Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love

Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can youtalk about Italian movies? Or any movie, using Italian terms? Do you know the correct phrases to use to talk about love and relationships in Italian?

Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult than it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on!

This series will focus on the situations that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on the type of sentence structure and vocabulary we all need to remember to be more fluent when we speak Italian!

To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, we must know how to use essential grammar, such as how to use the words “che”and “qualche,” how to make phrases to describe beginnings and endings, how to form Italian directand indirect object pronouns,and how to make command phrases.

If you need to refresh your memory about how to say, “I love you” in Italian, please visit the third blog post in this series, Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love

In the “Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a common topic of conversation. Then, we will review the Italian grammar that is necessary to talk about the particular topic in detail. And finally, the same material will be presented in Italian and English, with blanks for the reader to fill in with descriptions from his or her own life or to practice verb conjugation! Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!

Enjoy the fourth topic in this series, “Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

This material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com . Special thanks to Italian language instructor Simona Giuggioli.

Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love

In the dialogue to follow, we listen in on a telephone call between two good Italian friends who are sharing thoughts about a famous Italian movie. The movie is about a love story that takes place during World War II. Common idiomatic expressions used when talking with a friend, vocabulary related to the movies, and phrases about love have been underlined.

Listening to foreign films is a wonderful way to learn another language. The movie described contains short sentences spoken in clear Italian and is a good place to start to build a vocabulary about relationships and love. Spoiler alert: The only real violence is at the very end of the movie, although the movie title is Violent Summer .

Una sera, il telefono di Maria ha squillato. Era Francesca, la migliore amica di Maria.
One evening, Maria’s telephone rang. It was Francesca, Maria’s best friend.

“Maria! Sono io! Come stai? Puoi parlare per un attimo ?”
“Maria! It’s me! How are you? Can you talk for a bit ?”

“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?”
“But of course, Maria. What happened?”

“Niente. Voglio solamente fare due chiacchere .”
“Nothing. I just want us to chat for a bit .”

“ Dimmi .”
“ Tell me !”

“Stasera ho visto un bel film che si chiama, Estate Violenta di Valerio Zurlini.”
“Tonight I saw a wonderful movie called Violent Summer , by Valerio Zurlini.”

“Mamma mia! Che titolo terribile! Ma, dove l’hai visto? Non ho mai sentito parlare di questo film .”
“Wow! What a terrible name (title) . But where did you see it? I’ve never heard about this film .”

“A casa mia. Ho comprato il DVD su Amazon. È un film del 1959 , con Eleonora Rossi Drago e Jean-Louis Trintignant, due stelle del cinema europeo .”
“At my house. I bought the DVD on Amazon. It is a movie from 1959 , with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Jean-Louis Trintignant, two stars of European movies .”

“Non mi dire! E di cosa parla questo film ?”
“You don’t say! And what is this film about ?”

E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto:
And this is what Frances said:

“È un film molto importante nella storia del cinema italiano perché è ambientato alla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
“It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinema because it takes place at the end of the Second World War.

È un film molto lirico e appasisonato, perché è una storia d’amore .
It is a very lyrical and passionate film, because it is a love story .

La storia dei due personaggi principali è cominciata quando i due amanti si sono incontrati sulla spiaggia a Rimini.
The story of the two main characters started when the two lovers met each other for the first time on the beach at Rimini.

La donna, che si chiamava Roberta, aveva i capelli biondi e una bellezza naturale, anche senza trucco. Lei aveva quasi trent’anni.
The woman, called Roberta, had blond hair and a natural beauty, even without makeup. She was about thirty years old.

Suo marito, che era un capitano nell’esercito italiano, era appena morto. Roberta aveva una figlia di tre anni e viveva con la madre a Rimini, per scappare dalla guerra a Bologna.
Her husband, who was a captain in the Italian army, had just died. She had a three-year-old daughter and lived with her mother at Rimini, in order to escape from the war in Bologna.

Roberta ha incontrato un ragazzo che si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia.
Roberta met a boy who was called Carl and who was much younger than her, during an air raid on the beach.

Il momento in cui Carlo ha visto Roberta, gli è piaciuta subito . Dopo il primo incontro sulla spiaggia, lui ha perso la testa per lei.
When Carl first saw Roberta, he liked her right away . After their first meeting on the beach, he lost his head over her (English = fell head over heels for her/fell madly in love with her).

