Learn how to use combined personal pronouns to ask for information about a guided tour using a formal conversation as an example
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Becky: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ItalianPod101.com. This is Lower Intermediate Season 3, Lesson 17 - Getting Insider Tips for your Italian Vacation. Becky here. |
| Ofelia: Ciao. I'm Ofelia. |
| Becky: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use combined personal pronouns. The conversation takes place at a tourist information point. |
| Ofelia: It's between Maria and the office operator. |
| Becky: The speakers don't know each other, so they’ll be using formal Italian. Okay, let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Maria: Volevamo sapere se ci sono visite guidate. |
| Addetto: Sì. Ve le consigliamo vivamente. Cosa vorreste visitare? |
| Maria: La villa romana e i mosaici. Come funziona? |
| Addetto: Dunque ci sono 2 turni. Quando la volete visitare di mattina o di pomeriggio? |
| Maria: Di pomeriggio. |
| Addetto: Le visite pomeridiane iniziano alle 15. |
| Maria: Possiamo acquistare i biglietti qui? |
| Adetto: Sì, ve li posso vendere anche io. Abbiamo anche le cartine illustrative. |
| Maria: Me ne dà una in inglese? |
| Becky: Now listen to the conversation with the English translation. |
| Maria: We want to know if there are guided tours. |
| Operator: Yes. We highly recommend them. What would you like to visit? |
| Maria: The Roman villa and the mosaics. How does it work? |
| Operator: Well, there are two shifts. When do you want to visit? In the morning or in the afternoon? |
| Maria: In the afternoon. |
| Operator: The afternoon tour starts at 3:00 pm. |
| Maria: Can we buy the tickets here? |
| Operator: Yes, I also can sell them to you. We also have the descriptive maps. |
| Maria: Can you give me one in English? |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Becky: What’s the best way to find out what tours are available in Italy, Ofelia? |
| Ofelia: As you may know, any city in Italy has at least one tourist information center. |
| Becky: Right. We learned about that in the last lesson. |
| Ofelia: Usually, this info center is close to the main train station or the most famous monuments of the city. The so-called proloco is the information center that exists to promote the loco, or the place where you are. |
| Becky: How do you find one? |
| Ofelia: In general, you can easily recognize the tourist information centers from the big blue signs with an "i" in the middle. They offer detailed maps and materials for free and are worth a visit. |
| Becky: That’s a good tip! Do you have a useful expression for finding the tourist office? |
| Ofelia: Sure!Può indicarmi l'ufficio informazioni turistiche più vicino, per favore? |
| Becky: "Could you show me the closest tourist information office, please?" 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: consigliare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to suggest, to advise |
| Ofelia: consigliare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: consigliare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: vivamente [natural native speed] |
| Becky: heartily, keenly |
| Ofelia: vivamente [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: vivamente [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: mosaico [natural native speed] |
| Becky: mosaic |
| Ofelia: mosaico [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: mosaico [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The next word is... |
| Ofelia: funzionare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: to work |
| Ofelia: funzionare [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: funzionare [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: turno [natural native speed] |
| Becky: turn |
| Ofelia: turno [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: turno [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next... |
| Ofelia: pomeridiano [natural native speed] |
| Becky: afternoon |
| Ofelia: pomeridiano [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: pomeridiano [natural native speed] |
| Becky: Next we have... |
| Ofelia: cartina [natural native speed] |
| Becky: map |
| Ofelia: cartina [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: cartina [natural native speed] |
| Becky: The last word is... |
