Easy Learning Italian Conversation

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

Contents

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 soon

Italian 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)