Italian verbs. There are lots of them, and they can pain to remember at first! But they’re not as hard as you think – you can make them easier to remember by organising them into logical groups.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Parlare = to speak
Scrivere = to write
Dormire = to sleep
Parlo = I speak
Scrivo = I write
Dormo = I sleep
Parli = you speak
Scrivi = you write
Dormi = you sleep
Parliamo = we speak
Scriviamo = we write
Dormiamo = we sleep
Arrivare = arrive
Arrivo = I arrive
Arrivo domani = I arrive tomorrow
Arriviamo = we arrive
Arriviamo domani = we arrive tomorrow
Prendere = I take
Prendo una pizza = I’ll have a pizza
Prendi una pizza? = Are you having a pizza?
Aprire = open
Apriamo = we open
Una bottiglia di vino = a bottle of wine
Apriamo una bottiglia di vino = Let’s open a bottle of wine/shall we open a bottle of wine?
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: The Easy Way to Remember Italian Verbs
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ah, Italian verbs. There’s lots of them, and they can pain to remember at first! But they’re not as hard as you think – organising them into logical groups makes them much easier to remember. Learn how in episode 39 of 5 minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
So you may know that there are 3 groups of verbs in Italian. Words that end in a-r-e (are) like parlare, to speak. Verbs that end in e-r-e (ere), like scrivere, to write, and verbs that end in -i-r-e (ire), like dormire “to sleep”
You may also know that the ending of these verbs changes, depending on who’s doing the action. For example, to say “I speak”, we start with the verb “parlare”, remove the “-are” and add “o”: parlo. This is called verb conjugation.
People often learn the conjugations one group at a time, but this is confusing because many of the endings are actually the same for all 3 groups!
The easiest way to remember these verb endings is to learn the same endings first, and then learn the exceptions later.
Let’s get started. To say who’s doing the action, the first thing we need to do are remove the endings “are”, “ere” and “ire”, so we’re left with: “parl-”, “scriv-” and “dorm-”.
We call these the verb roots. Then, we just add a different ending to the root.
Can you remember how to say “I speak”?
M: Parlo
K: Right, we go from the verb root “parl” and add “o”: parlo. Now let’s look at verbs which end in “-ere” like scrivere to write. We’ve already removed the “ere”, so we’re left with the verb root: “scriv”. Can you guess how to say “I write”?
M: Scrivo.
K: Now let’s look at an “ire” verb, dormire, to sleep. We’ve already removed the “ire”, so we’re left with the verb root: “dorm-”. How do you say “I sleep?”
M: Dormo
K: The “I” ending, as in I speak (parlo) I write (scrivo) and I sleep (dormo) is the same.
M: Just remove the -are, -ere or -ire ending and add “o”.
K: Now let’s learn how to say “you speak”. Start with the root: “parl-”. Then add “i”
M: Parli.
K: Can you guess how to say “you write”? Start with the root “scriv-”
M: Then just add “i”: scrivi.
K: And how would you say “you sleep”? Start with the root: “dorm-”.
M: Then just add “i”: Dormi
K: Great, so the “you” ending, as in “you speak” (parli), you write (scrivi) and you sleep (dormi) is the same for all 3 verbs.
M: Just remove the -are, -ere or -ire and add “i”
K: Next, to say “we”, as in “we speak”, “we write” or “we sleep”, we add “iamo” to the root. We know that the root of “parlare” “to speak” is “parl”. So how would you say “we speak”.
M: Parliamo.
K: And we know that the root for scrivere, “to write” is scriv-. So how would you say we write?
M: Scriviamo
K: And we know that the root for dormire (to sleep) is dorm-. So how would you say “we sleep?”
M: Dormiamo.
K: Now we know the verb endings, we can practice making some sentences. Let’s start with the verb arrivare, which you can probably guess means “arrive”. What’s the root?
M: arriv-
K: So how would you say “I arrive”?
M: arrivo.
K: Italians often use the present tense to talk about plans in the future. So arrivo, can also be used to say “I’ll arrive”. How would you say “I arrive tomorrow?”
M: Arrivo domani
K: And how would you say “we arrive tomorrow”. Remember the ending is “iamo”
M: Arriviamo domani.
K: Next, verb: prendere, which means “to take”. What’s the root?
M: Prend-
K: Prendere is often used in Italian to order things, like saying “I’ll have”. So Italians literally say “I’ll take a pizza”. If the root is prend, how would you say “I’ll have a pizza?”
M: Prendo una pizza.
K: How would you say “you have a pizza?”
M: Prendi una pizza.
K: And how would you ask that as a question, as in “are you having a pizza?”. Remember Italians just say “you have pizza” with question intonation.
M: Prendi una pizza?
K: Next, aprire, which means “open”. What’s the root?
M: Apr-
K: How would you say “we open”?
M: Apriamo
K: A bottle of wine is una bottiglia di vino. How would you say “I open a bottle of wine?”
M: Apro una bottiglia di vino
K: What about “we open a bottle of wine”?
M: Apriamo una bottiglia di vino.
K: As we saw last week, this can also be used as a question: Apriamo una bottiglia di vino? Shall we open a bottle of wine? That sounds like una buona idea, a good idea!
This week we learnt how to conjugate verbs for “I”, “you” and “we”, which is the same for all 3 groups of verbs. That leaves us with a couple of others that are different, which we’ll talk about next week.
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
How much can you remember from previous lessons of 5 minute Italian? In this quiz lesson, you’ll review the magic verb fare together with some handy grammar, words and phrases you’ve learnt in previous lessons. By the end, you’ll be able to combine them to say loads of new sentences in Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Facciamo = we do
Colazione = breakfast
Quando = when
Quando facciamo colazione? = When shall we have breakfast?
A che ora = what time
A che ora facciamo colazione? = What time shall we have breakfast?
Adesso/ora = now
Facciamo colazione adesso/ora? Shall we have breakfast now?
Facciamo la spesa = let’s do the food shopping
Non facciamo la spesa ora = let’s not do the food shopping now.
Facciamolo! = Let’s do it!
