asset title: Episode 22: Episode 22: Truth and Consequences filename: ra_22.mp3 track number: 22/22 time: 12:07 size: 11.37 MB bitrate: 128 kbps If things had not been so wildly hectic here at Radio Arlecchino of late, this exciting episode would have appeared quite a bit sooner! But here it is at last, full of bone-chilling encounters of the second and third kind! Hypothetically speaking, that is. If you don’t tell the truth, you have to face the consequences. And we spell it all out...

asset title: Episode 21: Lost in the Woulds - The Conditional Mood filename: ra_21.mp3 track number: 21/22 time: 23:14 size: 21.79 MB bitrate: 128 kbps You can't keep a good Dottore down! Not only has his Futurometer been refurbished and re-installed, our learned friend has now provided Radio Arlecchino with another amazing device: the Conditionator 9000. Of course you would love to know how it works, and we would like to tell you, but if we did, we would have to... Well, anyway, it does...

asset title: Episode 20: If You Can't Stand the Heat filename: ra_20.mp3 track number: 20/22 time: 14:44 size: 13.82 MB bitrate: 128 kbps The good news is that the Futurometer is being painstakingly repaired and the studio refurbished for enhanced security by a crack team of experts. The bad news is that the studio is currently in a noisy mess and apparently not a very safe place right now. So our trusty podcasters are hoping to find a more congenial atmosphere for this episode backstage at...

asset title: Episode 19: Episode 19: Talking about the Future - Global Thermogrammatical War filename: ra_19.mp3 track number: 19/22 time: 15:37 size: 12.82 MB bitrate: 112 kbps What happens here at the studio late at night, after the grammar gurus have gone home and all seems quiet and deserted? Yes, we thought so too, until we got a nocturnal distress call from the Futurometer. You'll be happy to know that Global Thermogrammatical War has been narrowly avoided, no thanks to a group of...

asset title: Episode 18: Likes and Dislikes - The catch of the day filename: ra_18.mp3 track number: 18/22 time: 6:26 size: 5.28 MB bitrate: 112 kbps The catch of the day in Episode 18 is Pulcinella, for Antonella has caught up with the Neapolitan superstar who disappeared shortly after the premiere of Arlecchino's blockbuster. In her exclusive interview with Pulcinè, as she kiddingly calls him in the Roman way, we'll hear several verbs that express likes and dislikes, plus several new ones...

asset title: Episode 17: Likes and Dislikes - Casting call and scream test filename: ra_17.mp3 track number: 17/22 time: 14:39 size: 12.01 MB bitrate: 112 kbps There's plenty to like about this episode and about Arlecchino's new movie! In Episode 17, Casting call and scream test, we explore how to express likes and dislikes in the compound tenses, like the passato prossimo. And in a Spettacolo Stasera exclusive, Arlecchina recalls her harrowing experience when she answered Pantalone's...

asset title: Episode 16: Likes and Dislikes - On the red carpet filename: ra_16.mp3 track number: 16/22 time: 19:31 size: 16.01 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 16 of Radio Arlecchino, On the red carpet, we will learn about the verb piacere and how to express likes and dislikes. To an English speaker, the piacere construction is often confusing, for the subject in Italian is the person or thing that is pleasing, while the person who likes it is the indirect object! Eric and Antonella are in...

asset title: Episode 15: The Holiday Special Continued filename: ra_15.mp3 track number: 15/22 time: 10:35 size: 8.68 MB bitrate: 112 kbps Holiday magic has allowed us to resume the remote broadcast we began in Episode 14. You may remember that, in the beginning of our Radio Arlecchino Holiday Special, Eric had been invited to join our commedia friends as they celebrated the season backstage before opening a new show. As they shared reminiscences of holidays past, we reviewed the grammar...

asset title: Episode 14: The Holiday Special filename: ra_14.mp3 track number: 14/22 time: 13:14 size: 10.85 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 14, The Radio Arlecchino Holiday Special, Eric has been invited to join our commedia friends as they celebrate the season backstage before opening a new show. As they share reminiscences of holidays past --and really past-- we'll review the grammar points we've encountered so far: narrating in the past, expressing emotions and opinions, issuing...

asset title: Episode 13: Pronouns - The joy of stress filename: ra_13.mp3 track number: 13/22 time: 16:09 size: 6.63 MB bitrate: 56 kbps In Episode 13, The joy of stress, we will continue our discussion of double pronouns and how stress can affect the spelling and placement of object pronouns. We will also talk about when it is absolutely necessary to use a 'stressed' or tonic pronoun: to resolve ambiguity, to compare or contrast, to answer a question, or for emphasis. Dottor Balanzone will...

asset title: Episode 12: Pronouns - Just look at yourself filename: ra_12.mp3 track number: 12/22 time: 22:18 size: 18.30 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 12, Just look at yourself, we continue our study of pronouns with reflexive pronouns, which are used with verbs where the action is reflected back onto the subject. We will also talk about the interesting metamorphoses that take place when two pronouns occur with one verb. Two esteemed pronoun experts will be joining us, Dottor...

