Learn how to use the Italian adverbs of frequency, such as "often" and "usually"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Ciao |
| Marco: Marco here. Absolute Beginner Season 1 Lesson 15: Do You Come to This Italian Place Often? Hello and welcome to the Absolute Beginner Season 1 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 focus on frequency adverbs. |
| Marco: This conversation takes place in an ice cream shop. |
| Consuelo: It’s between Melissa and Alessio. |
| Marco: The speakers are friends. Therefore, they will be speaking informally. Let’s listen to the conversation. |
Lesson conversation |
|---|
| Alessio: Prendiamo qui il gelato! |
| Melissa: Ah sì, conosco questa gelateria. |
| Alessio: Davvero? In effetti è famosa. Vieni qui spesso? |
| Melissa: No, solo ogni tanto. Quale gusto preferisci? |
| Alessio: Tutti! Vediamo, oggi facciamo un cono grande con pistacchio, amarena e nocciola. E tu? |
| Melissa: Io di solito prendo cioccolata e caffè. |
| Commesso: Grande o piccolo signorina? |
| Melissa: Una coppetta piccola per piacere. |
| Marco: Let’s hear it slowly now. |
| Alessio: Prendiamo qui il gelato! |
| Melissa: Ah sì, conosco questa gelateria. |
| Alessio: Davvero? In effetti è famosa. Vieni qui spesso? |
| Melissa: No, solo ogni tanto. Quale gusto preferisci? |
| Alessio: Tutti! Vediamo, oggi facciamo un cono grande con pistacchio, amarena e nocciola. E tu? |
| Melissa: Io di solito prendo cioccolata e caffè. |
| Commesso: Grande o piccolo signorina? |
| Melissa: Una coppetta piccola per piacere. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Alessio Prendiamo qui il gelato! |
| Marco Let's get ice cream here! |
| Melissa Ah sì, conosco questa gelateria. |
| Marco Oh yes, I know this ice cream shop. |
| Alessio Davvero? In effetti è famosa. Vieni qui spesso? |
| Marco Really? In fact, it's famous. Do you come here often? |
| Melissa No, solo ogni tanto. Quale gusto preferisci? |
| Marco No, just sometimes. What flavor do you prefer? |
| Alessio Tutti! Vediamo, oggi facciamo un cono grande con pistacchio, amarena e nocciola. E tu? |
| Marco All of them! Let's see, today let's make it a large cone with pistachio, black cherry, and hazelnut. And you? |
| Melissa Io di solito prendo cioccolata e caffè. |
| Marco I usually take chocolate and coffee. |
| Commesso Grande o piccolo signorina? |
| Marco Small or large for you, miss? |
| Melissa Una coppetta piccola per piacere. |
| Marco A small cup, please. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Consuelo: Marco, did you know that in Italy the origin of ice cream traces as far back as to the Roman empire? |
| Marco: Really? It's such an ancient recipe! |
| Consuelo: Yes, there are some documents that describe the preparation of a sweet food made of ice, milk, fruits, and honey. |
| Marco: That's interesting. The recipe survived for all these years! |
| Consuelo: The "gelato" you find today in ice cream shop is homemade and the minimum price is two euros. |
| Marco: Ah, okay, and we can eat it in a cone or a cup, right? |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, and the price depends on the size. Anyway, in bars and supermarkets, you can find a wide selection of wrapped ice creams that are very good too. |
| Marco: Okay, Consuelo! Thank you for your advice. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we shall see is? |
| Consuelo conoscere [natural native speed] |
| Marco to know |
| Consuelo conoscere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo conoscere [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo spesso [natural native speed] |
| Marco often |
| Consuelo spesso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo spesso [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo cono [natural native speed] |
| Marco cone |
| Consuelo cono [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo cono [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo nocciola [natural native speed] |
| Marco hazelnut |
| Consuelo nocciola [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo nocciola [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo grande [natural native speed] |
| Marco large, big |
| Consuelo grande [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo grande [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Consuelo piccolo [natural native speed] |
| Marco small, tiny |