Cosi, Carlo ha incominciato a fare la corte a Roberta.
So, Carl started to court Roberta. (English = Carl tried to get Roberta to be his girlfriend.)

Dopo un po’, i due hanno cominciato a uscire insieme . Si sono visti ogni giorno. A Roberta piaceva molto il suo rapporto con Carlo. Lo amava .
After a while, the two of them started to go out together . They saw each other every day. And Roberta really liked her relationship with Carl. She loved him .

Ma alla madre di Roberta non piaceva il comportamento di Roberta , perché era insieme a un ragazzo molto più giovane di lei. Sua madre esigeva che Roberta smettesse di frequentare Carlo.
But Roberta’s mother did not like Roberta’s behavior , because she was with a boy much younger than her. Her mother demanded that Roberta stop seeing Carl.

Roberta non ascoltava la madre. Si era resa conto che solamente Carlo era l’uomo per lei.
Roberta didn’t listen to her mother. She realized that Carl was the man for her.

A un certo punto , gli amanti hanno provato a scappare a Bologna in treno.
At a certain point , the lovers tried to escape to Bologna on the train.

Ma è successa una cosa brutta che io non ti dirò perché spero che tu guaderai questo film .”
But something bad happened that I will not tell you because I hope that you will watch this film .”

“ Dai , dimmi!”
“ Come on , tell me!”

“Sfortunamente la loro storia si è chiusa in malo modo. Invece, speravo che la loro storia fosse terminata bene. Non ne voglio parlare .”
“Unfortunately, their romance ended in a bad way. I wish that their story had ended in a good way instead. I don’t want to talk about it .”

“Capisco. La fine della storia fra Roberta e Carlo era molto triste. Non mi piace quando la fine di un film è cosi.”
“I understand. The end of the relationship between Roberta and Carlo was very sad. I don’t like when a film ends like this.”

“Ma gli attori hanno ricitato le loro parte molto bene in questo film. Se vuoi, ti lo do e puoi vedere per te stessa.”
“But the actors played their parts very well in this film. If you want, I will give it to you, and you can see for yourself.”

“Grazie. Dammelo! Mi è piaciuto l’ultimo DVD che mi hai dato il mese scorso. Parliamone dopo!”
“Thank you. Give it to me! I really enjoyed the last DVD that you gave me last month. We’ll talk about it later!”

“Si certamente vale la pena guardare questo fillm ! Ed anche per capire l’Italia durante il dopoguerra.”
“Yes, it is certainly worth it to see (watch) this movie ! And to understand Italy during the aftermath of the war.”

“Ci parliamo dopo e tu dimmi che ne pensi !”
“We’ll talk to each other later, and you tell me what you think (about it) !”

Speak Italian: Grammar You Will Need to Know About Italian Movies and Love…

Commands That Use “Fare”

We will now revisit the verb fare, which often comes up when someone needs to/must do something or requests that someone else do something. To ask for a favor politely, you could use the (by now, well-known) verb puòwith fareto make the phrase, “Mi può farmi un favore?”for “Could you do me a favor?” More often, the same request is made between two people who know each other well using the familiar command form of this phrase: “Fammi un favore!”for “Do me a favor! Piacerealso works interchangeably with favorein this expression, as in, “ Fammi un piacere!”

Notice that, when attaching a direct object to the familiar command verb fa, the first letter of the direct object is doubled. This holds true for mi, ti, lo, la, ci, and vi. Below are some commonly used expressions that combine the command form of farewith direct object pronouns.

Fammi un favore!	Do me a favor!
Fammi un piacere!	Do me a favor!
Fatti vedere!	Come and see me! (lit. Make yourself seen!)
Fatti sentire!	Call me! (lit. Make yourself heard!)
Fallo!	Do it!

Fammican also be used in an idiomatic way, with the meaning, “let me,”when followed by an infinitive verb, such as “Fammi vedere”for “Let me see”or “Fammi chiamare”for “Let me call.”

Fammi vedere…	Let me see…
Fammi chiamare…	Let me call…

Two additional important familiar commands with direct objects that we have encountered in Chapter 8 are given here again:

Dimmi!	Tell me!
Dammi!	Give me!

