Unlocking Italian with Paul Noble: Your key to language success with the bestselling language coach
have spent”, “I spent”, “I did spend”?
Ho passato
(o pass-art-oh)
“I have reserved”, “I reserved”, “I did reserve”?
Ho prenotato
(o pray-no-tart-oh)
“I have ordered”, “I ordered”, “I did order”?
Ho ordinato
(o or-din-art-oh)
“I have prepared”, “I prepared”, “I did prepare”?
Ho preparato
(o prep-are-art-oh)
“I have paid”, “I paid”, I did pay”?
Ho pagato
(o pag-art-oh)
“I have done”, “I did”, “I did do”?
Ho fatto
(o fat-oh)
So, you definitely know how to use “I have” in Italian to express a number of things in the past tense.
However, “I have” is not only useful for talking about things that have happened in the past. It also opens up a wide range of extremely useful expressions in Italian that allow you, for example, to talk about what you’re planning to do, feel like doing, or can’t stand doing. This is really useful everyday language that will help your Italian sound natural and colloquial.
Let’s start building towards using these expressions now.
To say “to reserve”, “to book” or, more literally, “to pre-note” in Italian, you can once again create this word out of the Italian word for “reservation” (literally “prenotation”).
So remind me, what was “reservation” (“prenotation”) in Italian?
prenotazione
(pray-no-tatz-ee-oh-nay)
Now, if you want to say “to reserve” or “to book”, you will once again cut the “azione” off the end of “prenotazione” but this time you’re going to replace it with “are” (pronounced “are-ray”).
So, do that now, cut the “azione” off the end of “prenotazione” and add “are” in its place. What do you get?
prenotare
(pray-no-tar-ray)
This means “to reserve” or “to book”.
Now, what is “a table” in Italian?
un tavolo
(oon tav-oh-loe)
So, how would you say “to reserve / to book a table”?
prenotare un tavolo
(pray-no-tar-ray oon tav-oh-loe)
And again, what is “I have” in Italian?
Ho
(o)
“Intention” in Italian is:
intenzione
(in-ten-tzee-oh-nay)
Alright, how would you say “I have intention”?
Ho intenzione
(o lon-ton-syon)
The word for “of” in Italian is:
di
(dee)
So, how would you say “I have intention of”?
Ho intenzione di
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee)
Saying “I have intention of…” is actually one way of saying “I’m planning to…” in Italian.
With this in mind, how would you say “I’m planning to book a table” / “I’m planning to reserve a table” (literally “I have intention of to reserve a table”)?
Ho intenzione di prenotare un tavolo.
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee pray-no-tar-ray oon tav-oh-loe)
Okay, once more, what was “for this evening” in Italian?
per questa sera
(pair kwest-er sair-er)
Now, how would you say “I’m planning to book a table for this evening” / “I’m planning to reserve a table for this evening” (literally “I have intention of to reserve a table for this evening”)?
Ho intenzione di prenotare un tavolo per questa sera.
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee pray-no-tar-ray oon tav-oh-loe pair kwest-er sair-er)
And what was “a room” in Italian?
una camera
(oon-a cam-air-a)
How would you say “I’m planning to book a room for this evening”?
Ho intenzione di prenotare una camera per questa sera.
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee pray-no-tar-ray oon-a cam-air-a pair kwest-er sair-er)
“To go back” in Italian is literally “to return”, which in Italian is:
ritornare
(ree-torn-are-ay)
So, how would you say “I’m planning to go back”?
Ho intenzione di ritornare.
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee ree-torn-are-ay)
And again, how would you say “in Italy”?
in Italia (een eet-al-yer)
“To Italy” is said in exactly the same way as “in Italy”. Try it! How would you say “to Italy”?
in Italia (een eet-al-yer)
And how would you say “I’m planning to go back (literally “to return”) to Italy”?
Ho intenzione di ritornare in Italia.
(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee ri-torn-are-ay een eet-al-yer)
“In May” in Italian is: