Making contact

Knowing how to make contact and to take leave of people is a vital

conversational skill, as is knowing how to introduce people to each other and
to ask for assistance. These are the topics of Italian conversation covered in
this chapter.

Hellos and good-byes

Dialogo
Here’s how two people, a man (uomo) and a woman (donna), might greet
and take leave of each other formally:
Memory practice
After each new dialogue you will be given the opportunity to memorize
important new forms with a simple fill-in-the-blanks exercise. Do this
exercise from memory, and then go back and check your answers.

________________, signora Verdi.

Buongiorno, ________________ Marchi.
Come va?
Bene, ________________. E Lei?
________________ bene. Ci vediamo
________________.
Sì, ________________. A domani.

Language notes
The expression buongiorno is used in the morning to greet and take leave of
people, especially if they are on formal terms. In the afternoon, Italians now
use buon pomeriggio and in the evening, buonasera. Good night is
buonanotte. These can also be written as separate words: buon giorno,
buona sera, buona notte.
Note that the complete form for Mr. or sir is signore. Before a name,
however, the -e is dropped: signor Marchi. This applies to all masculine
titles ending in -e. Note as well that the title is not capitalized, unless it is the
first word in a sentence. Here are two other common titles used in
conversations. Note that there is a different form for each gender.

Most other titles are the same in the masculine and femininte: avvocato
lawyer for example is used before a masculine or feminine name:
Buongiorno, avvocato Verdi (a female) and Buongiorno, avvocato Marchi
(a male).

Dialogo
Here’s how two friends—Giovanni, a young man, and Franca, a young
woman—might greet and take leave of each other informally:
Memory practice
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words and expressions. Do this from
memory, and then go back and check your answers.
________________, Franca!
Ah! Ciao, Giovanni!
Come ________________ ?
Non c’è male. E ________________ ?
________________ , grazie!

Language notes
Italians address family, friends, children, pets, and anyone with whom they
are on a first-name basis with familiar forms. Otherwise they would use
formal or polite forms. Here are the relevant greeting forms according to
level of formality:

Note the different pronouns (Lei, tu) and different verb forms (sta, stai) that
reflect differences in formality.
ArrivederLa (written in this way!) is the polite form and Arrivederci the
familiar one. Ciao can be used instead of arrivederci. And, as you have seen,
ciao can mean both hi and bye.
Adding on -issimo to some words to mean very is common in Italian:
benissimo (very well), malissimo (very bad).

Give the corresponding English or Italian word or expression.

Carry out the following conversation tasks.

20. Greet someone formally in the morning.
_______________________________________________________
21. Say good afternoon to someone politely.
_______________________________________________________
22. How would you say “See you tomorrow”?
_______________________________________________________
23. Say good-bye to someone formally.
_______________________________________________________
24. Say good-bye to a good friend.
_______________________________________________________
25. Ask someone “How’s it going?”
_______________________________________________________
26. Say hi to a friend.
_______________________________________________________
27. Greet Mrs. Verdi in the morning.
_______________________________________________________
28. Greet Mr. Marchi in the evening.
_______________________________________________________
29. Greet Professor Santucci (a female) in the afternoon.
_______________________________________________________
30. Greet your friend Marcello.
_______________________________________________________
31. Say good night.
_______________________________________________________
Introductions
Dialogo
Here’s how two strangers might introduce themselves to each other formally:

Memory practice
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words and expressions. Do this from
memory, and then go back and check your answers.

Buonasera. Mi presento. Mi ________________ Tom Smith.

Molto ________________ ! Mi presento anch’io. Mi chiamo Maria
Morelli.
________________ lieto!
Lei è ________________ ?
 Sì, sono americano. E Lei?
Io sono ________________ .
________________ di fare la Sua conoscenza.
Anch’io.

Language notes
You will have noticed that the ending on some words (nouns and adjectives)
changes if the speaker (or the one spoken about) is a male or a female. If you
are an American male you are americano; if you are an American female,
then you are americana. More technically, regular forms ending in -o are
masculine; those ending in -a are feminine. Note that there is no
capitalization in Italian of nationalities (unless the word starts a sentence).
Some nouns and adjectives end in -e (as you have seen). These may be either
masculine or feminine.

The expression mi chiamo (My name is) translates literally as I call myself.
In this and previous dialogues, you have encountered a very important
verb: essere (to be). Learn the forms below, which make up its conjugation in
the present indicative. Note also that the pronouns (I, you, he, and so on) are
optional in Italian when it is clear who the subject is: io sono = sono, tu sei =
sei, and so on. Note also that io is not capitalized, unless it is the first word in
a sentence.
Dialogo
Here’s how two young people might introduce themselves using an informal
style of speech:

Memory practice
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words and expressions. Do this from
memory, and then go back and check your answers.
 Come ti ________________ ?
Mi ________________ Bill Jones.
Piacere!
E tu?
Mi chiamo Claudia Santucci.
________________ di conoscerti! Sei italiana?
Sì. E tu sei americano, vero?
Sì, ________________ americano.
Devo ________________ . A presto.
Ciao, ciao.

