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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Ciao! Hello and welcome back to Italian survival phrases brought to you by ItalianPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Italy. You will be surprised at how far a little Italian will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by ItalianPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
Today's phrase will help you to take matters into your own hands. In today's lesson, we'll take a look at the word "Please," which will be very important when you need to ask for something.
GRAMMAR POINT
In Italian, "Please" is Per favore.
Per favore.
Let's break it down by syllable: Per fa-vo-re.
Now let's hear it once again, Per favore.
The easiest way of using "please" is to point at something while saying Per favore, but let's try and build this up a bit, shall we?
Let's start with the expression "This please." which in Italian is Questo per favore.
In English, "this" comes before "please." And also in Italian, the order is the same. So we have Questo per favore.
Let's take a look at the word for "this." "This" In Italian is questo.
questo
Let's break it down by syllable: ques-to.
questo
Looking at the word for "this," warrants a look at the word for "that," which is quello.
Quello
The phrase "That please." is Quello per favore.
Quello per favore.
Let's break it down by syllable: Quel-lo per fa-vo-re.
Now let's hear it once again, Quello per favore.
Cultural Insights
Please remember that it's also a little rude to point at things and especially at people. If it is necessary to point to something in order to explain better what one wants, then it is accepted; but pointing in the direction of someone and especially to a person's face is a very aggressive stance. Furthermore, when pointing, it is better to have one's arm, hand, and finger pointing in a relaxed way. Pointing with a stiff finger may seem intimidating.

Outro

Okay, to close out this lesson, we'd like you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for shouting it aloud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so buona fortuna, which means "good luck" in Italian.
"Please" - Per favore.
Per favore.
Per favore.
"This please." - Questo per favore.
Questo per favore.
Questo per favore.
"That please." - Quello per favore.
Quello per favore.
Quello per favore.
Thatโ€™s going to do it for today. Ciao ciao!

Comments

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22 Comments
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ItalianPod101.com
2008-03-03 18:30:00

Ciao a tutti! When was the last time you went to Italy?

ItalianPod101.com
2022-07-01 22:49:25

Ciao Julia,

thanks for your comment! Grazie per il tuo commento! ๐Ÿ‘

Cheers,

Valentina

Team ItalianPod101.com

Julia
2022-06-23 16:45:37

Grazie mille! - This is my first comment in Italian! I like it!โค๏ธ๏ธ

Lassi
2016-04-24 04:46:18

Grazie mille, Ofelia :smile:

ItalianPod101.com
2016-04-15 16:16:56

Hi everyone,

@Rain, the gender of "questo" and "quello" depends on the grammar gender of the thing/person you are referring to. For example, if you want to say "that (bag)", it will be "quella (borsa)", if you want to say "that (box)", it will be "quello scatolo" and so on.

@Lassi, Grazie mille! "Keep up the good work" in Italian is "Continua cosรฌ!"

Grazie a tutti e a presto!

Ofelia

Team ItalianPod101.com

Lassi
2016-04-13 04:01:20

Buon giorno!

Mi chiamo Lassi, piacere. (My name is Lassi, nice to meet you)

Grazie per questa lezione. (Thank you for this lesson)

Avevo 15 anni quando sono stato l'ultima volta in Italia. (I was 15 years old when I was last time in italy)

Mantenere il buon lavoro. :thumbsup: (Keep up the good work)

Grazie mille :smile:

Rain
2015-05-23 17:08:03

Ciao Ofelia. Thank you for your explanation but i am still confused. Never mind. I will try to read more to understand it. I have one more question. "Questo per favore" and "Quello per favore". I know the meaning of these two phrases. "Questo" and " Quello" are masculine singular. I am a woman. So shall i say "Questa per favore" and "Quella per favore" ? Looking forward to your reply.

Grazie mille โ˜บ

ItalianPod101.com
2015-05-22 10:14:40

Ciao Rain,

The gender of a word is almost never related to the gender of the speaker. Of course if the word refers to the speaker, than it depends on the gender of the speaker.

In other words, no matter who is speaking, a word has gender related to the thing/person/animal it refers to.

For example "borsa", "bag" is a feminine noun but you can use it either you are a man or woman.

For inanimate objects, you have to learn by heart the gender, even though there is some rule: for example most of the nouns that end in -a are feminine.

I hope this helps!

Grazie,

Ofelia

Team ItalianPod101.com

Rain
2015-05-20 22:15:27

Ciao... I am absolute beginner of learning Italian. I have bought a book for learning Italian.. Some words are masculine and some are feminine... meaning that the word can only be used by guy if it is masculine word?

ItalianPod101.com
2012-11-03 23:12:15

Hi Mary Jean,

Are you buying a ticket at the station? Then you'd say:

Vorrei un biglietto andata e ritorno in gironata da Firenze a Siena.

If you have more questions, feel free to leave a message here.

Buono studio!

Chiara

Team ItalianPod101.com

Mary Jean
2012-11-03 12:25:51

Vorrei andare e ritourno del la treno da Firenze /Siena un giorno se possible?

ItalianPod101.com
2012-06-08 17:04:55

Hello Amy,

I've heard Tuscany and its capital Florence is a popular tourist destinations with gorgeous landscapes. Hope you have a great time there!

If you have any questions, please do let us know :)

Cheers,

Neha/ItalianPod101.com

Amy
2012-06-08 00:07:47

I'm leaving for Tuscany a week from today!

DB
2011-07-01 00:43:01

Ciao!

Going to Tuscany next year. Can't wait!~

I have been wanting to go to Italy for years.

Sharon
2011-02-25 06:39:05

Hi:

I am planning to visit Firenze in two weeks. I have one afternoon to myself and was wondering if you had any suggestions of sites to see, restaurants to visit.

Consuelo
2010-02-09 11:09:12

Ciao Kati,

Sicily is great, I'm sure you had really good time there. My home town is Firenze. Whenever you plan to go there if you have some questions please feel free to ask!!

:wink:Consuelo

Kati
2010-02-08 20:25:44

Ciao a tutti :)

I was spending 10 beautiful days in Sicily last year! I loved it :) But my old dream is to travel to Florance! And I love your lessons ;)

Marco
2008-05-26 13:01:02

They are both interchangeable, while if you wanted to be formal you could use "per cortesia"

ciao

Kevin
2008-05-23 13:25:38

Hi, we learned before that "per piacere" is to say please but now also "per favore". Can you explain the difference and when to use which?

Jacquelline
2008-03-25 12:00:06

I've never been to Italy :sad:

marco
2008-03-04 10:01:49

Dear Victoria,

You should really visit Italy again!

Please tell us where you went and what you liked most.

Ciao

Marco

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