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Italian for cinema, books and the stage

Talking about films, books, exhibitions and concerts: buying tickets, describing impressions, giving reasons for an opinion.

36 sentences · 3 dialogues · 19 words

Why this field

Italy has a dense cultural landscape: museums in almost every town, theatres, concerts, readings, cinemas showing films in the original. If you can talk about it, you have a topic that fits into any conversation.

Talking about culture means telling and judging: what happens, what effect it has, what you think of it. Past tenses, verbs of opinion and the congiuntivo come together quite naturally.

What you will be able to do

Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.

Core vocabulary

19 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.

  • il librothe bookA1
  • il museothe museumA1
  • il filmthe filmA2
  • il cinemathe cinemaA2
  • il teatrothe theatreA2
  • il concertothe concertA2
  • la canzonethe songA2
  • la musicathe musicA2
  • il romanzothe novelA2
  • la mostrathe exhibitionB1
  • lo spettacolothe performanceB1
  • la tramathe plotB1
  • il registathe directorB1
  • il personaggiothe characterB1
  • il pubblicothe audienceB1
  • la recensionethe reviewB1
  • il protagonistathe protagonistB2
  • i sottotitolithe subtitlesB2
  • il finale apertothe open endingB2

Typical situations

Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.

Going to the cinema

A2

You are deciding which film to see tonight.

  1. Anna

    Stasera andiamo al cinema?Shall we go to the cinema tonight?

  2. Luca

    Volentieri. Che cosa danno?I’d love to. What’s on?

  3. Anna

    C’è un film francese e una commedia italiana.There’s a French film and an Italian comedy.

  4. Luca

    Meglio la commedia. A che ora comincia?The comedy, I think. What time does it start?

  5. Anna

    Alle nove. Compro io i biglietti online.At nine. I’ll buy the tickets online.

  6. Luca

    Perfetto, allora ci vediamo davanti al cinema.Perfect, see you outside the cinema, then.

At the museum ticket desk

A2

You are buying tickets for a museum.

  1. Visitor

    Buongiorno, un biglietto intero e uno ridotto, per favore.Good morning, one full-price ticket and one reduced, please.

  2. Ticket desk

    Per il ridotto mi serve la tessera dello studente.For the reduced one I need your student card.

  3. Visitor

    Ecco qui.Here you are.

  4. Ticket desk

    Grazie. Il guardaroba è a destra, l’audioguida si paga a parte.Thank you. The cloakroom is on the right; the audio guide costs extra.

  5. Visitor

    A che ora chiude il museo?What time does the museum close?

  6. Ticket desk

    Alle sette, ma l’ultimo ingresso è alle sei.At seven, but last admission is at six.

After the show

B1

You are coming out of the theatre and swapping impressions.

  1. Sara

    Allora, ti è piaciuto lo spettacolo?So, did you enjoy the show?

  2. Paul

    Molto. Gli attori erano bravissimi.Very much. The actors were brilliant.

  3. Sara

    Anche secondo me. Però la trama era un po’ confusa.I thought so too. But the plot was a bit muddled.

  4. Paul

    Davvero? A me è sembrata chiara fino alla fine.Really? I found it clear right to the end.

  5. Sara

    Forse dovrei rivederlo con più calma.Maybe I should see it again when I’m less tired.

  6. Paul

    Dai, la prossima settimana ci torniamo insieme.Come on, next week we’ll go back together.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

  1. Leggo molto.I read a lot.

    A1neutral

  2. Che cosa leggi?What are you reading?

    A1casual

  3. Questo libro è molto bello.This book is very good.

    A1neutral

  4. Stasera vado al museo.Tonight I’m going to the museum.

    A1neutral

  5. Il museo è chiuso il lunedì.The museum is closed on Mondays.

    A1neutral

  6. Quanto costa il biglietto?How much is the ticket?

    A1neutral

  7. È bello, ma un po’ lungo.It’s good, but a bit long.

