Foundation Italian

Italian
Foundation Course
Michel Thomas
Learn another language the way you learnt your own
Michel Thomas, 19142005

Michel Thomas, the internationally renowned linguist and language teacher, who was awarded the Silver Star by the US Army for his bravery in the Second World War, died of heart failure at his home in New York on 8th January 2005. He was 90.
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First published in UK 2000 by Hodder Education, an Hachette UK Company, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH. Copyright 2000, 2006 Thomas Keymaster Languages LLC All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS, UK. Cover image: Motoring picture library/Alamy Typeset by Transet Limited, Coventry, England. Printed in Great Britain Impression 10 9 Year 2012 2011 2010 ISBNs 978 0 340 93894 2, 978 0 340 93897 3
Introduction
Anyone can learn a language with Michel Thomas!
The amazing teaching method of the worlds greatest language teacher, Michel Thomas, is now available to everyone, not just the rich and famous. These all-audio courses, published by Hodder Education, provide an accelerated method for language learning that is truly revolutionary. And they promise a remarkable educational experience that will make your learning both exciting and pleasurable. No books, no pens, no homework, no memorizing just sit back and let the most sought-after language teacher in the world be your guide. In a matter of hours, you will find yourself speaking and thinking in your new language quite naturally and effortlessly.
Photo by Robert Milazzo
What is the Michel Thomas method?

Over a period of twenty-five years, Michel Thomas developed and perfected a unique method of teaching languages*. His approach gives startling results within a remarkably short time, all without the need for books, memorizing, or homework. In essence, Michel Thomas breaks a language down to its component parts and enables learners to reconstruct the language themselves to form their own sentences, to say what they want, when they want. The experience of learning a language becomes so exciting and satisfying that it stimulates self-motivation and builds confidence. Michel Thomas presents the language within simple, elegant structures that echo the way the language is spoken. He achieves this by guiding you through carefully planned sets of exercises that build up your understanding of the language almost without you realizing it. You are able to absorb the structures effortlessly and apply them naturally right from the start.
What does the Foundation (8-hour) course contain?

In his specially developed course you hear the voice of Michel Thomas as he leads a class of two students. These students are novices who have little or no knowledge of the language they are being taught. Their responses to Michel Thomas are not scripted and they have received no additional instruction or preparation just the guidance from Michel Thomas that you hear. You participate in this class actively and learn along with the students. This radically different approach means that you will learn a language in real-time conditions, that is in the same way that the students on the recording learn. There is no need to stop the recording to do homework, additional exercises, or vocabulary memorization. Therefore, unlike other learning methods you may have encountered, you will not be set unrealistic or unachievable goals. The success of the Michel Thomas method is proven by the very results that you hear from the students on the recording and, at the same time, from you as you make your own responses!
*U.S. patent 6,565,358
HOW IS THE FOUNDATION (8-hour) COURSE BEST USED?

Relax! Make yourself comfortable before playing the recording and try to let go of the tensions and anxieties traditionally associated with learning. Do not write or take any notes. Remove notebooks, pens, dictionaries and anything else associated with learning at school. Do not try to remember. While participating in the recording and afterwards, it is important that you do not try to memorize specific words or expressions. It is a basic principle of the Michel Thomas method that the responsibility for the students learning lies with the teacher. With Michel Thomas as your teacher, your learning will be based on understanding, and what you understand you dont forget. Interact fully with the recordings. Use the pause button and respond out loud (or in a whisper, or in your head, if you are in a public place) before the students responses. This is essential. You do not learn by repetition but by thinking out the answers to each question; it is by your own thought process that you truly learn. Give yourself time to think. The students on the recordings had all the time they needed to think out their responses. On the recordings their thinking time has been cut in order to make full use of the recording time and to give you all the time you may need (by pushing your pause button). The pause button is the key to your learning! Start at the beginning of the course. Whatever your existing knowledge of the language you are learning, it is important that you follow the way that Michel builds up your knowledge of the language. Do not get annoyed with yourself if you make a mistake. Mistakes are part of the learning process; as long as you understand why you made the mistake and you have the ahaa reaction yes, of course, I understand now you are doing fine. If you made a mistake and you do not understand why, you may have been daydreaming for a few seconds. The course is structured so that you cannot go on unless you fully understand everything, so just go back a little and you will pick up where you left off. Stop the recording whenever it suits you. You will notice that this course is not divided into lessons*; you will always be able to pick up from where you left off, without the need to review.
*Tracking breaks in the recordings reflect the numbering in the index (pages 1164). These breaks are added purely to help you locate where you left off, and do not represent any sort of hierarchy in Michels method.
What level of language will I achieve?

The Foundation course is designed for complete beginners. It makes no assumption of a knowledge of any language other than English. It will give the beginner a practical and functional use of the spoken language. It is also appropriate for anyone who has studied a language before, but has forgotten much of it or does not have confidence in speaking. Michel Thomas teaches the everyday conversational language that will allow you to communicate in a wide variety of situations, empowered by the ability to create your own sentences and use the language naturally. You will absorb the vocabulary and grammatical structures and, in addition, will be introduced to elements of writing and reading.
How quickly can I learn with the Foundation (8-hour) course?

One of the most remarkable features of the Michel Thomas method is the speed with which results are achieved. A knowledge of the language that will take months of conventional study can be achieved in a matter of hours with the Foundation course. Michel masterfully guides the student through an instructional process at a very rapid rate yet the process will appear informal, relaxed and unhurried. Michel moves quickly between numerous practice sessions, which all build the learners confidence in their ability to communicate in complex ways. Because the Michel Thomas method is based on understanding, not memorization, there is no set limit to the length of time that you should study the course. It offers immersion without strain or stress, and you will find the recordings are not divided into lessons, though the material has been indexed for your convenience (pages 1164). This means that you can stop and start as you please. The excitement of learning will motivate you to continue listening and learning for as long a time as is practical for you. This will enable you to make progress faster than you ever imagined possible.
Who is the Foundation (8-hour) course for?

Anyone can learn a language with the Michel Thomas method and the wide diversity of his students proves this. Not only does Michel instruct the rich and famous, but he has also taught many so-called hopeless cases. For example, in 1997, Michel taught French to a group of sixteen-year-olds in north London who had been told they could never learn a language, and gave them the ability to use the new language far beyond their expectations in just a week. Perhaps more important, he gave them the confidence to speak and a belief in, and the experience of, their own ability to learn. Whatever your motivation for learning a language, the Michel Thomas course quite simply offers the most effective method that is available.
How do I use the Foundation Review course?

The Review course has been devised for those who want to review, quickly and easily, the entire teaching contents of the Michel Thomas Foundation course. The Review course can be used in many ways: when you have reached the end of the main course to check or consolidate your learning; as a quick refresher when you return to the main course after a lapse of time; or if you are a newcomer to Michel Thomas looking for an overview of what the main courses contain. Michel will give you a prompt in English, there is a pause which allows time for your response in the foreign language, then Michel gives the correct response. If you struggled to give the right answer, or gave an incorrect answer, when working through the Review course, you can use the index (pages 1164) to locate precisely where in the main course the specific language point is taught in depth, and can return to the main course to work through the relevant section again.
What can I do next?

The Michel Thomas Advanced course is the long-awaited follow-on to the Foundation course. In five hours, Michel expands on the structures he only touches on in the earlier course to give you a comprehensive knowledge of the entire language and verb system. As in the Foundation course, Michel leads a class of two students, who had previously completed the Foundation course.
The Michel Thomas Language Builders take the form of a one-to-one lecture with Michel Thomas, building on the words and phrases in his Foundation and Advanced courses. The courses provide confidence in pronunciation, increase your word-power and consolidate your knowledge in just two hours. The much-anticipated Vocabulary courses carry forward the Michel Thomas teaching tradition and faithfully follow his unique approach to foreign language learning. The series editor is Dr Rose Lee Hayden, Michels most experienced and trusted teacher. The courses remain faithful to the method Michel Thomas uses in his earlier courses, with the all-audio and building-block approach. The presenter builds on Michels foundations to encourage the student at home to tap into the vast resources of vocabulary common to English and the foreign languages taught here. The student takes part in the audio, following prompts by the presenter, as in Michel Thomas original Foundation and Advanced courses. The teaching is all in English, with the addition of two native speakers to give models for perfect pronunciation and to increase the opportunity for practice. See the end of the booklet for details about all these courses. Try to speak with native speakers whenever possible, as this is invaluable for improving your fluency. Magazines and newspapers (especially those which feature interviews) will give you practice in the most current and idiomatic language. Expose yourself to the language whenever you can you will have firm foundations on which to build.
So, who was Michel Thomas?