Facciamola = Let’s do it (for feminine nouns like “la spesa”)
Più = more
Late = tardi
Più tardi = later
Non facciamo la spesa adesso, facciamola più tardi = let’s not do the shopping now, let’s do it later.
Che cosa/che/cosa = what
Che facciamo? = What shall we do?
Che facciamo più tardi? = What shall we do later?
Fai = you do
Che fai più tardi = What are you doing later?
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Quiz! Put your Italian knowledge to the test.
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: How much can you remember from previous lessons of 5 minute Italian? In this quiz lesson, you’ll review the magic verb fare together with some handy grammar, words and phrases you’ve learnt in previous lessons. By the end, you’ll be able to combine them to say loads of new sentences in Italian. Learn how in episode 38 of 5 Minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: And today we’re going to help you remember and practice using the words and phrases you learned in previous lessons and importantly, show you how you can use them to build new sentences in Italian. Let’s get started.
M: Cominciamo.
K: Let’s start with the most important word: Can you remember how to say breakfast?
M: Colazione
K: And can you remember how to say “we do”
M: Facciamo
K: So how would you say, we have breakfast, or as the Italians say, we do breakfast.
M: Facciamo colazione.
K: Now all the way back in episode 8, we learnt that to make suggestions, as in “shall we have breakfast” in Italian is very easy. All you have to do is repeat the verb with a question intonation. So instead of saying “we have breakfast”, you say “we have breakfast?”. So how would you say this in Italian?
M: Facciamo colazione?
K: Great. Now can you remember how to say “when” in Italian?
M: Quando.
K: So how would you say: When shall we have breakfast?
M: Quando facciamo colazione?
K: And can you remember how to say “what time?” Literally “at what hour”
M: A che ora
K: So how would you say “what time shall we have breakfast?”
M: A che ora facciamo colazione?
K: And can you remember how to say “now”?
M: You can either say adesso or ora.
K: So how would you say “shall we have breakfast now?”
M: Facciamo colazione ora?
K: We also learnt that the way Italians say “let’s” as in “let’s have breakfast” is easy. All you have to do is say “we have breakfast”, but with a tone that sounds like you’re making a suggestion. So how would you say “let’s have breakfast” in Italian?
M: Facciamo colazione
K: Can you remember how to say “do the food shopping”?
M: Facciamo la spesa.
K: So how would you say “let’s do the food shopping”?
M: Facciamo la spesa.
K: To make a negative, we know that we just put “non” in front of the verb. So how would you say “let’s not do the food shopping”
M: Non facciamo la spesa.
K: And how would you say, “let’s not do the shopping now”.
M: Non facciamo la spesa adesso. Or you can say non facciamo la spesa ora
K: To say “it” as in, let’s do it, we say “lo”.
K: So how would you say “let’s do it”?
M: Facciamolo
K: And that “lo” gets attached to the end of the word, as you’ll be able to see in the show notes. We use “lo” if we’re just using the phrase in general, without referring to a specific thing for “it”, or if we’re talking about a masculine noun, like. However, if we’re referring to a feminine noun, like the shopping la spesa, we say la. Facciamola.
K: K: Then in episode 35, we learnt how to say “more”, when we were talking about New Year’s Resolutions, I said “I’d like to be more organised”. Can you remember how to say more?
M: Più.
K: The word for late in Italian is tardi. In English, to make a comparison, we can either add the word more, as in more organised, but we can also add “er” on the end, as in later. But in Italian, it’s easy, they just say “more” all the time. To say “later” in Italian, we’d say more late. So how do you say that in Italian?
M: Più tardi.
K: So how would you say “let’s do it later”, if we’re referring to the shopping?
M: Facciamola più tardi
K: So how would you say “let’s not do the shopping now, let’s do it later”
M: Non facciamo la spesa adesso, facciamola più tardi. Or you can say non facciamo la spesa ora, facciamola più tardi.
K: And do you remember how to say “what?”
M: You can either say che cosa, che or cosa. They all mean “what”.
K: For today, let’s just use che So how would you say “what shall we do?”
M: Che facciamo?
K: So how would you say: what shall we do later?
M: Che facciamo più tardi?
K: And can you remember how to say you do?
M: Fai
K: Now we want to say: What are you doing later? In Italian, it’s easy, because they usually use the present tense to talk about plans in the near future. So you literally say: “what you do later?”
M: Che fai più tardi?
K: So tell us Matteo, che fai più tardi?
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
Learning a language can feel like hard work sometimes!
One way to make it easier is by starting with words that Italians say all the time. Like the magic verb “fare”, which means make or do. Once you learn it, you’ll be able to use it in loads of handy Italian expressions.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Allora = so
Ti faccio una domanda = I’ll ask you a question (literally = you I do a question)
Che fai sabato? = What are you doing on Saturday?
Che fai il sabato? = What do you do on Saturdays?
Faccio colazione = I have breakfast (literally = I do breakfast)
Poi = then
Faccio la spesa = I do the food shopping
Fa caldo = it’s hot (literally = it does hot)
Fa freddo = it’s cold (literally = it does cold)
Mi piace uscire = I like to go out
Per fare delle foto = to take some photos (literally = for do some photos)
Fai pulizia in casa? = do you clean the house? (literally = you do cleaning in house?)
Si, un sacco! = yes, loads!
Fare una festa = have a party (literally = do a party)
Fare un errore = make a mistake
Faccio = I do
Fai = you do
Fa = he/she/it does
Facciamo = we do
Fate = you all/both do
Fanno = they do
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: The Magic Italian Verb Fare
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Learning a language can feel like hard work sometimes! One way to make it easier is by starting with words and phrases that Italian people say all the time. One such word is the verb is fare, which means make or do, which is everywhere in Italian. Once you learn it, you’ll be able to use it in loads of different expressions. Find out more in 5 minute Italian episode 37.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
Matteo: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: Today, we’re going to talk about one of my favourite verbs in Italian: fare, which means “make” or “do” in Italian (they only have one word in Italian for both of these words). This handy verb is used absolutely everywhere, so if you learn it you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck.
Let’s start with a conversation. After, we’ll analyse what we said bit by bit. Remember you can read the words in the show notes.
