Learn the usage of passato remoto and passato prossimo tenses
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Marco: Hello, and welcome back to the ItalianPOD101.com , the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Italian! I'm joined in the studio by... |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone. Consuelo here. |
| Marco: In this lesson, we continue studying the usage of passato remoto and passato prossimo tenses. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place at a travel agency. |
| Marco: The conversation is between Carlo, Anna, and the travel agent. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are friends; therefore, they speak informally, but when Carlo speaks to the travel agent, he becomes formal. |
| 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 |
| Anna: Ehi Carlo, anche tu in partenza? |
| Carlo: Oh ciao Anna, sì, cerco una meta per le ferie. Qualche consiglio? |
| Anna: Io l'anno scorso sono andata in Egitto. Ho fatto tante escursioni, il mare poi è stupendo! |
| Agente di Viaggio: Scusi, ecco a lei il catalogo per il Mar Rosso. Le interessa? |
| Carlo: Oh grazie. Volevo andarci tre anni fa, ma la mia ragazza decise per la Tailandia... |
| Agente di Viaggio: Capisco, ma quest'anno ci sono un sacco di offerte. |
| Anna: Io adesso devo andare, ieri ho sentito tua sorella. Domani andiamo insieme a una mostra fotografica, vieni anche tu vero? |
| Carlo: Volentieri, allora a domani, ciao! |
| Anna: Ciao! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Anna: Ehi Carlo, anche tu in partenza? |
| Carlo: Oh ciao Anna, sì, cerco una meta per le ferie. Qualche consiglio? |
| Anna: Io l'anno scorso sono andata in Egitto. Ho fatto tante escursioni, il mare poi è stupendo! |
| Agente di Viaggio: Scusi, ecco a lei il catalogo per il Mar Rosso. Le interessa? |
| Carlo: Oh grazie. Volevo andarci tre anni fa, ma la mia ragazza decise per la Tailandia... |
| Agente di Viaggio: Capisco, ma quest'anno ci sono un sacco di offerte. |
| Anna: Io adesso devo andare, ieri ho sentito tua sorella. Domani andiamo insieme a una mostra fotografica, vieni anche tu vero? |
| Carlo: Volentieri, allora a domani, ciao! |
| Anna: Ciao! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Anna: Ehi Carlo, anche tu in partenza? |
| Marco: Hey, Carlo, are you leaving, too? |
| Carlo: Oh ciao Anna, sì, cerco una meta per le ferie. Qualche consiglio? |
| Marco: Oh, hi, Anna. Yes, I'm looking for a destination for my vacation. Any advice? |
| Anna: Io l'anno scorso sono andata in Egitto. Ho fatto tante escursioni, il mare poi è stupendo! |
| Marco: Last year, I went to Egypt. I made a lot of day trips, and the sea is amazing! |
| Agente di Viaggio: Scusi, ecco a lei il catalogo per il Mar Rosso. Le interessa? |
| Marco: Excuse me. Here is the catalogue for the Red Sea. Are you interested? |
| Carlo: Oh grazie. Volevo andarci tre anni fa, ma la mia ragazza decise per la Tailandia... |
| Marco: Oh, thank you. I wanted to go there three years ago, but my girlfriend decided on Thailand… |
| Agente di Viaggio: Capisco, ma quest'anno ci sono un sacco di offerte. |
| Marco: I see. But this year there are many special offers. |
| Anna: Io adesso devo andare, ieri ho sentito tua sorella. Domani andiamo insieme a una mostra fotografica, vieni anche tu vero? |
| Marco: I have to go now; yesterday, I spoke with your sister. Tomorrow, we're going together to a photographic exhibition; you are coming, right? |
| Carlo: Volentieri, allora a domani, ciao! |
| Marco: Sure, see you tomorrow, bye! |
| Anna: Ciao! |
| Marco: Bye! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Consuelo, tell me, do Italians prefer the seaside for their vacations? |
| Consuelo: Mmm, I think Italians prefer going to the beach to tan and relax during summer, but on winter holidays, they go to the mountains. |
| Marco: Because in Italy there are many mountains, right? |
| Consuelo: Yes, there are. We also have a lot of beautiful beaches, but in summertime, about fifty percent of people on vacation tend to go abroad. |
| Marco: For example? Which are the favorite destinations? |
| Consuelo: The Mediterranean Sea offers a vast variety of cheap and beautiful places, such as Greece, Egypt, Spain… |
| Marco: And what about more exotic resorts? |
| Consuelo: You know, Marco, many Italians associate exotic places with romantic honeymoons. But in every travel agency, you can find a picture with a beautiful lady lying on a white sand beach drinking a cocktail. |
| Marco: I see…that's what attracts Italians… |
| Consuelo: Sure, but that's not the kind of trip you can do every year, it's rather far from Italy! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: meta [natural native speed] |
| Marco: destination, aim, goal |
| Consuelo: meta [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: meta [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: ferie [natural native speed] |