Michel Thomas was head of the Michel Thomas Language Centers and taught languages for over fifty years, primarily in New York, Beverly Hills, and London. He was a graduate of the Department of Philology at the University of Bordeaux, France, and studied psychology at the Sorbonne (Paris) and at the University of Vienna. However, it was his remarkable life experiences that fuelled his passion for teaching languages. Michel spent most of his childhood in Germany and France. With the rise of Hitler, he began his years of escape and resistance. He spent two brutal years in French concentration and slave labour camps, constantly threatened by deportation to German death camps.
He escaped and fought for the French Resistance, surviving capture and interrogation by Klaus Barbie the Butcher of Lyons and torture by the Gestapo. His mastery of languages enabled him to adopt many identities (the last one being Michel Thomas), and, once France was liberated, allowed him to join the US Army as an intelligence officer. His unit went on to liberate Dachau, where he interrogated Michel in the uniform of an officer in the camp executioner and interviewed the French Resistance survivors. As well as recording the horrors of the Holocaust, he was driven by a personal mission to discover the fate of his own family (he later discovered that they had all perished in Auschwitz). At the end of the war, he masterminded operations to uncover war criminals and infiltrate underground Nazi groups, and was renowned for his ability to extract confessions without ever recourse to violence. In 1944 Michel was nominated for the Silver Star medal for his service to the US Armys 45th Infantry Division in France. The award was finally presented to him in May 2004, sixty years later. Michels wartime experiences, particularly his torture by the Gestapo when he discovered the ability to block out pain, made him aware of the untapped potential of the human mind. However, it was his deeply held conviction that the biggest weapon in maintaining a free society was education that drove him to devote his life to probing the learning process. Michel moved to Los Angeles in 1947, and he set up a language institute in Beverly Hills. Over a period of twenty-five years, he developed a unique and revolutionary learning system that has made him the worlds leading language teacher. Now, for the first time, his method has been made widely available through the publication of these recordings.
For a full account of his fascinating life, read The Test of Courage: Michel Thomas by Christopher Robbins, published by Hodder & Stoughton.
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Who has Michel Thomas taught? People came from all over the world to learn a foreign language with Michel Thomas because his method works. His students, now numbering in the thousands, have included well-known people from the arts and from the corporate, political and academic worlds. For example, he taught French to filmstar Grace Kelly prior to her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Michel with Grace Kelly
Michels list of clients include: Celebrities: Emma Thompson, Woody Allen, Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty, Melanie Griffith, Eddie Izzard, Bob Dylan, Jean Marsh, Donald Sutherland, Mrs George Harrison, Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks, Nastassja Kinski, Carl Reiner, Raquel Welch, Johnny Carson, Julie Andrews, Isabelle Adjani, Candice Bergen, Barbara Hershey, Priscilla Presley, Loretta Swit, Tony Curtis, Diana Ross, Herb Alpert, Angie Dickinson, Lucille Ball, Doris Day, Janet Leigh, Natalie Wood, Jayne Mansfield, Ann-Margaret, Yves Montand, Kim Novak, Otto Preminger, Max von Sydow, Peter Sellers, Franois Truffaut, Sophia Coppola. Diplomats, dignitaries and academics: Former U.S. Ambassador to France, Walter Curley; U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Joseph V. Reed; Cardinal John OConnor, Archbishop of New York; Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia; Armand Hammer; Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York; Professor Herbert Morris, Dean of Humanities at UCLA; Warren Keegan, Professor of Business at Pace University in New York; Professor Wesley Posvar, former President of the University of Pittsburgh. Executives from the following corporations: AT&T International, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Chase Manhattan Bank, American Express, Merrill Lynch, New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Boeing Aircraft, General Electric, Westinghouse Electric, Bank of America, Max Factor, Rand Corporation, Bertelsmann Music Group-RCA, Veuve Clicquot Inc., McDonalds Corporation, Rover, British Aerospace.
Index
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= Foundation (8-hour) course only
= features on the Review course
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 1 0:00 Introduction. How to use this course Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 2 0:00 Italian language: similarities to English. A few thousand words are very similar in English and Italian so vocabulary is not a problem. The important thing is to learn how to formulate your own thoughts using the language, i.e. structure, which you will get here. English words ending in -ible end in -ibile in Italian. possible it is It is possible. it is not It is not possible. for me It is for me. It is not for me. It is not possible for me. for you for her It is for you. It is not for me. It is possible for you. To ask a question use inflection. Is it not possible for you? why? because Why isnt it possible for you? like that / that way It is like that. It is not like that. It is not possible for me that way. Non possibile per lei? perch? perch Perch non possibile per lei? cos cos. Non cos. Non possibile per me cos. possibile possibile. non Non possibile. per me per me. Non per me. Non possibile per me. per lei per lei per lei. Non per me. possibile per lei. Review course CD 1 Track 2
0:57 0:59 1:12 1:17 1:26 1:29 1:38 1:44 1:52 1:59 2:10 2:18 2:23 2:29 2:35 2:44 2:49 3:00 3:12 3:15 3:35 3:52 4:03 4:10
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4:33 4:41 5:02 5:10 5:35 5:39 5:45 5:54 6:01 6:05
Im sorry.
Mi dispiace.
Review course CD 1 Track 3
mi dispiace means it displeases me, to me it displeases. It is usually followed by but. Im sorry but Mi dispiace, ma Im sorry but it is not possible Mi dispiace, ma non possibile for me that way. per me cos. English words ending in -able end in -abile in Italian. probable It is not probable. English -ly is -mente in Italian. probably possibly probabilmente possibilmente probabile Non probabile.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 3 0:00 0:08 0:16 0:24 0:33 0:34 0:41 0:52 0:54 1:13 1:22 1:33 1:42 1:59 2:03 2:12 2:24 2:29 2:51 2:58 late It is late. very It is very late. later more I want I tardi tardi. molto molto tardi. pi tardi pi voglio io
You dont need io because the verb ending in -o already expresses I. If you use io, you put emphasis on I. to know I want to know. I dont want I dont want to know. where I want to know where is ... Dove contracts to dov. how much to buy I want to buy quanto comprare voglio comprare I want to know how much it is. Voglio sapere quant. sapere Voglio sapere. non voglio Non voglio sapere. dove Voglio sapere dov ...
3:07 3:15 3:28 3:42 3:55 4:15 4:22 4:36 4:50 4:56 5:09 5:53 6:42 6:49
the thing I want to buy the thing. the same thing I want to buy the same thing. I dont want to buy the same thing. the same I want to buy the same. But I dont want the same thing. you want Do you want the same thing? What do you want? What do you want to buy? here
la cosa Voglio comprare la cosa. la stessa cosa Voglio comprare la stessa cosa. Non voglio comprare la stessa cosa. lo stesso Voglio comprare lo stesso. Ma non voglio la stessa cosa.
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vuole Vuole la stessa cosa? Che vuole? / Che cosa vuole? / Cosa vuole? Cosa vuole comprare? qui
What do you want to buy here? Cosa vuole comprare qui?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 4 0:04 0:06 0:18 0:43 1.09 1:34 1:45 1:48 1:52 some something Do you want to buy something here? Why dont you want to buy something here? qualche qualchecosa / qualcosa Vuole comprare qualcosa qui? Perch non vuole comprare qualcosa qui?
Instead of vuole in the spoken language, you can use vuol: Cosa vuol comprare? or Cosa vuole comprare? I want to know. it to know it Voglio sapere. lo saperlo
sapere + lo: lo gets hooked onto the verb to form saperlo. All verbs in Italian end in -re (-are, -ere, -ire). If you want to hook on something, you hook it onto the r, dropping the e. I want to know it. to buy to buy it I want to buy it. Voglio saperlo. comprare comprarlo Voglio comprarlo.
2:32 2:46 2:53 2:56
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3:05 4:09 4:17 4:25 4:35 4:42 5:16 5:24 5:29
I want to know how much it is because I want to buy it. if expensive It is very expensive. It is not very expensive. I want to buy it if it is not very expensive. too / too much It is not too expensive. I want to buy it if it is not too expensive.
Voglio sapere quant perch voglio comprarlo. se caro molto caro. Non molto caro. Voglio comprarlo se non molto caro. troppo Non troppo caro. Voglio comprarlo se non troppo caro.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 5 0:00 0:11 0:22 0:28 0:32 0:58 1:08 1:23 1:33 1:53 1:56 2:08 2:32 2:48 2:54 3:06 3:36 3:40 3:42 to have I want to have it. when avere Voglio averlo. quando
when is quando and how much is quanto. When do you want to have it? Quando vuole averlo? / Quando vuol averlo? you can You can have it ... if you want if you want to have it now I want to have it now. if it is possible at what time At what time do you want to have it? You can have it now if you want. a-b-l-e probable acceptable pu Pu averlo ... se vuole se vuole averlo / se vuol averlo ora / adesso Voglio averlo adesso. se possibile a che ora A che ora vuole (vuol) averlo? Pu averlo adesso se vuole.
ora means hour as well as now.
-abile probabile accettabile
3:57 4:09 4:51
It is not acceptable for me. Im sorry but it is not acceptable for me that way. I want to know why it is not acceptable for you that way because it is very good. good
Non accettabile per me. Mi dispiace, ma non accettabile per me cos. Voglio sapere perch non accettabile per lei cos perch molto buono. buono
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4:56
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 6 0:08 I think / as far as I am concerned / according to me / in my opinion secondo me in your opinion As far as I know / As far as I see / In my opinion it is very good that way. I am ready Im ready. soon right away Im ready right away. ready (feminine) Im ready soon. It is ready. It is not ready. he is / it is / she is / is to stay I stay The -o ending is for I. he/she/it stays, you stay (he/she/it is staying, you are staying) I stay here. Hes staying here. sta secondo lei Secondo me, molto buono cos.
0:23 0:30
sono / io sono pronto Sono pronto. presto subito Sono pronto subito. pronta Sono pronta subito / presto. pronto. Non pronto. stare sto
1:05 1:17 1:24 1:33 1:41 1:46 2:01 2:11 2:27 2:35 2:40 2:50 3:01 3:07 3:12
Sto qui. Sta qui.
3:14 3:20 3:26 3:32
The -a ending is for you, he, she, it.
sta is for hes staying, shes staying, its staying, youre staying.
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3:39 3:59 4:19 4:48 5:55 6:10 6:22 6:44
how long How long are you staying?
quanto tempo Quanto tempo sta?
How long are you staying here? Quanto tempo sta qui? Verbs are very important because if you know how to use verbs you know how to use the language. Any word in front of which you can place the article the is a noun: the happiness, the condition, the situation An adjective is any word in front of which you can place am or is: am proud, am happy, it is possible A verb is any word in front of which you can place to: to go, to see, to have, to be The basic form of a verb in English is to .... This is expressed in Italian in the ending -re: parlare (to speak), mangiare (to eat), partire (to leave, to depart), capire (to understand), vedere (to see)
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 7 0:00 0:08 0:17 0:23 0:30 0:33 0:57 0:59 1:14 1:45 1:48 2:12 2:19 2:27 2:41 2:58 3:18 4:11 I want to see. I want to see it. I want to see her. you and her is the same: la I want to see you later. a little a little later I want to see you a little later. busy because Im busy now to speak I want to speak Italian. Do you want to speak Italian with me? Why dont you want to speak Italian with me? Im sorry but I cannot speak with you now. because Im very busy now Voglio vederla pi tardi. un po un po pi tardi Voglio vederla un po pi tardi. occupato perch sono occupato adesso parlare Voglio parlare italiano. Vuole (Vuol) parlare italiano con me? Perch non vuol (vuole) parlare italiano con me? Mi dispiace, ma non posso parlare con lei ora (adesso). perch sono molto occupata ora Voglio vedere. Voglio vederlo. Voglio vederla.
lo means it and also him; la means her
I want to speak Italian with you. Voglio parlare italiano con lei.
3:33 4:30 5:04 5:15 5:28 5:41 5:58 6:16 6:40
I can is posso; you can is pu; he can, she can is pu. but I can see you a little later if you want to eat I want to eat now. What do you want to eat? Do you want to eat something now? Why dont you want to eat now? ma posso vederla un po pi tardi se vuole mangiare Voglio mangiare adesso. Cosa vuole mangiare? Vuole mangiare qualcosa ora? Perch non vuole mangiare adesso?
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What do you want to eat now? Cosa vuole mangiare adesso?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 8 0:00 0:33 0:44 0:55 I eat he eats / she eats / you eat mangio mangia
For verbs ending in -are: -o for I and -a for you, he, she, it We have three types of verbs: -are (mangiare, parlare, andare), -ere (vedere), -ire (partire, venire). All verbs can be divided into two tracks: verbs that end in -are and verbs that dont end in -are. For I you usually have an o on both tracks. For he, she, it and you on the -are track, use a (parla). For the other verbs, use e (vede). to go to see to come I speak you speak / he speaks / she speaks I see you see to take I take you take / youre taking Im taking it. Youre taking it. Why dont you take it? andare vedere venire parlo parla
1:04 1:12 1:20 2:06 2:12 2:33 2:42 2:52 2:57 3:00 3:07 3:16 3:22
vedo vede prendere prendo prende Lo prendo. Lo prende. Perch non lo prende?
18
3:31
In English there are three ways to express the present tense: I take it, I do take it, Im taking it. In Italian there is one way: lo prendo. In modern English you use do and dont for questions and negatives and you use the progressive tense with -ing. In the English of Shakespeare and of the King James Bible, English was much closer to the Italian verb forms. I am I am eating I dont speak Yes, I speak Italian but I dont speak French. sono mangio non parlo S, parlo italiano, ma non parlo francese.
3:57
5:29 5:33 6:00 6:15 6:28
In speaking its very important to observe traffic signals and not to go through the red light, i.e. -ing, do and dont. They are not used in Italian. I dont eat Im not busy. Im not eating I dont eat non mangio Non sono occupato (occupata). non mangio non mangio
6:52 7:03 7:22 7:27
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 9 0:00 0:06 0:13 0:24 0:32 0:37 0:46 0:52 1:00 1:06 1:22 1:35 1:58 2:05 to prepare I prepare I prepare it. I am preparing it. I dont prepare it. I am not preparing it. to have I have you have Do you have something for me? What do you have for me? Im hungry. Are you hungry? preparare preparo Lo preparo. Lo preparo. Non lo preparo. Non lo preparo. avere ho ha Ha qualcosa per me? Cosa ha per me? Ho fame. Ha fame?
Do you want to eat something Vuole mangiare qualcosa adesso? now? Are you hungry? Ha fame?
2:30 2:35 2:49 2:55 3:04 3:13 3:23 3:33 3:39 3:50 4:15 4:28 4:31 4:55 5:06 5:21 5:37 6:07 6:24
