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Italian

FA L S E B E
and GIN
S
NER

NE

- 100 comprehensive and progressive lessons

RS

European
BEGIN

Common ork Level

Framew - 186 exercises with answer keys
B2 - dual-language glossary
- grammar summary
E
WITH EASE SERIES
 Italian
With Ease Series

by Anne-Marie OLIVIERI

Adapted for English-speaking learners

by Erin Brady

Illustrated by J.-L. GOUSSÉ

The intuitive method

B.P. 25
94431 Chennevières-sur-Marne Cedex © ASSIMIL 2015
FRANCE ISBN 978-2-7005-0632-7
 Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI
How to use this course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VI
Italian pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII

Lessons 1 to 100
1 Benvenuto in Italia! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Colazione al bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 In albergo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4 Treno o macchina? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 A piedi in città . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6 Che meraviglia! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7 Revisione – Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
8 Dove possiamo mangiare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
9 Al ristorante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
10 Vivere in campagna? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
11 Come ti chiami? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
12 Un menù italiano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
13 Serata in terrazza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
14 Revisione – Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
15 In metropolitana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
16 Cartoline o mail? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
17 Dove sono finiti i passaporti? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
18 Una denuncia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
19 Presto, siamo in ritardo! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
20 Verso l’aeroporto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
21 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
22 Oggi offro io! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
23 In ufficio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
24 Società internazionale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
25 Il mio numero di cellulare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
26 Piero racconta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
27 Un curriculum vitae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
28 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
29 Che giornata! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
30 A scuola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
31 Il compleanno di Luigi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
32 Nicola fa la spesa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
33 I bambini propongono un menù . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
• IV
 34 Facciamo il punto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
35 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
36 Concerto o teatro? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
37 Come state? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
38 Le donne hanno sempre ragione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
39 I coniugi Della Casa litigano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
40 Spostiamo i mobili! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
41 Ancora un promemoria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
42 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
43 I coniugi Della Casa litigano ancora . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
44 Un’accoglienza formale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
45 Pazienza! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
46 Sai chi ho incontrato? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
47 Che golosi! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
48 Attenzione alle promesse! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
49 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
50 Saldi, sconti! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
51 Qualche modifica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
52 Antonio, smetti di fare storie! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
53 Quanta pazienza! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
54 Che comodi, i cellulari! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
55 Guarda chi è arrivato! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
56 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
57 Io non ho progetti per le vacanze! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
58 Un’organizzazione perfetta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
59 Un vecchio sogno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
60 Un paesaggio straordinario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
61 Zainetto o valigione? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
62 Dove sarà Claudio? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
63 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
64 Quanta posta! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
65 Vediamo, vediamo… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
66 Grazie di tutto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
67 Passione: natura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
68 Proteggete la natura! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
69 Un itinerario di sogno!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
70 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
71 Quale facoltà scegliere? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
72 Ancora un concorso! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
73 Roma, 9 ottobre 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
74 Faccio un salto in farmacia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
V•
75 Vorremmo trasferirci . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
76 Animali domestici . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
77 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
78 Un progetto interessante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
79 Bisogna che riflettiamo ancora . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
80 È ora di discutere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
81 Resti in linea! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
82 Mi faresti un favore? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
83 I capricci del tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
84 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
85 Vieni alla nostra festa?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
86 Andiamo a ballare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
87 Se potessi essere con voi… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
88 Mio nonno nacque… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
89 Che cosa farò? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
90 Capita a tutti! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
91 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
92 Partì in giugno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
93 Avrei bisogno del tuo aiuto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
94 Mi sembra difficile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
95 Posso entrare? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425
96 Vorrei domandarti se… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
97 Grazie lo stesso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
98 Revisione . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
99 Non vedo l’ora di essere in Italia! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
100 E perché no! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Grammatical appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Glossary of expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Glossaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
Italian–English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501
English–Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
• VI
1 Before starting your first lesson, make sure you read the introduction
carefully. It provides important information about pronunciation
and how to make the most of your learning.
1 Prima lezione [preema laytsyoneh]
Benvenuto in Italia!
1 – Salve ①!
2 – Finalmente sei ② qui!
3 – Sono contento ③ di essere a Roma!
4 – Ti presento Carla Rossi.
5 – Molto piacere ④, Signora!
6 – E questo è Mario.
7 – Ciao ⑤! *
Pronunciation
benvaynooto een‿eetalya 1 salveh 2 feenalmaynteh
sey‿kwee 3 sono‿kontento dee‿essereh‿a‿roma
4 tee‿praysento karla‿rossee 5 molto‿pyachayreh
seenyora 6 ay‿kwaysto‿e‿maryo 7 chaao
Notes
① This lesson contains two of the most common everyday
expressions for saying hello. Salve! is fairly informal, used by
both adults and young people. Ciao! is even more informal.
To say hello in more formal situations, buongiorno (literally,
‘good-day’) is used.
② As you may have noticed, the subject pronouns (i.e. I, you,
she/he/it, we, they) in these sentences have been left out. In
Italian, unlike in English, you can recognize who is doing the
action just by the form of the verb, so the subject pronoun isn’t
necessary. That’s one less thing to worry about!
③ Here, sono contento I am happy implies a male speaker
(Mario in this case). If the speaker was female, she would say 
1 • uno [oono]
1
First lesson 1
Welcome to Italy!
1 – Hi!
2 – Finally, [you] are here!
3 – [I] am happy to be in Rome!
4 – This is (To-you I-present) Carla Rossi.
5 – Pleased to meet you (Much pleasure), madam!
6 – And this is Mario.
7 – Hello!
Pronunciation note
7 Ciao is pronounced as the letter combination cia followed by
ao. Although the two sounds [cha] and [ao] almost blend into the
one-syllable [chow] when spoken, the emphasis is slightly on the
first syllable, so we have transcribed it as [chaao].
 sono contenta – the form of the adjective needs to change
depending on the gender of the subject. More on this later!
This lesson introduces some of the present tense forms of the
very useful verb essere to be: sono [I] am, sei [you] are, è [he/
she/it] is.
④ Molto piacere is the best response if you’re being formally
introduced to someone and want to be particularly polite. In
more informal contexts, piacere on its own or salve is fine.
⑤ Ciao! can mean Hi! or Bye! in Italian – it’s an all-purpose
friendly way to greet or take leave from someone. To say
goodbye in more formal situations, arrivederci (literally, ‘to
see each other again’) would be more appropriate.
due [dooeh] • 2
2 Esercizio 1 – Traducete Answers to Exercise 1 2
Exercise 1 – Translate ❶ Welcome to Rome! ❷ I’m very happy (m.)! ❸ Hi/Bye, Carla!
❹ Pleased to meet you!
❶ Benvenuto a Roma! ❷ Sono molto contento!
❸ Ciao, Carla! ❹ Molto piacere!
***
Esercizio 2 – Completate
Exercice 2 – Complete
(Each dot represents a letter.)
❶ Hi, Mario!
. . . . . , Mario!
❷ You’re finally in Italy!
Finalmente  . . .  . .  Italia!
❸ I’m happy to be here! (male speaker)
. . . .  . . . . . . . .  di essere  . . . ! Answers to Exercise 2
❶ Salve – ❷ – sei in – ❸ Sono contento – qui ❹ Questo è –
❹ This is Mario Rossi.
. . . . . .  .  Mario Rossi.

2 Seconda lezione [saykonda laytsyoneh] Second lesson 2

Colazione al bar Breakfast in the café (at-the bar)

1 – Buongiorno ①! 1 – Hello!

Pronunciation
kolatsyoneh‿al‿bar 1 bwonjorno

Notes
① Buongiorno is used as a greeting at any time during the day
and means hello, good morning or good afternoon. The late
afternoon/evening greeting is buonasera good evening. These
are appropriate when greeting someone you don’t know, such
as in shops or restaurants, whereas salve and ciao are used in
more informal situations.
3 • tre [tray] quattro [kwat-tro] • 4
50 Dialogo di revisione Translation 50
1  Nicola! … weren’t you supposed to play tennis with Aldo?
1 – Nicola!... ma non dovevi giocare a tennis con 2 Yes, but a client held us up to make a claim and a refund request. 
Aldo? 3  ‘I told you that we shouldn’t have signed …’, the woman kept
saying (continued to say). 4 And the husband, ‘Yes (Already), but
2 – Sì, ma ci ha trattenuti una cliente per un reclamo you wanted a kitchen where we could eat!’ 5 Poor thing! 6 I’m sure
e una richiesta di rimborso. that your lawyer is doing everything possible to find a satisfactory
3 ‛Te lo avevo detto che non dovevamo firmare...’, solution. 7  Ah, you know that I ran into those students that we
continuava a dire la signora. met in Florence? 8  And did (do) you know that my parents are
4 E il marito ‛Già, ma tu volevi una cucina in cui leaving right now? 9 Oh, no! I really wanted to take them to the
station! 10 (To-them-it) I’d promised!
si poteva mangiare!’
5 – Poverino! You’ve now reached the end of the first phase of this course.
6 Sono sicura che il vostro avvocato sta facendo Congratulations! The second, more ‘active’, phase will allow
tutto il possibile per trovare una soluzione you to realize how much progress you’ve made.
soddisfacente. Here’s how to proceed: from lesson 50 on, after studying a
7 – Ah, sai che ho incontrato quegli studenti che new lesson, you’ll go back to a previous lesson, starting from
lesson 1. Read and listen to the texts in the previous lesson
avevamo conosciuto a Firenze? again, but this time try translating them from English into
8 – E sai che i miei genitori stanno partendo in Italian (both orally and in writing), correcting yourself as you
questo momento? go. This will help you to consolidate what you’ve learned and to
9 – Oh, no! Ci tenevo ad accompagnarli alla stazione! speak increasingly naturally. You’ll be surprised at how much
10 Glielo avevo promesso! you’ve already picked up. In bocca al lupo! Good luck!

50 Cinquantesima lezione Fiftieth lesson 50

Saldi, sconti! Sales, discounts!

1 – Buongiorno, Signorina. 1 – Hello, miss.

2 Per cortesia, vorrei misurare quella gonna 2 I would like to try (measure) that blue skirt in
blu ① in vetrina. [the] shop window, please.

Notes  la maglietta rosa the pink T-shirt and i pantaloni rosa the
① The colours blu blue, rosa pink, viola purple and (optionally) pink trousers. Note that il pantalone (sing.) or i pantaloni (pl.)
marrone brown are invariable adjectives, meaning there is can be used for trousers in Italian – in whichever case, the verb
only one form, regardless of the gender or number of the noun:  needs to be correspondingly singular or plural.

