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Italian Possessive pronouns

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Personal Possessive Adjective and Pronouns in Italian This chart covers basic personal possessive adjectives and pronouns

Italian Personal Possessive Adjectives/Pronouns
English	Italian Singular/Masculine	Italian Singular/Feminine	Italian Plural/Masculine	Italian Plural/Feminine
Mine Yours His/Hers Ours Yours Theirs	il mio il tuo il suo il nostro il vostro il loro	la mia la tua la sua la nostra la vostra la loro	i miei i tuoi i suoi i nostri i vostri i loro	le mie le tue le sue le nostre le vostre le loro

Two things two note about the Italain personal possessive adjective; 1) The are proceeded by whatever definite article the noun possessed requires. (except when referring to family) 2) The must agree in gender and number with the noun they possess. See below; il mio motorino – (my scooter) la mia motocicletta – (my motorcycle) i miei motorini – (my scooters) le mie motociclette – (my motorcycles)

To make the above possessive adjectives into possessive pronouns, simply omit the noun, example; il mio – (my scooter) la mia – (my motorcycle) i miei – (my scooters) le mie – (my motorcycles) Of course, you need the proper context in your conversation to use them as pronouns or your listener may lack any meaningful understanding of what you are saying.]]>

Italian: Present Perfect

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Present Perfect Sentences in Italian Now, this article deals with the usage of ‘Passato Prossimo’, i.e., the present perfect tense which will help you in strengthening your grammar even further so that you come to more fully enjoy the beauty of the language.

The present perfect tense is used in the following situations:

an action which took place a short time ago.
an action which took place some time ago and the results of the action can still be felt in the present
an experience in your life
an action which has finished but the time period (e.g. this year , this week, today) hasn’t finished yet

The present perfect is formed in the following way:

il presente indicativo dei verbi essere o avere

Auxiliary to have/ to be in the present form

il participio passato del verbo in questione Past participle

Steps

1

Present perfect tense or passato prossimo refers to that action which has already taken place in the past but has still has its effect in the present. For example: I have eaten.
2
Now, in Italian the passato prossimo is formed with the present indicative of essere or avere + the past participle of the main verb.
- For example: Io ho mangiato (I have eaten)
3
Many verbs have a regular form of the past participle.
- ARE – cantare (to sing) – cantato
- ERE – credere (to believe) – creduto
- IRE – dormire (to sleep) – dormito
4
Some of the common irregular past participle are :
- aprire (to open) – aperto
- bere (to drink) – bevuto
- chiedere (to ask) – chiesto
- chiudere (to close) – chiuso
- dire (to say/tell) – detto
- fare (to do/make) – fatto
- prendere (to take) – preso
- scrivere (to write) – scritto
- tradurre (to translate) – tradotto
- vivere (to live) – vissuto
- vedere (to see) – visto (veduto)
5
Also, there are certain rules that must be kept in mind. These can be called ‘Past participle agreement’.
- I.e., when ‘essere’ (to be) is used the past participle agrees with the subject, both in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine).
- For example: Gloria è andata in discoteca sabato sera. (Gloria went to the disco Saturday evening)
- In the above example since Gloria is female, the past participle ‘andare’ becomes ‘andata’. If it had been a male then it would have been ‘andato’.
- Another example: Siamo tornati dalle vacanze da poco e ora non abbiamo voglia di lavorare. (We returned from vacation recently and now we don’t want to work)
- In the above example since the past participle ‘tornare’ is in the plural form.
- When ‘avere’ is used there is usually no need for past participle agreement.
- For example: Cinzia ha ordinato una birra gelata. (Cinzia has ordered a really cold beer)
- When past participle follows a direct object pronoun the agreement is optional.
- For example: Vi hanno sentito/ti cantare giovedi sera a teatro. (They heard you sing at the theatre on Thursday evening)
6

But there is an exception. When the pronouns lo, la, l’, li, and le, are used with ‘avere’, then the agreement is necessary.

COMMON EXPRESSIONS USED WITH IL PASSATO PROSSIMO

ieri	yesterday
ieri pomeriggio	yesterday afternoon
ieri sera	last night
il mese scorso	last month
l’altro giorno	the other day
stamattina	this morning
tre giorni fa	three days ago

Conjugating regular Italian verbs in the Passato Prossimo

The Passato Prossimo is most often used like what we would call the “Simple Past” or “Present Perfect”. It is formed by using either the verb essere or avere in the present tense followed by the past participle of the verb you want to use. For Example if you wanted to say “I ate” you would first conjugate avere in the present tense and then follow it with mangiato, the past participle for mangiare. With the subject pronoun included it would look like this;

Io ho mangiato (I ate or I have eaten) Regular past participles are easy to form. You simple remove the infinitive ending and apply the past participle ending as shown below; Verbs ending in ARE use ATO, for example; mangiare – are = mangi + ato = mangiato Verbs ending in ERE use UTO, for example; credere – ere = cred + uto = creduto Verbs ending in IRE use ITO, for example; finire – ire = fin + ito = finito There are many verbs that use an irregular past participle. These you will need to commit to memory.

Verbs ending in ARE ato

Verbs ending in ERE uto

Verbs ending in IRE ito

To conjugate the regular ARE verbs in the passato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example; Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Parlare (To Speak) – are = Parl + ato (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Parlato (We spoke or we have spoken) Parlare conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro

Ho parlato Hai parlato Ha parlato Abbiamo parlato Avete parlato Hanno parlato

I spoke or have spoken You spoke or have spoken He/She/It spoke or has spoken We spoke or have spoken Y’all spoke or have spoken They spoke or have spoken

To conjugate the regular ERE verbs in the passato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example; Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Credere (To Believe) – ere = Cred + uto (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Creduto (We believed or we have believed) Credere conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro

Ho creduto Hai creduto Ha creduto Abbiamo creduto Avete creduto Hanno creduto

I believed or have believed You believed or have believed He/She/It believed or has believed We believed or have believed Y’all believed or have believed They believed or have believed

To conjugate the regular IRE verbs in thepassato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending) = conjugated verb. Example; Abbiamo (to have for we) + [Sentire (To Hear) – ire = Sent + ito (past pariciple ending)] = Abbiamo Sentito (We heard or we have heard) Credere conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro

Ho sentito Hai sentito Ha sentito Abbiamo sentito Avete sentito Hanno sentito

I heard or have heard You heard or have heard He/She/It heard or has heard We heard or have heard Y’all heard or have heard They heard or have hear

Choosing the correct auxiliary verb when using Passato Prossimo

The book “English Grammar for Students of Italian” says regarding auxiliary verb selection for the Passato Prossimo: “1. All transitive verbs (the verbs which can take a direct object…) use the auxiliary avere. 2. All reflexive verbs use the auxiliary essere … 3. Intrasitive verbs … can use avere or essere …” Due to the third point, some memory work is required to determine which verbs use essere. You can find a list of common verbs conjugated with Essere in the Passato Prossimo on page 53 of the book Verb Drills by Paola Nanni-Tate It is important to note here than when you use a verb in the Passato Prossimo with the verb essere, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number. For example the verb andare or “to go” Lui è andato (he went) or Lei è andata (she went) Gli uomini sono andanti (the men went) or Le donne sono andate (the women went) As is always the case with gender when the plural subject is a mix of masculine and feminine you use the masculine. Now lets look at the verb Andare in the passato prossimo = conjugated auxiliary verb + (infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + past participle ending that agrees in gender and number) = conjugated verb. Example; siamo (to be for we) + [Andare (To go) – are = And + ati (past pariciple ending for masculine plural)] = Siamo Andati (We went or we have gone) Andare conjugated in the passato prossimo

Io Tu Lui/Lei Noi Voi Loro

Sono andato or andata Sei andato or andata È andato or andata Siamo andati or andate Siete andati or andate Sono andati or andate

I went or have gone You went or have gone He/She/It went or has gone We went or have gone Y’all went or have gone They went or have gone

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Italian: Present Continuous Tense

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

The present continuous tense in Italian The present simple tense in Italian can mean both ”I do” and “I am doing”. But there is also a present continuous or progressive form, equivalent to English “I am ….ing”: To form this tense you use: the present tense of stare [not essere] sto stai sta stiamo state stanno plus the present participle, sometimes called the gerund. Grammaticians argue about the term “gerund” so we will call it the present participle. You form it like this: – are verbs camminare –-> camminando – ere verbs vendere –-> vendendo – ire verbs finire –-> finendo There are some irregular forms: fare [to do / make] – facendo dire [to say] – dicendo bere [to drink] – bevendo The present participle does not agree [ie., there are no feminine or plural forms]. We use this tense to express what someone is in the process of doing at this moment: Cosa stai facendo? – What are you doing? Sto lavorando – I’m working Sta dormendo – He is sleeping Stiamo finendo ora ! – We’re finishing now! Note that we cannot use this tense to express the future in the way that we use the present continuous in English. [“ I’m holidaying in France next year.”] This tense is used less than the present continuous in English and if you are in doubt, we advise you to use the present simple tense. But you will hear people use this form. Now you try: Put the verbs in brackets into the present participle form: ria sta [scrivere] ____________ una lettera. Stiamo [guardare] ____________ il telegiornale. Sto [aspettare] ____________ il treno. Cosa stai [leggere] ____________? I ragazzi stanno [partire] ____________ ora. Now put the correct form of the present tense of stare in the gaps: Giovanni ______ mangiando. Io ____ finendo il lavoro. I bambini ______ dormendo. Cosa _______ facendo, ragazzi? Dove _____ andando, Maria? [tu form]

Il gerundio (the gerund) refers to the use of a verb in its –ing form. For example ‘I am writing’, I was thinking, he is talking, etc. In Italian il gerundio (the gerund) is characterised by the following endings:

Verbs ending in –are = ando e.g. mangiando (eating) from the verb mangiare (to eat)

Verbs ending in –ere and –ire = endo e.g. cuocendo (cooking) from the verb cuocere (to cook), pulendo (cleaning) from the verb pulire (to clean).