Dont you want to eat? Arent you hungry? to drink I drink you drink What are you drinking?
Non vuole mangiare? Non ha fame? bere bevo beve Cosa beve?
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cosa expresses the question, so use of inflection is not necessary here. thirst Im thirsty. is and Do you want to speak Italian with me? What do you eat? What are you eating? to do / to make What do you want to do? Do you want to do it? Why dont you want to do it now? sete Ho sete. e Vuole parlare italiano con me? Cosa mangia? Cosa mangia? fare Cosa vuole fare? Vuole farlo? Perch non vuole farlo ora (adesso)?
Im thirsty and I want to drink. Ho sete e voglio bere.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 10 0:00 0:07 0:14 I can you can Im very sorry but I cannot do it now because Im very busy now. I can do it later if I have the time. to stay I stay Im busy. tired Im very tired now. posso pu Mi dispiace molto, ma non posso farlo adesso perch sono molto occupato ora. Posso farlo pi tardi se ho tempo. stare sto Sono occupato. / Sono occupata. stanco Sono molto stanco adesso. / Sono molto stanca adesso.
0:50 1:14 1:18 1:25 1:41 1:49
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2:14 2:18 2:25 2:30 2:37 2:41 2:50 2:56 3:11 3:26
the house the thing something at home / home tonight evening Im tired. (masculine) to stay Im tired (feminine) and I am staying home tonight.
la casa la cosa qualcosa a casa stasera sera Sono stanco. stare / restare Sono stanca e sto a casa stasera.
And I am staying home tonight. E resto a casa stasera.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 1 Track 11 0:00 0:04 0:08 0:14 0:25 1:00 1:13 tomorrow tomorrow evening tomorrow morning tomorrow afternoon domani domani sera domani mattina domani pomeriggio
The present tense in Italian is used very much because it is also used to express the future. I see you tomorrow. La vedo domani. In English you have two ways to express the future: Im going to see you tomorrow and I will / shall see you tomorrow. In Italian you cannot use going to express the future. to go I go / I am going you are going / he is going andare vado va
1:39 1:50 2:01 2:25
When you want to say Im going to call you tomorrow, in Italian you say I call you tomorrow. There is a future tense, but the present tense is used more frequently. to call I call I call you I call you later. I call you tomorrow. chiamare chiamo la chiamo La chiamo pi tardi. La chiamo domani.
2:46 2:51 2:55 3:09 3:25 3:57
Im going to see it. (Im going Vado a vederlo. out / Im on my way to see it.)
4:13 4:32
Im going to see it tomorrow.
Lo vedo domani.
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If a verb of coming and going is followed by another verb, you use a: vado a vederlo. But vado is not used to express the future tense. Im going / Im on my way to buy it. I will buy it tomorrow. Im buying it now. Vado a comprarlo.
5:06 5:41 6:14
Lo compro domani. Lo compro adesso.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 1 0:08 0:15 0:20 0:31 0:44 0:54 1:01 1:07 1:34 1:53 2:18 2:23 2:41 to stay Im staying Im staying home tonight. How long are you staying? to leave Im leaving tomorrow. At what time are you leaving? Why dont you want to leave with me? to come Why cant you come with me now? stare sto Sto a casa stasera. Quanto tempo sta? partire Parto domani. A che ora parte domani? Perch non vuole partire con me? venire Perch non pu venire con me adesso?
Are you staying home tonight? Sta a casa stasera?
Why cant you leave with me? Perch non pu partire con me?
If a verb of coming and going is followed by another verb, you use a. In English you would say Why cant you come (and) see it with me?; in Italian you say Why cant you come to (venire a) see it ... Im going to eat. Hes going / youre going / shes going to eat. Why cant you come see it with me tonight? I must to have to you must You must come with me. Vado a mangiare. Va a mangiare.
3:20 3:24 3:37 4:09 4:16 4:21 4:32
Perch non pu venire a vederlo con me stasera? devo dovere deve Deve venire con me.
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When you have two or three consecutive verbs, the second and the third are the full verb (infinitive). You must speak Italian with me. Deve parlare italiano con me. to wait aspettare Everything with ct in English (expect) is tt in Italian (aspettare = to wait). In English to wait for somebody becomes in Italian to await somebody: aspettare qualcuno. to expect me to understand to understand me aspettarmi capire capirmi
5:58 6:11 6:22 6:32 6:46 6:54
Whenever you add it or me or you to the infinitive, you drop the e and you hook it onto the r. Can you understand me? Pu capirmi? Why cant you understand me? Perch non pu capirmi?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 2 0:00 0:14 0:47 0:59 1:02 1:04 1:14 1:25 1:36 1:41 1:54 2:15 to say / to tell I cannot say it in Italian. Can you tell me for me with me will you / do you want Will you tell me where it is? where where it is Will you tell me ... dire Non posso dirlo in italiano. Pu dirmi per me con me vuole / vuol Vuole dirmi dov? dove dove / dov Vuol dirmi ...
If you use me with a verb, its mi.
Its very important to sharpen awareness of your own language in order to express yourself correctly in another language such as Italian. For example, in English will is used to express the future, but not always. If you start a sentence with will you (please), its a polite request, not the future. So in Italian you use vuol or vuole, which means will you and also do you want. Can you tell me ... Can you tell me where it is? to find Pu dirmi ... Pu dirmi dov? trovare
3:23 3:31 3:41
3:53 4:27 4:31 4:38 4:43 4:47 5:06 5:22 5:26 5:36 5:40 5:49 6:10 6:16 6:18 6:20 6:28 6:32 6:44 6:52 6:55 7:00 7:07 7:12 7:29 7:48 8:02 8:26 8:40
Will you tell me where it is because I cannot find it? I have I have it. I dont have it. You have it. Why dont you have it for me now? I want to have it. I want I want it. I want it now. I dont want it now. Why dont you want it now? to have I have you have you have / he has / she has to know I know I dont know I know it. I dont know it. You know it. Why dont you know it? Do you know where it is? Can you tell me where it is? Can you tell me how much it is ... because I want to buy it. I must have it today if it is possible.
Vuol dirmi dov perch non posso trovarlo? ho Lo ho. / Lho. Non lho. Lha. Perch non lha per me adesso?
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Voglio averlo. Voglio Lo voglio. Lo voglio adesso. Non lo voglio adesso. Perch non lo vuole adesso? avere ho ha ha sapere so non so Lo so. Non lo so. Lo sa. Perch non lo sa? Sa dov? Pu dirmi dov? Pu dirmi quant ...
sapere goes like avere: I have = ho, I know = so
perch voglio comprarlo. Devo averlo oggi se possibile.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 3 0:00 0:55 1:01 1:08 1:46 1:56 2:01 2:29 2:50 3:06 3:11 Im staying home tonight because Im tired. to prepare Im preparing it. Why dont you prepare it for me? the dinner to dine / to have dinner Will you have dinner with me tonight? Where do you want to have dinner tonight? I cannot speak with you because Im eating. I eat / I do eat / I am eating Sto a casa stasera perch sono stanco. preparare Lo preparo. Perch non lo prepara per me? la cena cenare Vuole (Vuol) cenare con me stasera? Dove vuole cenare stasera?
Non posso parlare con lei perch mangio. mangio
For Im eating you can also say sto mangiando meaning Im in the process of eating. I am in the process is sto + -ando for -are verbs, -endo for the others. I am eating. What are you preparing? What are you (right now in the process of) preparing? Im just about to eat. Im just about to prepare it. Sto mangiando. Cosa prepara? Cosa sta preparando?
3:46 4:05 4:15 4:43 4:57 5:03
You can use sto + per to say Im just about to. Sto per mangiare. Sto per prepararlo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 4 0:00 0:37 0:50 1:20 1:40 in order to per
Whenever to in English implies in order to, you will say per in Italian. I dont have the time (in order) to do it. Non ho il tempo / Non ho tempo per farlo.
If you use a noun followed by an infinitive verb, after the noun you usually put di. I dont have the time of doing it. Non ho il tempo / Non ho tempo di farlo.
2:08 2:15 2:20 2:49 3:29 3:51 5:36
to leave I will leave tomorrow. At what time do you leave? At what time do you leave next week? At what time are you leaving next week?
partire Parto domani. A che ora parte? A che ora parte la settimana prossima? A che ora parte la settimana prossima?
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There is a future tense in Italian. Its like saying to leave I have (partire + ho) and to leave he has (partire + ha). The contraction of the verb with ho, ha produces partir, partir. The endings -r and -r are for all verbs. I will leave tomorrow. I will leave tomorrow. He will leave tomorrow. Parto domani. Partir domani. Partir domani.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 5 0:00 0:08 0:13 0:21 0:31 0:38 0:58 1:05 1:09 1:22 1:27 1:35 1:47 1:58 2:30 3:07 3:13 3:32 to do / to make I will do I will do it. I wont do it. You will do it. When will you do it? to say / to tell to call I (will) call you tomorrow. Im staying Im staying here. Im staying home tonight. I will stay home tonight. How long are you staying in Italy? I dont know. still / yet I dont know yet. fare far Lo far. Non lo far. Lo far. Quando lo far? dire chiamare La chiamo domani. sto Sto qui. Sto a casa stasera. Star a casa stasera. Quanto tempo sta in Italia?
How long will you stay in Italy? Quanto tempo star in Italia? Non so. ancora Ancora non so.
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3:39
I dont know yet / I still dont know how long I will stay in Italy.
Ancora non so quanto tempo star in Italia.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 6 0:00 0:23 0:36 1:06 1:49 1:53 2:15 2:28 2:38 Im ready. (feminine) It is ready. You must be ready soon. It can be ready soon. I am ready soon. I will be he will be / you will be / she will be It will be ready soon. I dont know yet at what time it will be ready but I must have it today if it is possible. to see to see it / to see him to see her / to see you to see me Im going to call you later. I will speak I will eat he will eat We will eat later. We will stay home tonight. We will leave tomorrow. Sono pronta. pronto. Deve essere / Devessere pronto subito. Pu essere pronto subito. Sono pronto subito. sar sar Sar pronto subito. Ancora non so a che ora sar pronto ma devo averlo oggi se possibile. vedere vederlo vederla vedermi La chiamo pi tardi. parler manger manger Mangeremo pi tardi. Staremo a casa stasera. Partiremo domani.
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In the future tense of the -are verbs, use -er instead of -ar.
In the future tense for we, use the ending -remo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 7 0:00 0:09 0:15 For we in the present tense, use -iamo. we speak we are staying parliamo stiamo
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we are leaving we are going Were going. Were going now. Were going to / were on our way out to buy it. Lets go! Lets go eat. were eating Lets eat! to start / to commence Im starting At what time are you going to start tomorrow? Lets start. I want to know. I want to know at what time it will be ready. Im going youre going / hes going / shes going / its going Where are you going? Where are you going to be tonight?
partiamo andiamo Andiamo. Andiamo adesso. / Andiamo ora. Andiamo a comprarlo.
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-iamo is used a lot in Italian because it expresses different meanings.
Andiamo! Andiamo a mangiare. mangiamo Mangiamo! cominciare comincio A che ora comincer domani?
At what time are you starting? A che ora comincia?
Cominciamo. Voglio sapere. Voglio sapere a che ora sar pronto. vado va
Dove va? Dove sar stasera?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 8 0:00 0:10 0:21 0:29 0:38 0:53 1:08 good It is very good. It is quite good. It is quite possible. buono molto buono. proprio buono. proprio possibile.
All words ending in -ent and in -ant in English end in -ente and -ante in Italian. It is very different that way. so (in front of an adjective) molto differente cos. cos
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1:16 1:27 1:38 1:49 1:53 2:06 2:45 2:57 3:21 3:35 3:35 3:46 3:47 3:51 4:11 4:43
It is not so different. It is so good. It is not so different that way. important It is very important that way. I have to know it because its very important for me. I would like I would like to know it. I would like to go with you. there ci is hooked onto the verb. to go to go there I would like to go there with you. I would like to go (and) see it with you tonight.
Non cos differente. cos buono. Non cos differente cos. importante molto importante cos. Devo saperlo perch molto importante per me. vorrei Vorrei saperlo. Vorrei andare con lei. ci andare andarci Vorrei andarci con lei.
Vorrei andare a vederlo con lei stasera.
there is in the same position as the pronoun it or me: you can hook it onto the verb.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 9 0:10 0:42 1:31 1:48 2:50 3:42 4:01 4:06 4:12 4:24 4:34 I want to do it. Voglio farlo. / Lo voglio fare.
You have options with the pronouns (it, me, etc.): either put it way up front or hook it onto the verb. I cannot do it now. Why cant you tell me? It is not ready yet but it will be ready for you soon. to do / to make I do / Im doing he is doing Why dont you do it? Im doing it. I am (right now in the process of) doing it. Non lo posso fare adesso. / Non posso farlo adesso. Perch non mi pu dire? Ancora non pronto, ma sar pronto per lei subito. fare faccio fa Perch non lo fa? Lo faccio. Lo sto facendo. / Sto facendolo.
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Im just about to Im just about to do it. Im doing it. I say / I tell you say / you tell What are you saying? Why dont you tell me?
Sto per Sto per farlo. Lo faccio. dico dice Cosa dice? Perch non mi dice?
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 2 Track 10 0:00 0:22 0:31 0:38 0:47 1:02 1:20 1:25 1:33 1:42 1:49 1:58 2:06 2:39 3:08 3:18 3:34 3:52 4:38 4:57 5:12 5:45 to understand I cannot understand it. Can you understand it? Can you understand me? I understand I understand it. I dont understand it. you understand Do you understand it? Do you understand me? Dont you understand me? capire Non posso capirlo. Pu capirlo? Pu capirmi? capisco Lo capisco. Non lo capisco. capisce Lo capisce? Mi capisce? Non mi capisce?
Why cant you understand me? Perch non pu capirmi?
Why dont you understand me? Perch non mi capisce? I dont understand it very well. Non lo capisco molto bene. What are you saying? what (in the middle of a sentence) I dont know what you are saying. I dont understand very well what youre saying. Thats not what Im saying. I dont understand what you want to say. I dont understand what you mean. Cosa dice? ci che / quel che Non so ci che dice. what (introducing a question) cosa / che cosa / che
Non capisco molto bene ci che dice. Non ci che dico. Non capisco ci che vuole dire / ci che vuol dire. Non capisco ci che vuol dire.
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5:59 6:12
What do you mean? You dont understand what I mean.
Cosa vuol dire? Non capisce ci che voglio dire.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 1 0:08 0:12 0:15 0:20 0:36 0:56 1:04 1:11 1:17 1:27 1:41 1:55 2:15 2:40 I want I want it. I dont want it. I want to do it. voglio Lo voglio. Non lo voglio. Voglio farlo. / Lo voglio fare.
Italian words do not usually end in a consonant. There are only a few words taken from other languages. What do you want? Do you want it? Dont you want it? Why dont you want it? I want it but not now. What are you saying? Why dont you tell me? Why dont you tell it to me? Cosa vuole? Lo vuole? Non lo vuole? Perch non lo vuole? Lo voglio, ma non adesso. Cosa dice? Perch non mi dice? Perch non me lo dice?
