More Italian

[telophase]

I didn't want to go through the book for class before class, so I went out this weekend and got the Barron's Italian now! book, which is a workbook with blanks to fill in and word searches and crossword puzzles because I'm (a) a kinesthetic learner and need to write something down or type it in to remember it and (b) twelve. Hence me throwing some vocab down here as well. :D



altro - other
americano/americana - American
anche - also, too
come - how (what)
di - of, from
e - and
io - I
italiano/italiana - Italian
Lei - you (polite) - capitalized
lieto/lieta - delighted
ma - but
molto - very
no - no
origine - origin
sì - yes
signore - Mr., sir
signorina - Ms., Miss, young lady
vero - true


anch'io - I too
d'origine - of origin, originally
no?/vero? - no?/right?/aren't you...?
un altro - other (masc)
un'altra - other (fem)


Come si chiama? - What is your name? (polite)
Il piacere è mio! - The pleasure's mine
Mi chiamo ... - My name is...
Molto lieto/lieta - (I am) Delighted (to meet you) (male/female)
Piacere! - The pleasure is mine!
Vi presento.../Le presento... - Let me introduce you to... (plural/polite, singular)


Verbs -

(io) sono - I am
(Lei) è - you are (polite)



Come si dice in italiano? - How do you say this in Italian?
si chiama - is called
lei - she
lui - he
lui/lei presenta - he/she introduces

La professoressa si chiama Maria Giusti. Dina Siracusa è americana, ma è d'origine italiana. Anche Paul è d'origine italiano, ma è americano. Giusti è italiana, e lei presenta Mark, un altro americano d'origine italiano.

(I have no idea if the above is completely correct [I'm thinking the è ought to be si] ] - this workbook wants you to summarize the riveting conversation presented in the beginning, which is an Italian class full of American students with ancestors in Italy, introducing themselves to each other. I smell a Pulitzer.)

Comments

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

i understood that sentence! score!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Is "si" or "è" the proper form for third-person present "is"? I've forgotten, and this chapter isn't giving me too many hints. I'd thought "è" at first, and then I noticed "si chiamo" which would indicate "si", but ... ARG HEAD HURTY

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

it's è, i believe si starts getting into direct objects and in direct objects, like, "lei si chaima"

BUT i think with chimare you use the direct object when refering to your name, like Si Chiama Peter, "he calls himeself peter" in the way you say "Ho Mi Chaimo Melissa" I call myself Melissa,

riight? something like that, i believe is correct. But è is the tradtional third person present for essere, (but is it the familiar? i am unsure if there is a unfamiar term for it, and which one it is)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

OK, thanks. I keep getting tripped up with the chiamo/chiama thing and suffering from gender confusion because I'm mentally translating "Mi chiamo Stephanie" as "My name is Stephanie" instead of "I am named Stephanie," which is a small but fundamental difference there. :D


OK - do you now if this is a typo or if italiano/a is taking its cue from a different word in the sentence?

"Vi presento Mark Cardelli, un altro americano d'origine italiana."

I'm guessing it's taking its gender cue from "origine" in this sentence, since Mark is definitely male (and wearing a snazzy argyle vest to boot in the accompanying illustration).*

Language neepery, whee! I probably need an icon for it, although I have no idea what it should be.


* Mark looks a wee bit uptight. Paul is much more laid-back, judging by his hair, and he's staring at la professoressa Giusti's boobs. There is an unnamed girl in back staring longingly at Dina, another participant in this fascinating conversation, and a guy behind her who is actually leaning to see around her and stare at Dina. Ah! There seems to be a girl suffering from unrequited love of Paul over on the far right - she certainly has a melancholy demeanor and turned full-figure towards him. Alas for her, Paul only has eyes for the teacher's boobs.

[tokyoghoststory.livejournal.com]

hrm, for italiana, possibly because italy is a feminine word? but then, usually...you would say italiano...for the language and males, and hrm...maybe mark is a tranny.

i would guess you're right with origine being the gender cue in that sentence, or it could possibly be one of those rules of thumb, "it just sounds better that way" darned if i don't hate rules like that or again, back to just because italiais feminime and italiana is standing in its place?

you would totally need an icon and it would have to be something like all the bad pictures they put in language books. i can imagine the scenario you're descibing, its almost as bad as those videos that sometimes come with the books, where roberto asks the consigere to wash his underpants for him...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Mark is definitely gay. No red-blooded heterosexual American male would wear that sweater-vest, even if he were metrosexual.

Now that I'm home, I looked 'origine' up in my new Italian dictionary, and one of the examples, sure enough, was 'd'origine italiana.' Huh.