How to Say “Myself, Himself, Herself”

To emphasize that one has done something for “himself,” we can use the following phrases in Italian listed below. Stesso(a)is the singular form for “self,” and stesso(i) is the plural form. The usual rules for Italian masculine (o,i)and feminine (a,e)endings apply. Remember that the “i”ending applies to a group of all males and to both males and females.

me stesso(a)	myself
te stesso(a)	yourself
se stesso(a)	himself/herself

noi stessi(e)	ourselves
voi stessi(e)	yourselves
loro stessi(e)	themselves

How to Talk About Beginnings and
What Comes Before

When the reference is about something that has happened “in the beginning,” we can use one of the following three phrases. These phrases can be placed at the beginning or the end of the sentence.

all’inizio	at the beginning
al principio	at the beginning

All’inizio del film, Roberta e Carlo si sono incontrati.
Roberta e Carlo si sono incontrati al inizio del film.
Roberta and Carlo meet each other at the beginning of the film.

When the reference to “beginning” is about the beginning of a career, the following phrase is appropriate:

l’esordio

the beginning

L’esorido della mia carriera era molto difficile.
The beginning of my career was very difficult.

The word primomeans first and is one of the ordinal numbers (the ordinal numbers are first, second, third…). Remember that the endings of the ordinal numbers will change in Italian to reflect the gender and number of the noun modified. So when talking about the first of several things , we can use primoand change the ending to match the noun it follows, as below:

il primo	first
(la prima, i primi, le prime)	first

il primo piano	the first floor (one up from the ground floor in an Italian building)
il primo tempo il secondo tempo	the first part/the second part (phrases used in early Italian movie theaters when a movie would be shown with an intermission)
la prima volta	the first time (general phrase to refer to the time something happened)
la prima classe	the first class
la prima cosa	the first thing
Per prima cosa…	(For) the first thing… (use perto show intent)

La prima cosa è molto importante.
The first thing is very important.

Per prima cosa di mattino, mi preparo un buon caffè..
First thing in the morning, I will make myself a good (cup of) coffee.

Here are some additional important expressions that use primato denote important “firsts”:

a prima vista	at first sight/at a glance
a tutta prima	at first sight/on first impression

prima visione	first run of a movie or show (premiere)
prima puntata	first episode (TV series) (premiere)
prima serata	first night of a performance (show) (premiere)
prima squadra	first team (sports)
prima base	first base
prima pagina	first page/front page (newspaper, magazine)
opera prima	first work/debut of a novel or film

in prima battuta	as a first step
in prima istanza	in the first place, as a start
in prima persona	in first person (grammar)/personally

The feminine word primais also often used in phrases to denote the following ideas: earlier/early, previously, once, at one time. With regard to time, primameans before; with regard to space, prima means in front ofand before (something). In these cases, primais part of an expression, and its feminine “a”ending may or may not agree with the noun in the phrase.

prima luce del giorno	daybreak/the first light of day
prima mattina	early morning/early in the morning
prima maniera	early style (reference to art)

prima o poi	sooner or later
ancora prima	even earlier/even before
della prima ora	from the very beginning/immediately
amici come prima	friends again (like before)

ancora prima	even before
il giorno prima	the day before, the previous day
mai visto prima	never seen before
non prima di	not before
prima d’ora	before now, beforehand

prima linea	front line (of battle)

How to Talk About Endings and
What Comes Next, After, and Last

The word prossimo(a,i,e)means nextand is often used to refer to time. Prossimofollows the usual rules for adjectives and changes depending on the noun modified.

il giorno prossimo	the next day
la settimana prossima	the next week
l’anno prossimo	the next year

Dopomeans after. Dopoalways ends in the masculine “o”—its ending will not change, no matter what noun it modifies.

domani	tomorrow
dopodomani	the day after tomorrow
la settimana dopo	the week after
l’anno dopo	the year after

Italians often refer to the years after World War II with the phrases below. In this case, there is no need to mention the exact name of the war (Seconda Guerra Mondiale), which most Italians still remember took place from 1939 to 1945.

dopo la guerra	after the war
il dopoguerra	the aftermath of the war

Scorso(a,i,e)means last. The ending of the adjective scorsowill change to match the noun it is modifying in the sentence.

ieri	yesterday
l’altro ieri	the day before yesterday
la settimana scorsa	last week
l’anno scorso	last year

Use recentementeand più recentementeto mean recentlyand most recently.

recentemente	recently
più recentemente	most recently

L’ultimomeans the last (one)or final (one), and per ultimois the adverb that means lastlyor finally. Finalmentealso means finally.

