi which is a verb plus a pronoun that become a single word. |
| It originates from dire the infinitive of the verb “to say” plus mi, personal pronoun of the first singular person. Sa dirmi means in English “could you tell me." |
| Let's break down this word and hear them one more time: dirmi |
| Dirmi |
| The rest of the sentence is exactly the structure you have seen before, made up by dove posso trovare un telefono?. Telefono is the Italian word for “phone, telephone” and it’s a masculine singular noun and for this reason it is preceded by the masculine singular indefinite article un “a." |
| Let's break down this word: Telefono |
| Now let's hear it one more time: Telefono |
| Now to ask for any other different item, we can just replace un bar or un telefono with any other word and the phrase works brilliantly. |
| Let's try with "tobacco shop" which in Italian is tabacchino. |
| Let's break this word down: tabacchino |
| Now let's hear it once again: tabacchino |
| "Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a tobacco shop" in Italian is Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? |
| So these phrases will come in handy before leaving the hotel, talking with taxi drivers, or other people trying help to you locate a desired item. |
Outro |
| 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. |
| "Where can I find…?" - Dove posso trovare…? |
| Dove posso trovare…? |
| Dove posso trovare…? |
| “Where can I find a bar?” - Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| Dove posso trovare un bar? |
| "Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a phone?" - Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? |
| "Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find a tobacco shop" - Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? |
| Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? |
| 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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