Now let’s look at the most common uses of il gerundio in Italian:

1. Presente Continuato (Present Continuous)

The gerund is used with the present tense of verb stare (to be/to stay) to form the present continuous:

stiamo mangiando = we are eating

Giovanni sta riposando = Giovanni is resting

cosa state facendo? = what are you doing? (you plural)

stai lavorando? = are you working? (you singular, informal)

sto pulendo le finestre = I’m cleaning the windows

le patate stanno cuocendo = the potatoes are cooking

N.B. The present continuous is not considered an official Italian tense, and when I was a child we were not allowed to use it in writing, we had to use the simple present instead. Nowadays the present continuous is interchangeable with the simple present to describe what is happening in this exact moment, e.g.:

cosa state facendo or cosa fate? = what are you doing? (literally: what do you do?)

stai lavorando? or lavori? = are you working? (literally: you work?)

sto pulendo le finestre or pulisco le finestre = I’m cleaning the windows (literally: I clean the windows)

Note that this tense form is used less frequently in Italian than in English. It’s normal to hear the simple present used instead of the progressive form we’re studying here. For example: “Vado, ciao!” (“I’m going, bye!”) rather than “Sto andando, ciao!”, which would sound rather fussy. Nevertheless, the progressive present form is used to specify/emphasise that an action that is taking place at the time of speaking, for example: Lisa sta leggendo. I bambini stanno giocando. Sto facendo la fila. The tense form is constructed using the verb ‘stare’ as an auxiliary, along with the present participle (gerundio) form of the base verb. ‘Stare’ conjugates like this: io sto tu stai lui/lei sta noi stiamo voi state loro stanno And what about the present participle? No worries. As in English, it’s easy. Verbs ending in -are form the present participle by adding the suffix -ando to the root of the verb. For example: lavorare-lavorando giocare-giocando guidare-guidando Verbs ending in -ere/-ire form the present participle by adding the suffix -endo to the root of the verb, as in these examples: leggere-leggendo tenere-tenendo venire-venendo dormire-dormendo The following three verbs are the only irregular ones: fare-facendo dire-dicendo bere-bevendo]]>

Italian Simple Present Tense

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Present Tense The present tense in Italian is essentially the same as in English. The only difference is that it can also be used as the present continuous, so “I do” and “I am doing” are conjugated the same way. The English present continuous, however, is expressed in a better way by a more complex construction with the verb “stare” and the “gerundio” form (the English -ing form). Also note that the subject pronoun can be dropped from a conjugated verb because the ending of the conjugated verb communicates the subject of the action. Present Tense Conjugations 1, 2, & 3 To conjugate regular verbs follow this method: 1) Drop the ending from the infinitive to give the stem. Exx. lavorare (to work) → lavor- 2) Add the correct ending: Exx. lavorare → lavor- → lavoro

person	-are	-ere	-ire

io	-o	-o	-o
tu	-i	-i	-i
lui/lei	-a	-e	-e
noi	-iamo	-iamo	-iamo
voi	-ate	-ete	-ite
loro	-ano	-ono	-ono

So, for example, parlare (to speak) would be conjugated as follows:

(Io) parlo (“I speak / am speaking”)

(Tu) parli (“You speak / you are speaking”)

(Egli/ella/Lei/Lui) parla

(Noi) parliamo

(Voi) parlate

(Essi/Loro) parlano

Note: Egli, ella, and essi are older versions of lui, lei, and loro, respectively, but are still used occasionally today.

3rd Conjugation Verbs taking “-isc-”

Many 3rd Conjugation verbs add the letters -isc- between the stem and the ending for the present tense. This is constructed as follows: finire(to end/finish)

person	ire

io	-isco	io finisco
tu	-isci	tu finisci
lui/lei/Lei	-isce	lui/lei/Lei finisce
noi	-iamo	noi finiamo
voi	-ite	voi finite
loro	-iscono	loro finiscono

Remember that, when followed by i or e, -sc- sounds like the English ‘shake’ (/ʃ/) (; if a, o or u follow, it will be read as “sk” (/sk/).

In Italian, the present indicative tense works much like the present tense in English. To conjugate Italian verbs in the present indicative tense, you first need to understand that Italian infinitives (the “to” form, as in to die, to sleep, to dream) end in one of three ways — and that you conjugate the verb based on that ending:

Verbs that end in -are
Verbs that end in -ere
Verbs that end in -ire

The endings of regular verbs don’t change. Master the endings for each mode and tense, and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that verbs agree with subjects and subject pronouns (io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, noi, voi, loro/Loro):

Common Regular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	Lavorare (to work)	Prendere (to take; to order)	Partire (to leave)	Capire (to understand)
io	lavoro	prendo	parto	capisco
tu	lavori	prendi	parti	capisci
lui/lei/Lei	lavora	prende	parte	capisce
noi	lavoriamo	prendiamo	partiamo	capiamo
voi	lavorate	prendete	partite	capite
loro/Loro	lavorano	prendono	partono	capiscono

Unfortunately, there are also irregular verbs, which you have to memorize. You’ll find that the more you practice them, the easier it is to use them in conversation:

Common Irregular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	Andare (to go)	Bere (to drink)	Dare (to give)	Fare (to do)	Stare (to stay)	Venire (to come)
io	vado	bevo	do	faccio	sto	vengo
tu	vai	bevi	dai	fai	stai	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	va	beve	dà	fa	sta	viene
noi	andiamo	beviamo	diamo	facciamo	stiamo	veniamo
voi	andate	bevete	date	fate	state	venite
loro/Loro	vanno	bevono	danno	fanno	stanno	vengono

The Passato Prossimo

The Passato Prossimo is one of the most commonly used past tenses in Italian. It is a compound tense, therefore the auxiliary verbs avere and essere are used in conjugation. Note that the following conjugations are both irregular. Avere- to have

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui/Lei ha

Noi abbiamo

Voi avete

Loro hanno

Essere- to be

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Noi siamo

Voi siete

Loro sono

Italian verbs with infinitives ending in -ere are called second-conjugation (seconda coniugazione) or -ere verbs. The present tense of a regular -ere verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono) to the stem. For an example on how to conjugate a regular second-conjugation verb, take a look the following table.

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SCRIVERE (TO WRITE)
PERSON	SINGULAR	PLURAL
I	(io) scrivo (I write)	(noi) scriviamo (we write)
II	(tu) scrivi (you write, familiar)	(voi) scrivete (you write, familiar)
III	(Lei) scrive (you write, formal)	(Loro) scrivono (you write, formal)
	(lui/lei) scrive (he/she writes)	(loro) scrivono (they write)

Second-conjugation (-ere) verbs account for approximately one-quarter of all Italian verbs. Although many have some sort of irregular structure, there are also many regular verbs (see the following table for examples) which are conjugated in the same way as scrivere.

COMMON SECOND-CONJUGATION VERBS
accendere	to light, ignite; turn/switch on
battere	to beat, to hit
cadere	to fall
chiedere	to ask
conoscere	to know
correre	to run
credere	to believe
descrivere	to describe
eleggere	to elect
leggere	to read
mettere	to put, to place
mordere	to bite
nascere	to be born
offendere	to offend
perdere	to lose
rimanere	to remain, to stay
ridere	to laugh
rompere	to break
vendere	to sell
sopravvivere	to survive

While the infinitive forms of both first- and third-conjugation Italian verbs always have the accent on the final -are or -ire, second-conjugation verbs are often pronounced with the accent on the third-to-last syllable, as in prendere (PREHN-deh-ray).

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Italian Course: Unit 1

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Italian Course: Unit 1

Introductions in Italian

Informal

A: Giulia, ti presento il mio amico David. B: Piacere di conoscerti! C: Piacere mio!

A: Maria, ecco il mio nuovo vicino. B: Piacere, io sono Maria. Tu come ti chiami? C: Mi chiamo David, piacere!

Formal

A: Buonasera signora Riva, le presento il mio amico. B: Sono Giovanna, molto lieta! C: Piacere, David.

A: Scusi, è lei la dottoressa Rossi? B: Si sono io, e lei come si chiama? A: Sono Maria Ricci, piacere.

Manuela: Ciao Giorgia, come stai? Giorgia: Bene, grazie! E tu? Manuela: Anch’ io! Oh, ciao Veronica! Che piacere vederti! Dove vai? Veronica: Ciao Manuela! Io vado a Milano. E tu? Manuela: Anch’ io vado a Milano. Veronica: Lei è una tua amica? Manuela: Sì, studiamo insieme all’università. Veronica: Piacere, io sono Veronica! E tu come ti chiami? Giorgia: Piacere, io mi chiamo Giorgia. Di dove sei? Veronica: Io sono di Cagliari, e tu? Giorgia: Io sono di Sassari ma studio a Cagliari. E tu che cosa fai? Veronica: Anch’io sono una studentessa. Quanti anni hai? Giorgia: 20. E tu? Veronica: Io ho 21 anni.

3) Look at the conjugation of the following verbs:

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

CHIAMARSI (to call yourself)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Io mi chiamo

Tu ti chiami

Lui/Lei si chiama

4) How to say hello and goodbye in Italian.

Saying hello	Saying goodbye
Ciao Hi Buongiorno Good morning Buonasera Good evening Salve Hello	Arrivederci Goodbye A dopo See you later A domani See you tomorrow A presto See you soon

English	Italian	Spanish
Car	Macchina / automobile	Automóvil / coche
Airplane	Aereo	Avión
Train	Treno	Tren
Bus	Autobus	Ómnibus / Autobús
Bus stop	Fermata	Parada
Boat	Nave	Barco
Bunk bed	Cuccetta	Litera
Motorbike	Moto	Moto
Bike	Bicicletta	Bicicleta
Seat	Sedile	Asiento
(Steering) wheel	Volante	Volante
Dashboard	Cruscotto	Guantera
Door	Sportello	Ventanilla
Safety-catch	Sicura	Seguro
Window	Finestrino	Ventanilla
Driving mirror	Specchietto	Espejo retrovisor
Headlights	Fari	Faros
Traffic indicators	Frecce	Señales de tránsito
Car stereo	Autoradio	Radio stereo
Seat belt	Cintura di sicurezza	Cinturón de seguridad
Handle	Maniglia	Manija / manilla
Gear	Marcia	Marcha
Burglar alarm	Antifurto	Alarma antirrobo
Engine	Motore	Motor
Petrol	Benzina	Gasolina
Brake	Freno	Freno
Accelerator	Acceleratore	Acelerador
Clutch	Frizione	Fricción
Speed	Velocità	Velocidad
Wheel	Ruota	Rueda
Puncture	Foro	Pinchazo
Spare wheel	Ruota di scorta	Rueda de auxilio / recambio / repuesto
Street	Via / Strada	Calle
Motorway	Autostrada	Autopista
Traffic lights	Semaforo	Semáforo
Zebra crossing	Striscia pedonale	Paso de cebra

Italian Transport Vocabulary

List of transport vocabulary in Italian with translations in English and Spanish.

English	Italian	Spanish
Car	Macchina / automobile	Automóvil / coche
Airplane	Aereo	Avión
Train	Treno	Tren
Bus	Autobus	Ómnibus / Autobús
Bus stop	Fermata	Parada
Boat	Nave	Barco
Bunk bed	Cuccetta	Litera
Motorbike	Moto	Moto
Bike	Bicicletta	Bicicleta
Seat	Sedile	Asiento
(Steering) wheel	Volante	Volante
Dashboard	Cruscotto	Guantera
Door	Sportello	Ventanilla
Safety-catch	Sicura	Seguro
Window	Finestrino	Ventanilla
Driving mirror	Specchietto	Espejo retrovisor
Headlights	Fari	Faros
Traffic indicators	Frecce	Señales de tránsito
Car stereo	Autoradio	Radio stereo
Seat belt	Cintura di sicurezza	Cinturón de seguridad
Handle	Maniglia	Manija / manilla
Gear	Marcia	Marcha
Burglar alarm	Antifurto	Alarma antirrobo
Engine	Motore	Motor
Petrol	Benzina	Gasolina
Brake	Freno	Freno
Accelerator	Acceleratore	Acelerador
Clutch	Frizione	Fricción
Speed	Velocità	Velocidad
Wheel	Ruota	Rueda
Puncture	Foro	Pinchazo
Spare wheel	Ruota di scorta	Rueda de auxilio / recambio / repuesto
Street	Via / Strada	Calle
Motorway	Autostrada	Autopista
Traffic lights	Semaforo	Semáforo
Zebra crossing	Striscia pedonale	Paso de cebra

Saying Hello in Italian

INCONTRO TRA AMICHE – Dialogo informale SAYING HELLO TO FRIENDS – informal dialogue

A: Ciao Anna! B: Ciao Francesca, come stai? A: Molto bene grazie, e tu? B: Non c’è male, grazie.

INCONTRO TRA ADULTI – Dialogo formale SAYING HELLO FORMALLY

A: Buongiorno signora Rossi! B: Buongiorno, come sta? A: Abbastanza bene, grazie. E lei? B: Così così.

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Learn Itlalian

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Common Conversational Words and Phrases in Italian

By mastering the basics of conversation in Italian, you put yourself and the person you’re talking to at ease. Everyone should learn essential Italian conversational words and phrases before traveling to Italy. These words and expressions are sure to come up in most everyday conversations.

