Learn how to use the Italian remote past verb tense
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| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Marco: In today's class, we'll study the differences in the usage of passato remoto tense as regards the spoken language in northern and southern Italy. In addition, we will see the passato remoto reference board of first conjugation regular verbs. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place at the bakery. |
| Marco: The conversation is between Elena and Mario. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are friends; therefore, they will be speaking informally. |
| Consuelo: Listeners...I have a question... |
| Marco: A question? |
| Consuelo: Yep, I want to know when was the last time you commented? |
| Marco: Ahh, yes! Great question. |
| Consuelo: Stop by ItalianPOD101.com, leave us a comment or just say hi. |
| Marco: haha...okay, you heard Consuelo. |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Mario: Ehi, chi ha lasciato qui questa valigia? |
| Elena: Oh, scusi... |
| Mario: Ecco, sono inciampato e mi è caduto il pane! |
| Elena: Ci penso io a buttarlo. |
| Mario: Insomma, fa attenzione! Porto dei vassoi roventi! |
| Elena: Abbia pazienza. È la valigia del Signor Antonio... |
| Mario: Non è quello il punto. Quando cominciai a lavorare anche io facevo degli errori, ma tu sei quasi un disastro! |
| Elena: Non dica così, faccio del mio meglio. |
| Mario: Lo so, ma sei troppo distratta! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Mario: Ehi, chi ha lasciato qui questa valigia? |
| Elena: Oh, scusi... |
| Mario: Ecco, sono inciampato e mi è caduto il pane! |
| Elena: Ci penso io a buttarlo. |
| Mario: Insomma, fa attenzione! Porto dei vassoi roventi! |
| Elena: Abbia pazienza. È la valigia del Signor Antonio... |
| Mario: Non è quello il punto. Quando cominciai a lavorare anche io facevo degli errori, ma tu sei quasi un disastro! |
| Elena: Non dica così, faccio del mio meglio. |
| Mario: Lo so, ma sei troppo distratta! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Mario: Ehi, chi ha lasciato qui questa valigia? |
| Marco: Hey, who left this suitcase here? |
| Elena: Oh, scusi... |
| Marco: Oh, excuse me... |
| Mario: Ecco, sono inciampato e mi è caduto il pane! |
| Marco: There! I stumbled and dropped the bread! |
| Elena: Ci penso io a buttarlo. |
| Marco: I'll take care of throwing it away. |
| Mario: Insomma, fa attenzione! Porto dei vassoi roventi! |
| Marco: Well, pay attention! I bring red-hot trays! |
| Elena: Abbia pazienza. È la valigia del Signor Antonio... |
| Marco: Please forgive me. That's Mr. Antonio's luggage... |
| Mario: Non è quello il punto. Quando cominciai a lavorare anche io facevo degli errori, ma tu sei quasi un disastro! |
| Marco: That's not the point. When I began working I made some mistakes too, but you are almost a disaster! |
| Elena: Non dica così, faccio del mio meglio. |
| Marco: Please don't talk like that; I do my best. |
| Mario: Lo so, ma sei troppo distratta! |
| Marco: I know, but you're too absentminded! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Are there many bakeries in a city in Italy? |
| Consuelo: Oh, Marco, you cannot imagine how many bakeries you can find even in a small village! |
| Marco: Oh really? |
| Consuelo: Yes, we eat bread every day during our meals. |
| Marco: So you need to buy fresh bread every week? |
| Consuelo: Every week? Every day! |
| Marco: Oh, interesting. That's why you have all those different types of bread. |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco. Basically, bread differs on which region we are in. Tuscany, for example, is famous for the bread made without salt. |
| Marco: Let's see whether we can find some for today's lunch. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: inciampare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to stumble, trip |
| Consuelo: inciampare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: inciampare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: infornare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to put into the oven, bake |
| Consuelo: infornare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: infornare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: vassoio [natural native speed] |
| Marco: tray |
| Consuelo: vassoio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: vassoio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: rovente [natural native speed] |
| Marco: red-hot, scorching |
| Consuelo: rovente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: rovente [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: cominciare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to start, begin |
| Consuelo: cominciare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: cominciare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: disastro [natural native speed] |
| Marco: disaster, mess |
| Consuelo: disastro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: disastro [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 "disastro" |
| Marco: "disaster." |
| Consuelo: Yes, Marco, the main meaning of this word is "catastrophe," "big accident," like "disastro aereo" |
| Marco: "air crash." |
| Consuelo: Or "vittima di un disastro" |
| Marco: "disaster victim." |
| Consuelo: But this word can be used to describe a person who is very absentminded. |
| Marco: Oh really? Liked it happened to Elena? |
| Consuelo: Yes, poor Elena. She always makes mistakes. That's why she's called "disastro" by the owner of the bakery. |
| Marco: Oh, I see, but is it offensive? |
| Consuelo: I shouldn't say it is very offensive but it is a rather negative word. |
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 "passato remoto" tense. We are going to discuss the differences between the spoken language in northern and southern Italy. In addition, we will see the "passato remoto" of first conjugation regular verbs. |
| Consuelo: Before explaining the Italian "passato remoto" tense, we first of all need to make a distinction between northern and southern Italy as regards the spoken language. |
