Survival Phrases

Don't waste your time! Get the most language in the shortest time with these survival phrases.

Absolute Beginner

Curriculum

Survival Phrases

In this 60-lesson series, you'll learn vital Italian phrases in each lesson that will help prepare you for an upcoming trip to Italy. Topics covered include ordering at a restaurant, taking public transportation, asking directions, checking into a hotel, and much more. If you have not studied Italian and simply want to master basic phrases without getting into the details of grammar, this is the series for you.

	Title	Topic	Function	Target Phrases	Key Vocab	Cultural Insight
Lesson 1	Thank You!	expressing one's gratitude	Thanking people	Grazie. Grazie mille. La ringrazio.	"mille \| a thousand grazie \| thank you ringraziare \| to thank"	By far, grazie is the most common way to say "thank you". Remember, when in doubt, keeping it simple is always your safest bet. You don't have to worry about formal or informal situations; grazie can be used with just about anyone, anywhere and anytime. You say grazie when the waiter brings your food or drinks; when the clerk in the hotel takes your luggage to your room (of course, throwing in a tip won't hurt either!); when somebody welcomes you, or congratulates you. It doesn't matter his/her profession or age; grazie or grazie mille will always be an appropriate response.
Lesson 2	You're Welcome!	phrases of gratitude	Saying "You're welcome"	Prego. Di nulla. Di niente.	"Prego. \| You're welcome. niente \| nothing nulla \| nothing non \| not"	Of the expressions we have seen, please keep in mind that Prego, di nulla and di niente can be used in any situation, formal or informal, while non c'è di che is to be used only in informal situations.
Lesson 3	Please!	asking for something	Asking for something	Per favore. Questo per favore. Quello per favore.	"quello \| that questo \| this (masculine singular) favore \| favor"	Please remember that also in Italy it is a little rude to point at things and especially at people. If it is necessary to point to something in order to better explain what one wants then it is accepted, but pointing at the direction of someone and especially to a person's face is a very aggressive stance. Furthermore when pointing it is better to have one's arm, hand and finger pointing in a relaxed way. Pointing with a stiff finger may seem intimidating.
Lesson 4	Basic Greetings	universal greeting	Exchanging basic greetings	Salve. Buon giorno. Buon pomeriggio. Buona sera.	"ciao \| hello, hi, bye salve \| hello (formal or informal) buon giorno \| good morning, good day, good afternoon buon pomeriggio \| good afternoon buona sera \| good evening"	It's very common for Italians to exchange kisses on both cheeks when saying "hello" and "goodbye." Kisses are typically exchanged among people who know but it is not uncommon for an Italian that you are meeting for the first time to kiss you as well. Wait and follow their lead in order to avoid any awkwardness.
Lesson 5	Parting greetings (Goodbye)	parting greetings	Saying goodbye	Arrivederci. Buona sera. A presto. A dopo. A più tardi.	"dopo \| after, afterwards, later arrivederci \| goodbye presto \| soon, early buona sera \| good evening tardi \| late"	Italians, especially those living in small cities, are very habitual people. So don't be surprised if after just a few times of going to a restaurant or shop, waiters or shopkeepers use A presto instead of Arrivederci, for they are pretty sure you will be coming back.
Lesson 6	Where is the bathroom?	asking a full question	Asking where something is	Dov'è il bagno? Dove sono i servizi? Posso usare il bagno per favore?	usare \| to use, employ, exercise, exploit dove \| where essere \| to be il \| the (masculine singular) bagno \| bathroom i \| the (masculine plural) servizi \| services, bathroom potere \| to be able, can	When traveling there may not be so many public bathrooms for tourists to use. Which means your best option is to either stop at a cafe or a restaurant to use their bathrooms. Understandably, cafe owners aren't too keen on having people stop in just to use their bathroom. So, to be polite, you might buy a bottle of water or order a cappuccino before asking Dov'è il bagno? or Posso usare il bagno per favore? This last phrase means "May I please use the bathroom?"
Lesson 7	Can You Speak English?	won't understand	Asking if someone can speak a certain language	Parla inglese?	"parlare \| to talk, speak inglese \| English"	One time a friend of mine that was in Milan, got lost from the subway or underground station on the way back to her hotel. She needed to ask for directions but she thought that her hotel was far from where she was and receiving directions in Italian was going to be rather difficult for her to decipher. So she stopped at the newsstand and asked the owner for help. Naturally, her Italian was very basic so the first thing she asked him was, Parla inglese?. Thankfully, because he worked rather close to the main train station where there is often lots of tourist traffic, the nice man spoke enough English to lead her in the right direction and back to her hotel.
Lesson 8	I don't understand	Can you speak English?	Saying that you can't speak a language	Non capisco. Non lo so. Cosa significa?	"significare \| to mean, entail, signify non \| not capire \| to understand, comprehend, see, figure out cosa \| what sapere \| to know"	When engaged in a conversation with Italians, you're more than likely not to understand everything that's being said to you. This could be for a number of reasons: the accent, how fast the person is speaking or the vocabulary that the person is using. If this happens, don't be afraid to say, Non capisco. Italians will be more than happy to try offer an explanation for what was just said. Or maybe you've understood the general sense of a phrase but there was a word someone used that you have never heard before. To find out the meaning of this new word, simply ask the person, Cosa significa? In English this means, "What does it mean?"
