{"id":8826,"date":"2015-03-16T18:29:52","date_gmt":"2015-03-16T17:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=8826"},"modified":"2015-03-16T18:29:52","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T17:29:52","slug":"asking-for-directions-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/asking-for-directions-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking For Directions \u2013 Part One"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was in my early twenties I spent 3 months travelling by foot, bus, train, and facendo l\u2019autostop<\/strong> (hitch hiking) around the UK and mainland Europe. At that time I was pretty much monolingual, and yet I managed to successfully navigate myself through at least ten non-English speaking countries without too many problems, before finally ending up in Portugal. I arrived in Coimbra, Portugal in 1984,\u00a0alone, and with only my little rucksack containing a toothbrush and change of clothes on my back. By the time I left Portugal, roughly three months later, I had begun to acquire my first \u2018second language\u2019 (does that make sense?), and met my first wife \u2026 but that\u2019s another story \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

When I look back on those days I often ask myself: \u201chow did I manage?\u201d Well, I guess I used the tactics that most of us use when we arrive in a country\u00a0where we don\u2019t speak the language: I smiled a lot, pointed a lot, nodded and shook my head a lot, and where possible always tried to add in at least one word in the local language \u2026 \u201ckali\u0331m\u00e9ra\u201d \u2026 \u201cbonjour\u201d \u2026 \u201cgutten morgen\u201d \u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

But there comes a time when those primitive strategies don\u2019t suffice or satisfy any more. Some of us, such as you dear readers, feel the need to move beyond those superficial encounters. And hence, we study languages.
\nLet\u2019s take a look at a few simple scenarios in which you need to ask for directions in Italian. Today, we\u2019ll concentrate on some rather generic questions, and in part two\u00a0we\u2019ll deal with the even more complicated topic of understanding the replies.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Finding a Toilet:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

scusi, c\u2019\u00e8 un bagno\/una toilette\/un gabinetto\u00a0qui vicino?<\/strong> = excuse me, is there a toilet nearby?
\n<\/span>scusi, dov\u2019\u00e8\u00a0il bagno\/la toilette\/il gabinetto\u00a0per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, where is\u00a0the toilet please?
\nN.B. <\/span>Public toilets are often few and far between in Italy, therefore you\u2019ll find that your only option is going to a bar and using theirs, in which case you\u2019ll need to ask: scusi, posso usare il bagno\/la toilette\/il gabinetto\u00a0per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, can I use the toilet please? Of course, it\u2019s more polite if you also order something.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Finding the Railway Station or a Bus<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

scusi, dov\u2019\u00e8 la stazione per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, where is the railway station please?
\nscusi, mi pu\u00f2 dire come arrivare alla stazione per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the railway station please?
\nIf you are looking for the bus station then you\u2019ll need to ask for la stazione degli autobus
\n<\/strong>You may also want ask for la fermata dell\u2019autobus<\/strong>\u00a0= the bus stop, e.g.
\n<\/span>scusi, dov\u2019\u00e8 la fermata dell\u2019autobus\u00a0per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, where is the\u00a0bus stop\u00a0please?<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Finding a Museum\/Gallery\/Monument etc.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Russell<\/a>

Russell Crowe demonstrates how NOT to ask for directions in Italian<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

scusi, come si arriva all\u2019anfiteatro per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, how do\u00a0you get (literally: how does one arrive)<\/em>\u00a0to the amphitheatre please?
\nscusi, quanto dista il duomo?<\/strong> =\u00a0excuse me, how far is it to\u00a0the Cathedral?
\nscusi, dove si trova La Pinacoteca Nazionale per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, where is the National Art Gallery please?
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Finding Your Lodgings<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

scusi, mi pu\u00f2 dire dove si trova L\u2019Hotel Napoleone per piacere?<\/strong> = excuse me, can you tell me where the Hotel Napoleon is please?
\nscusi, come arrivo all\u2019Albergo Universo per favore?<\/strong> = excuse me, how do I get to the Albergo Universo please?
\nscusi, dove si trova l\u2019ostello della giovent\u00f9 per piacere?<\/strong> = excuse me, where is the youth hostel please?<\/span><\/p>\n

Summary and Notes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

scusi<\/strong> is the third person singular subjunctive (polite form) of scusare<\/strong> = to excuse. You will need to use scusate<\/strong> (plural) when addressing more than one person.<\/span><\/p>\n

c\u2019\u00e8<\/strong>\u00a0 = is there<\/span><\/p>\n

ci sono<\/strong> = are there<\/span><\/p>\n

mi pu\u00f2 dire<\/strong> = can you tell me, you will want to use mi potete dire<\/strong> (plural) if speaking to more than one person<\/span><\/p>\n

dov\u2019\u00e8<\/strong> = where is (composed of the words dove<\/strong> = where, and \u00e8<\/strong> = is)<\/span><\/p>\n

dove sono<\/strong> = where are<\/span><\/p>\n

dove si trova<\/strong> = where is (literally: where does one find)<\/span><\/p>\n

come si arriva<\/strong> = how do you get to (literally: how does one arrive at)<\/span><\/p>\n

come arrivo a<\/strong>\u00a0= how do you I get to (literally: how do I arrive at)<\/span><\/p>\n

quanto dista<\/strong> = how far is it<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>coming soon \u2026. the replies.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

When I was in my early twenties I spent 3 months travelling by foot, bus, train, and facendo l\u2019autostop (hitch hiking) around the UK and mainland Europe. At that time I was pretty much monolingual, and yet I managed to successfully navigate myself through at least ten non-English speaking countries without too many problems, before…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":8827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[351140,376813],"class_list":["post-8826","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-asking-directions-in-italian","tag-getting-around-in-italy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826","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=8826"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8834,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8826\/revisions\/8834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}