A2 · 50 words
Appointments and arrangements in Italian
Making an appointment, moving it, calling it off — and saying why you will be later than you said.
Practise this list
From these 50 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
A fifth of the way down the list is tenere aggiornato, and the verb inside it is worth taking apart. Aggiornare is a- plus giorno, the day, plus a verb ending: to bring a thing to the day. English owns the very same construction. « Adjourn » came from Old French ajorner, itself a plus jorn, the day, out of Latin diurnum; it entered English in the fourteenth century meaning to appoint a day for something, and then settled on putting that something off to the day appointed. Italian kept the old sense in its formal register, and la seduta è aggiornata a domani is what a chairman says. But the everyday Italian sense went the other way entirely: aggiornare is to update. Aggiornare i dati, aggiornare il software, and ti tengo aggiornato, which is what a friend promises. The same two pieces, then, produced a verb for pushing a date away and a verb for pulling a thing level with today. A reader who hears « adjourn » inside ti tengo aggiornato has the promise exactly backwards.
The words
Verb (12)
liberarsito free oneself upVerbA2
spostareto move (an appointment)VerbA2
rinviareto postponeVerbA2
avvisareto let somebody knowVerbA2
ritardareto delayVerbA2
recuperareto make up (a missed lesson)VerbA2
rimandareto put offVerbA2
prevedereto allow forVerbA2
pianificareto planVerbA2
organizzarsito organise oneselfVerbA2
annotareto note downVerbA2
sottolineareto underlineVerbA2
Phrase (8)
proporre una datato suggest a datePhraseA2
tenere aggiornatoto keep somebody postedPhraseA2
due giorni dopotwo days laterPhraseA2
due giorni primatwo days beforePhraseA2
arrivare in tempoto arrive on timePhraseA2
essere in ritardoto be latePhraseA2
fare la filato queuePhraseA2
aspettare il proprio turnoto wait one’s turnPhraseA2
Noun (f) (12)
Grammar for these: Definite article: il, lo, la · Indefinite article: un, uno
l’agendathe diaryNoun (f)A2
la disponibilitàavailabilityNoun (f)A2
l’aperturathe openingNoun (f)A2
la chiusurathe closingNoun (f)A2
la quindicinathe fortnightNoun (f)A2
la duratathe length of timeNoun (f)A2
la puntualitàpunctualityNoun (f)A2
l’attesathe waitNoun (f)A2
l’urgenzathe emergencyNoun (f)A2
la mattinatathe morningNoun (f)A2
l’ora di puntathe rush hourNoun (f)A2
la data limitethe deadlineNoun (f)A2
Noun (m) (18)
Grammar for these: Definite article: il, lo, la · Indefinite article: un, uno
l’annullamentothe cancellationNoun (m)A2
il rinviothe postponementNoun (m)A2
l’orariothe timeNoun (m)A2
il giorno festivothe public holidayNoun (m)A2
il giorno dopothe next dayNoun (m)A2
il trimestrethe quarterNoun (m)A2
il semestrethe half-yearNoun (m)A2
l’anticipothe time to spareNoun (m)A2
il passaggiothe call (by a technician)Noun (m)A2
l’invitothe invitationNoun (m)A2
il giorno lavorativothe working dayNoun (m)A2
il calendariothe calendarNoun (m)A2
il primo pomeriggiothe early afternoonNoun (m)A2
l’orario continuatothe all-day openingNoun (m)A2
il giorno di riposothe closing dayNoun (m)A2
l’appuntamento fissothe standing appointmentNoun (m)A2
l’orario di aperturathe opening hoursNoun (m)A2
il turno di mattinathe morning shiftNoun (m)A2
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
This list belongs to Travel, errands and appointments — 25 lists and 882 words that can also be practised as a whole.