Lesson 9	Can you repeat that please?	"Once again please	Asking someone to repeat something	Può ripetere per favore? Lentamente per favore. Può ripetere ancora?	"lentamente \| slowly, easy, step by step ripetere \| to repeat, restate, iterate potere \| can ancora \| still, yet, again"	Asking someone to repeat what they've just said is especially important when given directions to get you where you're going. If you happen to be lost, instead of stopping someone on the street for directions, it's always best to stop in a store or a café and ask the people that work there. This is because, chances are, they are much more familiar with the neighborhood than the average passerby on the street. When giving directions, Italians tend to speak really fast especially if they assume you already speak the language. So, if there's something that you didn't understand or missed part of the sentence, you can say, Può ripetere per favore? This means as you've just learned, "Can you repeat that please?"
Lesson 10	Apologies (I'm Sorry)	apologizing	Apologizing	Scusi Mi dispiace Non fa niente	"fare \| to do, to make, to build non \| not niente \| nothing scusarsi \| to be sorry, to forgive someone dispiacersi \| to be sorry"	Now let's imagine a woman in an Italian bar, which in Italy is a café, ordering a cappuccino from the counter. She would say Scusi, un cappuccino per favore "Excuse me, a cappuccino please". Once when I was in a rush I walked into my favourite bar and went directly to the counter asking for an espresso, or in Italian, caffè espresso saying Scusi, un caffè per favore but the barman told me Signorina, deve fare lo scontrino! "Miss, you have to get the receipt". So be careful, because often in Italian cafés you must first pay for your purchase and after showing the receipt to the barista he will make your drink.
Lesson 11	Restaurant 1 - Entering a restaurant	restaurant	Talking the the waiter before entering a restaurant	Buon giorno. Buona sera. Quante persone siete? Siamo cinque. Siamo quattro persone. Una soltanto.	"fare \| to do, to make, to build non \| not niente \| nothing scusarsi \| to be sorry, to forgive someone dispiacersi \| to be sorry"	If you tell the waiter Siamo tre persone (we are three people) or more, don't be surprised if he replies with c'è da aspettare or "You have to wait". Restaurants are always popular, especially on weekends, and you will usually have to wait if you are in a group.
Lesson 12	Restaurant 2 - How Many People?	restaurant	Talking about numbers of people	Pronto Posso fare una prenotazione per stasera? Quanti siete? Due persone. A che ora volete prenotare? Alle otto per favore.	"otto \| eight o'clock prenotazione \| booking, reservation fare \| to do, to make, to build potere \| can pronto \| ready, hello (when picking up the phone) prenotare \| to book, reserve stasera \| tonight ora \| time, hour"	As I mentioned before, Italian restaurants are very popular, and you will need to book on weekends or public holidays. Italians eat out quite often, I remember that when I was a child in Napoli, or Naples, with my family we used to love going to our favourite pizzeria in the week-ends and I remember once my dad just forgot to book and when we arrived it was so crowd and busy and we had to wait almost half an hour to get the table and more than one hour to have our pizza! I remember that time I thought I could have died of hunger. So don't forget the reservation if you decide to go for a special typical Italian dinner in a restaurant.
Lesson 13	Restaurant 3 - Is smoking allowed?	restaurant	Asking for smoking or non-smoking seats	Scusi, si può fumare qui? Si, c'è una sala fumatori. No, mi dispiace, è vietato.	"sala \| hall, living room qui \| here una \| a, an fumatore \| smoker si \| yes potere \| to be able, can fumare \| to smoke vietare \| to forbid, ban, prohibit"	Even if you are in a smoking restaurant it is polite to ask the people in your party if they mind if you smoke. So to ask "Do you mind if I smoke?" you have as always two choices, one formal and one informal; if you were speaking to a friend you would then ask Ti dà fastidio se fumo? Instead if you are speaking politely you would use Le dà fastidio se fumo? Please note that there is a very small but important difference; in the first case you have the pronoun ti for the informal level of speech, while in the second case you have the pronoun le which is formal.
Lesson 14	Restaurant 4 - At the Table	at the table	Ordering food and drinks	Scusi, un menu per favore. Cosa desidera ordinare? Vorrei una margherita e una frittura di pesce, per favore. Cosa desidera da bere?	"menù \| menu desiderare \| to wish, want, long for, desire ordinare \| to order bere \| to drink frittura \| fried dish volere \| to want, wish, long, demand pesce \| fish, seafood"	Remember to stay tuned when the waiter is talking to you because in place of Desidera you could hear vorrebbe "would like" or vuole "want" especially if you go to some typical trattorie "eating houses" in Italy and they treat you in a friendly manner using informal speech. Instead of Cosa desidera ordinare? you might hear Cosa vorrebbe ordinare? or Cosa vuole? These are more casual ways of asking, and will be more common in typical trattorie or "eating houses". In trattorie staff will probably treat you in a more friendly manner, and will use this plain form of speech.
Lesson 15	Restaurant 5 - Check Please!	restaurant	Getting the check	Desidera altro? Basta così grazie, il conto per favore.	"desiderare \| to wish, want, long for, desire basta così \| that's enough conto \| bill, check, tab il \| the (masculine singular) grazie \| thank you altro \| another, else così \| so, that, like this"	Usually you can ask for the check even without waiting for being asked from the waiter. Normally to get his attention you could just put your hand up and shout Scusi, il conto per favore "Excuse me, the check please", and yes… shout… because it can often happen to find noisy and crowded establishments where you need the waiter to hear your voice. Then together with the shout, you know that we Italians are famous for many gestures and so we have one even to ask for the check, so you can simply mime writing with a pen on an imaginary paper while looking at the waiter.
