Italian All-in-One For Dummies (147 page)

Ci fa il conto?
(
Could you get us the check?
)

Non si fa.
(
One doesn't do that.
)

Fa bene/male.
(
It's good for you/bad for you.
)

Fallo pure!
(
Just do it!
)

Fa bel/brutto tempo.
(
It's nice weather/nasty weather.
)

Idiomatic expressions with dare and stare

As is the case with many irregular verbs,
dare
and
stare
both create idiomatic speech. For example,
dare noia a
and
dare fastidio a
both mean
to annoy or bother:
Il fratellino mi dà fastidio!
(
My little brother annoys me!
) When you meet someone
tu dai la mano a lui
(
you shake hands with him
).

You may begin conversations with new acquaintances, using the formal form of address (a wise move when dealing with anyone in a position of authority). One of you may say, probably sooner rather than later,
Ma ci diamo del tu
(
Let's use the informal
). To feed your pet,
Gli dai da mangiare
(
You are giving him food
). Perhaps you want a mechanic to look over your car's engine or a friend to look over something you've done. In both cases, that person
dà un'occhiata
(
looks over
) whatever you need evaluated. In a moment, that's probably counterintuitive to English speakers, to
take
an exam is, in Italian, to
give
an exam:
Loro danno un esame oggi.
(
They are taking an exam today
).

Other idiomatic phrases or expressions with
stare
include the following:

stare fresco
(
to be in trouble
)

stare sulle spine
(
to be on pins and needles
)

stare attento a
(
to be careful; to watch out for
)

Ci sto!
(
I'm game!
)

Chapter 3

Using Reflexive Forms and the Imperative Mood

In This Chapter

Understanding reflexive verbs

Using commands formally and informally

V
erbs come in a variety of tenses (such as past, present, and future), moods (imperative and indicative), and voices (passive or active). They tell you who is doing something and what is happening.

Sometimes verbs reflect the action right back onto the subject, by way of a pronoun. These verbs are called
reflexive
verbs. They're more common in Italian than in English, and you'll find yourself using them frequently to describe everyday actions.

This chapter focuses on how reflexive verbs are used throughout the day in Italian. It also covers another type of common verbs, conjugated in the imperative mood. You use imperative verbs to issue commands, give orders, or deliver instructions.

Reflecting on Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are introverted. They direct the action characteristic of verbs back on their subjects by way of a pronoun. That means that the subject both gives and receives the action of the verb. In English, it's like saying, “I call myself Mary,” instead of the more linear, “My name is Mary.”

Reflexive verbs appear much more frequently
in Italian than in English. From waking up (
svegliarsi
) to falling asleep (
addormentarsi
), in Italian, you use reflexive verbs all through the day.

These verbs are easy to recognize in the infinitive form because the standard
-are,
-ere,
and
-ire
endings drop the final
e
and finish with
si.
For example,
chiamarsi
(
to be called
),
alzarsi
(
to get up
), and
domandarsi
(
to wonder
) (literally:
to ask oneself
). The conjugations of reflexive verbs follow the normal pattern for all tenses of
-are,
-ere,
and
-ire
verbs, but they're preceded by reflexive pronouns.

The following sections show you how to use reflexive pronouns and verbs, including how to pair them together, and guide you through the reciprocal form and the impersonal
si.

Pairing reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs

To use a reflexive verb, you need the reflexive pronouns.
Table 3-1
lists the Italian reflexive pronouns and their English equivalents.

Table 3-1 Reflexive Pronouns

When you're building a sentence with reflexive pronouns, you put the reflexive pronoun after the personal subject pronoun (if used, which you usually don't in this case) and before the conjugated verb form. For example,
io mi alzo
uses the subject pronoun
io
(
I
) and follows it with the reflexive pronoun
mi
(
myself
) and the conjugated verb
alzo
(
get up
). The reflexive pronoun is part of the appropriate verb conjugation.

The following table shows the conjugation of the reflexive verb
chiamarsi
(
to call oneself
)
.
This verb is the most common of reflexive verbs and is probably the first one you'll use when introducing yourself to strangers in Italian.

For example: Use
Come si chiama?
(
What is your name?
[formal]) and
Come ti chiami?
(
What's your name?
[familiar]) to begin conversations. And after you ask someone else's name, it's nice to be able to offer your own:
Mi chiamo . . .
(
My name is . . .
).

Come si chiama
also means
What is his/her/its/your
[formal]
name?
For example:

Come si chiama quella signora?
(
What is that woman's name?
)

Che bel gatto! Come si chiama?
(
What a beautiful cat! What's its name?
)

Come si chiama quella trattoria?
(
What's the name of that restaurant?
)

The importance of reflexive pronouns becomes clear if you consider that almost all reflexive verbs have nonreflexive forms and functions. Compare the use of the following verbs in their reflexive and nonreflexive forms:

Io mi sveglio alle sei, poi sveglio i bambini.
(
I wake up at six, and then I wake up the children.
)

Mi vesto, poi vesto i bambini perché i bambini sono piccoli e non sanno vestirsi.
(
I dress myself, and then I dress the children because the children are little and don't know how to dress themselves.
)

Mi diverto quando diverto i bambini.
(
I have fun when I amuse the children.
)

Using reflexive verbs throughout the day

Reflexive verbs carry you through the day. Although they may be introverted, they're also responsible. All the actions they portray carry right back to the subject.

To begin the day, you can use these verbs:

alzarsi
(
to get up
)

farsi il bagno/la doccia
(
to take a bath/shower
)