| Consuelo piccolo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo piccolo [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Marco: Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: The Italian word "spesso." |
| Marco: "often." |
| Consuelo: As we will see, "spesso" is a frequency adverb used in phrases like "penso spesso al mio ex-ragazzo." |
| Marco: "I often think of my ex-boyfriend." |
| Consuelo: While asking questions, you can also use "più spesso," meaning "most often." |
| Marco: Okay, so when I want to ask "What do you drink most often, red or white wine?" how should I say it? |
| Consuelo: You should say "Bevi più spesso vino rosso o bianco?" |
| Marco: Ah, I got it. What is your answer, Consuelo? |
| Consuelo: "Io bevo più spesso vino rosso." |
| Marco: Oh, you "prefer the red wine." |
| Consuelo: Sure, I am from Tuscany, and there's lots of good red wine there… |
| Marco: My new question is "Bevi spesso?" which means "Do you drink often?" |
| Consuelo: What kind of question is that?! Anyway, it is correct. So, listeners, in this case, you can simply answer "Non spesso." |
| Marco: Eh eh, "Not often." |
Lesson focus |
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: In today's lesson, we focus on frequency adverbs. |
| Consuelo: To talk about how often something happens, we use the so-called adverbs of frequency. They are very useful when you talk about your own habits. |
| Marco: Now we'll tell you some of the more common frequency adverbs… |
| Consuelo: "Spesso," meaning |
| Marco: "often." |
| Consuelo: "Ogni tanto" and "a volte," meaning |
| Marco: "sometimes." |
| Consuelo: "Di solito" and "normalmente," meaning |
| Marco: "usually." |
| Consuelo: When using simple verb forms… |
| Marco: Or one-word verbs… |
| Consuelo: Adverbs are usually placed after them. |
| Marco: For example… |
| Consuelo: "Mangio spesso la pizza durante il fine settimana," meaning |
| Marco: "I often eat pizza during weekends." |
| Consuelo: "Prendo spesso il treno per andare a lavoro," meaning |
| Marco: "I often catch the train to go to work." |
| Consuelo: Now let's take a look at what would happen with compound verbs… |
| Marco: That means two-word verbs. |
| Consuelo: As I was saying, with compound verbs, most adverbs are placed after the past participle, although they can also be positioned before the verb. |
| Marco: For example… |
| Consuelo: "Ogni tanto ho fatto arrabbiare I miei genitori" or "ho fatto arrabbiare i miei genitori ogni tanto," meaning... |
| Marco: "Sometimes I got my parents angry." Please remember that "ogni tanto" cannot be broken. |
| Consuelo: "Di solito" and "normalmente" have the same meaning as "usually" and they always precede the verb… |
| Marco: For instance… |
| Consuelo: "La sera di solito leggo un libro prima di dormire," meaning |
| Marco: "In the evening, I usually read a book before sleeping." |
| Consuelo: "Normalmente torno a casa in taxi," meaning |
| Marco: "I usually come back home by taxi." |
| Consuelo: Marco, "cosa fanno di solito I ragazzi italiani la domenica?" |
| Marco: Ah, you're asking me "What do Italian guys usually do on Sundays?" Okay, how about "di solito vanno allo stadio." |
| Consuelo: Good, Marco, "they usually go to the stadium." |
| Marco: That’s just about does it for today. Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to drastically improve your pronunciation. |
| Consuelo: The voice recording tool. |
| Marco: Yes, the voice recording tool in the premium learning center. |
| Consuelo: Record your voice with a click of a button. |
| Marco: And then play it back just as easily. |
| Consuelo: So you record your voice and then listen to it. |
| Marco: Compare it to the native speakers. |
| Consuelo: And adjust your pronunciation. |
| Marco: This will help you improve your pronunciation fast. |
Comments
HideMi piace molto il gelato! Quando ero in Italia due anni fa mangavo gelato ogni giorno.
Ciao eziowho,
thanks for your question.
With questions words like "cosa" "quando" and others, "di solito" comes either before or after the combo "question word + verb". Don't put it in the middle.
So both:
Di solito cosa fanno i ragazzi?
and
Cosa fanno di solito i ragazzi?
are correct
"Cosa di solito fanno" is incorrect.
I hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ciao! Io ho una domanda. If di solito comes before a verb then why is it after fanno in cosa fanno di solito I ragazzi? (I changed the noun to make it more simple for me. ) Can I say cosa di solito fanno I ragazzi? Grazie !
Hi Miklós,
you're right, thanks for pointing that out! We'll fix the typo ASAP!
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hi Consuelo Italianpod101,
This lesson in the word 'grande' examples, there is an error: questo stanza . I believe you should correct it to questa stanza 😮😎 Am I right?
Hi Emily,
thanks for your question.
The position of "di solito" is not actually fixed. It usually comes before the verb, but not always. (We'll edit the text).
So you could say all of these:
Di solito cosa fanno i ragazzi italiani la domenica?
Cosa fanno di solito i ragazzi italiani la domenica?
Cosa fanno i ragazzi italiani di solito la domenica?
Cosa fanno i ragazzi italiani la domenica di solito?
Just don't separate "cosa fanno", as that would sound weird.
As for "Ho fatto arrabbiare i miei genitori ogni tanto", the past participle is "fatto", from the verb "fare" (to do). "Ho fatto" is the tense called passato prossimo (verb "to have" + past participle of the verb).
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hello!
If di solito comes before verbs why is it placed after fanno in "cosa fanno di solito I ragazzi italiani la domenica?"
Also, where is the past participle in this sentence "ho fatto arrabbiare i miei genitori ogni tanto,"
Thank you!!
Ciao Adriana,
thanks for posting!
in la mattina -> la mattina / alla mattina / di mattina [all these are correct options, just remember that "in la" is incorrect, as the two words fuse and become "nella". "nella mattina" is also incorrect, though]
Your second sentence is correct, although it is more common to say "bevo" (I drink) instead of "ho" (I have).
I'm not sure about the last sentence. If you meant "I often sing with my dog", it should be "canto spesso con il mio cane". But let me know if you meant something else :)
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Ciao ItalinPod101,
Are these correct?
Normalmente studio italiano in la mattina // studio italiano di solito in la mattina
Ho spesso un bicchiere di vino ogni sera
canto spesso mi cane
Grazie!
Hi Alexandra Beaven,
thanks for your question.
The rule for C (and for double C as well), is:
"ch" sound when followed by "i" or "e" (examples: cibo, cera, cielo, bacio, acero)
"k" sound when followed by a consonant or the vowel "a", "o", "u" (creare, costa, caldo, barca)
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hello, I have noticed from today's lesson conversation that sometimes, a double c (as in the word piccolo or nocciola) is pronounced differently. So in one word it is a k sound, then in another it can be a ch sound. Is there a rule regarding pronunciation of the double c in Italian? Thank you for the wonderful lessons
Hi Nora,
Great to know that!
To improve your pronunciation even further, please also check out our special series
https://www.italianpod101.com/lesson-library/ultimate-italian-pronunciation-guide/
In case of any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Sincerely,
Cristiane
Team ItalianPod101.com
my pronunciation has improved greatly b/c of your lessons. Thank you. Nora
Hi Donna,
Thank you for posting.
The "Premium Learning Center" is the Vocabulary section (with the quiz). After these lessons were recorded, we changed the site interface greatly (for the best we hope!).
If you have more questions, let us know.
Sincerely,
Ofelia
ItalianPod101.com
Ciao! Mi piace molto queste lezione! However, I can't seem to find the Premium Learning Center , although I have prepaid for two years of Premium membership. CN you help me? Grazie!
Hi Guillermo,
Thank you for adding this important information in the comments!
We really appreciate it!
A presto!
Keep up the good work!:smile:
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
You just didn't add that conscere and sapere mean the same in english: to know, but sapere is to know an information like: io so che..., I know that..., and conoscere to know somebody or something, for example: io conosco questo ragazzo, I know this guy :wink:
Hi TJ,
Yes! And we hope you like them :innocent:
Ciao e grazie,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
The speakers are always Alessio and Melissa.
Hi Darrell,
I'm really sorry about it. Thanks for letting us know!
We already upload the missing audio for the dialog.
Regards,
Paloma
Team ItalianPod101
Hi,
Dialog audio will not download from this page or feed to iTunes. Error 404 (not found) occurs. Will this become available or was it not meant to be a file to begin with?
Cheers,
Darrell.