Italian All-in-One For Dummies (30 page)

madre
(
mah
-dreh) (
mother
)

padre
(
pah
-dreh) (
father
)

genitori
(geh-nee-
toh
-ree) (
parents
)

Discussing What You Do

Che fai?
(keh fahy?) (
What do you do
?) is a common Italian expression that has several nuanced meanings. The context of the conversation or your interlocutor's body language will tell you whether you're being asked the English equivalent of
What's going on; what's new; what's up?
or whether you're being asked what you do for a living. In the latter case, you answer
Faccio il (dottore, tassista, . . .)
(
fahch
-choh eel [doht-
toh
-reh, tahs-
see
-stah, . . . ]) (
I'm a [doctor, taxi driver, . . .]
) or
Sono
(dottore, tassista, . . .)
(
soh
-noh [doht-
toh
-reh, tahs-
see
-stah, . . .]) (
I'm a
[doctor, taxi-driver,
. . .
]
).

Talkin' the Talk

Friends Flavio and Dino are checking in and making plans for the day. (Track 6)

Flavio:
Che fai?

keh
fah
-ee?

What are you up to?

Dino:
Niente. Hai qualche idea?

nyehn
-teh.
Ah
-ee
kwahl
-keh ee-
deh
-ah?

Nothing. Any ideas?

Flavio:
No. Fa anche freddo, non saprei proprio . . .

noh. fah
ahn
-keh
frehd
-doh, nohn sah-
preh
-ee
proh
-pryoh . . .

No. And it's also cold, I wouldn't know . . .

Dino:
Sai se gli altri fanno qualcosa?

sah
-ee seh lyee
ahl
-tree
fahn
-noh kwahl-
koh
-zah?

Do you know if they [our friends] have any plans for today?

Flavio:
Possiamo chiamarli. Chissà, si può andare tutti al cinema.

pohs-
syah
-moh kyah-
mah
-reh. kees-
sah
, see pwoh ahn-
dah
-reh
toot
-tee ahl
chee
-neh-mah.

We can call them. Maybe we can all go to the movies.

 

Talking shop

Work is such a big part of so many people's lives, it's something you may want to be able to talk about when you're in Italy and getting to know people you've just met.

The verb
lavorare
(lah-voh-
rah
-reh) (
to work
) will be useful, as will these other key phrases:

Che lavoro vuoi fare da grande?
(keh lah-
voh
-roh vwohi
fah
-reh dah
grahn
-deh?) (
What work would you like to do when you are older/grow up?
)

Cosa vuoi diventare?
(
koh
-zah vwohi dee-vehn-
tah
-reh?) (
What do you want to be?
)

Che lavoro fa/fai?
(keh lah-
voh
-roh fah/fahy?) (
What work/job do you do?
[formal/informal])

Che mestiere fa/fai?
(keh mehs-
tyeh
-reh fah/fahy?) (
What work do you do?
[formal/informal])

You can generally answer this question in two ways (note the verbs and the use of the definite article in the first example):

Faccio il/la dentista.
(
fach
-choh il/lah dehn-
tees
-tah.) (
I'm a dentist.
[masculine/feminine])

Sono dentista.
(
soh
-noh dehn-
tees
-tah.) (
I'm a dentist.
)

Discussing your job

Italian has at least three words for
company
—
la compagnia
(lah kohm-pah-
nyee
-ah),
la ditta
(lah
deet
-tah) (which also means
the firm
), and
la società
(lah soh-cheh-
tah
). These words are virtually interchangeable.

L'ufficio
(loohf-
fee
-choh) is Italian for
office.
The following sentences give you a taste of the phrases you hear in
uffici
(oohf-
fee
-chee) (
offices
) everywhere:

È una grande società?
(eh
ooh
-nah
grahn
-deh soh-cheh-
tah?
) (
Is it a big company?
)

Non proprio, diciamo media.
(nohn
proh
-pryoh, dee-
chah
-moh
meh
-dyah.) (
Not really, let's say medium-sized.
)

Lavoro per una piccola agenzia.
(lah-
voh
-roh pehr
ooh
-nah
peek
-koh-lah ah-jehn-
tsee
-ah.) (
I work for a small company.
)

Mi piace il mio lavoro.
(mee
pyah
-cheh eel
mee
-oh lah-
voh
-roh.) (
I like my job.
)

Table 4-1
shows some of the professions and careers with which you may be familiar.

Table 4-1 Professions/Jobs