Learn about the usage of the congiuntivo imperfetto
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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 17 - How Can you Complain on an Italian Holiday Like This? |
| Jason: In this lesson you'll learn how to use congiuntivo imperfetto. Such as… |
| Cristina: Parli come se fossi un fantino esperto |
| Jason: "You speak as if you were an expert jockey." |
| This conversation takes place at the agriturismo ("a farm vacation centre"). |
| Cristina: Sofia e Antonio parlano insieme. |
| Jason: "The conversation is between Sofia and Antonio." The speakers are boyfriend and girlfriend; so they'll be speaking informal language. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Antonio: Eccoci arrivati. Che bell'aria fresca da queste parti. |
| Sofia: Sì molto carino qui - avevi ragione. Però che puzza ... |
| Antonio: Ah guarda il maneggio - dovremmo fare una cavalcata. Che ne dici? |
| Sofia: Parli come se fossi un fantino esperto! Comunque non ho nessuna intenzione di montare un cavallo. Magari se restassimo qui il weekend potrei iscrivermi a un breve corso di equitazione. |
| Antonio: Facendo qualche lezione secondo me ti passerebbe la paura e poi ti divertiresti. Comunque, io ho un certo languorino. Meglio affrettarsi verso il ristorante altrimenti non troveremo più un tavolo libero. |
| Sofia: Ma non hai prenotato?! |
| Antonio: Non c'ho pensato e poi possiamo sempre aspettare un pochino. Non sarebbe la fine del mondo. |
| Sofia: Se sapessi che fame ho io... stamattina non ho neanche fatto colazione. |
| Antonio: Dai Sofia non comportarti come se fossi una bambina. Guarda c'è un tavolo libero vicino al laghetto. Prendiamo posto. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Antonio: Eccoci arrivati. Che bell'aria fresca da queste parti. |
| Sofia: Sì molto carino qui - avevi ragione. Però che puzza ... |
| Antonio: Ah guarda il maneggio - dovremmo fare una cavalcata. Che ne dici? |
| Sofia: Parli come se fossi un fantino esperto! Comunque non ho nessuna intenzione di montare un cavallo. Magari se restassimo qui il weekend potrei iscrivermi a un breve corso di equitazione. |
| Antonio: Facendo qualche lezione secondo me ti passerebbe la paura e poi ti divertiresti. Comunque, io ho un certo languorino. Meglio affrettarsi verso il ristorante altrimenti non troveremo più un tavolo libero. |
| Sofia: Ma non hai prenotato?! |
| Antonio: Non c'ho pensato e poi possiamo sempre aspettare un pochino. Non sarebbe la fine del mondo. |
| Sofia: Se sapessi che fame ho io... stamattina non ho neanche fatto colazione. |
| Antonio: Dai Sofia non comportarti come se fossi una bambina. Guarda c'è un tavolo libero vicino al laghetto. Prendiamo posto. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Antonio: Eccoci arrivati. Che bell'aria fresca da queste parti. |
| Jason: Here we are. The air is fresh around here. |
| Sofia: Sì molto carino qui - avevi ragione. Però che puzza ... |
| Jason: Yes, it's very nice here…you were right. But what a smell! |
| Antonio: Ah guarda il maneggio - dovremmo fare una cavalcata. Che ne dici? |
| Jason: Ah, look, the riding school…we should go for a ride. What do you think? |
| Sofia: Parli come se fossi un fantino esperto! Comunque non ho nessuna intenzione di montare un cavallo. Magari se restassimo qui il weekend potrei iscrivermi a un breve corso di equitazione. |
| Jason: You speak as if you were an expert jockey! Anyhow, I have no intention of riding a horse. Maybe if we stayed here for the weekend I would join a short riding course. |
| Antonio: Facendo qualche lezione secondo me ti passerebbe la paura e poi ti divertiresti. Comunque, io ho un certo languorino. Meglio affrettarsi verso il ristorante altrimenti non troveremo più un tavolo libero. |
| Jason: If you took some lessons, I think that your fears would disappear and you'd have fun. Anyhow, I have some pangs of hunger. We better hurry toward the restaurant, otherwise we won't find a free table anymore. |
| Sofia: Ma non hai prenotato?! |
| Jason: You didn't book it? |
| Antonio: Non c'ho pensato e poi possiamo sempre aspettare un pochino. Non sarebbe la fine del mondo. |
| Jason: No, I didn't think about it, and we can always wait a little bit. It wouldn't be the end of the world. |
| Sofia: Se sapessi che fame ho io... stamattina non ho neanche fatto colazione. |
| Jason: If you knew how hungry I was... I didn't even have breakfast this morning. |
| Antonio: Dai Sofia non comportarti come se fossi una bambina. Guarda c'è un tavolo libero vicino al laghetto. Prendiamo posto. |
| Jason: Sofia, don't behave like a child. Look, there's a free table by the pond. Let's sit down. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: Jason, have you ever watched il palio? |
| Jason: Yes, I watched it once on TV while I was on vacation in Italy. |
| Cristina: How did you like it? |
| Jason: I loved it. The horse race was so exciting! |
| Cristina: I know. Anche a me piace molto guardare il palio. |
| Jason: Is it an old tradition? |
| Cristina: Il palio probably dates back to the Middle Ages and it is often a competition between the contrade or neighboring towns. |
| Jason: What does contrade mean? |
| Cristina: Contrade is the plural of contrada. It means "town district". Each horse and jockey represent a town district. |
| Jason: I heard that the palio di Siena is a very popular one. |
| Cristina: Yes, it takes place every year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, Tuscany. |
| Jason: How old is il palio di Siena? |
| Cristina: The first palio was run on August 16, 1656 to celebrate the miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary who protects Siena. Originally there were 57 contrade. Nowadays only 10 take part in the horse race. |
| Jason: Where is it held? |
| Cristina: In the main square, Piazza del Campo, which is turned into a racetrack. A thick layer of earth is spread on the ground and mattresses are placed in the most dangerous corners to protect jockeys in case they fall. |
| Jason: I’d like to watch it live once. |
| Cristina: Yes it’s a great experience also because there is also a lively historical parade of flag bearers, trumpeters, musicians and representatives of the city of Siena all dressed in colorful costumes which date back to the 15th century. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: puzza [natural native speed] |
| Jason: bad smell |
| Cristina: puzza [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: puzza [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: maneggio [natural native speed] |
| Jason: riding school |
| Cristina: maneggio [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: maneggio [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: cavalcata [natural native speed] |
| Jason: ride |
| Cristina: cavalcata [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: cavalcata [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: fantino [natural native speed] |
| Jason: jockey |
| Cristina: fantino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: fantino [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: avere intenzione di [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to have the intention of |
| Cristina: avere intenzione di [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: avere intenzione di [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: montare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to ride |
| Cristina: montare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: montare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: equitazione [natural native speed] |
| Jason: horse-riding |
| Cristina: equitazione [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: equitazione [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: languorino [natural native speed] |
| Jason: pangs of hunger |
| Cristina: languorino [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: languorino [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: affrettarsi [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to hurry up, to make haste, to hurry |
| Cristina: affrettarsi [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: affrettarsi [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: la fine del mondo [natural native speed] |
| Jason: the end of the world |
| Cristina: la fine del mondo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: la fine del mondo [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 look at some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: PUZZA |
| Jason: "BAD SMELL" |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Che cosa c’è nel frigorifero? Esce una puzza strana. |
| Jason: "What’s in the fridge? A strange smell is coming out." |
| Cristina: This is the noun that comes from the verb puzzare which means "to stink" or "to smell". Puzza is always a bad smell. |
| Jason: Are there other words in Italian to talk about the sense of smell? |
| Cristina: Yes, odore and odorare also mean to smell, but don’t necessarily mean a bad smell. They have a neutral connotation. |
| Jason: And how about profumo? |
| Cristina: In Italian there is also the noun profumo and the verb profumare to describe a good smell. |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: EQUITAZIONE |
| Jason: "RIDING" |
