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Part B
Functions
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8
Identification: giving personal information
8.1 Introduction
In Italian, as in other languages, one of the simplest ways of giving or eliciting information about yourself or others is by using the verb essere ‘to be’ (see 2.2.3), as shown in this simple dialogue:
A Buongiorno, io sono Monica. Sono la nuova assistente di marketing. E voi?
B Io sono Carlo, sono il direttore tecnico. E questo è il mio collega, Gerardo. Siamo colleghi da più di dieci anni!
C Piacere, Monica.
A Piacere, Gerardo. Di dove sei?
C Sono napoletano. E tu?
A Io sono di Milano.
A Good morning. I’m Monica. I’m the new marketing assistant. What about you?
B I’m Carlo. I’m the technical director. And this is my colleague Gerardo. We’ve been colleagues for more than ten years!
C Pleased to meet you, Monica.
A Pleased to meet you, Gerardo. Where are you from?
C I’m from Naples. And you?
A I’m from Milan.
8.2 Tu or Lei?
There are two forms of address in Italian: the Lei (formal) form and the tu (informal) form. The Lei form is used when addressing someone you don’t know well, or don’t know at all, although young people meeting each other often use the tu form straightaway, as in the conversation above. You may at some point be invited to use the tu form with the words: Diamoci del tu.
When using Lei to address someone, the verb form used is the third person form (Lei) parla inglese? rather than the second person form (Tu) parli inglese? which you would normally use to address someone. In our examples, we have shown both ‘you’ forms.
8.3 Giving different kinds of personal information
The verb essere ‘to be’ is used in most of the functions illustrated below to supply the kind of personal information you might want to exchange when meeting someone for the first time. (For introductions, see also 20.2.)
In Italian the verb endings indicate which person is being referred to (see 2.1.3–4); this means you don’t need to use the subject pronouns io, tu, lui, etc. to indicate the person, so in our examples they are shown in brackets. The pronouns are also used in grammar books or textbooks to refer to the verb forms, for example the tu form, the Lei form, the noi form, the loro form.
8.3.1 Giving one’s name
| (Io) sono Anna. | I am Anna. |
| (Lui) è Franco. | He is Franco. |
| (Loro) sono Monica e Gerardo. | They’re Monica and Gerardo. |
To introduce yourself, you can also use the verb chiamarsi (see 2.1.10) ‘to be called’:
(Io) mi chiamo Anna.
My name is Anna.
(Lui) si chiama Franco.
His name is Franco.
(Loro) si chiamano Monica e Gerardo.
They are called Monica and Gerardo.
Come si chiama?
What’s his name?
8.3.2 Indicating relationship to speaker
Introducing friends or colleagues
Lei è Giancarla. È una collega.
This is Giancarla. She is a colleague.
Lui è Franco. È un amico.
This is Franco. He is a friend.
You can also use the possessives mio, tuo, suo, etc.:
È un mio amico.
He’s a friend of mine.
Sono i miei colleghi.
They are colleagues of mine/my colleagues.
Introducing family
When you talk about your family, you will often need to use the possessives mio, tuo, etc. (see 3.7). With ...
