ITAL 10-11 FINAL PROJECT
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Italy In figures
A descriptive and informative eight-part Italian course review
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES DILIMAN
JOHN CARLO C. OBOY BA COMMRES
ABOUT This magazine is in fulfillment of the final requirement in Italiano 10-11 TWHFU: Corso elementare I and II in the second semester of the academic year 2021-2022 in UP Diliman. This creative course review summarizes the eight topics discussed (see table of contents). Each topic will be thoroughly illustrated in specific sections of the magazine.
This final project is submitted to Asst. Prof. Naidyl Isis C. Bautista of the Department of European Languages, College of Arts and Letters, UP Diliman. And is submitted by John Carlo Oboy, who also self-written and edited the overall magazine. JC is A first-year standing BA Communication Research student from the College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman.
Preliminary Rules The Italian language pays significant attention to the register, verbs, persons, tenses, articles and gender. This section looks into the specific conventions that Italian language users must be familiar with when using Italian. We begin with understanding the Italian register. The choice of words must follow the context of the situation where that word or phrase applies. There are three registers: formal, informal, and in/formal. The first one is used in more proper instances like office meetings. The second one is used in more casual situations like meeting with friends or relatives. The last one applies to selected words and phrases used in both formal and informal contexts. For example, the word “YOU” is translated into “Tu” if used in an informal setup and translated into “Lei” if used in formal setups. Similarly, the Italian language pays close attention to verbs. We focus on the conjugation of verbs or the change that takes place to express tense, mood, person, articles and so on. Lets look at the verb “Essere” or “to be.” Person and quantity
Conjugated Essere
(oi) (tu) (lui/lei/Lei)
First person singular (i.e., I). Second person singular (i.e., you) Third person singular (i.e., he/she/You)
Sono Sei E’
(noi)
First person plural (i.e., we)
Siamo
(voi)
Second person plural (i.e., you guys)
Siete
(loro)
Third person plural (i.e., they)
Sono
It should be noted that the conjugations strictly follow the person and the quantity. However, those in parenthesis called articles are optional and can be omitted since the verb is already conjugated. For example, instead of saying io sono stanco (I am tired) we can say sono stanco (I am tired). Lets now look at the word “stanco” or tired. It can be written in two ways; stanco for masculine, and stanca for feminine, this is because the Italian language is a gendered language. The rules are straightforward as seen in the example, words that end in “o” are masculine, words that end in “a” are feminine. However, there are certain exceptions to these rules. Some nouns that end in “a” can be masculine, like: tema (theme) and clima (climate). On the other hand, there are also nouns that end in “o” that are feminine. Words like foto (photograph) and moto (motorbike) seem like they’re masculine at first glance, but they’re actually feminine because their long forms, fotografia and motocicletta, both end in “a.” Nouns that end in “e” can either be masculine or feminine; for example, colore (color). Other rules like what and when to use articles will be further discussed in the successive sections of this magazine.
In this section we discuss “Primi Contatti” which roughly translates to first contacts. We begin with understanding how we greet in Italian. Note that when we greet someone, it must follow the context of that situation (e.g., in a formal meeting or a casual meetup with friends). We greet using "Buongiorno" if the context is formal and "Ciao" if informal; both translate to a good day. If we wish to address people, we can use "Buongiorno a tutti," which means good day to all/everyone. If it's the evening, we can choose to say "Buonasera" or good evening. And we can use all of them to say goodbye the same way.
“Come ti chiami?” When we ask someone for their name, we say, “come ti chiami," which translates to "what is your name." Chiami comes from the verb chiamarsi, which means to call oneself. When conjugated, this verb can look like the following: (io) mi chiamo – my name is / (tu) ti chiami – your name is / (lui/lei/Lei) si chiama – their name is. Conversely, when we want to say “nice to meet you” we use the term piacere.
Lei è francese?
No, sono filippino, di Zamboanga. When we ask someone about their origin or nationality, we carefully consider the article, register, and gender. In the example above, it was formally asked if I was French, to which I answered no, I am a Filipino from Zamboanga. While the question is in the third person singular, since my answer referred to me, I used the first person singular article, sono. Moreover, since I am a man, the gender must be masculine – filippino not filippina.
Chiedere il numero di telefono e l’indirizzo e rispondere When we want to ask for someone’s number and/or address, as well as answer these questions; we can use the following phrases/terms: Qual e’ il suo indirizzo – what is your address? Qual e’ il suo numero – what is your number? Qual e/ il tuo numero di cellulare – what is your cellphone number? ll mio numero e’ – my number is il mio indirizzo è – my address is
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We usually ask our friends how they are or answer them when they ask us. We also often present and introduce them at events or gatherings; this is what this section focuses on.
