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Riding in Small, Orange, Tattooed Cars in Italy Pt. 5

March 28, 2014 By Cher Leave a Comment

This episode’s audio doesn’t exist, and we have technology to blame (poof! gone into cyberspace!). Instead of listening to this episode, feel free to use the notes below to learn more about the topic. And if you’re like, “CHER, NO. I NEED THIS EPISODE,” then let me know in the comments below. I’ll put it on my list to record again!

[089] Riding in Small, Orange, Tattooed Cars in Italy Pt. 4

Vocabulary Speed-Dates

i carabinieri, ci hanno superati, abbiamo fermato, chiusa, delusa, perciò, mi sono addormentata, ancora

— i carabinieri – the police {These are the officers that are a part of the army}

— ci hanno superati {from the verb superare – to pass} they passed us

— abbiamo fermato {from the verb fermare – to stop} we stopped

— chiusa {usually chiuso} – closed

— delusa – {usually deluso} disappointed

— perciò – therefore

— mi sono addormentata {from the verb addormentarsi} – to put oneself to sleep

— ancora – still

Key phrases

per paura, per farli passare

— Per paura – because of fear, for fear

— Per farli passare – In order to let them pass

Grammar Bombs

You heard one in this sentence: Poi i carabinieri ci hanno superati e, per paura, abbiamo fermato la macchina per farli passare.

— “Ci hanno superati” – They passed us.

— “Ci” means “us.”

— “Hanno superati” means “they passed.”

The “us” part of the sentence often goes before the verb and that’s a really common way to structure Italian sentences.

In this case, it’s an indirect object pronoun, and these types of sentences answer the question “to what?” or “to whom?”

So in this case if you ask “to whom?” You would answer “to us.”

— mi – me

— ti – you

— gli – him

— le – her

— ci – us

— vi – you all

— gli or loro – they (gli is used far more often, but loro is grammatically correct. With loro, you have to put it after the conjugated verb)

Your task

Create a couple of sentences on your own using indirect object pronouns.

Like – My told me that I am pretty or They told us to go to the store.

The word for pretty is simply “bella” and for store is “negozio.”

Resources mentioned

The Grand Difference Between Indirect and Object Pronouns (& yes you have to know them)

Connect with me

Click to tweet: Just went on Italian vocab speed-dates w/ chiusa, delusa and ancora #italianmakesmesmile

Find me on Facebook to learn phrases, idioms, vocabulary and culture tips!

Filed Under: 30 Minute Italian Podcast, Italian Tagged With: 30 Minute Italian Podcast, Mini story series, show notes, small cars

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About Cher

Cher is the founder of The Iceberg Project and a passionate learner of the Italian, Mandarin and Spanish languages. In a little town called Vegas, you can find her searching the Internet for Doctor Who and Parks & Rec memes, drinking bubble tea, or talking about how much she loves grammar.

« Riding in Small, Orange, Tattooed Cars in Italy Pt. 4
9 Reasons You’re Making Mistakes With Prepositions in Italian and How to Avoid Them (Hint: Most mistakes come from #2) »

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