Learn how to use the Italian pronoun ci
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| INTRODUCTION |
| None (manual write in): |
| Jason: Ciao! Jason here |
| Cristina: Cristina here! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com's Intermediate series. This is lesson 11 - Did you Redecorate Your Italian Home? |
| Jason: In this lesson you'll learn more about the usage of the pronoun ci. Such as… |
| Cristina: Uso il mio pc come tv. Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa. |
| Jason: I use my pc as a TV. With this I watch movies and the TV programs I like, I listen to music and I also use it as a telephone. |
| This conversation takes place at Sara’s house |
| Cristina: Sara e Giovanna parlano insieme. |
| Jason: The conversation is between Sara and Giovanna. The speakers are co-workers and friends, so they'll be speaking informal language. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Giovanna: Permesso? |
| Sara: Vieni pure, Giovanna, ti aspettavo. |
| Giovanna: Com’è cambiata casa tua dall’ultima volta che sono venuta! |
| Sara: L’ho ridecorata - ho ridipinto le pareti del soggiorno e ho risistemato il mobilio. |
| Giovanna: Adoro quei cuscini etnici sul divano - che bella fantasia! E quest’orologio viene da Parigi? |
| Sara: No. L’ho trovato al mercatino dell’usato di Via Garibaldi - ci sei mai andata? |
| Giovanna: Qualche anno fa, ma non ci sono più ritornata da allora. |
| Sara: A volte si trovano dei pezzi di antiquariato a prezzi stracciati. |
| Giovanna: Bene a sapersi.Verrò con te una volta. Ma non hai la TV? |
| Sara: No, uso il mio pc come tv. Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Giovanna: Permesso? |
| Sara: Vieni pure, Giovanna, ti aspettavo. |
| Giovanna: Com’è cambiata casa tua dall’ultima volta che sono venuta! |
| Sara: L’ho ridecorata - ho ridipinto le pareti del soggiorno e ho risistemato il mobilio. |
| Giovanna: Adoro quei cuscini etnici sul divano - che bella fantasia! E quest’orologio viene da Parigi? |
| Sara: No. L’ho trovato al mercatino dell’usato di Via Garibaldi - ci sei mai andata? |
| Giovanna: Qualche anno fa, ma non ci sono più ritornata da allora. |
| Sara: A volte si trovano dei pezzi di antiquariato a prezzi stracciati. |
| Giovanna: Bene a sapersi.Verrò con te una volta. Ma non hai la TV? |
| Sara: No, uso il mio pc come tv. Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| A casa di Sara. |
| JasonAt Sara's. |
| Giovanna: Permesso? |
| Jason: May I come in? |
| Sara: Vieni pure, Giovanna, ti aspettavo. |
| Jason: Come in, Giovanna, I was waiting for you. |
| Giovanna: Com’è cambiata casa tua dall’ultima volta che sono venuta! |
| Jason: Your house has changed since the last time I came. |
| Sara: L’ho ridecorata - ho ridipinto le pareti del soggiorno e ho risistemato il mobilio. |
| Jason: I redecorated it—I repainted the walls of the living room and rearranged the furniture. |
| Giovanna: Adoro quei cuscini etnici sul divano - che bella fantasia! E quest’orologio viene da Parigi? |
| Jason: I love those ethnic-style cushions on the sofa; such a beautiful pattern. And does this clock come from Paris? |
| Sara: No. L’ho trovato al mercatino dell’usato di Via Garibaldi - ci sei mai andata? |
| Jason: No! I found it at the secondhand street market of Via Garibaldi. Have you ever been there? |
| Giovanna: Qualche anno fa, ma non ci sono più ritornata da allora. |
| Jason: Some years ago, but I haven't gone back since then. |
| Sara: A volte si trovano dei pezzi di antiquariato a prezzi stracciati. |
| Jason: Sometimes it's possible to find some antiques at knockdown prices. |
| Giovanna: Bene a sapersi.Verrò con te una volta. Ma non hai la TV? |
| Jason: Good to know. I'll come with you once. You don't have a TV, do you? |
| Sara: No, uso il mio pc come tv. Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa. |
| Jason: No, I use my PC as a TV. With this, I watch movies and the TV programs I like, I listen to music, and I also use it as a telephone. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: Sai cosa significa ‘Fai da te’? |
| Jason: Well, I think ‘Fai da te’ means "do it yourself." But, to be honest, I’m not sure how to use it. |
| Cristina: Well expressions like inglese fai-da-te ("learn English on your own") or vacanza fai-da-te (a holiday you book transportation or hotel without the help of a travel agency) are quite common. |
