Learn more about how to reconcile two tenses of Italian verbs in your sentences
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Buonasera a tutti. |
| Marco: Marco here. Lower intermediate series, season 2, Lesson 25. It’s Time For You To Get Down To Business with Italian. Hello and welcome to the lower intermediate series, season 2 at italianpod101.com where we study modern Italian in a fun, educational format. |
| Consuelo: So brush up on the Italian that you started learning long ago or start learning today. |
| Marco: Thanks for being here with us for this lesson. Consuelo, what are we looking at in this lesson? |
| Consuelo: In today’s class, we will continue focusing on tense agreement between the main and secondary clause. |
| Marco: This conversation takes place at Mario’s bar. |
| Consuelo: The conversation is between Mario, Giulia and Sylvia. |
| Marco: The speakers are friends. Therefore they will be speaking informally. Now before we listen to the conversation |
| Consuelo: We want to ask |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes while you listen? |
| Consuelo: We received an email about the study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you tried it and if so, |
| Consuelo: What do you think of it? |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comments section of this lesson. Okay let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mario: Hey Giulia! Pensi che sia meglio aggiungere delle sedie? |
| Giulia: No, non credo sia la soluzione giusta. In piedi possono entrare più clienti. |
| Mario: Eh sì, hai ragione. Hai visto Jack come si sta dando da fare? |
| Giulia: Davvero, noi pensavamo oggi non potesse lavorare e invece è molto attivo. |
| Silvia: Allora Mario quel ragazzo straniero lavora qui? |
| Mario: Certo, chi credevi che fosse? |
| Silvia: Pensavo che fosse il fidanzato di tua sorella... |
| Giulia: Come? |
| Marco: Let’s here it slowly now. |
| Mario: Hey Giulia! Pensi che sia meglio aggiungere delle sedie? |
| Giulia: No, non credo sia la soluzione giusta. In piedi possono entrare più clienti. |
| Mario: Eh sì, hai ragione. Hai visto Jack come si sta dando da fare? |
| Giulia: Davvero, noi pensavamo oggi non potesse lavorare e invece è molto attivo. |
| Silvia: Allora Mario quel ragazzo straniero lavora qui? |
| Mario: Certo, chi credevi che fosse? |
| Silvia: Pensavo che fosse il fidanzato di tua sorella... |
| Giulia: Come? |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Mario: Hey Giulia! Pensi che sia meglio aggiungere delle sedie? |
| Mario: Hey, Giulia! Do you think it's better to add some chairs? |
| Giulia: No, non credo sia la soluzione giusta. In piedi possono entrare più clienti. |
| Giulia: No, I don't think that's the right solution. By standing, more customers can come in. |
| Mario: Eh sì, hai ragione. Hai visto Jack come si sta dando da fare? |
| Mario: Oh yes, you're right. Have you seen how Jack is working hard? |
| Giulia: Davvero, noi pensavamo oggi non potesse lavorare e invece è molto attivo. |
| Giulia: That's true, we thought he couldn't work today, instead he is very active. |
| Silvia: Allora Mario quel ragazzo straniero lavora qui? |
| Silvia: So Mario, does that foreign guy work here? |
| Mario: Certo, chi credevi che fosse? |
| Mario: Sure. Who did you think he was? |
| Silvia: Pensavo che fosse il fidanzato di tua sorella... |
| Silvia: I thought he was your sister's boyfriend... |
| Giulia: Come? |
| Giulia: What? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, is it usual to find a foreign guy working in a bar in Italy? |
| Consuelo: Yes, recently a lot of foreign people are working in bars but it is not as easy as it seems. |
| Marco: What do you mean? |
| Consuelo: You must speak very good Italian to work there. |
| Marco: And be very good and quick with Espresso and other stuff, right? |
| Consuelo: Yes but sometimes in tourist cities, it’s easier for a foreigner to find a job in a bar, especially if you are an English mother tongue. |
| Marco: Really? |
| Consuelo: Sure. A guy who speaks perfect English and Italian is considered precious in these cities with the hundreds of tourists we have every day. |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: The first word is |
| Consuelo: Aggiungere. |
| Marco: To add. |
| Consuelo: Aggiungere. Aggiungere. |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Consuelo: Sedia. |
| Marco: Chair. |
| Consuelo: Sedia. Sedia. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Soluzione. |
| Marco: Solution, result, answer. |
| Consuelo: Soluzione. Soluzione. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Attivo. |
| Marco: Active, productive. |
| Consuelo: Attivo. Attivo. |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Consuelo: Straniero. |