Courteous phrases

Being polite is just as important in Italy as anywhere else in this world. The following words and phrases cover most of the pleasantries required for polite conversation. After all, learning to say the expressions of common courtesy in Italian before traveling is just good manners.

sì (yes)

no (no)

per favore; per piacere; per cortesia (please)

Grazie (Thank you)

Molte grazie (Thank you very much.)

Prego! (You’re welcome!)

Si figuri! (It’s nothing.)

Mi scusi. (Excuse me.)

prego (by all means)

Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you please repeat.)

Personal pronouns

Once you’ve mastered the common pleasantries, the next important thing to learn is how to refer to people. The most common way is by using personal pronouns. In Italian, the pronouns (you and they) are complicated by gender and formality. You’ll use slightly different variations of these words depending to whom you are referring and how well you know them.

Io (I)

lui (he)

lei (she)

noi (we)

tu (you [singular])

lei (you [singular/formal])

voi (you (plural/informal])

loro (you (plural/formal])

loro (they)

Use the informal tu (singular you) and voi (plural you) for friends, relatives, younger people, and people you know well. Use the formal lei (singular you) when speaking to people you don’t know well; in situations such as in stores, restaurants, hotels, or pharmacies); and with professors, older people, and your friends’ parents.

The formal loro (plural you) is rarely used and is gradually being replaced by the informal voi when addressing a group of people.

References to people

When meeting people in Italy, be sure to use the appropriate formal title. Italians tend to use titles whenever possible. Use the Lei form when using any of the following titles. A man would be called Signore, which is the same as Mr. or Sir. An older or married woman is called Signora and a young lady is called Signorina. It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary term for referring to people based on their age, gender, or relationship to you.

uomo (a man)

donna (a woman)

ragazzo (a boy)

ragazza (a girl)

bambino [M]; bambina [F] (a child)

padre (a father)

madre (a mother)

figlio [M]; figlia [F] (child)

fratello (a brother)

sorella (a sister)

marito (a husband)

moglie (a wife)

amico [M]; amica [F] (a friend)

In Italian, there are four words to cover the English indefinite articlesa and an. For masculine words, you would use uno if the word begins with a z or an s and a consonant and you would use un for the rest. For feminine words, you should use ‘un for words beginning with a vowel and una for words beginning with a consonant.

Phrases for travelers

There are some Italian phrases that are particularly helpful to international travelers. Below are several phrases may come in handy during your stay in Italy.

Mi scusi. (Excuse me. [Formal])
Non parlo bene l’italiano. (I don’t speak Italian well.)
Parla inglese? (Do you speak English? [Formal])
Parlo inglese. (I speak English.)
Mi sono perso. [M]; Mi sono persa. [F] (I’m lost.)
Sto cercando il mio albergo. (I’m looking for my hotel.)
Sì, lo so. (Yes, I know.)
Non lo so. (I don’t know.)
Non so dove sia. (I don’t know where it is.)
Non capisco. (I don’t understand.)
Capisco, grazie. (I understand, thanks.)
Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you repeat, please? [Formal])
È bello. (It’s beautiful.)
È bellissimo. (It’s very beautiful.)
Vado a casa. (I’m going home.)
Domani visitiamo Venezia. (We’ll visit Venice tomorrow.)
Due cappuccini, per favore. (Two cappuccinos, please.)
Non lo so. (I don’t know.)
Non posso. (I can’t.)
Non potevo. (I couldn’t.)
Non lo faccio. (I won’t do it.)
Non dimenticare! (Don’t forget!)
Lei non mangia la carne. (She doesn’t eat meat.)
Non siamo americani. (We aren’t American.)
Il caffè non è buono. (The coffee isn’t good.)
Non è caro! (It’s not expensive!)

It’s possible to use more than one negative in a sentence. For example, you may say Non capisce niente (He/she doesn’t understand anything). Generally, you may just put non in front of your verb to negate your sentence, such as m‘ama non m‘ama(he/she loves me, he/she loves me not).

Common places and locations

It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary for some of the common places or locations that you might need or want while traveling in Italy.

banca (bank)

città (city)

il consolato Americano (American consulate)

il ristorante (restaurant)

in campagna (in the country)

in città (in the city)

in montagna (in the mountains)

l‘albergo (hotel)

l‘ospedale (hospital)

la casa (house)

la polizia (police)

la stazione dei treni (train station)

metropolitana (subway)

museo (museum)

negozio (store)

paese (country)

spiaggia (beach)

stato (state)

ufficio (office)
Some Italian Phrases:

English Phrases Italian Phrases

English Greetings Italian Greetings:

Hi! Ciao!

Good morning! Buongiorno!

Good evening! Buona sera!

Welcome! (to greet someone) Benvenuto!/ Benvenuta! (female)

How are you? Come stai?/ Come state (polite)?

I’m fine, thanks! Bene, grazie!

And you? e tu? e lei? (polite)

Good/ So-So. Bene/ così e così.

Thank you (very much)! Grazie! / (Molte grazie)!

You’re welcome! (for “thank you”) Prego!

Hey! Friend! Ciao! Amico!

I missed you so much! Mi sei mancato molto!

What’s new? Cosa c’è di nuovo?

Nothing much Non molto

Good night! Buona notte!

See you later! A dopo

Good bye! Arrivederci!

Asking for Help and Directions

I’m lost Mi sono perso/ persa (feminine)

Can I help you? Posso aiutarti?/ posso aiutarla (polite)?

Can you help me? Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi? (polite)

Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)? Dove posso trovare (il bagno/ la farmacia?)

Go straight! then turn left/ right! Vada dritto! e poi giri a destra/ sinistra!

I’m looking for john. Sto cercando John.

One moment please! Un momento prego!

Hold on please! (phone) Attenda prego!

How much is this? Quanto costa questo?

Excuse me …! (to ask for something) Scusami!/ Mi scusi! (polite)

Excuse me! ( to pass by) Permesso

Come with me! Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite)

How to Make Small Talk in Italian
Making small talk in Italian is just the same as in English. Touch on familiar topics like jobs, sports, children — just say it in Italian! Small talk describes the brief conversations that you have with people you don’t know well. Small talk generally consists of greetings and introductions and descriptions of personal information and interests.
Greetings and introductions
Although the Italians are often more formal than we are in America, you don’t need to wait around to be introduced to someone. Take the initiative to walk up to someone and say hello. The most common ways to greet someone is to simply say hello (Salve orBuon giorno). The following phrases are all you need to get a conversation started.

Mi chiamo . . . (My name is . . .)

Lei come si chiama? (What’s your name? [Formal])

Permette che mi presenti mia moglie, Fabiana? (May I introduce my wife, Fabiana?).

Greetings and introductions are usually accompanied by a Come sta? (How are you? [Formal]) There are many possible responses, but the most common would be to say I’m doing well (Sto bene!) or I’m so-so (Così così.).
Personal information
After the necessary introductions, small talk is really just a question of sharing information about yourself and asking the other person questions about themselves. The following phrases will come in handy when you’re chitchatting with someone new.

Sono degli . . . (I am from . . .)

Di dov’è Lei? (Where are you from?)

Che lavoro fa? (What is your profession?)

Quanti anni hai? (How old are you?)

Dove vite? (Where do you live?)

Sono uno studente/ studentessa. [M/F] (I’m a student.)

Sono insegnante. [M]/Faccio l’insegnate. [F] (I’m a teacher.)

Sei sposato? [M]/Sei sposata? [F] (Are you married?)

Hai dei figli? [Informal] (Do you have any children?)

Ho tre figli. (I have three children.)

Sono uno studente. [M]/Sono una studentessa. [F] (I’m a student.)

Remember to use the formal Lei version of you when meeting someone for the first time.

English Phrases	Italian Phrases

English Greetings	Italian Greetings:
Hi!	Ciao!
Good morning!	Buongiorno!
Good evening!	Buona sera!
Welcome! (to greet someone)	Benvenuto!/ Benvenuta! (female)
How are you?	Come stai?/ Come state (polite)?
I’m fine, thanks!	Bene, grazie!
And you?	e tu? e lei? (polite)
Good/ So-So.	Bene/ così e così.
Thank you (very much)!	Grazie! / (Molte grazie)!
You’re welcome! (for “thank you”)	Prego!
Hey! Friend!	Ciao! Amico!
I missed you so much!	Mi sei mancato molto!
What’s new?	Cosa c’è di nuovo?
Nothing much	Non molto
Good night!	Buona notte!
See you later!	A dopo
Good bye!	Arrivederci!
Asking for Help and Directions
I’m lost	Mi sono perso/ persa (feminine)
Can I help you?	Posso aiutarti?/ posso aiutarla (polite)?
Can you help me?	Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi? (polite)
Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)?	Dove posso trovare (il bagno/ la farmacia?)
Go straight! then turn left/ right!	Vada dritto! e poi giri a destra/ sinistra!
I’m looking for john.	Sto cercando John.
One moment please!	Un momento prego!
Hold on please! (phone)	Attenda prego!
How much is this?	Quanto costa questo?
Excuse me …! (to ask for something)	Scusami!/ Mi scusi! (polite)
Excuse me! ( to pass by)	Permesso
Come with me!	Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite)

Italian Nouns

All Italian nouns are masculine or feminine in gender. With very few exceptions, nouns which end in -o, -ore, a consonant, or a consonant followed by -one, are masculine. The names of the days of the week (except Sunday), lakes, months, oceans, rivers, seas, sport teams, and names which denote males are masculine. Words imported from other languages are regarded as masculine regardless of their spelling. With a few exceptions, singular nouns which end in -a, -à, -essa, -i, -ie, -ione, -tà, -trice, or -tù are feminine. The names of cities, continents, fruits, islands, letters of the alphabet, states, and names which denote females are feminine. In Italian grammar, if a word refers to a group of people, the masculine form is used: bambini children amici friends In a some cases, the gender of a noun is determined by its article. For example, uno studente to denote a male student, or una studente to denote a female student. All words which end in –nte or -ista are treated in this way. un cliente a male client una cliente a female client un pianista a male pianist una pianista a female pianist

Italian Pronouns

Pronouns are words that are used in place of a noun. They can stand in for the subject, Io mangio (I eat), the object, Paola mi ama (Paola loves me), or the complement, Io vivo perlei (I live for her). There are many kinds of pronouns in Italian grammar, including personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite. Io mangio I eat Paola mi ama Paola loves me Io vivo per lei I live for her

Italian Verbs

Verbs are the core of the Italian language, and they refer to an action (andare – to go; mangiare – to eat) or to a state (essere – to be; stare – to stay; esistere – to exist). In Italian grammar, there are three classes of verbs, five moods, and 21 verb tenses. Here are some common verbs to get you started: Andare to go Mangiare to eat Essere to be Stare to stay Esistere to exist

Italian Prepositions

Prepositions are words that show position in relation to space or time, or that introduce a complement. Some prepositions that are important to know in Italian are listed below: Preposition Italian English di: La casa di Paola Paola’s house a: Io vado a casa I go (to) home da: Il treno viene da Milano The train comes from Milan in: La mamma è in Italia The mother is in Italy con: Io vivo con Paola I live with Paola su: La penna è sul tavolo The pen is on the table per: Il regalo è per te The gift is for you

Italian Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that link to other words or groups of words, and common ones in Italian grammar include e- (“and”), ma (“but”), and se (“if”). Il cane e il gatto The dog and the cat Sono stanco, ma vengo I am tired, but I come Se vuoi, puoi dormire qui If you want, you can sleep here

The Auxiliary Verbs: Essere and Avere

Essere:

io sono I am tu sei you are lui/lei/Lei è he/she is noi siamo we are voi siete you are loro sono they are

Avere:

io ho I have tu hai you have lui/lei/Lei ha he/ she has noi abbiamo we have voi avete you have loro hanno they have

Italian Subject Pronouns / Pronomi personali

io	ee-oh	I	noi	noy	we
tu	too	you (informal singular)	voi	voy	you (informal plural)
lui, lei	lwee/lay	he, she	loro	loh-roh	they
Lei	lay	you (formal singular)	Loro	loh-roh	you (formal plural)

The Lei form is generally used for you (singular), instead of tu, unless you’re referring to kids or animals. Loro can also mean you, but only in very polite situations. If you need to specify an inanimate object as “it” you can use esso (masculine noun) and essa (feminine noun), but since subject pronouns are not commonly used in Italian, these words are somewhat rare.

