Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 12
Quanto? Numeri e prezziHow much? Numbers and prices
From one to a hundred in a single chapter — because the system is honest: you learn undici–diciannove, then the tens, and the rest is BUILT: venti + due = ventidue. Only two tricks: before uno and otto the ten drops its vowel (ventuno, ventotto), and tre takes an accent (ventitré). With the numbers come prices: the euro (which does NOT change in the plural: due euro) and il prezzo. Mike counts «venti e uno»… and Giulia shows him the merge.
Dialogue
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Venti e uno?— «Twenty and one»?
- MikeDieci, venti… venti e uno cornetti!Ten, twenty… «twenty and one» cornetti! (Two separate words with a connector — the slip this chapter fixes: Italian fuses them.)
- GiuliaVentUNO! Venti + uno si fondono — e la vocale cade: ventuno, ventotto.VentUNO! Venti + uno merge — and the vowel drops: ventuno, ventotto.
- MikeVentuno, ventidue, ventitré… trenta! E il prezzo? Trenta cornetti sono trenta euro?Ventuno, ventidue, ventitré… thirty! And the price? Are thirty cornetti thirty euros? (ventitré — tre takes an accent in compounds.)
- GiuliaNo — sono quaranta euro! E «euro» non cambia mai: un euro, cento euro.No — they're forty euros! And «euro» never changes: un euro, cento euro.
Dialogue
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Quanto? Il gioco dei prezzi— How much? The price game
- GiuliaMarco, quanto è un cappuccino?Marco, how much is a cappuccino? (Prices with essere for now — the shopping verb comes in chapter 21.)
- MarcoUn cappuccino è due euro. Due cappuccini sono quattro euro!One cappuccino is two euros. Two cappuccinos are four euros!
- GiuliaE sessantasei cappuccini?And sixty-six cappuccinos?
- MarcoSessantasei cappuccini sono… centotrentadue euro! Giulia! Perché?!Sixty-six cappuccinos are… a hundred and thirty-two euros! Giulia! Why?! (perché «why» — chapter 14's toolkit, previewed under pressure.)
Vocabulary
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- zero
numeralzero
- undici
numeraleleven
- dodici
numeraltwelve
- tredici
numeralthirteen
- quattordici
numeralfourteen
- quindici
numeralfifteen
- sedici
numeralsixteen
- diciassette
numeralseventeen (the teens flip here: dici + sette)
- diciotto
numeraleighteen
- diciannove
numeralnineteen
- quaranta
numeralforty
- cinquanta
numeralfifty
- sessanta
numeralsixty
- settanta
numeralseventy
- ottanta
numeraleighty
- novanta
numeralninety
- cento
numerala hundred (no article: cento euro, not «un cento»)
- l'euro
n.m.the euro — invariable in the plural: un euro, due euro, cento euro
- il prezzo
n.m.the price (hold the zz — /ts/ doubled: «pret-tso»)
Grammar
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From zero to a hundred: the system builds itself
Explanation
Italian numbers are learned in three pieces. Piece one, to memorize: undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici — then the construction flips: diciassette, diciotto, diciannove (dici + sette/otto/nove). Piece two, the tens: venti, trenta, quaranta, cinquanta, sessanta, settanta, ottanta, novanta, cento. Piece three, the factory: ten + unit, welded into one word — ventidue, trentacinque, novantasei. Two factory rules: before uno and otto the ten drops its final vowel (ventuno, ventotto, quarantuno, sessantotto) because two vowels would collide; and a trailing tre takes the accent: ventitré, cinquantatré. For prices, essere is enough for now: Un caffè è un euro. Due cappuccini sono quattro euro. And remember: euro never changes — cento euro, not «euri». Chapter 21 adds the shop verb; the numbers, from today, are all yours.
Examples
- undici… sedici — poi diciassette, diciotto, diciannovethe teens: six to memorize, then the build flips at seventeen
- venti + due = ventidue · trenta + cinque = trentacinquethe factory: ten + unit, one word, no connector
- ventuno, ventotto — ventitréthe two factory rules: vowel drop before uno/otto, accent on final tre
- Un caffè è un euro; tre caffè sono tre euro.prices with essere — and euro standing invariable through it all
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