Easy Learning Italian Conversation
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Published by Collins
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Westerhill Road
Bishopbriggs
Glasgow G64 2QT
Second Edition 2015
© HarperCollins Publishers 2006, 2015
eBook Edition © May 2015 ISBN 978-0-00-811880-8
Version: 2015-04-07
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.
MANAGING EDITOR
Janice McNeillie
CONTRIBUTOR
Mirella Alessio
FOR THE PUBLISHER
Gerry Breslin
Hannah Dove
Cover
Title page
Copyright
Introduction
What is it?
Why do you need it?
How is it structured?
How does it work?
Why choose Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation?
The Collins Easy Learning range
Italian pronunciation
Italian vowels
Italian consonants
Which syllable to emphasize
Units
Small talk
Come va? – How are things?
Greetings
Introducing people
Talking about yourself
Asking for information
Saying what you want to do
Making suggestions
Expressing opinions
Talking about your plans
Making arrangements
Saying what you have to do
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Getting there
Buon viaggio! – Have a good trip!
Talking about your plans
Saying what you have to do
Saying what you want to do
Making suggestions
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Home from home
Buonanotte! – Sleep well!
Asking for things
Talking about yourself
Asking for information
Asking for permission
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Expressing opinions
Making suggestions
Asking for suggestions
Saying what you have to do
Talking about your plans
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Wining and dining
Buon appetito! – Enjoy your meal!
Making arrangements
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you want to do
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Asking for suggestions
Making suggestions
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Hitting the town
Buon divertimento! – Have a good time!
Making suggestions
Talking about your plans
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Expressing opinions
Asking for permission
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Museums, monuments and much more
Buona giornata! – Have a nice day!
Saying what you want to do
Talking about your plans
Making suggestions
Asking for information
Asking for things
Asking for permission
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Expressing opinions
Complaining
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Retail therapy
Prego, desidera? – Can I help you?
Asking for things
Saying what you have to do
Talking about your plans
Expressing opinions
Asking for information
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Making suggestions
Asking for permission
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Service with a smile
Un servizio impeccabile! – Excellent service!
Greetings
Talking about yourself
Saying what you have to do
Saying what you want to do
Asking for information
Asking for things
Asking for suggestions
Making suggestions
Making arrangements
Talking about your plans
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Ouch!
Tanti auguri di pronta guarigione! – Get well soon!
Describing the problem
Saying what happened
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you want to do
Making suggestions
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Help!
Niente paura! – Don’t worry!
Describing the problem
Saying what happened
Describing people and things
Asking for information
Asking for things
Saying what you want to do
Saying what you have to do
Making suggestions
Talking about your plans
Listen out for
Lifestyle Tips
Getting in touch
Pronto, chi parla? – Who’s calling please?
Making a telephone call
When the number you’re calling answers
Starting a conversation
Saying why you’re calling
Giving information
Answering the telephone
Ending a telephone call
Listen out for
Writing emails and letters
Texting
Social media
Lifestyle Tips
Time, numbers, date
Tre, due, uno… via! – One, two, three… Go!
I numeri – Numbers
L’ora – The time
Listen out for
Durata – Saying how long
Le stagioni – The seasons
I mesi dell’anno – The months of the year
Le date – Dates
I giorni della settimana – The days of the week
L’alfabeto – The alphabet
Listen out for
Interesting days and dates
In summary…
Allora, recapitolando… – So, to sum up…
Apologizing
Asking for and giving explanations
Asking for information
Asking for permission
Asking for things
Complaining
Describing people and things
Explaining a problem
Expressing opinions
Making suggestions
Saying what’s happened
Saying what you have to do
Saying what you like, dislike, prefer
Saying what you want to do
Talking about your plans
One-stop phrase shop
Chiedo scusa? – I beg your pardon?
Hellos and goodbyes
Please and thank you
Attracting someone’s attention
Making sure you’ve understood
Checking facts
Wishing someone something
Apologizing
Reassuring someone
Opinions
Agreeing, disagreeing and declining
Congratulating someone
Reacting to good and bad news
Exclamations
Surprise
Encouraging someone
Handing someone something
Dangers and emergencies
Speaking your mind
Conversational words
Grammar
Nouns
Articles
Pronouns
Adjectives
Questions
Negatives
Some common translation difficulties
Verbs
Verb tenses
Verb tables
Parlare: to speak
Credere: to believe
Dormire: to sleep
Andare: to go
Avere: to have
Dare: to give
Dovere: to have to
Essere: to be
Fare: to do, to make
Potere: to be able
Volere: to want
Vocabulary builder
About the publisher
Introduction
What is it?
Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation is a book for learners of Italian of all ages. It will increase your confidence in holding a conversation in Italian, whether you are just starting to learn Italian, studying at school or at an evening class, or brushing up your language skills. You may be going on holiday or planning to go travelling in Italy, go there on business, or live there. Whatever your situation, you’ll want to be able to communicate effectively and naturally in Italian.
Why do you need it?
Becoming proficient in a foreign language means being able to use and understand a number of different aspects – vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and so on. However, it takes a while to be able to put all these elements together and be sure that what you are saying sounds like natural Italian. The Easy Learning Italian Conversation has been carefully designed to bring these aspects together and give you language structures which you can use in conversation with confidence, knowing that you will be speaking Italian as spoken by Italian speakers.
How is it structured?
Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation is made up of 12 units, each illustrating the language used in a particular situation, followed by a summary which brings together the key language covered throughout the units. You’ll also find the One-stop phrase shop – a unit which contains all the important expressions and turns of phrase that help you to sound more natural in Italian. A short grammar and verbs supplement gives you additional language support, ensuring that you have everything at your fingertips. Finally, the English-Italian glossary covers the most important vocabulary you may need to personalize your conversation.
How does it work?
Language allows us to express ourselves and interact with others. In any given situation, we perform different language tasks, such as asking for information, agreeing and disagreeing, complaining, making suggestions and so forth. To do this, we use linguistic structures (How…?, When…?, Could I…?, I’d like… and so on) which can be used in a variety of contexts. Each unit in Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation gives you all the phrases you might need in a given situation, grouped by structure. English headings help you navigate through the structures to enable you to find what you want quickly and easily. Throughout the units, there are also tips headed Buono a sapersi! which highlight important differences in the way English and Italian work.
To help you with the different forms of the word ‘you’ in Italian, English translations are given as You = polite form, you = informal form, you = plural form. Italic letters in Italian words show where stress does not follow the usual rules.
A conversation, by definition, is a two-way process. It is as important to understand what is being said to you as it is to be able to respond. At the end of each unit, there is a section headed Listen out for. Each of these sections gives you a variety of the most typical phrases which you might hear in a given situation. Becoming familiar with these will allow you to have a successful conversation with a Italian speaker. For further help with pronunciation, a free download with all the important structures recorded is available on www.collins.co.uk/easylearningresources.
Communicating effectively in Italian isn’t just about linguistic competence – it’s also about cultural knowledge. For you to feel confident in Italy, it is also useful to know more about Italian culture and lifestyle. At the end of each unit, the Lifestyle Tips will give you the information you need to gain a deeper insight into the language, the country and its people.
Why choose Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation?
• easy to use all the key language structures you need to give you the confidence to hold a conversation in natural Italian
• easy to read a clear, modern layout which allows you to find what you need quickly and easily
• easy to understand the language you may hear from Italian speakers in a given situation
• easy to speak free audio download available on www.collins.co.uk/easylearningresources
The Collins Easy Learning range
The Collins Easy Learning Italian Conversation is part of the best-selling Collins Easy Learning range, which includes the highly acclaimed Collins Easy Learning Italian Dictionary. Collins Easy Learning Italian Grammar and Collins Easy Learning Italian Verbs support you with all your grammatical needs. The Collins Easy Learning series is the ideal language reference range to help you learn Italian.
Italian pronunciation
Italian pronunciation is not very difficult. Words are written pretty much as they sound, so when you see a word written down you can generally pronounce it with no problem, and when you hear a new word you know immediately how to spell it. There are no sounds in Italian that are very different from English. Below we give some tips to help you speak natural-sounding Italian.
Italian vowels
In English, vowels we don’t emphasize often sound like “uh”, so the e in mother and the a in central sound just the same. Sometimes vowels don’t get pronounced at all, as is the case with the first e in interesting. In Italian this never happens. Italian vowels are always clearly pronounced.
Italian vowels are generally pronounced as follows:
a– like the a in applee– like the e in seti– like the ee in sheepo– like the o in orangeu– like the oo in soonItalian consonants
Most Italian consonants are pronounced the same as English ones, except that double consonants are two distinct sounds, so that the tt in tutto is pronounced as in hat trick and not as in fitted.
The following are Italian consonants that differ from English:
c– before e and i is pronounced tch (cento, cinema, cioccolato)ch– is pronounced like k in kettle (chiesa, chilometro)g– before e and i is pronounced like j in jet (gelato, gennaio, giorno, giacca)gh– is pronounced like g in get (ghiaccio, laghi)gl– before i is normally pronounced like ll in million (meglio, migliaio)gn– is pronounced like the ny in canyon (gnocchi, cognome)sc– before e and i is pronounced sh (scena, scendere, lasciare,scienza)z– is pronounced ds or ts (zucchini, zucchero, mezzo, zia)