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ITALIAN

UNIT 1: Greetings

Dante Alighieri

1265 - 1321

Dante was an Italian poet and moral philosopher best known for the epic poem The Divine Comedy, which comprises sections representing the three tiers of the Christian afterlife: purgatory, heaven, and hell.

The Comedy, as he titled it, doesn’t have one single joke. It’s a comedy in the sense that Dante, the main character, journeys upward from Hell, through Purgatory, to Heaven, and not the other way around. So it has a happy ending and is not a tragedy. But the most famous Canto of it, the Inferno, is 34 books of the most awe-inspiringly elaborate, horrifying tortures anyone has devised in fiction. The modern Christian conception of a lake of fire is nowhere to be found. Instead, much more interesting are the punishments Dante devises for the various sinners in response to their particular sins.

Hell is in 9 circles, and Dante constructs it as an amalgam of the Ancient Greek and Roman Hells, combined with Christian ideas. Various popes and cardinals are down there, along with all who died before Jesus’s death removed sin from mortal man. The Harrowing of Hell is mentioned near the beginning, after which the Old Testament heroes, such as Noah, Abraham, Moses and King David, are rescued up to Heaven.

 

See more facts here

English            

Italian:

Transcription:

 

Dialogue 1

Please meet Dante Alighieri, 

a major Italian poet of the late Middle Ages

who gave to the world the Divine Comedy

which is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.

 

I think he's trying to say something to you. 

Let's see how you can greet him back.

Here are some examples:

Hi

Salve

[ˈsal.veː] 

Good afternoon

Buon pomeriggio

[ˈbwɔː.n po.meˈrid.dʒo]

Good evening

Buona sera

[ˈbwɔː.na ˈseː.ra]

Now, you are ready

to greet him back.

I bet you have already guessed what

                              "come si chiama" means.

                              [ˈkome si kjama]

That's right, it means "what's your name".

 

How is it going? 

Come va?

[ˈkome va]

English            

Italian:

Transcription:

 

Now you know what to answer.

Let's continue.

 

Good night

Buona notte

[ˈbwɔː.na ˈnɔtte]

Dialogue 3

Hi

Ciao 

[ˈtʃao] 

English            

Italian:

Transcription:

 

Good morning/day

Buongiorno

[ˈbwɔː.n ˈdʒorno]

How are you? (informal) 

Come stai? 

[ˈkome stai]

Italian:    - Buongiorno!  Mi chiamo Dante Alighieri.

             [ˈbwɔː.n ˈdʒorno] [mi 'kja.mo]

English:   - Good day!  My name is Dante Alighieri.

                

 

Dante:    - Buongiorno!

You:        - ................./e.g. Hi/. 

                  (Hmm.. that was too familiar, but it's Ok)

Dante:    - Come si chiama?

You:        - Pardon?

Ok, that was rude. 

Not you. Your reaction was totally appropriate.

He said "I am bored"

"Sonno annoiato"

 [jæj 'çeːdə mæi]

and then he said "goodbye"

                              "Arrivederci"

                            [ar.ri.veˈder.tʃi]

 

Let's learn other ways to say goodbye:

English            

Italian:

Transcription:

 

Goodbye to you

Arrivederla

[ar.ri.veˈder.la]

See you soon

A presto

[a ˈpre.sto] 

See you soon

A dopo

[a ˈdo.po] 

Now, let's continue.

Dialogue 2

Dante:          - Come si chiama?

You:              - ........./My name is... e.g. George Cloony/.

Dante:          - Piacere (delighted).

                       Come sta?

G. Cloonye:  - Eh?

Ah, right. You don't know this expression yet.

"Come sta?" means "how are you"

['Kome sta]

 

Here are some other ways to ask a person how s/he is:

 

Now, let's see how you can answer to this question.

Here are some examples:

English            

Italian:

Transcription:

 

I'm well, thank you

Sto bene, grazie? 

[sto ˈbɛː.ne ˈɡrattsje]

Very well. thank you

Molto bene, grazie?

[ˈmol.to ˈbɛː.ne ˈɡrattsje]

Dante:                  - Come sta?

George Clooney:  - ............../e.g. I'm well, thank you/. 

Dante:                  - Sono annoiato. Arrivederci.

George Clooney:  - What the---?

(big fat empty space)

Now, let's continue

and put this creepy

conversation to an end. 

 

Congugation of the verb

to be (present) = stare [ˈstaː.re]

 

I  am  =  io sto [stɔ]

you are  =  tu stai [stai]

s/he/you(polite) is  =  lui/lei/Lei sta 

[lui/lej/lej sta]

 

we are  =  noi stiamo [noi stjamo]

you  are  =  voi state [voi state]

they are  =  loro stanno [ˈloro stanno]

Before continuing, 

let's look at the conjugation forms

of the verb "stare" (to be).

Try to learn as much as you can.

You'll need that in future.

 

Dialogue 4

Dante:                  - Sono annoiato. Arrivederci.

George Clooney:  - ........../e.g. Goodbye to you/.

© 2015 created by Anastasia Gubanova 

 

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