Allora, ti faccio una domanda: che fai il sabato?
M: Faccio colazione, poi faccio la spesa. Se non fa freddo, mi piace uscire per fare delle foto.
K: Fai pulizia in casa?
M: Si, un sacco!
K: So the first thing I said was:
M: Allora, ti faccio una domanda.
K: Allora means “So” as in “so then”. Ti faccio una domanda means “I’ll ask you a question”.
Faccio means “I make” or “I do” and una domanda means “a question”. Italians don’t say “ask a question”, they say “do a question” faccio una domanda. Then in Italian, to say you, as in I ask YOU, they say “ti” and it goes at the beginning of the sentence:
M: ti faccio una domanda
K: Then you heard the question:
M: Che fai il sabato?
K: What do you do on Saturdays. Che means “what”, and fai means “you make” or “you do”. So we’ve got I make/do = faccio, and you make/do = fai. Il sabato literally means “the Saturday” and when Italians use il before the day of the week, it means “on Saturdays” as in every Saturday.
M: Yes, if I say che fai sabato I’m asking “what are you doing on Saturday?” but if I say che fai IL sabato (with IL), I’m asking: what do you do on Saturdays?
K: Then you heard:
M: Faccio colazione
K: Faccio colazione means I have breakfast. Here’s another example of how Italians use the verb “make” or “do” when we wouldn’t in English. So while in English, we say I have breakfast, in Italian, they say I do breakfast
M: Faccio colazione
K: Next, you heard:
M: Poi faccio la spesa
K: Poi means “then”. And faccio la spesa means “I do the food shopping”.
M: Faccio la spesa
K: This is interesting because Italians distinguish between the two types of shopping. Fare la spesa means to do the food shopping, whereas for clothes they’d say fare shopping, using the English word. Then you heard:
M: Se non fa freddo, mi piace uscire
K: If it’s not cold, I like to go out. Literally “If it doesn’t do cold, I like to go out” In Italian, they don’t say “it’s cold”, they say “it does cold” fa (it does) and freddo (cold)
M: Or fa caldo, literally it does hot, to say it’s hot and fa freddo, to say it’s cold. Then you heard:
M: per fare delle foto.
K: To take some photos. Italians don’t say take, they say do: fare delle foto. Then you heard:
M: Fai pulizia in casa?
K: Which means, “do you clean the house?” Literally, “do you do cleaning in house?” Then Matteo said:
M: Si, un sacco!
K: Un sacco is a slang word for “a lot”. A bit like “loads”.
Let’s listen to the conversation again:
K: Allora, ti faccio una domanda: che fai il sabato?
M: Faccio colazione, poi faccio la spesa. Se non fa freddo, mi piace uscire per fare delle foto.
K: Fai pulizia in casa?
M: Si, un sacco!
K: Let’s quickly mention some other handy expressions with fare.
M: There’s fare una festa which means to “have a party” and fare un errore, which means “make a mistake”.
We learnt how to say “I do” which is faccio and “you do”, which is fai. But there are a couple of other forms of this verb. If you want to say he or she does, or the formal you, say fa. To say “we do”, say facciamo. If you want to say “they do”, say fanno.
K: Finally, we’ve got the plural form of you in Italian, which translates to you all or you both do, which is:
M: Fate.
K: So how would you say “I have breakfast” – literally I do breakfast
M: Faccio colazione
K: You have breakfast?
M: Fai colazione
K: He or she has breakfast?
M: Fa colazione
K: We have breakfast?
M: Facciamo colazione
K: You all or you both have breakfast?
M: Fate colazione
K: They have breakfast?
M: Fanno colazione.
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
Do you know what a “box” is in Italian? It might not be what you think it is! Over the years, the Italian language has borrowed many words from English, but they don’t always have the same meaning. The good news is, you already know the words, so they’re very easy to remember – you just have to learn the new meaning in Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Italian/English
latte = milk
box = garage
zona “living” = literally “living zone”. Often used to talk about open plan living room/kitchen combos
toast = a toasted sandwich, usually with ham and cheese
slip = underwear/pants/briefs (men and women)
molto fashion = very fashionable
stage = work experience
beauty = washbag
baby parking/asilo = crèche or nursery
feeling = chemistry/rapport
una fiction = a tv series
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: English words used in Italian (that don’t exist in English!)
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Do you know what a “box” is in Italian? It might not be what you think it is! Over the years, the Italian language has borrowed many words from English, but they don’t always have the same meaning. The good news is, you already know the words, so they’re very easy to remember – you just have to learn the new meaning in Italian. Find out more in episode 36 of 5 minute Italian.
Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: All the way back in episode 2, we looked how English has borrowed some Italian words, and given them different meanings. Like latte or “latte”: if you ask for one in London, you’ll get a coffee, while if you ask for it in Milan, you’ll get a glass of milk. But the English are not the only ones to bastardise the words they borrow from other languages! The Italians don’t get off that easily either!
M: There are lots of words in Italian that Italians think are English, but that actually have different meanings.
K: For example?
M: Like box, which in Italian means “garage”, the place where you park your car by your house.
K: Another house-related one, which I heard a lot when we were looking for a house is la zona living which literally means “the living zone” and is often used to talk about open plan kitchens.
M: Then there’s toast, which is similar but not exactly the same as the English word for toast.
K: In Italian, the word toast, or “tost” with the Italian pronunciation, is a toasted sandwich with ham and cheese. Let’s move onto clothes now, what else have we got?
M: Then there’s slip,
K: Which means men’s underwear.
M: Actually, you can use it for both men and women.
K: Ah, OK. So I’ve often heard men use the word slip, which is funny because in English the word “slip” is a silky dress that women wear as underwear. So I still find this one quite funny because when I hear men use the word slip I always imagine them in a silky little dress.
M: Then we’ve got… fashion.
K: In Italian, fashion is sometimes used as an adjective, where we’d use the word fashionable. So sometimes you might hear Italians say molto fashion, where we would say “very fashionable”. It’s often used in a jokey or fun way – if your friend comes over with a new dress, you could say “look at you!” Molto fashion.
M: What about the word stage?
