Unità 2 Il mio tempo libero / Unit 2 My free time

Listen, repeat and learn. All of our exercises and words will help you during your holidays in Italy or time shared with your Italian friends.

A) Che cosa fai nel tuo tempo libero? / What do you do in your free time ?

Read the conversation

	Lucia e Maria sono due amiche che parlano del loro tempo libero. / Lucia and Maria are two friends who are talking about their free time.
Lucia	Che cosa fai di solito nel tuo tempo libero?
Maria	Il venerdì esco con amici. Il sabato di solito vado in montagna o faccio sport. Vado spesso in palestra, ma qualche volta resto a casa e non faccio niente. E tu?
Lucia	Io vado spesso al cinema o leggo libri e ascolto la musica. Io non vado in montagna, ma faccio sport. Anch´io vado spesso in palestra. Che cosa fai stasera?
Maria	Stasera il mio amico Marco ed io andiamo al cinema. Vieni anche tu?
Lucia	Perché no? Perfetto, è una buona idea.

Parole chiave / Key words

Listen and repeat

Che cosa fai nel tuo tempo libero ?	What do you do in your free time ?
Esco con i miei amici.	I go out with my friends .
Ascolto la musica.	I listen to music.
Faccio sport.	I do some sport.
I miei amici e io guardiamo la televisione.	My friends and I watch television.
Resto a casa.	I stay at home.
Anch‘ io.	Me too.
E tu ?	And what about you ?
Di solito	Usually
qualche volta	sometimes
Perfetto, è una buona idea.	Great, it’s a good idea.
ma, però	but
o, oppure	or
insieme	together
stasera	tonight, this evening

B) Attività nel tempo libero / Activities in your free time

Listen and repeat

andare al cinema	to go to the cinema
andare in bicicletta	to go cycling
leggere libri	to read books
uscire con amici	to go out with friends
fare sport	to do sport
andare in montagna	to go hiking
guardare la televisione	to watch television
ascoltare la musica	to listen to music
andare in palestra	to go to the gym
andare in chiesa	to go to church
restare a casa	to stay at home
cucinare	to cook
incontrare gli amici	to meet friends

C) Giorni della settimana / Days of the week

Listen and repeat

domenica	Sunday
lunedì	Monday
martedì	Tuesday
mercoledì	Wednesday
giovedì	Thursday
venerdì	Friday
sabato	Saturday
A sabato	See you on Saturday
Sabato vado in palestra.	I am going to the gym on Saturday.
Il / Di sabato vado in palestra. Ogni sabato vado in palestra.	I go to the gym on Saturdays.
sabato mattina	on Saturday morning
sabato pomeriggio	on Saturday afternoon
sabato sera	on Saturday evening
la mattina	morning, in the morning
il pomeriggio	afternoon
il pomeriggio / nel pomeriggio	in the afternoon
la sera	in the evening
la notte	night
di notte	at night

D ) Come funzionano i verbi in Italiano? / How do verbs work in Italian ?

Verbi regolari: esempi / Regular verbs: examples

	PARLARE	PRENDERE	DORMIRE	CAPIRE
io	PARLO I speak	PRENDO I take	DORMO I sleep	CAPISC O I understand
tu*	PARLI you speak*	PRENDI you take	DORMI you sleep	CAPISC I you understand
Lei**	PARLA you speak**	PRENDE you take	DORME you sleep	CAPISC E you undersatnd
lui, lei	PARLA he/she speaks	PRENDE he/she takes	DORME he/she sleeps	CAPISC E he/she understands
noi	PARLIAMO we speak	PRENDIAMO we take	DORMIAMO we sleep	CAPIAMO we understand
voi***	PARLATE you speak	PRENDETE you take	DORMITE you sleep	CAPITE you understand
loro	PARLANO they speak	PRENDONO they take	DORMONO they sleep	CAPISC ONO they understand
Italian verbs distinguish formal and informal/familiar address forms
* 2^nd person singular (tu parli / you speak) – implies familiarity, closeness, intimacy between the speakers. So, if you are speaking to a person who is familiar to you – a child, your friend, a member of your family, the 2nd person singular is used.
** 3^rd person singular (Lei parla / you speak) is used when you are addressing a person whom you do not know, your boss, teacher, any adult person you are not familiar with. In this case the pronoun LEI is used for both a man and a woman and is usually written with capital L.
*** 2^ndperson plural (voi parlate / you speak) is used to address more than one person.

NOTES

each person has its own ending which is added to the stem of the verb, so the subject pronouns are only used when we want to emphasize the subject. Normally, the subject pronouns do not have to be used with verbs.

examples:
Io parlo italiano, ma mia madre no. I speak Italian, but my mother doesn´t.
(Io) parlo italiano e inglese. I speak Italian and English.
Parli italiano? Do you speak Italian?

the negative is formed by non which precedes the verb,
example: Non parlo italiano. I don´t speak Italian.

