Learn Italian Sentence Pattern: Talking about your spouse and children | Can Do #6

With these Can Do videos, you'll see real-life situations where you have to introduce yourself, talk about your family, or give your contact information. So, by the end, you can do them yourself in Italian. This video is a small portion of our Can Do course. To get the full course, including translations, grammar tools, and assessment tests, click the link in the description. Welcome to Can Do Italian by ItalianPod101.com Ciao a tutti, sono Felice Angelini. Hi everyone, I'm Felice Angelini. In this lesson, you'll learn how to talk about your family from a parent's perspective. This is Karen Lee, and she's studying with her Italian teacher, Rosa Romano. Rosa notices a picture on her computer and asks, Listen to the conversation and focus on the response. Note, Rosa uses formal Italian. Once more with the English translation. Sì, questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me. Wondering how you can master these conversations even faster? Here's how. 1. Read along. You get the lesson conversation and translations inside our dialogue tool, so that you see each word as you hear it, and understand it all. 2. Practice speaking. By shadowing what you hear, you can also record and compare yourself with native speakers with our voice recording tools. And 3. Take our assessment tests and see how much you remember. These tools are part of our Can Do course. Just click the link in the description to get them. Let's take a closer look at the conversation. Do you remember how Rosa asks, Is this your family? Questa è la sua famiglia. Let's start with the word, Famiglia. Family. Fa-mi-glia. Famiglia. In Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Famiglia. Is feminine and singular, a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence. Before this is, La sua. Meaning, you're, in this formal context. La sua. Note, Sua. Fundamentally means, his, hers, or its. But it's also a formal way to say, you're, when speaking to someone directly using formal Italian. Sua. Now, you might be more familiar with, Tua. An informal word for, you're, as in, La tua famiglia. Your family. Informal. As this is a conversation between two adults that don't know each other very well, the formal form, Sua. Is more appropriate. Sua. Is feminine and singular, to agree with, Famiglia. Before, Sua. Is the article, La. Think of it like, the, in English. La. Is also feminine and singular, to agree with, Famiglia. Note, in this sentence, the article, does not have a corresponding English translation. In Italian, possessive adjectives, like, Mia. My. Tua. Your. Sua. The formal word for, you're, and so forth, often pair with an article, like the, La. In. La sua. Together, it's, La sua. A formal phrase for, you're, in this context. La sua. All together, La sua famiglia. Translates as, your family. La sua famiglia. Moving to the start of the sentence, Questa. This. Questa. Note, Questa. Is in the feminine, singular form, to agree with, Famiglia. Next is, Is. As in, this is. Is. Is from the verb, Essere. Meaning, to be. Essere. All together, it's, Questa è la sua famiglia? This literally means, this is your family? But it translates as, is this your family? Questa è la sua famiglia? Note the rising intonation of the sentence, to indicate that it's a question. Questa è la sua famiglia? Remember this question. You'll hear it again later. Let's take a closer look at the response. Do you remember how Karen says, Yes, this is my family. My husband, my son, my daughter, and me. Sì, questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. This starts with, Sì. Meaning, yes. Sì. It answers Rosa's yes or no question. Is this your family? Questa è la sua famiglia? After this, Karen points to the picture and says, Questa è la mia famiglia. Let's start with the word, Famiglia. Family. Famiglia. Do you remember the gender and number of, Famiglia. Feminine and singular. Before this, it's, La mia. A phrase meaning, my. La mia. Mia. My. Mia. In this sentence, Mia. Is feminine and singular to agree with, Famiglia. Before, Mia. Is the article, La. Think of it like, the in English. La. Is also feminine singular to agree with, Famiglia. Again, in this case, the article, La. Does not have a corresponding English translation. Together, it's, La mia. A phrase for, my. La mia. Altogether, La mia famiglia. Translates as, my family. La mia famiglia. Moving to the start of the sentence, Questa. This. Questa. Note. Questa. Is in the feminine singular form to agree with, Famiglia. Next is, E. Is. E. Altogether, it's, Questa è la mia famiglia. This is my family. Questa è la mia famiglia. After this is, Mio marito. My husband. Mio marito. Marito. Husband. Marito. Mio. My. Mio. Is masculine and singular to agree with, Marito. Mio marito. Next, Mio figlio. My son. Mio figlio. Figlio. Son. Figlio. Mio. My. Mio. Is masculine and singular to agree with, Figlio. Mio figlio. After this is, Mia figlia. My daughter. Mia figlia. Figlia. Daughter. Figlia. Mia. My. Mia. Is feminine and singular to agree with, Figlia. Mia figlia. Next is, E. And. E. And last is, Io. Which translates as, Me, in this context. Io. All together, Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito. Mio figlio. Mia figlia. E io. This is my family. My husband. My son. My daughter. And me. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito. Mio figlio. Mia figlia. E io. The pattern is, Questa è la mia famiglia. Family member. E io. This is my family. Family member. And me. To use this pattern, simply replace the family member placeholders with the appropriate word for my and members of your family. Remember that the word for my will be, Mio. When your family member is male, and Mia. When the family member is female. Imagine your family members are your wife, your son, your daughter, and you. Moglie. Is wife. Moglie. This is a feminine noun. Therefore, my wife is Mia moglie. Say, This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter, and me. Ready? This is my family. My wife, my son, my daughter, and me. are preceded by definite articles like La in My family. However, there is an exception. When talking about singular family members, don't use the definite article. For example, My wife. My husband. Let's look at some more examples. Listen and repeat, or speak along with the native speakers. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mia moglie, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. Questa è la mia famiglia. Mia moglie, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, mio figlio e io, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, mio figlio e io, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, i miei figli e io, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, i miei figli e io. Did you notice the phrase the last speaker uses when she points out her sons? Wondering how you can master these conversations even faster? Here's how. One, read along. You get the lesson conversation and translations inside our dialogue tool so that you see each word as you hear it and understand it all. Two, practice speaking. By shadowing what you hear, you can also record and compare yourself with native speakers with our voice recording tools. And three, take our assessment tests and see how much you remember. These tools are part of our CanDo course. Just click the link in the description to get them. Mio marito, i miei figli e io. My husband, my sons and me. I miei figli. Translates as my sons in this case. I miei figli. I miei figli. Remember, in Italian, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Figli. Is masculine and plural a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence. Let's start with figli. Children. Figli. Figli. Figli. Is the plural form of figlio. Son. Figlio. Note. Figli. Can refer to a group of sons or a mixed group including at least one son and one daughter. However, it cannot be used when it is a group of only daughters. In that case, you would use the word figlio. Before this is the phrase i miei, meaning my. I miei. Miei. My. Miei. Miei. Miei. Is masculine and plural to agree with is the article. Think of it like the in English. Note the article does not have a corresponding English translation. If you're talking about daughters, you can say my daughters. You should be aware of the plural form but we'll use singular nouns in this lesson. Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after me focusing on pronunciation. Ready? Do you remember how to say yes? Sì. Sì. And how to say family? Famiglia. Famiglia. Do you remember how to say my family? Don't forget the article. And how to say is? And do you remember how Karen says this is my family? Do you remember how to say husband? And how to say my husband? Do you remember how to say son? And how to say my son? Do you remember how to say daughter? And how to say my daughter? Do you remember how to say and? And how to say me? Do you remember how Karen says yes, this is my family, my husband, my son, my daughter, and me? Sì, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, mio figlio, mia figlia, e io. Do you remember the formal way to say your family? Don't forget the article. And do you remember how Rosa asks is this your family? Do you remember how to say wife? And how to say my wife? Let's practice. Imagine you're Mark's colleague, Matteo Marino. You have a wife and a daughter. Respond to Mark's question referring to the photo. Don't forget to include the word for yes at the beginning of your response. Ready? Listen again and repeat. Sì, questa è la mia famiglia, mia moglie, mia figlia, e io. Let's try another. Imagine you're Mark's boss, Patrizia Palmieri. You have a husband, daughter, and son. Ready? Listen again and repeat. Let's try one more. Imagine you're Mark's friend, Marina Monti. You have a husband and a son. Ready? Sì, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, mio figlio, e io. Listen again and repeat. Sì, questa è la mia famiglia, mio marito, mio figlio, e io. Did you notice how Mark uses la tua famiglia when asking about his friend's and colleague's families? Questa è la tua famiglia? Is this your family? In less formal situations, like speaking with a friend or close colleague, the less formal, tua, is more appropriate. Tua. Your. Tua. Tua. Note, tua is feminine and singular to agree with famiglia. This is the end of this lesson. Now, here's what you can do to cement this conversation in your head. Review the conversation with our dialogue tool and lesson transcripts. Study the key words and phrases with our spaced repetition flashcards. Review the key grammar and cultural tips inside the lesson notes. And test yourself with our assessment tests. So click the link in the description right now and sign up for your free lifetime account to access our CanDo course. Well done. Now you know how to talk about your family in Italian. That's all there is to it. Keep practicing and move on to the next lesson.