K: This is a really interesting one because I believe the word comes from French originally, stage, which means work experience or internship. Over time, I hear more and more Italians pronouncing it with the English pronunciation “stage”. Italians are often surprised to find that you can’t use the word “stage” or stage to talk about work experience in English. The standard pronunciation is stage (the French way) so it’s probably better to stick to that one if you’re speaking about an internship in Italian.
M: Then there’s beauty, which in Italian means “washbag”.
K: Those little bags where you keep your toothpaste and deodorant when you go on holiday.
M: We’ve also got baby parking.
K: Can you guess what that means? If you think about it very literally? It means “creche” or “daycare nursery”. The place where you park your babies of course!
M: But some Italians get annoyed by this phrase – the more standard way of saying this in Italian is asilo.
K: Then there’s the word “feeling” which is used to talk about relationships.
M: If you have un buon feeling with someone, it means that you’ve got good chemistry.
K: And it’s often used platonically, to say that you’ve got a good rapport.
M: Finally, we’ve got una fiction.
K: Literally translated as “a fiction” which means TV series.
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
What are your New Year’s resolutions? Find out ours and learn some useful words for talking about the New Year in episode 35 of 5 Minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
hai fatto = you’ve done/made
già = already
una lista = a list
di = of
buoni propositi = New Year’s resolutions (literally good intentions)
per il duemila diciotto = for 2018
certo = of course
vorrei = I’d like
imparare = to learn
il tedesco = German
il francese = French
essere = to be
più = more
organizzata = organized (for a woman)
organizzato = organized (for a man)
e tu? = and you?
faccio = I do/make
sono = I am
contento = happy (for a man)
contenta = happy (for a woman)
così = like this/like that
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Buon Anno! New Year’s Resolutions in Italian
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: What are your New Year’s resolutions? Find out ours and learn some useful words for talking about the New Year in episode 35 of 5 minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: Buon Anno!
M: Buon Anno!
K: Happy New Year! Sorry we’re a little bit late to the party – but we’ve both had influenza, the flu.
Matteo come stai?… How are you?
M: Definitely better now.
K: So now we’re back and ready to learn some Italian! And today we’re going to talk about New Year’s Resolutions. As always, we’ll listen to the conversation first, then we’ll learn what each bit means.
M: Hai già fatto una lista di buoni propositi per il 2018?
K: Certo! Vorrei imparare il tedesco ed essere più organizzata. E tu?
M: Non faccio i buoni propositi, sono già contento così!
K: The first question you heard was:
M: Hai già fatto una lista di buoni propositi per il 2018?
K: Have you already made your list of New Year’s resolutions for 2018?
K: Hai fatto means “you have made”. Hai means “you have” and fatto means “done” or “made” (Italians don’t make the distinction between these two words).
M: Hai fatto
K: The word già means already. Italians put that in the middle, just like we do in English. Hai già fatto = you have already made. Then we heard:
M: Una lista
K: Which means a list. Then you heard di, which means “of” and buoni propositi, which means “resolutions”. Proposito means intention, so buoni propositi literally means “good intentions”.
M: Buoni propositi.
K: So far we’ve got hai già fatto una lista di buoni propositi. The literal translation is “you have already made a list of resolutions”. Luckily in Italian, questions are very simple, we just say the sentence with question intonation. So to make that into a question, we just say:
M: Hai già fatto una lista di buoni propositi?
K: Then you heard:
M: per duemiladiciotto
K: Per means “for” and duemiladiciotto means “two thousand and eighteen”.
M: per duemiladiciotto
K: Next you heard:
M: Certo!
K: Which means “certainly” or “of course”. Then you heard
M: Vorrei imparare il tedesco.
K: Vorrei means “I’d like to”, imparare means “learn” and tedesco means German. I said: il tedesco, literally translated to “the German” because Italians say “the” when they talk about languages. Another example is il francese (French).
M: vorrei imparare il tedesco
K: Then I said:
M: Essere più organizzata
K: Essere means “be”, più means “more” and can you guess what organizzata means? You guessed it! It means “organized”. Italian adjectives change depending on if we’re describing a man or a woman. I said organizzatA, with an A at the end, because I was talking about myself and I’m a woman.
M: That’s right. If I was talking I’d say organizzatO, because I’m a man. So we say: essere più organizzatA if you’re a woman and essere più organizzatO if you’re a man.
K: Then I asked, “and you”?
M: e tu?
K: Next Matteo replied:
M: Non faccio i buoni propositi.
K: Faccio means “I make” or “I do”. In Italian, the negative is very simple, we just add non to the beginning. So non faccio means I don’t make. Non faccio i buoni propositi means I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.
M: Non faccio i buoni propositi.
K: Then you heard: sono già contento così
K: Sono means “I am”. Then we heard the word già again, which we know means “already”. Then we heard the word contento. Can you guess what that means? Contento means happy, and I’m sure you can see the etymolgical link with “content”. If I was talking about me, a woman, how would I say “I’m happy”
M: Sono contentA, with an A at the end, for a woman.
K: Finally, you heard the word così, which means “like this” or like that.
M: Sono già contento così
K: Let’s listen to the conversation again:
M: Hai già fatto una lista di buoni propositi per 2018?
K: Certo! Vorrei imparare il tedesco, e essere più organizzata. E tu?
M: Non faccio i buoni propositi. Sono già contento così!
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
How do Italians celebrate Christmas? Find out, and learn some useful words and phrases for talking about the festive period in this episode of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
In Italia = in Italy
Spesso = often
Apriamo = we open
I regali = the presents
La vigilia = Christmas eve
Il ventiquattro = the 24th
Di solito = usually
Si mangia = one eats
Pesce = fish
Capodanno = New Year’s
Lenticchie = lentils
Auguri = congratulations/happy holidays
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Buon Natale! How Italians Celebrate Christmas
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: How do Italians celebrate Christmas? Find out, and learn some useful words and phrases for talking about the festive period in episode 34 of 5 minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: And we’re getting ready for Christmas! So we thought it would be nice to do an episode about Christmas in Italy, so we’ll talk about the culture and some useful words and phrases for talking about the holidays.