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between masculine/feminine and neuter. Neuter gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man. How to Conjugate Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense

In Italian, the present indicative tense works much like the present tense in English. To conjugate Italian verbs in the present indicative tense, you first need to understand that Italian infinitives (the “to” form, as in to die, to sleep, to dream) end in one of three ways — and that you conjugate the verb based on that ending:

Verbs that end in -are
Verbs that end in -ere
Verbs that end in -ire The endings of regular verbs don’t change. Master the endings for each mode and tense, and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that verbs agree with subjects and subject pronouns (io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, noi, voi, loro/Loro):

Common Regular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Lavorare (to work)*	*Prendere (to take; to order)*	*Partire (to leave)*	*Capire (to understand)*
io	lavoro	prendo	parto	capisco
tu	lavori	prendi	parti	capisci
lui/lei/Lei	lavora	prende	parte	capisce
noi	lavoriamo	prendiamo	partiamo	capiamo
voi	lavorate	prendete	partite	capite
loro/Loro	lavorano	prendono	partono	capiscono

Unfortunately, there are also irregular verbs, which you have to memorize. You’ll find that the more you practice them, the easier it is to use them in conversation:

Common Irregular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Andare (to go)*	*Bere (to drink)*	*Dare (to give)*	*Fare (to do)*	*Stare (to stay)*	*Venire (to come)*
io	vado	bevo	do	faccio	sto	vengo
tu	vai	bevi	dai	fai	stai	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	va	beve	dà	fa	sta	viene
noi	andiamo	beviamo	diamo	facciamo	stiamo	veniamo
voi	andate	bevete	date	fate	state	venite
loro/Loro	vanno	bevono	danno	fanno	stanno	vengono

Italian Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns:

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns. In Italian the forms of the direct object pronouns (i pronomi diretti) are as follows:

Person	Singular	Plural

1st. person	mi » me	ci » us
2nd. person familiar	ti » you	vi » you
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Li » You (m.)
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Le » You (f.)
3rd. person	lo » him, it	li » them (m.)
3rd. person	la » her it	le » them (f.)

These pronouns are used as follows:

They stand immediately before the verb or the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses. Examples:

Li ho invitati a cena » I have invited them to dinner
L’ho veduta ieri » I saw her yesterday
Ci hanno guardati e ci hanno seguiti » They watched us and followed us

In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun.

Non la mangia » He doesn’t eat it
Perchè non li inviti? » Why don’t you invite them?

The object pronoun is attached to the end of an infinitive. Note that the final –e of the infinitive is dropped.

È importante mangiarla ogni giorno » It is important to eat it every day
Volevo comprarla » I wanted to buy it

The Object pronouns are attached to ecco to express here I am, here you are, here he is, and so on.

Dov’è la signorina? – Eccola! » Where is the young woman? – Here she is!
Hai trovato le chiavi? – Sì, eccole! » Have you found the keys? – Yes, here they are!

The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l’.

(*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized.

Holiday Phrases:

Buon Anno!	Happy New Year!
Buona Pasqua!	Happy Easter!
Buon compleanno!	Happy Birthday!
Buon Natale!	Merry Christmas!
Buone feste!	Happy Holidays!
Buona vacanza!	Have a good vacation!
Buon divertimento!	Have a good time!
Buon viaggio!	Have a good trip!
Tanti auguri!	Best wishes!

Babbo Natale is Santa Claus and il panettone or il pandoro are the traditional cakes eaten at Christmas. For Easter, the traditional cake is called la colomba. Be careful with the difference between ferie and feriale: le ferie or i giorni di ferie are holidays when most places of business are closed; the opposite is un giorno feriale, or a weekday/working day. INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS While direct object pronouns answer the question what? or whom? Indirect object pronouns answer the question to whom? or for whom? Also, they’re the same as the Direct Object Pronouns except for the pronouns in the Third Person (i.e. to him; to her; to them).

Singolare	Singular	Plurale	Plural
mi	(to/for) me	ci	(to/for) us
ti	(to/for) you (informal)	vi	(to/for) you (informal)
gli	(to/for) him, it	loro	(to/for) them (m. & f.)
le	(to/for) her, it
Le	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)	Loro	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)

The direct object is governed directly by the verb, for example, in the following statement: Romeo loved her. The Indirect Object in an English sentence often stands where you would expect the direct object but common sense will tell you that the direct object is later in the sentence, e.g.: Romeo bought her a bunch of flowers. The direct object — i.e. the thing that Romeo bought is “a bunch of flowers”; Romeo didn’t buy “her” as if she were a slave. So the pronoun her in the sentence actually means “for her” and is the Indirect Object. Examples: » Qulacuno mi ha mandato una cartolina dalla Spagna Someone (has) sent me a postcard from Spain. » Il professore le ha spiegato il problema The teacher (has) explained the problem to her. » Voglio telefonargli I want to phone him. » Il signor Brambilla ci ha insegnato l’italiano Mr Brambilla taught us Italian. » Cosa gli dici? What are you saying to him/to them? » Lucia,tuo padre vuole parlarti! Lucia, your father wants to speak to you! » Non gli ho mai chiesto di aiutarmi I (have) never asked him to help me. » Non oserei consigliarti I would not dare to advise you » Le ho regalato un paio di orecchini I gave her a present of a pair of earrings

Useful Words in Italian:

and	e	eh	always	sempre	sehm-preh
or	o	oh	often	spesso	speh-soh
but	ma	mah	sometimes	qualche volta	kwal-keh vohl-tah
not	non	nohn	usually	usualmente	oo-zoo-al-mehn-teh
while	mentre	mehn-treh	especially	specialmente	speh-chee-al-mehn-teh
if	se	seh	except	eccetto	eh-cheh-toh
because	perché	pehr-kay	book	il libro	lee-broh
very, a lot	molto	mohl-toh	pencil	la matita	mah-tee-tah
also, too	anche	ahn-keh	pen	la penna	pehn-nah
although	benché	behn-keh	paper	la carta	kar-tah
now	adesso, ora	ah-deh-so, oh-rah	dog	il cane	kah-neh
perhaps, maybe	forse	for-seh	cat	il gatto	gah-toh
then	allora, poi	ahl-loh-rah, poy	friend (fem)	l’amica	ah-mee-kah
there is	c’è	cheh	friend (masc)	l’amico	ah-mee-koh
there are	ci sono	chee soh-noh	woman	la donna	dohn-nah
there was	c’era	che-rah	man	l’uomo	woh-moh
there were	c’erano	che-rah-no	girl	la ragazza	rah-gat-sah
here is	ecco	ehk-koh	boy	il ragazzo	rah-gat-soh

Question Words in Italian:

Who	Chi	kee
Whose	Di chi	dee kee
What	Che cosa	keh koh-sah
Why	Perché	pehr-keh
When	Quando	kwahn-doh
Where	Dove	doh-veh
How	Come	koh-meh
How much	Quanto	kwahn-toh
Which	Quale	kwah-leh

Days of the week:

Monday	lunedì	loo-neh-dee
Tuesday	martedì	mahr-teh-dee
Wednesday	mercoledì	mehr-koh-leh-dee
Thursday	giovedì	zhoh-veh-dee
Friday	venerdì	veh-nehr-dee
Saturday	sabato	sah-bah-toh
Sunday	domenica	doh-men-ee-kah
yesterday	ieri	yer-ee
day before yesterday	avantieri / l’altroieri (m)	ah-vahn-tyee-ree
last night	ieri sera	yer-ee seh-rah
today	oggi	ohd-jee
tomorrow	domani	doh-mahn-ee
day after tomorrow	dopodomani	doh-poh-doh-mahn-ee
day	il giorno	eel zhor-noh

To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc., use il before lunedì through sabato, and la before domenica.

Months of the year:

January	gennaio	jehn-nah-yoh
February	febbraio	fehb-brah-yoh
March	marzo	mar-tsoh
April	aprile	ah-pree-leh
May	maggio	mahd-joh
June	giugno	joo-nyoh
July	luglio	loo-lyoh
August	agosto	ah-goh-stoh
September	settembre	seht-tehm-breh
October	ottobre	oht-toh-breh
November	novembre	noh-vehm-breh
December	dicembre	dee-chem-breh
week	la settimana	lah sett-ee-mah-nah
month	il mese	eel meh-zeh
year	l’anno	lahn-noh

Days and months are not capitalized. To express the date, use È il (number) (month). May 5th would be È il 5 (or cinque) maggio. But for the first of the month, use primo instead of 1 or uno. To express ago, as in two days ago, a month ago, etc., just add fa afterwards. To express last, as in last Wednesday, last week, etc., just add scorso (for masculine words) or scorsa (for feminine words) afterwards. una settimana fa – a week ago la settimana scorsa – last week un mese fa – a month ago l’anno scorso – last year

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Pronouns:

Maschile singolare	Maschile plurale	Femminile singolare	Femminile plurale
il mioil tuo il suo il nostro il vostro il loro	i mieii tuoi i suoi i nostri i vostri i loro	la miala tua la sua la nostra la vostra la loro	le miele tue le sue le nostre le vostre le loro

Italian Grammar Lessons: The Three Groups Of Regular Verbs

This lesson is about the three groups of Italian regular verbs. All Italian regular verbs can be divided into three groups, as classified according to the ending of their infinitive forms. Verbs in the first group or first conjugation end in – are, such as abitare, mangiare or lavare. Abitare – to live io abito tu abiti lui/lei/Lei abita noi abitiamo voi abitate loro/Loro abitano Verbs in the second group or second conjugation end in – ere, such as perdere and correre. Perdere – to lose io perdo tu perdi lui/lei/Lei perde noi perdiamo voi perdete loro/Loro perdono Verbs in the third group or third conjugation end in – ire, such as dormire and aprire. The main characteristic of the third group is that some verbs, such as preferire, add the suffix –isc between the root and the declination. Dormire – to sleep io dormo tu dormi lui/lei/Lei dorme noi dormiamo voi dormite loro/Loro dormono Preferire – to prefer io preferisco tu preferisci lui/lei/Lei preferisce noi preferiamo voi preferite loro/Loro preferiscono It’s important to learn the conjugations for these three groups as early as you can!

