It’s already been one year since I started posting blogs for the series, “Italian Phrases We Use Every Day!”® I hope this series has been helpful to those of you trying to learn Italian, and I plan to continue with new Italian phrases for these blogs for 2018. So… I guess I have to change my introductory line to…
Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2018?
I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.
If we learn how to incorporate “commonly used phrases” when we speak Italian, we will be able to express ourselves more easily and quickly. We will be on our way to building complex sentences and speaking more like we do in our native language!
This post is the 10th in a series that originates in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group. Our group has had a chance to use these phrases. Now I am posting them on this blog for everyone to try!
Another of our “commonly used phrases,” that will help us talk more easily is
“I realize..”
This will lead into:
“I realized,” “I notice” and “I noticed”See below for how this works.
As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these phrases?
Please reply. I’d love to hear from you! Or join our Conversational Italian! group discussion on Facebook.
Some of this material was adapted from the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference books Just the Verbs and Just the Grammar
found on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com.
The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained at Learn Travel Italian.com.
************************************************
What I Realized…
in Italian
It seems that almost every day I discover something that I did not know about before. Often, this leads to a “realization” – about myself or others, or about how I must change my old way of thinking. One of the most important aspects about being human is that we are able “to realize” – to discover and learn – and then discuss our realizations with others.
To realize is rendered in Italian with the reflexive verb phrase rendersi conto. In order to say, “I realize,” we must conjugate the verb rendersi, which has a regular -ere conjugation in the present tense, and then add the word conto to finish the phrase. So, “I realize…” is “Io mi rendo conto…” But, of course, we always leave out the Italian subject pronoun, so the phrase that Italians use is conversation is just, “Mi rendo conto…”
To complete the sentence, just add what you realize in the phrase that follows! The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.
Link what you realize about yourself with the Italian conjugation “di” before adding an infinitive verb. Note: you don’t always have to use “di” in this case if you are talking about yourself. But if you do chose to use “di,” the verb in the next phrase must be in the infinitive form.
—-or—-
Link what you realize about yourself, someone or something else with the Italian conjugation “che” before adding a verb conjugated in the appropriate tense. Remember, if the subject is different in the original phrase and the phrase that follows, you MUST use “che” to link the two phrases.
In English, both “di” and “che” are translated as “that.”
Below are example sentences to show how this all works. These example sentences are true for me. To think of more examples, and try to describe what you realize about yourself!
Mi rendo conto di avere un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that I have an hour to make dinner.
Mi rendo conto che ho un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that I have an hour to prepare dinner.
Mi rendo conto che hai un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that you have an hour to prepare dinner.
Mi rendo conto che desidero sempre imparare di più sulla lingua italiana.
I realize that I will always want to learn more about the Italian language.
********************
Now, let’s say that we recognize something without really understanding what it is about, or what is going on – that is, we notice something. In this case, we can use the reflexive verb accorgersi. This verb also has a regular -ere conjugation and will be followed by either di or che, for the same reasons as we have just described above. To say, “I notice that,” then, use the phrase, “Mi accorgo di/che…”
Again, an example from my life, taking from a time when I was when talking a good friend of mine about a certain movie. Try to think of some examples from your own life!
Mi accorgo che ti piace molto questo film. Vuoi andare a vederlo con me?
I notice that you really like this film. Do you want to go to see it with me?
********************
How to say, “I realize,” or “I notice,” seems simple enough! But wait… we most commonly use the past tense to talk about something that we have realized or have noticed. This, of course, involves conjugating our two verbs in the past tense!
We will use the passato prossimo forms of these verbs for the one time events of realizing or noticing something, which you will remember is formed for reflexive verbs with essere + the past participle. (If you need a general refresher on how to form the passato prossimo, please refer to our book Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Verbs ).
The past participle for rendersi is the irregular verb reso, and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using the passato prossimo.
The past participle for accorgersi is the irregular verb accorto, and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using the passato prossimo.
So, when I want to talk about what I have realized, I can say, “Mi sono resa conto di/che…” Similarly, a male would say, “Mi sono reso conto di/che…”
And, when I want to mention what I have noticed, I can say, “Mi sono accorta di/che…” Similarly, a male would say, “Mi sono accorto di/che…”
To complete the sentence, just add what you have realized in the phrase that follows! The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.
Below is a table to summarize these phrases of realizing and noticing. I’ve made the verbs in the phrase green to differentiate them from the other words in the phrase. Most Italians use these verb phrases so frequently, though, that they say them quickly, and the words usually run together in real-time conversation. Listen carefully for these phrases and then try to use them yourself!
| Mi rendo conto di/che… | I realize that… |
| Mi sono reso conto di/che… | I realized that... (male speaker) |
| Mi sono resa conto di/che… | I realized that… (female speaker) |
| Mi accorgo di/che… | I notice that... |
| Mi sono accorto di/che… | I noticed that… (male speaker) |
| Mi sono accorta di/che… | I noticed that… (female speaker) |
We had fun in our Conversational Italian! group “discussing” what we all realized during the year 2017 for our talking point this new year. Below are some example sentences that I’ve made up thinking back to New Year’s Eve of 2018. (Notice that as a female I have to use resa and accorta.) How many more examples can you think of?
Ieri sera, a Capodanno, mi sono resa conto di essere molto fortunata.
Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.
Ieri sera, a Capodanno, mi sono resa conto che sono molto fortunata.
Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.
Mi sono resa conto di avere amici molto cari.
I realized that I have many dear friends.
Mi sono resa conto che ho molti cari amici.
I realized that I have many dear friends.
Mi sono resa conto di avere imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.
I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.
Mi sono resa conto che ho imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.
I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.
Mi sono accorta che era molto freddo a Capodanno.
I noticed that it was very cold on New Year’s Eve.
Remember these verb phrases, and I guarantee you will use them every day!
Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com
Conversational Italian! 
Bloglovin link: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
LikeLike