Learn how to decide which Italian past tense to use - the remote past or the proximate past
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Consuelo: Hello everyone! I'm Consuelo, and welcome to ItalianPOD101. |
| Marco: With us, you'll learn to speak Italian with fun and effective lessons. |
| Consuelo: We also provide you with cultural insights |
| Marco: and tips you won't find in a textbook... |
| Marco: In today's class, we will continue focusing on the usage of the passato remoto and the passato prossimo tenses. |
| Consuelo: This conversation takes place at the photographic exhibition. |
| Marco: The conversation is between Carlo, Anna, and Elena. |
| Consuelo: The speakers are friends; therefore, they will be speaking informally. |
| Marco: Attention listners, comment, |
| Consuelo: comment, |
| Marco: and comment some more! |
| Consuelo: It's easy, |
| Marco: and asking questions really helps improve progress. |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Anna: Sai Carlo, il fotografo è un mio amico. |
| Carlo: Davvero? Ha viaggiato molto questo ragazzo! |
| Anna: Sì, ebbi un trauma quando sette anni fa mi disse che partiva in giro per il mondo. |
| Carlo: Wow, che tipo intraprendente! |
| Anna: Sì, poi ha un talento unico, guarda che colori.... |
| Carlo: Che c'è Elena, non ti piace la mostra? Sei così pensierosa... |
| Elena: No, non è per quello. Sono solo un pò giù di morale per il lavoro. |
| Carlo: Non dovresti! Adesso sei con noi. Dopo ci andiamo a divertire! |
| Anna: Carlo ha ragione. Dai, proseguiamo per l'ultima sala e poi usciamo! |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Anna: Sai Carlo, il fotografo è un mio amico. |
| Carlo: Davvero? Ha viaggiato molto questo ragazzo! |
| Anna: Sì, ebbi un trauma quando sette anni fa mi disse che partiva in giro per il mondo. |
| Carlo: Wow, che tipo intraprendente! |
| Anna: Sì, poi ha un talento unico, guarda che colori.... |
| Carlo: Che c'è Elena, non ti piace la mostra? Sei così pensierosa... |
| Elena: No, non è per quello. Sono solo un pò giù di morale per il lavoro. |
| Carlo: Non dovresti! Adesso sei con noi. Dopo ci andiamo a divertire! |
| Anna: Carlo ha ragione. Dai, proseguiamo per l'ultima sala e poi usciamo! |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Anna: Sai Carlo, il fotografo è un mio amico. |
| Marco: You know, Carlo, the photographer is a friend of mine. |
| Carlo: Davvero? Ha viaggiato molto questo ragazzo! |
| Marco: Really? This guy traveled a lot! |
| Anna: Sì, ebbi un trauma quando sette anni fa mi disse che partiva in giro per il mondo. |
| Marco: Yes, I had a shock seven years ago when he told me he was leaving for a trip around the world. |
| Carlo: Wow, che tipo intraprendente! |
| Marco: Wow, what an enterprising guy! |
| Anna: Sì, poi ha un talento unico, guarda che colori.... |
| Marco: Yes, and he has a unique talent; look at these colors.... |
| Carlo: Che c'è Elena, non ti piace la mostra? Sei così pensierosa... |
| Marco: What's up Elena, don't you like the exhibition? You are so pensive... |
| Elena: No, non è per quello. Sono solo un pò giù di morale per il lavoro. |
| Marco: No, it's not that. I am only a bit down because of my job. |
| Carlo: Non dovresti! Adesso sei con noi. Dopo ci andiamo a divertire! |
| Marco: You shouldn't! Now you're with us. Later we're going to have fun! |
| Anna: Carlo ha ragione. Dai, proseguiamo per l'ultima sala e poi usciamo! |
| Marco: Carlo is right. Come on, let's go on to the last room, and then let's go out! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Marco: Hey, Consuelo, what exactly does "tipo" mean? |
| Consuelo: "Tipo" in Italian has two different meanings. One is "type," "kind," or "sort." The other meaning refers to people and means "a guy" or "a fellow." |
| Marco: Ah, that's why Carlo says "che tipo intraprendente" in the dialogue. |
| Consuelo: Yes, right. If I want to ask a friend what kind of person someone is, I should say… |
| Marco: "Che tipo è?" |
| Consuelo: Yes. Recently in Italian we also started to use "tipa" to talk about girls, but this one sounds a little bit more informal. |
| Marco: I cannot talk about a girlfriend to a company president saying "conosco una tipa che vorrebbe lavorare quì," meaning "I know a girl who'd like to work here." |
| Consuelo: As I told you before, if the speakers are friends they can say it, otherwise not. |
| Marco: Thank you, Consuelo! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| : The first word we shall see is: |
| Consuelo: viaggiare [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to travel |
| Consuelo: viaggiare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: viaggiare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: trauma [natural native speed] |
| Marco: shock, trauma, blow |
| Consuelo: trauma [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: trauma [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: intraprendente [natural native speed] |
| Marco: enterprising, open-minded, go-ahead |
| Consuelo: intraprendente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: intraprendente [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: talento [natural native speed] |