When you get two pronouns together, for example me it, the i of mi changes to an e: me lo. Think of e as if it were and, a connecting word. Im going to tell you later. Im telling it. Im telling you. If you implies to you it is le. Im telling you. / Im going to tell you. I will tell you. to tell Im telling youre telling / youre saying I will tell Le dico. Le dico pi tardi. Lo dico. Le dico.
3:15 3:31 3:36 3:40 3:57 4:11 4:22 4:25 4:28 4:37 4:43 5:13
Le dir. dire dico dice dir
Remember that whenever you hear -r, -r, or -remo as an ending, you are in the future tense (will). to understand capire
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I will understand to speak
capir parlare
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For the future tense with -are verbs, the -ar changes to -er: parlare, parler. I will speak to see I will see he will see we will see you will see / he will see / she will see / it will see I will see it. He wont see it. We will see it. I will see you later. He will not see me. parler vedere vedr vedr vedremo vedr Lo vedr. Non lo vedr. Lo vedremo. La vedr pi tardi. Non mi vedr.
le means to you, but you is la.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 2 0:00 0:11 0:17 0:22 0:50 1:14 1:53 2:04 3:27 3:33 3:56 4:05 4:29 give I give he gives He gives me something. Why dont you give me the book? Why dont you give it to me now? to carry / to bring Im going to see you tonight and I will bring you the book. I (ll) see you and I (will) bring you the book tonight. I will give him the book. Im going to tell him. dare do d Mi d qualcosa. Perch non mi d il libro? Perch non me lo d adesso?
portare La vedo stasera e le porter il libro. La vedo e le porto il libro stasera. Gli dar il libro. Gli dico.
The present tense is used also to express the future.
Whenever him means to him, use gli.
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Im talking to him. I will tell him. I want to tell him.
Gli parlo. Gli dir. Voglio dirgli.
When you have a second verb, it will be the full verb (dire) and you hook on the pronoun (dirgli).
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 3 0:00 1:09 1:18 1:32 1:38 It is very important to sharpen the awareness of your own language. I wont tell him is I will not tell him. I will not tell him. (I wont tell him.) Im not telling him. I dont tell him tomorrow. Non gli dir. Non gli dico. Non gli dico domani.
Non voglio gli dire is not correct because the pronoun should either be hooked on at the end (Non voglio dirgli) or it should come way up front (Non gli voglio dire). There is a sharp distinction in English between I wont do it and I dont want to do it. I dont tell you because I dont want to tell you. Non le dico perch non voglio dirle.
2:31 2:43 3:21
will expresses the future tense in English, except when you start a sentence with will you, will you please, which is a polite way of not using the imperative. This will you can also be expressed by would you. will you please / would you please can you vuole
4:24 4:36 4:41
pu
After pu the second or third verb is always the full form of the verb (the infinitive).
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 4 0:00 0:10 0:27 0:40 1:11 1:16 to tell He will tell me. He wont tell me. He doesnt want to tell me. Will you please tell me? please dire Mi dir. Non mi dir. Non vuol (vuole) dirmi. / Non mi vuol (vuole) dire. Vuole dirmi? per favore
1:50 2:27 2:34 2:44 2:57 3:05 3:18 3:32 3:52 4:00 4:20
Will you tell me (some time, when you get round to it)? will you please / would you please Will you tell me? He wont tell me. I wont tell you. I will tell you later. I wont tell you now. I wont tell you. (I will not tell you.)
Mi dir? vuole Vuol / Vuole dirmi? Non mi dir. Non le dir. Le dir pi tardi. Non le dico adesso. Non le dir. Review course CD 1 Track 26 le piace Non mi piace stare qui. Mi dispiace. Mi piace molto farlo. Voglio farlo. Non lo far. Non voglio farlo adesso. Non lo far.
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Why dont you want to tell me? Perch non mi vuol dire?
For will / wont you use either the present tense or the future with -r, -r, -remo. Will you tell me? Vuole dirmi? / Vuol dirmi?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 5 0:00 0:12 0:23 0:29 0:39 1:05 1:50 1:56 2:09 2:23 2:32 2:43 3:10 3:20 3:26 4:26 4:38 Im sorry but it pleases me / I like I like very much I like very much to do it. But I dont like to do it now. I will do it later if I have the time. I like Do you like? (Does it please you?) you like I dont like to stay here. Im sorry. I like very much to do it. I want to do it. I wont do it. I dont want to do it now. I wont do it. Mi dispiace, ma mi piace mi piace molto Mi piace molto farlo. Ma non mi piace farlo adesso. Lo far pi tardi se ho il tempo. mi piace Le piace?
I like very much to speak Italian. Mi piace molto parlare italiano.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 6 0:00 1:01 1:46 3:36 4:26 4:52 4:59 5:10 5:30 5:54 I want to do it. I cannot do it now. I cannot tell you where it is because I dont know it. I want to tell you something. I wont tell you. it pleases me you like (it pleases you) Does it displease you? Doesnt it displease you? if you dont mind to tell me Voglio farlo. / Lo voglio fare. Non posso farlo adesso. / Non lo posso fare adesso. Non le posso dire dov perch non lo so. Voglio dirle qualcosa. Non le dir. mi piace le piace Le dispiace? Non le dispiace? non le dispiace dirmi / vuole (vuol) dirmi
Review course CD 1 Track 27 Review course CD 1 Track 28
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 7 0:00 0:28 0:39 What do you want to say? What do you mean? / What does he mean? / What does she mean? / What does it mean? to explain Will you explain it to me? Cosa vuol dire? / Cosa vuole dire? Cosa vuol dire?
The combination of want and to say in Italian expresses to mean.
spiegare Me lo vuol spiegare? / Vuol spiegarmelo? Review course CD 1 Track 29
0:52 1:14 1:42 2:57 4:55 5:23
Will you please explain to me? Vuol spiegarmi?
If there are one or two pronouns, either you put them up front or you hook both onto the end of the verb. Why cant you explain it to me? Perch non pu spiegarmelo? Why dont you want to explain it to me? Perch non vuol / Perch non vuole spiegarmelo?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 8 0:00 0:44 1:00 I dont know what it means. to wait Non so ci che vuol dire. aspettare
Words with ct in English usually have tt in Italian.
1:12 1:41 1:43 2:13 2:32 2:38
Will you please wait for me? to do Will you do it, please? Can you do it for me? Will you wait for me? Can you wait for me, please?
Vuol (Vuole) aspettarmi? fare Vuol (Vuole) farlo? Pu farlo per me? Vuol (Vuole) aspettarmi? Pu aspettarmi, per favore?
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 3 Track 9 0:00 0:07 0:14 1:11 1:13 1:52 2:05 2:14 2:32 4:02 4:36 4:53 there is is c
I want to know where there Voglio sapere dove c un is a good restaurant near here. buon ristorante qui vicino. It is not far. far You can walk. walk on foot Will you tell me where it is because I cannot find it. I want to see it. I cannot see it. I dont want to see it. Non lontano. lontano / distante Pu andare a piedi. andar a piedi a piedi Vuol / Pu dirmi dov ... non posso trovarlo / non lo posso trovare. Voglio vederlo. Non posso vederlo. / Non lo posso vedere. Non lo voglio vedere. / Non voglio vederlo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 1 0:08 0:23 1:00 1:08 1:22 1:40 1:55 1:57 It is not possible that way. Im sorry but it is not acceptable for me that way. Non possibile cos. Mi dispiace, ma non accettabile per me cos.
Words ending in -ent and -ant in English end in -ente and -ante in Italian. It is not very different that way. Non molto differente cos. But it is very important for me. Ma molto importante per me. It is very urgent. sure certain molto urgente. sicuro certo
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2:00 2:09 2:34 2:44 2:54 2:59 3:16 3:21 3:32 3:51 3:57 4:05 4:34 4:35 4:45 4:53 5:06
certainly Im quite sure. evident necessary contrary on the contrary On the contrary, I do want to buy it. vocabulary
certamente Sono proprio sicuro / certo. evidente necessario contrario al contrario Al contrario, voglio comprarlo.
Words ending in -ary in English end in -ario in Italian. It is not necessary for me now. Non necessario per me adesso.
vocabolario
Words ending in -ence and -ance in English end in -enza and -anza in Italian. difference the difference a difference What difference? / Which difference? importance differenza la differenza una differenza Che / Quale differenza? importanza
The word for the with all the -za words is la.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 2 0:03 0:17 0:31 0:39 0:42 0:55 0:58 1:06 1:12 there is there, us, ourselves There is a difference. c ci C una differenza.
The ending -em in English is -ma in Italian (for example, problem problema). the with most of these words is il. problem a problem There is a problem. system problema un problema C un problema. sistema
Most words ending in -ion in English end in -ione in Italian. In Italian you dont have a consonant at the end of a word. All -ione words are la words. condition condizione
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1:46 1:52 1:59 2:08 2:29 2:45 3:17 3:47
the condition position (the) situation reservation to reserve / to book / to prebook I will make a reservation for you. Will you please make a reservation for me? Would you please make a reservation for me?
la condizione posizione la situazione prenotazione prenotare
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Far una prenotazione per lei. Vuol fare una prenotazione per me? Vuol fare una prenotazione per me, per favore? Review course CD 1 Track 33
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 3 0:00 0:18 confirmation (la) conferma
Do you have the confirmation Ha la conferma della of the reservation for me for prenotazione per me tonight? (per) stasera? what kind of What kind of reservation do you have for me for tonight? vacation the vacations to spend (time) to pass to spend the time to spend the vacation Where are you going to spend the vacation? tonight evening tomorrow evening morning tomorrow morning afternoon tomorrow afternoon che tipo di Che tipo di prenotazione ha per me per stasera? (la) vacanza le vacanze passare passare passare il tempo passare le vacanze Dove passer le vacanze? / Dove passa le vacanze? stasera sera domani sera mattina domani mattina pomeriggio domani pomeriggio
1:39 1:57 3:01 3:11 3:19 3:24 3:39 3:44 3:57 5:18 5:23 5:26 5:35 5:41 5:48 5:55
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 4 0:00 0:07 0:26 0:42 1:01 1:23 1:34 1:49 1:55 2:02 2:50 2:54 2:59 3:03 3:07 3:14 3:39 3:44 3:49 3:59 4:36 4:50 evening the whole evening Im going to spend the whole evening. Im going to spend a musical evening. this evening morning day (to spend) the whole day I like very much to spend the whole day here. political economical logical practical It is not logical but it is very practical that way. philosophical astronomical astrological the political situation the economical situation sera la serata Passer la serata.
Passer una serata musicale. stasera mattina giorno la giornata Mi piace molto passare la giornata qui. politico economico logico pratico Non logico ma molto pratico cos. filosofico astronomico astrologico la situazione politica la situazione economica
(to spend) the whole morning la mattinata
Words ending in -ical in English end in -ico in Italian.
What impression do you have Qual impressione ha della of the political and economical situazione politica e economica situation in Italy right now? in Italia adesso? I dont like the political situation. Non mi piace la situazione politica.
5:29
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 5 0:00 0:25 0:30 0:49 1:18 2:32 2:56 3:23 6:11 6:21 6:39 7:27 Verbs derived from nouns that are similar in English and Italian will also be similar. Usually, you just add -are. preparation to prepare Im very busy now. Im preparing it. Im right now in the process of preparing it. preparazione preparare Sono molto occupata adesso. / Sono molto occupato adesso. Lo preparo. Sto preparandolo. / Lo sto preparando.
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With -ando and -endo you either hook on the pronouns or you can put them way up front. I will prepare it. He will prepare it for me. When will you prepare it for me? When do you prepare it for me? Lo preparer. Lo preparer per me. Quando lo preparer per me? Quando lo prepara per me?
In the present tense you do not hit the ending (preparo). The I form ends in -o for all verbs; the you/he/she/it forms end in -a (-are verbs) or in -e (all other verbs). Im preparing it. Youre preparing it. Why dont you prepare it for me? I will prepare it. Would you please prepare it for me? Would you do it for me? Lo preparo. Lo prepara. Perch non lo prepara per me? Lo preparer. Vuole prepararlo per me?
7:49 7:53 8:39 8:57 9:16 10:11 10:20
Vuol farlo per me?
Whenever you have the infinitive (the whole verb ending in -are, -ere, -ire), you hook on any pronoun (me, you, etc.) or you put it way up front.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 6 0:00 0:05 0:09 to do to do it to tell fare farlo dire
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0:14 0:18 0:40 1:06 1:12 1:20 3:15 3:53 4:05 5:01 5:08 5:30
to tell it / to say it to tell me to tell it to me Can you tell it to me? Will you tell it to me? I will see you tonight and I will tell you. perhaps He will tell you. We will tell you. He wont tell me. He doesnt tell me. He wont find it.
dirlo dirmi dirmelo Pu dirmelo? Vuol dirmelo? La vedr stasera e le dir.
forse Le dir. Le diremo. Non mi dir. Non mi dice. Non lo trover.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 7 0:00 0:09 to be able potere
In English we have a little problem: for the verb can the infinitive is to be able to. For the verb must the infinitive is to have to. Italian doesnt have this problem. to have to have to I have to you have to You have to do it. You have to tell me. I will have avere dovere devo deve Deve farlo. Deve dirmi. avr
1:01 1:03 1:10 1:20 1:33 1:45 2:08 2:20 2:40 2:55 2:57 3:11 3:32 4:01 4:48 4:57
For some verbs you contract the future endings: vedere vedr, avere avr he will have we will have to have to I will have to I will have to do it. You will have to wait for me. to be able I can do it. avr avremo dovere dovr Dovr farlo. / Lo dovr fare. Dovr aspettarmi. potere Posso farlo.
5:02
Can you do it?
Pu farlo?
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 8 0:00 0:04 0:50 0:57 1:09 1:25 1:54 2:18 2:36 3:02 3:35 we can We cannot do it. to be able I will be able I will be able to do it for you. But I wont be able to do it today. because I will be very busy (feminine) possiamo Non possiamo farlo. / Non lo possiamo fare. potere potr Potr farlo per lei. Ma non potr farlo oggi. perch sar molto occupata
I will be very busy (masculine) Sar molto occupato oggi. today. When will you be able to do it? Quando potr farlo? We will be able to leave with you tomorrow. Potremo partire con lei domani.
It is very important not to do anything by sound or by ear. Its a thought process.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 9 0:06 You can guess vocabulary. You have developed enough sense of the language to know which words in English come from a romance language and which are Germanic/Anglo-Saxon. to arrive to call to phone, to telephone At what time will you arrive tomorrow morning? I wont do it. We wont do it. You wont do it. I wont do it because I wont be able to do it. I want to do it. I want to have it. arrivare chiamare telefonare A che ora arriver domani mattina? Non lo far. Non lo faremo. Non lo far. Non lo far perch non potr farlo. Voglio farlo. Voglio averlo.
0:45 0:51 0:59 1:07 1:46 2:03 2:15 2:27 3:13 3:26
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I want / I wish / I really want I do want to have it. What would you like? / What do you want?
desidero Desidero averlo. Cosa desidera? (at the restaurant)
