Learn Italian in 30 Minutes - ALL the Basics You Need

Welcome to ItalianPod101.com's Italiano in tre minuti, the fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Italian. Ciao! Sono Consuelo. Piacere! Hi! I'm Consuelo. Nice to meet you. I've just introduced myself in Italian. In this lesson, you're going to learn how to introduce yourself in Italian. There are only two sentences to do it, but first, it is important to clarify that in Italian, there's a difference between formal and informal speech. Let's now see how Italians introduce themselves in an informal situation, referring to tu, Italian for you. Ciao! Sono Consuelo. Piacere di conoscerti. Hi! I'm Consuelo. Nice to meet you. Ciao! Sono Consuelo. Piacere di conoscerti. So, you just need to say, ciao, sono, add your name, and then piacere di conoscerti. Ciao! Sono Consuelo. Piacere di conoscerti. And now, let's see the same sentence during a formal situation, referring to lei, the Italian courtesy form for you. Buongiorno! Sono Consuelo Innocenti. Piacere di conoscerla. What has changed from the previous introduction? Let's take a look at this. Ciao has been substituted with the formal greeting buongiorno, Italian for good morning. Sono Consuelo has not been changed. Sono stands in both cases for I am. However, during a formal self-introduction, we also say our last name. Consuelo Innocenti are respectively my first and last names. Finally, the sentence piacere di conoscerla has switched conoscerti into conoscerla, since conoscerla is referred to lei, the Italian formal courtesy form for you. So, the formal way to introduce yourself is buongiorno, sono, here add your full name, and then piacere di conoscerla. Buongiorno, sono Consuelo Innocenti, piacere di conoscerla. If you use the correct sentence with Italians, they are definitely going to be impressed. So, ciao, sono Consuelo, piacere. In the last lesson, we learned how to introduce ourselves in Italian. As good manners are always a must, this time we are going to learn how to thank people. So, siete pronti? Are you ready? Cominciamo! Let's start! There are several ways to thank someone. Let's start with the easiest. It's just one word. Grazie. Grazie. Grazie means thank you. When saying thank you very much, you just need to add tante or mille, like grazie tante, or grazie mille. Grazie tante or grazie mille. Tante means a lot and mille means a thousand. Thank you a thousand times. During the last lesson, we mentioned both the formal and informal way of speaking Italian. If you want to be more formal when thanking someone, you should say la ringrazio. La ringrazio. That was the formal way to say thank you when referring to lei, the Italian fortesan form for you. Ringraziare is the infinitive form of the verb to give thanks, to be grateful. How to answer? It's easy. There are basically two different ways to do it. The first is prego. Prego means you're welcome. The other way to say you're welcome is the expression non c'è di che. Non c'è di che means there's nothing about it. So when someone is saying grazie to you, we can simply reply with prego or non c'è di che. Sometimes we can say them both like prego, non c'è di che. For example, if someone is giving you something, grazie mille. Now it's time for Consuelo's tips. Remember, when in doubt, when it is more appropriate to use grazie or la ringrazio, keep it simple is always your safest bet. If you're not sure whether to use the formal or casual version, you can always simply say grazie. So, grazie mille a tutti. Thank you very much everybody. In the last lesson, we learned how to be grateful saying grazie. Today, we'll learn some of the most common greetings used in Italy. Pronti? Are you ready? Allora cominciamo. Let's start. The most used informal greeting is ciao. Ciao. Ciao means hi, hello, and goodbye. That's why we use it when we meet, but also when we leave. We should only use this greeting with relatives or friends. And now, let's talk about some more formal greetings. The one you're used to hear in Italy and at ItalianPod101.com is buongiorno. Buongiorno. Literally, buongiorno means good day. However, we could also interpret it as good morning or good afternoon. As a rule of thumb, we can use buongiorno only during the daytime from morning until evening. During the evening, we say buonasera. Buonasera. So, since sera obviously means evening, buonasera stands for good evening. Buongiorno and buonasera are used when we meet someone, but when we leave, we don't say them again. In this formal situation, Italians use arrivederci. Arrivederci. Arrivederci means goodbye. Finally, in Italian, we use the meaning see you soon that can be considered both formal and informal. That is appresto. Now, you can greet people in many different ways in Italian. Ciao. Ciao. Buongiorno. Buonasera. Arrivederci. Arrivederci. Appresto. Appresto. It's easy, isn't it? Now, it's time for Consuelo's tips. In formal situations, Italians commonly greet one another by shaking hands. On the other hand, if we meet someone we are very friendly with, we kiss each other on the cheek. Don't be afraid to do it with your Italian friend. It's normal. Ciao. Ciao. In the last lesson, we learned the most common forms of greetings in Italian. We talked about greetings like ciao, buongiorno, buonasera, and so on. Today, we are going to learn a very useful phrase. Do you speak English? Using this phrase as opposed to speaking English to someone is important for many reasons. Number one, if the person you're speaking to doesn't understand English, at least they'll be able to understand what you're saying. Furthermore, that you've made an effort to learn even a little bit of the language shows a lot of respect on your part. So, for these reasons and many more, we are going to cover this very important phrase. Are you ready? Allora, cominciamo! So, let's start! Now, here's the informal way to say it. Parli inglese? Parli inglese? In this sentence, the verb parlare, to speak, is inflected in the second singular person too. You can easily recognize it from the ending part of the verb parli. To learn how to properly conjugate are verbs like parlare at the present indicative, please look at our Absolute Beginners series. You can find very detailed grammar lessons if you check up on ItalianPod101.com. But now, let's go back to parli inglese. Inglese is the adjective that means English. When asking the question, do you speak English, in a formal situation, you should switch the verb parlare into the third singular person, lei. The result is parla inglese. This sentence could be very helpful if you're in trouble on the street, in a restaurant, at a hotel. No matter where you are, whenever you need to talk to an English speaker, just ask parla inglese? Adding scusi, excuse me, the sentence becomes more polite. Scusi, parla inglese? The responses you will receive could be basically one of these three. Since this last one is a negative statement, we should say non before the verb. With io, Italian for I, the verb changes into parlo. That is why I do not speak is non parlo. Now, it's time for Consuelo's tips. For those of you who are not only English speakers, you can obviously use this question with any language you need. Italians study other European languages at school, so maybe you get lucky. Just substitute inglese with francese for French, spagnolo for Spanish, and tedesco for German. In today's lesson, we mentioned scusi. In the next lesson, we'll learn these and other ways to apologize in Italian. It's never too late to show your good manners with Italian people. I'll see you in our next Italiano in 3 minuti lesson. Ciao! Alla prossima lezione! Want to speak real Italian from your first lesson? Sign up for your free lifetime account at ItalianPod101.com. In the last lesson, we learned the phrase scusi, parla inglese? Excuse me, do you speak English? We mentioned the word scusi, which means excuse me in formal Italian. Today, we are going to learn how to use scusi and other words when apologizing in Italian. Are you ready? Allora, cominciamo! Let's start! We should use scusi in formal Italian, such as when we are ordering something in bars or restaurants. For example, We can also use it when asking a question. Sometimes, we also hear people say mi scusi, which actually has the same meaning. We always use this phrase in formal speech. The informal way to say excuse me is scusa. We can use scusa when asking a friend or a relative a question. For example, or when apologizing. Scusa sono in ritardo. Instead of scusa, we can also say scusami, which has the same meaning. Besides scusi and scusa, if we want to apologize for something, we may use mi dispiace, Italian for I am sorry, in both formal and informal situations. Someone might tell us mi dispiace in a formal situation. For example, the waiter of a restaurant could say or in an informal situation, when you need to apologize to a friend, you could say Now it's time for Consuelo's tips. Please remember that in Italy, if you accidentally bump into someone, we don't say I am sorry, mi dispiace. Instead, we say scusi, excuse me. My last tip for today is this. When you want to apologize in a deeper, more heartfelt way, you can add the adverb molto or tanto next to mi dispiace, saying mi dispiace molto or mi dispiace tanto. Hey guys, please tell me, are you able to count in Italian? What is the name of our lesson? Italiano in tre minuti. You see, you already know a number. In the next lesson, we will learn the numbers in Italian from 1 to 10. In the last lesson, we learned some words used when apologizing in Italian, including scusi and mi dispiace. Today, we are going to learn numbers. Are you ready? Allora, cominciamo! So, let's start! Ok, now repeat after me. I'll say the numbers and give you time to repeat each one. Great job! What is before uno? Do you know? It's the same as in English, but with a different pronunciation. You don't have any more excuses. You can give your friends your mobile number in Italian. Let's try together. Can you read it by yourself? Now it's time for Consuelo's tips. When we buy groceries in Italy in shops or supermarkets, we usually have to stand in line with a number. When it's your turn to check out, they scream numero uno, numero dieci, and so on. You must be ready. In the next lesson, we are going to learn the numbers from 10 to 100. Your task now is to practice the numbers we studied in this lesson, from uno to dieci. In the last lesson, we learned the numbers from 1 to 10. Do you remember them? Here I'll tell you again. And now, let's continue from 11. And finally, we have Okay, now repeat after me. I'll say the numbers and give you time to repeat each one. The numbers from undici to venti may seem harder to remember. But please keep in mind that from undici to sedici, the numbers always end in dici, which stands for ten. But from diciassette, seventeen, they switch into dicia, and the order is reversed. Like diciotto and diciannove. Counting from 10 to 100 is super easy. Now I'll give you the tens. We form Italian compound numbers above 20 by simply adding each element in successive order. So, take the tens and simply add the numbers you learned in the previous lesson. Let's try it out by forming some of these numbers. Take the number 56. Fifty is cinquanta. And then, add six. Sei. Cinquantasei. It's done! Isn't that easy? Let's make another number. For instance, ninety-nine. Take ninety, novanta, and then add nine. Nove. Novantanove. Now, be sure to pay attention. Since the numbers venti, trenta, quaranta, and so on, drop their final vowel before uno and otto, because they both begin with a vowel. For example, ventuno. Venti, uno. Ventuno. Or, trentotto. Trenta, otto. Trentotto. After only two lessons, you are now able to count 100 in Italian. Now, it's time for Consuelo's tips. If you want to practice your numbers, why don't you play tombola with your Italian friends? What is tombola? Tombola is the Italian version of bingo. In the Neapolitan version, each number has a very amusing drawing that represents a character. For example, the number 22, ventidue, is opaz, the fool. In the last lesson, we learned how to count in Italian. I hope you spent enough time practicing the numbers. They will be useful for this lesson because we are going to learn how to ask, How much is it? The phrase, How much is it? is Quanto costa? Quanto costa? Are you ready for some unchecked shopping in Italy? Let's practice together. The first thing to say to a shop clerk is, Scusi. Do you remember what that means? Excuse me. So, Scusi, quanto costa? Scusi, quanto costa? If we want to be more specific when asking, How much is this? We should add questo when referring to a masculine object or questa when referring to a feminine object. Quanto costa questo? Quanto costa questa? For example, hat is a masculine noun. Cappello. Scusi, quanto costa questo cappello? And what about feminine nouns? Skirt in Italian is feminine. Gonna. So, Scusi, quanto costa questa gonna? At this point, the shop clerk can answer by saying, Costa bla bla bla. Sono bla bla bla. Fanno bla bla bla. For example, Sono trentanove euro. Fanno trentanove euro. Or, Costa trentanove euro. What number is trentanove? I'm not telling you. Okay, okay, it's thirty-nine. It costs thirty-nine euros. Now, it's time for Consuelo's tips. A quicker way to ask how much is, Quant'è? Which literally means, How much is? Even when you ask for an espresso at the counter of an Italian bar, you can ask the cashier, Un espresso, per favore, quant'è? One espresso, please. How much is it? So, don't forget that Italian streets are full of stands, and in most little towns, you can easily find local markets with many stands where you can buy absolutely everything. At this point, can you count euros in Italian? We are going to learn how to do this and much more in the next lesson. We'll be waiting for you in our next Italiano in tre minuti lesson. Ciao, alla prossima lezione!