LinguaGreeting, name, origin: a whole introduction
A full introduction in Italian has three steps. Greet by the time of day – buongiorno, buonasera, or ciao with friends. Give your name with mi chiamo or sono. Then say where you are from and where you live: sono di + city, abito a + city, and if you like, your nationality and your languages: Sono russa e parlo inglese. The other person answers Piacere!, and at the end you leave with arrivederci or a presto.
| Pronoun | essere (to be) | abitare (to live) | parlare (to speak) |
|---|---|---|---|
| io | sono | abito | parlo |
| tu | sei | abiti | parli |
| lui, lei, Lei | è | abita | parla |
Tu or Lei: the same question twice
Every question of this unit has a tu form and a Lei form. With Lei, the verb is the one of “he” and “she”, and ti becomes si. Choose by the person, not by the question: a child, a friend, a classmate – tu; a stranger, an older person, someone at work – Lei.
| tu (informal) | Lei (polite) |
|---|---|
| Come ti chiami? | Come si chiama? |
| Come stai? | Come sta? |
| Di dove sei? | Di dov'è? |
| Dove abiti? | Dove abita? |
| Scusa! | Scusi! |
| E tu? | E Lei? |
– Scusi, Lei di dov'è? – Sono di Bari. E Lei?– Excuse me, where are you from? – I’m from Bari. And you?
Three traps before the checkpoint
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| chiamarsi | to be called | Mi chiamo Pietro, piacere. My name is Pietro, nice to meet you. |
| piacere | nice to meet you | Piacere, sono Elena Bruni. Nice to meet you, I’m Elena Bruni. |
| arrivederci | goodbye | Arrivederci, a domani! Goodbye, see you tomorrow! |
| essere | to be | Tu sei di Genova? Are you from Genoa? |
| abitare | to live (somewhere) | Giulia abita a Torino. Giulia lives in Turin. |
| parlare | to speak | Paolo parla inglese e tedesco. Paolo speaks English and German. |
| di dove | where from | Scusi, di dov'è? Excuse me, where are you from? |
| come stai | how are you? (informal) | Ciao, Ivan, come stai? Hi, Ivan, how are you? |
| scusi | sorry, excuse me (polite) | Scusi, Lei è italiano? Excuse me, are you Italian? |
| Lei (formale) | you (polite) | Lei parla francese? Do you speak French? |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
At nine in the morning you meet your teacher, an older woman. What do you say?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.