to have (food or drinks) / prendere to take (intake of food or drinks) What would you like to have (to eat / to drink)? / What are you having? What do you want? / What would you like to have? Cosa prende?
5:08
Cosa vuol prendere? / Cosa desidera?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 4 Track 10 0:00 0:06 0:57 1:00 1:39 3:01 3:21 3:38 3:59 4:18 5:32 5:49 I want I would like I would wish / I would want voglio vorrei (io vorrei) vorrei
The -rei ending means would. The same r that you hit for will you hit for would, but instead of -r you make it -rei. I will buy it. I would buy it. I will do it. I would do it. I will speak with him. I will talk to him. I wouldnt speak to him. I wouldnt speak with him. Lo comprer. Lo comprerei. Lo far. Lo farei. Parler con lui. Gli parler. Non gli parlerei. Non parlerei con lui.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 1 0:10 0:47 1:02 1:16 1:25 1:29 1:36 Important verbs are the modal auxiliaries which are followed by the infinitives of other verbs. We can call them handles. I can do it. I cannot do it now. to understand I understand you understand I understand it. Posso farlo. Non posso farlo adesso. capire capisco capisce Lo capisco.
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I dont understand it. I understand you. I understand her. I dont understand you. I cannot understand you. to find to look for / to seek Im looking for it, but I dont find it. Im right now in the process of seeking it / looking for it.
Non lo capisco. La capisco. La capisco. Non la capisco. Non la posso capire. / Non posso capirla. trovare cercare Lo cerco, ma non lo trovo. Lo sto cercando.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 2 0:25 0:34 0:45 1:06 1:49 2:10 2:15 2:26 2:55 3:17 3:27 3:41 3:55 4:11 4:24 4:35 I must look for it. devo is a handle. But I cannot find it. Can you tell me where it is? Please, (will you) tell me where it is. I want to see it. I would like to see it. I will see it. We will see it. I would see it. But I wouldnt do it. I will be here. I would be here. I would like to see it. Ma non posso trovarlo. Pu dirmi dov? Vuol (Vuole) dirmi dov. Devo cercarlo.
vuol is a very important handle. Voglio vederlo. Vorrei vederlo. Lo vedr. Lo vedremo. Lo vedrei. Ma non lo farei. Sar qui. Sarei qui. Vorrei vederlo.
He will see it. / You will see it. Lo vedr.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 3 0:00 For he would, she would, it would, you would the ending is -rebbe; for I would the ending is -rei. will is -r and -r; would is -rei and -rebbe.
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0:36 0:41 0:47 1:04 1:13 1:25 1:53 2:13 2:43 3:43 3:50 4:06 4:31 4:48
I would like you would like / he would like / she would like Would you like to do it? Would you like to see it? When would you like to go there? to go there He wouldnt buy it. I would speak with him. I would talk to him. I wouldnt see it. He wouldnt see it. It will be very important. It would be very important. But it wouldnt be possible that way.
vorrei vorrebbe Vorrebbe farlo? Vorrebbe vederlo? Quando vorrebbe andarci?
andarci Non lo comprerebbe. Parlerei con lui. Gli parlerei. Non lo vedrei. Non lo vedrebbe. Sar molto importante. Sarebbe molto importante. Ma non sarebbe possibile cos.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 4 0:10 0:13 0:20 0:39 0:55 1:11 1:32 2:03 2:16 2:25 3:08 to be able I will be able I will be able to do it. I wont be able to do it that way. He wont be able to do it like that. We wont be able to do it. potere potr Potr farlo. Non potr farlo cos. Non potr farlo cos.
Non potremo farlo. Non potremo farlo cos. Potr venire con lei.
For we would double the m of we will (-remo) and make it -remmo. We would be able to do it. We wouldnt be able to do it that way. We wont be able to do it that way. I will be able to come with you. Potremmo farlo. Non potremmo farlo cos.
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But I wont be able to come with you today because I will be very busy. I wouldnt be able to come with you. Would you be able to tell me when you will be able to do it?
Ma non potr venire con lei oggi perch sar molto occupato. Non potrei venire con lei.
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Potrebbe dirmi quando potr farlo?
5:50 8:10
There is a problem in English with could: in the sentence could you tell me it means would you be able to; but in the sentence he told me he couldnt do it it means he wasnt able to. So could expresses two different tenses in English: would be able or was able
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 5 0:05 0:26 0:39 0:55 1:20 1:41 2:48 could (would be able) you could / you would be able / he would be able could (past tense in English) an easy tense: -avo, -evo, -ivo he was able / he could poteva Whenever you want to say could in Italian, you have to know which tense youre trying to use: is it potrei, potrebbe or is it potevo, poteva? In general use potrei, potrebbe, potremmo for could unless it clearly expresses the past, in which case you use potevo, poteva. I couldnt find it. I couldnt tell you. Could you tell me? Can you tell me? I dont understand you. I cannot understand you. I couldnt understand you. Non potevo trovarlo. Non potrei dirle. Potrebbe dirmi? Pu dirmi? Non la capisco. Non posso capirla. Non potevo capirla. potrei potrebbe potevo
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Could you tell me where it is? Potrebbe dirmi dov?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 6 0:05 0:09 I must you must devo deve
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to wait You have to wait for me. Can you wait for me? Could you wait for me? Im sorry, but I cannot wait for you now because Im going to leave soon. I have to leave soon. I will have to leave tomorrow. At what time will you have to leave? We will have to leave. We would have to leave. I will have to leave. I would have to leave. I will be able to leave. I would be able to leave. I could leave tomorrow. I will have to leave tomorrow. He would have to leave.
aspettare Deve aspettarmi. Pu aspettarmi? Potrebbe aspettarmi? Mi dispiace, ma non posso aspettarla adesso, perch partir / parto subito / presto. Devo partire subito. Dovr partire domani. A che ora dovr partire?
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Dovremo partire. Dovremmo partire. Dovr partire. Dovrei partire. Potr partire. Potrei partire. Potrei partire domani. Dovr partire domani. Dovrebbe partire.
I would have to leave tomorrow. Dovrei partire domani.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 7 0:00 0:15 1:02 1:23 1:34 1:37 2:05 2:45 3:05 3:08 3:23 3:42 I would be able to do it. I couldnt do it that way. Could you do it? yesterday I couldnt do it yesterday. I could do it now. must and to have to I must you must I must / I have to / Im supposed to I have to do it. devo deve devo Devo farlo. Potrei farlo. Non potrei farlo cos. Potrebbe farlo? ieri Non potevo farlo ieri. Potrei farlo adesso.
I could do it for you tomorrow. Potrei farlo per lei domani.
3:50 4:14 4:31 5:00 5:17 5:41 5:50 5:58 6:07 6:19 6:40 7:04 7:17 7:33 7:50 8:02 8:19
Im supposed to leave today but I cannot. I owe How much do I owe? I will have to do it. At what time will you have to leave? I would have to do it. You would have to do it. We would have to do it. We will have to do it. I would have to buy it.
Devo partire oggi, ma non posso. devo Quanto devo? Dovr farlo. A che ora dovr partire? Dovrei farlo. Dovrebbe farlo. Dovremmo farlo. Dovremo farlo. Dovrei comprarlo. Review course CD 2 Track 15 Review course CD 2 Track 16
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dovrei, dovrebbe, dovremmo (would have to) is used in the sense of should or ought to. I should buy it. You should tell me. You have to tell me. Can you tell me? Could you tell me? Will you tell me, please? / Would you tell me? Dovrei comprarlo. Dovrebbe dirmi. Deve dirmi. Pu dirmi? Potrebbe dirmi? Vuol (Vuole) dirmi?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 8 0:00 0:24 0:44 0:59 I would like to see it. Would you like to see it? I like to see it. It would please me to see it. Vorrei vederlo. Vorrebbe vederlo? Mi piace vederlo. Mi piacerebbe vederlo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 9 0:00 0:11 0:18 0:23 0:43 1:04 Words ending in -ty in English will end in -t in Italian. university the university the opportunity the occasion universit luniversit lopportunit loccasione
Words ending in -al in English will end in -ale in Italian.
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1:11 1:15 1:23 1:25 1:34 1:43 1:56 2:13 2:57 3:40 4:06
normal normally general generally special specially for you the speciality of the house
normale normalmente generale generalmente speciale specialmente per lei la specialit della casa
If a noun is followed by a verb (in the infinitive), you will throw in di (of). You also do that after many verbs of communication. I dont have the time to do it now. I would like to have the opportunity to see it the next time. time (the passing of time) time (sequence of times) the next time Non ho (il) tempo di farlo adesso. Vorrei avere loccasione di vederlo la prossima volta. tempo volta la prossima volta
It is not possible to do it now. Non possibile farlo adesso.
4:34 4:51 5:22
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 5 Track 10 0:00 0:09 0:17 0:24 0:47 0:56 1:28 2:00 2:26 2:45 3:13 3:19 3:55 4:06 once twice I can do it. I could do it. But I couldnt do it yesterday. I do want to eat. I want to see it. I wish very much / I desire to see it. I like to see it. I would like to see it. I would like to see it. una volta due volte Posso farlo. Potrei farlo. Ma non potevo farlo ieri. Desidero mangiare. Voglio vederlo. Desidero vederlo. Mi piace vederlo. Mi piacerebbe vederlo. Vorrei vederlo.
I will be able to do it next time. Potr farlo la prossima volta.
Another handle is want: voglio, vuole, vorrei, vorrebbe
I would very much like to see it. Mi piacerebbe molto vederlo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 1 0:21 0:41 0:47 0:55 0:59 1:04 1:20 1:38 1:47 1:58 2:12 2:21 2:41 2:52 3:51 4:12 4:18 according to me / as far as I am concerned according to you to think I think I dont think What do you think? We dont think. thinking forward, planning I plan to leave. / I plan on leaving. How long do you plan on staying? to hope I hope I expect to leave (soon). At what time do you expect to arrive? I want to stay here. I would like to stay here. It would please me to stay here.
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secondo me secondo lei pensare penso non penso Cosa pensa? Non pensiamo. pensare Penso di partire. Quanto tempo pensa di stare? sperare spero Spero di partire (subito). A che ora spera di arrivare?
Desidero stare qui. / Voglio stare qui. Vorrei stare qui. Mi piacerebbe stare qui.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 2 0:35 0:52 1:19 1:31 1:39 2:17 2:47 4:05 From voglio you can make a noun la voglia. I dont feel like staying here. need I need / I have need I need to do it. You must do it. / You have to do it. Non ho la voglia di stare qui. bisogno ho bisogno Ho bisogno di farlo. Deve farlo.
You dont have to do it does not mean you must not do it but you dont need to do it.
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You dont have to do it. / Non ha bisogno di farlo. You dont need to do it. / You dont have need of doing it. You dont have to tell me now because I dont want to know it. Non ha bisogno di dirmi adesso perch non voglio saperlo.
4:40
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 3 0:13 0:24 0:50 0:57 1:57 2:05 2:13 2:31 2:39 2:49 3:21 3:33 4:09 4:42 5:53 I could (past) I couldnt find it (yesterday). I will have to I will have to buy it. I had to I had to do it. He had to wait. / He was supposed to wait. I had to do it. He had to do it. I wanted to do it. I didnt want to buy it. I didnt want to tell him. I didnt want to tell you. I had potevo Non potevo trovarlo. dovr Dovr comprarlo. dovevo Dovevo farlo. Doveva aspettare. Dovevo farlo. Doveva farlo. Volevo farlo. Non volevo comprarlo. Non volevo dirgli. Non volevo dirle. avevo
I didnt have the time to do it. Non avevo tempo (il tempo) di farlo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 4 0:00 0:15 0:33 0:58 1:35 2:52 3:29 3:35 I was I was here yesterday evening. (but) it was not ready. Everything was ready for you this morning. Im sorry but I couldnt do it yesterday. because I was very busy all day long I wanted to go there with you yesterday. ero Ero qui ieri sera. (ma) non era pronto. Tutto era pronto per lei stamattina. Mi dispiace, ma non potevo farlo ieri. perch ero molto occupato tutta la giornata Volevo andarci con lei ieri.
4:12 4:38 4:50
I couldnt do it. I was very busy. She was busy.
Non potevo farlo. Ero molto occupato. Era occupata.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 5 0:25 0:31 0:47 1:09 3:09 occupied to occupy I have occupied the house. occupato occupare Ho occupato la casa.
We have two past tenses in English and in Italian: I did something and I was doing it. -evo and -avo (dovevo, potevo, volevo) express a straight line in the past (I was doing it, I was eating). However I ate and I did are specific points in the past. In Italian you will say Ive eaten, Ive done it. For didnt you will use havent (ho, non ho). There is a difference between English and Italian in the use of the past. In Italian you have to dive into the past, stepping on a diving board. The diving board is any form of have: I ate = Ive eaten, I didnt eat = I have not eaten, Did you eat? = Have you eaten? So in Italian have is the diving board. Then you have to know how to dive. With -are verbs you use -ato: occupare occupato, mangiare mangiato I spoke with you. I didnt buy the car. Ho parlato con lei. Non ho comprato la macchina. I bought (something) for you. Ho comprato (qualcosa) per lei.
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4:24 4:48 4:50 5:04 5:29
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 6 0:00 0:04 0:10 0:23 0:33 0:39 1:02 1:11 1:41 1:58 capire becomes capito. I didnt understand. I did it. I didnt do it. He told me. Why didnt you tell me? I waited for you. Why didnt you wait for me? I told him to wait for me. Non ho capito. Lo ho fatto. Non lo ho fatto. Mi ha detto. Perch non mi ha detto? La ho aspettato. Perch non mi ha aspettato? Gli ho detto di aspettarmi. dire becomes detto and fare becomes fatto.
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There are two diving towers for the past: to have and to be. After these verbs you have to dive into -ato, -ito etc. There are some verbs in Italian where for the past tense you will use to be (like in Shakespeare or the King James Bible I am come to tell you Where art thou gone?, or in modern English The time is come He is gone). I went I stayed we are we arrived I left she left sono andato sono stato siamo siamo arrivati / arrivate sono partito / partita partita
4:30 4:36 4:42 4:48 5:23 5:52
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 7 0:00 0:11 0:18 0:38 0:47 0:51 1:06 1:51 2:22 2:33 3:11 3:24 3:57 4:06 4:44 4:58 5:26 5:59 to amuse Im having fun to amuse myself I want to have fun. I have to have fun. me / to me / myself I will have fun I would have fun / I would amuse myself It would be very interesting and I think (according to me) I would have a lot of fun himself / herself / itself / themselves / yourself divertire mi diverto divertirmi Voglio divertirmi. Devo divertirmi. mi mi divertir mi divertirei Sarebbe molto interessante e secondo me mi divertirei si
to amuse oneself / to have fun divertirsi
You would have a lot of fun. / Si divertirebbe. You would amuse yourself. ourselves / us We would enjoy ourselves. We will have a lot of fun. According to me, we would have a lot of fun. ci Ci divertiremmo. Ci divertiremo. Secondo me, ci divertiremmo.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 8 0:00 0:15 0:21 0:43 1:10 I see you. I dont see you. I cannot see you. I couldnt see you tonight. La vedo. Non la vedo. Non posso vederla. Non potrei vederla stasera.