    A1neutral

  8. Ti piace il cinema italiano?Do you like Italian cinema?

    A2casual

  9. Stasera andiamo al cinema?Shall we go to the cinema tonight?

    A2casual

  10. Due biglietti per il film delle nove, per favore.Two tickets for the nine o’clock film, please.

    A2neutral

  11. Il film era un po’ noioso.The film was a bit boring.

    A2neutral

  12. Ho letto un romanzo bellissimo.I’ve read a wonderful novel.

    A2neutral

  13. Che musica ascolti?What kind of music do you listen to?

    A2casual

  14. Questa canzone mi piace tantissimo.I absolutely love this song.

    A2neutral

  15. Sabato siamo andati a un concerto all’aperto.On Saturday we went to an open-air concert.

    A2neutral

  16. Ci sono riduzioni per studenti?Are there reductions for students?

    A2neutral

  17. Preferisco i libri ai film.I prefer books to films.

    A2neutral

  18. L’ho visto in versione originale.I saw it in the original version.

    A2neutral

  19. Il teatro è vicino alla piazza.The theatre is near the square.

    A2neutral

  20. Hai visto la mostra di fotografia al museo?Have you seen the photography exhibition at the museum?

    B1neutral

  21. Lo spettacolo comincia alle otto e mezza.The performance starts at half past eight.

    B1neutral

  22. La trama è semplice, ma il finale è sorprendente.The plot is simple, but the ending is surprising.

    B1neutral

  23. Il regista ha girato quasi tutto in una sola città.The director shot almost everything in a single city.

    B1neutral

  24. Il personaggio principale mi è sembrato poco credibile.I didn’t find the main character very convincing.

    B1neutral

  25. Secondo me il libro è meglio del film.In my opinion the book is better than the film.

    B1neutral

  26. Mi sembra che il pubblico sia rimasto un po’ freddo.I get the feeling the audience stayed rather cool.

    B1neutral After mi sembra che comes the congiuntivo: sia rimasto.

  27. Ho letto una recensione molto positiva.I read a very positive review.

    B1neutral

  28. Se ti piacciono i gialli, questo ti piacerà.If you like crime novels, you’ll like this one.

    B1neutral A crime story is a giallo, after the colour of old paperback series.

  29. Non ti dico come finisce.I’m not telling you how it ends.

    B1neutral

  30. Durante l’intervallo prendiamo qualcosa al bar.In the interval we’ll get something at the bar.

    B1neutral

  31. Il concerto era bellissimo, ma l’acustica non era un granché.The concert was wonderful, but the acoustics weren’t up to much.

    B1neutral

  32. Il protagonista racconta la storia in prima persona.The protagonist tells the story in the first person.

    B2neutral

  33. L’ho guardato con i sottotitoli, perché parlano in dialetto.I watched it with subtitles because they speak in dialect.

    B2neutral

  34. Il finale aperto lascia allo spettatore molte domande.The open ending leaves the viewer with a lot of questions.

    B2neutral

  35. Se avessi letto il libro prima, avrei capito meglio il film.If I’d read the book first, I’d have understood the film better.

    B2neutral

  36. Benché la regia sia curata, la storia non mi ha convinto.Although the direction is careful, the story didn’t convince me.

    B2neutral

What matters here

  • People talk about films and books without giving away the ending:

    Non ti dico come finisce.

    Non ti dico come finisce.

  • Opinions are often softened:

    secondo me, mi sembra che… — after mi sembra che comes the congiuntivo.

    secondo memi sembra che…

  • Many museums and theatres have reduced tickets; you ask for un biglietto ridotto.

    un biglietto ridotto

  • At the theatre the interval is intervallo, the curtain sipario, the audience pubblico.

    intervallosipariopubblico

Quick quiz

6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Italian, then open it to compare.

  1. I read a lot.

    Leggo molto.

  2. Two tickets for the nine o’clock film, please.

    Due biglietti per il film delle nove, per favore.

  3. The theatre is near the square.

    Il teatro è vicino alla piazza.

  4. If you like crime novels, you’ll like this one.

    Se ti piacciono i gialli, questo ti piacerà.

Keep learning

More fields

Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.