Learn about the use of discorso indiretto, or "reported speech,"
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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 18 – What did your Italian Client Say? |
| Jason: In this lesson you'll learn how to use reported speech. Such as… |
| Cristina: Ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza. |
| Jason: "He asked if you could start looking for some vacation packages." This conversation takes place at the work, in a travel agency. |
| Cristina: Simone e Wendy parlano insieme. |
| Jason: The conversation is between Simone and Wendy. |
| The speakers are co-workers, therefore the speakers will be speaking informal language. |
| Cristina: Ascoltiamo |
| Jason: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Simone: Ah Wendy, sei tornata.Ha telefonato un cliente per te, il signor Capondi. Ti ho lasciato un post-it sulla scrivania col suo messaggio. |
| Wendy: Vuole che lo richiami? |
| Simone: Non è in casa fino alle 18 per cui ha lasciato detto a me e ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza. Poi domani mattina passa lui dall'agenzia. |
| Wendy: Sì, ho visto il tuo appunto. Ma... pensavo volesse fare una crociera. Qui invece parla di una camera matrimoniale d'albergo al mare. |
| Simone: Sì, ha accennato che inizialmente pensavano a una piccola crociera, ma poi ha aggiunto che la moglie non era molto convinta e hanno preferito optare per una vacanza al mare, possibilmente in Sardegna. |
| Wendy: Inizio subito a guardare qualche villaggio turistico. |
| Simone: Ha specificato che preferiva evitare un villaggio perchè la moglie non si era trovata bene l'anno prima. |
| Wendy: Va bene. E il periodo della vacanza è rimasto invariato? |
| Simone: Sì, ha però spiegato che le loro date erano comunque flessibili. Sono disposti a variarle di qualche giorno, se trovi un'offerta migliore. |
| Wendy: Ho capito. Ora mi metto al lavoro. |
| English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Simone: Ah Wendy, sei tornata.Ha telefonato un cliente per te, il signor Capondi. Ti ho lasciato un post-it sulla scrivania col suo messaggio. |
| Wendy: Vuole che lo richiami? |
| Simone: Non è in casa fino alle 18 per cui ha lasciato detto a me e ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza. Poi domani mattina passa lui dall'agenzia. |
| Wendy: Sì, ho visto il tuo appunto. Ma... pensavo volesse fare una crociera. Qui invece parla di una camera matrimoniale d'albergo al mare. |
| Simone: Sì, ha accennato che inizialmente pensavano a una piccola crociera, ma poi ha aggiunto che la moglie non era molto convinta e hanno preferito optare per una vacanza al mare, possibilmente in Sardegna. |
| Wendy: Inizio subito a guardare qualche villaggio turistico. |
| Simone: Ha specificato che preferiva evitare un villaggio perchè la moglie non si era trovata bene l'anno prima. |
| Wendy: Va bene. E il periodo della vacanza è rimasto invariato? |
| Simone: Sì, ha però spiegato che le loro date erano comunque flessibili. Sono disposti a variarle di qualche giorno, se trovi un'offerta migliore. |
| Wendy: Ho capito. Ora mi metto al lavoro. |
| English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Simone: Ah Wendy, sei tornata.Ha telefonato un cliente per te, il signor Capondi. Ti ho lasciato un post-it sulla scrivania col suo messaggio. |
| Jason: Ah, Wendy, you're back. A client called for you, Mr. Capondi. I left a post-it on your desk with his message. |
| Wendy: Vuole che lo richiami? |
| Jason: Does he want me to call him back? |
| Simone: Non è in casa fino alle 18 per cui ha lasciato detto a me e ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza. Poi domani mattina passa lui dall'agenzia. |
| Jason: He won't be home until six p.m., so he left a message with me, and he asked whether you could start looking for some vacation packages. Then tomorrow, he'll come by the agency. |
| Wendy: Sì, ho visto il tuo appunto. Ma... pensavo volesse fare una crociera. Qui invece parla di una camera matrimoniale d'albergo al mare. |
| Jason: Yes, I saw your note. But...I thought he wanted to go on a cruise. This is about a hotel double room at the sea. |
| Simone: Sì, ha accennato che inizialmente pensavano a una piccola crociera, ma poi ha aggiunto che la moglie non era molto convinta e hanno preferito optare per una vacanza al mare, possibilmente in Sardegna. |
| Jason: Yes, he mentioned that at first we were thinking of a cruise, but then he added that his wife was not very convinced and they preferred to opt for a vacation at the sea, possibly in Sardinia. |
| Wendy: Inizio subito a guardare qualche villaggio turistico. |
| Jason: I'll start checking some vacation villages right away. |
| Simone: Ha specificato che preferiva evitare un villaggio perchè la moglie non si era trovata bene l'anno prima. |
| Jason: He specified that he preferred to avoid a village because his wife didn't feel comfortable there the year before. |
| Wendy: Va bene. E il periodo della vacanza è rimasto invariato? |
| Jason: Okay. And has the time frame of their vacation remained unchanged? |
| Simone: Sì, ha però spiegato che le loro date erano comunque flessibili. Sono disposti a variarle di qualche giorno, se trovi un'offerta migliore. |
| Jason: Yes, but he explained that their dates were flexible. They are also willing to change them a few days, if you find a better offer. |
| Wendy: Ho capito. Ora mi metto al lavoro. |
