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中文Daily story · Il gatto nero · A1 · Chapter 1 of 20
Il gatto alla porta The cat at the door
Before you read
Giulia has just moved to a new town to study. It is her first morning in her new flat. Look at the title: someone is at the door.
A recording of the chapter. Listen as you read, then read it again with the help.
Sono Giulia. I'm Giulia.
Sono una studentessa. I'm a student.
La mattina mangio il pane. In the morning I eat bread.
Bevo anche un caffè. I drink a coffee too.
Alla porta c'è un gatto. There's a cat at the door.
È un gatto nero. It's a black cat.
«Ciao. Chi sei?» "Hello. Who are you?"
Il gatto non dice niente. The cat says nothing.
Ha un foglio in bocca. It has a piece of paper in its mouth.
Sul foglio c'è scritto «tre». On the paper is written "three".
«Tre? Perché tre?» "Three? Why three?"
Il gatto se ne va. The cat goes away.
The words glossed, the English for each sentence, the notes and the questions.
New words in this chapter
- studente lo studente, la studentessa — student
- mattina la mattina — morning
- mangiare — to eat
- pane il pane — bread
- bere — to drink
- caffè il caffè — coffee
- porta la porta — door
- gatto il gatto, la gatta — cat
- nero — black
- bocca la bocca — mouth
- foglio il foglio, i fogli — sheet of paper
- scrivere — to write
Grammar notes
Alla porta c'è un gatto — There's a cat at the door
C'è means 'there is'; for more than one thing it is ci sono. Alla is a + la: the little words a, di, da, in and su join the article that follows.
Il gatto non dice niente — The cat says nothing
Non goes before the verb. Italian keeps both non and niente where English has one negative: 'the cat doesn't say nothing' is good Italian.
Ha un foglio in bocca — It has a piece of paper in its mouth
Ha is from avere, to have. In bocca, 'in mouth', needs no 'its': Italian leaves the possessive out when it is clear whose mouth it is.
Questions
Read the story, then try these.
Summary (try reading it in Italian first)
On Giulia's first morning a black cat sits at her door with a piece of paper in its mouth. On it is the number three. Then the cat walks away.
Make a free account and the next chapter comes each morning, at your level and your pace.