How Italian works

Asking and giving names

More about greetings

Come ti chiami?
Mi chiamo Angelo.
Mi chiamo Angela.

Whats your name?

My name is Angelo.
My name is Angela.

Use ciao when you want to say a casual `hi or `bye.

Come si chiama?
Si chiama Angelo.
Si chiama Angela.

Whats his/her name?

His name is Angelo.
Her name is Angela.

Use buongiorno and arrivederci when you want to

sound a little more polite or formal.

Ciao Massimo!
Ciao Barbara!

Mr, Mrs and Ms

Questo il signor Lando. This is Mr Lando.

Buongiorno signor Lando.

Arrivederci signora Berti.
Buongiorno signore.
Buongiorno signora.

Hello, Mr Lando.
Goodbye, Mrs Berti.
Good morning, sir.
Good morning, madam.

pa
ge
s

When youre talking about an adult as Mr, Mrs or Ms,

you put il before signor(e) and la before signora and
signorina. You use signorina for a young woman whos
not married.

Hi, Massimo!
See you, Barbara!

Questa la signora Berti. This is Mrs (Ms) Berti.

Ecco la signorina Rocca! Theres Miss (Ms) Rocca!

Do we have different greeting words in English for

formal and informal situations? What are some
of the casual greetings you use with your friends?
Do you use the same greetings with their parents?

Warm up

Claudia

pl
e

Practice makes perfect

Practise saying the names of these six cartoon characters.

Bruno

Sa

Seriously speaking

1 Your partner points to each of the three kids and asks their name.
Unfortunately, they cant talk, so youll have to speak for them.

Il signor
Lando

La signora
Berti

otto

Come ti chiami?
Mi chiamo Valentino.

2 Your teacher or partner will introduce each of the adults. Practise saying `hello!
to them.

Valentino

La signorina
Rocca

Teacher/partner:
You:

Teacher/partner:
You:

Questo il signor Lando.

Buongiorno signore!

3 Your teacher plays the part of the adults she/he points to and says Ciao! Work
out from the tone of voice she/he used, whether to reply `Hello or `Goodbye.
Then you can take it in turns with your partner to play the adult role.

Teacher/partner:
You:

Ciao!
Buongiorno signor Lando.
or
Arrivederci signor Lando.

Capitolo 1

Si chiama Gus tavo

1

Ecco Massimo e Bruno! Ciao ragazzi!

Ciao Barbara!
Ciao Claudia!

Ciao! Andiamo!

Ecco Gustavo! Ciao Gustavo!

No, Gustavo, vieni qui!

Gi, Gustavo, gi!

Che bello!

pa
ge
s
5

Grazie, signor Conti.

Che bella!

Come si chiama?
Si chiama Gustavo, signorina.

Sa

pl
e

Ciao ragazzi!

Che disastro!

Ragazzi, questa la signorina Rocca. La signorina

Rocca la professoressa ditaliano.

Presto, ragazzi, andiamo!

Buongiorno
ragazzi!

Arrivederci
signorina Rocca.
Che bella!

Buongiorno professore!
Buongiorno professoressa!

dieci

Capitolo 1

He r e in I t al y
Ragazzi online!

Patron saints and feast days

In Italy, its not just people that have a name day.
In a tradition dating back centuries, most towns
have a patron saint. The names of some saints are
even linked to their home town, such as Santa
Caterina da Siena. In most towns every year, there
is a festival to honour the patron saint. Some people
dress up in medieval costumes and lead a procession
through the streets, carrying a statue of the saint.
This is often followed by celebrations in the streets
or at home, as people gather together to enjoy food
and music with friends and neighbours. The Italian
customs of honouring saints are linked to Italys
strong Catholic heritage. Today, these customs are
community events as much as religious celebrations.

.com

aga/online
Indirizzo: https://www.luca_r

10.35

domenica 18 marzo

Ciao ragazzi! My name

is Luca Di Marco and
Im 14. I live in an
130P
apartment in Rome with
my Mum, my Dad, my
younger sister, and our
dog, Beppe. Last year
we were in America
rk that helped
because of my Dads wo
my friends there
with my English and
life here in Italy.
always asked me about
my big chance to
Well, Ragazzi online! is
things I like best
talk to everyone about the
sic, and hanging
football, my scooter, mu
Commenti
out with my friends!

Ragazzi online!

pl
e

H e a d in g to co m e

10.49

Sa

Ciao!

Indirizzo: https://www.sabina_raga/online.c
om
domenica 18 marzo

pa
ge
s

Ciao!

