3
- Start practicing on a first conversation in Italian.
- Learn some frequent phrases and notice the differences based on formality.
- Improve your pronunciation.
Here are some phrases we use when meeting someone for the first time. Please, notice the differences between familiar and formal language.
| Inglese | Familiare | Formale |
| What’s your name? | Come ti chiami? | Come si chiama? |
| My name is | Mi chiamo | Mi chiamo |
| Nice to meet you | Piacere | Piacere |
| The pleasure is mine | Piacere mio | Piacere mio |
| How are you? | Come stai? | Come sta? |
| Fine, thank you | Bene, grazie | Bene, grazie |
| Where are you from? | Di dove sei? | Di dov’è? |
| I am from Detroit | Sono di Detroit | Sono di Detroit |
The reason for these differences is the use of two subject pronouns, tu and lei:
Tu is the familiar version of you
Lei is the formal version of you
The literal meaning of lei is “she”. When we address someone formally we are literally calling them “she” instead of “you” even if they are male.
For example, the literal translation of Come si chiama? is “What is her name?”, but when we use this question in a formal exchange, we will know from the context that what we actually mean is “What is your name?”.
Esercizio 5
Complete the following familiar dialogue.
Marco: Ciao! Mi chiamo Marco. Come ti chiami?
Francesca: _____________________ Francesca. Piacere!
M.: __________________________!
F.: _____________ stai?
M.: Bene, grazie, e tu?
F.: ______________________________________.
M.: Di dove sei?
F.: _________________________________, e tu?
M.: _____________________________________.
F.: Bene! A presto!
M.: _____________________________________!
Task
Make a video of a brief conversation between you and your classmates:
- greetings
- introductions
- how are you
- city of origin
Esercizio 6
Rewrite the same dialogue in its formal version on a separate paper, and turn it in by next class.
Esercizio 7
Study and practice Italian introductions on Quizlet. Complete at least 3 different activities of your choice. Don’t forget to log in!
Ora rilassati e ascolta una canzone dell’estate 2019
