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Culture Documents
3.4 Grammatica
Conoscere
means
“to
know”
someone
or
something
in
the
sense
of
being
acquainted
with
a
person
or
place
or
subject.
Conoscere
also
means
“to
meet
someone”
in
the
sense
of
being
introduced
to
someone
or
getting
acquainted
with
someone.
Study
the
examples
below:
Alle
feste
di
Marina
conosco
sempre
At
Marina’s
parties
I
always
meet
interesting
people.
persone
interessanti.
-‐
Conosci
Mauro?
-‐
Do
you
know
Mauro?
-‐
Purtroppo,
no!
Devi
presentarmelo!
-‐
Unfortunately,
no.
You
must
introduce
him
to
me!
Voglio
viaggiare
in
Italia
con
Giorgio
I
want
to
travel
to
Italy
with
Giorgio
because
he
perché
lui
conosce
bene
l’arte
italiana.
knows
Italian
art
well.
Quel
professore
conosce
bene
la
sua
That
professor
knows
his
subject
well.
materia.
Ragazze,
conoscete
un
buon
ristorante
Girls,
do
you
know
a
good
Italian
restaurant
in
San
italiano
a
San
Francisco?
Francisco?
Sapere
also
means
“to
know”
but
in
the
sense
of
knowing
a
fact,
a
piece
of
information,
or
an
event..
Sapere
also
means
“to
know
how
to
do
something”.
In
this
case
it
is
followed
directly
by
an
infinitive.
Study
the
examples
on
the
following
page:
1
UNIT
3.4
Grammatica
-‐
Sai
dove
abita
Marco?
-‐
Do
you
know
where
Marco
lives?
-‐
No,
non
lo
so!
-‐
No,
I
don’t
know
[it]!
Conosco
un
buon
ristorante
italiano,
ma
I
know
a
good
Italian
restaurant,
but
I
non
so
se
hanno
un
parcheggio!
don’t
know
if
they
have
parking.
Sapete
quanto
tempo
ci
vuole
da
Do
you
(p)
know
how
long
it
takes
from
Bologna
a
Firenze
in
treno?
Bologna
to
Florence
by
train?
Ci
piace
andare
al
mare
anche
se
non
We
like
to
go
to
the
beach
[sea]
even
if
we
sappiamo
nuotare!
don’t
know
how
to
swim!
-‐
Sai
giocare
a
briscola?
-‐
Do
you
know
how
to
play
briscola?
-‐
No,
mi
dispiace.
-‐
No,
I
am
sorry.
-‐
Sai
almeno
che
cos’è?
-‐
Do
you
at
least
know
what
it
is?
-‐
No,
non
lo
so!
-‐
No,
I
don’t
know
[it]!
-‐
Ma
allora
non
sai
proprio
niente!
È
un
-‐
But
then
you
really
don’t
know
anything.
gioco
di
carte
italiano.
It’s
an
Italian
card
game.
in
(in,
at)
di
(of,
from)
da
(from)
su
(on)
a
(at,
to)
When
combined
with
an
article
the
preposition
in
becomes
ne and
di
becomes
de.
If
the
article
begins
with
an
“l”
(lo,
la
le),
the
“l”
is
doubled
(nello,
nella,
nelle,
etc.).
If the article is “il”, the “i” is dropped (nel, del, dal, sul, al).
il
lo
l’
la
i
gli
le
2
UNIT
3.4
Grammatica
Study
the
following
examples:
Le
ragazze
escono
dalla
biblioteca
ed
The
girls
leave
the
library
and
go
in
the
entrano
nell’aula.
classroom.
-‐ Dove
sono
i
libri
degli
studenti?
-‐
Where
are
the
student’s
books?
-‐ Sono
sulla
scrivania!
-‐
They
are
on
the
desk!
Hai
mandato
il
biglietto
di
auguri
agli
zii?
Have
you
sent
a
greeting
card
to
the
aunt
and
uncle?
La
Basilicata
è
una
regione
dell’Italia
Basilicata
is
a
region
of
Southern
Italy.
Meridionale.
Gli
zii
sono
venuti
dalla
Sicilia
nel
The
aunt
and
uncle
came
from
Sicily
in
the
dopoguerra.
post-‐war
period.
Chi
viene
dall’Italia
non
ha
bisogno
del
Whoever
comes
from
Italy
does
not
need
a
visto
per
entrare
negli
Stati
Uniti.
visa
to
enter
in
the
United
States.
The
prepositions
con
and
per
do
not
combine
with
the
article:
Stasera
esco
con
il
mio
ragazzo.
Tonight
I
go
out
with
my
boyfriend.
Hai
preparato
la
cioccolata
calda
per
i
Have
you
prepared
the
hot
chocolate
for
bambini?
the
children?
Prepositions
with
expressions
of
time
(hours)
When
telling
the
time
a
certain
event
takes
place,
the
preposition
“a”
is
used.
The
preposition
“a”
combines
with
the
article
“le”
before
the
hour.
Before
one
o’clock
(1:00)
the
article
used
is
l’
.
Mezzanotte
(midnight)
and
mezzogiorno
(noon)
do
not
require
the
article
with
the
preposition
“a”.
Study
the
following
examples:
-‐
A
che
ora
comincia
la
lezione?
-‐
At
what
time
does
the
lesson
begin?