207 • duecentosette duecentootto • 208

50 3 – Certo Signora, che ② taglia?
4 – Quarantadue.
5 – Gliela prendo subito!
6 Ah, mi dispiace, la quarantadue mi è
rimasta ③ solamente in nero o in rosso.
7 Provi ④ la rossa! Secondo me è molto più
carina della blu ⑤!
8 E c’è uno sconto del trenta per cento.
9 – No, ho bisogno di qualcosa di blu.
10 – Allora guardi questo pantalone blu, c’è uno
sconto eccezionale,
11 è il meno caro di tutti ⑥! *
Notes
② Che taglia? What size? or more formally Quale taglia?
Which size? In spoken Italian, che is often used instead of
quale. Clothing sizes can be a minefield when shopping
internationally: in Italy, a women’s 42 corresponds to a 10 in
the UK or an 8 in the US.
③ rimanere to remain, to stay is also used in the sense of to last,
to be left. It has an irregular past participle: rimasto.
④ Provi! Try! and Guardi! Look! (line 10) are formal Lei
commands. When giving orders or making requests, the
imperative mood is used. The conjugation depends on who
is being addressed: e.g. Prova! Try! (to address one person
informally), Provi! (to address one person formally) or
Provate! (to address more than one person). We’ll come back
to this later: for now just note that there are different forms. 
209 • duecentonove
3 – Certainly, madam, what size? 50
4 – Forty-two.
5 – I’ll bring it to you (To-Her-it I-take) right away.
6 Ah, I’m sorry (to-me it-displeases), I only have
a forty-two left (the forty-two to-me is remained
only) in black or in red.
7 Try the red! I think (According-to me) it’s much
prettier (more pretty) than the blue!
8 And there’s a thirty percent discount.
9 – No, I (have) need (of) something (of) blue.
10 – So look at these (this) blue trouser[s], there’s a
special (exceptional) discount –
11 they’re (it-is) the least (less) expensive of all!
 ⑤ più carina della blu prettier than the blue: to compare two
things, use più (+ adj.) di more … than and meno (+ adj.) di
less … than (the di contracts with the following article): la
giacca è meno cara del pantalone the jacket is cheaper (‛less
expensive’) than the trousers. (By the way, carina can mean
cute as well as pretty.)
⑥ il meno caro di tutti the least expensive of all: to express
superlatives (the most, the least, the …-est), use il (or i, la, le,
gli, etc.) più (+ adj.) di the most … of and il meno (+ adj.) di the
least … of.
duecentodieci • 210
51 Esercizio 1 – Traducete
❶ Vorrei misurare quel pantalone nero. ❷ Glielo
prendo in vetrina! ❸ Che taglia, signora? –
Quaranta. ❹ La gonna blu è molto più carina della
rossa. ❺ È la gonna più cara di tutte.
***
Esercizio 2 – Completate
❶ I need a blue skirt, size thirty-eight.
. .  . . . . . . .  di una gonna  . . . ,  . . . . . .  trentotto.
❷ Look (formal) at these black trousers (this trouser black) –
they’re (it-is) very pretty.
. . . . . .  questo  . . . . . . . . .  nero, è  . . . . .  . . . . . . .
❸ Today there’s a fifty percent discount.
Oggi  . . .  uno  . . . . . .  . . .  cinquanta per cento.
51 Cinquantunesima lezione
Qualche ① modifica
1 – Questi pantaloni Le stanno ② benissimo,
Signore,
Notes
① qualche some is always singular in Italian (and is therefore
always followed by a singular noun). It is used with both
masculine and feminine nouns.  well: here stare means to suit, to fit.
211 • duecentoundici
Answers to Exercise 1 51
❶ I would like to try those black trousers. ❷ I’ll take it from the
shop window for you! ❸ What size, madam? – Forty. ❹ The blue
skirt is much prettier than the red. ❺ It’s the most expensive skirt
of all.
