{"id":200,"date":"2009-11-09T08:00:19","date_gmt":"2009-11-09T12:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=200"},"modified":"2009-11-09T08:00:19","modified_gmt":"2009-11-09T12:00:19","slug":"colloquial-italian-%e2%80%93-2-allora-and-dunque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/colloquial-italian-%e2%80%93-2-allora-and-dunque\/","title":{"rendered":"Colloquial Italian \u2013 2. Allora and Dunque"},"content":{"rendered":"

In part two of my Colloquial Italian series I\u2019m going to continue exploring those little everyday words that we Italians use all the time, but which are often overlooked in classes and text books. Learning how and where to use them will help to make your spoken Italian sound much more natural.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two words which I have chosen today, allora<\/strong> and dunque<\/strong>, both have more or less the same meaning, and most of the time it is a matter of personal choice which one you use. I, for example tend to use allora<\/strong> more frequently than dunque<\/strong>, and I was well known when I taught Italian in England for starting every other sentence with \u2018allora, oggi studieremo\u2026<\/strong>\u2019 (well then, today we\u2019ll study\u2026), or \u2018allora, adesso facciamo\u2026<\/strong>\u2019 (so, now we\u2019ll do\u2026), etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allora<\/strong> has the following meanings: \u2018then\u2019, \u2018well then\u2019, \u2018in that case\u2019, \u2018therefore\u2019, \u2018so\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here are a few examples to give you a feeling for how it is used:<\/span><\/p>\n

Non sei ancora pronto? allora<\/span> ti aspetter\u00f2<\/strong> (aren\u2019t you ready yet? in that case<\/span> I\u2019ll wait for you)<\/span><\/p>\n

allora<\/span>, siamo d\u2019accordo?<\/strong> (well then<\/span>, are we in agreement?)<\/span><\/p>\n

Franco:<\/em> \u2018Purtroppo non sono riuscito a prenotare un tavolo a quel ristorante\u2019<\/strong> Laura: \u2018<\/em>e allora<\/span>, dove andiamo stasera?\u2019<\/strong> (Franco:<\/em> \u2018Unfortunately I didn\u2019t manage to book a table at that restaurant\u2019 Laura: \u2018<\/em>and so\u2026<\/span>, where are we going this evening?\u2019)<\/span><\/p>\n

Allora is also used in several common expressions with the meaning of \u2018then\u2019, or \u2018that time\u2019:<\/span><\/p>\n

da allora<\/strong> (since then) e.g. \u2026e da allora<\/span><\/strong> non l\u2019ho visto <\/strong>(\u2026and I haven\u2019t seen him since then<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

da allora in poi<\/strong> (from then onwards, or from that time onwards) e.g. …e da allora in poi<\/span> ha continuato a funzionare <\/strong>(\u2026and it has continued working from that time onwards<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

fino allora<\/strong> (until then, or until that time) e.g non ci ero mai stato fino allora<\/span><\/strong> (I\u2019d never been there until then<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

proprio allora<\/strong> (right then, at that very moment) e.g. …e proprio allora<\/span> \u00e8 entrata Federica!<\/strong> (and at that very moment<\/span> Federica came in!)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunque<\/strong> also has the meaning of \u2018then\u2019, \u2018well then\u2019, \u2018in that case\u2019, \u2018therefore\u2019, \u2018so\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a very famous example: penso, dunque<\/span> sono<\/strong> (I think, therefore<\/span> I am)<\/span><\/p>\n

dunque<\/span>, andiamo in pizzeria stasera?<\/strong> (well then<\/span>, are we going to the pizzeria this evening?)<\/span><\/p>\n

use dunque if you are picking up the thread of a conversation e.g. dunque<\/span>\u2026 mi stavi raccontando delle tue vacanze<\/strong> (so<\/span>\u2026 you were telling me about your holiday)<\/span><\/p>\n

you can also use it in exclamatory phrases e.g. dimmi dunque<\/span>!<\/strong> (tell me then<\/span>!)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As you can see from the examples, dunque and allora are mostly interchangeable and you will probably end up having a preference for one or the other. As I said, I tend to use \u2018allora\u2019 a lot but\u00a0my mother, on the other hand, uses \u2018dunque\u2019. Both words are used very commonly when you are having a conversation and are thinking about what you\u2019re going to say next, a bit like saying \u2018hmmm now let me think\u2026\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

allora\u2026<\/strong>\u00a0non so cosa altro\u00a0dirvi!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In part two of my Colloquial Italian series I\u2019m going to continue exploring those little everyday words that we Italians use all the time, but which are often overlooked in classes and text books. Learning how and where to use them will help to make your spoken Italian sound much more natural. The two words…<\/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":[6,619],"tags":[627,681],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","category-italian-language","tag-allora","tag-dunque"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}