I Piccoli Italiani 

(E Pee-COHL-lee ee-tah-lee-AH-nee, The Little Italians)

The club is open to anyone who would like to begin to learn the basics of 
the Italian language.  These lessons will be very simple, hence the name "I 
Piccoli Italiani" (The Little Italians).  We will pick up the basics, as we 
would have as a if we were babies in the family.  The disadvantage is that
we really have no "master" or parents to listen to imitate, nor do we have 
them to make corrections.  The goal would be to become familiar with some 
basic Italian words, phrases and expressions, that we could carry out some 
limited communication.  The secondary goal would be to give us enough 
background to allow us to tackle a real live Italian course some day. 

HAVE FUN!

I Piccoli Italiani                Lezione#10


Io parlo Italiano
(EE-oh PAHR-loh ee-tahl-YAH-noh, I speak Italian)

 

NOTATE: In this lesson we will look as some pronoun usage.


La frase italiana della settimana

Cari amici, come vanno le cose?

(CAH-ree ah-MEE-chee, COH-meh VAHN-noh leh COH-seh?,
Dear friends, how goes things/how are things?)

Bene e tu?

(BEH-neh eh too?, 
Fine and how are you?)

Che c'e' di nuovo?

(Keh cheh dee noo-OH-voh, 
What's new?)

Non molto!

(nohn MOHL-toh, not much!)

vocaboli nuovi

NOTATE: The usual order for conjugating verbs is singular first--io,
tu (familiar), lui(he)/lei(she)/Lei (you formal); then plural noi,
voi (you plural familiar or you in general); loro (they)/Loro (you
plural formal)

parlare (pahr-LAH-reh, to speak)
io parlo (EE-oh PAHR-loh, I speak)
tu parli (too PAHR-lee, you speak,-fam.)
voi parlate (voy pahr-LAH-teh, you speak-South or plural form)
Lei parla (LEH-ee  PAHR-lah you speak-form.)
lei parla (LEH-ee  PAHR-lah, 'it', 'he', or 'she' speaks)
lui parla (LOO-ee PAHR-lah, he speaks)
noi parliamo (NOH-ee pahr-lee-AH-moh, we speak)
loro parlano (LOH-roh PAHR-lah-noh, they speak Male or Female)
Loro parlano (LOH-roh PAHR-lah-noh, you speak-form)


NOTATE: These forms make up present tenses and literally mean I speak, 
I am speaking and I do speak.  PARLARE is an "ARE" verb (first conjugation) 
because its infinitive form "to speak" ends in "ARE".  Some other "ARE" 
conjugtions include:

cucinare (koo-chee-NAH-reh, to cook)
mangiare (mahn-JAH-reh, to eat)
studiare (stoo-dee-AH-reh, to study)

NOTATE: People who you call by first names because they are very familiar 
to you, cause you to use "tu" (singular) for the "you" or "voi" plural.  Use 
the formal terms with Italians whom you need to show the politeness to.

E' italiano (EH ee-tahl-YAH-noh, He is Italian)
E' italiana (EH ee-tahl-YAH-nah, She is Italian)
Sono italiani (SOH-noh ee-tahl-YAH-nee, They are Italian-masc)

NOTATE: the masculine plural is also used for mixed groups

Sono italiane (SOH-noh ee-tahl-YAH-neh, They are Italian-fem)
un caro amico (oon KAH-roh ah-MEE-coh, a dear friend-masc)
una cara amica (OO-nah KAH-rah ah-MEE-cah, a dear friend-fem)
dei cari amici (DEH-ee CAH-ree ah-MEE-chee, some dear friends-masc)
delle care amiche (DEHL-leh CAH-reh ah-MEE-cheh, some dear friends-fem)

NOTATE: The adjective must agree with the noun.  This is your clue to gender 
or singular/plural useage.


Conversazione semplice:

Parla italiano?  

(PAHR-lah ee-tahl-YAH-noh, Do you speak Italian?)

Si', un poco. 

(SEE, oon POH-koh, Yes, a little.)

Molto poco! 

(MOHL-toh POH-koh, Very little.)

Non molto bene. 

(Nohn MOHL-toh BEH-neh, Not very well.)

Io parlo italiano male 

(EE-oh PAHR-loh ee-tahl-YAH-noh MAH-leh, I speak Italian poorly.)

NOTATE: "io" means "I", but ecause you can tell the person of the verb by
its ending, you can leave out the personal pronouns.  The next response leaves 
off the "io" personal pronoun.

Non lo parlo molto bene 

(nohn loh PAHR-loh MOHL-toh BEH-neh, I don't speak it very well.)

STUDENTI: Practice this for a few days, with a partner if possible. Use words 
you know from this and other lessons to expand on these sample questions and 
answers for further practice.