Italian for English speakers Clothes · Lesson 1
What would you like?
Express preferences in Italian — No, preferirei una camicetta (No, I'd rather a blouse) — with the conditional preferirei.
Conversation
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Rose
Vuole una t-shirt?
Would you like a t-shirt?
Tip: <Vuole> = Would you like Literally, <vuole> can mean "want". But it is considered a respectful term in Italian, so it is more like asking "would you like". Generally, in Italian, using the third-person form of a word is respectful.
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Yaya
No, preferisco una camicetta
No, I'd rather a blouse
Tip: <Preferisco> = I prefer <Preferisci> = You prefer
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Rose
Bene. E che tipo di gonna vorrebbe?
Great. And what kind of skirt would you like?
Tip: There is no personal pronoun - "I, you, he/she" - in this sentence. They are not needed in Italian, as the verb conjugation makes it clear who is being spoken to
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Yaya
Una gonna un po' formale, per l'ufficio
A quite formal one, for the office
Tip: <un po' formale> = Quite formal <un Po'> literally means "a bit" or a "little". But, in this context, a "little formal" means "quite formal". Beware, because <un po'> can also be used to literally mean "a little"!