Let’s ask Matteo. You’ve celebrated Christmas with us before in England. What would you say are the main differences between Christmas in Italy and in England.
Matteo: In Italia, spesso apriamo i regali la vigilia, il ventiquattro.
K: In Italy, people often open their presents on Christmas Eve, the 24th. I would have loved that when I was younger because you get so excited about presents so getting them a day early would’ve been amazing. In this sentence, we’ve got in Italia (in Italy). Spesso (often). Next, apriamo, which means “we open”. That comes from the verb aprire to open. To say we open, we remove the “-are”, and add the “we” ending -iamo. Apriamo. Then we heard i regali (the presents) and la vigilia which means Christmas Eve.
Next, you heard il venti quattro which means “the 24th”. Italian is simpler than English because you don’t have to worry about learning ordinal numbers like the 3rd or the 18th to say dates. They just say “the” (il) plus the number, for example il 24. OK, what else?
M: Di solito, si mangia pesce il 24.
K: So we started with di solito, which means “usually”. Then, we had si mangia, which literally means “one eats”. And this structure is used much more often in English than in Italian. It’s called the si impersonale. The impersonal “si”. And it’s used when we talk about people in general, when we’re not talking about a specific person doing the action. We heard this last week with the phrase si può comprare un biglietto qui? “can one buy a ticket here?”. And in this context, we’re talking about eating in general in Italy, not what a specific person eats, so Matteo used this si impersonale form.
So we had si mangia, (one eats). Then pesce which means fish. Then you heard il 24 again, the 24th, or literally “the 24”. Notice Italians don’t use the word “on” to talk about dates either. Di solito, si mangia pesce il 24. Usually, Italians eat fish on the 24th. Do you know why that is?
M: It’s part of Catholic tradition, where they don’t eat meat during certain times of the year.
K: Do you know anything more?
M: No because it changes between regions in Italy. So you can have meat sometimes for other regions in the North. Sometimes in the North, they are closer to your traditions in the North. So they eat on the 25th and they don’t eat on Christmas Eve.
K: Yes, I’ve found that interesting speaking to some of my Italian students. Somebody from the North of Italy will have a totally different Christmas to someone from the south.
K: Ok and what about lunch on Christmas day?
M: So we have “tacchino farcito”.
K: Stuffed turkey
M: And tortellini in brodo
K: Is that like ravioli but a different shape? So stuffed pasta. In broth.
M: Yea, usually it’s meat broth. And that’s it. Then it’s up to everyone to fill all the things, like in the menu, like the insalata di rinforzo.
K: What’s that? Salad of…?
M: It’s quite strange, it’s something from the South. It’s with… cavolo
K: Cabbage
M: Olive nere
K: Black olives
M: And other stuff. That I don’t actually remember, but it’s quite good!
K: Now tell us a bit about capodanno, “New Year”. You have a special tradition at midnight, don’t you?
M: Yea, we eat lenticchie
M: Which is “lentils”
M: It’s good luck. We say that you have to eat at least 3 spoons of lenticche and you will have money next year.
K: And just one last thing – I was in Italy one capodanno and I was really impressed by Italian’s staying power. What time do Italians normally go to be on New Year’s Eve, or should I say in the morning on New Year’s Day?
M: Probably around 7, after the sunrise.
K: So how would you say that time in Italian?
M: Alle sette.
K: That’s it for today, all that’s left to say is: auguri which means something like happy holidays. We’ll be back in…
M: Duemiladiciotto
K: 2018!
That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to get around Italy on public transport, using only Italian. And you’ll practice using all those handy words and phrases for travel you’ve been learning over the last 3 lessons.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Si può comprare un biglietto per Capri qui? = Is it possible (literally “can one”) buy a ticket for Capri here?
qui/qua = here (interchangeable)
Quanto costa un biglietto per Capri? = how much does a ticket to Capri cost? (literally = how much costs a ticket for Capri?)
Quanto tempo ci mette? = How long does it take?
A che ora torna l’ultima? = What time does the last one come back? (literally = what time returns the last one?)
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to get around Italy on public transport
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: In today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to get around Italy on public transport, using only Italian. And you’ll practice using all the handy words and phrases for travel we’ve been learning over the last 3 lessons. Find out more, in episode 33 of 5 minute Italian.
Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
Matteo: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: Today, we’re going to review the words and phrases we’ve learnt over the last 3 lessons, to help us get around Italy on public transport. Today we’re going to use the example of a boat, but these are phrases that will be useful in any kind of transport. So let’s get started.
M: Cominciamo.
K: Let’s imagine you’re in Naples. And you want to get the boat over to Capri. You’re at the port and you see loads of ticket counters, and you’re not sure which is the right one. You go up to one of the kiosks and you want to ask, “is it possible to buy a ticket to Capri here?”. Remember in Italian, to ask if something is possible, they often speak like the queen of England, that is, they literally say, can one buy a ticket. Can you remember how to say “can one”?
M: Si può?
K: And can you remember how do you say buy a ticket?
M: Comprare un biglietto.
K: What about “to Capri”? Last week we learnt that Italians use the word per (which means for) instead of the word “to” when they talk about a destination. We learnt the phrase “un biglietto per Bologna”, literally, a ticket for Bologna. So how would you say “a ticket for Capri”?
M: Un biglietto per Capri.
K: And finally, can you remember how to say “here”?
M: Qui. You can also say qua. Qui and qua are interchangeable – they both mean “here”.
K: So let’s put that all together. How would you say “is it possible to buy a ticket to Capri here” literally: “can one buy a ticket for Capri here”
M: Si può comprare un biglietto per Capri qui?
You can also say: Si può comprare un biglietto per Capri qua?
K: And how would you say “how much does a ticket for Capri cost?
M: Quanto costa un biglietto per Capri?
K: And how would you ask: “when does it leave?” Italians would literally say “when does it part?”
M: Quando parte?
K: The person behind the counter says: “at quarter past 10”. Can you remember how to say that in Italian? Remember that Italians literally say “at the ten and a quarter”.
M: Alle dieci e un quarto
K: Now you want to know how long it takes. Can you remember how to say “how long does it take” in Italian?
