02 Parliamo di macchine (1 Viewer)

[Martin]

Parliamo di macchine

1. Grosso: Ehi Luca, che tipo di macchina[sup](1)[/sup] hai[sup](2)[/sup]?
2. Toni: Ho una Ferrari blu.
3. Grosso: È quella[sup](3)[/sup] lì fuori, accanto alla Volvo?
4. Toni: Esatto. Di chi è la Volvo?
5. Grosso: È di Legrottaglie. Per lui la cosa più importante è la sicurezza stradale.
6. Legrottaglie: Ho anche ragione. Non sei d'accordo[sup](4)[/sup]?
7. Toni: Ma perché la tua macchina è rosa?
8. Legrottaglie: Così è impossibile non vederla.

Let's talk about cars

1. Grosso: Hey Luca, what kind of car do you have?
   [Hey Luca, what kind of car have?]
2. Toni: I have a blue Ferrari.
   [Have a Ferrari blue.]
3. Grosso: Is it the one outside, next to the Volvo?
   [Is that-one there outside, next to-the Volvo?]
4. Toni: Exactly. Whose is the Volvo?
   [Of who is the Volvo?]
5. Grosso: It's Legrottaglie's. To him road safety is the most important thing.
   [Is of Legrottaglie. For him the thing most important is the safety road.]
6. Legrottaglie: I am also right. Don't you agree?
   [Have also right. Non are agree?]
7. Toni: But why is your car pink?
   [But why the your car is pink?]
8. Legrottaglie: This way it's impossible not to see it.
   [This-way is impossible not see-it.]

Notes

1. "macchina" is the most common word for car. It can also mean any other machine.
2. The letter "h" is always silent.
3. The pronoun "quella" is feminine. The masculine equivalent is "quello".
4. d'accordo = di accordo ~ of accord / of agreement

Theory: Genders

The are two genders, masculine and feminine. Every noun is one of the two, which is made clear by the article ("a/the" in English).

• Feminine: una casa ~ a house, la casa ~ the house
• Masculine: un gol ~ a goal, il gol ~ the goal
• Masculine: uno scudetto ~ a shield, lo scudetto ~ the shield

The masculine gender has two articles. The reason is that Italian pays a lot of attention to how language is spoken, and the difference exists purely for the sake of pronunciation.

 

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[Dostoevsky]

Ho una Ferrari blu Was it possible to say è una instead?

This one was a bit harder since I never go outside of Italian football articles but I could understand majority of it.

 

[Martin]

Ho una Ferrari blu Was it possible to say è una instead?

È una Ferrari blu. Sure you can say that.

This one was a bit harder since I never go outside of Italian football articles but I could understand majority of it.

Well there's going to be a lot of stories that are tangential to football. Also because I couldn't think of that many football plots.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I would guess so.

Ho una Ferrari blu = I have a blue Ferrari.

è una Ferrari blu = It is a blue Ferrari.

 

[Dostoevsky]

È una Ferrari blu. Sure you can say that.

Well there's going to be a lot of stories that are tangential to football. Also because I couldn't think of that many football plots.

I don't mind it at all like this.

I would guess so.

Ho una Ferrari blu = I have a blue Ferrari.

è una Ferrari blu = It is a blue Ferrari.

Yeah... I hate the fact to see Ferrari blu too... I hope it's ok to say blu Ferari cause I'd do that even if it's incorrect

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Is it like in Spanish where the adjective would come before the noun if it's a irregular description of the noun? e.g. el loco doctor.

 

[Martin]

I don't mind it at all like this.

Yeah... I hate the fact to see Ferrari blu too... I hope it's ok to say blu Ferari cause I'd do that even if it's incorrect

IMO the reason you think it sounds wrong this way is because you're using your instincts from one language to have opinions about another one. This always happens. I could give you a long list of things I think are stupid in Dutch. But learning a language is just as much to do with accepting the way it is and looking at it using the logic of that language itself. I got used to this and many other things that felt weird and now I don't notice them anymore.

 

[Martin]

Is it like in Spanish where the adjective would come before the noun if it's a irregular description of the noun? e.g. el loco doctor.

Hm, not sure what you mean by that. You have to explain the Spanish example to me.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

I think this is what I was taught in school.

You would say "el médico inteligente (the smart doctor)" with the adjective after the noun because describing a doctor as smart is regular whereas you would say "el loco médico (the crazy doctor) with the adj. before because it's an irregular description for a doctor.

It might be the other way around or may be completely wrong but I seem to remember that.

 

[Martin]

I think this is what I was taught in school.

You would say "el médico inteligente (the smart doctor)" with the adjective after the noun because describing a doctor as smart is regular whereas you would say "el loco médico (the crazy doctor) with the adj. before because it's an irregular description for a doctor.

It might be the other way around or may be completely wrong but I seem to remember that.

I don't think there is such a thing in Italian. However, some adjectives can go either before or after the noun, and then they have a different meaning.

- Ho visto diversi film. (I've seen various movies.)
- Ho visto film diversi. (I've seen different movies.) as in they were different from each other

- È un gran signore. (He's an important man.)
- È un signore grande. (He's a big man.) big in the plain sense of large

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Okay. Looking at those examples, it seems like you can kinda sense for which meaning you would use the word before or after.


Here's the rule for Spanish: http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm. A bit different to what I said.

 

[Martin]

Okay. Looking at those examples, it seems like you can kinda sense for which meaning you would use the word before or after.


Here's the rule for Spanish: http://spanish.about.com/cs/grammar/a/whereadjective.htm. A bit different to what I said.

Well it could be that the relation between Italian and Spanish adjectives is closer than what we can decide here but I would have to learn Spanish first to find out. Let's leave it here.

 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Alright

 

[Martin]

Alright

aaaaand we just scared the bejeezus out of everyone else who thought about posting in this thread

 

[Dostoevsky]

Any way to avoid the start of the sentence with ho? It's kinda hard to get used to, especially because h is a silent letter.

 

[Martin]

Any way to avoid the start of the sentence with ho? It's kinda hard to get used to, especially because h is a silent letter.

Yes, you can add "io" at the front if you want.

 

[Dostoevsky]

 

[IliveForJuve]

Grazie, Martin. Sue lezioni è molto utile.

Respoding to what Matt said. Yes, in Spanish you can move the adjective but it may change the meaning sometimes. I guess the same thing can be done in Italiano!

 

[Itztli]

Same. I have a basic knowledge of Spanish, it's somewhat the same in french with the adjective rule.

 

[blondu]

how come is it a una ferrari and no uno ferrari?