32. Running Errands (Intermediate) Learn Italian with Podcasts at LearnItalianPod

32. Running Errands (Intermediate)

February 4th, 2007

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Running Errands - Fare dei Giri

Learn Intermediate Level Italian with Podcasts! Today we are going to find out why our foreign student of Italian did not show up in class for the past few days and in doing so we are going to practice some useful prepositions, like “a” (to), “da” (to), and “in” (in). We’ll also get the chance to learn some colloquial Italian expressions like “fare dei giri” (to run some errands) and “e’ un pezzo che…” (it’s been a while since…). Enjoy!

Intermediate Level - Lesson Nr. 32

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This entry was posted on Sunday, February 4th, 2007 at 7:08 pm and is filed under Intermediate. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

8 Responses to "32. Running Errands (Intermediate)"

Dante Says:

February 9th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

Ciao Jane e Massimo! ho una domanda!..Could you explain a bit more how to use the word “cosi”?!

Ciao, e a presto!

LearnItalianPod.com Says:

February 10th, 2007 at 12:05 am

“Cosi’” is an adverb and means “so”. Another equivalent expression is “in questo modo” (like this).

Very common Italian expressions using the word cosi’ are:

E cosi’ via - and so on
Basta cosi’ - that will do (literally: stop so)
Una cosi’ cara ragazza - such a nice girl
E’ cosi’ - it’s like so (it’s like this)

Cinzia Says:

March 10th, 2007 at 9:46 am

Sono confusa: “poi sono andato a Como a visitare un amico” so che si usa a dopo il verbo andare e prima dell’infinito ma ho letto piu’ di una volta che si usa “per” per spiegare la ragione per quale “sono andato a Como “for what?” per visitare un amico. Come si fa a sapere quale preposizione “a” o “per” e’ piu’ adatta?

Sono andata al supermercato per comprare il latte.
Sono andata al panificio a comprare il pane. Non suona bene. Boh.

Grazie mille. I vostri podcast sono molto divertenti.

LearnItalianPod.com Says:

March 10th, 2007 at 12:28 pm

Cinzia, perche’ dici che “Sono andata al panificio a comprare il pane” non suona bene?

Nella sintassi della frase semplice, il complemento di fine o scopo indica il fine verso cui è diretta l’azione oppure lo scopo a cui tende una determinata circostanza o condizione. Si tratta di un complemento indiretto. Il complemento risponde alle domande: per quale fine? per quale scopo? a che?

Il complemento può essere introdotto da verbi o sostantivi seguiti dalle preposizioni per, a, in, da, di o dalle locuzioni avverbiali al fine di, allo scopo di.

So both “per” and “a” are fine.

Dan Says:

April 21st, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Ciao Jane e Massimo,

While visiting Philadelphia, we went to this nice Italian restaurant (Ristorante la Buca). So I decided parlare in italiano. Io ho capito il cameriere, lui ha capitomi (ho detto corretto?). Mi sono divertito!

Grazie mille!

Ludwig Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 4:11 pm

Thanks very much for the gradual transition to the exclusive use of Italian in the lessons! I like it a lot.

Ludwig Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 4:13 pm

In the discussion of “così” above, I think you forgot to mention that it can also be used as a conjunction to mean “affinché” & in fact you used it as such yourself in Lesson 31: “possiamo andare insieme così mi fa vedere?”

LearnItalianPod.com Says:

April 24th, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Good point, Ludwig. “Cosi’” can also be used as a conjunction to mean “affinché”.

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