M: Quanto tempo ci mette?
K: Let’s imagine it takes 40 minutes. How would you say that?
M: Quaranta minuti.
K: Now there’s another very important question. If we’re doing a little day trip on a train, bus or boat, we’ll need to to find out when the last one comes back, so we don’t get stuck there. To come back, Italians often use the word torna, which means “return”. In fact, to ask this question, Italians would literally say “what time returns the last one?”. So let’s start with the first part. Can you remember how to ask what time? Literally “at what hour”
M: A che ora.
K: Then let’s add the next word “return”
M: A che ora torna
K: To say “the last,” we say l’ultima. In this case, ultima finishes with an “a” because we’re talking about a feminine noun la barca. But if we were talking about a masculine word, like “train” (treno) or bus (autobus), we’d say l’ultimo. So how would we ask when does the last one come back – literally “when returns the last one”, talking about a boat?
M: A che ora torna l’ultima?
K: Now let’s be really specific, so we know we’re talking about the right direction. So let’s add “for Naples” at the end.
M: A che ora torna l’ultima per Napoli?
K: That’s it for today, if you feel like you need a little more practice with these phrases, you can go back and review episodes 29 – 32.
K: That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
What time does the train leave? How long does it take? How much does a ticket cost? These are all essential questions if you want to make your way around Italy on public transport. Find out how to buy tickets and ask for travel information in episode 32 of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Quanto costa = how much
Un biglietto = a ticket
per Bologna = to Bologna (literally: for Bologna)
Regionale o intercity? = the regional train or the intercity train?
Il regionale = a train which stops at all the little stops on the way. It’s the slowest, but also the cheapest.
L’intercity = An intercity train which goes directly between cities. It’s faster and a bit more expensive than the regional trains.
Freccia trains = long distance trains. They’re the fastest and also the most expensive. If you want to learn the differences between the different types: frecciarossa, frecciabianca, frecciargento, check out this fab guide: What are Italian trains like?
Quanto costa = how much does it cost?
Quanto costa il treno? = how much does the train cost?
Otto euro = eight euros
Quanto tempo ci mette? = how long does it take?
Quanto tempo = how long
Ci mette = it takes
Quaranta minuti = 40 minutes
E il regionale? = and the regional train?
Costa cinque euro e ci mette un’ora = it costs five euros and it takes an hour
Va bene, prendo il regionale, grazie = OK, I’ll take the regional train, thanks
A che ora parte il treno? = What time does the train leave?
Alle sette = at seven
Tra venti minuti = in twenty minutes
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to ask for travel information in Italian
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: What time does the train leave? How long does it take? How much does a ticket cost? These are all essential questions if you want to make your way around Italy on public transport. Find out how to buy tickets and ask for travel information in episode 32 of 5 minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian. Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: And in today’s lesson, you’ll learn how to ask for important travel information, like “what time does the train leave” and “how long does it take?”. Listen to this conversation at the ticket counter. We’ll take you through it step by step after.
K: Quanto costa un biglietto per Bologna?
M: Regionale o intercity?
K: Quanto costa l’intercity?
M: Otto euro.
K: Quanto tempo ci mette?
M: Quaranta minuti.
K: e il regionale?
M: Costa cinque euro e ci mette un’ora.
K: Va bene, prendo il regionale, grazie. A che ora parte il treno?
M: Alle sette, tra venti minuti.
K: You first heard the question:
M: Quanto costa un biglietto per Bologna?
K: Which means “how much does a ticket for Bologna cost?” Quanto means “how much”, costa means “costs”, un biglietto means “ticket” and per Bologna means “for Bologna”. Literally, “how much costs a ticket for Bologna”.
M: Quanto costa un biglietto per Bologna?
K: Bologna is a very pretty town in the North East of Italy not far from where I went to university. If you get the chance to visit at some point I highly recommend it. And it has this strange gn sound in it, if you want more information on how to pronounce it, you can check out episode 6 on how to pronounce gn in Italian. Next, you heard:
M: Regionale o intercity?
K: There are loads of different trains in Italy, and the system can be a bit baffling even to natives. Regionale means regional, and they’re the trains which stop at all the stops, so they’re usually the slowest, but also the cheapest. Then you’ve got intercity, which goes directly from city to city, and is a bit faster. You’ll also see freccia trains, which are very fast and therefore the most expensive.
M: If you’ve got a long journey, say from Milan to Rome, the freccia trains can be very handy, but if it’s only a short journey, I’d recommend the regionale, you can blend in with the locals and save money at the same time.
K: You can see the names and definitions of these trains written in the show notes. Next, you heard:
M: Quanto costa l’intercity?
K: Which means “how much does the intercity cost?” Then you heard:
M: Otto euro.
K: Which means 8 euros. Then you heard a really useful question:
M: Quanto tempo ci mette?
K: Which means “how long does it take?”. Quanto means “how much”, tempo means “time”, so quanto tempo means “how much time”. Then you heard ci mette, which means something like “it takes”. It’s useful to memorise this all together as a fixed phrase.
M: Quanto tempo ci mette?
K: Then you heard
M: Quaranta minuti.
K: Did you get how long? Quaranta minuti means forty minutes. Then you heard:
M: e il regionale?
K: e means “and” so e il regionale means “and the regional train?” Then you heard the reply. See if you can hear how much it costs and how long it takes.
M: Costa cinque euro e ci mette un’ora.
K: Did you get that? Costa cinque euro: “it costs five euros” e ci mette un ora. We know that ci mette means it takes, so ci mette un ora = it takes an hour. Then you heard:
M: Va bene, prendo il regionale, grazie.
K: So here we meet again the word va bene which means “OK”, then we’ve got prendo, which we’ve learnt in previous episodes means “I take” and Italians use it to order things, a bit like saying “I’ll have” or “I’ll take” in English. Va bene, prendo il regionale, grazie = OK, I’ll take the regional train, thanks. Then you heard:
M: A che ora parte il treno?
K: Which means “what time does the train leave?” A means “at”, che means “what” and ora means “hour” so to ask “what time”, Italians literally say “at what hour”: a che ora. Then parte means “leave” and il treno means “the train”. Literally: “at what hour leaves the train?”
