Unlocking Italian with Paul Noble: Your key to language success with the bestselling language coach. Paul Noble

(pray-no-tatz-ee-oh-nay)

      And now that we know what “reservation” is in Italian, we can once again cut the “azione” from the end and add the “ato” from “tomato” in its place. This will give us the Italian for “reserved” (literally “pre-noted”). So, cut off the “azione” from “prenotizione”, replace it with “ato” and tell me what “reserved” or “pre-noted” is in Italian:

       prenotato

       (pray-no-tart-oh)

      Now again, what is “I have” in Italian?

       Ho

       (o)

      So, how would you say “I have reserved” (literally “I have pre-noted”)?

       Ho prenotato

       (o pray-no-tart-oh)

      And “I reserved” / “I pre-noted”?

       Ho prenotato

       (o pray-no-tart-oh)

      And “I did reserve” / “I did pre-note”?

       Ho prenotato

       (o pray-no-tart-oh)

      (Once again, just in case you’d forgotten, you get three English past tenses for the price of one in Italian!)

      Now again, how would you say “prepared” in Italian?

       preparato

       (prep-are-art-oh)

      How would you say “I have prepared”?

       Ho preparato

       (o prep-are-art-oh)

      And “I prepared”?

       Ho preparato

       (o prep-are-art-oh)

      And “I did prepare”?

       Ho preparato

       (o prep-are-art-oh)

      “The dinner” in Italian is:

       la cena

       (la chain-er)

      So, how would you say “I have prepared the dinner”, “I prepared the dinner”, “I did prepare the dinner”?

       Ho preparato la cena.

       (o prep-are-art-oh la chain-er)

      And again, what is “reserved” (literally “pre-noted”) in Italian?

       prenotato

       (pray-no-tart-oh)

      Italians actually use this word to mean both “reserved” and “booked”. So, how would you say, “I have reserved” / “I have booked” / “I have pre-noted”?

       Ho prenotato

       (o pray-no-tart-oh)

      “A table” in Italian is:

       un tavolo

       (oon tav-oh-loe)

      So, how would you say “I have reserved a table” / “I have booked a table”?

       Ho prenotato un tavolo.

       (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe)

      “For you” in Italian is:

       per Lei

       (pair lay)

      How would you say “I have reserved a table for you” / “I have booked a table for you”?

       Ho prenotato un tavolo per Lei.

       (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair lay)

      And again, what was “the dinner” in Italian?

       la cena

       (la chain-er)

      And what was “for you”?

       per Lei

       (pair lay)

      So, if “per Lei” means “for you”, what do you think is the word for “for” in Italian?

       per

       (pair)

      Now, to say “for dinner” in Italian, you will literally say “for the dinner”. How do you think you would say that?

       per la cena

       (pair la chain-er)

      Alright, how would you say “I have reserved a table for dinner” / “I have booked a table for dinner”?

       Ho prenotato un tavolo per la cena.

       (o pray-no-tart-oh oon tav-oh-loe pair la chain-er)

      So, as you can see, those “ation” / “azione” words we stole at the beginning of this chapter really are very useful. Not only do they give you a way to begin to access more than a thousand words immediately – words like “preparation” (preparazione), “decoration” (decorazione), “cooperation” (cooperazione), and so on – but these “ation” words also give you access to the past tense in Italian. This is because, by simply cutting off the “ation” / “azione” from the end of the word and then adding the “ato” from “tomato” in its place, you can create hundreds of past tense words in Italian; words such as “preparato” (prepared), “decorato” (decorated) or, in a more unusual example, “prenotato” (pre-noted), meaning “reserved”.

      Let’s try another somewhat unusual one now.

      What would “ordination” be in Italian?

       ordinazione

       (or-din-atz-ee-oh-nay)

      And so, cutting off the “azione” and replacing it with the “ato” from “tomato”, what would “ordained” be in Italian?

       ordinato

       (or-din-art-oh)

      Now, you are probably asking yourself “why on earth am I being taught the words for ‘ordination’ and ‘ordained’?”

      Well, the word “ordination” /