{"id":1121,"date":"2011-11-09T17:22:56","date_gmt":"2011-11-09T17:22:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2015-10-05T20:59:19","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T18:59:19","slug":"tu-and-lei-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/tu-and-lei-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Tu and Lei – Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Italian we have two main forms of addressing people: the informal tu<\/strong> and the formal lei<\/strong>. We normally use tu<\/strong> with family, friends, and children. Lei<\/strong> is used with people we don\u2019t know, and professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, the police etc. Have a look at the following examples in which the informal is highlighted in red<\/span> and the formal in blue<\/span>:<\/p>\n

Ciao! Come stai<\/span>?<\/span> <\/strong>= Hi! How are you?<\/p>\n

Buongiorno come sta<\/span>?<\/strong> = Good day, how are you?<\/p>\n

Ti<\/span> \u00e8 piaciuto il film? <\/strong>= did you like the film?<\/p>\n

Le<\/span> \u00e8 piaciuto il film? <\/strong>= did you like the film?<\/p>\n

As you can see from the above examples, two main grammatical changes take place: 1. the verb<\/u>, in this case stare<\/strong> (to be), changes from the informal stai<\/strong><\/span> (<\/span>second person singular)<\/span><\/span><\/span> to the formal sta<\/strong><\/span> (<\/span>third person singular),<\/span><\/span><\/span> and 2. the personal pronoun<\/u>, ti <\/strong><\/span>(to you) <\/span>in the informal form changes to le<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>(to you) in the formal form.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s look at some common forms of greeting and a few sentences which illustrate the difference between using the tu<\/strong><\/span> and using the lei<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Informal<\/em><\/td>\nFormal<\/em><\/td>\nTranslation<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Piacere di <\/strong>conoscer<\/span>ti <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nPiacere di conoscerla<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nPleased to meet you<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Come ti <\/span>chiami<\/span>? <\/strong><\/td>\nCome si<\/span> chiama<\/span>? <\/strong><\/td>\nWhat is your name?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Che lavoro fai<\/span>? <\/strong><\/td>\nChe lavoro fa<\/span>?<\/strong><\/td>\nWhat is your job?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dove abiti<\/span>? <\/strong><\/td>\nDove abita<\/span>?<\/strong><\/td>\nWhere do you live?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sei<\/span> sposato\/a? <\/strong><\/td>\n\u00c8<\/span> sposato\/a?<\/strong><\/td>\nAre you married?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hai<\/span> figli? <\/strong><\/td>\nHa<\/span> figli?<\/strong><\/td>\nDo you have any children?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sai<\/span> che ora \u00e8? <\/strong><\/td>\nSa<\/span> che ora \u00e8? <\/strong><\/td>\nDo you know what time?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mi puoi<\/span> dire se c\u2019\u00e8 una banca qui vicino? <\/strong><\/td>\nMi pu\u00f2<\/span> dire se c\u2019\u00e8 una banca qui vicino? <\/strong><\/td>\nCan you tell me if there is a bank near here?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ti<\/span> <\/span>dispiace aspettarmi un attimo? <\/strong><\/td>\nLe<\/span> <\/span>dispiace aspettarmi un attimo? <\/strong><\/td>\nDo you mind waiting for me a moment?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ti<\/span> <\/span>chiamo pi\u00f9 tardi<\/strong><\/td>\nLa<\/span> chiamo pi\u00f9 tardi<\/strong><\/td>\nI\u2019ll call you later<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A te<\/span> piace il caff\u00e8?<\/strong><\/td>\nA lei<\/span> piace il caff\u00e8?<\/strong><\/td>\nDo you like coffee?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ti <\/span>andrebbe un aperitivo?<\/strong><\/td>\nLe<\/span> andrebbe un aperitivo?<\/strong><\/td>\nWould you like an aperitif?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quanto ti <\/span>devo?<\/strong><\/td>\nQuanto le <\/span>devo?<\/strong><\/td>\nHow much do I owe you?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vuoi<\/span> lavarti<\/span> le mani?<\/strong><\/td>\nVuole<\/span> lavarsi<\/span> le mani?<\/strong><\/td>\nWould you like to wash your hands?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

In Part 2<\/a><\/strong><\/span> we\u2019ll have a look at the changes that take place when we give polite orders such as \u2018take the next road on the left\u2019, and so on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Italian we have two main forms of addressing people: the informal tu and the formal lei. We normally use tu with family, friends, and children. Lei is used with people we don\u2019t know, and professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, the police etc. Have a look at the following examples in which the informal is…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59022,59023,59024],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-italian-formal-and-informal-ways-of-addressing-people","tag-italian-lei-form","tag-italian-tu-form"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t