| Jason: I see. I'll get to work. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Cristina: In this lesson, we’ll look at some holiday destination. |
| Jason: So where do Italians would like to spend their holiday this year? |
| Cristina: Starting from Italy, art cities like Roma, Napoli, Firenze and Venezia are very fashionable destinations as always, especially for city breaks. |
| Jason: And how about vacation on the beach? |
| Cristina: On top of the list there are Puglia and Sicilia. |
| Jason: "I have never been to Puglia, but I find Sicily very charming." |
| Cristina: However you should know that Italians are choosing more and more foreign countries to spend their days by the sea. |
| Jason: Which countries? |
| Cristina: Greece and Egypt are popular destinations. |
| Jason: Why do you think they choose to go to foreign countries more often? |
| Cristina: Well, the all-inclusive packages can cost up to half of a holiday in a vacation village in Sardinia. |
| Jason: I see. |
| Cristina: And the fares to go abroad are sometimes lower than those to travel for example to Sardinia. |
| Jason: Really? |
| Cristina: Apparently the choice of destination is highly influenced by the means of transportation. It seems that many destinations are not taken into consideration because they are difficult to reach or expensive to reach. |
| Jason: Are you saying that going to Sardinia can be more expensive than going to, let’s say, Greece? |
| Cristina: Esattamente. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Jason: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Cristina: pacchetto vacanza [natural native speed] |
| Jason: vacation package |
| Cristina: pacchetto vacanza [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: pacchetto vacanza [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: passare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to come by, to go by |
| Cristina: passare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: passare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: appunto [natural native speed] |
| Jason: note |
| Cristina: appunto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: appunto [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: crociera [natural native speed] |
| Jason: cruise |
| Cristina: crociera [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: crociera [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: accennare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to mention |
| Cristina: accennare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: accennare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: aggiungere [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to add |
| Cristina: aggiungere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: aggiungere [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: optare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to opt |
| Cristina: optare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: optare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: villaggio turistico [natural native speed] |
| Jason: vacation village |
| Cristina: villaggio turistico [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: villaggio turistico [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: specificare [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to specify, to make clear |
| Cristina: specificare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: specificare [natural native speed] |
| : Next: |
| Cristina: essere disposto [natural native speed] |
| Jason: to be willing to |
| Cristina: essere disposto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Cristina: essere disposto [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 words and phrases from this lesson. The first one we'll look at is... |
| Cristina: PASSARE |
| Jason: "TO COME BY"/ "GO BY" |
| Cristina: Here's a sample sentence. Questa sera passo da casa tua a portare quei documenti. |
| Jason: "Tonight I’ll come by your house to drop those documents." |
| Cristina: Passare is always followed by the preposition da. The noun that follows can be a person or a place. |
| Jason: Any example? |
| Cristina: Passo dal fiorista alle 8.00. |
| Jason: "I come by the florist at 8.00" |
| Cristina: Here another sample sentence, Passa dalla scuola a prendere Sara. |
| Jason: "Go by the school and pick up Sara." |
| Cristina: The verb PASSARE is followed by the preposition per if the meaning is "to pass," "to go through." |
| Jason: Can you give us an example? |
| Cristina: Passo sempre per piazza Navona per andare al lavoro. |
| Jason: "I always go through piazza Navona on my way to work." |
| Cristina: Esatto. |
| Jason: What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Cristina: VILLAGGIO TURISTICO |
| Jason: "VACATION VILLAGE" |
| Cristina: Here a sample sentence – Il villaggio turistico è il luogo ideale per le famiglie con bambini. |
| Jason: "The vacation village is the ideal place for families with kids." |
| Cristina: In Italy it’s usually popular for destinations near the sea. It’s often chosen by families with children because babysitting service and activities for children are often offered. |
| Jason: And for the adults? |
| Cristina: There is animazione such as sports lessons, karaoke or dancing at night. |