Ciao! Im Sabina
Chiavone. Im 13 and
I live in Palermo, on
the island of Sicily,
with my Mum and
my nonno. At home
I speak Sicilian and
Italian. I learn English at school and
I get
extra practice with emails to my cous
ins
in Australia. We all love sport volle
yballs
my favourite. My name day is August
29
la festa di Santa Sabina. This year Mum
is
taking me to my favourite pizzeria. Last
year
nonno gave me 10 euros I hope Im luck
y
again this year!

San Francesco dAssisi

San Francesco dAssisi is a patron saint of Italy.
Born in 1182, he grew up in a wealthy family in
Assisi in the region of Umbria. He could have
led a life of luxury but, after a serious illness, he
chose a simple life of poverty, prayer and helping
others. He visited hospitals, cared for lepers and
sent food to thieves in prison. He also had a
special connection with animals and the natural
world. Today, San Francesco dAssisi is widely
known as the patron saint of animals and the
environment.

Heading to come

r
u
lt
u
c
n
e
e
w
t
e
Moving b

es

Commenti

Ecco! uno

Capitolo 1

tredici

Go for it!

this

pa
ge
s

Prepare a fact sheet for a neighb

our who is
travelling to Italy for the first tim
e. Using an
atlas, the school library, the Intern
et and travel
brochures, provide information,
such as the:
actual distance from where you live
to Italy
time taken to travel by plane from
where
you live to Italy
time difference between your tow
n and Italy
population difference between you
r country
and Italy
average temperatures in Rome in
January
and June.

class. Imagine you

Play this game with the whole
ow each other. In
are all at a party and dont kn
meeting as many
pairs, walk around the room
Italian you now
people as you can. Using the
know, take it in turns to:
say hello to the others
introduce yourself
ask the other peoples names
introduce a friend

say goodbye.

pl
e

CrCereaattee itit

Sa

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ith a partner, use

orld. W
throughout the w
y to make
d phone director
local newspaper an
es in
tions and business
sa
ni
ga
or
s,
ub
cl
a list of
your
Italian names. Ask
ve
ha
ch
hi
w
ea
ar
your
e name
unsure whether th
re
u
yo
if
r
he
ac
te
ur own
this list to make yo
is Italian. Then use
y) for
w Pages director
llo
Ye
(a
le
al
gi
pagine
.Your
eaking community
the local Italian-sp
es such as
uld have categori
co
le
al
gi
ne
gi
pa
opping,
g and drinking, sh
leisure, sport, eatin
on.
tate, travel, and so
education, real es

14

quattordici

Send a classm
ate an e-card
for his/her
onomastico
, from an Italia
n free greetin
website.
g-card

Look for the

onomastico
section of the
website, choo
se a card you
lik
e and follow th
instructions to
e
personalise it
fo
r your classmat
Your teacher
e.
can help you w
ith this.
Save the card
to email to yo
ur classmate o
right date
n the
or send it righ
t away if you p
refer!
For useful we
bsites to help
w
it
h
th
is activity
go to hi.com.a
u/ecco.

Capitolo 1

Which are the most co

mmon male and
female names in Italy?
Which are the most
popular names chosen
for Italian babies
nowadays? For useful we
bsites to help
with this activity, go to
hi.com.au/ecco.

Sounding Italian
Rolling your rrrrs
You make the Italian r sound by `trilling the tip of your tongue against the
ridge above your front teeth.
The easiest words to pronounce are the ones where the r comes between
two vowels: buonasera, sorella, severa, spiritosa, birichina, quaranta.
Next easiest are the ones where the r comes after a consonant: Bruno,
madre, padre, fratello, professoressa, brava, trentatr.
A bit harder are the words where the r comes before a consonant. You have
to make a real effort to pronounce it properly: Barbara, Roberto, Verdi,
sportiva, forte, forza, buongiorno, arrivederci.
Perhaps trickiest of all are the words that start or finish with r: per, signor,
Roberto, Rocca.

Some people are naturally

good at rolling their rrrs
and can keep up that sound
for ages. Who is the class
champion?

Try this tongue twister:

Tre tigri contro tre tigri.
Trentratr tigri contro
trentatr tigri.

pa
ge
s

Here are some sentences to get your rrrrs rolling:

1 Il signor Roberto Verdi molto sportivo. 3 Arrivederci, Roma!
2 Buongiorno, signorina Rocca!
4 Trenta pi tre fa trentatr.

Read on

Genna, sei
stanca?

Sa

pl
e

Develop your Italian reading skills. Some of the language youll know; some you
can guess using the Italian you already know and your knowledge of English.

Questa Federica con Genna.

Genna birichina ma molto
carina. Federica adora Genna.

Claudio ha un piccolo
motorino. Quando
va in motorino porta
Genna in un sacco.
Simpatico, no?

quaranta

E questo il padre di Federica.

