I have visited Naples / I visited Naples / I did visit Naples.
Ho visitato Napoli. (o visit-art-oh nap-oh-lee)
spent
passato (pass-art-oh)
I have spent / I spent / I did spend
Ho passato (o pass-art-oh)
You have
Ha (a)
You have spent / You spent / You did spend
Ha passato (a pass-art-oh)
We have
Abbiamo (ab-ee-arm-oh)
We have spent / We spent / We did spend
Abbiamo passato (ab-ee-arm-oh pass-art-oh)
September
settembre (se-tem-bray)
Christmas
il Natale (eel nat-arl-ay)
in Rome
a Roma (a roam-er)
in Italy
in Italia (een eet-al-yer)
in Switzerland
in Svizzera (een zvee-tser-er)
We have spent Christmas in Switzerland / We spent Christmas in Switzerland / We did spend Christmas in Switzerland.
Abbiamo passato il Natale in Svizzera. (ab-ee-arm-oh pass-art-oh eel nat-arl-ay een zvee-tser-er)
You have spent September in Italy / You spent September in Italy / You did spend September in Italy.
Ha passato settembre in Italia. (a pass-art-oh se-tem-bray een eet-al-yer)
and
e (ay)
It was
Era (air-ah)
It was fantastic.
Era fantastico. (air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh)
The weather was fantastic.
Il tempo era fantastico. (eel-tem-poe air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh)
I spent the weekend in Rome – and wow, the weather was fantastic.
Ho passato il weekend a Roma – e wow, il tempo era fantastico. (o pass-art-oh eel weekend a roam-er ay wow, eel-tem-poe air-ah fan-tass-teek-oh)
preparation
preparazione (prep-are-atz-ee-oh-nay)
prepared
preparato (pray-par-ay)
reservation
prenotazione (pray-no-tatz-ee-oh-nay)
reserved / booked
prenotato (pray-no-tart-oh)
ordered
ordinato (or-din-art-oh)
paid
pagato (pag-art-oh)
done
fatto (fat-oh)
the bill
il conto (eel kon-toe)
the dinner
la cena (la chain-er)
the coffee
il caffè (eel ka-fe)
a table
un tavolo (oon tav-oh-loe)
a room
una camera (oon-a cam-air-a)
a taxi
un taxi (oon taxi)
I have prepared the dinner / I prepared the dinner / I did prepare the dinner.
Ho preparato la cena. (o prep-are-art-oh la chain-er)
I have ordered coffee for dinner / I ordered coffee for dinner / I did order coffee for dinner.
Ho ordinato il caffè per la cena. (o or-din-art-oh eel ka-fe pair la chain-er)
I have booked a table for you / I booked a table for you / I did book a table for you.
Ho prenotato un tavolo per Lei. (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair lay)
She has
Lei ha (lay a)
She has booked / reserved a table for this evening – She booked / reserved a table for this evening – She did book / reserve a table for this evening.
Lei ha prenotato un tavolo per questa sera. (lay a pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair kwest-er sair-er)
He has
Lui ha (loo-ee a)
He has booked / reserved a room for two people – He booked / reserved a room for two people – He did book / reserve a room for two people.
Lui ha prenotato una camera per due persone. (loo-ee a pray-no-tart-oh oon-a cam-air-a pair doo-ay pair-soan-ay)
We have booked a taxi for you / We booked a taxi for you / We did book a taxi for you.
Abbiamo prenotato un taxi per Lei. (ab-ee-arm-oh pray-no-tart-oh oon taxi pair lay)
We paid the bill / We have paid the bill / We did pay the bill.
Abbiamo pagato il conto. (ab-ee-arm-oh pag-art-oh eel kon-toe)
What? / What thing?
Che cosa? (ke koe-ser)
What have you prepared? / What did you prepare? (literally “What thing you have prepared?”)
Che cosa ha preparato? (ke koe-ser a prep-are-art-oh)
What have you done? / What did you do? (literally “What thing you have done?”)
Che cosa ha fatto? (ke koe-ser a fat-oh)
I booked a table, ordered dinner and then paid the bill. What did you do?
Ho prenotato un tavolo, ordinato la cena e poi pagato il conto. Che cosa ha fatto? (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe, or-din-art-oh la chain-er ey poy pag-art-oh eel kon-toe. ke koe-ser a fat-oh)
Well, that’s it, you’re done with Chapter 2! Remember, don’t try to hold onto anything you’ve learnt here. Everything you learn in earlier chapters will be brought back up and reinforced in later chapters. You don’t need to do anything or make any effort to memorise words. The book has been organised in such a way that it will do that for you. Off you go now and have a rest, please!
Between Chapters Tip!
Stop while you’re still enjoying it!
Arnold Schwarzenegger once said that the key to his bodybuilding success was that he stopped his workout each day just before it started to get boring. On the few occasions he went past that point, he found it incredibly hard to return to the gym again the next day – and he loved working out.
As you will almost certainly recall, Tip 1 suggested that you should study every day – which you definitely should do if you can. But that doesn’t mean that you should overdo it. So, if you’re not really in the mood, just do five minutes. If you are in the mood though, don’t push yourself too hard. Stop before you get to the point where it doesn’t feel fun any longer. Best to leave yourself feeling hungry for more rather than bloated and fed up!
CHAPTER 3
I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.
I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.
Person 1:
I’m planning to go back to Italy in May.
Person 2:
Really?
Person 1:
Yes, I feel like going back to Rome but I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.
The brief conversation above does not seem complicated in English and yet, even if you have studied Italian before, you might well find it impossible to know exactly where to begin in order to say all of this in Italian. By the end of this chapter, you will have learnt how to carry out both sides of this conversation, plus a great deal of other Italian words and expressions besides.
Let’s begin!
Again, what is “I have” in Italian?
Ho
(o)
And how would you say “I have visited”, “I visited”, “I did visit”?