Review course CD 2 Track 25 Review course CD 2 Track 26 Review course CD 2 Track 27
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It wouldnt be possible for me. Non sarebbe possibile per me.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 9 0:00 0:11 0:19 0:25 1:07 1:40 2:55 we see We see it. We dont see it. We cannot see it. We cannot see ourselves. We see ourselves. vediamo Lo vediamo. Non lo vediamo. Non possiamo vederlo. Non possiamo vederci. Ci vediamo.
We cannot see ourselves here. Non possiamo vederci qui.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 6 Track 10 0:00 0:25 0:52 2:35 3:52 4:25 4:40 10:30 The reflexive ourselves also expresses each other. We see ourselves. / We see each other. At what time shall we meet tomorrow? we will meet See you tomorrow. At what time shall we meet tomorrow? Ci vediamo. A che ora ci vedremo domani?
ci vedremo A domani. A che ora ci vediamo domani?
There is not the simplest sentence in a language that cannot be expressed in a dozen different ways: Im leaving for Paris tomorrow. Im going to Paris tomorrow. Im going to leave, I will leave, I have to leave, I must leave, I want to leave, I intend to leave, I plan on leaving, I expect to leave, OR without leave: I expect to go to Paris tomorrow, I expect to be in Paris. The important thing is to be able to communicate and not to get stuck on a word. If it is a question of vocabulary, it doesnt hurt to guess. If it is a question of structure, you have to think it out. If you guess a
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word, youll get feedback: either a correct version of the word or a blank look if you have not been understood and then you know youve got to try something else. This is how you communicate: slow down to think out the structure and try to guess vocabulary. Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 1 0:08 0:17 0:24 0:31 0:44 0:51 1:01 Im thinking Im busy. (masculine) Im tired. (feminine) Im eating. What are you eating? Why dont you want to eat? penso Sono occupato. Sono stanca. mangio Cosa mangia? Perch non vuol mangiare?
In the present tense, there is no -ing form (mangio). However for a past -ing form (I was eating, I was doing, etc.), use the -vo ending: -avo, -evo, -ivo I was eating he was eating I will eat I wouldnt eat it. He wouldnt eat it. He wouldnt do it. He wouldnt tell me. Im waiting Im waiting for you. Why dont you wait for me? I will wait for you here. I was waiting He was waiting for me. to work Im working I was working I worked / I have worked he waited he was waiting mangiavo mangiava manger Non lo mangerei. Non lo mangerebbe. Non lo farebbe. Non mi direbbe. aspetto La aspetto. Perch non mi aspetta? La aspetter qui. aspettavo Mi aspettava. lavorare lavoro lavoravo ho lavorato ha aspettato aspettava
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 2 0:00 1:39 There are two types of -ing tense in English: the present -ing (am / are / is + -ing) and the past -ing (was / were + -ing). We can call the latter a w-ing tense (w being the initial letter of was and were), or in grammatical terms, the imperfect. In Italian this w-ing tense, the imperfect, expresses either a straight line in the past I was doing it or a broken line in the past he used to do it or I did it every day / very often. In English you dont make the distinction between he worked here yesterday and he worked here every day: it is worked in both cases. In Italian it is the same tense (the imperfect). There is another -ing tense in English: Ive been working here now for two hours. This have been + -ing means Im still doing it, so in Italian you will use the present tense (lo faccio). So lo faccio means I do it, I am doing it, I have been doing it. For example: Lo faccio da due ore. (Ive been doing it for two hours.) Ive been working here. Ive been waiting for you. Lavoro qui. La aspetto.
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So la aspetto is Im waiting for you and Ive been waiting for you.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 3 0:16 0:21 0:36 1:27 2:16 2:37 3:16 3:36 3:39 3:42 3:51 4:06 I waited / Ive waited Why didnt you wait? Im going to buy it. / I will buy it. Im going to buy it tomorrow. Im going now / Im on my way to buy it. ho aspettato Perch non ha aspettato? Lo comprer. Lo compro domani. Vado a comprarlo.
If there is another verb after a verb of coming and going, you join it up with a: vado a Im going to see it (tonight). to go Im going youre going / hes going / shes going Its going well. / Its all right. Its going well that way. Vado a vederlo. andare vado va Va bene. Va bene cos.
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Everything is going well. Its going very well.
Tutto va bene. Va molto bene.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 4 0:07 0:59 1:23 1:54 2:34 3:04 3:24 3:27 4:00 4:32 It doesnt work. / It is not functioning. to fix (the car, something) Can you fix it? Non funziona. riparare Pu ripararlo?
In Italian to have something done or to get something done is to make somebody do it, to make do. I must have it repaired. to change to wash Im going to get it washed. Now I can make myself understood in Italian. Devo farlo riparare. cambiare lavare Lo far lavare. Adesso posso farmi capire in italiano.
He made a reservation for us. Ha fatto una prenotazione per noi.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 5 0:00 0:43 1:04 1:24 1:44 1:46 You didnt tell me. It is done. He prepared the dinner. they all Non mi ha detto. fatto. Ha preparato la cena. tutti
Everything is prepared for you. Tutto preparato per lei. they all is tutti or tutte. everything is tutto. tutte is the feminine plural form, such as in Cos fan tutte where tutte refers to all women. Im busy. They are busy. Everybody is busy. I want it. I dont want it. You can have it. if you want I want Sono occupato. / Sono occupata. Sono occupati. Tutti sono occupati. Lo voglio. Non lo voglio. Lo pu avere. / Pu averlo. se vuole voglio sono means I am and it also means they are.
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5:37 5:43 5:46 6:16 7:10 7:23 7:47 8:42
I want it. I dont want it. Why dont you want it? Will you tell me? Can you tell me? Why dont you want it?
Lo voglio. Non lo voglio. Perch non lo vuole? Vuol dirmi? Pu dirmi? Perch non lo vuole?
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Why dont you want to buy it? Perch non vuole comprarlo? / Perch non lo vuole comprare? You can have it if you want it. Pu averlo se lo vuole.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 6 0:00 0:19 0:23 0:35 1:06 1:13 2:03 2:32 3:36 4:01 4:49 to go out I go out youre going out I dont want to do it. I feel like I feel like doing it. I dont feel like I dont want to stay home tonight. I feel like going out. I dont want to do it now. I dont feel like doing it now. uscire esco esce Non voglio farlo. ho voglia Ho voglia di farlo. non ho voglia Non voglio restare a casa stasera. / Non voglio stare a casa stasera. Ho voglia di uscire. Non voglio farlo adesso. / Non lo voglio fare adesso. Non ho voglia di farlo adesso.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 7 0:04 0:20 0:28 1:00 1:13 2:06 2:36 2:48 Im right now about to do it. Im just about to eat. Im just about to prepare it. I was about I was about to prepare it when you called. I plan on leaving. How long do you plan on staying in Italy? Sto per farlo. Sto per mangiare. Sto per prepararlo. Stavo per Stavo per prepararlo quando ha chiamato. Penso di partire. Quanto tempo pensa di restare / di stare in Italia?
When do you plan on leaving? Quando pensa di partire?
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3:22
I intend to do it.
Penso di farlo. Lo far. Voglio farlo. Ho voglia di farlo. Ho lintenzione di farlo. Non ho lintenzione di farlo adesso.
6:00
I dont intend to do it now.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 8 0:07 0:21 1:05 0:34 1:12 1:16 1:26 1:42 1:54 2:16 2:28 2:45 3:04 3:20 3:35 4:54 5:06 5:15 I need to do it. (I have need of doing it.) Ho bisogno di farlo.
ne in Italian means of it / from it / some of it / any of it. ne goes in the same positions as all pronouns. of it / from it / some of it I want it. You want it. Why dont you want it? I want some (of it). I want to buy some (of it). because I want to have it I want to have some (of it). Im going to buy some. because I must have some I need I need it. I dont need it now. You can have it. You can have some if you want. ne Lo voglio. Lo vuole. Perch non lo vuole? Ne voglio. Voglio comprarne. perch voglio averlo Voglio averne. Vado a comprarne. perch devo averne ho bisogno Ne ho bisogno. Non ne ho bisogno adesso. Pu averlo. Pu averne se vuole.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 9 0:00 0:35 1:26 1:47 2:20 I bought some for you. Ne ho comprato per lei.
I didnt buy any (of it) Non ne ho comprato perch because I didnt find any (of it). non ne ho trovato. What do you think of it? I spoke about it with him. Im going to buy it. Cosa ne pensa? Ne ho parlato con lui. Vado a comprarlo.
2:32
I was going to buy it.
Andavo a comprarlo.
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Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 7 Track 10 0:00 0:37 1:00 1:04 1:15 1:40 2:08 2:17 3:10 3:48 4:22 4:32 5:00 5:13 5:28 5:49 For verbs of coming and going you use to be for the past. I have gone I left he left they left we left we (all) left (feminine) We went to see it. we finished Weve finished doing it. to study We finished studying today. Everything is finished. to learn I think / in my opinion / according to me Weve learnt a lot. sono andato sono partito partito sono partiti / sono partite siamo partiti siamo partite Siamo andati a vederlo. abbiamo finito Abbiamo finito di farlo. studiare Abbiamo finito di studiare oggi. Tutto finito. imparare secondo me Abbiamo imparato molto.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 1 0:09 0:26 0:51 1:24 1:56 2:33 2:53 3:47 4:00 5:15 5:24 Im waiting for you. Ive been waiting for you for ten minutes. I was waiting for you. Ive been waiting for you. Ive been doing it. I will be doing it. Ive been doing it for a long time. I was doing it. Ive been living to arrive La aspetto. La aspetto da dieci minuti. La aspettavo. La aspetto. Lo faccio. Lo far. Lo faccio da molto tempo.
Lo facevo. abito arrivare
I have been here for two days. Sono qui da due giorni.
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5:47 6:18 6:42 6:51
I arrived they (the women) arrived remember I remember
sono arrivato / sono arrivata sono arrivate ricordare ricordo
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 2 0:00 0:18 0:48 2:00 2:02 2:51 3:17 3:26 4:49 5:21 5:48 7:49 8:01 to have fun / to enjoy oneself divertirsi Im having fun / I enjoy myself mi diverto I will have fun / I will enjoy myself Im having lots of fun hes having fun were having fun I had fun / I enjoyed myself we had fun we see each other / we meet we will meet we would meet At what time shall we meet tomorrow? mi divertir mi diverto molto si diverte ci divertiamo mi sono divertito ci siamo divertiti ci vediamo ci vediamo / ci vedremo ci vedremmo A che ora ci vedremo domani?
With reflexive verbs in Italian, you use to be to form the past.
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 3 0:00 0:16 0:46 1:37 1:54 2:17 2:39 2:45 2:54 2:58 to meet / to encounter we meet (we encounter each other) we will meet I prefer doing it that way. Do you prefer doing it that way? What do you prefer? to know I know I dont know it. Why dont you know it? incontrare ci incontriamo ci incontreremo Preferisco farlo cos. Preferisce farlo cos?
Cosa preferisce? sapere so Non lo so. Perch non lo sa?
3:09
The word to know in English has two meanings: to know (general knowledge) and to be acquainted (with somebody). In Italian you have sapere for general knowledge, but to know somebody is conosco. I dont know her. you know Do you know her? I know her very well. to ask Will you ask him to wait for me? Can you tell him to call me later? Non la conosco. conosce La conosce? La conosco molto bene. domandare / chiedere Vuole domandargli di aspettarmi?
61
3:42 4:02 4:08 4:17 4:30 4:52 5:57
Pu dirgli di chiamarmi pi tardi?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 4 0:00 0:07 1:06 1:10 2:00 Are you having fun? / Do you enjoy yourself? himself / herself / itself / yourself / oneself Have fun! Enjoy yourself! Si diverte? si
Si diverta! Si diverta!
In Italian there are three types of verbs (-are, -ere, -ire) and we divide them up into two categories or tracks. For you/he/she/it you surface on -a for -are verbs and on -e for the other verbs. At what time are you leaving? What are you eating? Do you speak Italian? Why dont you speak Italian with me? A che ora parte? Cosa mangia? Parla italiano? Perch non parla italiano con me?
3:04 3:09 3:24 4:05
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 5 0:24 0:33 0:40 0:48 1:04 1:28 He gives me. What are you saying? I say / I tell Why dont you tell me? Why dont you tell it to me? I want to know it. Mi d. Cosa dice? dico Perch non mi dice? Perch non me lo dice? Voglio saperlo.
62
1:37 2:17 2:30 2:41 2:54 3:44 4:03 4:31 4:43 5:08 5:12 5:44
I have to know it. How are you? Im fine. Everything is going well. Will you have it fixed?
Ho bisogno di saperlo. / Devo saperlo. Come sta? Sto bene. Tutto va bene. Vuol farlo riparare?
to have something done is to make / to let somebody do it (fare immediately followed by the infinitive). Will you let me know? to show Will you show me? something Can you let me see / make me see something? Vuole farmi sapere? mostrare Vuol mostrarmi? qualcosa Pu farmi vedere qualcosa?
Can you show me something? Pu mostrarmi qualcosa?
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 6 0:00 0:06 0:19 0:40 0:49 1:06 1:15 1:22 1:48 2:02 2:23 2:38 3:18 3:37 4:29 4:35 4:39 5:02 other the same thing the same Thats not the same. there is there are Theres a message for you. people many people There are many people here. How would you say it? its being said (it says itself) to write Im writing Why dont you write to me? Why dont you call me? altro la stessa cosa lo stesso Non lo stesso. c ci sono C un messaggio per lei. la gente molta gente C molta gente qui. Come lo dice? si dice scrivere scrivo Perch non mi scrive? Perch non mi chiama?
I want the same thing for me. Voglio la stessa cosa per me.
How does one say it in Italian? Come si dice in italiano?
6:09 6:18
How does one say?
Come si dice?
63
How do you spell it? (How is it Come si scrive? (being) written? / How does it write itself?)
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 7 0:00 0:07 0:13 0:24 0:35 0:56 1:02 1:20 1:41 1:53 2:20 2:41 I sell youre selling Why dont you sell it? Hes selling it. He was selling it. He used to sell it. It is being sold. it takes It takes a lot of time. How long does it take? / How much time does it take? I am in a hurry. I want to know how long it is taking because I am in a hurry. Im leaving Im going out At what time are you going out? vendo vende Perch non lo vende? Lo vende. Lo vendeva. Lo vendeva. Si vende. ci vuole Ci vuole molto tempo. Quanto tempo ci vuole? Ho fretta. Voglio sapere quanto tempo ci vuole perch ho fretta.
parto esco A che ora esce? Review course CD 2 Track 45 ne Devo andarmene. Mi dispiace, ma non posso aspettare. perch ci vuole troppo tempo
3:13 3:26 3:34
Foundation (8-hour) course: CD 8 Track 8 0:00 0:18 0:23 0:35 1:12 2:13 3:11 Im leaving Im going away. Im going (myself) away (from it). from it / of it I have to go now. Im sorry but I cannot wait. because it is taking too long vado Vado via. Me ne vado.
64
3:35 3:43 4:02 4:23 4:46 4:51 7:08 8:26
and Im in a hurry and Im leaving Im going away. I have to go now. to send Will you tell him to send it to me today. because I need it Weve finished studying Italian today.
e ho fretta e esco Me ne vado. Devo andarmene. mandare Vuole dirgli di mandarmelo oggi. perch ne ho bisogno Abbiamo finito di studiare italiano oggi.
Your guide to the Michel Thomas Method courses