***
❹ I’d like to try on (measure) the least expensive skirt.
Vorrei  . . . . . . . .  la gonna  . . . .  . . . . .
❺ I’m sorry (To-me it-displeases), the sales are over (finished).
. .  . . . . . . . . , i  . . . . .  sono  . . . . . . .
Answers to Exercise 2
❶ Ho bisogno – blu, taglia – ❷ Guardi – pantalone – molto carino
❸ – c’è – sconto del – ❹ – misurare – meno cara ❺ Mi dispiace
– saldi – finiti
Second wave: 1st lesson
Fifty-first lesson 51
Some alterations (modification)
1 – These trousers suit you very well (to-Her they-
are very-well), sir,
 ② questi pantaloni Le stanno benissimo these trousers suit you
duecentododici • 212
100 Esercizio 2 – Completate
❶ Carlo has just come back from Rome, and he’s enthusiastic
about it.
Carlo  .  . . . . . .  . . . . . . .  da Roma, e  . .  .  Ho cominciato a  . . . . . . . .  un  . . . .  . . .
entusiasta.
❷ How come (How never) you like England so much?
. . . .  . . .  vi  . . . . .  tanto l’Inghilterra?
❸ I understand (you)! You (f.) are really in love!
Ti  . . . . . . . ! Sei molto  . . . . . . . . . . !
100 Centesima lezione
E perché no!
1 – Magari potessi ① incontrare anche io una
bella italiana!
2 – E perché no! A che punto sei con il tuo
italiano?
3 – Be’, mi sembra che me la cavo ②
abbastanza bene!
4 Ho cominciato solamente da quattro mesi ③,
Notes
① A reminder that when magari means if only (as here) it is
accompanied by the imperfect subjunctive: magari potessi
incontrarla if only I could meet her. When magari means
maybe, perhaps, it is followed by the indicative: magari posso
incontrarla maybe I can meet her.
447 • quattrocentoquarantasette
❹ I don’t know why, but I like everything about this country! 100
. . .  . .  perché, ma  . .  piace tutto di  . . . . . .  . . . . . !
❺ I began to think about it a year ago.
Answers to Exercise 2
❶ – è appena tornato – ne è – ❷ Come mai – piace – ❸ – capisco
– innamorata ❹ Non so – mi – questo paese ❺ – pensarci – anno fa
Second wave: 50th lesson
One-hundredth lesson 100
And why not?
1 – If only I were able[subj.] to meet a pretty
Italian as well!
2 – And why not! Where (At what point) are you
with your Italian?
3 – Well, it seems to me that I’m getting on rather
well.
4 I only began four months ago,
 ② The verb cavare to get out, to extract is found in the idiomatic
cavarsela (‘to get oneself out of it’), which corresponds to to
cope, to get on, to manage. You’ll hear it often in informal
speech. Se l’è cavata bene. He did quite well. (As we’ve
seen in several other idiomatic expressions, ‘it’ refers to the
feminine la cosa.)
③ Remember that da since + length of time is used to express
 ago (lesson 42): da due giorni for two days or two days ago.
quattrocentoquarantotto • 448
100 5 e l’altro giorno ho chiacchierato tutto il
pomeriggio con Eva,
6 la mia vicina di casa italiana.
7 Ero veramente molto contento!
8 – Complimenti! ④ Immagino che hai avuto
un bravo ⑤ insegnante.
9 – Ho avuto un insegnante bravissimo,
10 sempre paziente, sempre disponibile...
11 – Interessante! E come si chiama?
12 – Assimil! Te lo consiglio! *
Notes
④ Complimenti! or Congratulazioni! are both common ways to
congratulate someone on something.
⑤ un bravo insegnante a good teacher: you could also say un
buon insegnante, but bravo or bravissimo are more usual for
conveying expertise, skill or capability.
***
Esercizio 1 – Traducete
❶ Te la cavi bene nel tuo nuovo lavoro! ❷ Non ho
notizie di mia sorella da tre settimane. ❸ Magari
potessi venire con voi l’estate prossima! ❹ È la mia
vicina. È simpaticissima! ❺ Complimenti! La tua
nuova casa è molto bella.
 
