What do you say if I come?
Listen to the following phone conversation.
Giovanni: Ciao Martina. |
- stasera and questa sera (this evening) are perfectly interchangeable
- mi dispiace (I am sorry). Dispiacere has the same construction of piacere (see Unità 4), but it doesn’t translate as to dislike. As you know the equivalent of to dislike is non piacere (Mi piace la carne, ma non mi piace il pesce ‘I like meat, but I don’t like fish‘). Dispiacere translates as to be sorry (Mi dispiace che non stai bene ‘I am sorry you do not fell well‘), or as to mind. Note the difference: Non mi piace prendere ordini (I don’t like taking orders) / Non mi dispiace prendere ordini (I don’t mind taking orders)
- Vieni con noi? (Are you coming with us?).
- Allora dico a Mirella che tu non vieni (So, I am going to tell Mirella that you are not coming)
- Allora translates into the English then and so in the sense of ‘in that case’: Se Gianfranco non telefona, allora va tutto bene (If Gianfranco doesn’t call, then everything is fine)
GRAMMAR
There are verbs in –ire that do not follow the regular conjugation patterns. You have already studied the irregular verb uscire (see Unità 6). The verb dire (to say, to tell), and venire are other two of them and they are extremely important to know as they can be used often in everyday conversation. The verb dire (to tell, to say)
Typical constructions with dire are:
Common expressions with dire are: dire una parola (to say a word) dire bugie (to lie), dire la verità (to tell the truth), dire un segreto etc.
The verb venire (as andare, tornare, etc.) is often used with prepositions:
|
Tasks
|
Practice
Previous > Le preposizioni articolate
Next > Sì, possiamo