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! |
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