| Cristina: Here is a sample sentence – Il corso di equitazione dura una settimana e costa 150 euro. |
| Jason: "The riding course lasts for a week and costs 150 euros." |
| Cristina: Equitazione is the sport of horse riding. It comes from the Latin word equus ("horse") and the Latin root is used to build adjective equino |
| Jason: Can you give us some examples? |
| Cristina: For example |
| Jason: So how about the word cavallo, "horse"? |
| Cristina: It derives from the late Greek caballes and in Italian it is in words like cavalcare ("to ride"), cavalcata ("a ride"), and cavaliere ("knight"). |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cristina: In this lesson, we’ll review the congiuntivo imperfetto and we’ll focus on some uses of this tense that we haven’t studied yet. |
| Jason: Let’s first review the formation of the congiuntivo imperfetto. |
| Cristina: Since we studied this before why don’t you try on your own? |
| Jason: Let’s start from the verbs in –are, for example abitare. |
| Cristina: I’ll give you a hint. Then you can try and make the declension on your own. So, io abitassi… |
| […] |
| Jason: Bene! And here is the full declension of abitare. |
| Cristina: io Abitassi, tu Abitassi, lui/lei Abitasse, noi Abitassimo, voi Abitaste, loro Abitassero. |
| Jason: Let’s now review the verbs in –ere, for example credere. |
| Cristina: Io credessi… |
| […] |
| Cristina: Io Credessi, tu Credessi, lui/lei Credesse, noi Credessimo, voi Credeste, loro Credessero. |
| Jason: How did it go? |
| Cristina: And now the verbs in –ire. |
| Jason: for example dormire. |
| Cristina: io dormissi… |
| […] |
| Cristina: io Dormissi, tu Dormissi, lui/lei Dormisse, noi Dormissimo, voi Dormiste, loro Dormissero. |
| Jason: Remember that some verbs, like bere, stare, essere, fare and dare are irregular. |
| Cristina: Also be aware that the first two persons of the declension are the same so it is important to explicitly state the personal pronouns io and tu ("I" and "you"). |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Se io facessi più vacanze, sarei più rilassato |
| Jason: "If I went on vacation more, I would be more relaxed." |
| Cristina: Se tu facessi più vacanze, saresti più rilassato. |
| Jason: "If you went on vacation more, you would be more relaxed." |
| Cristina: If one doesn’t specify the subject, the subordinate clause se facessi più vacanze would be exactly the same and might create some misunderstandings. Jason |
| Cristina: Let’s now look at some uses of the congiuntivo imperfetto |
| Jason: The congiuntivo imperfetto is used with an if clause (second type) |
| Cristina: Esatto. To express a wish or a possibility, the verb of the subordinate clause is in the congiuntivo imperfetto, while the verb in the main clause is the condizionale presente. |
| Jason: Can you give us a sample sentence? |
| Cristina: Magari se restassimo qui il weekend potrei iscrivermi a un breve corso di equitazione. |
| Jason: Maybe if we stayed here for the weekend I would join a short riding course. |
| Cristina: "Don’t forget that in Italian the if clauses (second type) are often shortened." |
| Jason: Only the subordinate clause is explicit while the main clause remains implicit. Is the congiuntivo imperfetto is used also in this case? |
| Cristina: Yes, for example, Se sapessi che fame ho io... |
| Jason: "If you knew how hungry I am..." |
| Cristina: Besides, to express a possibility, in Italian it is ok to use also the gerundio presente. |
| Jason: You mean that the gerundio presente is sometimes used to replace an if clause of the second type? |
| Cristina: Yes. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: Facendo qualche lezione secondo me ti passerebbe la paura e poi ti divertiresti. |
| Jason: "If you took some lessons I think that your fears would disappear and you‘d have fun." |
| Cristina: Facendo qualche lezione replaces se facessi qualche lezione. |
| Jason: Can you give us one more example? |
| Cristina: Togliendo qualche mobile, la stanza sembrerebbe più grande. |
| Jason: "If we took some furniture away, the room would look bigger." |
| Jason: What’s another common usage of the congiuntivo imperfetto? |
| Cristina: After the adverbial expression come se, the verb must be in the congiuntivo imperfetto. |
| Jason: For example… |
| Cristina: Parli come se fossi un fantino esperto. |
| Jason: "You speak as if you were expert jockey." |
| Cristina: here is another example – Non comportarti come se fossi una bambina. |
| Jason: "Don’t behave like a child" or "don’t behave as if you were a child." |
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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