{"id":7337,"date":"2014-10-01T13:47:26","date_gmt":"2014-10-01T13:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=7337"},"modified":"2014-10-01T15:08:35","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T15:08:35","slug":"why-cant-the-italians-speak-proper-italian-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/why-cant-the-italians-speak-proper-italian-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Can’t The Italians Speak ‘Proper’ Italian"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2026 just like I learnt in my grammar book?<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

I know that I mention this topic frequently but I\u2019m very aware that the difference between \u2018exercise\u2019 book Italian and colloquial Italian is a major source of frustration for students. A reader recently asked me to write more posts highlighting some of the frequently used expressions that you rarely find in grammar books. Today I\u2019ve chosen three such expressions. Let\u2019s see how they\u2019re used in everyday speech:<\/p>\n

1. It could be<\/strong><\/u><\/font><\/p>\n

Grammar books will probably give you potrebbe essere<\/strong> or forse<\/strong>, but a very common way of saying \u2018it could be\u2019, \u2018maybe\u2019, \u2018perhaps\u2019, etc. is pu\u00f2 darsi<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201cPensi che domani far\u00e0 bello?\u201d – \u201cBoh, pu\u00f2 darsi\u201d<\/strong> = \u201cDo you think the weather will be nice tomorrow?\u201d – \u201cwell, maybe\u201d<\/p>\n

pu\u00f2 darsi che ci siano rimaste due uova in frigo<\/strong> = there could be two eggs left in the fridge<\/p>\n

We also say pu\u00f2 anche darsi<\/strong>, meaning \u2018it may well be\u2019, \u2018it could also be\u2019:<\/p>\n

pu\u00f2 anche darsi che il pacco non sia mai arrivato <\/strong>= it could also be that the parcel never arrived<\/p>\n

2. I\u2019ll take a look<\/strong><\/u><\/font><\/p>\n

Instead of using the grammatically correct guardare<\/strong> (to look), we tend to use the expression dare un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> (literally: to give a glance):<\/p>\n

potresti dare un\u2019occhiata al mio orologio che non funziona pi\u00f9? <\/strong>= could you take a look at my watch because it\u2019s not working any more?<\/p>\n

devo dare un\u2019occhiata a quella lettera dalla banca <\/strong>= I have to take a look at that letter from the bank<\/p>\n

Here are two examples in which the indirect object is substituted by the pronoun ci<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u201cPotresti dare un\u2019occhiata al mio orologio che non funziona pi\u00f9?\u201d \u201cS\u00ec, ci do un\u2019occhiata sto pomeriggio\u201d <\/strong>= \u201ccould you take a look at my watch because it\u2019s not working any more?\u201d \u2013 \u201cyes, I’ll take a look at it this afternoon\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHai visto quella lettera dalla banca?\u201d \u201cS\u00ec, adesso ci do un\u2019occhiata\u201d<\/strong> =  \u201cHave you seen that letter from the bank?\u201d \u2013 \u201cYes, I\u2019ll take a look at it now\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"watch\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
potresti dare un\u2019occhiata al mio orologio che non funziona pi\u00f9? Photo (CC) by <\/strong><\/font><\/em>col_adamson<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Here are a couple of examples of the conjugations for this construction:<\/p>\n

Presente<\/strong> = Present tense:<\/font><\/u>
io ci do un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = I take a look at it 
tu ci dai un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = you (singular) take a look at it 
lui\/lei ci d\u00e0 un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = he\/she takes a look at it  
noi ci diamo un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = we take a look at it 
voi ci date un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = you (plural) take a look at it 
loro ci danno un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = they take a look at it<\/p>\n

Passato Prossimo<\/strong> = Present Perfect:
<\/font><\/u>io ci ho dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = I took a look at it
tu ci hai dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> =  you (singular) took a look at it
lui\/lei ci ha dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = he\/she took a look at it
noi ci abbiamo dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = we took a look at it
voi ci avete dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = you (plural) took a look at it
loro ci hanno dato un\u2019occhiata<\/strong> = they took a look at it<\/p>\n

3. I\u2019ll show you<\/strong><\/u><\/font><\/p>\n

Grammatically, you\u2019d expect to use mostrare <\/strong>when talking about showing, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. But the most frequently used expression is far vedere qualcosa a qualcuno<\/strong> (N.B. we drop the final \u2013e<\/strong> in fare<\/strong>). Here\u2019re some examples using this expression:<\/p>\n

devo andare dal dottore a fargli vedere gli esami del sangue<\/strong> = I\u2019ve got to go to the doctor and show him the results of my blood test<\/p>\n

Claudio mi ha fatto vedere delle bellissime foto dell\u2019Umbria<\/strong> = Claudio showed me some beautiful photos of Umbria<\/p>\n

fammi vedere cos\u2019hai in mano<\/strong> = show me what you\u2019ve got in your hand<\/p>\n

\u201cHo trovato cinquanta euro!\u201d – \u201cNon ci credo, fammeli vedere!\u201d<\/strong> = \u201cI\u2019ve found fifty euros\u201d \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t believe it, show me (them)\u201d<\/p>\n

e adesso vi faccio vedere la nostra micina<\/strong> = and now I\u2019ll show you our little kitten<\/p>\n

se vieni con noi ti facciamo vedere un bellissimo posto sulla costa ligure<\/strong> = if you come with us I\u2019ll show you a beautiful place on the Liguria coast<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Lig<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
se vieni con noi ti facciamo vedere un bellissimo posto sulla costa ligure. Photo: La Chiesa di San Giorgio, Tellaro by Geoff Chamberlain\u00a9<\/em><\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

N.B.<\/strong> because we say \u2018show something to<\/u> someone\u2019 it is important to use the correct indirect object.<\/font><\/font> For the use of indirect objects you may find<\/font> THIS BLOG<\/font><\/strong><\/a> useful.<\/font> Here are some examples:<\/p>\n

far vedere a Giorgio <\/strong>or fargli<\/font> vedere<\/strong> = show (to) Giorgio, show him<\/p>\n

far vedere a noi<\/strong> or farci<\/font> vedere<\/strong> = show (to) us, show us<\/p>\n

far vedere a voi<\/strong> or farvi<\/font> vedere<\/strong> = show (to) you (plural), show you (plural)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

\u2026 just like I learnt in my grammar book? I know that I mention this topic frequently but I\u2019m very aware that the difference between \u2018exercise\u2019 book Italian and colloquial Italian is a major source of frustration for students. A reader recently asked me to write more posts highlighting some of the frequently used expressions…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":7346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[668],"class_list":["post-7337","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-colloquial-italian"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337","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\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7337"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7350,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7337\/revisions\/7350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}