Perhaps the most famous Italian phrase to use this word is “L’Ultima Cena,”or “The Last Supper,”from the Christian religion.

l’ultimo	the last
per ultimo	lastly, finally
per l’ultima volta	for the last time
non più da…	not since… (a long time has passed since…)

Liu è l’ultimo uomo che io sposerei.
He is the last man that I would marry.

Lui è arrivato per ultimo./Finalmente, lui è arrivato!
He arrived finally./Finally, he has arrived!

Ho visto Michele ieri per l’ultima volta.
I saw Michael for the last time yesterday.

Non ho più visto Michele da molto tempo.
I haven’t seen Michael since yesterday.

So, finally, finalmente, how do we say, “the end”in Italian? We use the word fine, but depending on the situation, we must modify finewith a masculine or a feminine definite article— ilor la. Here is how it works:

il fine

the end – when the reference is to purpose

Il fine giustifica i mezzi.(Famous quote from Macchiavelli in his book The Prince )
The end justifies the means.

Important exception to this rule:
il fine settimana = the end of the week

la fine

the end – when the reference is to time of a relationship, movie, or book

Non è la fine del mondo.
It is not the end of the world.

È un film molto importante nella storia del cinema italiano perché è ambientato alla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinema because it takes place at the end of the Second World War.

Che Means “That” and “What”
How to Use “Che” with Exclamations

The Italian word “che”has many, many uses as a conjunction to link one phrase to another in Italian and can never be omitted!

One of the most important meanings for cheis “that.”Remember how important the word cheis when we are using the subjunctive to refer to what someone else wants/likes/thinks? See our previous blog posts about the subjunctive for more information on this use of che.

Cheis also commonly used as an interrogative expression meaning “What?” “Che?” “Che cosa?”and “Cosa?”all mean “What?”in Italian and are used interchangeably.

Here are two examples from our dialogues:

“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?”
“But of course, Maria. What happened?”

E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto:
And this is what (that) Frances said:

By now, you have no doubt heard the exclamation “Che bello!”or “How beautiful!”from anyone who has seen the rolling hills of the Italian countryside or a famous work of Italian art or architecture. “Che brutto!”and “ Che fortuna!”are also popular Italian exclamations. In short, che, when used in an exclamation of this type, takes on the meaning of how. Of course, “Com’è bello?”means “How beautiful is it?” because the word comeis the most often used to mean how.

When to Use “Che and “Chi” for “Who” and “Whom”

If we want to ask who has done something at the beginning of the sentence, we usually use the word “chi,”meaning “who.”Remember our common telephone greeting from our last blog post:

Pronto. Chi è? Chi parla?

Hello? Who is it? (telephone greeting uses essere)

But even more often, Italians use che to mean “who”or “ whom.”If we want to refer to someone who has done something after an introductory phrase in a sentence, we must use che! In this case, our multitasking word chemeans “who”or “whom.”

Now let’s look at the many times cheis used with the meaning of whoor whomin the dialogues from this blog post. Don’t forget this very important use for the simple word che. And remember that although the chemay be omitted in English, it is always needed to link phrases in Italian!

La donna, che si chiamava Roberta, aveva i capelli biondi e una bellezza naturale, anche senza trucco.
The woman, called Roberta, had blond hair and a natural beauty, even without makeup.

Suo marito, che era un capitano nell’esercito italiano, era appena morto.
Her husband, who was a captain in the Italian army, had just died.

Roberta ha incontrato un ragazzo che si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia.
Roberta met a boy (who was) called Carl who was much younger that her, during an air raid on the beach.

Carlo è un ragazzo che Roberta ha visto prima alla spiaggia.
Carl is a boy whom Roberta first saw on the beach.

