Italian All-in-One For Dummies

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Italian All-in-One For Dummies
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Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

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Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942766

ISBN 978-1-118-51060-5 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-51057-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51062-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51053-7 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Italian All-in-One For Dummies
®

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Table of Contents

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Book I: Speaking Italian in Everyday Settings

Chapter 1: Exploring Pronunciations and Italian You May Already Know

You Already Know Some Italian!

Getting to the root of cognates

Picking up popular expressions

Mouthing Off: Basic Pronunciation

Starting with the alphabet

Vowels

Consonants

Stressing Syllables Properly

Chapter 2: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time

Counting from Zero to a Billion: Cardinal Numbers

Building numbers in Italian

Speaking numbers like a native

Making sense of addresses

Putting Things in Order: Ordinal Numbers

Looking at the Calendar: Days, Months, and Seasons

Days of the week

Months and seasons of the year

Specific dates

Telling Time

Familiarizing Yourself with the Metric System

Converting the temperature to/from Celsius

Measuring in metric units

Chapter 3: Buongiorno! Salutations!

Looking at Common Greetings and Goodbyes

Issuing a greeting

Deciding between formal and friendly

Replying to a greeting

Specifying your reunion

Making Introductions

Introducing yourself

Introducing other people

Talking about Language, Countries, and Nationalities

Finding out whether someone speaks Italian

Talking about where you come from

Extending and Responding to Invitations

Chapter 4: Making Small Talk

Discovering Interrogative Pronouns

Asking simple questions

Taking care of basic needs

Talking About Your Family

Discussing What You Do

Talking shop

Discussing your job

Chatting about the Weather

Chapter 5: Casa Dolce Casa: Home Sweet Home

Describing Where You Live

Stating your country and hometown

Noting the type of home you have

Taking a Tour of Your Home

Il soggiorno: The living room

La cucina: The kitchen

La sala da pranzo: The dining room

La camera da letto: The bedroom

Il bagno: The bathroom

Other areas around the house

Chapter 6: Using the Phone and Talking Business

Phoning Made Simple

Connecting via cellphones, texts, and video

Calling for business or pleasure

Making Arrangements over the Phone

Asking for People and Getting the Message

Discussing Your Job

Referring to coworkers

Interviewing

Covering compensation and breaks

Describing things around the office

Chapter 7: Food, Glorious Food, and Drink

Eating, Italian-Style

Having breakfast

Eating lunch

Enjoying dinner

Drinking, Italian-Style

Expressing your love for espresso

Beverages with even more of a kick

Dining Out, from Start to Finish

Making reservations

Paying for your meal

Shopping for Food

Dal macellaio (butcher shop)

Pesce (fish)

At the panetteria (bread shop)

Chapter 8: Shopping, Italian-Style

Checking Out Stores

Deciding between department stores and boutiques

Navigating the store

Admiring shop displays

Clothing Yourself

Checking out various items

Sizing up Italian sizes

Talking definitely and indefinitely

Coloring your words

Choosing the right fabric

Accessorizing

Narrowing Your Options

Comparing items, more or less

Considering price

Book II: Exploring and Wandering About

Chapter 1: Where Is the Colosseum? Asking Directions

Finding Your Way: Asking for Specific Places

Mapping the quarters and following directions

Expressing verbs on the move

Exploring Italian Cities and Towns

La piazza: The heart of the Italian city

Viewing famous sites and architectural styles

Finding the places you're looking for

Chapter 2: Having Fun Out on the Town

Experiencing Italian Culture

Taking in a movie

Going to the theater

Exploring a museum

Experiencing a local festival

Taking in the Italian Music Scene

Catching a concert

Exploring the world of Italian opera

Popular Italian music

Inviting Fun

Chapter 3: Exploring the Outdoors, Sports, and Hobbies

Getting Close to Nature

Playing and Watching Sports

Using the right names and verbs for sports talk

Watching sports

Talking about Hobbies and Interests

Speaking Reflexively

Chapter 4: Planning a Trip

Deciding When and Where to Go

Going to agriturismo

Going to the beach and spa

Visiting castles, palaces, and estates

Taking a Tour

Booking a Trip outside of Italy

Arriving and Leaving with Arrivare and Partire

Using the Simple Future Tense

Chapter 5: Money, Money, Money

Going to the Bank

Changing Money

Using Credit Cards

Looking at Various Currencies

Chapter 6: Getting Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and Buses

Getting through the Airport

Checking in

Dealing with excess baggage

Waiting to board the plane

Coping after landing

Dealing with lost luggage

Going through Customs

Renting a Car

Navigating Public Transportation

Calling a taxitaxi

Moving by train

Going by bus or tram

Reading maps and schedules

Being Early or Late

Chapter 7: Finding a Place to Stay

Choosing a Place to Stay

Reserving a Room

Checking In

Chapter 8: Handling Emergencies

Getting Help Fast

Receiving Medical Attention

Describing what ails you

Understanding professional medical vocabulary

Getting what you need at the pharmacy

Braving the dentist

Handling Legal Matters

Reporting an accident

Reporting a robbery

Reporting a lost or stolen passport

Getting legal help

Dealing with Car Trouble

Book III: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials for Communication

Chapter 1: What Do You Know? Parts of Speech

Recognizing the Parts of Speech

Nouns

Pronouns

Articles

Verbs

Adjectives

Adverbs

Prepositions

Conjunctions

Interjections

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense

Identifying infinitives

Establishing subject-verb agreement

Moving on to Other Verb Tenses

Composing a Simple Sentence

Chapter 2: Noun and Article Basics: Gender and Number

A Primer on Articles

Definite articles: Dealing with “the”

Indefinite articles: Saying “a” or “an”

Distinguishing between Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Recognizing common noun endings

Sorting nouns into classes

Moving from Singular to Plural: Basic Rules

Making Exceptions to the Basic Rules on Number

Changing more than just the ending

Changing only the article

Using nouns only in the singular or the plural

Deciding When to Include an Article

When (and when not) to use a definite article

When (and when not) to use an indefinite article

Chapter 3: All about Pronouns

Meeting the Subject Pronouns

Knowing when to use subject pronouns

Adapting subject pronouns for informal and formal usage

Emphasizing Stressed Pronouns

Digging into Direct Object Pronouns

What direct object pronouns are and what they do

Where to place direct object pronouns

Investigating Indirect Object Pronouns

Forming Double Pronouns

Figuring out how to replace direct and indirect object pronouns

Checking out common double pronouns

But Wait, There's More! Special Italian Pronouns

The adverbial pronoun ci

The pronoun ne

When the Subject Is Also the Object: Reflexive Pronouns

Chapter 4: Adjectives, Adverbs, and Comparisons

Matching Adjectives to Nouns in Gender and Number

Regular adjectives

Irregular adjectives

Invariable adjectives

Associating One Adjective with More Than One Noun

Putting Adjectives in Their Place

Recognizing the adjectives that come before nouns

Using placement to change an adjective's meaning

Forming Adverbs the Italian Way

Original adverbs

Derived adverbs

Finding a Place for Adverbs

Making Comparisons

Comparisons of equality

Comparisons of inequality

The best and the worst: Superlatives

Special comparatives and superlatives

Chapter 5: Meeting the Challenge of Prepositions

Combining Basic Prepositions with Articles

Forming Complements (Preposition + Noun, Name, or Pronoun)

Possession and specification

Qualities and functions

Place

Place and function

Time

Purpose and agent of action

Tools, reasons, and causes

Chapter 6: Demonstrative, Indefinite, and Possessive Qualifiers

Pointing to Something with Questo and Quello

Conveying Something Indefinite

Indefinite words used as adjectives or pronouns

Indefinite words used solely as pronouns

Indefinite words that express a part of a set

Assigning Ownership with Possessive Qualifiers

Chapter 7: Making Connections with Conjunctions and Relative Pronouns

Linking Words and Clauses with Conjunctions and Prepositions

Connecting words or sentences with coordinating conjunctions

Joining a dependent clause with an independent one

Joining Clauses That Belong Together

Dealing with your average relative pronouns

Economy of speech: Combined pronouns

Chapter 8: Asking and Answering Questions

Looking at Ways of Asking Questions in Italian

Adjusting your intonation

Inverting the word order

Asking some common questions

Digging Deeper: Asking More Complex Questions

Employing interrogative adjectives

Requesting the location and time: Interrogative adverbs

Inquiring about who, what, which one, and how many: Interrogative pronouns

Providing Detailed Answers to Questions

Answering Questions Negatively

Book IV: Mastering Italian Verbs and Tenses

Chapter 1: Jumping into Action with Italian Regular Verbs

Conjugating Regular Verbs in Italian

Conjugating -are verbs

Conjugating -ere verbs

Conjugating -ire verbs

Moving Past the Present Tense

Communicating Quickly with Verbs

Looking More Closely at Personal Subject Pronouns

Chapter 2: Talking in the Present Tense with Irregular Verbs

To Be or Not to Be: Conjugating Essere

To Have and to Hold: Conjugating Avere

To Make or to Do: Conjugating Fare

To Give: Dare

To Ask How Others Are: Stare

To Come and to Go: Venire and Andare

Declaring Needs, Wants, and Abilities: Dovere, Volere, and Potere

Do Tell: Dire

Stepping Out: Uscire

Bottom's Up: Bere

The -orre, -urre, and -arre Verbs

Using Irregular Verbs in Idiomatic Expressions

Idiomatic expressions with essere

Idiomatic expressions with fare

Idiomatic expressions with dare and stare

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