Learn how to use the Italian preposition da
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Ciao a tutti. Ben venuti. |
| Marco: Marco here. Upper intermediate, season 1, Lesson #13. Do You Want To Buy It From the Italian Store or Do it Yourself? |
| Consuelo: Hi, my name is Consuelo and I am joined here by Marco. |
| Marco: Hello everyone and welcome back to italianpod101.com |
| Consuelo: What are we learning today? |
| Marco: In today’s class, we will focus on the preposition Da and its usage. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place in a shop. |
| Marco: And it’s between Claudia and Irene. |
| Consuelo: They will be speaking informal Italian. |
| Marco: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone! |
| Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte? |
| Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James? |
| Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata. |
| Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa... |
| Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi? |
| Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri! |
| Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda! |
| Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri. |
| Claudia: Quanto costano? |
| Irene: Poco. |
| Claudia: Allora vanno bene. |
| Marco: Let’s here it slowly now. |
| Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone! |
| Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte? |
| Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James? |
| Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata. |
| Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa... |
| Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi? |
| Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri! |
| Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda! |
| Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri. |
| Claudia: Quanto costano? |
| Irene: Poco. |
| Claudia: Allora vanno bene. |
| Marco: And now, with the translation. |
| Irene: Perché siamo venute all'Ikea? Odio questo posto. Guarda quante persone! |
| Irene: Why did we come to Ikea? I hate this place. Look at how many people! |
| Claudia: Dobbiamo comprare dei bicchieri. Ti sei accorta che i nostri ospiti bevono il vino nelle tazze da latte? |
| Claudia: We have to buy some glasses. Did you notice that our guests drink wine from milk cups? |
| Irene: Ah sì, in effetti... Ieri poi eri stanca e non abbiamo parlato, ma dimmi, come è andata a New York? Hai incontrato James? |
| Irene: Oh yeah, as a matter of fact... Yesterday you were tired and we didn't talk, but tell me, how was New York? Did you meet James? |
| Claudia: Sì, avevo tre ore libere, sono andata da lui... Ma.. Non so, sento che ci stiamo allontanando. Questa è una relazione troppo complicata. |
| Claudia: Yes, I had three hours free; I went to his place... But... I don't know. I feel that we are drifting further apart. This relationship is too complicated. |
| Irene: Clau, lui abita in America mi sembra una complicazione abbastanza grossa... |
| Irene: Clau, he lives in America, quite a big complication, I guess... |
| Claudia: Hai ragione, ma io voglio stare con lui... E tu? Hai chiarito con Mirco poi? |
| Claudia: You're right, but I want to stay with him... And you? Did you clear things up with Mirco then? |
| Irene: Guarda che carini questi bicchieri azzurri! |
| Irene: Look at how pretty these light blue glasses are! |
| Claudia: Pronto? Ti ho fatto una domanda! |
| Claudia: Hello? I've asked you a question! |
| Irene: Eh? Mirco? Sì, sì adesso tutto a posto. Ti piacciono o no questi bicchieri azzurri? E' un set da sei persone, ti danno anche i sottobicchieri. |
| Irene: Eh? Mirco? Yes, now everything is fine. Do you or don't you like these light blue glasses? It's a six-person set. They also give you coasters. |
| Claudia: Quanto costano? |
| Claudia: How much are they? |
| Irene: Poco. |
| Irene: Not much. |
| Claudia: Allora vanno bene. |
| Claudia: They're fine then. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: The girls are shopping at Ikea. Is it popular in Italy? |
| Consuelo: Oh yes it is. Recently more and more Ikea stores are opening. |
| Marco: Why? You have many skilled craftsmen who can make furniture in Italy. |
| Consuelo: That’s true but those are extremely expensive. It’s all a matter of money I guess. |
| Marco: The crisis brought Italians to save money somehow. |
| Consuelo: Sure in the past, the families of brand new married couple really cared about the house: good design products and good furniture. But now we are so into these fai da te style. |
| Marco: What is Fai da te? |
| Consuelo: That is DIY Do it yourself. |
| Marco: Ah okay! You can save money if you work hard. |
| Consuelo: It seems so but sometimes it is so complicated to put together a simple shelf. |
| Marco: Ahaha, it can be fun though. |
| Consuelo: For you probably. For me, it’s just tiring and boring. |
| Marco: If you all buy furniture at Ikea in Italy, you are going to have all the same furnishings in houses. |
| Consuelo: That is exactly what is happening right now. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. The first word we should see is |
| Consuelo: Accorgersi. |
| Marco: To notice, realize. |
| Consuelo: Accorgersi. Accorgersi. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Ospite. |
| Marco: Guest. |
| Consuelo: Ospite. Ospite |
| Marco: And the next word is |
| Consuelo: Tazza. |
| Marco: Cup, mug. |
| Consuelo: Tazza. Tazza. |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Allontanarsi. |
| Marco: To drift away, go away, move away. |
| Consuelo: Allontanarsi. Allontanarsi |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Relazione. |
| Marco: Relationship, affair. |
| Consuelo: Relazione. Relazione |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Complicato. |