In this section, we will discuss the following: (a) come va, (b) presentare, e (c) una mia amica. We begin with come va. This phrase translates to "how are you?" meaning we use it when we want to ask someone how they are or how they feel. Alternatively, we can also ask how someone is, by asking come sta (formal), or come stai (informal), depending on the general context that influences the register needed. Answering these questions is straightforward; if we respond based on how we are feeling, we can use the following: very good – benissimo / good – bene / not that bad - non c’’e male / bad - sto proprio male. In terms of presentare, which translates to present, we focus on how we should present someone towards a crowd or an individual. Looking back to the general rules on register and gender, we must follow these rules when we present someone. Specifically, if we present someone in a more formal context, we use a formal register. If we present a man, we use a masculine article and conjugate the verbs to be masculine. Like how we present someone, we also follow the abovementioned rules when introducing our friends. The general way of introducing a friend is by saying Un[a] mi[a] amic[a], which translates to a friend of mine. Note that the last letters in this three-word sentence change depending on the gender you are introducing. If we want to specify our friends and mention them, we can use the term Questa e’ [name], which translates to this is [name]." Note that Questa/o (female/male) also follows gender conventions.
In this section, we will talk about how we order food and beverage in a restaurant and a café. When we want to order food or drinks, we use the terms “prendere” or “to take,” “volere” or “I want,” and “preferire” or “I prefer.” It should be noted that the general conjugation rules still applies (see table attached).
oi tu leu/lei noi voi loro
Prendere
Volere
Preferire
prendo prendi prende prendiamo prendere prendono
voglio vuoi vuole vogliamo volete vogliono
preferisco preferisci preferisce preferiamo preferite preferiscono
Similarly, we also carefully consider the quantity of the food items we are ordering – this suggests that we must look at the singular/plural form of the item and their definite articles. The rules are as follows: For the definite articles: • Il – article for masculine nouns that start with a consonant and can end in an “o” or end in an “e” • Lo - is used for masculine singular nouns that start with a z, ps, pn, x, y, gn or an s plus consonant. • La - article for feminine nouns that start with a consonant that end in an “a” • L’ - is paired with nouns that start with a vowel, both masculine and feminine. These articles also have plural forms: Il is I in its plural form, La and L’ is Le, while Lo is Gli. Note that plural articles are contingent on plural nouns, this suggests that if we use plural articles we must also use plural nouns. Here’s how we change singular nouns (food and beverage) into plural ones. Depending on the amount of food you want to add, change the number indicated. For example, instead of saying una spremuta, start with due because you want two. As mentioned, when you change the article you also change the last letter for that noun (excluding exceptions). • • • •
If the noun ends in an “o” and “e” change it to “i” If the noun ends in with a stress “e’” it remains the same If the noun ends in a consonant, it remains. If the noun ends in an “a” change it to “e”
Translates to “Free Time” In this section, we will talk about our free time! We start by introducing the adverbs of time: sempre (always), spesso (often), qualche volta (sometimes), and non mai (never). These adverbs are essential when we answer questions that ask how often or less we perform a specific task in our free time.
Along these adverbs are verbs that are usually used when talking about our free time, referring to the activities we do in these times. Andare Giocare
To go To play (a sport, games)
Leggere Uscire
To read To go out
Dormire
To sleep
*Note that these verbs still follow the conjugation rules.
The list of the conjugated forms are seen below:
Io tu lui, lei, Lei noi voi loro
-are Giocare gioco giochi gioca giochiamo giocate giocano
-ere Leggere leggo leggi legge leggiamo leggete leggono
-ire Dormire dormo dormi dorme dormiamo dormite dormono
-irregolare Andare vado vai va andiamo andate vanno
Note that the first column is optional, we can completely omit them when using the verbs mentioned since they are already conjugated. For a complete and more comprehensive discussion, access the rules on how to conjugate these verbs here. • We conjugate verbs for io by changing the last three letters into “o” • We conjugate verbs for tu by changing the last three letters into “i”. We put “h” in (tu and noi) of giocare to maintain hard c sound. • We conjugate verbs for lui, lei, Lei by changing the last three letters into “a” for giocare and “e” for leggere and dormire. • We conjugate verbs for noi by changing the last three letters into “iamo” • We conjugate verbs for voi by changing the last three letters into -ate for giocare -ete for leggere -ite for dormire • We conjugate verbs for loro by changing the last three letters into “ano” for giocare and “ono” for leggere and dormire • Since andare is an irregular verb, it is best to refer to the table when conjugating.
Here’s a list of common activities perform in our free time! Italian phrase
English translation
ascoltare musica andare al cinema lavorare in giardino fare shopping fare una passeggiata giocare ai videogiochi guardare Netflix fare yoga
Listen to music Go to the cinema Work in the garden Shopping Take a walk Play video games Watch Netflix Do yoga
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I prefer to go out with friends. I usually make it a habit to go out every Friday and Saturday night and go to a bar or a club to drink and dance with my friends. But I always make sure I drink moderately!