Lesson 16	Counting 1-10	counting	Counting 1-10	0 zero 1 uno 2 due 3 tre 4 quattro 5 cinque 6 sei 7 sette 8 otto 9 nove 10 dieci Una persona Cinque persone Vorrei comprare due borse Vorrei comprare una camicia Vorrei comprare un maglione	"camicia \| shirt persona \| person maglione \| sweater, jumper borsa \| bag, handbag, purse quattro \| four cinque \| five sei \| six sette \| seven otto \| eight nove \| nine dieci \| ten tre \| three uno \| one due \| two zero \| zero, nought, nil comprare \| to buy, to get"	Normally you will have several chances to hear the numbers in the supermarkets in Italy while making the queue to buy the bread or the cold cuts. You can hear the delicatessen clerk or the bakery clerk shouting numbers like this: Numero dodici! "Number twelve!" (12) Numero sette! "Number seven!" (7) One funny thing is that in Italy, especially in the South, numbers can have different meaning and many Italians play LOTTO choosing numbers referring to mysterious dreams or funny and unusual happenings. For example the number 90 symbolizes la paura "fear", the number 77 i diavioli "the devils", the number 17 la disgrazia "misfortune" and so on. So have a go and take your chances when you come to Italy!
Lesson 17	Counting 10-100	counting	Counting 11-100	11 undici 12 dodici 13 tredici 14 quattordici 15 quindici 16 sedici 17 diciassette 18 diciotto 19 diciannove 20 venti 30 trenta 40 quaranta 50 cinquanta 60 sessanta 70 settanta 80 ottanta 90 novanta 100 cento	"undici \| eleven novanta \| ninety ottanta \| eighty settanta \| seventy sessanta \| sixty cinquanta \| fifty quaranta \| forty trenta \| thirty venti \| twenty diciannove \| nineteen diciotto \| eighteen diciassette \| seventeen sedici \| sixteen quindici \| fifteen quattordici \| fourteen tredici \| thirteen dodici \| twelve cento \| a hundred"	So when walking randomly through famous shopping streets in Italy you will learn how to distinguish the Italian sizes for clothes which go from 38 (trentotto) to 62 (sessantadue) passing through 42 (quarantadue) and 44 (quarantaquattro) which are the equivalent of US 12 and 14. When at the counter of an Italian supermarket, if you want to ask for cold cuts you can say both 100 grammi or un etto as they both mean one hundred grams.
Lesson 18	How much?	How much?	Asking prices	Quanto costa questo? Quanto costa questa? Quanto viene questa camicia?	"camicia \| shirt costare \| to cost questo \| this (masculine singular)"	A quicker way to ask "How much?" is Quant'è? literally meaning "How much is?". Quant'è is the shortest version of Quanto è, where you cut the o and use the apostrophe before è. Even in an Italian bar, café, for example after you ask for an espresso at the counter, you can ask the cashier Un espresso per favore, quant'è? "One espresso please, how much is it?"
Lesson 19	Lower the price	lower the price please	Asking for a discount	Scusi, quanto costa questo? È troppo caro, mi fai un pò di sconto? Costa troppo. Ti do otto euro.	"sconto \| discount caro \| expensive dare \| to give costare \| to cost questo \| this (masculine singular) otto \| eight Euro \| Euro"	If a merchant doesn't seem to be very agreeable to the bargaining you can just say: L'ho visto a meno in un altra bancarella "I've seen it in another stand costing less" and see if the merchant tries to stop you means that you have won the negotiation.
Lesson 20	Currency	currency	Counting currency	Ventotto euro e cinquantadue centesimi Ventotto e cinquantadue Quattro euro e novantanove centesimi Quattro e novantanove	"quattro \| four centesimo \| cent Euro \| Euro cinquanta \| fifty ventotto \| twentyeight novantanove \| ninetynine"	Be careful because in Italian the decimal separator is "," not "." In Italian "," is virgola and "." Is punto. So it won't be unusual to hear Italians saying virgola while typing decimal numbers. The euro (€) has been the Italian currency since the 2002, when most countries of the EU adopted the Euro. Before the Euro the currency in Italy was the LIRA and the symbol was "£".
Lesson 21	Internet Cafe	internet	Using an internet cafe	Scusi quant'è all'ora? All'ora viene 2€. All'ora sono 2€. Posso fare una carta punti?	"carta punti \| pointcard ora \| time, hour potere \| can fare \| to do, to make, to build"	Internet cafes or internet points in Italy aren't very common, and facilities are limited. In fact you usually don't find soft drinks or snacks; normally local people don't go there to spend time drinking, surfing or reading comics, but usually the internet café is considered a place for visitors or tourists or for foreigners living in Italy who use this place even to make international phone calls, in fact a phone booth is never missing in an Italian internet café.