Italian Grammar Lessons: Reflexive Verbs

This lesson is about reflexive verbs! A reflexive verb is used when the subject and object of the verb are the same. For example, “kill yourself”. Reflexive verbs are more common in Italian than in English – verbs which in English are too “obvious” to be used in the reflexive form (wake up, get up, wash, clean your teeth, and so on..) do need the reflexive form in Italian. So, for example, in Italian you might “suicide yourself”, absurd as it sounds in English! Many Italian verbs have reflexive forms. You can recognise them because they end in “-si”. For example: alzarsi (get yourself up) svegliarsi (wake yourself up) vestirsi (dress yourself) lavarsi (wash yourself) riposarsi (rest yourself) mettersi (put yourself) fermarsi (stop yourself) sedersi (sit yourself) When you use a reflexive verb you have to put the correct reflexive pronoun before the verbs. The reflexive pronouns are: io – mi tu – ti lui/lei/Lei – si noi – ci voi – vi loro – si Here are two examples of the conjugation of reflexive verbs in Italian: svegliarsi – to wake yourself up (io) mi sveglio (tu) ti svegli (lui/lei/Lei) si sveglia (noi) ci svegliamo (voi) vi svegliate (loro/Loro) si svegliano alzarsi – to get yourself up (io) mi alzo (tu) ti alzi (lui/lei/Lei) si alza (noi) ci alziamo (voi) vi alzate (loro/Loro) si alzano

Italian modal verbs are called “VERBI SERVILI“. They have irregular forms. They are: POTERE (can) VOLERE (to want, to wish, to need) DOVERE (must, to have to, ought to, should) Watch the following examples: 1. Mi puoi telefonare domani? (Can you call me tomorrow?) 2. Voglio andare a Roma (I want to go to Rome) 3. Aspettami, devo parlarti (Wait, I have to talk to you!) Modal verbs work as a support to other verbs and indicate possibility, will, need and duty. Verb SAPERE (can) becomes a modal verb when it means “ESSERE CAPACE DI” “to be able to”. example: So suonare il piano (I can play the piano) Modal verbs can be used with atonic personal pronouns that can stand before the modal verb( 1.) or after the infinitive (3.) Modal verbs are directly added to the infinitive of a verb without any prepositions. POTERE can be used: – with the meaning of “forse” (=perhaps, maybe): “Posso essermi sbagliato, ma non so esattamente” (=I could be wrong, but I don’t know exactly) – as a permission (may I?) : Posso uscire? (May I go out?) – as a capability: Quest’anno possiamo vincere il campionato (This year we can win the championship) – in the polite form: Potresti prestarmi il tuo libro? (Could you lend me your book?) DOVERE can be used: – with the meaning of probability: Deve essergli successo un incidente (He must have had an accident) – as an obligation, a need: Se vuoi migliorare il tuo italiano, devi fare i compiti. ( If you want to improve your italian, you must do your homework)

Modal Verbs – Present Tense

Io posso
Tu puoi
Egli può
Noi possiamo
Voi potete
Essi possono

Io voglio
Tu vuoi
Egli/ella vuole
Noi vogliamo
Voi volete
Essi vogliono

Io devo
Tu devi
Egli/ella deve
Noi dobbiamo
Voi dovete
Essi devono

In Italian as in English these modals verbs (verbi servili) are easy to identify. Modal verbs in Italian indicate a “must,” “capability” or a “wish.” These words can be used alone, as in “Vorrei una pizza” (“I’d like a pizza”), or as modal verbs in conjunction with another verb in the infinitive tense. For example, “Vorrei camminare un pò di più” (“I’d like to walk a little bit more.”) “Volere” for instance can be used with nouns and infinitives (“Voglio partire” or “Voglio una pizza.”) “Potere” and “dovere” can be used with infinitives only (“Non posso lavorare” or “Devomangiare ora.”) In the negative form you have only to put only NON in front of the modal:

Non puoi capire
Non devi partire
Non vuoi lasciarmi vero?

With the compound tenses, the modal verbs take the auxiliary plus the infinitive that follows. For example:

Claudio HA DOVUTO lasciare il suo lavoro. (dovere richiede AVERE)
Maria HA DOVUTO studiare. (studiare richiede AVERE)
Maria E’ DOVUTA uscire (uscire richiede essere)
Maria HA POTUTO parlare con lui (potere richiede avere)
Maria E’ POTUTA venire alla festa (venire richiede essere)
Maria HA VOLUTO mangiare (mangiare richiede volere)
Maria E’ VOLUTA VENIRE al cinema con me (venire richiede essere)

The auxiliary verb “to be” is used in the following examples:

Compound tenses and with many intransitive verbs like “sono partita“, “mio fratello è uscito.”
With impersonal verbs: piove (it’s raining), fa freddo (it’s cold), fa caldo (it’s warm)
With reflexive verbs: “Maria si è lavata le mani e si è messa il tovagliolo prima di mangiare.” (“Maria washed her hands and put out the table cloth before eating.”)

volere – to want (to)	potere – to be able to	dovere – to have to
io voglio	io posso	io devo
tu vuoi	tu puoi	tu devi
Lei vuole	Lei puo’	Lei deve
lui/lei vuole	lui/lei puo’	lui/lei deve
noi vogliamo	noi possiamo	noi dobbiamo
voi volete	voi potete	voi dovete
loro vogliono	loro possono	loro devono

Volere can be used with nouns and infinitives (dictionary form). Voglio una birra. Voglio mangiare. Potere and dovere are used with infinitives only. Non posso studiare. Devo uscire. To negate a modal (to say you don’t want to, can’t or must not), just put non in front of it.

Italian Articles

In Italian grammar, articles identify the gender and the number of the nouns, and they are essential in order to recognize irregular nouns. Articles can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural and, except in some specific cases, they must always be used. The article serves to define the noun associated with it, and with which it must agree in gender and number. Definitive articles In Italian, we put the article before the noun, just like in English. However, in English, the definite article is only one – the. In Italian, when the noun is masculine, there are three types of articles in the singular, and two types in the plural. For feminine nouns, there are two different articles for the singular, and one for the plural. Let’s take a look! Masculine Articles Feminine Articles Singular Il Lo L’ La L’ Plural I Gli Gli Le Le Now, let’s break down when to use which definitive article in Italian! With masculine articles: Il is used before a noun that begins with a consonant, except“s + consonant, ps, gn, z, y, and z. Examples: Il ragazzo, il libro, il vino. I is the plural form of il. If you use il in singular, you have to use I in plural. Examples: I ragazzi, i libri, i vini. Lo is used before a noun that begins with s + consonant, ps, gn,z,y, and z. Examples: Lo studente, lo sport, lo psicologo, lo yogurt. Gli is the plural form of lo. If you use lo in singular, you have to use gli in plural. Examples: Gli studenti, gli sport, gli psicologi, gli yogurt. L’ is used before a noun that begins with a vowel or with h; in Italian grammar, h is silent. Examples: L’ orologio, l’amico, l’ufficio, l’hotel. Gli is used for the plural form when l’ is used in the singular: Gli orologi, gli amici, gli uffici, gli hotel. Now, let’s go over when to use feminine definite articles. La is used before a noun that begins with a consonant: La casa, la ragazza, la bottiglia. L’ is used before a noun that begins with a vowel: L’amica, l’alice, l’onda, l’aspirina. Le is used with all feminine words in the plural: Le case, le ragazze, le bottiglie, le amiche, le alici, le onde, le aspirine. Indefinite Articles Indefinite articles in Italian grammar introduce a generic or not defined noun. The masculine indefinite articles are un and uno, and the feminine forms are una and un’ – meaning a or an. Un is used before masculine nouns starting with vowel or consonant: un uomo, un libro. Uno isused before masculine nouns starting with s+ consonant, z, gn, x, y, ps, pn, i+vowel, such as in uno studente. Una is used before feminine nouns starting with consonant, such as una donna. Un’ is used before feminine nouns starting with vowel, such as in un’automobile.

When to Use Articles

In Italian grammar, articles are used in the following cases: Before nouns: : il gatto, la donna, l’uomo, il libro, la casa. Before a person’s profession : il dottore, il meccanico, il professore, la professoressa. Before a title : il signore, la signora, l’onorevole. Before dates: il 2 giugno 1990 Before hours: sono le 3, è l’una. Before names of nations or associations in the plural: gli Stati Uniti, le Nazioni Unite. Before the days of the week to indicate a repeated, habitual activity: la domenica studio italiano. Articles are not used before nouns in the following cases: When they want to convey a very generic feeling of something indefinite: mangio pasta (“I eat pasta”), vedo amici (“I see friends”). Before a name: Roberto, Maria, Stefano, Alice, Roma, Milano Before the demonstrative adjective questo (“this”), quello (“that”): questa casa (“this house,” questo libro (“this book”), quel ragazzo (“that guy”). Before a possessive adjective followed by a singular family noun: mia madre, mio padre, mio fratello, mia sorella. With days of the week: domenica vado in montagna (“I am going to the mountains on Sunday”).

Italian Grammar Lessons: prepositions, ‘a’ or ‘in’?

This lesson is about the different use of the prepositions ‘a’ and ‘in’ in Italian grammar. Let’s start with the preposition ‘a’, which means ‘to’ (movement) or ‘in’ if it indicates location (cities and places). Examples: Tu dai la penna a Simona. (You give the pen to Simona.) Sono a casa. (I’m at home.) Abito a Roma, ma ora sono a Venezia. (I live in Rome, but now I’m in Venice.) We generally use the preposition ‘a’ with the infinite form of the verbs and with names of cities and minor islands. Examples: Vado a mangiare fuori stasera. (I will eat out this evening.) Torno a Madrid per Natale. (I will go back to Madrid for Christmas.) As regard the preposition ‘in’, we use it with the names of continents, states, nations, regions, larger islands, and with words ending in “-eria”. Examples: In Inghilterra bevi tè tutti i giorni. (In England you drink tea every day.) Bologna si trova in Emilia-Romagna. (Bologna is in Emilia-Romagna.) Di solito compro i libri in quella libreria. (I usually buy books in that bookshop.) Here are a few of the nouns before which we use the preposition ‘in’: banca (bank) , biblioteca (library), classe (class), città (city), chiesa (church), campagna (country), piscina (pool), ufficio (office), albergo (hotel), farmacia (pharmacy) Careful! When talking about someone’s house or place of work, you use the preposition ‘da’ plus the name of the owner. Examples: Sono dal dottore. (I’m at the Doctor’s office.) Vado da Sara per il weekend. (I’m going to Sara’s place for the weekend.)

Italian Grammar Lessons: There is/are – C’è / ci sono

This lesson is about the use of “c’è / ci sono“, which would translate into English as ‘there is/are’. The word “ci” is used as a pronoun referring to previously mentioned places and things in order not to repeat them. Examples: Quando vai al supermercato? (When are you going to the supermarket?) Ci vado domani (I will go there tomorrow) Ci = al supermercato (at the supermarket) “C’è” is the short form of “ci è”, while “ci sono” is the plural form and they state the presence or existence of someone or something. Examples: C’è troppo zucchero nel mio caffè. (There is too much sugar in my coffee.) Ci sono molti negozi a Milano. (There are a lot of shops in Milan.) Ci sono molte ragioni per partire. (There are many reasons to leave.) C’è qualcuno in cucina? (Is there someone in the kitchen?) To express negation, you just need to put the particle NON before “c’è / ci sono”. Examples: Non c’è nessuno in cucina. (There isn’t anyone in the kitchen.) Non ci sono penne nell’astuccio. (There aren’t any pens in the pencil case.) Back to Italian lesson on: there is / are – c’è / ci sono

Italian Grammar Lessons: Plurals

This lesson will show you how to create the plural form of Italian nouns. It’s important to know the gender of the word (masculine or feminine) and you can usually work this out by looking at the vowel it ends with. To turn a singular word into a plural one, you usually only need to change the final vowel, though there are of course plenty of exceptions! Singular nouns ending in “-o” are usually masculine. To produce a plural you need to change this ending to “-i“, Examples: il cavallo → i cavalli (the horse – the horses) il tavolo → i tavoli (the table – the tables) Nouns ending in “-a” are usually feminine. To create the plural form you need to change the final vowel to “-e“. Examples: la carota → le carote (the carrot – the carrots) la sedia → le sedie (the chair – the chairs) But some nouns ending in “-a” are masculine, in which case the plural is “-i“. Examples: il problema → i problemi (the problem – the problems) il poeta → i poeti (the poet – the poets) And similarly some nouns ending in “-o” are feminine and their plural is the same as the singular form. Examples: la radio → le radio (the radio – the radios) la foto → le foto (the photo – the photos) Club member Ida writes: Words like ‘la radio’, ‘la foto’, ‘la moto’ or ‘la auto’ do not change in the plural because they are truncated versions of the original words ‘la radiotelefonia’, ‘la fotografia’, ‘la motocicletta’ and ‘l’automobile’. Truncated words do not change in the plural.