| Jason: I think that the villaggio turistico is a good choice if one is going to an area for the first time. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Cristina: In this lesson, we’ll focus on the discorso indiretto. |
| Jason: The reported speech. So what verbs introduce reported speech in Italian? |
| Cristina: Here is a list of verbs – dire ("to say"), affermare ("to claim"), accennare ("to mention") |
| Jason: aggiungere ("to add"), specificare ("to specify"), raccontare ("to tell"). |
| Cristina: The subordinate clause is always introduced by che ("that"). |
| Jason: Let’s focus on how reported speech works when the verb in the main clause is in the present tense. |
| Cristina: When the verb in the main clause is in the present tense, the verb in the subordinate does not change. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: If the direct speech is Pietro saying "Maurizio non si sente bene". |
| Jason: Pietro is saying "Maurizio doesn’t feel well." |
| Cristina: Il discorso indiretto is Pietro dice che Maurizio non si sente bene. |
| Jason: The reported speech is "Pietro says that Maurizio doesn’t feel well." |
| Cristina: Remember that in the discorso indiretto, the person might change and therefore also the possessive adjective and pronouns change. |
| Jason: For example? |
| Cristina: If the direct speech is Pietro saying "Mio fratello è uscito" |
| Jason: …Pietro saying "My brother went out." |
| Cristina: The reported speech is Pietro dice che suo fratello è uscito. |
| Jason: "Pietro says that his brother went out." |
| Cristina: Remember that if the main sentence is introduced by a verb in the passato prossimo with function of present, the verb in the subordinate clause is unchanged. |
| Jason: For example… |
| Cristina: Il signor Capondi accenna(Italian for 'says') “Inizialmente pensavamo a una piccola crociera.” |
| Jason: The reported speech is... |
| Cristina: Il signor Capondi ha accennato che inizialmente pensavano a una piccola crociera. |
| Jason: "Mr. Capondi mentioned that at first they were thinking of a cruise." |
| For more information on reported speech when the verb in the main sentence is in the past tense, be sure to check the lesson notes! |
| Cristina: Yes, please do so. |
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 Aaron,
thanks for your questions.
1- Exactly, the "gli" in "cercargli" means "for him".
2- "detto" is a past participle. It is not used as a noun. The expression "lasciare detto" means "to tell someone" (literally: to leave said). Of course, the meaning is very similar to "lasciare un messaggio" (to leave a message).
Hope this helps!
Valentina
Team ItalianPod101.com
In the phrase, ha lasciato detto a me, detto is used as a noun meaning message? Grazie.
In the phrase, ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza. Does gli in this case mean "for him"? Thanks, Aaron
Hi Antonette,
In some cases, the "passato prossimo" functions as present tense. Then the verb in the subordinate clause is unchanged.
In other words, "Ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza." is like "Chiede se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza."
This nuance can be difficult to realize, especially when it comes to colloquial Italian... even for a native speaker 😅
I suggest keeping in mind the rule in the illustration.
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
I don't understand the illustration below and the use of the presente in the secondary clause.
"He asked" is in the past, so why isn't the imperfetto used, i.e. Ha chieso se potevi cominciare...
Or is it as simple as understanding when the action in the secondary clause is taking place?
Presente ----------unchanged
Passato------------imperfetto
Ha chiesto se puoi cominciare a cercargli qualche pacchetto vacanza.
"He asked whether you can start looking for some vacation packages."
Ciao Antonette,
Prego e grazie per il messaggio!
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Di nuovo, molto utile.
Gracie
Hi Antonette,
We always use a singular noun after "qualche" (even if in English you need to translate it in the plural form) and a plural noun after "alcuni/e." They are both correct.
Here are 2 examples:
"Ho mangiato qualche fragola." - I ate some strawberries.
"Ho mangiato alcune fragole." - I ate some strawberries.
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team ItalianPod101.com
Can you explain why "qualche pacchetto vacanza" is translated in the plural as "some vacation packages?" I noticed this in the last lesson where "qualche canzone" was translated as "some songs." Why not use alcune +plural? Or is this just an idiosyncrasy, and either is correct?
Hi Brian,
I'm sorry about the confusion. It's a typo. You are right: molte is correct because it is an adjective and it refers to persone (feminine plural).
Scusa!
a presto
Chiara
Team ItalianPod101.com
Very good lesson as always. I have a question regarding this sentence if you could kindly answer or correct me I would appreciate it.
Dopo l’incidente all’isola del Giglio, molto
persone hanno cancellato le loro vacanze in
crociera.
After the accident by Giglio Island, many people
have cancelled their vacation on a cruise.
Why molto (adverb) and not molte? I thought that when the meaning is "many" (adjective) then molto must change/compliment/modify the nouns "persone"? Therefore, changing the the ending to molte. Is this a typo or have I misunderstood the usage of molto funtioning as an adjective? :smile: