Recently Matteo’s sister, la sorella di Matteo has just moved to Milan, and is living with us while she finds a flat.
Like most brothers and sisters, they have a love – hate relationship!
Find out more, and learn how to use the word “le” which means “to her” or “for her” in episode 58 of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials including word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
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Today’s Italian words
Che cosa fai quando finisci il latte di soia di tua sorella? = What do you do when you finish your sister’s soy milk?
Che cosa = what
Fai = you do
Quando = when
Finisci = you finish
Il latte = the milk
Di soia = of soia
Di tua sorella = of your sister?
Le compro un’altra bottiglia = I buy another bottle for her.
Le = for her
Compro = I buy
Un’altra = another
Bottiglia = bottle
Quando lascia le cose in giro? = When she leaves things hanging around?Quando = when
Lascia = she leaves
Le cose = the things
In giro = around
Le dico di mettere in ordine! = I tell her to tidy up!
Le = to her
Dico = I say
di = to (literally of)
Mettere = put
In = in
Ordine = order
Le dico = I tell her/say to her
Gli dico = I tell him/say to him
Quando è raffreddata? = when she has a cold?
Le faccio un tè con miele = I make a tea with honey for her.
Le = for her
Faccio = I make
Un tè = a tea
Con miele = with honey.
Le do il mio passaporto = I give you my passport (formal)
Le do = I give her OR I give you (formal)
Le offro un caffè = I offer you a coffee (formal)
Le offro = I offer her OR I offer you (formal)
More examples with “le”
| Verb | Example |
| Dire
To say | Che cosa le dico?
What shall I say to her? (Literally: What to her I say?) |
| Dare
To give | Le ho dato il mio numero
I gave her my number (Literally: To her, I gave my number) |
| Offrire
To offer | Le offro una beer
I offer her a beer (Literally: To her, I offer a beer) |
| Parlare
To talk | Le parlo tutti i giorni
I talk to her every day (Literally: To her, I speak every the days) |
| Portare
To bring/take | Le porto un caffè
I bring/take her a coffee (Literally: To her, I take a coffee) |
| Fare
To make/do | Le faccio un caffè
I make her a coffee (Literally: for her, I make a coffee) |
| Scrivere
To write | Le scrivo una lettera
I write a letter to her (Literally: to her, I write a letter) |
| Prestare
To lend | Le presto un libro
I lend her a book (Literally: to her, I lend a book) |
Take the Quiz!
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Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to use “le” in Italian (to her, for her)
Italian flashcards
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Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian. I’m Katie.
M: And I’m Matteo.
K: In today’s episode, we’ll be learning how to use the word “le” which means “to her” or “for her”.
M: Ascoltiamo la conversazione (let’s listen to the conversation).
K: Matteo, che cosa fai quando finisci il latte di soia di tua sorella?
M: Le compro un’altra bottiglia.
K: Quando lascia le cose in giro?
M: Le dico di mettere in ordine!
K: Quando è raffreddata?
M: Le faccio un tè con miele.
I asked Matteo:
M: Che cosa fai quando finisci il latte di soia di tua sorella?
K: What do you do when you finish your sister’s soy milk? Word for word:
M:
Che cosa = what
Fai = you do
Quando = when
Finisci = you finish
Il latte = the milk
Di soia = of soia
Di tua sorella = of your sister?
K: Here’s a good example of how in Italian, we often use “of” (di) to talk about the quality of something “what kind of milk?” “di soia” (of soia). We also use it for possession. So who’s milk? Di tua sorella (of your sister). This isn’t the focus of today’s lesson so we won’t go into details here, but it’s good to notice when you hear it. So we had the question:
M: Che cosa fai quando finisci il latte di soia di tua sorella?
K: And Matteo replied:
M: Le compro un’altra bottiglia
K: I buy another bottle for her.
M:
Le = for her
Compro = I buy
Un’altra = another
Bottiglia = bottle
K: Here’s our first example of “le” which means “to her” or “for her”. And Italians say it backwards, so they say “for her, I buy”
M: Le compro.
K: Next, I asked Matteo:
M: Quando lascia le cose in giro?
K: When she leaves things hanging around?
M:
Quando = when
Lascia = she leaves
Le cose = the things
In giro = around
K: Here we meet a very common Italian phrase “in giro”. It’s quite difficult to translate in English, but it means something similar to “out and about”. If you call your friend and you ask what they’re doing, they could say “sono in giro” (I’m out and about). Maybe they’re doing errands or just hanging around and it doesn’t make sense to give a specific location (or maybe they’re being mysterious!). You can also use it to talk about things that are left hanging around (not tidied away). So what does Matteo do, quando sua sorella lascia le cose in giro?
M: Le dico di mettere in ordine!
K: I tell her to tidy up!
M:
Le = to her
Dico = I say
Di = to
Mettere = put
In = in
Ordine = order
K: So in Italian, tidy up is “mettere in ordine”, literally “put in order”. And we’ve got another example of “Le”. “Le dico”, literally: “to her, I say”. In Italian, the word “dire” means both “say” and “tell”. If we want to say “say to her” or “tell her” we say:
M: Le dico.
K: And the same for “to him” which we learnt last lesson, which is “gli”. So say to him or tell him is:
M: Gli dico.
K: Finally, I asked Matteo:
M: Quando è raffreddata?
K: When she has a cold? In Italian, we use “to be” (è) in this expression. È raffreddata. It’s a bit like saying “to be colded”. And Matteo replied
M: Le faccio un tè con miele.
K: I make a tea with honey for her.
M:
Le = for her
Faccio = I make
Un tè = a tea
Con miele = with honey.
K: So that was our last example of “le”, “le faccio” (for her, I make). Let’s listen to the conversation again.
K: Matteo, che cosa fai quando finisci il latte di soia di tua sorella?
M: Le compro un’altra bottiglia.
K: Quando lascia le cose in giro?
M: Le dico di mettere in ordine!
K: Quando è raffreddata?
M: Le faccio un tè con miele.
K: Before we go, I’d like to give you a little bonus word. In Italian, the formal “you” is exactly the same as the “she/her form”. If you need to say “to you” or “for you” in a formal situation, you can use what you learnt today. Imagine you’re in a hotel reception. If “I give” is “do” and “my passport” is “il mio passaporto”, how would you say: “I give you my passport”
M: Le do il mio passaporto.
K: I offer is “offro”. So how would you say, I offer you a coffee, if you’re speaking to someone you don’t know very well?
M: Le offro un caffè.
K: And this is the same for both males and females in the formal you. “Le do” (I give you formal), Le offro etc.
So if you’d like to get bonus materials for today’s episode, including a table with more example sentences, remember to go to joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll down to episode 58.
We’ll see you next time, as we say in Italian:
M: Alla prossima!
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