Tutorial Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to my channel. In today's video, I would like to talk to you all about ten expressions that use prepositions. You all know that there are rules, but these rules aren't always applied, there are some exceptions, right? And I have to say that is the case with these ten expressions today, that by now have become lexicalized, therefore, they make up part of these fixed expressions, that we can also define as collocations between the verb preposition noun. Because we will always find these words together. This idea came to me because recently I have been doing little grammar quizzes on Instagram. The first expression today is “festa a sorpresa” (surprise party). Surprise party. Lucia organized a surprise party for his grandchildren. The only possibility in Italian is this “festa a sorpresa”, it’s not possible to say “festa di sorpresa” or “festa sorpresa,” because the two structures sound grammatically incorrect. So, it’s “festa a sorpresa.” The second expression today is “prendere in prestito.” (to borrow). To borrow. I go to the library to borrow books. The third expression is “prendere a noleggio.” (to rent (US) /to hire (UK) To rent(US) /to hire(UK). During my vacation I got a rental car. It’s another way of saying, “I rented a car.” To rent something, a car, a bicycle, a scooter, etcetera. but “prendere in prestito” (to borrow) a pen, to borrow a book, also to borrow a car, but in that case, you’re not renting it from an agency or rental company, you borrow it from your friend, for example. The fourth expression is “parlare al telefono” (to speak on the phone). To speak on the phone. I speak on the phone everyday. Then we have “giocare a tennis,” (to play tennis), but in this case, tennis could be substituted with any other game or sport. So, for example: to play soccer (US)/football (UK), to play volleyball, to play basketball, to play golf, to play cards, to play chess, to play bingo, etcetera. So, it’s always “giocare a,” to play a game or to play a sport. Then, “essere in dubbio.” (to be in doubt) I am in doubt about this question, or “I am in doubt about his behavior,” is also an expression that we can consider fixed. Then we have “ridere di gusto.” (laugh out loud) Now, be careful, it’s not “con gusto.” To laugh out loud, to eat out of pleasure, to live a life of leisure, to walk out of pleasure, to do something out of pleasure. OK? So the expression is “di gusto.” Don’t get fooled by its similarity with other languages. And we all understand each other. Then, we have another expression that is usually used by people who wear eye glasses, to see up-close (near-sighted) or to see from afar (far-sighted). In my case, I am myopic, and so I can’t see far away. We can also consider this as a fixed expression “to see from afar,” “to see up-close” on the contrary. Obviously, we can also substitute “vedere” con “guardare,” for example: to watch something up-close or to watch something from afar. The ninth expression is “andare sul sicuro.” (to be sure) To be sure. “Andare sul sicuro” means to be certain of something, to do something with certainty and with assurance. For example: we want to eat out for dinner, it’s Tuesday and we don’t know which restaurant to choose because sometimes some restaurants are closed on Tuesdays. But we know a good place that’s open everyday, so instead of going to a random place, without being certain that it’s going to be open, we go to the place that we know. So we go with assurance because we will definitely find it open. And lastly, there’s the expression “parlare sul serio.” (to be serious) “Parlare sul serio” means to speak seriously, and whatever is said to have some sort of importance is something serious. So “parlare sul serio” is the contrary of joking. So, a phrase that people often say is “I am not joking, I am being serious.” Well, all of these expressions have to be used just like that, meaning that we absolutely can’t change the preposition, the most we can change is the verb, not always, but it depends. So we can define the collocations to that effect, because we identify a natural association. in the language within two or more words. I chose these ten expressions because they are some expressions that recur often in conversation and in the spoken language, therefore I thought that they could be useful for you all. Obviously, if you have any questions, leave me them in the comments below. I want to thank you all for having watched the video, and we’ll see each other next time. Until then, ciao!