The Train To Rome Trivia Quiz

Answer: Good morning

"Buongiorno" can mean good morning, good day, good afternoon (early afternoon), or hello. It is a basic greeting in Italian. Bongiorno or Buongiorno is also a surname in Italian and Bongiorno was used as a given name in medieval times.

This question was entered into the quiz by Phoenix Rising Member tazman6619 who made sure to get to the station with time to spare to catch the train.

Answer: Please

"Per favore", which translated literally means for favour, is generally seen as the default way of saying please in Italian. The reason I say default is that there are a couple of different ways to say please in Italian and the variation that you use will depend on what you are asking and whom you are asking it from. Also, whether the situation is formal or casual will also have an impact. "Biglietti" is a word that means tickets or in some cases, cards or passes, depending on the context. This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who can't understand why Italians need three syllables for please. One is enough!

Answer: One hour

As the ticket seller hands her the tickets, she informs the teacher that the train is scheduled to depart in one hour. The Italian word "una" means one while "ora" translates to hou". Like in English, the Italians use contractions to help the sentence flow better so "una ora" becomes "un'ora".

"Si!" means yes, sure, right or wel', depending on the context, while "signora" refers to a lady, usually married. So, in this case, a correct translation would be "Yes, ma'am." The Italian word for "platform" would be "binario".
This question was added to the quiz by Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid, who once visited Italy for the opportunity to say, "Ah, Venice!"

Answer: Thank you

'Grazie' means thank you in Italian. Italian is a language derived from Latin and is called a Romance language; not because it relates to friendship or love but rather because it originally came from Rome. Spanish is another Romance language and thank you in Spanish is 'gracias'. These words sound similar as they both come from the original Latin word 'gratiae' meaning grace or thankfulness. If you want to express great thanks, or perhaps be very polite, you can say 'mille grazie' which literally means a thousand thank you's.

Phoenix Rising member MikeMaster99 is grateful for the similarities in many words across Romance languages which usually means he innocently says the wrong thing quite frequently when trying to converse in languages other than Australian!

Answer: Yes

Prego is a versatile word! In this context, the word prego is the same as "no worries" in Australia or "you're welcome" in the USA. Additionally, if someone is asking permission to do something, you can say "go right ahead" by using the word "prego."

Phoenix Rising member VegemiteKid translated this question for the quiz. Prego.

Answer: Excuse me!

"Permesso" is how the Italians say excuse me when they want to get past you in a crowd. It is also used to ask permission to enter someone's home. If you want to gain someone's attention you would say "Scusa," or in formal settings, "Mi scusi." If someone wants to say "I'm late", they would say, "Sono in ritardo." For the other two options, "Mi aiuti per favore" is Italian for please help me, and "attenzione" would be look out.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg who knows it took at least two days to build Rome.

Answer: Do you speak English?

Too often people simply say "parla inglese" which, while it is technically a question, is also not so polite. By placing "Lei" at the start you are asking "do you", which makes it a definite question that cannot be mistaken for a statement and, possibly, invoke a smart alec reply. Our fellow European is also very polite, because he has added "per favore" at the end of his question, which simply means that he has added please... "Do you speak English, please"?
This question was written by Phoenix Rising's pollucci19 who is often questioned about his ability to speak English.

Answer: I don't understand

The conductor's response is, "I'm sorry, I do not understand English." If he wanted to say "Only a little" he would say, "solo un po'." As for the other answer choices, I am not allowed would translate as, "Non mi è permesso," and your cap is missing would be "manca il tuo berretto."

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg who also does not understand English!

Answer: Where is the bathroom?

Your teacher is asking where the bathroom is so that no one will have to go on the train. Although this is prudent it is not necessary as most Italian trains have at least one bathroom per car according to ItaliaRail. Newer trains tend to have much nicer facilities than older trains so depending on which train you board you may want to make sure to take care of your business before boarding.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's tazman6619 who is more familiar with flushes in poker than on trains.

Answer: Let's go!

The conductor's shouting, "Il treno è qui!" means "The train is here" in English. As a response to the class, the teacher says, "Andiamo" meaning "Let's go." If the teacher wanted the class to come here she would say, "vieni qui," or if she wanted to say tickets she would say, "tesserae." The other wrong answer, "armadillo," is actually the same word in both English and Italian. Armadillo actually means "little armored one" in Spanish.

This question was written by Phoenix Rising's BigTriviaDawg who hopes you get a chance to visit bella Italia.