No books No writing Just confidence
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Introductory course (2 CDs) First 2 hours of the Foundation course A taster of the Michel Thomas Method 14.99
Foundation course (8 CDs) 8-hour course for beginners Track listing 70.00
French, German, Italian, Spanish Language Builders (2 CDs) Increase word power and learn colloquial phrases Track listing 20.00
Advanced course (4 CDs) 5-hour follow-on to Foundation course Track listing 50.00
French, German, Italian, Spanish Vocabulary course (5 CDs) Learn 1,000 words painlessly in 6 hours Track listing 30.00
New languages Vocabulary course (4 CDs) Learn hundreds of words painlessly in 5 hours Track listing 40.00
66
The Michel Thomas Method product range

Introductory course (2 CDs*) 14.99 Arabic ISBN: 978 0340 95728 8 Dutch ISBN: 978 0340 97170 3 French ISBN: 978 0340 78064 0 German ISBN: 978 0340 78066 4 Italian ISBN: 978 0340 78070 1 Japanese ISBN: 978 0340 97458 2 Mandarin ISBN: 978 0340 95722 6 Polish ISBN: 978 0340 97518 3 Portuguese ISBN: 978 0340 97166 6 Russian ISBN: 978 0340 94842 2 Spanish ISBN: 978 0340 78068 8 *These are the first 2 hours of the Foundation course. Foundation course (8 CDs) 70 Arabic ISBN: 978 0340 95727 1 Dutch ISBN: 978 0340 97169 7 French ISBN: 978 0340 93891 1 German ISBN: 978 0340 93892 8 Italian ISBN: 978 0340 93894 2 Japanese ISBN: 978 0340 97457 5 Mandarin ISBN: 978 0340 95726 4 Polish ISBN: 978 0340 97517 6 Portuguese ISBN: 978 0340 97167 3 Russian ISBN: 978 0340 94841 5 Spanish ISBN: 978 0340 93893 5 Advanced course (4 CDs) 50 Arabic ISBN: 978 0340 95729 5 Dutch ISBN: 978 0340 97171 0 French ISBN: 978 0340 93898 0 German ISBN: 978 0340 93913 0 Italian ISBN: 978 0340 93900 0 Japanese ISBN: 978 0340 97459 9 Mandarin ISBN: 978 0340 95723 3 Polish ISBN: 978 0340 97517 6 Portuguese ISBN: 978 0340 97168 0 Russian ISBN: 978 0340 94843 9 Spanish ISBN: 978 0340 93899 7
The Language Builders take the form of a one-to-one lecture with Michel Thomas, building on the words and phrases in the Foundation and Advanced courses. The courses provide confidence in pronunciation, increase your word-power and consolidate your knowledge in just two hours. Language Builders (2 CDs) 20 French German Italian Spanish ISBN: 978 0 340 78969 8 ISBN: 978 0 340 78973 5 ISBN: 978 0 340 78975 9 ISBN: 978 0 340 78971 1
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The Vocabulary courses carry forward the Michel Thomas Method teaching tradition and faithfully follow this unique approach to foreign language learning, with the all-audio and building-block approach. Vocabulary courses: French, German, Italian, Spanish (5 CDs) 30 French German Italian Spanish Arabic Mandarin Russian ISBN: 978 0 340 93982 6 ISBN: 978 0 340 93984 0 ISBN: 978 0 340 93983 3 ISBN: 978 0 340 93973 4 ISBN: 978 0 340 98323 2 ISBN: 978 0 340 98358 4 ISBN: 978 0 340 98324 9
Vocabulary courses: new languages (4 CDs) 40
Background reading The Test of Courage is Michel Thomass thrilling biography. Written by acclaimed journalist Christopher Robbins, it tells the story of the worlds greatest language teacher and of how his experience at the hands of the Gestapo fuelled his passion for language teaching. ISBN: 978 0340 81245 7; paperback; 9.99 In The Learning Revolution renowned instructional psychologist Dr Jonathan Solity draws on professional experience and lengthy discussions with Michel Thomas to explain how and why the Michel Thomas Method of language teaching works where so many others fail. ISBN: 978 0340 92833 2; hardback; 19.99
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These Michel Thomas Method products are available from all good bookshops and online booksellers. To find out more, please get in touch with us For general enquiries and for information about the Michel Thomas Method: Call: 020 7873 6354 Fax: 020 7873 6325 Email: mtenquiries@hodder.co.uk To place an order: Call: 01235 400414 Fax: 01235 400454 Email: uk.orders@bookpoint.co.uk www.michelthomas.co.uk You can write to us at: Hodder Education, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH Visit our forum at: www.michelthomas.co.uk
Download and learn a new language anywhere