| Marco: Foreign. |
| Consuelo: Straniero. Straniero. |
| Marco: And finally we have |
| Consuelo: Fidanzato. |
| Marco: Boyfriend, fiancé. |
| Consuelo: Fidanzato. Fidanzato. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: So which expression are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: We are going to see the Italian expression “darsi da fare”. |
| Marco: To work hard, to get down, to get cracking. |
| Consuelo: It is a very common expression which means to apply yourself to do something. |
| Marco: How can I use it? |
| Consuelo: You can conjugate it with every tense. |
| Marco: Ah okay. So if I want to use the imperative |
| Consuelo: Using a tu you should say, datti da fare! |
| Marco: Ah that means, get to work or get moving, right? |
| Consuelo: Exactly. You can for example hear this phrase in a workplace although it sounds a little bit informal, actually very informal. |
| Marco: That’s interesting. Thank you. |
| Consuelo: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: In this lesson, we will continue focusing on tense agreement between the main and secondary clauses. In addition, we will study the reference words of the second group delving into its two categories. |
| Consuelo: The tense agreement between the main and secondary clauses depends on whether the action of the secondary clause takes place before, at the time of or after the action expressed in the main clause. |
| Marco: The tense agreement describes exclusively the temporal connection between main and secondary clauses according to what kind of correlation we wish to express. |
| Consuelo: Please note that although there are some similarities, the tense agreement does not translate literally into English. |
| Marco: For this reason, we strongly suggest you learn Italian one without translating it into English because this procedure maybe really misleading. |
| Consuelo: We have two main groups of tense agreement according to whether the verb of the main clause calls for the subjunctive mood or not. |
| Marco: Each group is further subdivided into two categories according to what tense the verb of the main clause is conjugated in. |
| Consuelo: In today’s class, we will study the two categories of the second group. |
| Marco: The second group concerns main clauses whose verbs call for the subjunctive mood. This category is composed of the main clause at the present tense. In the following case, the secondary clause indicates posteriority and we have the indicative simple future. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensano che io sarò triste. |
| Marco: They think I will be sad. In the next example, the secondary clause indicates contemporaneity and we have the present subjunctive. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensano che io sia felice. |
| Marco: They think I am happy and in the next case, the secondary clause indicates anteriority and we have the past subjunctive. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensano che io sia stato felice. |
| Marco: They think I was happy. Now let’s continue with the second category which is composed of the main clause at the past tense. In this first case, the secondary clause indicates posteriority and we have the past conditional. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensavano ... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: hanno pensato... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: pensarono che tu saresti stato felice. |
| Marco: They thought that you would be happy. In the following example, the secondary clause indicates contemporaneity and we have the imperfect subjunctive. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensavano ... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: hanno pensato... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: pensarono che tu fossi felice. |
| Marco: They thought that you were happy. Finally in the last example, the secondary clause indicates anteriority and we have the pluperfect subjunctive. |
| Consuelo: Loro pensavano ... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: hanno pensato... |
| Marco: Or |
| Consuelo: pensarono che tu fossi stato felice. |
| Marco: They thought that you had been happy. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to learn. |
| Consuelo: That’s why we have three types of quizzes. |
| Marco: Vocabulary, grammar and content specific. |
| Consuelo: Each quiz targets specific skill. |
| Marco: And together these quizzes will help you master several fundamental skills. |
| Consuelo: You can find them in the learning center at |
| Marco: Italianpod101.com. Ciao. |
| Consuelo: Ciao a tutti. |
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