Travel and Tourist Transactions

Alla biglietteria

A transaction abroad is short and predictable: say what you want, ask what it costs, find out where to go. The words are easy. One small piece of grammar is not, and it turns up every single time. Every noun below is shown with its article, because the article carries the gender, and the gender decides how you say "to the". A few of the words are so close to English that you already know them; those are marked, and they are not the ones to revise.

Le parole utili

The last two are near-identical to English. The rest are worth learning properly:

Match each word to its meaning

I falsi amici

Italian has one false friend that catches every English speaker, and it lives in this topic: • la camera is a ROOM. The thing you take photos with is la macchina fotografica. • la libreria is a BOOKSHOP. A library is la biblioteca. That second pair works the same way in French and Spanish, so if you take another Romance language you have just learned it twice. The good news is the other direction: il ristorante, il museo, il taxi and la stazione all mean exactly what they look like.

Che cosa vuol dire?

You book "una camera doppia" at a hotel. What have you booked?

• A double room
• A camera with two lenses
• Two tickets
• A place to buy books

Non "a il", ma "al"

To say to the or at the, Italian joins a to the article, and they always merge into one word. Which form you get depends on the gender and number of the noun, so the article you learned with the word does the work for you.

Completa le frasi

Vado _____ stazione. Poi vado _____ albergo. Domani vado _____ museo.

Metti in ordine

Put a short exchange at the ticket office into a sensible order.

• Open politely: Buongiorno, per favore
• Say what you want: un biglietto per Roma
• Ask the price: quanto costa?
• Hand over i soldi
• Ask where to go next: dov'è il treno?

Quali sono corrette?

Select the TWO phrases that use the contraction correctly.

• Vado alla stazione.
• Vado al ristorante.
• Vado a il museo.
• Vado al albergo.

Alla stazione

You are at the station and heading for your hotel. Choose the right Italian each time.

• You want a ticket to Rome. What do you say?
• You want to know what it costs. What do you ask?
• Now you want to say you are going to the hotel. l'albergo begins with a vowel. Which is right?

Il riassunto

A ticket is _____ and money is _____, which is always plural. A hotel room is _____, not a photographic device. To say "to the", a joins the article: a plus il gives _____, and a plus la gives _____.

Tocca a te

Scrivi quattro o cinque frasi in italiano su un viaggio. Say where you are going, what you buy, and what you ask.

• Comincia con "Vado a..." e di' dove vai
• Say what you buy at the station, using il biglietto correctly
• Use at least two contracted forms, such as alla, al or all'
• Include one question: quanto costa? or dov'è...?
• Finish with an opinion and a reason: "Mi piace viaggiare perché..."