| Marco: Northern Italians tend to use the "passato prossimo" tense to express any past occurrence, regardless of how much time elapsed between the conveyed event and the utterance of the sentence. For example… |
| Consuelo: "I romani hanno costruito il colosseo." |
| Marco: "Romans built the Colosseum." |
| Consuelo: "Gli americani sono sbarcati sulla luna nel 1969." |
| Marco: "Americans landed on the moon in 1969." |
| Consuelo: "Ieri sono andato al cinema." |
| Marco: "Yesterday, I went to the cinema." Similarly, southern Italians tend to use the "passato remoto" tense to express any past occurrence, making no difference between distant and recent events. For instance… |
| Consuelo: "La battaglia di Lepanto accadde nel 1571." |
| Marco: "The battle of Lepanto took place in 1571." |
| Consuelo: "Andammo in Inghilterra l'anno scorso." |
| Marco: "We went to England last year." |
| Consuelo: "Stamattina incontrai tua sorella." |
| Marco: "I met your sister this morning." Both the northern and southern Italian usage of, respectively, "passato prossimo" and "passato remoto" are perfectly acceptable in informal spoken language. |
| Marco: The "passato remoto" tense is formed by dropping the ending from the infinitive form of the verb and adding the appropriate endings to the root, as we shall now see. |
| Consuelo: First, take the infinitive form of a verb, for example "coltivare" ("to till," "to cultivate," "to grow"). |
| Marco: Second, drop the ending (that is the last three letters), leaving "coltiv-." |
| Consuelo: Third, add the appropriate endings, "coltiv-ai," "coltiv-asti," "coltiv-ò," etc. |
| Marco: And now, let's see the "passato remoto" tense of the first conjugation regular verb "amare," "to love." |
| Consuelo: "Io amai." |
| Marco: "I loved." |
| Consuelo: "Tu amasti." |
| Marco: "You loved." |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei amò." |
| Marco: "He/she/it loved." |
| Consuelo: "Noi amammo." |
| Marco: "We loved." |
| Consuelo: "Voi amaste." |
| Marco: "You loved." |
| Consuelo: "Loro amarono." |
| Marco: "They loved." |
| Consuelo: Please remember that the third singular person needs a marked accent on the ending "ò," otherwise you'll have "(Io) amo" ("I love"), the first singular person of the simple present tense. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Before we go, we want to tell you about a way to improve your pronunciation drastically. |
| 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! |
| Marco: A presto! |
| Consuelo: Arrivederci! |
Comments
HideHi Lorraine,
you're very welcome!
If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.
A presto!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Great explanations Valentina!!
Grazie mille!!
Lorraine
Ciao Lorraine,
thanks for your question!
"Un disastro" is a noun (masculine), not an adjective, so there's no need to change the ending. You can use it as is for both genders.
"Disastroso" on the other hand, is an adjective ("catastrophic"), so you'd need to make it agree with the noun it's referring to.
A presto!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
Buongiorno a tutti!
The word disaster always ends with an "o" as an adjective for both genders?
Grazie e buonagiornata
Lorraine
Hi Arash,
You're right, "abbia pazienza" literally means "please be patient."
In this lesson conversation, the implied meaning is "please be patient with me and forgive me," that's why they chose to translate it as "Please forgive me."
I hope this helps!
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hi,
I have question about "abbi pazienza" phrase, I heard it from my Italian friends to expression about being calm down or having patient but here you translated it to "forgive me", I appreciate if you let me know about correct meaning.
Thank you
Ciao a tutti!
Thank you for posting!
@Joan, Elena could have said "Penso io a buttarlo via."
@Marie, right, it should be "buttarlo" as it refers to "pane" which is masculine.
A presto,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Si tratta del pane non della valigia. Capisco. Grazie.
Buongiorno
"Ci penso io a buttarlo". Perché è "buttarlo" e non "buttarlla" (la valigia)?
Grazie
Grazie per la tua riposta, Ofelia. I will add "ci penso io" to my vocabulary. To further clarify,
Could Elena have said "Penso che buttarlo via" or "Ci penso buttarlo via" or "Penso io buttarlo via" to mean "I'll take care of throwing it away" or is the "ci penso io" a three-word idiom?
Joan
Hi Joan Blench,
Thank you for posting!
You are right "Ci penso io" means "I'm thinking about it". But "pensare" can also mean "to take care", like in this case "I'l take care of it".
"Ci penso io" is actually a very commonly used sentence!
Here "ci" has the same meaning of "buttarlo via" ("to throw that away") and using it in the same sentence, makes the expression more emphasized.
"Ne penso" wouldn't be possible.
These 2 particles, "ne" and "ci", are one of the most difficult part of Italian grammar since they don't have a real counterpart in English. Sometimes just learning by heart is the faster way to understand the meaning.
I hope this helps!
Grazie!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Could you please explain the usage of "ci penso" in the fourth sentence? "Ci penso io a buttarlo." I understand the "io" is probably there to emphasize that Elena is taking it upon herself to throw away the bread ("buttarlo"), but I can't figure out why she would say "Ci penso" to her boss. To me "Ci penso" means "I'm thinking about it" which is not the same as "I will do it" as any parent of a teenager will tell you. Is there another meaning to "pensare" here? Also, if the action of throwing away the bread had been mentioned earlier, could Elena have said "Ne penso"?
Thanks for your help!
trongnghia,
Thanks for letting us know! They should be fixed now :smile: Please try playing them again.
Review and Dialog:
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Grazie per le lezioni interessante! Imparo un po' ogni giorni.
In this lesson, in both the audio and the pdf, these sentences are given as examples of the passato remoto tense:
"Siamo andati in Inghilterra l'anno scorso."
"Stamattina ho incontrato tua sorella."
Maybe I'm confused, but isn't this the passato prossimo tense?