Lesson 22	Riding the Bus 1	riding the bus 1	Buying a bus ticket	Scusi, un biglietto dell'autobus per favore. Quanto costa un biglietto dell'autobus?	"per favore \| please biglietto \| ticket, note, card, banknote autobus \| bus"	One of the interesting aspects of the Italian language is its various and particular different ways to call things, in fact apart from autobus in Italian you can even hear buses called pullman. This name has originated from George Mortimer Pullman, an American businessman who invented the "pullman sleeping car".
Lesson 23	Riding the Bus 2	riding the bus 2	Confirming bus destinations	Scusi, va a…? Scusi, va a Isola Garibaldi? Scusi, ferma a Isola Garibaldi? Quanto tempo ci vuole per arrivare a …?	"andare \| to go fermare \| to stop, arrest, halt, book quanto \| how long"	Please notice that the English prepositions "to" and "at" are very often both translated as the Italian preposition a.
Lesson 24	Riding the Bus 3	riding the bus 3	Confirming bus stops	Qual'è la prossima fermata? La prossima fermata è Piazza del Popolo?	"fermata \| stop prossimo \| next, upcoming, forthcoming"	In Rome a bus ticket costs 1€ and it's valid for 75 minutes. The BIRG is a one-day ticket (24 hours) for an unlimited number of rides within Rome and it costs 4€. Then you have two different types of tourist tickets: one is the BTI for people who want to have a look around Rome for longer than one day. A BTI ticket is valid for three days and costs 11€.
Lesson 25	Riding the Rails I	riding the rails	Buying a subway ticket	Scusi, un biglietto della metropolitana per favore. Scusi, che linea devo prendere per il Duomo? Deve prendere la linea rossa.	"rosso \| red biglietto \| ticket, note, card, banknote metro \| subway linea \| line prendere \| to take, to get, to grab"	The largest subway areas in Italy are located in the cities of Milano (Milan), Roma (Rome), Torino (Turin), Bari, Napoli (Naples), Palermo, Genova (Genoa), Bologna and Firenze (Florence).
Lesson 26	Riding the Rails II	riding the train	Buying a train ticket	Un biglietto per Firenze per favore. Quanto costa un biglietto per Firenze? Due biglietti per Firenze per favore.	"per favore \| please biglietto \| ticket, note, card, banknote autobus \| bus"	The local ones are treni a trasporto locale and they connect the little urban centers to the main metropolitan areas. The national ones are the EUROSTAR which is a high speed train and the INTERCITY. Both cover very long distances and travel between the regions. Then there are the international trains that connect Italy to the main countries of Europe such as Switzerland, Holland, France, Germany, Spain and Austria.
Lesson 27	Riding the Rails III	riding the train	Buying a train ticket	Un biglietto per Roma prima classe per favore. Vorrei un biglietto per Roma andata e ritorno per favore. Vorrei un biglietto per Roma solo andata per favore.	"sola andata \| one way classe \| class biglietto \| ticket, note, card, banknote"	Andata e ritorno is a form used in Italian not only for train tickets but even for airplane tickets. For example if you wanted to buy a round-trip ticket from Rome to Paris you would say Un biglietto per Parigi andata e ritorno. Also Andata e ritorno is the title of an Italian movie directed by a famous director, Marco Ponti, pertaining the strange love story between a pony express guy and a beautiful hostess.
Lesson 28	Taking a Taxi	Taking a taxi	Taking a taxi	A Roma Termini. Vorrei andare a Roma Termini. Può cambiare cinquanta euro? Qui va bene.	"cinquanta \| fifty cambiare \| to change, shift, exchange andare \| to go bene \| well, good, fine Euro \| Euro"	You can normally find taxis outside airports, train stations or proper taxi stands. There will be several waiting so in this case you can just open the door of the first in the line and get in. You can easily recognize them because most of the times they are white coloured and have a luminous device with the writing TAXI.
Lesson 29	Where Can I Buy This?	where can I buy this?	Asking where something is located	Dove posso trovare un bar? Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un telefono? Scusi sa dirmi dove posso trovare un tabacchino? Dove posso trovare...?	"dire \| to say, to tell potere \| can trovare \| to find bar \| bar tabaccheria \| tobacco shop"	Usually bars have both restrooms and a phone, so you can simply ask where to find a bar.
Lesson 30	Is There a Store Near Here?	is there a store nearby here?	Looking for the closest store/ATM	C'è una farmacia qui vicino? C'è un bancomat qui vicino? C'è un ufficio postale nelle vicinanze?	"farmacia \| pharmacy bancomat \| ATM ufficio postale \| post office c'è \| there is"	In Italy when withdrawing at an ATM, please make sure that your card is compatible. You can do this by checking the symbol on your card and the one on the ATM. It might be better to contact your bank before leaving your country.
Lesson 31	Directions	directions	Giving directions	vada dritto giri a destra giri a sinistra giri a destra al semaforo È sulla destra. È sulla sinistra.	"sinistra \| left semaforo \| traffic light andare \| to go destra \| right girare \| to turn, go around, circle, wander dritto \| straight"	To get your destination you could even simply ask "How do I get to destination?" Come arrivo a destinazione?
Lesson 32	Can You Take My/Our Picture?	Can You Take my/our Picture?	Asking someone to take your picture	Può scattarci una foto? Puoi scattarci una foto? Può scattarmi una foto? Puoi scattarmi una foto?	"foto \| photo, picture scattare una foto \| to take a picture"	Nowadays with all these new technologies most people use digital cameras which give them the chance to see immediately the picture just taken. Before there used to be old film cameras, so people, to make sure they had a good picture and so a memory not out of focus, they often used to say the phrase: "Può scattarne un'altra?"