asset title: Episode 11: Pronouns - Adult supervision required filename: ra_11.mp3 track number: 11/22 time: 19:20 size: 15.86 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 11, Adult supervision required, we will blast off with the Dottore into the world of pronouns! We will focus on subject pronouns and object pronouns, both direct and indirect. Generally speaking, there are two major issues involved with Italian pronouns: one is which pronoun to use, and the other is where to put the pronoun in relation...

asset title: Episode 10: Imperative - For best results filename: ra_10.mp3 track number: 10/22 time: 10:01 size: 8.23 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Episode 10, For best results, we learn more about the 'noi' and 'voi' forms of the imperative mood. We also summarize the general rules for the use of pronouns with the imperative. By now, the 'noi' and 'voi' forms of the imperative should hold no mysteries: they're identical to the present indicative, and negative commands are made simply by placing a...

asset title: Episode 9: Imperative - Build a better mousetrap filename: ra_09.mp3 track number: 9/22 time: 9:42 size: 7.96 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In Build a better mousetrap, we will focus on the tu forms of the imperative -- the most frequently used. While the tu forms of second- and third-conjugation verbs are the same as the present indicative, the forms for first-conjugation verbs are different. The imperative for these is the present indicative stem + -a, as in guarda! (look!). The...

asset title: Episode 8: Imperative - Your call is important to us filename: ra_08.mp3 track number: 8/22 time: 11:04 size: 9.08 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In 'Your call is important to us,' we begin looking at l'imperativo - one of the four formal verbal moods in Italian. The imperative is used to issue direct commands: you tell someone to do (or not to do) something. When you address someone formally in Italian, you use the third-person subjunctive, and that's a rather indirect method. In this...

asset title: Episode 7: Subjunctive - Someone's in the kitchen with Pulcinella filename: ra_07.mp3 track number: 7/22 time: 9:04 size: 7.44 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In 'Someone's in the kitchen with Pulcinella,' we conclude our discussion of the subjunctive with a summary of all the rules. Remember the WHEIRDO verbs? We'll review all the tenses of the subjunctive: the presente, passato, imperfetto, and trapassato and contrast these with the use of the formal imperative. Pulcinella will get down...

asset title: Episode 6: Subjunctive - All's well that ends ... filename: ra_06.mp3 track number: 6/22 time: 8:29 size: 6.96 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In 'All's Well That Ends,' we are once again backstage at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. We will tackle the imperfect and the pluperfect subjunctive as we continue delving into the sequence of tenses. If the verb in the main clause is in a past tense or in a tense of the conditional, we will use either the imperfect or the pluperfect subjunctive. ...

asset title: Episode 5: Subjunctive - Opening night jitters filename: ra_05.mp3 track number: 5/22 time: 8:51 size: 7.26 MB bitrate: 112 kbps 'Opening Night Jitters' is the second in our series on the subjunctive mood. Tonight we are in Naples at the beautiful San Carlo Theatre for a performance of the Commedia dell'arte. As we learn about the present and past subjunctive, we will delve into the sequence of tenses. We use the present subjunctive when the action in the subordinate cluase...

asset title: Episode 4: Subjunctive - I'm in the mood for ... filename: ra_04.mp3 track number: 4/22 time: 13:10 size: 10.80 MB bitrate: 112 kbps In this episode, 'I'm in the mood for ...,' we will talk about the 'moody' subjunctive. The most common use of the subjunctive is to express actions colored by emotion or doubt, rather than reported as matters of fact. The subjunctive mood is used in a dependent clause introduced by 'che' when the subject of the dependent clause is different from...

asset title: Episode 3: Narrating in the past - trapassato prossimo, trapassato remoto filename: ra_03.mp3 track number: 3/22 time: 8:35 size: 5.04 MB bitrate: 80 kbps Today's episode, 'Pulcinella Plugged,' will explain the last two tenses in our past tense trilogy, the trapassato prossimo and the trapassato remoto. The function of the trapassato prossimo is to put actions in the right chronological order: to report actions that happened further back in the past than other past tenses. It's...

asset title: Episode 2: Narrating in the past - passato remoto filename: ra_02.mp3 track number: 2/22 time: 11:58 size: 7.02 MB bitrate: 80 kbps Today's episode, 'Great Caesar's Ghost,' will help you understand the passato remoto: a simple, one-word, past tense that, just like the passato prossimo, is used to report completed actions or changes in states in the past. While the passato prossimo is used for the 'recent' past, the passato remoto is used to talk about actions that took place in...

asset title: Episode 1: Narrating in the Past - passato prossimo vs. imperfetto filename: ra_01.mp3 track number: 1/22 time: 13:41 size: 8.02 MB bitrate: 80 kbps Learners of Italian sometimes have a hard time picking the right verb tense when they are narrating past events, but it doesn't have to be difficult. Today's episode, when Arlecchino visits the king, will help you understand the difference between the passato prossimo and the imperfetto. Events that occur in a sequence that move...