Download the Michel Thomas language courses straight to your PC or Mac. Listen as you travel, while you drive, or any time your ears are free but your hands are busy. For more information, visit www.audible.co.uk/michelthomas
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THE TEST OF COURAGE EAN: 978 0 340 81245 7 9.99 paperback Michel Thomas remarkable life-story, told by Christopher Robbins As much a thriller as a biography Emma Thompson One of the bravest men you will ever read about John le Carr Intriguing biography a vivid, life-affirming narrative that exerts considerable power THE TIMES This book is a right riveting read SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY

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Press reviews for Michel Thomas Language Courses

The Times the nearest thing to painless learning The Daily Telegraph works like a dream Sunday Business ideal for any business traveller who needs to be able to get around confidently Time Out five minutes into the first CD, you already feel like youre winning Red Hugely inspiring Daily Star Michels methods will teach you effectively and easily The Daily Telegraph a great way to learn; its fast and it lasts Italia! a compelling teacher you really do remember what youre learning
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Italian

Learn another language the way you learnt your own

Michel Thomas, 19142005

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What is the Michel Thomas method?

What does the Foundation (8-hour) course contain?

*U.S. patent 6,565,358

HOW IS THE FOUNDATION (8-hour) COURSE BEST USED?

What level of language will I achieve?

How quickly can I learn with the Foundation (8-hour) course?

Who is the Foundation (8-hour) course for?

How do I use the Foundation Review course?

What can I do next?

So, who was Michel Thomas?

= features on the Review course

Review course CD 1 Track 3

Review course CD 1 Track 4

What do you want to buy here? Cosa vuole comprare qui?

2:32 2:46 2:53 2:56

3:05 4:09 4:17 4:25 4:35 4:42 5:16 5:24 5:29

Review course CD 1 Track 5

ora means hour as well as now.

-abile probabile accettabile

3:57 4:09 4:51

Review course CD 1 Track 6

Sto qui. Sta qui.

3:14 3:20 3:26 3:32

The -a ending is for you, he, she, it.

3:39 3:59 4:19 4:48 5:55 6:10 6:22 6:44

how long How long are you staying?

quanto tempo Quanto tempo sta?

Review course CD 1 Track 7

lo means it and also him; la means her

3:33 4:30 5:04 5:15 5:28 5:41 5:58 6:16 6:40

Review course CD 1 Track 8

What do you want to eat now? Cosa vuole mangiare adesso?

5:29 5:33 6:00 6:15 6:28

Review course CD 1 Track 9

6:52 7:03 7:22 7:27

Im thirsty and I want to drink. Ho sete e voglio bere.

Review course CD 1 Track 10

0:50 1:14 1:18 1:25 1:41 1:49

Review course CD 1 Track 11

And I am staying home tonight. E resto a casa stasera.

1:39 1:50 2:01 2:25

2:46 2:51 2:55 3:09 3:25 3:57

Im going to see it tomorrow.

5:06 5:41 6:14

Lo compro domani. Lo compro adesso.

Review course CD 1 Track 12

Are you staying home tonight? Sta a casa stasera?

3:20 3:24 3:37 4:09 4:16 4:21 4:32

4:35 5:05 5:17 5:26

Review course CD 1 Track 13

5:58 6:11 6:22 6:32 6:46 6:54

If you use me with a verb, its mi.

3:23 3:31 3:41

sapere goes like avere: I have = ho, I know = so

perch voglio comprarlo. Devo averlo oggi se possibile.

Review course CD 1 Track 14

Non posso parlare con lei perch mangio. mangio

Review course CD 1 Track 15