Lesson 33	Can I Take Your Picture?	Asking permission	Asking permission in German	Posso scattarle una foto? Posso scattarti una foto? Posso scattarvi una foto? Posso scattare una foto qui?	"qui \| here potere \| can foto \| photo, picture scattare una foto \| to take a picture"	Taking someone else's picture is not a common thing to do, and it might be misunderstood as an invasion of privacy. So please never forget the basic etiquette and try to be respectful and kind.
Lesson 34	How Do You Say This in Italian?	How Do You Say This in Italian?	Asking how to say something in Italian?	Come si dice fork in italiano? Come si dice questo in italiano? Come si dice quello in italiano? Come si traduce in italiano happy birthday?	"quello \| that tradurre \| to translate questo \| this (masculine singular) dire \| to say, to tell"	More simply, you can also say: come si chiama questo? "what's this called?" or come si chiama quello? "what's that called?" Omitting the part in italiano and using the verb chiamarsi "to be called" in place of the verb dire to say.
Lesson 35	Can You Write It Down?	Write It Down Please	Asking someone to write something down	Può scriverlo per favore? Me lo può scrivere per favore? Come si pronuncia questo? Ha carta e penna?	"penna \| pen pronunciare \| to pronounce carta \| paper scrivere \| to write come \| how"	When in Italy, please remember that normally most people will always be available and ready to help you, so don't be shy and ask: Ha un pezzo di carta? - "Do you have a piece of paper?" or Ha una penna o una matita? "Do you have a pen or a pencil?" or Potrebbe dirmi come si legge qui? "Could you tell me how to read this?"
Lesson 36	How Do You Read This?	Asking things about language	Asking pronunciation, meaning, etc	Come si legge questo? Come si pronuncia questo? Che significa?	"pronunciare \| to pronounce significare \| to mean, entail, signify leggere \| to read questo \| this (masculine singular) come \| how"	Here are some exceptions to the pronunciation rules in Italian. For the vowels we have vocale aperta (literally open vowel) and vocale chiusa (literally closed vowel) and this rule is valid only for the vowels O and E. One example of O aperta is in the word more ("blueberry"); the 'o' should sound more like the vowel sound in the English "mall".
Lesson 37	Hotel 1	Hotel 1 (Check-in)	Checking into a hotel	Ho una prenotazione. Vorrei una camera. Il suo nome per favore. Può fare lo spelling?	"fare lo spelling \| to spell camera \| room nome \| name prenotazione \| booking, reservation"	Tip#1 In Italy at the reception while you check-in you might be asked also some questions related to the room you prefer: Per quante persone – "How many people?" Per quante notti – "How many nights?" Preferisce una con balcone? – "Would you like a room with balcony?" Tip#2 Una camera – "One room" Due camere – "Two rooms" Una doppia – "One double (-bedded) room" Una singola – "One single" Una suite matrimoniale – "One bridal suite"
Lesson 38	Hotel 2	Accommodation	Checking out of a hotel	A che ora è il check-out? Posso avere altro sapone?	"altro \| another, else sapone \| soap avere \| to have potere \| can ora \| time, hour"	Apart from the English word "check out" used in the phrase A che ora è il check out? There is one more phrase you can often use: A che si deve lasciare la camera? In this phrase you use si deve, the impersonal form of the verb dovere "must – to have", to express that is an obligation.
Lesson 39	Post Office	Post Office I	Sending something at the post office	Vorrei inviare questo a Buenos Aires. Vorrei inviare questa cartolina a Buenos Aires. Vorrei inviare questa lettera a Buenos Aires Vorrei inviare questo pacco a Buenos Aires.	"pacco \| package cartolina \| postcard lettera \| letter inviare \| to send"	In Italian you can easily hear these words referring to a mailbox: casella postale or buca delle lettere. To have your letters or postcards ready to be sent, you need to buy stamps, which you can find at a tobacco shop. Please remember that prices for postcards and letters are different. So before buying stamps be sure to ask for francobolli per cartoline "stamps for postcards" or francobolli per lettere "stamps for letters".
Lesson 40	Post Office 2	Post Office II	Sending a package	Vorrei inviare questo pacco a Buenos Aires. Cosa c'è nel pacco? Che contiene il pacco?	"pacco \| package inviare \| to send contenere \| to contain"	If your package is not really big you might be asked: cosa c'è nel pacchetto?. Pacchetto literally means "little package". While sending a package from Poste Italiane your package will be weighted and measured because prices depend on weight and dimensions. So it will be better for you having a certain knowledge of the contents and an idea of the weight.
