Italian lesson 1 - greetings, introduce yourself, subject personal pronouns |  |  |  |
The three main topics to learn for a first approach to Italian language are: - How to greet people- How to introduce yourself - Subject personal pronouns How to greet people In Italian there are two main ways to address someone: the first one is the informal way and it is used with peers, friends, relatives or anyone you know very well; the second one, which is more formal, is used with strangers, authorities or anyone you don’t know that well or who is older than you. The formal register expresses respect and, in some circumstances, it is considered more polite. So, according to the informal language, when you meet someone you can ask him/her: - Ciao, come stai? - Hi, how are you? - Ciao, come va? - Hi, how is it going? What's up? Whereas, in formal language: - Buongiorno, come sta? - Good morning, how are you? - Buonasera, come va? - Good evening, how are you? Buongiorno is generally used till 1-2 pm and then Buonasera. How are you? has been translated both by Come stai? (in informal style) and Come sta? (in formal style). That’s because, in order to address someone formally, the Italian language uses the third person singular, while the second person singular is peculiar to the informal register. It may seem quite complicated for English native speakers, whereas people from Spain or France know exactly this concept, since they make the same difference in their languages. The answers to the previous questions may be: - Bene, grazie - I'm fine, thanks - Molto bene, grazie - I feel good, thank you - Così così - So-so - Non troppo bene - I'm not very well Introduce yourself In Italian, the commonest forms to introduce yourself to someone are: - Ciao/Buongiorno, mi chiamo Jessica - Ciao/ Buongiorno, sono Jessica Then, if you want to ask what your interlocutor's name is: - Come ti chiami? (talking to a peer) - Come si chiama? (talking to a stranger) The typical answer after introducing yourself is: - Piacere di conoscerti - Piacere di conoscerla Subject personal pronouns Io ----------------------------------------------------I Tu ---------------------------------------------------You Egli /Lui----------------------------------------------He Ella/Lei-----------------------------------------------She Esso (masculine)/Essa (feminine)----------------------It Noi----------------------------------------------------We Voi----------------------------------------------------You Essi (masculine)/Esse (feminine)-----------------------They Loro---------------------------------------------------They Watch Italian Lesson 1 Share this post        |
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