M: A che ora parte il treno?
K: Finally, see if you can hear what time the train leaves:
M: Alle sette, tra venti minuti
K: Alle sette means “at seven”. Tra means “in” when we’re talking about time, and venti minuti means twenty minutes. So alle sette, tra venti minuti means “at seven, in twenty minutes”.
M: Alle sette, tra venti minuti.
K: If you need some help telling the time in Italian, you can go back and check out episode 31 on how to tell the time in Italian. But for now, let’s listen to the conversation again.
K: Quanto costa un biglietto per Bologna?
M: Regionale o intercity?
K: Quanto costa l’intercity?
M: Otto euro.
K: Quanto tempo ci mette?
M: Quaranta minuti.
K: e il regionale?
M: Costa cinque euro e ci mette un’ora.
K: Va bene, prendo il regionale, grazie. A che ora parte il treno?
M: Alle sette, tra venti minuti.
K: That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
What time is it? A question which seems so simple to answer in your native language can cause a few problems in a new language! But not to worry, with a bit of practice, you’ll pick it up easily. Find out how to tell the time in Italian, in episode 31 of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Che ore sono? = What time is it?
Hours
Sono le otto = it’s eight o’clock (literally: they are the eight)
Sono le nove = it’s nine o’clock (literally: they are the nine)
Sono le dieci = it’s ten o’clock (literally: they are the ten)
Minutes past
Sono le otto e dieci = it’s ten past eight (literally: they are the eight and ten)
Sono le otto e venti = it’s twenty past eight (literally: they are the eight and twenty)
Sono le otto e venticinque = it’s twenty past eight (literally: they are the eight and twenty-five)
Sono le otto e un quarto = it’s quarter past eight/eight fifteen
Sono le otto e mezza = it’s half past eight/eight thirty
Minutes to
Sono le nove meno dieci = it’s ten to nine (literally: they are the nine minus ten)
Sono le nove meno venti = it’s twenty to nine (literally: they are the nine minus twenty)
Sono le nove meno un quarto = it’s quarter to nine
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to tell the time in Italian
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: What time is it? A question which seems so simple to answer in your native language can cause a few problems in a new language! But not to worry, with a bit of practice, you’ll pick it up no problem. Find out how to tell the time in Italian, in episode 31 of 5 minute Italian.
Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian. Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
M: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: And this week, you’ll learn how to tell the time in Italian. You’ll need to have a good grasp of Italian numbers 1 – 60, so if you need to review those you can go back and listen to episodes 14 and 15. But if you’re feeling confident about numbers, let’s get straight to it.
M: To ask the time, we say: che ore sono?.
K: Che means “what”, ore means “hours” and sono means they are. So to ask “what time is it” Italians literally say “what hours are they”.
M: Che ore sono.
K: Let’s imagine it’s 8 o’clock. How do you say that in Italian?
M: Sono le otto.
K: Sono le otto. And how do you say it’s 9 o’clock?
M: Sono le nove.
K: How do you say “it’s 10 o’clock”?
M: Sono le dieci.
K: So to say the hour, we say sono le plus the number. Let’s break this down. We know that sono means “they are”. And we know that dieci means 10. But what about the le in the middle?
M: Le is the word for “the” when we have words in the feminine plural form.
K: For example, to say “the woman” we say la donna, but to say “the women” we say LE donne. But why do we use this to talk about time?
M: Because in Italian, the word ora, which means “hour” is feminine. When we talk about hours, for example, 8, 9, or 10 o’clock, we have several hours, so Italian uses the plural form le. So we say sono LE otto, sono LE nove etc.
K: Literally, “they are the eight” or “they are the nine”. But what about one o’clock? That’s only one hour, so it should be singular right?
M: Right, so when it’s one o’clock, Italians say: è l’una.
K: È l’una literally means “it is the one”. We know that “è” means “it is”. “La una” means the one, but “la” shortens to “l” before a vowel, so we get “l’una”.
M: È l’una
K: And don’t forget you can see these written down in the show notes. Now, what about minutes? How do you say “it’s ten past 8”?
M: Sono le otto e dieci
K: Literally, “they are eight and ten”. So to say “minutes past” in Italian, as in “ten past”, you just add the word e, which means “and” + the number of minutes. So how would you say “it’s twenty past eight”?
M: Sono le otto e venti.
K: And twenty-five past eight?
M: Sono le otto e venticinque.
K: Now the Italian system is quite similar to the British English system, in that they use the word “quarter” to talk about 15 minutes past the hour, and half to talk about thirty minutes past the hour. So if un quarto is “a quarter” in Italian, how would you say “it’s quarter past eight”? In Italian, you’d literally say: “they are the eight and a quarter”
M: Sono le otto e un quarto
K: To say 30 minutes past or half past, Italians say e mezza which literally means “and half”. So how would you say “it’s half past 8?”. Literally, they are the 8 and half.
M: Sono le otto e mezza
K: What about minutes to? How would you say “it’s ten to nine?”
M: Sono le nove meno dieci.
K: Meno means “minus”, so Italians literally say: “they are the nine minus ten”. So to say “minutes to” you give the hour first, + the word meno + the number of minutes to the hour. How would you say “it’s twenty to 9”
M: Sono le nove meno venti.
K: And how would you say eight forty-five, or as we Brits say “quarter to nine”? Can you guess? In Italian, they literally say “They are the nine minus a quarter”.
M: Sono le nove meno un quarto
K: Great so now you’ve picked up the basics, let’s do a quick quiz. How would you say “it’s ten past 6?” literally “they are the 6 and 10”
M: Sono le sei e dieci
K: And how would you say “it’s quarter past five”
M: Sono le cinque e un quarto.
K: And how would you say “it’s half past four”? Literally, “they are the four and half”
M: Sono le quattro e mezza
K: What about “it’s twenty to three” Literally, “they are the three minus twenty”
M: Sono le tre meno venti
K: And “it’s quarter to seven?”
M: Sono le sette meno un quarto.