Lesson 41	Foreign Exchange	Exchanging Money	Exchanging currency	C'è un bancomat qui vicino? Dove posso cambiare dei soldi? In piccolo taglio per favore. Mi può cambiare per favore?	"vicino \| near, close cambiare \| to change, shift, exchange taglio (soldi) \| denomination soldi (plural) \| money, funds bancomat \| ATM"	"Small denominations" – piccolo taglio "High denominations" – grosso taglio "Small denomination banknotes" – banconote di piccolo taglio
Lesson 42	Buying a Phone Card	Phone Cards	Buying a phone card	Avete schede telefoniche? Una scheda telefonica da cinque euro per favore. Una scheda telefonica da dieci euro per favore. C'è una cabina telefonica qui vicino?	"carta telefonica \| telephone card dieci \| ten Euro \| Euro cinque \| five cabina telefonica \| payphone vicino \| near, close"	Tip#1 "Tobacco shop" in Italian can be: - tabaccaio - tabacchino - tabacchi So remember that if you want to buy a phone card, you can always ask: - scusi dov'è un tabacchino/tabaccaio/tabacchi? "Excuse me where is a tobacco shop?" - dove posso trovare un tabacchino/tabaccaio/tabacchi? "where can I find a tobacco shop?" - c'è un tabacchino/tabaccaio/tabacchi qui vicino? "Is there a tobacco shop near here?"
Lesson 43	Renting a Cellphone	Rent Phones	Renting phones in Spain	Vorrei affittare un telefono. Vorrei affittare due telefoni. Quanto costano le chiamate verso gli Stati Uniti?	"affittare \| to let, rent telefono \| telephone costare \| to cost chiamata \| call"	Tip#1 To rent something in Italian can also be translated as noleggiare instead of affittare. So at the airport while renting a mobile you can ask: vorrei noleggiare un telefono. Tip#2 In Italy "cell phone" is literally telefono cellulare, but everyone prefers the shortest version which is cellulare, so if you ask for a mobile rent you can also say: vorrei noleggiare un cellulare. Something very funny is that normally in spoken Italian you can also hear telefonino while talking about the mobile phone. Telefonino is literally "little phone", and mobile phones are often referred to with this word.
Lesson 44	Admissions	Admission - one please	Buying tickets	Un biglietto per favore. Tre biglietti per favore. Cinque biglietti per favore. Il suo biglietto per favore.	"per favore \| please cinque \| five tre \| three biglietto \| ticket, note, card, banknote"	Tip#1 In Italy there is a famous ticket seller, its name is TicketOne and there you can find any kind of ticket: tickets to concerts, the theatre, sports events, museums and art galleries. This dealer is a kind of brick and mortar business which provides you different ways to buy tickets. You can purchase from TicketOne at these places: 1. Internet (www.ticketone.it) 2. Dealers (above 450 all around Italy) 3. Call Centres (892.101 and some more Call Centres of important partners) 4. Promozione & Gruppi TicketOne Office
Lesson 45	Do You Have an English Version?	English Info Guide	Asking for an info guide in another language	Ha una guida in inglese? Avete una guida in inglese? Ha una guida in francese? Ha una guida in giapponese?	"giapponese \| Japanese francese \| French inglese \| English guida \| information guide"	Tip#1 Nowadays modern info guides are not only printed info guides but they can be also audio guides. So when entering a place you're visiting you might be asked: Vuole un'audio-guida? or vuole una guida audio? which both mean "do you want an audio-guide?" If you are not offered one and you know there are you can ask for it using nearly the same phrase of today: Ha un'audio-guida in inglese? or ha una guida audio in inglese? which both mean "do you have an English audio-guide?"
Lesson 46	How Do You Eat This?	How Do You Eat This?	Asking how to eat something	Come si mangia questo? Può aggiungerci qualcosa? È piccante?	"mangiare \| to eat piccante \| hot, spicy aggiungere \| to add qualcosa \| something"	Tip#1 Italian dishes are renowned for being hearty and full of carbohydrates and vitamins, so if you're not used to the western cuisine and you are afraid to not be able to finish a big portion that is normally served you could ask: si può avere una porzione piccola? "can I have a small portion?". Tip#2 Let's learn how to name in Italian the cutlery pieces: Forchetta – "fork" Coltello – "knife" Cucchiaio - "spoon" Cucchiaino – "coffee spoon" What if need one more of these pieces? Può portarmi un altro/un'altra (item)? which means "can you bring another item? Forchetta is the only female noun, so be creful to use un altro "another" masculine or un'altra "another" feminine.
Lesson 47	I'm a Vegetarian	Vegetarian	Saying you are a vegetarian/asking if a certain dish has something	Sono vegetariano. Non mangio carne. Non mangio formaggio. In questo c'è la carne?	formaggio \| cheese carne \| meat, flesh vegetariano \| vegetarian	Tip#1 Sono diabetico – "I'm a diabetic" Sono vegetariano – "I'm a vegetarian" Sono vegano – "I'm a vegan" Sono celiaco – "I'm a celiac" Sono astemio – "I don't drink alcohol" Sono intollerante al lattosio – "I'm lactose intolerant" Sono allergico alle uova – "I'm allergic to eggs" Tip#2 Use one of these patterns when you simply want to say that you don't eat or drink something for other reasons apart from illnesses. Non bevo vino – "I don't drink wine" Non bevo latte– "I don't drink milk" Non bevo birra– "I don't drink beer" Non mangio carne – "I don't eat meat" Non mangio pesce – "I don't eat fish"
Lesson 48	Help!	Help	Asking for help	Aiuto! Aiutatemi! Qualcuno mi aiuti!	"aiutare \| to help, aid, assist ambulanza \| ambulance chiamare \| to call polizia \| police vigili del fuoco \| firemen"	Tip#1 In case you need an ambulance: Chiamate un'ambulanza! – "Call the ambulance!" In case of robbery or bag snatch: Chiamate la polizia! – Call the police! In case of blaze: Chiamate i vigili del fuoco! – "Call the firemen!"
