Learn Italian - "Quanto Costa?" means "How much does it cost?" Do you like to barter? Did you know that the merchants in the piazzas of Italy (and some stores) actually expect you to barter with them? Don't pay full price for your Italian treasure if you don't have to! And the sellers always appreciate it if you pepper your English with a few friendly Italian phrases to help the deal go through! The next time you go to Italy, ask the shopkeeper "Quanto costa?" If the price doesn't seem just right, continue the conversation and see how you do bartering Italian -style! ****************************************
Quanto Costa? When asking a shopkeeper in Italy how much one thing costs, you can point to the item and ask: Quanto costa? = How much does (it ) cost? When asking a shopkeeper in Italy how much more than one thing costs, you can point to the items and ask: Quanto costano? = How much do these things cost? ************************** Start a conversation with a shopkeeper by asking: Quanto costa… How much is… (literally: How much costs…) Maybe the article is: in vendita/in saldo, saldi on sale / on sale for a reduced price in svendita in a closeout sale sconto/scontato discount / discounted a prezzo basso at low/lowered price If the price is right, you can pay for the item, and tell the shopkeeper, "Thank you," or "Grazie." But, if you are in the mood to barter, then... Of course, the listed price will be: troppo caro too expensive costoso expensive / costly proprio costoso really expensive Costa un occhio della testa! Costs an arm and a leg! (lit. Costs an eye out of the head!) And here we go with bartering... If you've tried this in Italy, leave a comment describing your method and let us know how it worked! Quanto costa? How much (does it) cost? Venti euro. (It costs) 20 euro. Troppo caro! Quindici euro, invece! (That is) too expensive! 15 euros instead! Non è in saldo… ma, diciannove va bene. (It) is not on sale… but 19 is good. No, è costoso! Forse diciassette? No, (it) is expensive! Perhaps 17? Diciotto. Non posso fare più sconto! 18. (I) can’t discount it any more! (lit. I can’t make it (any) more discounted!) D’accordo. Agreed. Contact Corrine at [email protected] for special offers for our "Conversational Italian for Travelers" series of books with the promo code CIAP.
2 Comments
3/24/2021 03:58:45 pm
I thought it would be quite expensive but it's not.
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AuthorCiao a tutti! Sono Kathryn Occhipinti and I invite you to learn Italian as I did - with my Conversational Italian for Travelers books - designed with the Italian-American in mind! I will be posting excerpts from the blog that I created for newcomers to the Italian language, which is called Conversational Italian! I hope you enjoy my insights to learning Italian. Please feel free to leave comments. I'd love to hear from you! Also, scroll to the end of each post for a special offer for CIAP members. Teniamoci in contatto! Categories
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