K: That’s it for today, thank you for joining us. If your head is spinning a little don’t worry, it’s completely normal when it comes to things like telling the time. The key is to practice little and often. Throughout your day, look at the clock and ask yourself che ore sono? what time is it? And practice saying it in Italian. Little by little it will come naturally.
K: That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
If you’re travelling around Italy, you’ll probably need to buy train and bus tickets, whether it’s to get from the airport to your accommodation, go around the town, or head off and explore the surrounding areas. Find out how in episode 30 of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
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Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Scusi = excuse me (formal, with people you don’t know)
Si può = is it possible (literally: can one?)
Si può comprare un biglietto = is it possible to buy a ticket? (literally: can one buy a ticket?)
Per = for
Il tram = the tram
Qui = here
Allora = so/in that case
Prendo = I’ll have (literally: I take)
Un biglietto giornaliero = a day travel pass
Mi dispiace = sorry
Bisogna = it’s necessary
Andare = go
A = to
La stazione = the station
A + la = alla (to the)
Alla stazione = to the station
Di = of
La = the
Di + la = della (of the)
La stazione della metro = the metro station (literally = the station of the metro)
Aeroporto di Londra = London Airport
Biglietti = tickets (change o to i for the plural).
Allora, prendo quattro biglietti singoli = In that case, I’ll have 4 single tickets
Sono sei euro = that’s 6 euros (literally: they are 6 euros)
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to buy train and bus tickets in Italian
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Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: If you come to Italy on holiday, you’ll probably need to buy travel tickets, whether it’s to get from the airport to your accommodation, go around the town, or head off and explore the surrounding areas. Find out how in episode 30 of 5 minute Italian.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian. Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
Matteo: And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: And this week, you’ll learn how to buy travel tickets for buses and trams. Listen to the conversation:
K: Scusi, si può comprare un biglietto per il tram qui?
M: Si
K: Allora, prendo un biglietto giornaliero.
M: Mi dispiace, per il giornaliero bisogna andare alla stazione della metro.
K: Allora, prendo quattro biglietti singoli.
M: Sono 6 euro.
K: So I’m in Milan, and I’m trying to buy a ticket for the tram. I start with the question:
M: Scusi, si può comprare un biglietto per il tram qui?
K: Literally: “Excuse me, can one buy a ticket for the tram here?” The literal translation sounds quite funny, because we rarely use “one” in this way unless you’re doing an impression of the queen, but in Italian, it’s used all the time.
M: And it’s useful because you can use it to talk about people in general, rather than specifying “me” or “you”.
K: Italians often use si può, “can one” in questions when we’d say something like “is it possible?” Si può comprare un biglietto per il tram qui? “Is it possible to buy a ticket for the tram here?
M: Comprare means “buy”, un biglietto means “a ticket”,
K: Biglietto can be tricky to pronounce because there’s the “gli” sound, which we don’t have in English. For tips on how to make it, check out episode 5: How to pronounce “gli” in Italian.
M: Next, you heard per, which means “for”, followed by il tram, which of course means “the tram”.
K: Finally you heard qui which means “here”.
M: Si può comprare un biglietto per il tram qui?
K: In Italy, you can’t normally buy tickets on the bus or tram.
M: You have to buy them from the tabaccaio
K: Which means “newsagents”.
M: You can also buy tickets from the edicola.
K: Which means newsstand. You can buy them from newsstands and ticket machines in the tube or subway station too, as metro tickets are normally valid for buses and trams as well.
This system can be a bit annoying, especially on Sundays when most of the “tabaccaio(s)” and “edicola(s)” are closed. The best way is to stock up on a few tickets at the same time.
Then, Matteo said si, so we know that in this tabaccaio, they sell biglietti. Next, you heard:
M: Allora, prendo un biglietto giornaliero.
K: Allora, means “so”, or “in that case”. Prendo, which literally means “I take” but we know Italians use it to order things, a bit like saying “I’ll have”. Then you heard: un biglietto giornaliero. The word giornaliero means daily, so un biglietto giornaliero is like a 24-hour travel pass.
M: Allora, prendo un biglietto giornaliero.
K: In Milan, un giornaliero costs 4.50 and you can use it on all the metros, trams and buses.
M: Which is good value. Especially compared to London!
K: Then you heard:
M: Mi dispiace, per il giornaliero, bisogna andare alla stazione della metro.
K: Which means sorry, for the day travel pass, you have to go to the metro station.
M: Mi dispiace means “sorry”. Per il giornaliero, for the day pass. Then bisogna, means “it’s necessary”.
K: Andare alla stazione means “go to the station”, della metro means of the metro. Metro, of course, means tube or subway. So he says: “sorry, but for the day pass, you have to go to the metro station”.
M: Mi dispiace, per il giornaliero, bisogna andare alla stazione della metro.
Here we’ve got more examples of how those little words like a and la join together. A means “to” and la means “the”, for feminine nouns like stazione. A and la combine and we get alla, spelt A, double L, A. You can look in the show notes to see this written down.
We see this again with, della metro, which means “of the metro”. Di means of, and la means the, but they combine together to give us della, spelt D, E, DOUBLE L, A.
In Italian, you often express concepts backwards, so instead of saying metro station, you say “the station of the metro”. La stazione della metro.
M: Instead of saying “London Airport” you say: Aeroporto di Londra.
K: Next, you heard:
M: Allora, prendo 4 biglietti singoli.
K: Allora, which we know means “so” or “in that case”. Prendo, which we know means “I’ll have”, (literally I take) then quattro biglietti singoli which I’m sure you can guess means “four normal tickets”. Here, biglietti finishes with an “i” because it’s plural. Italians often put describing words like giornaliero and singlo at the end of the sentence. Next, you heard:
M: Sono 6 euro slow
K: Which literally means “they are 6 euros”. And here’s another example of how Italians use sono (literally “they are”, to give a price). Let’s listen to the conversation again.
K: Scusi, si può comprare un biglietto per il tram qui?
M: Si
K: Allora, prendo un biglietto giornaliero.
M: Mi dispiace, per il giornaliero bisogna andare alla stazione della metro.
K: Allora, prendo quattro biglietti singoli.
M: Sono 6 euro.
K: That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
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