Si chiama Claudio e ha 48 anni.
Claudio adora la Formula Uno
e tifa per la Ferrari.
Claudio adora il mare e ha
una bella barca. Qualche volta
Genna va in barca con Claudio

Capitolo 3

Il pap di Federica molto

intelligente. Lavora in una
banca ad Ancona. Ma quando
va in vacanza un po pigro.
Anche Genna pigra.
e visita le Due Sorelle.
Sono due sorelle molto
belle, no?

Working with words

Nouns
lo studente
i gemelli
la domanda
la risposta
il ragazzo
la ragazza

il paese
la nazionalit
la citt
la lingua
il cibo
la cucina

Adjectives

Verbs

Useful words

Expressions

serio/a
scemo/a
sciocco/a

lavorare
essere nato
studiare
preparare
avere nostalgia
telefonare

qui
adesso
spesso
mai
con

Benissimo!
Certo!
Come mai?!
un po di

Word wise
Gemelli is one of the signs of the zodiac in Italian. In English, its Gemini.
Cucina is the Italian word for `kitchen, and it also means `cooking.

pa
ge
s

pl
e

Sa

Il cibo is the stuff that you cook in cucina.

No prizes for guessing what telefonare means. But there are huge prizes for
those who take their time and pronounce telefoniamo and telefonano well.
Notice that you telefonare a (`to) a person.
Lavorare means `to work. Can you see an English word that is closely
related to it? (Clue: `b is right next to `v on your keyboard.)
Can you think of a good way of remembering domanda and risposta?
Ragazzo is Italian for `boy. But it means something more in Massimos
question, doesnt it? And what about ragazza, later in the story?
What is the plural of ragazzo italiano? What about ragazza italiana?
Che domanda sciocca!, Barbara says to Massimo. She thinks it was a
silly question, a real `shocker.
Scemo is a synonym of stupido. Sciocco is an antonym of serio.
Massimo only speaks un po dinglese, but hes prepared to use it. He knows
the old saying: Vale pi la pratica che la grammatica.
By itself, mai means `ever; but come mai? means `how come?
If you do something spesso, youre halfway between qualche volta
and sempre.

Prove to yourself that you

know these words: write
their English meanings in
your Ecco! uno Workbook.

Michele telefona
alla mamma.

All talk
Here are some questions to help you talk about the cartoon story.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Di che nazionalit Katrina?

Di che nazionalit Joseph?
Che cosa fa il padre di Katrina e Joseph in Italia?
Com la domanda di Massimo?
Che lingua parlano in Australia?
Dov nato Joseph?
Dov nata Katrina?
Dov nata la nonna di Katrina?
Come mai Katrina e Joseph parlano italiano?

Ecco! uno

10 Dove studiano litaliano?

11 Che cosa prepara la nonna di Joseph e Katrina?
12 Hanno mai nostalgia di casa?
13 Che cosa fanno Katrina e Joseph quando hanno
nostalgia di casa?
14 Com la risposta di Katrina?
15 Dove abitano i canguri?
16 Com la risposta di Joseph?
17 Come sono le ragazze italiane?

Capitolo 6

ottantuno

81

i
a
v
e
m
o
C

i n gi r o?

pl
e

pa
ge
s

Sempre le
interrogazioni,
una vita
da cani!

Learn how to ...

no.
Gianpaolo va a scuola in tre

Questi turisti vanno in gir

o a Roma in
autobus. Guardano il Foro
Romano.

Sa

Carlo va in giro
in bicicletta.

Say where youre going

Say how youre getting
there
Say at what time youre
catching the
bus, train, ferry, aeroplane
or tram
Ask someone how to ge
t somewhere
Tell people what transpo
rt they have
to take

Ask and say what time

someone
is leaving
Say what time someon
e is arriving
Say how long it takes to
go somewhere
Pronounce the Italian gl
i and gn

Learn about ...

Carlo abita in campagna

,
vicino a Lucca.

Means of transport in Ita

ly
Motor scooter licences
for
14-year-olds
The Ape and Vespa: ins
ects or vehicles?
The gondola: a special
Venetian means
of transport
novantuno

91

Get real!
Come vai a scuola?

Mezzo di trasporto
a piedi

in macchina
in treno
in tram
in bicicletta

As a whole class or in smaller groups, do a survey to find out how people

in your class get to school. First, draw up a list in your notebook like the
one on the right. In your list include as many ways of getting to school as
your class can think of. (In Italian, of course!)
Then your teacher or a classmate can ask members of the class or the
group how they get to school: Come vai a scuola? As each person
answers, place a tick next to the means of transport they mention.
When you have all the results, think of an interesting way of presenting
this information. (See Map it out on page 106.)

pa
ge
s

Quanto tempo impiegate per andare a scuola?