| Jason: Oh, I see. |
| Cristina: But ‘fai-da-te’ also specifically refers to a business that sells products used to redecorate houses, gardening, and remodeling. |
| Jason: I negozi del ‘fai-da-te’ therefore sell tools, raw material, basic items, books on the topic. I thought those shops were called negozi di bricolage. |
| Cristina: Both names are correct. |
| Jason: I think there’s a store called Bricolarge in my neighborhood. |
| Cristina: Actually Bricolarge is one of the first of these types of store. It opened in Italy in the ‘80s. |
| Jason: But I am sure that nowadays il fai-da-te has become more and more popular. |
| Cristina: That's right! And many people also use a number of online stores. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: Permesso? [natural native speed] |
| Jason: May I come in? |
| Cristina: Permesso? [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: Permesso? [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: ridecorare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to redecorate |
| Cristina: ridecorare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: ridecorare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: parete [natural native speed] |
| Jason: wall |
| Cristina: parete [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: parete [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: risistemare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to rearrange |
| Cristina: risistemare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: risistemare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: etnico [natural native speed] |
| Jason: ethnic |
| Cristina: etnico [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: etnico [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: fantasia [natural native speed] |
| Jason: pattern, print |
| Cristina: fantasia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: fantasia [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: mercatino dell'usato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: second-hand street market |
| Cristina: mercatino dell'usato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: mercatino dell'usato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: antiquariato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: antique |
| Cristina: antiquariato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: antiquariato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: stracciato [natural native speed] |
| Jason: knockdown, very cheap |
| Cristina: stracciato [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: stracciato [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: bene a sapersi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: good to know |
| Cristina: bene a sapersi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: bene a sapersi [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Jason: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jason: Let's take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson.The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: PERMESSO? |
| Jason: "MAY I COME IN?" |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. C’è qualcuno? Permesso? |
| Jason: "Is anyone at home? May I come in?" |
| Cristina: This word is the past participle of the verb permettere, "to allow". |
| Jason: It is used when entering somebody’s house as an expression of politeness. |
| Cristina: The extended sentence is |
| Jason: Literally it means, "Is it ok/allowed to come in?" |
| Cristina: Esatto. |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: The prefix RI in verbs like RIDECORARE. |
| Jason: The prefix "RE" as in "REDECORATE." |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Ho ridecorato la mia camera da letto dopo 10 anni. |
| Jason: "I redecorated my bedroom after 10 years." |
| Cristina: The prefix RI is often used in front of verbs with the meaning of di nuovo, ancora. For example RIPARTIRE. |
| Jason: So RI means ‘one more time’ or ‘again’. For example RIPARTIRE means "to restart" or "to leave again". |
| Cristina: But remember that not all verbs starting with RI have this meaning. Like RICORDARE. |
| Jason: "To remember." |
| Cristina: or RICEVERE. |
| Jason: "To receive." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: The focus of this lesson is the usage of the pronoun CI. |
