Learn about the Italian verbs avere and essere
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 |
| Betsey: Hi everyone, Betsey here! Welcome to ItalianPod101.com! This is Lower Beginner Season 1, Lesson 1 - Talking Technology in Italian. |
| Ofelia: Ciao! I'm Ofelia. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the verbs avere meaning "to have" and essere meaning "to be," |
| Betsey: This conversation takes place at the bar after school. |
| Ofelia: Mieke and Jack parlano insieme. |
| Betsey: The conversation is between Mieke and Jack. |
| Ofelia: The speakers are classmates, so they will be using informal language. |
| Betsey: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jack: Quindi, ci vediamo domani per preparare la presentazione....mmhm...non ho il tuo numero di cellulare. |
| Mieke: Non ho un cellulare. Il mio numero di casa è 045996784. Oh wow! Hai uno smartphone! Ne vorrei anch'io uno. |
| Jack: Ho anche un tablet. È molto utile! E questo è il mio portatile, molto leggero. |
| Mieke: Sei un amante della tecnologia! |
| Betsey: Let's hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jack: Quindi, ci vediamo domani per preparare la presentazione....mmhm...non ho il tuo numero di cellulare. |
| Mieke: Non ho un cellulare. Il mio numero di casa è 045996784. Oh wow! Hai uno smartphone! Ne vorrei anch'io uno. |
| Jack: Ho anche un tablet. È molto utile! E questo è il mio portatile, molto leggero. |
| Mieke: Sei un amante della tecnologia! |
| Betsey: Now let's hear it with the English translation. |
| Jack: Quindi, ci vediamo domani per preparare la presentazione....mmhm...non ho il tuo numero di cellulare. |
| Jack: So, let's meet tomorrow to prepare our presentation...mmhm...I don't have your cell phone number. |
| Mieke: Non ho un cellulare. Il mio numero di casa è 045996784. Oh wow! Hai uno smartphone! Ne vorrei anch'io uno. |
| Mieke: I don't have a cell phone. My house number is 045996784. Oh wow, you've got a smartphone! I also would like one. |
| Jack: Ho anche un tablet. È molto utile! E questo è il mio portatile, molto leggero. |
| Jack: I also have a tablet. It's very useful! And this is my laptop, very light. |
| Mieke: Sei un amante della tecnologia! |
| Mieke: You are a tech nerd! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Ofelia: Jack is definitely a tech nerd, don't you think! |
| Betsey: Yes, that's true. Do you like using the Internet, Ofelia? |
| Ofelia: I do, sometimes. When I'm feeling lazy, I do all of my shopping on the web... |
| Betsey: Don't we all! So does the web play a big part in people's everyday lives in Italy? |
| Ofelia: Yes, like in many other countries, the Internet is a useful support, both in everyday life and for administrative purposes too. |
| Betsey: What are some examples? |
| Ofelia: For example, you can get some documents from the civil register online, while you're sitting around at home, instead of queuing at an office for hours. |
| Betsey: That sounds convenient! |
| Ofelia: Talking about Internet, there is also good news for our listeners living in Italy. More and more stores have decided to make use of the web, and some of the most famous supermarkets in Italy offer online shops that deliver groceries to homes. |
| Betsey: I like that! I wouldn't starve if I were in Italy!! |
| Ofelia: No, you definitely wouldn't! But, be careful because the service is still not that cheap. It's still cheaper to go into the supermarket itself. |
| Betsey: Keep those tips in mind, listeners. Ok, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Betsey: The first word we shall see is... |
| Ofelia: domani [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: tomorrow |
| Ofelia: domani [slowly - broken down by syllable] domani [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: preparare [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: to prepare, to make, to set, to arrange |
| Ofelia: preparare [slowly - broken down by syllable] preparare [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: numero [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: number |
| Ofelia: numero [slowly - broken down by syllable] numero [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: cellulare [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: cellphone, mobile phone |
| Ofelia: cellulare [slowly - broken down by syllable] cellulare [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: casa [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: home, house, one's place |
| Ofelia: casa [slowly - broken down by syllable] casa [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: volere [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: to want, to wish, to demand |
| Ofelia: volere [slowly - broken down by syllable] volere [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: utile [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: useful |
| Ofelia: utile [slowly - broken down by syllable] utile [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: portatile [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: portable |
| Ofelia: portatile [slowly - broken down by syllable] portatile [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: Next |
| Ofelia: tecnologia [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: technology |
| Ofelia: tecnologia [slowly - broken down by syllable] tecnologia [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: And last... |
| Ofelia: leggero [natural native speed] |
| Betsey: light |
| Ofelia: leggero [slowly - broken down by syllable] leggero [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Betsey: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first one we'll look at is... |