| Marco: Complicated. |
| Consuelo: Complicato. Complicato |
| Marco: And next we have |
| Consuelo: Abbastanza. |
| Marco: Enough, quite, fairly, rather. |
| Consuelo: Abbastanza. Abbastanza |
| Marco: And today’s last word is |
| Consuelo: Bicchiere. |
| Marco: Glass. |
| Consuelo: Bicchiere. Bicchiere. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: So Consuelo, what word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: The Italian verb allontanarsi. |
| Marco: To drift away, to go away or to move away. |
| Consuelo: In the dialogue, Claudia uses this verb when describing her relationship with the American guy. She says: ci stiamo allontanando. |
| Marco: We are drifting further apart. |
| Consuelo: So this one is the more emotional meaning of this verb that is the same as in mi sto allontanando dal mio migliore amico. |
| Marco: I am drifting away from my best friend. Please notice that the preposition to use is Da, meaning from. |
| Consuelo: Well said. Allontanarsi also means to go away in more literal terms. |
| Marco: Al-lon-ta-nar-si. I can hear the adjective lontano far inside this word. That makes sense. |
| Consuelo: Si, andare lontano, to go far away. |
| Marco: When using it at the imperative, it can be useful I think. |
| Consuelo: Sure, like in: è pericoloso, allontanatevi. |
| Marco: It’s dangerous. Go away. |
| Consuelo: Remember that allontanarsi is a reflexive verb. |
| Marco: Good hint. Thank you Consuelo. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let’s take a look at today’s grammar point. |
| Marco: In today’s lesson, we will focus on the preposition Da and its uses. |
| Consuelo: Yep. We continue our trip through Italian prepositions. |
| Marco: Today we have Da which in English stands for since, from or by. |
| Consuelo: Da can have many different meanings in Italian. |
| Marco: Let’s go on with its articulated forms first. |
| Consuelo: Okay. Those are dal, dallo, dagli, dai, dalla and dalle. |
| Marco: Please remember. The articulated forms are the combination of the simple preposition, in this case Da, plus the definite articles. |
| Consuelo: Now we can go on analyzing the different uses of Da. |
| Marco: It is used to indicate the origin or the source of someone or something. |
| Consuelo: Like in: vengo da Milano. |
| Marco: I come from Milan. |
| Consuelo: Or: l’aria entra dalla finestra. |
| Marco: The air comes in from the window. Da is also used to express a sense of separation. For example |
| Consuelo: Ha divorziato da suo marito. |
| Marco: She divorced her husband. |
| Consuelo: Or: mi allontano da te. |
| Marco: I move away from you. The next usage covers how to indicate at the house, at the office or at a business of someone. |
| Consuelo: For instance: stasera, andiamo da Maria. |
| Marco: Tonight, we are going to Maria’s place. |
| Consuelo: Vado dal dentista. |
| Marco: I am going to the dentist. |
| Consuelo: Now let’s go on with the other usages for this proposition. |
| Marco: A common path is a verb at the present indicative plus Da plus an expression of time. |
| Consuelo: Like in: studio l’italiano da un anno. |
| Marco: I’ve been studying Italian for 1 year. We express the so called temporal meaning. |
| Consuelo: Da quanto tempo aspetti? |
| Marco: How long have you been waiting for? |
| Consuelo: Also, in the last case, we indicated an action that began in the past and is still going on in the present. |
| Marco: English in contrast uses the present perfect tense. |
| Consuelo: So please don’t be confused. |
| Marco: Good. Let’s go on now. Da is very useful in Italian. |
| Consuelo: Because we use it also to indicate the purpose. |
| Marco: Listen to the following examples. |
| Consuelo: Indosso un abito da sera. |
| Marco: I am wearing an evening dress. Here the purpose of the dress is specified. |
| Consuelo: Quello è un cavallo da corsa. |
| Marco: That is a racehorse. |
| Consuelo: One of the many uses of Da concerns the passive form. |
| Marco: In this case, in English, it is usually translated into by. Listen. |
| Consuelo: Un quadro dipinto da Tiziano. |
| Marco: A painting painted by Tiziano. |
| Consuelo: Or: una legge emanata dal governo. |
| Marco: A law enacted by the government. |
| Consuelo: Both statements wear the passive form, il passivo. |
| Marco: Da is used also to indicate the quantity or the quality of something. |
| Consuelo: Like in: una borsa da 100 euro. |
| Marco: A 100 Euro purse. |
| Consuelo: Una cosa da niente. |
| Marco: That in English is called a trifle. |
| Consuelo: Furthermore, the preposition Da is used in certain idiomatic expressions like: d’altra parte |
| Marco: On the other hand. |
| Consuelo: Farsi da parte |
| Marco: Stand aside. |
| Consuelo: Da parte di |
| Marco: From. |
| Consuelo: Tanto da |
| Marco: So much to. |
| Consuelo: Da morire |
| Marco: To die for. |
| Consuelo: Lastly, Da can be found in some special verbal constructions. |
| Marco: Such as |
| Consuelo: Difendersi da |
| Marco: To defend oneself from |
| Consuelo: Dipende da |
| Marco: To depend on |
| Consuelo: Tradurre da |
| Marco: To translate from |
| Consuelo: Pretendere qualcosa da qualcuno |
| Marco: To expect something from someone. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Attention premium members, have you used the grammar bank. |
| Marco: The grammar bank is a one stop collection of detailed write ups on Italian grammar. |
| Consuelo: This is a must have tool for mastering Italian. |
| Marco: Learn the basic formations. |
| Consuelo: Read sample sentences |
| Marco: And study teacher tips which will really help you master the construction of the Italian language. |
| Consuelo: Go to the resource material section on Italianpod101.com and click grammar bank. |
| Marco: Arrivederci. |
| Consuelo: Ciao. |
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