| Ofelia: illustrativo [natural native speed] |
| Becky: illustrative |
| Ofelia: illustrativo [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Ofelia: illustrativo [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: ...mosaico. |
| Becky: Which means "mosaic." In Italian this term refers to artwork and, in a figurative way, to something compounded by various elements. |
| Ofelia: It’s a technical term but it’s used a lot in Italy. |
| Becky: An example of the figurative meaning could be... |
| Ofelia: Questo libro è un mosaico di generi diversi. |
| Becky: Meaning, "This book is a collection of different genres." Can you give us an example of the word’s other meaning? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say, Ogni volta che guardo quel mosaico sul soffitto mi commuovo. |
| Becky: "Every time I see that mosaic on the ceiling I'm touched." Okay, what's the next word? |
| Ofelia: Illustrativo. |
| Becky: Which means "illustrative, descriptive, or explicative." |
| Ofelia: Illustrativo means that something has an illustration or is explicative in someway. You may see a libro illustrativo, “an illustrated book,” or a testo illustrativo, “a descriptive text.” |
| Becky: Can you give us an example using this word? |
| Ofelia: Sure. For example, you can say, Un testo illustrativo dovrà essere consigliato per sostenere l'esame. |
| Becky: This means, "A descriptive text should be suggested to undertake the exam." Okay, now on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Becky: In this lesson you’ll learn how to use combined personal pronouns. |
| Ofelia: The pronomi combinati are pairs of pronouns formed from an indirect pronoun and the direct pronouns. |
| Becky: This pair substitutes for a noun that has the function of an indirect object and a noun that has the function of a direct complement. First, let's briefly review the indirect pronouns. Ofelia will give the pronoun in Italian, and I’ll give you the English translation. |
| Ofelia: Mi. |
| Becky: "To me." |
| Ofelia: Ti. |
| Becky: "To you." |
| Ofelia: Gli and le. |
| Becky: "To him" and "to her." |
| Ofelia: Ci and ce. |
| Becky: “To us.” |
| Ofelia: Vi and ve. |
| Becky: “To you,” in the plural. |
| Ofelia: Gli. |
| Becky: “To them.” Now let's review the direct pronouns. |
| Ofelia: Mi |
| Becky: "Me." |
| Ofelia: Ti. |
| Becky: "You." |
| Ofelia: Lo and la. |
| Becky: "Him" and "her" and “it.” |
| Ofelia: Ci. |
| Becky: “Us.” |
| Ofelia: Vi. |
| Becky: “You,” in the plural. |
| Ofelia: Li and le. |
| Becky: “Them,” in the masculine and feminine. Now let’s review how to use indirect pronouns. Listeners, you should be aware that the indirect pronoun always comes first. Let’s see a practical example. |
| Ofelia: Sure. Let’s consider this sentence: Sandro ci porta delle briosches per la colazione. |
| Becky: "Sandro brings croissants to us for breakfast.” |
| Ofelia: Using pronouns, it becomes: Sandro ce le porta per la colazione. |
| Becky: “Sandro brings them (to us) for breakfast." |
| Ofelia: As you may have noticed, the indirect pronoun changes i to e. Ci changed into ce. |
| Becky: Are there other rules to remember? |
| Ofelia: In combination with gli, meaning "to them," the indirect pronoun and the direct pronoun that follows become a single word, and we add the letter e between the two pronouns. For example, Glielo volevo prestare. |
| Becky:"I wanted to lend it to him." |
| Ofelia: When combined with a direct pronoun, it’s not possible to use le as an indirect pronoun for lei, meaning “her.” Gli substitutes for le. So Glielo volevo prestare can also mean... |
| Becky: "I wanted to lend it to her." |
| Ofelia: Please note that the indirect pronoun for the third person singular and plural is the same. There’s also the form loro for the third person plural, but it’s not often used, especially in spoken Italian. For example, it’s not common to hear, Ho un regalo per Sara e Giovanna. Lo porto loro domani. |
| Becky: "I have a present for Sara and Giovanna. I'll bring it to them tomorrow." |
| Ofelia: Instead it’s more common to hear, Ho un regalo per Sara e Giovanna. Glielo porto domani. This has the same meaning. |
| Becky: Listeners, for more examples don’t forget to check out the lesson notes! |
Outro |
| Becky: Okay, that’s all for this lesson. Thank you for listening, everyone, and we’ll see you next time! Bye! |
| Ofelia: A presto. |
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