Learn how to form the negative imperative
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Buonasera. |
| Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 2, Lesson 21. Is the Price Right in Italy? |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone. I am Consuelo and welcome to italianpod101.com |
| Marco: With us, you learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: And tips you won’t find in a textbook. In today’s class, we will focus on two important aspects of the dialogue, the imperativo negativo and the tempi progressivi. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place in front of the concert’s venue. |
| Marco: The conversation is between Jack, Giulia and a ticket seller. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informally. |
| Marco: Now if you are listening on an iPod |
| Consuelo: Or an iTouch or iPhone. |
| Marco: Click the center button of the iPod or tap the screen on an iTouch or iPhone to see the notes for this lesson while you listen. |
| Consuelo: Read along while you listen. |
| Marco: This technique will help you remember faster. Okay let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jack: Ehi Giulia, non correre così! |
| Giulia: Dai Jack, dobbiamo trovare velocemente i biglietti, il concerto sta iniziando. |
| Jack: E dove cerchiamo? |
| Giulia: Aspetta, eccolo! Un rivenditore di biglietti! Aiutami a trattare il prezzo, mi raccomando. |
| Jack: Trattare? |
| Giulia: Buonasera, ci servirebbero due biglietti per lo spettacolo di stasera. |
| Rivenditore: Sì...Ecco, due adulti, cinquanta euro a testa. |
| Giulia: Cinquanta euro? L'altro rivenditore a quell'angolo li metteva solo a quaranta euro a testa. |
| Rivenditore: Mmm… |
| Jack: È vero, ne ho comprati tre per i miei amici e li ho pagati quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Rivenditore: Va bene, allora vi faccio lo sconto, quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Giulia: Grazie! |
| Marco: Let’s here it slowly now. |
| Jack: Ehi Giulia, non correre così! |
| Giulia: Dai Jack, dobbiamo trovare velocemente i biglietti, il concerto sta iniziando. |
| Jack: E dove cerchiamo? |
| Giulia: Aspetta, eccolo! Un rivenditore di biglietti! Aiutami a trattare il prezzo, mi raccomando. |
| Jack: Trattare? |
| Giulia: Buonasera, ci servirebbero due biglietti per lo spettacolo di stasera. |
| Rivenditore: Sì...Ecco, due adulti, cinquanta euro a testa. |
| Giulia: Cinquanta euro? L'altro rivenditore a quell'angolo li metteva solo a quaranta euro a testa. |
| Rivenditore: Mmm… |
| Jack: È vero, ne ho comprati tre per i miei amici e li ho pagati quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Rivenditore: Va bene, allora vi faccio lo sconto, quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Giulia: Grazie! |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Jack: Ehi Giulia, non correre così! |
| Jack: Hey, Giulia. Don't run like that! |
| Giulia: Dai Jack, dobbiamo trovare velocemente i biglietti, il concerto sta iniziando. |
| Giulia: Come on, Jack, we have to find the tickets quickly because the concert is starting soon. |
| Jack: E dove cerchiamo? |
| Jack: And where should we search for them? |
| Giulia: Aspetta, eccolo! Un rivenditore di biglietti! Aiutami a trattare il prezzo, mi raccomando. |
| Giulia: Wait, here he is! A ticket seller! Please help me to negotiate the price. |
| Jack: Trattare? |
| Jack: Negotiate? |
| Giulia: Buonasera, ci servirebbero due biglietti per lo spettacolo di stasera. |
| Giulia: Good evening, we need two tickets for tonight's show. |
| Rivenditore: Sì...Ecco, due adulti, cinquanta euro a testa. |
| Ticket seller: Yes... Here they are, two adult tickets, fifty euros each. |
| Giulia: Cinquanta euro? L'altro rivenditore a quell'angolo li metteva solo a quaranta euro a testa. |
| Giulia: Fifty euros? The other seller at that corner sells them for just forty euros each. |
| Rivenditore: Mmm… |
| Ticket seller: Mmm… |
| Jack: È vero, ne ho comprati tre per i miei amici e li ho pagati quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Jack: That's true, I bought three of them for my friends and I paid them forty euros each. |
| Rivenditore: Va bene, allora vi faccio lo sconto, quaranta euro l'uno. |
| Ticket seller: All right, then I'll give you a discount, forty euros each. |
| Giulia: Grazie! |
| Giulia: Thanks! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Is it normal to negotiate prices in Italy? |
| Consuelo: Oh yes, that’s what most people do, especially at open air markets. |
| Marco: Really? |
| Consuelo: Yes, I think that Italian people are pretty much good at dealing prices. |
| Marco: But what about articles like the ones in a Gucci shop, for example, where they fixed tag price? |
| Consuelo: Oh, you can negotiate for that too. |
| Marco: Why? |