Telling the time in Italian In Italian, military time is the default (formal register), which suggests that store, class and office hours are all in military time. So, instead of 1 its 13. In Italian, it should be written then as Sone le 13 and 1:15 PM is Sono le 13 e 15. Sample of asking and answering about the time (informal) • Oddio! Che ore sono - What time is it? • Le tre meno venti - (literal: three minus 20) Le tre - we are referring to the hour Meno 20 - minus 20 (meaning, 2:40 or twenty minutes to three) There are also singular and plural forms in asking what time it is. The former is Che ora e` and the latter Che ore sono. The plural form is usually the default but they are both correct and can be used in both formal and informal registers.
In giro per l’italia There are a lot of places to go to in Italy and a lot of cities to choose. With different tourist sites like museums, restaurants, churches, and landmarks, Italy is sure to be one fun adventure. However, when we ask and answer questions about the places we can go around Italy, they must also follow the general grammatical rules. In this module, we focus on the locative CI and partitive articles. Ci means “there,” and we refer to it as locative Ci when we replace it with a place we do not want to mention twice. For example, instead of saying Paris two times in a sentence, you can change Paris into Ci. Ci + e means there is, which can also refer to a place, not to mention their specific name twice or more. Ci always comes before the verb – example, Ci sono gatti a casa mia. Similarly, we must remember that participative articles indicate a part of a whole or an indefinite quantity. Italian is composed of the simple preposition di plus the definite article in Italian. For example: Masculine singular un museo famoso
Masculine plural dei musei famosi
un Albergo tranquillo
degli alberghi tranquilli
Feminine singular una chiesa famosa un’unversitá importante
Feminine plural delle chiese famose delle universitá importanti
Who doesn’t want to go to vacation? I sure do want to go to the beach and take cute photos of me in my underwear! In this section, we discuss going to vacation. The context for this module is past tense. Past tense in Italian is made up of two verbs, example – ho passato – from the word passare meaning to spend (time) or ho visitato – meaning visited. Note that for the past tense – we add “ho” or “sono” then past participle of the verb - Either avere or essere then past participle. Or simply Essere/Avere(Sono/ho) + Past Participle • Ho is avere • Sono is essere Past participles are formed from the infinitive of the main verb by dropping the are, –ere, or –ire and adding –ato, –uto, and –ito, respectively. Note that this only applies to all three regular verbs mentioned. When verbs are used in the passato prossimo, some go with essere and some with avere. The choice often appears more difficult than it really is. Keep the following points in mind when deciding between the two verbs: All transitive verbs (verbs that have direct objects, like mangiare – to eat, scrivere – to write, suonare – to play, chiamare – to call) go with avere. Direct objects in sentences designate the objects that receive the action of the verb. You can identify them by asking the question what? or whom?…. What did you eat? – a pizza… Whom did you see? – my best friend.. Many verbs that indicate movement (e.g. andare – to go, venire – to come, uscire – to go out, partire – to depart), go with essere. Many verbs that indicate stasis or immobility (e.g. stare – to stay, essere – to be, restare – to stay, rimanere – to remain), go with essere. Many verbs that indicate a change of state (e.g. cambiare – to change, diventare – to become, nascere – to be born, morire – to die, ingrandire – to get bigger) go with essere. All reflexive verbs (e.g., arrabbiarsi – to get angry, lavarsi – to wash oneself, chiamarsi – to be called) go with essere.
Sapori d'Italia
Flavors of Italy
In this section, we focus on the Italian kitchen. Specifically, we focus on Italian terms regarding kitchen procedures and food items or ingredients. It should be noted that we cannot identify all Italian named ingredients and so on; hence, this section will focus on naming a few of them.
Some of the ingredients in this section are as follows: Cipolla (garlic) / Pomodoro (tomato) / Sale (salt) / Pane (bread) / Formaggio (cheese) / Pepe nero (black pepper)
Vita quotidiana
DAILY LIFE In this section, we solely focus on talking about what we do on our daily lives. Regular activities and routines are usually what this module specifically tackles. Along with the preliminary rules on articles, gender, and conjugation – in this module, we also look at how we use adverbs when we talk about our daily life..
To understand, lets answer “Come passi di solito il sabato? “ or how do you usually spend your Saturdays? I spend mine by:
Prima mi sveglio tra le sei e le sette. Subito dopo faccio colazione e lavo i piatti. Verso le dieci mi faccio una doccia. Poi comincio a studiare. Di solito finisco verso le dodici per pranzo. Dopo torno a studiare fino alle due del pomeriggio. Di solito dopo aver studiato, dormo per un'ora. Quando mi sveglio prendo la mia cena e poi un'altra doccia. Quasi sempre guardo un film e parlo con i miei amici prima di tornare a dormire verso le undici.