Everyday activities
Talk about times, meals, health and travel, and follow the details that affect an everyday plan.
Exam scope and assessment notes
All Italian passages, prompts, model answers, listening scripts and tasks are original StudyForA material, not Cambridge assessment content. Cambridge's separate 2028 vocabulary spreadsheet is linked through its subject page but has not been reconciled word by word. Grammar groups need item-by-item specialist checking, and an Italian-language teacher should review the original Italian before publication is described as complete. Browser speech synthesis is not Cambridge audio and cannot guarantee a regional accent, natural pace or pronunciation. Speaking is rehearsal and self-review, not a centre assessment or examiner mark; writing answers are self-checked, not Cambridge-marked. No complete timed specimen or 130-hour course is included. Confirm your exam year, entry option and centre availability with Cambridge and your school. Use the 2025–2027 or 2028–2030 paper lesson that matches your exam year. Cambridge lists 7164 as available in a limited number of administrative zones; for June, the published notice names zone 3 and centres in Oman and UAE. Confirm the applicable series and entry with your centre.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which travel message is most useful?
What you will learn
- Understand days, dates, clock times, seasons and daily routines.
- Discuss meals, food, drinks and polite requests.
- Describe the body, health and common symptoms without inventing a diagnosis.
- Ask for and give information about journeys, transport and delays.
Make everyday plans clear
Area A brings together time, meals, the body and health, and travel. Include the detail a listener needs: «alle otto», «alla fermata», «in autobus», or «dopo pranzo». For most times use «alle»; at one o'clock use «all'una».
Original Italian: «Mi alzo alle sette, faccio colazione e poi vado a scuola in autobus.» (I get up at seven, have breakfast and then go to school by bus.) «Prima» and «dopo» establish sequence; «perché» introduces a reason.
Report symptoms and journey changes carefully
«Ho mal di testa» means I have a headache; «mi fa male la gola» means my throat hurts. These describe symptoms, not a diagnosis.
Compare planned and actual travel: «Il treno doveva partire alle nove, ma è in ritardo.» The sentence states a delay; it does not say when the train will arrive. For food, «Vorrei dell'acqua, per favore» is a polite request.
Sources for this lesson
- Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Italian 7164 subject page
- Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Italian 7164 syllabus for exams in 2025–2027
- Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Italian 7164 syllabus update for 2025–2027
- Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Italian 7164 syllabus for exams in 2028–2030
- Cambridge IGCSE (9–1) Italian 7164 2028 vocabulary list
Pause and explain
A pharmacy closes at 18:00 and the walk takes 20 minutes. To arrive before it closes, when must you leave?
Worked example
A message says: «L'autobus parte alle 8:20. Arrivo alla fermata alle 8:25 perché il treno è in ritardo.» What timing problem does the writer report?
Show the worked solution
- Find the bus departure and arrival at the stop.
- Compare 8:20 with 8:25.
- Keep the reported train delay separate from any guess about the bus.
Answer The writer expects to reach the stop five minutes after the bus leaves. The train is reported as late, but the message does not say whether the bus will wait.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Write a three-step plan in Italian: meet a friend at 16:00, take the bus to a sports centre and arrive before a 17:00 class.
Give me a hint
Use «alle», «poi» and a destination.
Compare my reasoning
- State the meeting time.
- Name the transport and place.
- Give an arrival time before the class.
Example: «Incontro un'amica alle quattro. Poi andiamo in autobus al centro sportivo e arriviamo prima delle cinque.»
Look for these in your work
- Gives the meeting time
- Names the transport and destination
- Arrives before 17:00
Read: «Ieri avevo mal di gola, quindi sono rimasto/a a casa. Oggi mi sento meglio, ma non so ancora se andrò all'allenamento.» What happened yesterday, and what is undecided?
Give me a hint
Separate the past symptom and action from today's decision.
Compare my reasoning
- Find the symptom.
- Follow «quindi» to the result.
- Notice «non so ancora se» signals uncertainty.
Yesterday the writer had a sore throat and stayed at home. Today they feel better but have not decided whether to go to training. The passage does not say that they are fully recovered.
Look for these in your work
- Reports the symptom
- Reports the action
- Preserves uncertainty
A visitor feels unwell and has 40 minutes to reach a clinic by public transport. Give a practical suggestion in Italian without diagnosing them.
Give me a hint
Acknowledge how the visitor feels, then give a route and time.
Compare my reasoning
- Use a neutral phrase about feeling unwell.
- Name the destination and transport.
- Tie the plan to the time available.
Example: «Mi dispiace che tu non stia bene. Prendi l'autobus per la clinica vicino alla stazione; il viaggio dura circa venti minuti. Se hai bisogno, chiedi aiuto al personale.» This is a language example, not medical advice.
Look for these in your work
- Does not invent a diagnosis
- Gives a route
- Uses the time limit
Common mistakes
- Confusing «all'una» with «alle una»
- Treating a symptom as a medical diagnosis
- Assuming a delayed train's arrival time or that a connection will wait
What can you explain now?
What does «ma» signal in «Il treno parte alle nove, ma è in ritardo»?
Compare with the explanation
A contrast or qualification
The second clause changes what you might expect from the scheduled departure.
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Make it stick
Before leaving everyday activities, explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint and name one point to practise again.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.