| Consuelo: Well, usually Italian shop owners put a higher price for those foreign tourists who will buy the Gucci bag as it is. |
| Marco: That’s funny. |
| Consuelo: My advice is to always try to have a deal. |
| Marco: Thanks Consuelo. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: The first word we shall see is |
| Consuelo: Correre. |
| Marco: To run. |
| Consuelo: Correre. Correre. |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Consuelo: Velocemente. |
| Marco: Quickly. |
| Consuelo: Velocemente. Velocemente. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Trattare. |
| Marco: To deal, negotiate. |
| Consuelo: Trattare. Trattare. |
| Marco: The next word is |
| Consuelo: Angolo. |
| Marco: Corner. |
| Consuelo: Angolo. Angolo. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Comprare. |
| Marco: To buy, to purchase. |
| Consuelo: Comprare. Comprare. |
| Marco: And finally we have |
| Consuelo: Sconto. |
| Marco: Discount. |
| Consuelo: Scont. Sconto. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Consuelo, let’s try to learn useful words during a price negotiation. |
| Consuelo: That’s a good idea Marco. For example, pretty often, we use the verb Mettere. |
| Marco: Literally, to put. |
| Consuelo: For example, something costs €10 and we want to ask to have it for 5, we could say: Potresti mettermela a €5? |
| Marco: Literally could you put it €5 for me? |
| Consuelo: Of course it means, could I have it for €5? |
| Marco: I see. |
| Consuelo: I hope our listeners will use this formula during their negotiations and happy shopping to everyone. Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: The focus of this lesson is on two important aspects of the dialogue namely the imperativo negativo, negative imperative and the tempi progressivi, progressive tenses. |
| Consuelo: In today’s dialogue, Jack exhorted Giulia using the imperativo negativo, the negative imperative: non correre così. |
| Marco: Don’t run like that. The use of the negative imperative in Italian is similar to its English equivalent. |
| Consuelo: This structure is used to issue an order not to do something. Since this form is rather straightforward, it should be avoided in formal polite speech. |
| Marco: Now the grammatical form of the negative imperative changes according to the number of the person we employ. |
| Consuelo: The singular subject is realized by using the negative particle Non followed by the infinitive of the verb. |
| Marco: In other words, Non plus infinitive of the verb. For example |
| Consuelo: Non aprire la porta. |
| Marco: Don’t open the door. |
| Consuelo: Non essere pigro. |
| Marco: Don’t be lazy. |
| Consuelo: Non bere troppa birra. |
| Marco: Don’t drink too much beer. The plural subject is realized by using the negative particle Non followed by the standard conjugation of the imperative. |
| Consuelo: Non guardate la televisione. |
| Marco: Don’t watch the TV. |
| Consuelo: Non prestate attenzione alle sue parole. |
| Marco: Don’t pay attention to his/her words. |
| Consuelo: Non mangiate troppo. |
| Marco: Don’t eat too much and now let’s talk about the usage of present and past progressive. |
| Consuelo: The main use of Italian progressive tenses, the presente progressivo, present progressive and passato progressivo, past progressive corresponds to that of the English equivalents. |
| Marco: However the Italian progressive tenses are also used as a possible alternative to forms that express the imminent start of actions. In the dialogue, Giulia says |
| Consuelo: Il concerto sta iniziando. |
| Marco: Literally the concert is starting. |
| Consuelo: Il concerto sta per iniziare. |
| Marco: Literally and meaning, the concert is about to start. |
| Consuelo: Please note that in Italian, the sentences Il concerto sta iniziando and Il concerto sta per iniziare are fully equivalent when used to mean that an action will take place shortly. |
| Marco: However the second form cannot be used to express ongoing actions. For example |
| Consuelo: Il bambino sta correndo. |
| Marco: The child is running. |
| Consuelo: Sta piovendo. |
| Marco: It’s raining. |
| Consuelo: Luisa stava parlando al telefono. |
| Marco: Luisa was speaking on the phone. |
| Consuelo: Italian progressive tenses use the auxiliary verb Stare in the sense of Essere, to be. The auxiliary essere cannot be used in any circumstance. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. Don’t forget that you can leave us a comment on this lesson. |
| Consuelo: So if you have a question or some feedback, please leave us a comment. |
| Marco: It’s very easy to do. Just stop by italianpod101.com |
| Consuelo: Click on comments. |
| Marco: Enter your comment and name |
| Consuelo: And that’s it. |
| Marco: No excuses. We are looking forward to hearing from you. Ciao. |
| Consuelo: Arrivederci. |
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