Instead “la mano” which is a true feminine word that ends in “o” has the regular plural “le mani” following the rules for forming the plural.

The plural form of singular nouns ending in “-ista” can be either “-i” (if masculine) or “-e” (if feminine). Examples: l’artista → gli artisti / le artiste (the artist – the artists (m) / the artists (f)) il dentista → i dentisti / le dentiste (the dentist – the dentists) Some nouns have just one form which works both for the singular and for the plural. A good example is the various nouns which end with an accented vowel. Examples: la città → le città (the city – the cities) la virtù → le virtù (the virtue – the virtues) il papà → i papà (the dad – the dads) Nouns ending in consonants (which are often borrowed ‘foreign’ words) also have identical singular and plural forms. Examples: il computer → i computer (the computer – the computers) lo yogurt → gli yogurt (the yogurt – the yogurts) There are some cases in which plural nouns have a different spelling. Some masculine substantives ending in “-co” and “-go” form their plural with “-chi” and “-ghi“. Examples: il tedesco → i tedeschi (the German – the Germans) l’albergo → gli alberghi (the hotel – the hotels) Others form the plural with “-ci” or “-gi“. Examples: l’amico → gli amici (the friend – the friends) l’archeologo → gli archeologi (the archaeologist – the archaeologists). Feminine nouns ending in “-ca” and “-ga” follow the same rule. Examples: la tasca → le tasche (the pocket – the pockets) l’alga → le alghe (the seaweed – the seaweeds)

Italian Grammar Lessons: Like – Piace/Piacciono

The verb “piacere” (to like) in Italian has an unusual construction, in the sense that the subject of the action is reversed. The meaning of “piacere” is best thought of as “to please, to be pleasing to” rather than ‘to like’. In English you ‘like’ something or doing something. In Italian it’s the object or activity that ‘pleases’ you. To construct this grammatically, we need to use indirect pronouns. For example: Mi piace la pizza (‘I like pizza’, but literally: ‘Pizza pleases me.’) Here’s the same example sentence conjugated for the different subjects: Mi piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases me.’) Ti piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases you.’) Gli piace la pasta. (‘Pizza pleases him.’) Le piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases her.’) Ci piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases us.’) Vi piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases you.’) Gli piace la pizza. (‘Pizza pleases them.’) A further complication is that, if the subject of the sentence is plural, you need to remember to change the verb from the third person singular (‘piace’) to the third person plural (‘piacciono’). For example: Mi piacciono i biscotti. (‘Biscuits please me.’) The negative is formed by adding ‘non’. For example: Non gli piace il cioccolato. (‘Chocolate doesn’t please him.’) Non ci piacciono le lasagne. (‘Lasagnes don’t please us.’) The verb ‘piacere’ can also be followed by another verb, which has to be in the infinitive form. For example: Mi piace leggere. (‘Reading pleases me.’) Non gli piace studiare. (‘Studying doesn’t please him.’) Ci piace mangiare al ristorante. (‘Eating at the restaurant pleases us.’)

Il presente: -are verbs

1. ABITARE :		to live
Io:	abito	Noi:	abitiamo
Tu:	abiti	Voi:	abitate
Lui:	abita	Loro:	abitano

2. ARRIVARE :		to arrive
Io:	arrivo	Noi:	arriviamo
Tu:	arrivi	Voi:	arrivate
Lui:	arriva	Loro:	arrivano

3. ASPETTARE :		to wait for
Io:	aspetto	Noi:	aspettiamo
Tu:	aspetti	Voi:	aspettate
Lui:	aspetta	Loro:	aspettano

4. CAMMINARE :		to walk
Io:	cammino	Noi:	camminiamo
Tu:	cammini	Voi:	camminate
Lui:	cammina	Loro:	camminano

5. COMINCIARE :		to begin
Io:	comincio	Noi:	cominciamo
Tu:	cominci	Voi:	cominciate
Lui:	comincia	Loro:	cominciano

6. CUCINARE :		to cook
Io:	cucino	Noi:	cuciniamo
Tu:	cucini	Voi:	cucinate
Lui:	cucina	Loro:	cucinano

7. GUARDARE :		to watch
Io:	guardo	Noi:	guardiamo
Tu:	guardi	Voi:	guardate
Lui:	guarda	Loro:	guardano

8. IMPARARE :		to learn
Io:	imparo	Noi:	impariamo
Tu:	impari	Voi:	imparate
Lui:	impara	Loro:	imparano

9. LAVORARE :		to work
Io:	lavoro	Noi:	lavoriamo
Tu:	lavori	Voi:	lavorate
Lui:	lavora	Loro:	lavorano

10. MANDARE :		to send
Io:	mando	Noi:	mandiamo
Tu:	mandi	Voi:	mandate
Lui:	manda	Loro:	mandano

11. NUOTARE :		to swim
Io:	nuoto	Noi:	nuotiamo
Tu:	nuoti	Voi:	nuotate
Lui:	nuota	Loro:	nuotano

12. PENSARE :		to think
Io:	penso	Noi:	pensiamo
Tu:	pensi	Voi:	pensate
Lui:	pensa	Loro:	pensano

13. PORTARE :		to bring
Io:	porto	Noi:	portiamo
Tu:	porti	Voi:	portate
Lui:	porta	Loro:	portano

14. TORNARE :		to return
Io:	torno	Noi:	torniamo
Tu:	torni	Voi:	tornate
Lui:	torna	Loro:	tornano

Il presente: -ere verbs

1. CADERE :		to fall
Io:	cado	Noi:	cadiamo
Tu:	cadi	Voi:	cadete
Lui:	cade	Loro:	cadono

2. CHIEDERE :		to ask
Io:	chiedo	Noi:	chiediamo
Tu:	chiedi	Voi:	chiedete
Lui:	chiede	Loro:	chiedono

3. CHIUDERE :		to close
Io:	chiudo	Noi:	chiudiamo
Tu:	chiudi	Voi:	chiudete
Lui:	chiude	Loro:	chiudono

4. CREDERE :		to believe
Io:	credo	Noi:	crediamo
Tu:	credi	Voi:	credete
Lui:	crede	Loro:	credono

5. LEGGERE :		to read
Io:	leggo	Noi:	leggiamo
Tu:	leggi	Voi:	leggete
Lui:	legge	Loro:	leggono

6. METTERE :		to put
Io:	metto	Noi:	mettiamo
Tu:	metti	Voi:	mettete
Lui:	mette	Loro:	mettono

7. PERDERE :		to lose
Io:	perdo	Noi:	perdiamo
Tu:	perdi	Voi:	perdete
Lui:	perde	Loro:	perdono

8. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

9. RICEVERE :		to receive
Io:	ricevo	Noi:	riceviamo
Tu:	ricevi	Voi:	ricevete
Lui:	riceve	Loro:	ricevono

10. RIPETERE :		to repeat
Io:	ripeto	Noi:	ripetiamo
Tu:	ripeti	Voi:	ripetete
Lui:	ripete	Loro:	ripetono

11. RISPONDERE :		to answer
Io:	rispondo	Noi:	rispondiamo
Tu:	rispondi	Voi:	rispondete
Lui:	risponde	Loro:	rispondono

12. SCRIVERE :		to write
Io:	scrivo	Noi:	scriviamo
Tu:	scrivi	Voi:	scrivete
Lui:	scrive	Loro:	scrivono

13. SPENDERE :		to spend (money)
Io:	spendo	Noi:	spendiamo
Tu:	spendi	Voi:	spendete
Lui:	spende	Loro:	spendono

14. VEDERE :		to see
Io:	vedo	Noi:	vediamo
Tu:	vedi	Voi:	vedete
Lui:	vede	Loro:	vedono

15. VIVERE :		to live
Io:	vivo	Noi:	viviamo
Tu:	vivi	Voi:	vivete
Lui:	vive	Loro:	vivono

Il presente: -ire verbs

1. APRIRE :		to open
Io:	apro	Noi:	apriamo
Tu:	apri	Voi:	aprite
Lui:	apre	Loro:	aprono

2. DORMIRE :		to sleep
Io:	dormo	Noi:	dormiamo
Tu:	dormi	Voi:	dormite
Lui:	dorme	Loro:	dormono

3. MENTIRE :		to lie
Io:	mento	Noi:	mentiamo
Tu:	menti	Voi:	mentite
Lui:	mente	Loro:	mentono

4. OFFRIRE :		to offer
Io:	offro	Noi:	offriamo
Tu:	offri	Voi:	offrite
Lui:	offre	Loro:	offrono

5. PARTIRE :		to leave
Io:	parto	Noi:	partiamo
Tu:	parti	Voi:	partite
Lui:	parte	Loro:	partono

6. SEGUIRE :		to follow
Io:	seguo	Noi:	seguiamo
Tu:	segui	Voi:	seguite
Lui:	segue	Loro:	seguono

7. SENTIRE :		to hear
Io:	sento	Noi:	sentiamo
Tu:	senti	Voi:	sentite
Lui:	sente	Loro:	sentono

8. SERVIRE :		to serve
Io:	servo	Noi:	serviamo
Tu:	servi	Voi:	servite
Lui:	serve	Loro:	servono

9. VESTIRE :		to dress
Io:	vesto	Noi:	vestiamo
Tu:	vesti	Voi:	vestite
Lui:	veste	Loro:	vestono

Il presente: all verbs

1. ANDARE :		to go
Io:	vado	Noi:	andiamo
Tu:	vai	Voi:	andate
Lui:	va	Loro:	vanno

2. AVERE :		to have
Io:	ho	Noi:	abbiamo
Tu:	hai	Voi:	avete
Lui:	ha	Loro:	hanno

3. CONOSCERE :		to know
Io:	conosco	Noi:	conosciamo
Tu:	conosci	Voi:	conoscete
Lui:	conosce	Loro:	conoscono

4. DARE :		to give
Io:	do	Noi:	diamo
Tu:	dai	Voi:	date
Lui:	dà	Loro:	danno

5. DEDICARE :		to dedicate
Io:	dedico	Noi:	dedichiamo
Tu:	dedichi	Voi:	dedicate
Lui:	dedica	Loro:	dedicano

6. DIRE :		to say or tell
Io:	dico	Noi:	diciamo
Tu:	dici	Voi:	dite
Lui:	dice	Loro:	dicono

7. DOVERE :		to must or have to
Io:	devo	Noi:	dobbiamo
Tu:	devi	Voi:	dovete
Lui:	deve	Loro:	devono

8. ESSERE :		to be
Io:	sono	Noi:	siamo
Tu:	sei	Voi:	siete
Lui:	è	Loro:	sono

9. FARE :		to make or do
Io:	faccio	Noi:	facciamo
Tu:	fai	Voi:	fate
Lui:	fa	Loro:	fanno

10. INSEGNARE :		to teach
Io:	insegno	Noi:	insegniamo
Tu:	insegni	Voi:	insegnate
Lui:	insegna	Loro:	insegnano

11. METTERSI :		to put on
Io:	mi metto	Noi:	ci mettiamo
Tu:	ti metti	Voi:	vi mettete
Lui:	si mette	Loro:	si mettono

12. PERDERSI :		to get lost
Io:	mi perdo	Noi:	ci perdiamo
Tu:	ti perdi	Voi:	vi perdete
Lui:	si perde	Loro:	si perdono

13. POTERE :		to be able
Io:	posso	Noi:	possiamo
Tu:	puoi	Voi:	potete
Lui:	può	Loro:	possono

14. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

15. PREPARARSI :		to get ready
Io:	mi preparo	Noi:	ci prepariamo
Tu:	ti prepari	Voi:	vi preparate
Lui:	si prepara	Loro:	si preparano

16. PROIBIRE :		to forbid
Io:	proibisco	Noi:	proibiamo
Tu:	proibisci	Voi:	proibite
Lui:	proibisce	Loro:	proibiscono

INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions in Italian

Informal

A: Giulia, ti presento il mio amico David. B: Piacere di conoscerti! C: Piacere mio!

