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Level I
Lesson1
Lesson2
Lesson3
Lesson4
Lesson5
Lesson6
Lesson7
Italian
Expressions
How to Learn a Language
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Italian
Lesson 1
Italian Reading
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Text: Mi chiamo Speak7
, ho 26 anni, vivo negli Stati Uniti, a Washington
D.C, io parlo l’inglese è imparo l’italiano da un mese perchè mi piacerebbe
visitare l’italia un giorno di questi.
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Read the text and see if you can understand anything, try
not to look at the translation below the first time.
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Translation: My name is Speak7
, I’m 26 years old, I live in
the USA, in Washington D.C, I speak English, and I’ve been learning Italian
for a month, because I would like to visit Italy one of these days.
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Italian Verbs:
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Italian Present Tense
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Regular
verbs
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Irregular
verbs
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Pronouns
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Parlare
(to speak)
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Credere
(to believe)
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Partire
(to leave)
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Finire
(to finish)
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Essere
(to be)
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Avere
(to have)
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I
You
He/She
We
You
They
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Io
Tu
Lui/ lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
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Parlo
Parli
Parla
Parliamo
Parlate
Parlano
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Credo
Credi
Crede
Crediamo
Credete
Credono
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Parto
Parti
Parte
Partiamo
Partite
Partono
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Finisco
Finisci
Finisce
Finiamo
Finite
Finiscono
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Sono
Sei
È
Siamo
Siete
Sono
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Ho
Hai
Ha
Abbiamo
Avete
Hanno
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The table above shows all types of Italian verbs in the
present tense, verbs ending with (~are, ~ere, ~ire, ~ire type two) plus
irregular verbs.
The blue font at the end of the verbs shows the endings that
similar verbs may take, so it’s all about manipulating the endings…
But when it comes to irregular verbs they should be
memorized by heart, since they don’t follow a logic rule.
Note that irregular verbs are used very often, that’s why
you have to focus on them. Also note that the pronouns are optional to use,
since you can understand the subject with the way a verb is conjugated, so for
example: I speak can be either: io parlo, or simply “parlo”.
Note that “Lei” can mean (she or you formal).
Italian Singular to Plural
(Nouns & Adjectives)
Italian nouns and adjectives are different than the English
ones, The Italian noun and adjective take 4 forms, usually nouns &
adjectives take “o” at the end of the singular
masculine, and “a” for singular feminine, for
plural masculine “i”, plural feminine take “e”
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Italian Singular to Plural
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Singular masculine
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Singular feminine
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Plural masculine
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Plural feminine
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Small
Child/ Children
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Piccolo
Bambino
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Piccola
Bambina
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Piccoli
Bambini
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Piccole
Bambine
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However, it’s not always the case, some nouns and adjectives
ending with “e” for example only change to their
plural, the feminine or masculine doesn’t matter to them.
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Italian Singular to Plural
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Singular masculine
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Singular feminine
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Plural masculine
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Plural feminine
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Big
Restaurant
Night
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Grande
Ristorante
--
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Grande
--
Notte
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Grandi
Ristoranti
--
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Grandi
--
Notti
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Other exceptions are:
Nouns and adjectives ending in ~co/~ca
and ~go/~ga are spelt ~chi/~che
and ~ghi/~ghe in the plural; these
modifications are made simply to maintain the same sound in the plural as well
as the singular.
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Singular masculine
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Singular feminine
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Plural masculine
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Plural feminine
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White
Mushroom
Lines
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Bianco
Fungo
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Bianca
--
Riga
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Bianchi
Funghi
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Bianche
--
Righe
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The definite Articles
In Italian the English “the” is expressed in a more specific
way.
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Italian Definite Articles
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Masculine
Singular à
Plural
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Feminine
Singular à
Plural
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il à i (il
bambino (the child) à i bambine
(the children)
lo à gli (used
only before word starting with sc/sp/st/gn/z)
l’ à gli (used
only before vowels l’uomo (the man) à
gli uomini (men)
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la à le (la donna (the woman) à le donne (women)
l’ à le (used
only before vowels, l’isola à le
isole)
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The indefinite Articles
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Italian Indefinite Articles
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Masculine Singular
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Feminine Singular
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Un (a book = un libro)
Uno (used only before word starting with sc/sp/st/gn/z)
example:
(a student = uno studente)
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Una (a woman = una donna)
Un’ (used only before vowels) example:
(a friend = un’amica)
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As you know, the indefinite article doesn’t have plural in
English, but in Italian there is a close way to express it, in English it is
expressed by “some”
A book à books
(no article) or some books. Un libro à libri or dei libri. (you
will learn later how to use the form “del”)
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers:
Italian Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers are simple and easy to
learn:
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Italian Numbers
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Cardinal Numbers
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Ordinal Numbers
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1 = Uno
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11 = Undici
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21 = Ventuno
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87 = Ottantasette
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1st = Primo
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For ordinal numbers after 10 you only need to delete the
last vowel and add ~esimo.
11th = Undicesimo
12th = Dodicesimo
20th = Ventesimo
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2 = Due
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12 = Dodici
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22 = Ventidue
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98 = Novantotto
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2nd = Secondo
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3 = Tre
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13 = Tredici
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23 = Ventitre
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100 = Cento
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3rd = Terzo
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4 = Quattro
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14 = Quattordici
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30 = Trenta
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1000 = Mille
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4th = Quarto
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5 = Cinque
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15 = Quindici
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31 = Tretuno
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2006 = Duemilasei
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5th = Quinto
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6 = Sei
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16 = Sedici
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32 = Trentadue
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A number ending with a vowel + a number starting with a
vowel = 1st one loses it’s vowel example: ventuno 21
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6th = Sesto
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7 = Sette
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17 = Disiasette
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43 = Quarantatre
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7th = Settimo
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8 = Otto
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18 = Diciotto
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54 = Cinquantaquattro
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8th = Ottavo
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9 = Nove
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19 = Diciannove
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65 = Sessantacinque
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9th = Nono
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10 = Dieci
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20 = Venti
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76 = Settantasei
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10th = Decimo
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Telling the time in Italian
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Time in Italian
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Che ore sono? (what time is it?)
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01:00 = È
l’una
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10:45 = Sono le undici meno un quarto
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02:00 = Sono le due
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12:00 = È le
dodici
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03:05 = Sono le tre e cinque
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È mezzogiorno = It’s midday
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04:10 = Sono le quattro e dieci
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È mezzanotte = It’s midnight
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05:15 = Sono le cinque e un quarto
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Note that all time expressions start with sono, except one and twelve o’clock, they both
start with è.
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06:20 = Sono le sei e venti
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07:30 = Sono le sette e mezza
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Writing training:
write the same text I wrote about myself at the beginning of this page, but
this time it should be about you.
Speaking training:
try to read the text you just wrote about yourself out loud, if you find any
difficulty, take a look at the Italian alphabet table.
The Italian Alphabet
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Italian Alphabet
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Aa as in the word “ask”
and never as in the word “able”
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Bb same as in English
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Cc like “tsh” before “i”
or “e”, otherwise like "k” in Creole.
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Dd same as in English
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Ee as in “elevated”
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Ff same as in English
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Gg like the
"dg", before “i” or “e”, otherwise like the "g" in "Good".
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Hh silent most of the
time.
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Ii as in the word “ink”
never as in the word “island”
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Jj as in “Job”, or the “s”
of “pleasure”.
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Kk same as in English
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Ll same as in English
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Mm same as in English
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Nn same as in English
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Oo same as in English “Old”.
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Pp same as in English
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Qq same as in English
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Rr Spanish “r”
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Ss between vowels as “z”,
and as “s” otherwise.
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Tt same as in English not
as sharp.
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Uu as in the “ultra”,
never as in the word “up” or “university”
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Vv same as in English
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Ww as in English,
sometimes as “v”
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Xx same as in English
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Yy same as in English
although rare.
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Zz as in “ts”, or “dz”.
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cc as “tshee” before “i”
and “e”, or as “kee” elsewhere.
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ch like “k” as in “kid”.
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gg as in “dgee” before “I”
and “e”, or as the “gee” in “geese”.
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gh like “g” in “God”
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gli as in “gli”
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gn like “n” in “news”
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qu like “kw” in “quest”
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sc like “sh” before “i”
and “e”, or like “k” elsewhere.
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Note that J- K- W- X- Y
appear mainly in foreign loan words.
Some expressions to read and try
to memorize:
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Italian Expressions
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A Happy New Year
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Buona fine e buon principio
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After you
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Dopo di lèi
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All right
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Va bene
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All the best!
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Tante cose
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And You?
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e tu? e lei? (polite)
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Are you hungry/thirsty.?
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Ha/Hai/Avete fame/sete?
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Are you sure?
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Sei sicuro/a?
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At your service
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A sua disposizióne
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August 15 wish
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Buon Ferragosto
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Be careful
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Attento/a/i/e
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Be happy
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Siate felici
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Be my guest
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Faccia pure
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Be strong
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Sia forte
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Best wishes
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Tanti auguri
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Big/ Small
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Grosso/ Piccolo
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Bless you (after sneezing)
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Salute!
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Bravo
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Bravo/a/i/e
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Call back later.
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Ripròvi più tardi.
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Can I have five kilos of potatoes.
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Posso avere cinque chili di patate?
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Can I Help You?
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Posso aiutarti?/ posso aiutarla (polite)?
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Can I smoke here?
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Si può fumare qui?
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Can You Help Me?
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Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi?
(polite)
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Can You Say It Again?
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Potresti ripetere per favore?/ Potrebbe
ripetere per favore? (polite)
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Can You Speak Slowly?
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Puoi parlare lentamente? Potrebbe parlare
lentamente? (polite)
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Cheer up!
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Ànimo!
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Cheers!
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Salute!
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cloudy
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È nuvoloso
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Come in
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Vènga
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Come on!
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Dai, dagli!
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Come With Me!
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Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite)
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Congratulations!
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Congratulazioni!/ Felicitazióni
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Damn it
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Porca miseria
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Dear Maria/Ricadro, (friendly)
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Cara/o Nina/Bruno, ...
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Dear Mr Giovanni,
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Gentile signor Giovanni,
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Did You Like It Here?
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ti piace qui?
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Did you sleep well?
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Ha/Hai/Avete dormito bene?
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Do as you please. Be my guest
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Si accomodi, prego
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Do you like coffee?
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Le/Ti/Vi piace il caffè?
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Do You Like It?
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Ti piace?
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Do you mind my... smoking?
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Le spiace se... fumo?
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Do you need help?
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Ha/Hai bisogno di aiuto?
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Do You Speak (English/ Italian)?
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Parli (inglese/italiano)?/ Parla
(inglese/italiano)? (polite)
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Do your best
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Fai del tuo mèglio
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Does it bother you if ...?
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Disturbo se ...?
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Doesn't matter
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Fa lo stesso
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Don't mention it
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Come non detto
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Don't Worry!
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non ti preoccupare !
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Enjoy your vacation
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Buone vacanze
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Enjoy! (For meals…)
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Buon appetite!
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Enough
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Basta
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