Learn how to use the Italian pluperfect tense to express an unlikely occurrence
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Marco: Hello, and welcome to the Beginner Series S2 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. |
| Marco: In today's class, we'll continue studying the usage of trapassato prossimo tense. In addition, we will see the trapassato prossimo reference boards with both essere and avere auxiliary verbs. |
| Consuelo: Elena is working at the bakery |
| Marco: The conversation is between Elena and Antonio. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are not friends; therefore, they will be speaking formally. |
| Marco: Now, if you're 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... |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Elena: Buongiorno. |
| Antonio: Buongiorno. Mamma mia che acquazzone! |
| Elena: Eh sì...è completamente bagnato! |
| Antonio: Eh…stamattina avevo visto che era nuvoloso ma non pensavo potesse piovere così forte. Le strade sono allagate ed io non ho l'ombrello. |
| Elena: Ah capisco… Mi dica, cosa le do oggi? |
| Antonio: Mmmm, non ho fatto colazione, vorrei un bel pezzo di focaccia con funghi e carciofi. |
| Elena: Ok. Ecco qua! Le serve altro? |
| Antonio: In realtà ero venuto anche per chiederle un favore. Potrebbe tenere la mia valigia in negozio per un'oretta? Devo fare delle spese prima di prendere il treno. |
| Elena: Non c'è problema. Mi dia pure la sua valigia. Le presto anche il mio ombrello. |
| Antonio: Oh, grazie infinite signorina, lei è sempre così gentile. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Elena: Buongiorno. |
| Antonio: Buongiorno. Mamma mia che acquazzone! |
| Elena: Eh sì...è completamente bagnato! |
| Antonio: Eh…stamattina avevo visto che era nuvoloso ma non pensavo potesse piovere così forte. Le strade sono allagate ed io non ho l'ombrello. |
| Elena: Ah capisco… Mi dica, cosa le do oggi? |
| Antonio: Mmmm, non ho fatto colazione, vorrei un bel pezzo di focaccia con funghi e carciofi. |
| Elena: Ok. Ecco qua! Le serve altro? |
| Antonio: In realtà ero venuto anche per chiederle un favore. Potrebbe tenere la mia valigia in negozio per un'oretta? Devo fare delle spese prima di prendere il treno. |
| Elena: Non c'è problema. Mi dia pure la sua valigia. Le presto anche il mio ombrello. |
| Antonio: Oh, grazie infinite signorina, lei è sempre così gentile. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Elena: Buongiorno. |
| Marco: Good morning. |
| Antonio: Buongiorno. Mamma mia che acquazzone! |
| Marco: Good morning. My goodness, what a rainstorm! |
| Elena: Eh sì...è completamente bagnato! |
| Marco: Oh yes...you are completely wet! |
| Antonio: Eh…stamattina avevo visto che era nuvoloso ma non pensavo potesse piovere così forte. Le strade sono allagate ed io non ho l'ombrello. |
| Marco: Eh...this morning, I had seen it was cloudy but I didn't think it could rain so heavily. Streets are overflowing and I don't have an umbrella. |
| Elena: Ah capisco… Mi dica, cosa le do oggi? |
| Marco: Ah I see… Please tell me, what shall I give you today? |
| Antonio: Mmmm, non ho fatto colazione, vorrei un bel pezzo di focaccia con funghi e carciofi. |
| Marco: Mmmm, I didn't have breakfast; I'd like a big piece of focaccia with mushrooms and artichokes. |
| Elena: Ok. Ecco qua! Le serve altro? |
| Marco: Okay. Here you go! Do you need anything else? |
| Antonio: In realtà ero venuto anche per chiederle un favore. Potrebbe tenere la mia valigia in negozio per un'oretta? Devo fare delle spese prima di prendere il treno. |
| Marco: Actually, I also came to ask you a favor. Could you keep my suitcase in the shop for about one hour? I have to do some shopping before getting on the train. |
| Elena: Non c'è problema. Mi dia pure la sua valigia. Le presto anche il mio ombrello. |
| Marco: No problem. Please give me your bag. I'll also lend you my umbrella. |
| Antonio: Oh, grazie infinite signorina, lei è sempre così gentile. |
| Marco: Oh, thank you so much miss, you are always so kind. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, in Italy, is it normal to ask a shop clerk for a favor? |
| Consuelo: Mmm. I can say yes, but it depends. If you are a regular customer and it is a small shop, it could happen, especially in small cities where everyone knows each other. |
| Marco: Oh really? That's why Elena was so kind with her customer. |
| Consuelo: Yes, but it could never happen in a supermarket, for example. |
| Marco: I see, have you ever asked a favor of a shop assistant? |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, and I have to say that they were always ready to help me. |
| Marco: Oh, that's nice!! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: acquazzone [natural native speed] |
| Marco: rainstorm, downpour, rainshower |
| Consuelo: acquazzone [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: acquazzone [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: bagnato [natural native speed] |
| Marco: wet |
| Consuelo: bagnato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: bagnato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: ombrello [natural native speed] |
| Marco: umbrella |
| Consuelo: ombrello [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: ombrello [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: pezzo [natural native speed] |
| Marco: piece, part, bit |
| Consuelo: pezzo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: pezzo [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: focaccia [natural native speed] |
| Marco: focaccia (a type of flat bread) |
| Consuelo: focaccia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: focaccia [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: carciofo [natural native speed] |
| Marco: artichoke |
| Consuelo: carciofo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: carciofo [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Marco: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Marco: Consuelo, which word are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: That's the Italian word "pezzo" |
