Learn how to form the present/past progressive using a formal conversation as an example
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 |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 3, Lesson 12 - Are Italian Apartments Expensive to Rent? Becky here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao. I'm Ofelia. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the present progressive. |
| Ofelia: That’s right. We use stare followed by the gerundio. |
| Becky: The conversation takes place at a real estate agency. |
| Ofelia: It's between Maria and the real estate agency employee. |
| Becky: The speakers don't know each other, so they’ll be using formal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Sto cercando un mini appartamento, non troppo distante dal centro. |
| Impiegato: Sì, vediamo. Ecco qui, ne abbiamo due molto interessanti. |
| Maria: Questo mi sembra ben organizzato, dove si trova di preciso e quanto costa? |
| Impiegato: E' proprio fuori dal centro, vicino ad una fermata d'autobus. L'affitto è di 1150 euro al mese. |
| Maria: Mamma mia! Stavo cercando qualcosa di più economico... |
| Impiegato: In questo caso, Le consiglio di spostarsi dal centro. Per ora stiamo promuovendo questo mini-attico in periferia. |
| Maria: Attico?! |
| Impiegato: Sì, si tratta di un piccolo locale con bagnetto e cucina, ristrutturato da poco, in una palazzina signorile. |
| Becky: Now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: I'm looking for a small apartment not too far from downtown. |
| Employee: Yes, let's see. Here you are. These two are very interesting. |
| Maria: This looks well organized; where is it precisely and how much does it cost? |
| Employee: It's just on the outside of downtown, near a bus stop. The price is 1150 euro per month. |
| Maria: Heavens! I was looking for something cheaper... |
| Employee: In this case I would recommend that you move away from the city center. At the moment, we’re promoting this small-sized attic in the outskirts. |
| Maria: Attic?! |
| Employee: Yes, it’s a little room with a little bathroom and kitchen, recently restored, in an apartment house. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: I’ve heard that from the north to the south of Italy there are different types of traditional houses. Could you tell me more about that? |
| Ofelia: Yes, of course! The style depends on the weather and the jobs typically found in the regions. For example, in northern Italy, the typical house of Trentino Alto-Adige is called maso. |
| Becky: What kind of house is that? |
| Ofelia: It’s a wooden house built for the cold weather with a kitchen and workshop on the ground floor, which is the warmest place most days, and the bedrooms are upstairs. |
| Becky: And what about in the south? |
| Ofelia: Going south, houses are made of stone and have inner yards for outdoor space. The interiors are painted with light colors and are cold in order to keep food fresh in the sunny, hot climate. In Puglia, you can still visit and stay in a trullo or a masseria, typical buildings of the Italian countryside. |
| Becky: That sounds really nice! |
| Ofelia: Yes, but unfortunately, just like in the rest of the world, traditions are being forgotten in Italy and it’s becoming more difficult to see traditional buildings. |
| Becky: That’s a shame. Are there any useful expressions we should know about housing in Italy? |
| Ofelia: Yes, for example - Le case tipiche dell'Italia sono molto differenti dal nord al sud. |
| Becky: "The typical Italian estates are very different from the north to the south." Okay, now on to the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Becky: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Ofelia: mini [natural native speed] |
| Becky: small |
| Ofelia: mini [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: mini [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: affitto [natural native speed] |
| Becky: rent |
| Ofelia: affitto [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: affitto [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Our next word is... |
| Ofelia: promuovere [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to promote |
| Ofelia: promuovere [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: promuovere [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: attico [natural native speed] |
| Becky: attic |
| Ofelia: attico [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: attico [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: periferia [natural native speed] |
| Becky: outskirts, periphery |
| Ofelia: periferia [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: periferia [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: locale [natural native speed] |
| Becky: room, place |
| Ofelia: locale [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: locale [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The next word is... |
| Ofelia: ristrutturare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to restore |
| Ofelia: ristrutturare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: ristrutturare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: And our last word is... |
| Ofelia: palazzina [natural native speed] |
| Becky: luxury apartment building |
| Ofelia: palazzina [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: palazzina [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Becky: Let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. The first word is... |
| Ofelia: ...mini. |
| Becky: Which means "small, or miniature." |
| Ofelia: The word mini comes from the Latin root min-, as in "minus" and "minor." |
| Becky: This word, as an adjective, can be used before any noun in a very simple way, especially in colloquial Italian. |
| Ofelia: For example, una mini gomma means “a small eraser;” una mini giornata means “a short day;” una mini chiacchierata means “a short chat;” and un mini problema means “a little problem.” |
| Becky: Note that this is an informal adjective, and sometimes it even sounds childish. Can you give us an example using this word, Ofelia? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say, Vorrei comprare una mini tv per la mia mini stanza. |
| Becky: Meaning, "I'd like to buy a small TV for my small room." |
| Becky: Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: Ristrutturare. |
| Becky: Meaning "to restore,” or “to modernize." |
| Ofelia: Ristrutturare is an architectural term. The verb can refer to buildings as well as their parts, such as ristrutturare l'appartamento, “to restore the apartment;” or ristrutturare il salotto, “to restore the living room.” Sometimes ristrutturare can be confused with the verb restaurare because both are translated in English as "to restore." However, the second verb refers to works of art, as in restaurare un dipinto, “to restore a painting.” |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using the first word? |
| Ofelia: : Sure. For example, you can say, Il campanile stava cadendo a pezzi ed è stato ristrutturato. |
| Becky: Meaning, "Because the bell tower was going to fall down it has been restored." Okay, now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use the present and past progressive. |
| Ofelia: In Italian, this is formed by the verb stare, meaning “to be,” or “to stay,” followed by the gerundio. Let’s start with the gerundio presente. This is equivalent to the “-ing” verb form in English. |
| Becky: Let's review the formation of the gerund. |
| Ofelia: To form the gerundio, you add the suffix -ando to the stem of -are verbs, and add -endo to the stem of the -ere and -ire verbs. |
| Becky: Please give us an example. |
| Ofelia: Sure, dormire, meaning “to sleep,” drops -ire and gets -endo, becoming dormendo. |
| Becky: There also some irregular verbs. |
| Ofelia: Yes, for example, condurre, meaning “to lead,” becomes conducendo. |
| Becky: Listeners, please check the lesson notes for more information on irregular verbs! |
| Ofelia: The gerundio can be used in various ways. |
| Becky: Used by itself, it suggests a cause or a reason. For example... |
| Ofelia: Vedendo il danno alla mia macchina, mi son quasi messa a piangere. |
| Becky: Which means "As I saw the damage to my car, I almost started to cry." It’s also used to suggest a contemporaneous action, and it’s often translated as “'while.” |
| Ofelia: Such as, Camminando, ho incontrato un mio vecchio compagno di classe. |
| Becky: "While walking, I met an old classmate of mine." Okay, now let’s see the usage in the present progressive. |
| Ofelia: It’s simple when the gerundio is combined with the verb stare in the present, we get the present continuous. |
| Becky: Let’s hear some examples. |
| Ofelia: Ora non posso venire. Sto lavorando. |
| Becky: "Now I cannot come. I'm working." |
| Ofelia: Similarly, we can have the past continuous by combining the imperfect past of stare with the gerundio. For example, Stavo andando in biblioteca, quando ho visto Dino. |
| Becky: "I was going to the library when I saw Dino." Let’s hear one more sample sentence. |
| Ofelia: Anna e suo marito stanno cercando un lavoro all'estero. |
| Becky: "Anna and her husband are searching for a job abroad." Listeners, don’t forget to check the lesson notes for more examples! |
Outro |
| Becky: Well, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
Comments
Hide