There is no special rule for making questions.
example: Studi l´italiano? Do you study Italian?

So, if you are asking your friend, if he / she wants a cup of coffee, you say: Prendi un caffè?
But if you are talking to your boss, or a colleague of your mum´s you say: Prende un caffè?<
If you are asking more people, your colleagues in the office, you say: Prendete un caffè?

Learn and practise more useful verbs

altri verbi regolari: esempi / more regular verbs examples

verbi regolari	regular verbs
ascoltare	to listen
guardare	to watch
leggere	to read
scrivere	to write
giocare	to play
cantare	to sing
cercare	to look for
parlare	to speak
trovare	to find
prendere	to take
capire	to understand

Do EXERCISE 1

Do EXERCISE 2

Alcuni verbi irregolari: / A few irregular verbs:

verbi irregolari	irregular verbs
fare	to do
uscire	to go out
andare	to go
avere	to have
venire	to come

and their forms in the present tense

andare	to go
vado	I go
vai	you go
va	he / she goes
andiamo	we go
andate	you go
vanno	they go

uscire	to go out
esco	I go out
esci	you go out
esce	he / she goes out
usciamo	we go out
uscite	you go out
escono	they go out

Do EXERCISE 3

fare	to do
faccio	I do
fai (one person)	you do
fa	he / she does
facciamo	we do
fate (more people)	you do
fanno	they do

avere	to have
ho	I have
hai	you have
ha	he / she has
abbiamo	we have
avete	you have
hanno	they have

Do EXERCISE 4

venire	to come
vengo	I come
vieni	you come
viene	he / she comes
veniamo	we come
venite	you come
vengono	they come

Try more exercises

Do EXERCISE 5 – verbs

Do EXERCISE 6 – verbs

Do EXERCISE 7 – verbs

Complete the sentences

Translate these phrases

Try interactive exercise

E ) Come pronunciare e scrivere : lettere gn, gli, gl, ng, q / How to pronounce and write: letters gn, gli, gl, ng, q

Listen and repeat

letters	pronunciation	examples	English translation	/[ɲ], [ʎi], [gl] in English words
GN	/[ɲ]/	BAGNO	BATHROOM	GNOME
GLI	[ʎi] in mind position	FIGLIO, GLI	SON, TO HIM	MILLION
GL	/gl/ at the beginning of a word and before a, e, o, u	GLUTINE, GLADIOLO	GLUTEN, GLADIOLUS	GLAD

letters	pronunciation	examples	English translation	/k/ in English word
NG Q	/ng/ /k/	LUNGO QUESTO	LONG THIS	QUEEN

image sources

Free time activities: Freepik

Unità 2 Il mio tempo libero / Unit 2 My free time

A) Che cosa fai nel tuo tempo libero? / What do you do in your free time ?

Read the conversation

Parole chiave / Key words

Listen and repeat

B) Attività nel tempo libero / Activities in your free time

Listen and repeat

C) Giorni della settimana / Days of the week

Listen and repeat

D ) Come funzionano i verbi in Italiano? / How do verbs work in Italian ?

Verbi regolari: esempi / Regular verbs: examples

NOTES

each person has its own ending which is added to the stem of the verb, so the subject pronouns are only used when we want to emphasize the subject. Normally, the subject pronouns do not have to be used with verbs.

examples: Io parlo italiano, ma mia madre no. I speak Italian, but my mother doesn´t. (Io) parlo italiano e inglese. I speak Italian and English. Parli italiano? Do you speak Italian?

the negative is formed by non which precedes the verb, example: Non parlo italiano. I don´t speak Italian.

There is no special rule for making questions. example: Studi l´italiano? Do you study Italian?

So, if you are asking your friend, if he / she wants a cup of coffee, you say: Prendi un caffè? But if you are talking to your boss, or a colleague of your mum´s you say: Prende un caffè?< If you are asking more people, your colleagues in the office, you say: Prendete un caffè?

Learn and practise more useful verbs

altri verbi regolari: esempi / more regular verbs examples

Alcuni verbi irregolari: / A few irregular verbs:

and their forms in the present tense

Try more exercises

E ) Come pronunciare e scrivere : lettere gn, gli, gl, ng, q / How to pronounce and write: letters gn, gli, gl, ng, q

Listen and repeat

examples:
Io parlo italiano, ma mia madre no. I speak Italian, but my mother doesn´t.
(Io) parlo italiano e inglese. I speak Italian and English.
Parli italiano? Do you speak Italian?

the negative is formed by non which precedes the verb,
example: Non parlo italiano. I don´t speak Italian.

There is no special rule for making questions.
example: Studi l´italiano? Do you study Italian?

So, if you are asking your friend, if he / she wants a cup of coffee, you say: Prendi un caffè?
But if you are talking to your boss, or a colleague of your mum´s you say: Prende un caffè?<
If you are asking more people, your colleagues in the office, you say: Prendete un caffè?