The Partitive: Some, Any, a Few
Qualche and Alcune/Alcuni

When speaking of a part of a whole, or an undetermined number of things, in English, the idea is rendered with the words someor any, as in “some of the”or “any of the.” In English, the translation with the partitive is always in the plural, which makes sense if you think of the partitive as the plural of the indefinite article a (un, uno, una, or un’).

Things are a little bit different in Italian, however, with two important Italian words that are often used to express the meaning of some, anyor a few, a certain amount: qualcheand alcuni/alcune.

Below are the rules of use for these two partitives, which are actually quite simple.

The word qualche, which is invariable, is always followed by a singular noun.
The words alcuneor alcuniare always followed by a plural noun.

Qualcheand alcuni/alcuneare frequently used in everyday conversation to talk about a broad spectrum of situations and things. Time, for instance. Or groups of people. Qualcheand alcuni/alcuneare often used to start a sentence, but of course are also used in dependent phrases.

For qualche:Just put qualchein front of the Italian singular noun for the segment of time or the people you are referring to. Never mind that in English, we would use the plural (and that this is the correct translation).

For alcuni/alcune:Just put alcunior alcunein front of the Italian plural noun for the segment of time or the people you are referring to, matching alcuniwith the male gender noun and alcunewith the female gender noun, of course.

Notice that in every situation below, the English translation will be the same, and always in the plural, no matter which partitive is chosen!

Qualche volta…	Sometimes…	Alcune volte…
Qualche giorno…	Some days…	Alcuni giorni…

qualche ora	some hours	alcune ore
qualche minuto	some minutes	alcuni minuti

qualche persona	some people	alcune persone
qualche amico	some friends (male or male/female group)	alcuni amici
qualche amica	some friends (female)	alcune amiche

Qualcheis used in some very common expressions where alcuni/alcuneare not used. These expressions make general statements about things or places. Use the table below to see how these expressions work.

An exception to the rules we’ve mentioned occurs with the first expression, where the meaning is in the singular in Italian and the translation is singular in English. So by definition, the plural words alcuni/alcunecannot be used!

qualche cosa	something
qualche cosa	some things	alcune cose
qual cos’altro	something else
qualsiasi cosa	anything	*
da qualche parte	somewhere

******************************

When it comes to use of qualcheand alcuni/alcune, it should be noted that…

Neither qualchenor alcune/alcunican be used in every situation. Qualcheand alcune/alcunican be used to talk about portions of food or other things.

But if the noun being modified is made up of a quantity that is not easily divisible, such as a liquid like milk, water, or soup, or an indivisible mass, like a loaf of bread or a cake, qualcheand alcune/alcunicannot be used. Instead, the idea of “some” is rendered by “ di + definite article” or “ un po’ di.”

Italian Pronouns
Reflexive, Direct, Indirect, and Disjunctive Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

myself

to me

yourself (fam.)

you (fam.)

to you (fam.)

yourself (pol.)

La (L’)

you (pol.)

to you (pol.)

herself

la (l’)

her, it (fem.)

to her

himself

l o (l’)

him, it (masc.)

gli

to him

ourselves

to us

yourselves

you all

to you all

themselves

them (fem.)

gli

to them (fem.)

themselves

them (masc.)

gli

to them (masc.)

The reflexive, direct, and indirect object pronouns come before the verb or are attached to the end of an infinitive verb after dropping the final infinitive – e.

Disjunctive Pronouns

with prepositions

a/con/per me

to/with/for me

you (fam.)

a/con/per te

to/with/for you (fam.)

Lei

you (pol.)

a/con/per Lei

to/with/for you (pol.)

lei

her

a/con/per lei

to/with/for her

lui

him

a/con/per lui

to/with/for him

sè

itself, herself, himself

yourself

a/con/per sè

to/with/for itself, herself, himself

to/with/for yourself

noi

a/con/per noi

to/with/for us

voi

you all (fam.)

a/con/per voi

to/with/for you all

loro

them

a/con/per loro

to/with/for them

sè

themselves

a/con/per sè

to/with/for themselves

Double Object Pronouns

The verb dare (to give)is commonly used in conversation while dining and asking for food and other items to be passed around the table. In this situation, it also becomes necessary to say not only what item we are giving away, but to whom we are giving the item. In effect, we are combining direct and indirect object pronouns in the same sentence!

The use of double object pronouns comes up frequently in many, many other situations as well.