-‐
Generalmente
alle
undici
e
finisce
-‐
Generally
at
eleven
and
it
ends
at
one.
all’una.
La
mattina
mi
trovi
in
palestra
dalle
sette
In
the
morning
you
find
me
in
the
gym
alle
nove.
from
7:00
to
9:00
-‐
Andiamo
alla
mensa
a
mezzogiorno?
-‐Are
we
going
to
the
dining
hall
at
noon?
-‐
No,
vediamoci*
alle
dodici
e
trenta:
è
-‐No,
let’s
meet
at
12:30:
it’s
better
for
me
meglio
per
me
perché
il
mio
corso
finisce
because
my
course
ends
at
12:00.
alle
dodici.
-‐
Ieri
sera
sono
andato
al
letto
-‐Last
night
I
went
to
bed
relatively
early,
at
relativamente
presto:
a
mezzanotte!
midnight!
3
UNIT
3.4
Grammatica
-‐
Io
invece
ho
scritto
il
mio
saggio
dalle
-‐I,
instead,
wrote
my
essay
from
10:00
to
dieci
alle
due
di
notte,
e
non
mi
sono
2:00
at
night,
and
didn’t
fall
asleep
until
addormentato
fino
alle
tre!
3:00!
*
Vediamoci
=
In
this
context
vedere
means
“to
meet
up
with
someone”.
Prepositions
with
cities
and
nations
The
preposition
“a”
is
generally
used
before
names
of
cities,
towns
and
villages.
The
preposition
“in”
is
generally
used
before
names
of
nations,
regions
and
islands.
Vado
a
vivere
a
Como.
I
am
going
to
live
in
Como.
Ho
viaggiato
in
Italia
molte
volte
I
have
travelled
to
Italy
many
times.
Vai
ancora
in
Florida
quest’estate?
Are
you
going
to
Florida
again
this
summer?
I
miei
parenti
vivono
in
Sicilia.
My
relatives
live
in
Sicily.
A
Roma
gli
inverni
sono
sempre
miti.
In
Rome,
the
winters
are
always
temperate.
Names
of
cities,
towns
and
villages
never
require
any
articles.
Names
of
nations,
regions
and
islands
always
require
the
definite
article.
L’Italia
ha
un
clima
mite,
simile
al
clima
Italy
has
a
mild
climate,
similar
to
the
della
California.
climate
of
California.
Quella
ragazza
viene
dall’Inghilterra.
That
young
woman
comes
from
England.
Mi
piacciono
molto
i
villaggi
dell’Umbria.
I
like
the
villages
of
Umbria
very
much.
Verona
e
Vicenza
sono
due
città
del
Verona
and
Vicenza
are
two
towns
in
the
Veneto.
Veneto
region.
When
used
with
“in”
the
names
of
nations
and
regions
do
not
require
the
article
if
they
are
singular.
If
names
of
nations
and
regions
are
plural
they
do
require
the
article
with
“in”.
Viviamo
negli
Stati
Uniti
da
dieci
anni,
e
We
have
been
living
in
the
United
States
abbiamo
abitato
in
Florida
e
in
for
ten
years,
and
we
have
resided
in
California
Florida
and
in
California.
Ci
sono
state
molte
guerre
civili
nei
There
have
been
many
civil
wars
in
the
Balcani,
particolarmente
in
Bosnia.
Balkans,
especially
in
Bosnia.
The
article
is
always
required
before
the
name
of
a
country
with
all
other
prepositions
(“di”,
“da”,
“su”).
4
UNIT
3.4
Grammatica
Assisi
è
una
cittadina
dell’Italia
Centrale.
Assisi
is
a
small
city
of
Central
Italy.
Yuki
viene
dal
Giappone.
Yuki
comes
from
Japan.
Quello
studioso
ha
pubblicato
molti
studi
That
scholar
has
published
many
studies
sull’Italia
Meridionale
e
la
sua
economia.
on
Southern
Italy
and
its
economy.
Prepositions
with
common
places
There
is
no
clear
rule
regarding
the
use
of
the
preposition
“a”
or
“in”,
with
or
without
the
article,
with
many
common
places
and
nouns.
Study
the
following
examples:
Preferisci
andare
al
mare
o
in
Do
you
prefer
to
go
to
the
sea
or
to
the
montagna
d’estate?
mountains
in
summer?
Stamattina
sono
andata
in
spiaggia
This
morning
I
went
to
the
beach
early
to
presto
per
evitare
il
caldo.
avoid
the
heat.
Generalmente
pranziamo
in
cucina
e
Generally,
we
have
lunch
in
the
kitchen
and
non
in
sala
da
pranzo.
not
in
the
dining
room.
Puoi
aiutarmi
a
mettere
le
sedie
in
Can
you
help
me
put
the
chairs
in
the
giardino?
garden?
Vado
in
chiesa
tutte
le
domeniche.
I
go
to
church
every
Sunday.
Vuoi
andare
al
cinema
o
a
teatro
questo
Do
you
want
to
go
to
the
cinema
or
to
the
fine
settimana?
theater
this
weekend?
È
fortunata:
ha
un
appartamento
in
città,
She’s
lucky:
she
has
an
apartment
in
the
in
centro,
e
uno
in
campagna!
city,
downtown,
and
one
in
the
countryside!
5