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1 Livello tre. mercoledì, il sette gennaio. Prima Lezione.

Level three. Wednesday, January 7, 2009. First lesson.

-compiti (homework) is at the bottom of this page.

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-Gli argomenti (the topics): What we did in class, and more.

-Warmup: "Raccontaci come hai trascorso le vacanze di Natale." (Practicing the passato prossimo)

- Passato prossimo. Essere o avere.
Most verbs of motion (using your feet!) take the verb "essere" as their auxiliary.
Gina è andata al bar.
Gina è uscita dal bar.
But some don't:
Gina ha camminato al bar. (camminare always takes avere)
Some can take either, depending on the sentence:
Gina ha corso una maratona. (There's a direct object here.)
Gina è corsa verso l'uscita. - Gina ran toward the exit.
Gina ha salito le scale. (There's a direct object here.)
Gina è salita sul treno.

A verb used intransitively (no direct object) can take avere:
Ho dormito.
Ho parlato con Giorgio.
But a verb used transitively (with a direct object) always takes avere:
Ho mangiato la mela.

- Romani e turisti. We divided the class into Romans and Tourists. The tourists had to find a particular person at a particular place by asking questions of the Romans.

- Verbi riflessivi: When the action of a verb reflects back toward the subject of that verb, then that verb is reflexive:

I get myself up. Mi alzo.

I have myself a good time. Mi diverto.

You find yourself in Rome. Ti trovi a Roma.

The infinitive of a reflexive verb is indicated by placing the suffix -si at the end:

alzarsi

divertirsi

trovarsi

To conjugate a reflexive verb, you will also be changing the reflexive pronoun:

mi lavo, ti lavi, si lava. ci laviamo, vi lavate, si lavano.

If you use a reflexive verb in the passato prossimo, you always use essere as the auxiliary, and the past participle agrees with the subject:

Mi sono alzata. (feminine) ________ Mi sono alzato. (masculine) etc.

Maria si è divertita molto. Maria had a good time.

Ci siamo annoiati. We became bored.

Mi sono confusa. I got confused (feminine).


Some verbs are almost always used reflexively:
Mi rilasso. I'm relaxing.
Ci divertiamo. We're having fun.
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Others can be used either way: reflexively or transitively.
Metto la pistola sul pavimento. I'm putting the gun on the floor.
Mi metto il cappotto. I'm putting on my coat.
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Sento la musica. I hear the music.
Mi sento bene. I feel well.

Ho trovato la stazione. - I found the station.
Mi sono trovata nella stazione. - I found myself in the station. (feminine)
Mi sono trovato nella stazione. - I found myself in the station. (masculine)

- "Il pescatore". We listened to this song by Fabrizio Di Andre. If you weren't in class, you can listen along and see if you can fill in the blanks on handout 2: the lyrics.

- Parole da ricordare (words to remember)
trascorrere - to pass or spend time
correre - to run
trascorso - pp of trascorrere
corso - pp of correre
sorridere - to smile
sorriso - a smile. (also the pp of sorridere)
prepararsi - to get ready, to prepare one's self
preparare - to prepare something

- Handouts. These are the handouts for this week:
Click on the links if you don't have the handout.
1. "Mani, piedi, occhi..." (white)
2. "Il Pescatore" lyrics to the song by Fabrizio di Andre. (white)
3. "Irregular past participles" (white) A matching exercise.
4. "Holidays". (pink)
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-Compiti.

1. Read in chapter 7 (Prego, Sixth Edition) from page 170 to the middle of page 176. Read the dialog: Mai un Minuto on page 170, Read the vocabulary "La vita di tutti i giorni". Do the exercises A and B on page 171. Then read about verbi riflessivi and do the exercises A, B, C, D on page 175-176. Maybe we'll have time to do E in class. On page 175, Read the box "Si dice così." Fermarsi v. smettere.

2. (optional) In the book "Italian: The Easy Way", the reflexive is covered from pages 192 through 193. And passato prossimo on page 222.

3. Do the matching exercise on handout 3: Irregular past participles.

4. (optional) Do the matching exercise on handout 4 "Holidays".

5. If you feel the need, it's a good idea to make flashcards of all the verbs (and other vocabulary) that you want to master.