How long do people in your class spend just getting to school? First, the
class could guess what the average travel time is.

Then form into groups of five or six and sit in a circle. (You will each need a
pen and paper.) Ask the person on your right two questions:
A che ora parti per andare a scuola?
A che ora arrivi a scuola?

pl
e

Note the answer to both questions and then work out how long this
person takes to get to school.

When everyone has asked and answered both questions, each member of
the group announces the result they have noted down, for example:
Tessa impiega 40 minuti per andare a scuola.

Look at the heading on the

left. Quanto tempo means
how much time?, i.e. how
long? and impiegare means
to use. Between a verb (in
this case impiegare) and
an infinitive (in this case
andare), per means in order
to. So a word-for-word
translation of our heading
would be: How much time
do you use (in order) to go
to school? But how would
we ask this question in good
conversational English?

Sa

Write down the time taken by each member of your group. Then work out
your group average. When each group announces its average, write down
the times and then work out the class average. How close is the official
result to the guess the class made before you started?
Parto per andare a scuola alle

sette e trentacinque, e arrivo

a scuola alle otto e quaranta.

nora
Kim impiega u
e cinque minuti a.
cuol
per andare a s

Ecco! uno

Capitolo 7

centotr

1 3

Making conversation
Get together with a classmate to make up an Italian conversation, using
the script set out in the grids below.

Perch non prendi

No, non

mi

gli spaghetti

ai quattro formaggi?

piace

il

formaggio.

piacciono

le

melanzane.

gli
le
i

spaghetti
linguine
rigatoni

No, non mi

Allora, perch non prendi una pizza

piace

piacciono

No, non

mi

mascalzoni?

piacciono

peperoni.

vegetariana?

Non mi piacciono

Che cosa prendi, allora?

Prendo

Sa

capricciosa?

prosciutto.

Brava!

laglio.
la carne.
le ouva.

il

Una

Bravo!

boscaiola?
i
le

un

gelato

una

pizza

Sei

Capitolo 8

allaglio e olio?
alla carbonara?
alla bolognese?

piace

centodiciotto

alla siciliana?

Allora, perch non prendi

118

le tagliatelle

pl
e

A has already decided what to order at

the restaurant and is waiting for B to
make up their mind. It can be pretty
painful dealing with a Nutella nut!

To make it all work you have to choose from the options offered.
You also have to listen to the choices your partner makes.

pa
ge
s

un
una

funghi.
carciofi.
olive.

alla Nutella.

nutellaro/a!

Cerchiamo nel vocabolario!

You dont always need a dictionary to find the meaning of a word you can
often manage by guessing or working it out from the context. But sometimes
when you cant guess a meaning or your guess doesnt make sense in the
context, a dictionary can be your best friend! Find out here how to get the
most out of your ItalianEnglish dictionary. If you dont have one, you can use
the Vocabolario at the back of this Textbook.

Finding what you need in the dictionary

An ItalianEnglish dictionary has two main sections:
ItalianEnglish, where you look up an Italian word to find its English
meaning
EnglishItalian, where you look up an English word to find out how
to say it in Italian.

pa
ge
s

Check which section comes

first in your dictionary and
in the Vocabolario. Within
each section, words are always
arranged in alphabetical order.

Some tips on finding words quickly

Which of these words would

you find on this page?
mangiare marted
mamma mare

The quickest way to look up words is to start by opening at roughly the right
place in your dictionary. For instance, if youre looking for uffa, dont start
looking at the beginning of the dictionary.
Dictionaries usually have two words at the top of each page. These are the
first and last words on that page and theyll help you to find words more
quickly.

pl
e

With a partner, see who can

open nearest to the right place
with these words calcio,
mucca, vespa.

mandarino

162

marionetta

Sa

Remember, if the first letters are the same you need to check the second
letter, and if the second letters are the same you need to check the third
letter, etc.

Understanding a dictionary entry

Note that instead of n for

noun, some dictionaries may
use the abbreviation of the
Italian word for noun: s
(which stands for sostantivo).

A dictionary tells you a lot more than just the meanings of words. Look at this
typical entry from the ItalianEnglish section of a dictionary:

Italian word

Gender of the word

(m = masculine, f = feminine)

English meaning
of the word

scuola [skwola] nf school

Phonetic pronunciation of the word

(shown in some dictionaries)
Now test your dictionary
skills by doing the related
activity in Capitolo 3 in
your Workbook.

124

centoventiquattro

Type of word (n = noun,

v = verb, adj = adjective, etc.)

You wont always use all this information, but often it is very important. For
example, when looking up the EnglishItalian section, you need to check if the
word is masculine or feminine so that you know which definite article (il, lo, l, la )
or indefinite article (un, uno, una, un) to use.
Cerchiamo nel vocabolario!