Italian All-in-One For Dummies (72 page)

Playing and Watching Sports

Playing and talking about sports is a favored pastime of people the world over. And whether you travel to Italy, invite your Italian neighbor to play tennis, or just want to practice your Italian with a friend, knowing sports terms is always helpful.

Using the right names and verbs for sports talk

Some sports you
do
in Italian. Therefore, you pair those words with
fare
(
fah
-reh) (
to do, to practice
). With other sports, however, you must use
giocare
(joh-
kah
-reh) (
to play
) or
andare
(ahn-
dah
-reh) (
to go
). Then you have verbs that describe the sport itself, like
pattinare
(paht-tee-
nah
-reh) (
to skate
).
Table 3-1
lists the most common sports and the verbs you use with them.

Table 3-1 Sports Verbs

Le ragazze
(leh rah-
gaht
-tseh) (
girls
) don't play
calcio
in Italy the way they do in other countries, but they do play
pallavolo.
Many
ragazzi
(rah-
gaht
-tsee) (
boys
) play
calcio,
and men play
calcetto
(kahl-
cheht
-toh), also called
calcio a cinque
(
kahl
-choh ah
cheen
-kweh), which is five-against-five soccer, often played indoors on a smaller field. Then there's
bocce
(
bohch
-cheh) (
lawn bowling
). Many towns offer small
bocce
courts where older men usually play.

The following conjugations are for the three important sports verbs:
fare,
andare,
and
giocare.

Here are some examples, using the list of sports from
Table 3-1
and the correct verb conjugations:

Le ragazze che fanno danza hanno molta grazia ed eleganza.
(leh rah-
gaht
-tseh keh
fahn
-noh
dahn
-dzah
ahn
-noh
mohl
-tah
grah
-tsyah ehd eh-leh-
gahn
-tsah.) (
Girls who dance have a lot of grace and elegance.
)

So andare a cavallo, ma non so andare in bicicletta.
(soh ahn-
dah
-reh ah kah-
vahl
-loh, mah nohn soh ahn-
dah
-reh een bee-chee-
kleht
-tah.) (
I can ride a horse, but I can't ride a bike
.)

Pochi Italiani giocano a golf, ma moltissimi giocano a calcio.
(
poh
-kee ee-tah-
lyah
-nee
joh
-kah-noh ah gohlf, mah mohl-
tees
-see-mee
joh
-kah-noh ah
kahl
-choh.) (
Few Italians play golf, but many play soccer.
)

Talkin' the Talk

Giulia and Stefano have just met at the university and found out that they live in the same neighborhood. On the way to the bus stop, Stefano strikes up a conversation about his favorite topic — sports. (Track 20)

Stefano:
Che sport pratichi?

keh sport
prah
-tee-kee?

What sports do you play?

Giulia:
Faccio nuoto e vado a cavallo.

fahch
-choh
nwoh
-toh eh
vah
-doh ah kah-
vahl
-loh.

I swim and ride.

Stefano:
Equitazione?

eh-kwee-tah-
tsyoh
-neh?

Riding?

Giulia:
È il mio sport preferito.

eh
eel
mee
-oh sport preh-feh-
ree
-toh.

It's my favorite sport.

Giochi a tennis?

joh
-kee ah
tehn
-nees?

Do you play tennis?

Stefano:
No, faccio palestra.

noh,
fahch
-choh pah-
lehs
-trah.

No, I go to the gym.

Giulia:
Body building?

boh
-dee
beel
-deeng?

Body building?

Stefano:
Uso le machine come il tapis roulant in inverno e corro in pineta in estate.

ooh
-zoh leh
mahk
-kee-neh
koh
-meh eel tah-
pee
rooh-
lahn
een een-
vehr
-noh eh
kohr
-roh een pee-
neh
-tah een eh-
stah
-teh.

I use the machines, like the treadmill in the winter, and I run in the pine forest in the summer.

 

Italians use the French word
tapis roulant
for treadmill.