| Marco: talent |
| Consuelo: talento [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: talento [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: pensieroso [natural native speed] |
| Marco: pensive, wistful, thoughtful, pondering |
| Consuelo: pensieroso [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: pensieroso [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Consuelo: proseguire [natural native speed] |
| Marco: to go on, keep on, continue, persist |
| Consuelo: proseguire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Consuelo: proseguire [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 "essere giù di morale" |
| Marco: "to be down," "to be low in spirits." |
| Consuelo: Literally, "morale" means "mood" and "giù" means "down," that's why when we are a little sad or downhearted we say, "sono giù di morale." |
| Marco: I see, and for the opposite meaning, for example, "being happy," "feeling well," can I say "sono su di morale?" Because "su" means "up." |
| Consuelo: Well…we could, but for that meaning, we have another very nice expression. |
| Marco: Really? Which one is it? |
| Consuelo: "Avere il morale alle stelle." |
| Marco: I got it, if "stelle" are "stars," it could be literally translated "cheer up till the stars." |
| Consuelo: Yes, something like that, because "stelle" are the highest things we can see. |
| Marco: Thank you, Consuelo, that's interesting! |
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" tenses. |
| Consuelo: We shall complete our analysis of factors, apart from time, that can influence the choice of which tense is more appropriate for the context we are speaking in. |
| Marco: In addition, we will see the "passato remoto" reference board of "essere" and "avere," "to be" and "to have." |
| Consuelo: So let's continue with the second point concerning lesson number twenty-two. |
| Marco: It seems that a fairly recent trend in the evolution of the Italian language shows that the "passato prossimo" tense has been gradually substituting for the "passato remoto" tense in many of its usages. |
| Consuelo: This is happening because the conjugation of the "passato prossimo" is easier than the one of the "passato remoto." |
| Marco: Therefore, it may happen that the "passato remoto" tense could take up backwardness connotations, even when it is used appropriately. |
| Consuelo: Sometimes its employment may be unsuitable for the context, especially when we are speaking informally. |
| Marco: For example… |
| Consuelo: "Mario - Sai Giovanni, l'anno scorso andai ("passato remoto") a Rovigo." |
| Giovanni - "Ahah, intendi dire che l'anno scorso sei andato ("passato prossimo") a Rovigo?" |
| Marco: "Mario - You know Giovanni, last year I went to Rovigo." |
| Giovanni - "Ah ah, you mean last year you went to Rovigo." |
| Consuelo: As you can see from the translation, there is no difference in English between the two expressions. This peculiarity of Italian language is better understood in the target language. |
| Marco: Due to the shift of the cultural understanding of the "passato remoto" and the "passato prossimo" tenses, it happens that the former is used to make linguistic jokes, rephrasing what has been previously said by persons speaking with us using the "passato remoto" tense. |
| Consuelo: This happens exclusively in the direct discourse when using the second person, either singular or plural. |
| Marco: It's worth noticing that these are friendly, funny jokes and we should never get offended when somebody makes them, since they imply a positive degree of closeness between speakers. For instance… |
| Consuelo: "Francesco - Sai Antonio, ieri ho baciato Maria." ("passato prossimo") |
| Antonio - "La baciasti?" ("passato remoto") |
| Marco: "Francesco - You know Antonio, yesterday I kissed Maria." |
| Antonio - "Did you?" |
| And now, let's see the "passato remoto" tense of the verb "essere" ("to be"). |
| Consuelo: "Io fui" |
| Marco: "I was" |
| Consuelo: "Tu fosti" |
| Marco: "you were" |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei fu" |
| Marco: "he/she/it was" |
| Consuelo: "Noi fummo" |
| Marco: "we were" |
| Consuelo: "Voi foste" |
| Marco: "you were" |
| Consuelo: "Loro furono" |
| Marco: "they were" |
| And now, let's continue with the "passato remoto" of the verb "avere" ("to have"). |
| Consuelo: "Io ebbi" |
| Marco: "I had" |
| Consuelo: "Tu avesti" |
| Marco: "you had" |
| Consuelo: "Lui/lei ebbe" |
| Marco: "he/she/it had" |
| Consuelo: "Noi avemmo" |
| Marco: "we had" |
| Consuelo: "Voi aveste" |
| Marco: "you had" |
| Consuelo: "Loro ebbero" |
| Marco: "they had" |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Premium members, use the review track to perfect your pronunciation. |
| Consuelo: Available in the premium section of the website, |
| Marco: the learning center |
| Consuelo: and through iTunes via the premium feed, |
| Marco: the Review Track gives you vocabulary and phrases followed by a short pause so you can repeat the words aloud. |
| Consuelo: The best way to get good fast! |
| Marco: Okay.. |
| Marco: A presto! |
| Consuelo: Ciao |
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