| Marco: "piece," "part." |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, that's the principal translation, but "pezzo" is a word that has many meanings. Let's see the most common. |
| Marco: Ah, okay. |
| Consuelo: "Ho scritto un pezzo per il giornale." |
| Marco: "I wrote an article for the newspaper." In this case, "pezzo" means "article." |
| Consuelo: "Ho suonato un pezzo nuovo con la band." |
| Marco: I see, in this case, "pezzo" means "song" or "piece." "I played a new song with the band." |
| Consuelo: Talking about people, I could use it to say "Lui è un pezzo grosso." |
| Marco: "He's a big shot." That's interesting, thank you, Consuelo. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: Today, we are going to focus on the usage of the "trapassato prossimo" tense. In addition, we will see the "trapassato prossimo" conjugation of the auxiliary verbs, "essere" and "avere." |
| Consuelo: Let's start by stating that the Italian "trapassato prossimo" tense ("pluperfect") is used in informal Italian to convey the unlikeliness of an action. |
| Marco: Please note that this use is only possible in really informal spoken Italian and should be avoided both in the written language and in properly spoken Italian. Let's now see some examples… |
| Consuelo: "Se avessi prenotato prima, a quest'ora eravamo già entrati." |
| Marco: "If you booked in advance, we'd be already inside by now." |
| Consuelo: "Avete deciso di prendere la macchina, se avessimo preso l'aereo, eravamo arrivati." |
| Marco: "You decided to take the car; had we taken the plane, we would have arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Se Luca avesse ascoltato il mio consiglio, aveva finito il suo compito." |
| Marco: "Had Luca listened to my advice, he would have been done with his assignment." |
| Please note that in the sample sentences we have just seen, the proper Italian grammar would require the use of the "condizionale" tense, either present or past, instead of "trapassato prossimo." |
| Consuelo: Although using the "passato prossimo" is considered incorrect in standard Italian, we still have to be able to recognize this misusage as it is very common. |
| Marco: Finally, the "trapassato prossimo" tense may be used to express a higher level of politeness, mainly when using the verb "venire" ("to come"). This is done as an alternative to using the "passato prossimo" tense. The best thing is that there is no difference in the English translation. For instance… |
| Consuelo: "Buongiorno, sono venuto per chiederle un favore." |
| Marco: "Passato prossimo," standard form. |
| Consuelo: "Buongiorno, ero venuto per chiederle un favore." |
| Marco: "Trapassato prossimo," higher degree of politeness. Meaning "Good morning, I came to ask you a favor." Next example… |
| Consuelo: "Ciao, sono venuto per vedere se avevi bisogno di qualcosa." |
| Marco: "Passato prossimo," standard form. |
| Consuelo: "Ciao, ero venuto per vedere se avevi bisogno di qualcosa." |
| Marco: "Trapassato prossimo," higher degree of politeness. Meaning "Hi, I came to see if you needed something." Last example… |
| Consuelo: "Ciao, siamo venuti per aiutarvi." |
| Marco: "Passato prossimo," standard form. |
| Consuelo: "Ciao, eravamo venuti per aiutarvi." |
| Marco: "Trapassato prossimo," higher degree of politeness. Meaning "Hi, we came to help you." In this case, the speakers formulate the sentence as if it were a past occurrence in order to achieve a higher level of courtesy and formality. |
| Consuelo: And now to slightly change topic. The "trapassato prossimo" of the three conjugations is realized by using the "indicativo imperfetto" of the auxiliary verb (either "essere" or "avere") conjugated according to the person it refers to, followed by the past participle of the main verb… |
| Marco: To recap - Subject + auxiliary verb (imperfect) + main verb (past participle). And now let's take a look at the "trapassato prossimo" of the verb "arrivare" ("to arrive"), which needs the auxiliary verb "essere" ("to be"). |
| Consuelo: "Io ero arrivato." |
| Marco: "I had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Tu eri arrivato." |
| Marco: "You had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Lui era arrivato." |
| Marco: "He had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Lei era arrivata." |
| Marco: "She had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Noi eravamo arrivati." |
| Marco: "We had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Voi eravate arrivati." |
| Marco: "You had arrived." |
| Consuelo: "Loro erano arrivati." |
| Marco: "They had seen." Next we have the "trapassato prossimo" of the verb "vedere" ("to see," "to watch"), which needs the auxiliary verb "avere" ("to have"). |
| Consuelo : "Io avevo visto." |
| Marco: "I had seen." |
| Consuelo: "Tu avevi visto." |
| Marco: "You had seen." |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei aveva visto." |
| Marco: "He/she/it had seen." |
| Consuelo: "Noi avevamo visto." |
| Marco: "We had seen." |
| Consuelo: "Voi avevate visto." |
| Marco: "You had seen." |
| Consuelo: "Loro avevano visto." |
| Marco: "They had seen." |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Consuelo, I'd like to share a study tip a listener shared with us. |
| Consuelo: Ahh, you're talking about the student who uses just the conversation tracks to review the lessons. |
| Marco: Consuelo, you read my mind. |
| Consuelo: (laughter) |
| Marco: Yep a listener of ours listens to each lesson several times, |
| Consuelo: Then afterward, get the conversation only track from our site. |
| Marco: She then listens to them on shuffle again and again. She created her own immersion program using ItalianPod101.com. |
| Consuelo: This is a great idea. Please give it a try and let us know what you think? |
| Marco: okay... |
| Marco: Ciao! |
| Consuelo: Arrivederci! |
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