When both object pronouns refer to the same verb, the word order in Italian and rules are as follows in the table below:

Double Object Pronouns indirect object pronoun – direct object pronoun – verb
(1) The indirect object pronouns mi, ti, ci, and viwill change their –i to an –e when placed before the direct object pronouns lo, la, li, le, and ne, to become me, te, ce, and ve(see Chapters 17 and 18 of Conversational Italian for Travelers for how to use ne).

(2) Gliwill add an eand become glie when placed before the direct objects lo, la, li, le, and ne. The direct object will then be added directly to glie to make glielo, gliela, glieli, and gliele. Use gliefor men and women (to replace lefor women, as well as glifor men).

(3) When using a helping verb + infinitive verb combination, simply drop the –efrom the end of the infinitive verb, combine the objects in the usual order, and attach the combined objects to the end of the infinitive verb .

Let’s give this a try by changing some example sentences without pronouns into sentences with pronouns. We will list the English first, then the Italian, one step at a time, so that by the last example, both sentences will contain double object pronouns. Watch the placement of the pronouns, which stay after the verb in English, but take a position before the verb in Italian. To help you follow this process, the verbs will be in green , the direct object pronouns will be in brown , and the indirect object pronouns will be in red .

Kathy gives the butter to me .		Caterina da il burro a me .
Kathy gives me the butter.		Caterina mi da il burro .
Kathy gives it to me .	Rule (1)	Caterina me lo da.

The waiter gives the menu to Peter .		Il cameriere da il menù a Pietro .
The waiter gives him the menu .		Il cameriere gli da il menù .
The waiter gives it to him .	Rule (2)	Il cameriere glie lo da.
The waiter gives the menu to Kathy .		Il cameriere da il menù a Caterina .
The waiter gives her the menu .		Il cameriere le da il menù.
The waiter gives it to her .	Rule (2)	Il cameriere glie lo da.

(I) want to give my bread to you .		Voglio dare il mio pane a te .
(I) want to give it to you .	Rule (3)	Voglio da r te lo .

Direct Object Pronouns and the Passato Prossimo

Several rules must be followed when using the Italian direct object pronouns with the passato prossimoform of the Italian past tense.

(1) The direct object pronoun is placed before the passato prossimocompound verb.

(2) The third person singular direct object pronouns (lo, la, and La)usually drop their vowel before the letter h, especially in conversation.

(3) The last vowel of the past participle must agree in gender and number with the object that it refers to when using the third person singular and plural.

Let’s see how this works if we want to shorten the answer to a commonly asked question: “Hai visto Pietro?” (“Have you seen Peter?”) We could answer, “L’ho visto,”for “I saw him,”following rules (1) and (2).

Hai visto Pietr o ?		Have (you) seen Peter ?
Lo ho vist o.	Rule (1)	I saw him .
L ’ ho vist o.	Rule (2)	I saw him .

So far, so good. The words “L’ho”flow easily together and are spoken as one word, short and sweet. However, if we were looking for Caterina, we would need to also change the ending of the past participle of the verb to agree with the feminine direct object pronoun ending, which we have just dropped! So our phrase would instead be “L’ho vist a,”for “I saw her.” We have to follow rules (1), (2), and (3) to make one short sentence!

Hai visto Caterin a ?		Have (you) seen Kathy ?
La ho vist a.	Rules (1) (3)	I saw her .
L ’ ho vist a.	Rule (2)	I saw her .

And, finally, for the plural forms, when referring to two males or a male and a female, we need to use the direct object liand the letter ifor the past participle. If we should see two women, we would use the direct object leand the letter efor the past participle. These examples below follow Rules (1) and (3).

Hai visto Pietro e Michele ?		Have (you) seen Peter and Michael ?
Li ho vist i.	Rules (1) (3)	I saw them .

Hai visto Caterina e Francesca ?		Have you seen Kathy and Frances ?
Le ho vist e.	Rules (1) (3)	I saw them .

Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love

How well do you remember phrases to use when chatting with a friend or talking about the movies or love? Fill in the blanks for the phrases in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, then check your work with the dialogue in the first section. If you like, write about an Italian love story of your own!

Una sera, il telefono di Maria ha squillato. Era Francesca, la migliore amica di Maria.
One evening, Maria’s telephone rang. It was Francesca, Maria’s best friend.

“Maria! Sono io! Come stai? ?”
“Maria! It’s me! How are you? Can you talk for a bit ?”

“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?”
“But of course, Maria. What happened?”

“Niente. Voglio solamente .”
“Nothing. I just want us to chat for a bit .”

“ !”
“ Tell me !”

“Stasera ho visto che si chiama, Estate Violenta di Valerio Zurlini.”
“Tonight I saw a wonderful movie called Violent Summer by Valerio Zurlini.”

“Mamma mia! Che terribile! Ma, dove l’hai visto? questo .”
“Wow! What a terrible name (title) . But where did you see it? I’ve never heard about this film .”

“A casa mia. Ho comprato il DVD su Amazon. È ________________________________ 1959 , con Eleonora Rossi Drago e Jean-Louis Trintignant, due stelle .”
“At my house. I bought the DVD on Amazon. It is a movie from 1959 , with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Jean-Louis Trintignant, two stars of European movies .”

“Non mi dire! E ?”
“You don’t say! And what is this film about ?”

E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto:
And this is what Frances said:

“È un film molto importante perché alla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
“It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinema because it takes place at the end of the Second World War.

È un film molto lirico e appasisonato, perché è .
It is a very lyrical and passionate film, because it is a love story .

La storia è cominciata quando _______________________________ per la prima volta sulla spiaggia a Rimini.
The story of the two main characters started when the two lovers met each other for the first time on the beach at Rimini.

Roberta che si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia.
Roberta met a boy called Carl who was much younger than her, during an air raid on the beach.

Il momento in cui Carlo ha visto Roberta, . Dopo sulla spiaggia, lui per lei.
When Carl first saw Roberta, he liked her right away . After their first meeting on the beach, he lost his head over her (English = fell head over heels for her).

Cosi, Carlo ha incominciato Roberta.
So, Carl started to court Roberta. (English = Carl tried to get Roberta to be his girlfriend.)

Dopo un po’, i due hanno cominciato a uscire insieme . Si sono visti ogni giorno. A Roberta piaceva molto con Carlo. .
After a while, the two of them started to go out together . They saw each other every day. And Roberta really liked her relationship with Carl. She loved him .

Ma alla madre di Roberta non piaceva , perché un ragazzo molto più giovane di lei. Sua madre esigeva che Roberta Carlo.
But Roberta’s mother did not like Roberta’s behavior , because she was with a boy much younger than her. Her mother demanded that Roberta stop seeing Carl.

Roberta non ascoltava la madre. Si era resa conto che solamente Carlo era l’uomo per lei.
Roberta didn’t listen to her mother. She realized that Carl was the man for her.

A un certo punto, hanno provato a scappare a Bologna in treno.
At a certain point, the lovers tried to escape to Bologna on the train.

Ma è successa una cosa brutta che io non ti dirò perché spero che tu guaderai questo film.”
But something bad happened that I will not tell you because I hope that you will watch this film.”

“ , dimmi!”
“ Come on , tell me!”
“Sfortunamente in malo modo. Invece, speravo che fosse bene.

.”
“Unfortunately, their romance ended in a bad way. I wish that their story had ended in a good way instead. I don’t want to talk about it .”

“Capisco. fra Roberta e Carlo era molto triste. Non mi piace quando la fine di un film è cosi.”
“I understand. The end of the relationship between Roberta and Carlo was very sad. I don’t like when a film ends like this.”

“Ma gli attori molto bene in questo film. Se vuoi, ti lo do e puoi vedere per te stessa.”
“But the actors played their parts very well in this film. If you want, I will give it to you and you can see for yourself.”

“Grazie. Dammelo! l’ultimo DVD che mi hai dato il mese scorso. Parliamone dopo!”
“Thank you. Give it to me! I really enjoyed the last DVD that you gave me last month. We’ll talk about it later!”
“Si certamente è ! Ed anche per capire l’Italia durante il dopoguerra.”
“Yes, it is certainly worth it to see (watch) this movie ! And to understand Italy during the aftermath of the war.”

“Ci parliamo dopo e !”
“We’ll talk to each other later and you tell me what you think (about it) !”

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers series of books, is a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

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Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love