Ciao a tutti! – Hello everybody!
We continue our Italian studies. From lessons 7 (potere) and lesson 8 (volere) we know, that there are 4 modal verbs in Italian (3 + 1 helper verb):
- potere – can
- volere – want
- dovere – have to/must
- sapere – to know
But, before we jump there, let’s make a pause and write a dictation. Yes, there were a lot of new words recently, let’s stretch our brains, translating the following sentences into Italian. This is good and important exercise. Take a piece of paper, and try to translate these without looking into your notes.
Dictation – italian verbs
- To call
- To buy
- To cook
- To watch a movie
- To come
- To do nothing
- To drive a car
- To walk
- To play football
- To drink something
- To swim
- To read a book
- To repair
- To listen to music
- To eat
- To stay at home
- To go to Italy
- To go out
Okay, hope it was easy and you remembered everything. Now back to our topic. Dovere indicates an obligation to do something. And, like all previous modal verbs, this one is also irregular.
Dovere – have to/must
- io devo – I have to
- tu devi – you have to
- lui/lei deve – he/she has to
- noi dobbiamo – we have to
- voi dovete – you have to (plural)
- loro devono – they have to
Dovere – examples
- Devo andare a casa – I have to go home
- Deve chiamare alle 3 – She must call at 3
- Dobbiamo fare le spese – We must go shopping (le spese = shopping = when we buy things/clothes, and it’s plural)
- Dobbiamo fare la spesa – We must buy food (la spesa = foodstuffs, not shopping, food only, not things. La spesa = singular)
- Dovete studiare italiano ogni giorni – You must study Italian every day
- Devono venire alle otto – They must come at 8 o’clock.
Instruction – how to learn Italian
Per imparare italiano devi – To learn Italian you must:
- leggere i libri – read books
- ascoltare musica italiana – listen Italian music
- studiare la grammatica – study a grammar
- parlare con gli italiani – talk with Italians
- fare esercizi – do exercises
Homework
- He listens to music every day
- We buy a new car
- They don’t live in London
- He plays football today
- Do you come today?
- I study Spanish.
- Do you read books?
- They watch videos on YouTube (= su YouTube)
- I do exercises
- They want to eat something
- We must learn the grammar
- I want to go to Italy
- He doesn’t want to call at 3
Lesson 8 answers
- They can’t buy a car – Non possono comprare una machina.
- We want to become famous – Vogliamo diventare famosa
- She doesn’t want to dance – Lei non vuole danzare
- They can’t study Italian every day – Non possono studiare italiano ogni giorni
- I want to speak Spanish well – Voglio parlare spagnolo bene
- I want to speak German very well – Io voglio parlare tedesco bene
- Do you want to stay at home today? – Vuoi stare a casa oggi?
That’s it for today. Ciao!
A dopo! – See you later!