Lesson 49	Medical Assistance	Medical Assistance	Asking for medical assistance	Per favore portatemi in ospedale. Per favore portatemi da un dottore. Ho bisogno di una farmacia.	"farmacia \| pharmacy ospedale \| hospital dottore \| doctor portare \| to take ricetta medica \| medical prescription"	Tip#1 Ricetta stands for ricetta medica "medical prescription" and normally it's a red paper where the doctor writes down the names of the medicines you need. Tip#2 To call the ambulance in Italy you have to dial the number 118 which is on 24 hours a day and seven days a week. This number is nationwide available and it provides the first aid in case of emergencies.
Lesson 50	Explaining Symptoms	Medical Assistance II	Explaining symptoms	Ho mal di testa Ho mal di stomaco. Una medicina per il raffreddore perfavore.	"mal di testa \| headache mal di stomaco \| stomach ache febbre \| fever raffreddore \| cold naso otturato \| stuffed nose avere la nausea \| nauseous mal di gola \| sore throat"	Tip#1 We'll look at some more phrases with the same pattern; namely, "I have" stays the same and only the symptom changes. So let's go over some other symptoms: "I have a fever" – ho la febbre "I have a cold" – ho il raffreddore "I have a sore throat" – ho mal di gola "I have a stuffed nose" – ho il naso otturato "I am nauseous" – ho la nausea The next phrase may be hard to listen to, but if it happens to you, you'll be extremely glad we went over it! In Italian the expression "I have diarrhea" is ho la diarrea.
Lesson 51	Allergies	Explaining Allergies	Explaining allergies	Sono allergico alle arachidi. Sono allergico alle uova. Sono allergico al latte. Ho una reazione allergica.	"allergico \| allergic arachidi \| peanuts gambero \| shrimp uovo \| egg latte \| milk reazione \| reaction"	Tip#1 The word "egg" in Italian is uovo and it's a masculine noun. The definite article for uovo is lo which before a noun starting with vowel loses the o and takes the apostrophe. So "the egg" is l'uovo. This word is an exception in the Italian language because its plural becomes feminine uova. So "the eggs" in Italian is le uova.
Lesson 52	Introducing Yourself	Introduction	Introducing yourself	Come sta? Mi chiamo. Piacere di conoscerla. Come stai? Piacere di conoscerti.	"piacere \| pleasure conoscere \| to know come \| how"	Tip#1 A variation of these first encounters phrase is when someone is introducing you another person. Posso presentarle "qualcuno"?- "May I introduce you to "someone"?" (formal level) Ti presento "qualcuno" – "I introduce you someone" (informal level) Tip#2 Mi chiamo… is the answer to the question Come si chiama? "What's your name?" (if you are speaking at the formal level, or Come ti chiami? "What's your name?" (if it's informal). Normally you have this pattern: A- Piacere io mi chiamo NAME, e tu/lei? B- Io mi chiamo NAME, piacere di conoscerti/conoscerla A- Nice to meet you, my name is NAME and what's your name? B- My name is NAME, nice to meet you.
Lesson 53	Renting a Car	Renting a car/scooter	Renting a car/scooter	Vorrei noleggiare una macchina. Vorrei noleggiare un motorino. Vorrei noleggiare una motocicletta. Quando devo restituirla? Posso restituirla a Roma?	macchina \| car noleggiare \| to rent motocicletta \| motorcycle motorino \| scooter restituire \| to give back, return	Tip#1 A car rental in Italian is Autonoleggio. This word is made up by two nouns joined together: auto which means "car" and noleggio which means "hiring". Tip#2 The verb "to rent" can be translated as noleggiare, affittare, and also prendere in affitto. In the case you are renting a car, the verb noleggiare works just fine, but you won't be wrong if you use the other two verbs. But be careful because if you want to rent a house because you have to use one of the other two verbs affittare or prendere in affitto. So "I would like to rent an apartment for this summer" in Italian would be vorrei prendere in affitto un appartamento per questa estate.
Lesson 54	The Weather	Weather	Asking about weather	Che tempo farà domani? Pioverà. Nevicherà. Ci sarà il sole. Tirerà vento.	"tempo \| time, weather, tense piovere \| to rain nevicare \| to snow sole \| sun vento \| wind"	Tip#1 When talking about the weather we have the verb always at its impersonal form. There are some verbs in particular, the so-called impersonali intransitivi "intransitive impersonal" that are: Piovere – to rain Nevicare – to snow Grandinare – to hail So in the grammatical analysis the verb piovere "to rain" actually has no subject. And so we have: piove – it's raining nevica – it's snowing grandina – it's hailing
Lesson 55	What Time Is It?	What Time Is It?	Asking what time it is	Che ore sono? Sono le tre e venti. Sono le cinque e cinquantacinque. Sono le otto e trentaquattro. È mezzogiorno. È l'una. Sono le due e un quarto.	"una \| one o'clock mezzanotte \| midnight trentaquattro \| thirty-four cinquantacinque \| fifty-five venti \| twenty ora \| time, hour dodici \| twelve o'clock undici \| eleven o'clock dieci \| ten o'clock nove \| nine o'clock otto \| eight o'clock sette \| seven o'clock sei \| six o'clock cinque \| five o'clock quattro \| four o'clock tre \| three o'clock due \| two o'clock mezzogiorno \| noon, midday"	Tip#1 Let's imagine we split the watch into two halves. If you are in the right half when saying the time, you will always have the number of hours followed by the conjunction e and then the number of minutes, while in the other half you will have the number of hours followed by meno which literally means "less" followed by the number of minutes which are needed to reach the hour. So for example 8,55 would be otto meno cinque, 6,40 sette meno venti and so on. The only exception in this case is regarding 35 minutes past the hour. in fact you don't use meno but e. So 5,35 would be cinque e trentacinque.
