How To Use Verbi Pronominali In Italian Language: Mettercela Tutta (sub)

Tutorial Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to my channel! Or welcome, if this is the first video you watch on this channel. My name is Lucrezia and I am an Italian teacher for foreigners. Today we focus on a pronominal verb, which is "mettercela tutta", which is part of the group of pronominal verbs that contain a pronoun and a pronominal particle and are also accompanied by another part of the speech, in this case the word "tutto". Last week we saw 13 pronominal verbs and at the beginning of the video I made a division into various groups. "Mettercela tutta" is part of the last group of that list. I have read your comments below that video and I must say that I agree with you. Indeed, seeing 13 pronominal verbs all together is perhaps a bit too much, isn't it? To understand them well and to absorb all the information. Well, that video is done, so let's consider it as an introduction to pronominal verbs, okay? And over the next few weeks we will focus on one or two pronominal verbs at a time. So in each video we will talk about one or two pronominal verbs. Today we will only see one together. Let's start with the meaning of "mettercela tutta", it means doing your best, giving your best. So, a very important thing when we have to focus on when we use pronominal verbs is to consider them as unique and independent verbs. As if we were talking about other verbs, (like eating, sleeping, writing, etc.). So don't make the mistake of considering pronominal verbs as basic verb plus pronoun, plus pronominal particle, because in this way you get confused and fail to grasp the meaning of the pronominal verb. For example, let's take the verb "prendersela". We cannot consider the verb as "prendere" plus "si" and "la", because you are too attached to the meaning of "to take", which has nothing to do with the meaning of "prendersela", which means "to get angry". All right? Therefore we must consider these pronominal verbs as independent and unique verbs, which have their own meaning. Then, when we conjugate these verbs, we must conjugate them in their entirety, also considering the pronoun or the pronominal particle or another part of the speech that is part of the verb. Therefore, we conjugate "mettercela tutta" to the indicative present: Now let's see the conjugation to the perfect past tense: By conjugating the passato prossimo, we now know that in compound tenses we must use the auxiliary "have" with "mettercela tutta", because the reflexive particle "si" is not present within this verb. When in a pronominal verb we see the reflexive particle "si", then this means that in compound tenses we must use "to be". I invite you, as an exercise, to write these conjugations by hand, because it is easier to memorize them. Very well, so we have to consider the verb in its entirety, so if I say "ce l'ho messa tutta", it means "I worked hard". So, now let's see examples of this verb in context. Let's start with a scene from a movie, let's see it together. Him: But did something happen? Her: Antonio. We broke up. In fact, I left him. Two days ago. Him: I'm sorry. You seemed happy together. Her: "Happy" is a big word. Let's say I did my best. What is the dialogue? The dialogue is as follows: Him: But did something happen? Her: Antonio. We broke up. In fact, I left him. Two days ago. Him: I'm sorry. You seemed happy together. Her: "Happy" is a big word. Let's say I did my best. It means that she did her best to make the relationship with her partner work, but it wasn't enough. So she couldn't carry on the relationship, so she left him. In the light of this explanation, let's listen to the dialogue again: Him: You seemed happy together. Her: "Happy" is a big word. Let's say I did my best. The second example we are about to see is a scene from a press conference in which Carlo Verdone presents his latest film. He's in Puglia and he's talking about how much the Apulians were happy were to have him there to shoot the film. And then let's listen to what he says: “People had a truly enormous concern for us, which almost moved me. They were happy that we were shooting in their region and this made me feel a great responsibility. […] I had to, in some way, repay them and what better way? Making a good movie, trying to do my best. I did my best”. What does it say? “People have had a truly enormous concern for us, which almost moved me. They were happy that we were shooting in their region and this made me feel a great responsibility. […] I had to, in some way, repay them and what better way? Making a good movie, trying to do my best. I did my best". And then it continues. But what does it mean here? He felt the responsibility to do his best, to give his best, to do his best. So, in the light of this explanation, let's review these seconds of speech: “[…] I had to, in some way, repay them, and what better way than making a good movie, trying to do my best. I did my best". Of course I will leave you the link to these videos in the video description below, so if you want to go and watch the videos in their entirety, then you can. So, the last example we will see is an interview with the Hellas Verona defender Ilaria Lazzari, who comments on a defeat, and let's listen to what she says: “Yes, we… I think that (we) have made a test of character. They have a strong staff. We did our best, eh ... it went as it went ”. We did our best, it went as it went. So we worked hard, but unfortunately the outcome of the match was negative. So they lost the game. Let's listen again: "We did our best, eh, it went as it went." So, that's all for today's lesson. I hope that now the pronominal verb "mettercela tutta" is clearer and I hope you can start using it in your conversations. Thank you so much for watching this lesson! If you have any questions, there is the comment section at your disposal. See you in the next video. See you soon, bye!