A: Maria, ecco il mio nuovo vicino. B: Piacere, io sono Maria. Tu come ti chiami? C: Mi chiamo David, piacere!

Formal

A: Buonasera signora Riva, le presento il mio amico. B: Sono Giovanna, molto lieta! C: Piacere, David.

A: Scusi, è lei la dottoressa Rossi? B: Si sono io, e lei come si chiama? A: Sono Maria Ricci, piacere.

Look at the conjugation of the following verbs:

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

CHIAMARSI (to call yourself)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Io mi chiamo

Tu ti chiami

Lui/Lei si chiamaPresent Perfect (Passato Prossimo)

How to say hello and goodbye in Italian.

Saying hello	Saying goodbye
Ciao Hi Buongiorno Good morning Buonasera Good evening Salve Hello	Arrivederci Goodbye A dopo See you later A domani See you tomorrow A presto See you soon

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

VOLERE (to want)

FARE (to make)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Noi siamo

Voi siete

Loro sono

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Noi abbiamo

Voi avete

Loro hanno

Io voglio

Tu vuoi

Lui/Lei vuole

Noi vogliamo

Voi volete

Loro vogliono

Io faccio

Tu fai

Lui/Lei fa

Noi facciamo

Voi fate

Loro fanno

Saying Hello in Italian

INCONTRO TRA AMICHE – Dialogo informale SAYING HELLO TO FRIENDS – informal dialogue

A: Ciao Anna! B: Ciao Francesca, come stai? A: Molto bene grazie, e tu? B: Non c’è male, grazie.

INCONTRO TRA ADULTI – Dialogo formale SAYING HELLO FORMALLY

A: Buongiorno signora Rossi! B: Buongiorno, come sta? A: Abbastanza bene, grazie. E lei? B: Così così.

Saying Goodbye in Italian

Informal:

A: Ciao Monica, ci vediamo dopo! B: Ciao Tania, a più tardi!

A: Buonanotte Valentina, alla prossima volta! B: Ciao, a presto!

Formal:

A: ArrivederLa professoressa! B: Arrivederci ragazzi! A domani!

Saying Hello in Italian

INCONTRO TRA AMICHE – Dialogo informale SAYING HELLO TO FRIENDS – informal dialogue

A: Ciao Anna! B: Ciao Francesca, come stai? A: Molto bene grazie, e tu? B: Non c’è male, grazie.

INCONTRO TRA ADULTI – Dialogo formale SAYING HELLO FORMALLY

A: Buongiorno signora Rossi! B: Buongiorno, come sta? A: Abbastanza bene, grazie. E lei? B: Così così.

BERE (to drink)

AIUTARE (to help)

MANGIARE (to eat)

Io bevo

Tu bevi

Lui /Lei beve

Noi beviamo

Voi bevete

Loro bevono

Io aiuto

Tu aiuti

Lui /Lei aiuta

Noi aiutiamo

Voi aiutate

Loro aiutano

Io mangio

Tu mangi

Lui/Lei mangia

Noi mangiamo

Voi mangiate

Loro mangiano

4) The plural of nouns are formed in this way:

Masculine

Feminine

libro – libri

coltello – coltelli

albero – alberi

matita – matite

strada – strade

casa – case

AT THE STATION

Giorgia: Io vorrei qualcosa da mangiare. E voi? Manuela e Veronica: Si, anche noi! Andiamo in quel ristorante vicino!

ORDERING FOOD AT THE RESTAURANT

Giorgia: Buongiorno, io vorrei un piatto di spaghetti, grazie. Cameriere: Vorrebbe altro? Giorgia:No, grazie. Manuela: Anche io vorrei un piatto di spaghetti. con il pomodoro fresco. Veronica: Per me una bistecca con insalata.

Cameriere: Qualcosa da bere? Giorgia:3 bottiglie di acqua naturale, grazie!

Veronica: Scusi, potrebbe portarci il conto? Cameriere: Voilà! In tutto 30 euro! Giorgia:Grazie e arrivederci! Cameriere: Arrivederci!

Present Perfect (Passato Prossimo)

The present perfect tense is used to express something that happened in the past, and which is completely finished (not habitual or continuous). To form this compound tense, which can translate as something happened, something has happened, or something did happen, conjugate avereor sometimes essere and add the past participle. To form the past participle, add these endings to the appropriate stem of the infinitives:

-are	-ato
-ere	-uto
-ire	-ito

Verbs that can take a direct object are generally conjugated with avere. Verbs that do not take a direct object (generally verbs of movement), as well as all reflexive verbs, are conjugated with essere and their past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Avere uses avere as its auxiliary verb, while essere uses essere as its auxiliary verb. Negative sentences in the present perfect tense are formed by placingnon in front of the auxiliary verb. Common adverbs of time are placed between avere/essere and the past participle. Io ho visitato Roma. I visited Rome. Tu non hai visitato gli Stati Uniti. You didn’t visit the United States. Abbiamo conosciuto due ragazze. We met two girls. Maria è andata in Italia. Maria went to Italy. (Note the agreement of the past participle with the subject.) Ho sempre avuto paura dei cani. I’ve always been afraid of dogs. Hai già finito di studiare? Have you already finished studying? → In addition, some verbs take on a different meaning in the present perfect: conoscere means to meet and sapere means to find out (or to hear). Reflexive Verbs in the Present Perfect Tense Since all reflexive verbs use essere as the auxiliary verb, the past participle must agree with the subject. The word order is reflexive pronoun + essere + past participle. Mi sono divertita. I had fun. Si è sentito male. He felt bad. Prepositions & adverbs of place

at, to	a	over / above	sopra
in	in	under / below	sotto
on / up	su	inside	dentro
from, by	da	outside	fuori
of	di	around	intorno a
with	con	between	tra
without	senza	among	fra
for	per	near	vicino a
next to	accanto a	far	lontano da
behind	dietro	before	prima (di)
in front of	davanti a	after	dopo (di)
across	attraverso	against	contro
down	giù	toward	verso

Reflexive Verbs:

Reflexive verbs express actions performed by the subject on the subject. These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, but a reflexive pronoun precedes the verb form. This pronoun

always agrees with the subject. In the infinitive form, reflexive verbs have -si attached to them with the final e dropped. Lavare is to wash, therefore lavarsi is to wash oneself. (Note that some verbs are reflexive in Italian, but not in English.)

Reflexive Pronouns
mi	ci
ti	vi
si	si

Common reflexive verbs:

to be satisfied with	accontentarsi di	to graduate (from college)	laurearsi
to fall asleep	addormentarsi	to wash up	lavarsi
to get up	alzarsi	to put on	mettersi
to be bored	annoiarsi	to get organized	organizzarsi
to get angry	arrabbiarsi	to make a reservation	prenotarsi
to be called	chiamarsi	to remember to	ricordarsi di
to forget to	dimenticarsi di	to make a mistake	sbagliarsi
to graduate (from high school)	diplomarsi	to feel (well, bad)	sentirsi (bene, male)
to have a good time	divertirsi	to specialize	specializzarsi
to shave (the face)	farsi la barba / radersi	to get married	sposarsi
to stop (oneself)	fermarsi	to wake up	svegliarsi
to complain about	lamentarsi di	to get dressed	vestirsi

Io mi lavo. I wash myself. Noi ci alziamo presto. We get up early. Si sveglia alle sette. She wakes up at seven.

The plural reflexive pronouns (ci, vi, si) can also be used with non-reflexive verbs to indicate a reciprocal action. These verbs are called reciprocal verbs and are expressed by the words each other in English.

to embrace	abbracciarsi	to run into	incontrarsi
to help	aiutarsi	to fall in love with	innamorarsi
to kiss	baciarsi	to greet	salutarsi
to understand	capirsi	to write to	scriversi
to meet	conoscersi	to phone	telefonarsi
to exchange gifts	farsi regali	to see	vedersi
to look at	guardarsi

Ci scriviamo ogni settimana. We write to each other every week. Vi vedete spesso? Do you see each other often?

Basic Conversation:

yes	si
no	no
please / you’re welcome	Per piacere / prego or figurati
you’re very welcome	Sei veramente il benvenuto
thank you	grazie
thank you very much	grazie mille
thanks	grazie
Excuse me!	Mi scusi!

Communication

English	Italian	Pronunciation (Audio)
I understand.	Capisco
I don’t understand	Non capisco
Hello (on the phone) / I beg your pardon?	Pronto
What does that mean?	Cosa significa?
I don’t know.	non lo so
I don’t speak Polish.	Non parlo Polacco
I speak a little Polish.	Parlo poco Polacco
Do you speak english? (informal)	Parli Inglese?
Do you speak english? (formal)	Lei parla Inglese?
Yes, I do speak english.	Si, parlo inglese.
No, I don’t speak english.	No, non parlo inglese

Making acquaintances

English	Italian	Pronunciation (Audio)
Please talk more slowly!	Parla più piano perfavore!
Nice to meet you!	Piacere di conoscerti!
How are you?	Come stai?
Good, thank you	Bene, grazie
I’m well, thanks!	Sto bene, grazie!
Not bad, thanks!	Non male, grazie!
very bad	molto male
What’s your name?	Come ti chiami?
My name is […].	mi chiamo
What’s your first name?	Qual’e il tuo nome?
My first name is […]	Il mio nome è
How old are you?	Quanti anni hai?
I’m […] years old.	Ho … anni
What are your hobbies?	Quali sono i tuoi hobby?
What do you like doing?	Cosa ti piace fare?
What are you doing (at the moment)?	Cosa stai facendo adesso?
Where do you live?	Dove abiti?
I live in […]	vivo a
I’m from England	Vengo dall’Inghilterra
I’m English	Sono Inglese