Lesson 56	What Time Does It Open?	What Time Does It Close/Open?	Asking what time something closes or opens	A che ora apre? A che ora chiude? A che ora è servita la colazione? A che ora inizia lo spettacolo? A che ora arriviamo? a che ora parte il treno?	"aprire \| to open chiudere \| to close, to lock colazione \| breakfast spettacolo \| show, performance, sight"	Tip#1 The easiest way to tell if a shop is open or closed is by looking at the sign hanging on the door. APERTO "OPEN" and CHIUSO "CLOSED". On these signs you might also be able to read orario di apertura "opening hours" and the different times during the week. Other words you might come across are mattina "morning" and pomeriggio "afternoon". In some case there can be different opening schedules depending on the season; so you can find orario estivo "summer opening hours" or orario invernale "winter opening hours". Tip#2 If you see people inside a shop and you want to make sure that it's open before walking in, simply ask: è aperto? which means "Is it open?" and you might be answered si è aperto "yes it's open" or no è chiuso "no, it's closed".
Lesson 57	I Like It!	I Like It. I Don't Like It	Talking about preferences	Mi piace. Mi piace molto. Mi pialce moltissimo. Non mi piace.	"piacere \| to like molto \| very, really"	Tip#1 In Italian the structure "I like it" is not very straight forward as in English where you have: SUBJECT (who) + LIKE/DON'T LIKE + OBJECT (what). Example: I like pizza In Italian it changes and it becomes much more complicated because we have: COMPLEMENT (who) + PIACERE/NON PIACERE + SUBJECT (who) Example: Mi piace la pizza. It becomes complicated if you turn the complement MI in A ME. So "I like pizza" can also be translated with a me piace la pizza. Tip#2 In Italian to express the sentence "I really like it" there are some patterns often used by young people in the spoken language: Mi piace un sacco literally meaning "I like it a sack" Mi piace un casino literally meaning "I like it a mess" Mi piace una cifra literally meaning "I like it a cipher" Then even if you don't use the pattern mi piace in Italian we have many other ways Mi fa impazzire "I'm mad about it" Lo adoro "I adore it" Lo amo "I love it" Instead non mi piace proprio and non mi piace per niente are used to traslate "I don't like it at all".
Lesson 58	Adjectives	Useful and High Frequency Adjectives	Using frequency adjectives	È delizioso. È piccante. È freddo. Fa caldo. Fa freddo. È lontano. È vicino. Non è piccante. È caldo.	"delizioso \| delightful, delicious piccante \| hot, spicy caldo \| hot freddo \| cold lontano \| far, distant vicino \| near, close"	Tip#1 The adjective "nice" in Italian can be translated as: buono if you are talking about food (this pasta is really nice – questa pasta è davvero buona) buono/bello if you are talking about weather (what a nice weather today – che bel tempo oggi) gentile/buono/simpatico if you are talking about a person (Luca is a really nice guy – Luca è davvero un ragazzo gentile). Tip#1: The adjectives buono and cattivo in Italian can be used with two different meanings: - talking about food they could be translated as "tasty" buono and "poor" cattivo - talking about people they could be translated as "good" buono and "bad" cattivo.
Lesson 59	Nationality	Nationality	Telling a nationality in Italian	Mi chiamo Michael. Sono americano Sono americana. È americano. È americana. Sono spagnolo. Sono spagnola. Di dove sei?	"essere \| to be americano \| American"	Tip#1 Let's see some nationalities. Be careful because some adjectives are the same for both genders. American americano/a Argentinean argentino/a Australian australiano/a Belgian belga Canadian canadese African africano/a Cuban cubano/a Danish danese Egyptian egiziano/a Finnish finlandese French francese German tedesco/ Greek greco/a Indian indiano/a Indonesian indonesiano/a Irish irlandese Israeli israeliano/a Italian italiano/ Jamaican giamaicano/a Japanese giappones Mexican messicano/a Norwegian norvegese Peruvian peruviano/a Polish polacco/a Portuguese portoghese Russian russo/a Scottish scozzese Italian spagnolo/a Turkish turco/a Vietnamese vietnamita Welsh gallese
Lesson 60	Congratulations!	Spacial events	Talking about special holidays in Italian	Congratulazioni Auguri Buon compleanno Buon Anno Buon Natale Buon Pasqua	"complimenti \| congratulations compleanno \| birthday buono \| good Natale \| Christmas Pasqua \| Easter "	Tip#1 One common Italian way to give our best wishes is: per cento anni literally meaning "for a hundred years", because it's like you were wishing to extend the joy and the happiness of that particular moment for another hundred years. Tip#2 And for my final tip I want to seize the opportunity to give you my congratulations for all the work we have done together and for the big effort you have done to start and continue learning this language, I wish you all the best. Le mie migliori congratulazioni e vi auguro tutto il meglio.