Language notes
Note a few more differences between formal and informal speech.

Circle the correct word or expression.

1. Mi presento. Mi chiamo Maria Rossini.

Molto lieto.
Anch’io.
2. E io mi chiamo Gina Dorelli.
A presto.
Piacere di fare la Sua conoscenza.
3. Maria è (Maria is) ________________ .
 italiano
italiana
4. Tom è ________________ .
americano
americana
5. Io ________________ americana.
sono
è
6. Anche tu ________________ italiana, vero?
siete
sei
7. Anche Marco ________________ italiano, vero?
siamo
è

Carry out the following conversation tasks.

8. Ask a stranger what his/her name is, using formal speech.

_______________________________________________________
9. Ask a little boy what his name is, using informal speech.
_______________________________________________________
10. Tell someone informally that you are glad to make his/her
acquaintance.
_______________________________________________________
11. Say that you (yourself) are Italian.
 _______________________________________________________
12. Say that you have to go.
_______________________________________________________

Assistance
Dialogo
Here’s how someone might ask for assistance or directions in finding a place:

Memory practice
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words and expressions. Do this from
memory, and then go back and check your answers.

________________ , mi può aiutare?

Certo, ________________ !
________________ è via Nazionale?
Qui, a ________________ . È a due isolati.
 Grazie.
Non c’è ________________ !

Language notes
Here are a few more differences between formal and informal speech:

When asking for assistance, you will need to know the following question
words.

To ask a question that requires a yes/no response, all you have to do is put
a question mark at the end (or raise your tone of voice if speaking). More
commonly, do the same but put the subject at the end.
 To make a verb negative, just put non before the verb.

Note the following:

Finally, note that isolati (blocks) is the plural of isolato (block). In

general, if the noun or adjective ends in -o, its plural form is obtained by
changing it to -i.

There are exceptions, of course. One of these is uomo (man) whose plural
form is uomini (men).

Dialogo
Here’s how one might ask for help in a bookstore:
Memory practice
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words and expressions. Do this from
memory, and then go back and check your answers.

Ho ________________ di un libro da leggere.

Le ________________ i romanzi d’avventura?
Sì, molto. Perché?
________________ abbiamo un nuovo romanzo.
Dov’è?
In vetrina. ________________ il romanzo.
Mi ________________ molto.
Va bene.

Language notes
In this dialogue you have come across another key verb: avere (to have).
Here are its present indicative forms. Note that you do not pronounce the h. It
is silent, as it is in English words such as hour and honor.
In this dialogue, you have also come across your first articles in Italian. You
will learn about them in bits and pieces. In front of a masculine noun
beginning with a consonant (except z and s plus a consonant) or a vowel, the
form for the indefinite article is un.

The corresponding masculine definite article form is il. But it occurs only
before consonants, other than z or s plus consonant. It does not occur before a
vowel.

The plural of il is i. And, as you know, to make a masculine noun plural, just
change the -o (and -e for that matter) to -i.

For the time being, note that to say I like, you must use mi piace followed by
a singular noun and mi piacciono (pyáh-choh-noh) followed by a plural
noun.

Finally, note that perché means both why and because.

Do the following. Ask . . .

1. what it is
_______________________________________________________
2. who it is
_______________________________________________________
3. where the (male) clerk is
_______________________________________________________
4. your friend why he cannot help you
_______________________________________________________

Make each noun plural.

Give the correct form of avere.

Say that you like the following.

18. the new novel

_______________________________________________________
19. the books
 _______________________________________________________
20. the (male) doctor
_______________________________________________________
21. the (male) professors
_______________________________________________________

Carry out the following conversation tasks.

22. Say that you need a new book to read.

_______________________________________________________
23. Ask someone politely if he/she likes adventure novels.
_______________________________________________________
24. Say that the book is in the store window.
_______________________________________________________
25. Say “Here is an adventure novel.”
_______________________________________________________
26. Say “OK.”
_______________________________________________________
27. Excuse yourself and ask a clerk if he/she can help you.
_______________________________________________________
28. Now do the same, but this time you are speaking to a friend.
_______________________________________________________
29. Say that National Street is here to the left, not to the right.
_______________________________________________________
30. Say “Of course, Miss.”
_______________________________________________________
31. Say that it’s two blocks away.
_______________________________________________________
32. Say “no problem.”
_______________________________________________________
33. Say that Maria is not American.
_______________________________________________________
34. Ask if Maria is Italian.
_______________________________________________________