Learn the fourth and final category of Italian masculine nouns ending in -a
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Marco: Hello, and welcome to the ItalianPOD101.com , the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn Italian! |
| Cinzia: I'm Cinzia, and thanks again for being here with us for this Beginner Series S2 lesson. |
| Marco: In this lesson will end our studies about Italian masculine nouns ending in -a |
| Cinzia: This conversation takes place at a wedding party |
| Marco: And it's between Peter and Luca |
| Cinzia: They are friends, therefore they will be speaking informally |
| Marco: Now, before we listen to the conversation... |
| Cinzia: We want to ask... |
| Marco: Do you read the lesson notes, while you listen? |
| Cinzia: We received an e-mail about this study tip. |
| Marco: So we were wondering if you've tried it, and if so, |
| Cinzia: what do you think of it. |
| Marco: You can leave us feedback in the comment section of this lesson. Okay... |
| Marco: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Peter: A Firenze costruiranno il metro? |
| Luca: Il metro? Ah! Attento si dice la metro. |
| Peter: Quindi la metro è il mezzo di trasporto. |
| Luca: Esatto. |
| Peter: Allora il metro cos’è? |
| Luca: Il metro è l’unità di misura e anche lo strumento per misurare la lunghezza. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Peter: A Firenze costruiranno il metro? |
| Luca: Il metro? Ah! Attento si dice la metro. |
| Peter: Quindi la metro è il mezzo di trasporto. |
| Luca: Esatto. |
| Peter: Allora il metro cos’è? |
| Luca: Il metro è l’unità di misura e anche lo strumento per misurare la lunghezza. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Peter: A Firenze costruiranno il metro? |
| Marco: Will they build a meter in Firenze? |
| Luca: Il metro? Ah! Attento si dice la metro. |
| Marco: A meter? Ah! Careful, you have to say subway. |
| Peter: Quindi la metro è il mezzo di trasporto. |
| Marco: So subway is the means of transportation. |
| Luca: Esatto. |
| Marco: Right. |
| Peter: Allora il metro cos’è? |
| Marco: So what is a meter? |
| Luca: Il metro è l’unità di misura e anche lo strumento per misurare la lunghezza. |
| Marco: A meter is a unit of measurement and a device to measure length. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cinzia: Masculine nouns ending in –a are really sneaky. |
| Marco: They are! |
| Cinzia: The best way to learn them is to practice using them! |
| Marco: And don’t be shy, we all make mistakes. Just keep on practicing. |
| Cinzia: But remember to practice with us! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Marco: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cinzia: metro [natural native speed] |
| Marco: meter |
| Cinzia: metro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: metro [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: attento [natural native speed] |
| Marco: careful, painstaking, prudent |
| Cinzia: attento [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: attento [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: metro [natural native speed] |
| Marco: subway |
| Cinzia: metro [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: metro [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: mezzo di trasporto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: means of transport |
| Cinzia: mezzo di trasporto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: mezzo di trasporto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: esatto [natural native speed] |
| Marco: exact, correct, right |
| Cinzia: esatto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: esatto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cinzia: strumento [natural native speed] |
| Marco: instrument, tool |
| Cinzia: strumento [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cinzia: strumento [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. |
| Cinzia: The first word we will look at is |
| metro |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Sono alto un metro e settanta centimetri. |
| Marco: “I am one meter and seventy centimeters tall.” |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| attento |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Stai attento! |
| Marco: “Be careful!” |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| metro |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: La metro di Milano è molto comoda. |
| Marco: “Milano subway is very comfortable.” |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| mezzo di trasporto |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: I mezzi di trasporto moderni sono molto veloci. |
| Marco: “Modern means of transport are very fast.” |
| Cinzia: The next word/expression we will look at is |
| esatto |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: È esatto! |
| Marco: “It’s correct!” |
| Cinzia: Today's last word/expression is strumento |
| Marco: And the sample sentence is? |
| Cinzia: Il telescopio è uno strumento per vedere le stelle. |
| Marco: “The telescope is an instrument for viewing stars.” |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Marco: In today's class, we will see the last category of Italian nouns ending with -a. |
| Cinzia: In this category nouns change their meaning according to the gender they take. |
| Marco: Since their singular written form never changes, we can identify their gender solely by the articles, adjectives, and past participles. |
| Ciznia: We are now going to see the most commonly used nouns belonging to this category. |
| Marco: Please note that when there is no equivalent translation in English, we will provide an explanation of the word. |
| Cinzia: I will give you the Italian singular form |
| Marco: I will then give you the English singular form or the meaning explained in English if there is no English equivalent |
| Cinzia: (l') asse; masculine |
| Marco: "axis" |
| Cinzia: (l') asse; feminine |
| Marco: "board" |
| Cinzia: (il) boa; m. |
| Marco: "boa" |
| Cinzia: (la) boa; f. |
| Marco: "buoy" |
| Cinzia: (il) caccia; m. |
| Marco: "fighter" (airplane) |
| Cinzia: (la) caccia; f. |
| Marco: "hunting" |
| Cinzia: (il) capitale; m. |
| Marco: "capital" (money invested) |
| Cinzia: (la) capitale; f. |
| Marco: "capital" (of a country) |
| Cinzia: (il) fine; m. |
| Marco: "purpose, aim" |
| Cinzia: (la) fine; f. |
| Marco: "end, conclusion" |
| Cinzia: (il) lama; m. |
| Marco: "Buddhist monk" |
| Cinzia: (la) lama; f. |
| Marco: "blade" |
| Cinzia: (il) metro; m. |
| Marco: "meter" (both the device and the unit of length) |
| Cinzia: (la) metro; f. |
| Marco: "subway" |
| (Cinzia: il) mitra; m. |
| Marco: "machine gun" |
| Cinzia: (la) mitra; f. |
| Marco: "bishop's headgear" |
| Cinzia: (il) moto; m. |
| Marco: "movement" |
| Cinzia: (la) moto; f. |
| Marco: "motorbike" |
| Cinzia: (il) prima; m. |
| Marco: "what happened before the present time" |
| Cinzia: (la) prima; f. |
| Marco: "the first night of a theatrical opera" |
| Cinzia: (il) radio; m. |
| Marco: "radium" |
| Cinzia: (la) radio; f. |
| Marco: "radio" |
| (Cinzia: il) rosa; m. |
| Marco: "pink" (color) |
| Cinzia: (la) rosa; f. |
| Marco: "rose" (flower) |
| Cinzia: (il) viola; m. |
| Marco: "purple" |
| Cinzia: (la) viola; f. |
| Marco: "viola" (classical musical instrument) |
| Cinzia: There are more nouns in the PDF, so please check it out. |
| Marco: Finally, note that in informal Italian, people may playfully use the family name instead of the first name to refer to a person they are acquainted with. In this case, the definite article follows the gender of the person and it's not related to the form of their family names. For instance |
| Marco: First Name |
| Cinzia: Ieri ho visto Maria Piccolo che parlava con Mike. |
| Maria is the first name and Piccolo is the family name |
| Marco: Family Name |
| Cinzia: Ieri ho visto la Piccolo che parlava con Mike. |
| Marco: Yesterday, I saw Maria Piccolo talking to Mike. |
| Cinzia: We may also use the same structure in formal speech when talking about famous artists and prominent characters of the past. |
| Marco: We can then say |
| Cinzia: il Machiavelli, l'Alighieri etc. |
Outro |
| Marco: That just about does it for today. |
| Marco: Testing yourself is one of the most effective ways to learn. |
| Cinzia: That's why we have 3 types of quizzes. |
| Marco: Vocabulary, grammar, and content specific. |
| Cinzia: Each quiz targets specific skill... |
| Marco: And together these quizzes will help you |
| master several fundamental skills. : |
| Cinzia: You can find them in the learning center at |
| Marco: ItalianPod101.com |
| Marco: Ciao |
| Cinzia: A presto! |
Comments
HideCiao Carol,
That is a good way!
If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
Se hai qualche domanda, lascia un commento.
Grazie e a presto,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Io sempre scarico il lesson notes per fare riferimento e studiare.
Hi Ken Brand,
Thank you for the question.
"Allora" and "quindi" are almost synonyms. Most of the times using one over the other depends on the personal choice of the speaker.
A presto!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
In this lesson you used "Allora" and "Quindi" both translating to "So" in English. Are these expressions both interchangeable? In which context would you use one over the other?
Cheers,
Ken.
(A lover of Pizza, Pasta and Preggo)
Hello Lucky,
Anytime! Thank you for pointing it out once again:smile:
Cheers,
Neha
Team ItalianPod101.com
Thank you Paloma! Much appreciated.
Have a nice evening.
Hi Lucky,
Thank you for pointing it out.
The PDF Lesson Notes is correct now. We apologize for the mistake.
Please enjoy ItalianPod101.com and let us know if you have any other question or comment!
Regards,
Paloma
Team ItalianPod101
Hi Marco,
Thank you for the lesson, but the notes for this lesson are incomplete. Could you please update the content? When the 4 category is explained, there are no words displayed in the notes, they are missing and it's hard to memorize the words only by listening to you pronouncig them without looking at the words. Judging by the previous comment, all these words were included in the lesson before. Thank you for your assistance to solve this issue. Your help is much appreciated.
You're great! The PDFs help correct what we mis-hear, AFTER we try to catch the dialogue. One small thing in the PDF regarding la capitale/il capitale: In English la capitale is "capitol" and il capitale is "capital." We English speakers always have to think about which is which! We also find very helpful material in all the lessons from Beginner through the Advanced Blogs Many, many thanks!!!!!!! Kathryn & Allan
Dear Kathyn and Allan,
Thank you both for the comment.
We'll keep in mind the spelling corrections!
Thank you.
Marco