| Ofelia: CELLULARE |
| Betsey: CELLPHONE |
| Ofelia: In Italian, the word cell phone can both be translated as cellulare, or telefonino, which means 'small telephone.' |
| Betsey: ‘Small telephone'? |
| Ofelia: Yes, it is a modified word, of which there are many in Italian. In this case, the word ‘telefono', telephone, has become 'telefonino'. The ending '-ino' is usually used to indicate the diminutive form. Another example could be 'numero', |
| Betsey: "number" |
| Ofelia: Which becomes 'numerino'. |
| Betsey: I see, "small number," Interesting! What about the latest generation 4G phones? |
| Ofelia: Well "telefonino" wouldn't really be appropriate for such an advanced technology. |
| Betsey: Really? So what should I call them? |
| Ofelia: It's better to call them "Smartphone," |
| Betsey: Ok, can you give us an example? |
| Ofelia: Ho sostituito il mio vecchio telefonino con uno smartphone. |
| Betsey: I substituted my old cell phone with a smartphone. |
| Betsey: What's the next word we'll look at? |
| Ofelia: PORTATILE |
| Betsey: LAPTOP |
| Ofelia: Even though the English word laptop is also popular in Italy, portatile is the Italian counterpart. |
| Betsey: Where does it come from? |
| Ofelia: It comes from the verb portare, meaning "to take around," Portatile is also an adjective and it means 'that can be taken around'. |
| Betsey: Great. Can you give us an example using it as an adjective? |
| Ofelia: A casa ho un televisore portatile. |
| Betsey: At home I've got a portable TV. |
| And.. the last one we'll look at is... |
| Ofelia: LEGGERO. |
| Betsey: LIGHT. |
| Ofelia: The adjective leggero, just like in English, has many meanings in Italian. It can refer to the weight, but it can also mean 'easy to digest'. |
| Betsey: So, just as in English, can you say you had "a light meal" in Italian? |
| Ofelia: Yes! That would be "un pasto leggero," 'pasto' means meal and 'leggero' means light. |
| Betsey: Can you also use it to say "a light bag"? |
| Ofelia: Of course! For example, in the sentence Questo zaino è molto leggero. |
| Betsey: "This backpack is very light." Okay, now onto the grammar. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| Ofelia: In this lesson, you'll learn about the verb avere. It's used in different situations, and can be translated as "to have." "to own." "to obtain." and "to hold." It's quite near to the English 'to have'. |
| Betsey: Now, we're giving special attention into this verb because it's an irregular and transitive verb.... |
| Ofelia: ….which means it takes a direct object. |
| Betsey: Can you give me an example sentence with this verb? |
| Ofelia: Yes. Ho anche un tablet! |
| Betsey: "I also have a tablet!" So you use the English word for 'tablet' in Italian? |
| Ofelia: That's right. |
| Betsey: Let's look at the conjugation of the verb 'avere'. Ofelia will give you the conjugated verbs one by one, starting with first person form. |
| Ofelia: Io ho |
| Betsey: I have (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Tu hai |
| Betsey: You have (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Lui/lei ha |
| Betsey: he/she has (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Noi abbiamo |
| Betsey: we have(PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Voi avete |
| Betsey: you have(PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Loro hanno |
| Betsey: they have(PAUSE) |
| Betsey: Ofelia, could you give us an example that uses this verb? |
| Ofelia: Of course. 'Noi abbiamo un cane'. |
| Betsey: We have a dog. |
| Ofelia: Right. Here, we used the verb "abbiamo" since the subject is "noi." meaning "we" in English. |
| Ofelia: Betsey, do you remember if there is anything else we can say using the verb "avere"? |
| Betsey: Oh, yes. We can use this verb when talking about ages. In English, you use the verb 'to be' when talking about ages, for example, I AM 18 years old. However, it's different in Italian. |
| Ofelia: Okay, let's take an example, 'Quanti anni hai?' |
| Betsey: "How old are you?" It literally means 'How many years do you have?' |
| Ofelia: Okay, let's move on to our next verb, 'essere' |
| Betsey: Which means "to be," |
| Ofelia: Here is an example sentence - Questo è il mio portatile. |
| Betsey: This is my laptop. |
| Ofelia: Just like 'avere', 'essere' is an irregular verb. |
| Betsey: But it is intransitive, which means it doesn't take a direct object. |
| Ofelia: Let's look at the conjugation of the verb essere… |
| Ofelia: Io sono |
| Betsey: I am (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Tu sei |
| Betsey: you are (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Lui/lei è |
| Betsey: he/she is (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Noi siamo |
| Betsey: we are (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Voi siete |
| Betsey: you are (PAUSE) |
| Ofelia: Loro sono |
| Betsey: they are |
| Betsey: Ofelia, please give us an example using "essere"… |
| Ofelia: Sei un grande amico. |
| Betsey: You are a great friend. |
| Ofelia: In this case we have 'sei', since the subject is 'tu,' meaning "you" - (singular) in English. |
| Betsey: Please make sure to check the Lesson Notes, since you'll need to use both verbs in almost every conversation you have! |
| Ofelia: Yes, that's true! And remember to practice them a lot. That's the best way to memorize all conjugations! |
Outro |
|---|
| Betsey: OK. That's all for this lesson. Thanks for listening, everyone. See you next time! |
| Ofelia: A presto! |
Comments
Hide