| Cristina: CI can be used as a reflexive pronoun |
| Jason: It can be used as a reflexive and reciprocal pronoun for the first person plural. |
| Cristina: For example with the reflexive verb FERMARSI. Ci possiamo fermare qui. |
| Jason: "We can stop here." |
| Cristina: Or as a reciprocal pronoun in the sample sentence Prima di partire ci salutiamo a lungo. |
| Jason: "Before a departure we farewell each other for a while." |
| Cristina: CI is also an object pronoun. |
| Jason: It can be used as a direct or indirect pronoun for the first person plural. For example… |
| Cristina: Sofia ed Andrea ci verranno a trovare domenica. |
| Jason: "Sofia and Andrea will visit us on Sunday." |
| Cristina: Another function of the pronoun CI is when CI is used with the meaning of "HERE" and "THERE". |
| Jason: Let’s listen to a sample sentence from the dialogue between Sara and Giovanna. |
| Cristina: L’ho trovato al mercatino dell’usato di Via Garibaldi |
| Jason: "I found it at the second-hand street market of Via Garibaldi. Have you ever been there?" |
| Cristina: In this sentence CI means ‘al mercatino dell’usato’, "at the second-hand market." |
| Jason: As shown in this example the pronoun CI is usually used once a place has been stated. |
| Cristina: Another usage of the pronoun CI is to replace noun phrases that follow the preposition, a. |
| Jason: What are some verbs that are followed by the preposition a? |
| Cristina: Verbs like pensare a |
| Jason: To think about |
| Cristina: giocare a |
| Jason: To play |
| Cristina: partecipare a |
| Jason: to take part in |
| Cristina: credere a |
| Jason: to believe in |
| Cristina: Here is a sample sentence. |
| Cristina: Giochi a tennis durante la settimana? |
| Cristina: No, ci gioco di sabato. |
| Jason: Do you play tennis during the week? |
| Jason : "No, I play it on Saturdays.” |
| Jason: Here CI stands for ‘tennis’. |
| Cristina: There one more important usage of the pronoun CI that is introduced in this lesson. |
| Jason: CI is also used to substitute a word or a sentence introduced by the preposition con. |
| Cristina: con qualcosa, "with something" or con qualcuno, "with someone". |
| Jason: For example… |
| Cristina: Uso il mio pc come tv. Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa. |
| Jason: "I use my pc as a TV. With this I watch movies and the tv programs I like, I listen to music and I also use it as a telephone." |
| Cristina: Here CI replaces ‘con il mio pc’. |
| Jason: One more sample sentence. |
| Cristina: E’ una persona interessante e ci parlo sempre volentieri |
| Jason: "She’s an interesting person and I always like talking to her." |
| Cristina: CI here stands for ‘con questa persona.’ |
Outro |
| Jason: OK. That's all for this lesson. In the lesson notes, you can find more examples on this grammar point. So be sure to read them. |
| Cristina: A presto! |
| Jason: Bye-bye! |
Comments
HideHi Rochelle,
We're sorry for the inconvenience. If you could download and listen to the audio lessons on your blackberry phone but sometimes it doesn't, it seems like it would be the technical issue of the applications that you're using on your phone. However if you could let us know which lesson was working, but which was not, that would help us a lot to see how to fix the issue.
Thank you,
Jae
Team ItalianPod101.com
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for posting!
Also the first "ci" stands for "con il mio PC."
You could delete it and say: "Con questo guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano." In colloquial Italian this kind of repetitions are quite common.
Keep up the great work!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Buongiorno :-) In the sample sentence 'Con questo ci guardo i film e i programmi televisivi che mi interessano, ci ascolto la musica e lo uso anche come telefono di casa' the second CI stands for 'con il mio PC'. What does the first CI (in 'con questo ci guardo i film') stand for? Grazie :-)
Ciao Miguel G,
Grazie mille! Il tuo italiano è perfetto!
Thank you a lot! your Italian is perfect!
Keep up the good work! :thumbsup:
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Sto imparando molto, prima diventavo pazzo cercando dei film Italiani per migliorare il mio vocabulario ma adesso con questo corso sto imparando un sacco di parole. Grazie! :smile: