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CHAPTER 3

I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.

I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.

Person 1:	I’m planning to go back to Italy in May.
Person 2:	Really?
Person 1:	Yes, I feel like going back to Rome but I’m scared of flying, so I’m planning to take the Eurostar.

The brief conversation above does not seem complicated in English and yet, even if you have studied Italian before, you might well find it impossible to know exactly where to begin in order to say all of this in Italian. By the end of this chapter, you will have learnt how to carry out both sides of this conversation, plus a great deal of other Italian words and expressions besides.

Let’s begin!

Again, what is “I have” in Italian?

Ho

(o)

And how would you say “I have visited”, “I visited”, “I did visit”?

Ho visitato

(o visit-art-oh)

“I 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:

a maggio

(a madge-oh)

With this in mind, how would you say “I’m planning to go back to Italy in May”?

Ho intenzione di ritornare in Italia a maggio.

(o in-ten-tzee-oh-nay dee ri-torn-are-ay een eet-al-yer a madge-oh)

To recap, in Italian, if you want to say “I’m planning to…” you can simply use “I have intention of…”.

It’s an extremely useful expression and actually is just one of a number of such expressions that work in more or less the same way.

For example, if you want to say “I feel like…” or “I fancy…” in Italian, you will literally say “I have want of…” which in Italian is:

Ho voglia di

(o vol-ya dee)

Knowing this, how would you say “I feel like going back to Italy in May / I fancy going back to Italy in May” (literally “I have want of to return to Italy in May”)?

Ho voglia di ritornare in Italia a maggio.

(o vol-ya dee ri-torn-are-ay een eet-al-yer a madge-oh)

What is “September” in Italian?

settembre

(se-tem-bray)

So, how would you say “in September”?

a settembre

(a se-tem-bray)

And how would you say “I feel like going back to Italy in September / I fancy going back to Italy in September” (literally “I have want of to return to Italy in September”)?

Ho voglia di ritornare in Italia a settembre.

(o vol-ya dee ri-torn-are-ay een eet-al-yer a se-tem-bray)

Do you remember how to say “in Rome”?

a Roma

(a roam-er)

“To Rome” in Italian is said in exactly the same way – how would you say “to Rome”?

a Roma

(a roam-er)

And how would you say “I feel like going back to Rome / I fancy going back to Rome”?

Ho voglia di ritornare a Roma.

(o vol-ya dee ri-torn-are-ay a roam-er)

You have now practised using two phrases that are constructed in a similar way. The first uses the words “I have intention of…” to express “I’m planning to…” and the other uses the words “I have want of…” to mean “I feel like…” or “I fancy…”.