| Marco: vacation, holidays |
| Consuelo: ferie [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: ferie [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: escursione [natural native speed] |
| Marco: excursion, hike, journey, trip, day trip |
| Consuelo: escursione [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: escursione [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: stupendo [natural native speed] |
| Marco: wonderful, amazing, marvelous |
| Consuelo: stupendo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: stupendo [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: fotografico [natural native speed] |
| Marco: photographic |
| Consuelo: fotografico [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: fotografico [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: volentieri [natural native speed] |
| Marco: willingly, gladly, sure, with pleasure |
| Consuelo: volentieri [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: volentieri [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 expression are we studying today? |
| Consuelo: That's the Italian expression "un sacco di…" |
| Marco: "a lot of," "many." |
| Consuelo: Literally, it means "a sack of," but it is usually used in current Italian if we want to express a big quantity of something. |
| Marco: That's interesting. So if I want to say, "I have a lot of things to do," how should I say it? |
| Consuelo: "Ho un sacco di cose da fare." And if you want to say "there are a lot of beautiful girls," how do you say that? |
| Marco: "Ci sono un sacco di belle ragazze." |
| Consuelo: Perfect! |
| Marco: Thank you, Consuelo; this can be useful. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Consuelo: Let's take a look at today's grammar point. |
| Marco: Today, we'll continue focusing on the usage of the "passato remoto" and the "passato prossimo" tense. We shall be considering other factors, apart from time, that can influence the choice of which tense is more appropriate for the context we are speaking in. And finally, we will see the "passato remoto" of third conjugation regular verbs. |
| Consuelo: When deciding whether to choose the "passato prossimo" or the "passato remoto" tense, there are certain factors that need to be taken into account… |
| Marco: …apart from the time occurred between the utterance of the sentence and the event(s) it conveys. |
| Consuelo: The "passato prossimo" tense is considered to belong to a standard level of formality in Italian and it is often associated with the spoken language. |
| Marco: On the other hand, we tend to use the "passato remoto" tense more often in the written language, unless we wish to adopt a highly formal variety of spoken Italian language. |
| Consuelo: This is the case when we have to deliver speeches in formal working or studying environments, such as universities, businesses, etc. |
| Marco: For instance… |
| Consuelo: "Ciao Marco, sai che l'anno scorso sono andato ("passato prossimo") a Londra?" This is standard spoken Italian. |
| Marco: "Hi Marco, do you know last year I went to London?" |
| Consuelo: "Buona giornata. Desidero iniziare il mio rapporto evidenziando ciò che il mio predecessore decise ("passato remoto") sei mesi fa." This is with a highly formal spoken Italian, a speech at a business. |
| Marco: "Good day. I wish to begin my report underlining what my predecessor decided six months ago." |
| Consuelo: "Desidero iniziare la mia presentazione ricordando quali furono ("passato remoto") le battaglie più importanti combattute dai greci nel quarto secolo A.C." |
| Here, we are using a highly formal spoken Italian; it is a presentation at the university. |
| Marco: "I wish to start my presentation recalling what were the major battles fought by the Greeks in the fourth century B.C." |
| And now, let's see the "passato remoto" tense of the third conjugation of the regular verb "dormire" ("to sleep"). |
| Consuelo: "Io dormii" |
| Marco: "I slept" |
| Consuelo: "Tu dormisti" |
| Marco: "you slept" |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei dormì" |
| Marco: "he/she/it slept" |
| Consuelo: "Noi dormimmo" |
| Marco: "we slept" |
| Consuelo: "Voi dormiste" |
| Marco: "you slept" |
| Consuelo: "Loro dormirono" |
| Marco: "they slept" |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Consuelo: Ready to test what you just learned? |
| Marco: Make this lesson's vocabulary stick by using lesson specific flashcards in the learning center. |
| Consuelo: There is a reason everyone uses flashcards... |
| Marco: They work... |
| Consuelo: They really do help memorization. |
| Marco: You can get the flashcards for this lesson at |
| Consuelo: ItalianPod101.com. |
| Marco: Okay.... |
| Marco: A presto! |
| Consuelo: Ciao! |
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