A2-B

 

  
  Comunicare in italiano  
 
In this section you will find out how to compose simple questions and answers
 for basic communication in italiano.		  

 

 


 ESPRESSIONI DI CORTESIA

 
Sė

No


Yes   No 

Grazie

Prego


Thank you
You're welcome

 Scusa

Scusi


Excuse me
(informal / formal)

 Per favore

Per piacere


please

 Permesso?

Avanti


May I come in?    
Come in.
 

 

  

 

 


 

 
  ESPRESSIONI IDIOMATICHE  
  HOW ARE YOU?

COME VA ?

COME STAI ?

 

COME VA  
means how is it going?  It is an very common greeting used among people who know each other and have at least some degree of familiarity.

COME STAI 
is used to inquire about someone's state of health. Normally it is used with people that we know have or have had problems.

VA is a form of the IRREGULAR VERB ANDARE (to go).
STA  is a form of STARE (also irregular).

 

 


 

 

INFORMALE

- Come va?   How is it going?

Va bene it's going well 
Va abbastanza bene pretty well 
Va benissimo very well
Non va bene it's not going well
   
Va male badly
Va malissimo very badly
Va cosė  cosė so-so

 

---    and more... You can use whatever ADVERB you want to describe how things are going.
                                                

- Come stai?
---  Sto bene.     Sto meglio.     Sto peggio.    Sto male.    Non sto bene.   Sto benissimo  and more...
      I am well        I am better       I am worse      I feel bad     i don't feel good   I feel very good.

 



 
Play soundfile

 

VA  is a form of the verb
ANDARE

ANDARE is an irregular verb.

io  vado
tu vai 
lui / lei va
noi andiamo
voi andate
loro vanno

STA  is a form of the verb
STARE

STARE is also irregular, (but not as bad as andare.)

 

 

 

FORMALE

- Come stai?   How are you doing (physically or emotionally?

STO bene I am well  
STO abbastanza bene I am pretty well   
STO benissimo I am very well  
Non STO bene I don't feel well  
     
STO male I feel badly  
STO malissimo I feel badly  
STO cosė  cosė I feel so-so  


---    and more... You can use whatever ADVERB you want to describe how things are going.

 

 

      ESPRESSIONI IDIOMATICHE

ESSERE vs, STARE    

 ESSERE means TO BE and is used as the default verb for all circumstances.

STARE is used primarily in IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS to describe a temporary state.
              IO STO BENE means I am well, I feel well, I am comfortable etc.

As an idiomatic expression, io sto means "I live" (with the name of the city where one lives.

Other examples:

stare in piedi = lit. "to stand on one's feet," meaning "to stand up."

stare attento = to pay attention

stare in silenzio = to be quiet

stare sveglio = to stay awake

stare dietro a = to keep up with

stare fermo = to stand still



Play soundfile

STARE

io sto
*tu stai
lui/ lei sta
noi stiamo
voi state
*loro stanno

tu stai   loro stanno    
are irregular
(they should be
*tu sti  and *loro stano)

 

esercizio 10

verbo essere