449 • quattrocentoquarantanove
5 and the other day I chatted all afternoon with 100
Eva,
6 my Italian neighbour (of house).
7 I was really very pleased!
8 – Well done! I imagine that you had a good
teacher.
9 – I had a great teacher,
10 always patient, always available …
11 – [That’s] interesting! And what’s their (his/her)
name?
12 – Assimil. I recommend them (it) to you!
Answers to Exercise 1
❶ You’re getting on well in your new job! ❷ I haven’t [had any]
news from my sister for three weeks. ❸ If only I were able to come
with you next summer! ❹ She’s my neighbour. She’s very nice!
❺ Congratulations! Your new house is very nice (pretty).
 
quattrocentocinquanta • 450
100 Esercizio 2 – Completate
❶ Would you (informal sing.) come to the cinema with me? –
Why not!
. . . . . . . .  . .  cinema con me? –  . . . . . .  . . !
❷ Is Carlo always so patient and helpful (available)?
Carlo è  . . . . . .  così  . . . . . . . .  e così  . . . . . . . . . . . ?
❸ It’s an excellent show! I recommend it to you (informal pl.)!
È uno  . . . . . . . . . .  eccellente!  . .  . .  . . . . . . . . . !
 
451 • quattrocentocinquantuno
❹ He’s been chatting (chats) on the phone with Elena for (since) 100
an hour!
. . . . . . . . . . .  al telefono con Elena  . .  . . . . . . !
❺ Roberta is really very happy with her Italian teacher.
Roberta è veramente  . . . . .  . . . . . . . .  del suo
insegnante  . .  . . . . . . . . .
Answers to Exercise 2
❶ Verresti al – Perché no ❷ – sempre – paziente – disponibile
❸ – spettacolo – Ve lo consiglio ❹ Chiacchiera – da un’ora
❺ – molto contenta – di italiano
You’ve come to the end of the course! Complimenti! But make
sure you finish the second wave, translating the dialogue and
Exercise 1 in lessons 51 to 100 from English to Italian. This is
an excellent way to reinforce what you’ve learned and practice
your new language skills. Good luck and keep up the great
work! Arrivederci!
Second wave: 51st lesson
quattrocentocinquantadue • 452
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