Italian Grammar: “tu” and “Lei” forms

This lesson is about the informal and formal “tu” and “lei” forms in Italian grammar, and also covers useful phrases for first meetings. In Italian you use the second person form “tu” (you) when speaking to someone you know or someone of your own age or younger, but “Lei” when being formal. So for example, in formal situations we’d say “Che lavoro fa?” (What job does he/she do?) rather than “Che lavoro fai?” (What job do you do?). Check out these informal / formal versions of conversations you might have on first meeting someone. INFORMAL: Ciao, come stai? [Hello, how are you?] FORMAL: Buongiorno come sta? [Good morning, how are you?] REPLY: Bene grazie [Fine thank you.] INFORMAL: Come ti chiami? [What is your name?] FORMAL: Lei come si chiama? [What is your name?] REPLY: Mi chiamo … [My name is …] / Sono … [I am … ] INFORMAL: E tu? [And you?] FORMAL: E Lei? [And you?] REPLY: Piacere. [A pleasure!] INFORMAL: Di dove sei? [Where are you from?] FORMAL: Di dove è? [Where are you from?] REPLY: Sono …, di … [I’m (nationality), from (city)] INFORMAL: Dove vivi? [Where do you live?] FORMAL: Dove vive? [Where do you live?] INFORMAL: Come si scrive il tuo cognome? [How do you spell your surname?] FORMAL: Come si scrive il suo cognome? [How do you spell your surname?] INFORMAL: Come si pronuncia il tuo cognome? [How do you pronounce your surname?] FORMAL: Come si pronuncia il suo cognome? [How do you pronounce your surname?] INFORMAL: Quanti anni hai? [How old are you?] FORMAL: Quanti anni ha? [How old are you?] REPLY: Ho … anni [I am … years old] INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone number?] FORMAL: Qual è il suo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone number?] INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo indirizzo? [What is your address?] FORMAL: Qual è il suo indirizzo? [What is your address?] INFORMAL: Che lavoro fai? [What is your job?] FORMAL: Che lavoro fa? [What is your job?] REPLY: Sono … [I am … ] INFORMAL: Ciao, alla prossima volta! [Bye, see you at the next time!] FORMAL: Arrivederla, spero di vederla presto! [Bye, see you at the next time!] REPLY: A presto! [See you soon!]
Italian Grammar Lessons: The Past / Passato Prossimo

This lesson will show you how to use the principle Italian past tense, the “passato prossimo”. Italian has a “near past” tense and a “remote past” tense. The latter is used mostly in narratives (novels and the like) so in normal conversation you will not normally need to choose between them. Just use the passato prossimo, as explained on this page. For English speakers, there is one point of confusion: in English, you choose between the Simple Past tense (“I studied”) and the Present Perfect tense (“I have studied”). When speaking Italian, both forms would translate as the passato prossimo, even though the passato prossimo LOOKS more like the second one (“Ho studiato” = “I have studied”??) because of the use of the auxiliary verb “avere”. It’s confusing, but the thing to remember is that when you’re talking, you use the passato prossimo 99% of the time. The “passato prossimo” is formed with the auxiliary verb essere OR avere + participio passato (past participle). Just in case you’re still vague on the conjugation of “essere” and “avere”, here they are: essere – to be io sono tu sei lui/lei è noi siamo voi siete loro sono avere – to have io ho tu hai lui/lei ha noi abbiamo voi avete loro hanno You probably don’t know the “participio passato” (past participle) of the verbs you’ve learnt, but not to worry! You can normally form the “participio passato” from the infinitive of a verb (this only applies to “regular” verbs) by changing the ending of verb: -are → ato (mangiare-mangiato) -ere → uto (avere-avuto) -ire → ito (dormire-dormito) So when you want to talk about a past action or event, you need to use avere or essere plus the past participle. But which one? Avere or essere? The majority of verbs use “avere”, just like in English (I have studied). For example: Paola ha dormito a lungo. Mario ha visitato un museo. Io e Marco abbiamo pranzato in un locale tipico. I ragazzi hanno mangiato una pizza. But essere is used with: – verbs of movement – verbs of changing state – reflexive verbs For example: Paola è andata al cinema. Mario è andato al cinema. Io e Maria siamo andate al cinema. I ragazzi sono andati a casa. Note that with “essere” the ending of the past participle changes to reflect the gender and singluar/plural of the subject. The final thing you need to remember is that there are regular and irregular past participle forms. Examples of regular past participle forms: andare – (essere) andato/a avere – (avere) avuto tornare – (essere) tornato/a dormire – (avere) dormito cercare – (avere) cercato montare – (avere) montato mangiare – (avere) mangiato preparare – (avere) preparato guardare – (avere) guardato Examples of irregular past participle forms: fare – (avere) fatto mettere – (avere) messo venire – (essere) venuto prendere – (avere) preso essere – (essere)stato/a leggere – (avere) letto rimanere – (essere) rimasto aprire – (avere) aperto dire – (avere) detto scegliere – (avere) scelto scrivere – (avere) scritto uscire – (essere) uscito/a vedere – (avere) visto
Italian Grammar Lessons: Two Irregular Adjectives & Adverbs

Two important irregular adjectives are buono – good and cattivo – bad. The comparative and superlative forms are: buono – good, migliore – better, il migliore – the best cattivo – bad, peggiore – worse, il peggiore – the worst For example: Questo è un buon libro. – This is a good book. Il mio libro è migliore del tuo. – My book is better than yours. E’ il libro migliore che ho letto. – It’s the best book I’ve read. Quel cane ha un cattivo carattere. – That dog has a bad character. Il tempo a Bologna è peggiore del tempo al sud Italia. – The weather in Bologna is worse than in the south of Italy. Questa è la peggiore pizza che ho mangiato. – This is the worst pizza I’ve eaten. The adverb forms are also irregular and confusingly similar to the adjectives: bene – well, meglio – better male – badly, peggio – worse For example: Parli l’italiano bene. – You speak Italian well. Parli l’italiano meglio del tuo amico. – You speak Italian better than your friend. Guidi male. – You drive badly. Guidi peggio di un italiano! – You drive worse than an Italian!

Italian Grammar Lessons: the impersonal form with ‘Si’

In this lesson you will study the impersonal form with ‘si’, which is more or less the Italian equivalent of the passive form in English. For example, in English: In Bologna people eat a lot of meat. (active form) In Bologna a lot of meat is eaten. (passive form) The same effect is achieved in Italian using the “impersonal si” and the third person singular or third person plural. You need to choose singular or plural according to the object of the verb (meat, in my example). Look at these examples: Singular A Bologna la gente mangia molta carne. A Bologna si mangia molta carne. “molta carne” – is singular so we use “mangia” Plural A Bologna la gente mangia molti gelati. A Bologna si mangiano molti gelati. “molti gelati” – is plural so we use “mangiano” Further examples: In Italia quando si mangiano gli spaghetti (plural), si usa solo la forchetta (singular). Dopo i pasti non si beve il cappuccino (singular). Il salame non si compra (singular). I vini rossi non si bevono freddi (plural). A colazione non si mangiano i salumi (plural). La vera pizza si prepara (singular) con la mozzarella. La domenica si mangia molto (singular). Il sabato si dorme a lungo.
Italian Grammar Lessons: Adverbs

This lesson is about what an adverb is and how most adverbs are formed in Italian grammar. An adverb is an invariable part of the sentence (that means it cannot be declined for number, gender and case) and it determines, modifies the way an action is done or specifies something about a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It usually answers to the question “How?” (“Come?” in italian). Adverbs are formed by adding the suffix “-mente” to the feminine singular form of the adjective. For example: lento → lenta → lentamente giusto → giusta → giustamente felice → felice → felicemente If the adjective ends in “-ile” or “-ale”, you simply add the suffix to the root of the adjective. For example: gentile → gentilmente (gently) servile → servilmente (slavishly) speciale → specialmente (especially) generale → generalmente (generally) It is important to note that not all the adjectives can turn into adverbs and that not all the adverbs are derived from adjectives! As said, the adverbs can modify or specify the word to which they are referred. It can be a verb: Ex. Lui parla chiaramente (He speaks clearly) Or an adjective: Il fiore è veramente bello. (The flower is really beautiful)

Italian LingQ
Learn Italian with Audio

ITALIAN VOCABULARY

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Italian Classes

Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Common Conversational Words and Phrases in Italian

Courteous phrases

sì (yes)

no (no)

per favore; per piacere; per cortesia (please)

Grazie (Thank you)

Molte grazie (Thank you very much.)

Prego! (You’re welcome!)

Si figuri! (It’s nothing.)

Mi scusi. (Excuse me.)

prego (by all means)

Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you please repeat.)

Personal pronouns

Io (I)

lui (he)

lei (she)

noi (we)

tu (you [singular])

lei (you [singular/formal])

voi (you (plural/informal])

loro (you (plural/formal])

loro (they)

The formal loro (plural you) is rarely used and is gradually being replaced by the informal voi when addressing a group of people.

References to people

uomo (a man)

donna (a woman)

ragazzo (a boy)

ragazza (a girl)

bambino [M]; bambina [F] (a child)

padre (a father)

madre (a mother)

figlio [M]; figlia [F] (child)

fratello (a brother)

sorella (a sister)

marito (a husband)

moglie (a wife)

amico [M]; amica [F] (a friend)

Phrases for travelers

There are some Italian phrases that are particularly helpful to international travelers. Below are several phrases may come in handy during your stay in Italy.

Mi scusi. (Excuse me. [Formal])
Non parlo bene l’italiano. (I don’t speak Italian well.)
Parla inglese? (Do you speak English? [Formal])
Parlo inglese. (I speak English.)
Mi sono perso. [M]; Mi sono persa. [F] (I’m lost.)
Sto cercando il mio albergo. (I’m looking for my hotel.)
Sì, lo so. (Yes, I know.)
Non lo so. (I don’t know.)
Non so dove sia. (I don’t know where it is.)
Non capisco. (I don’t understand.)
Capisco, grazie. (I understand, thanks.)
Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you repeat, please? [Formal])
È bello. (It’s beautiful.)
È bellissimo. (It’s very beautiful.)
Vado a casa. (I’m going home.)
Domani visitiamo Venezia. (We’ll visit Venice tomorrow.)
Due cappuccini, per favore. (Two cappuccinos, please.)
Non lo so. (I don’t know.)
Non posso. (I can’t.)
Non potevo. (I couldn’t.)
Non lo faccio. (I won’t do it.)
Non dimenticare! (Don’t forget!)
Lei non mangia la carne. (She doesn’t eat meat.)
Non siamo americani. (We aren’t American.)
Il caffè non è buono. (The coffee isn’t good.)
Non è caro! (It’s not expensive!)

Common places and locations

It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary for some of the common places or locations that you might need or want while traveling in Italy.

banca (bank)

città (city)

il consolato Americano (American consulate)

il ristorante (restaurant)

in campagna (in the country)

in città (in the city)

in montagna (in the mountains)

l‘albergo (hotel)

l‘ospedale (hospital)

la casa (house)

la polizia (police)

la stazione dei treni (train station)

metropolitana (subway)

museo (museum)

negozio (store)

paese (country)

spiaggia (beach)

stato (state)

ufficio (office)
Some Italian Phrases:

English Phrases Italian Phrases

English Greetings Italian Greetings:

Hi! Ciao!

Good morning! Buongiorno!

Good evening! Buona sera!

Welcome! (to greet someone) Benvenuto!/ Benvenuta! (female)

How are you? Come stai?/ Come state (polite)?

I’m fine, thanks! Bene, grazie!

And you? e tu? e lei? (polite)

Good/ So-So. Bene/ così e così.

Thank you (very much)! Grazie! / (Molte grazie)!

You’re welcome! (for “thank you”) Prego!

Hey! Friend! Ciao! Amico!

I missed you so much! Mi sei mancato molto!

What’s new? Cosa c’è di nuovo?

Nothing much Non molto

Good night! Buona notte!

See you later! A dopo

Good bye! Arrivederci!

Asking for Help and Directions

I’m lost Mi sono perso/ persa (feminine)

Can I help you? Posso aiutarti?/ posso aiutarla (polite)?

Can you help me? Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi? (polite)

Where is the (bathroom/ pharmacy)? Dove posso trovare (il bagno/ la farmacia?)

Go straight! then turn left/ right! Vada dritto! e poi giri a destra/ sinistra!

I’m looking for john. Sto cercando John.

One moment please! Un momento prego!

Hold on please! (phone) Attenda prego!

How much is this? Quanto costa questo?

Excuse me …! (to ask for something) Scusami!/ Mi scusi! (polite)

Excuse me! ( to pass by) Permesso

Come with me! Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite)

How to Make Small Talk in Italian
Making small talk in Italian is just the same as in English. Touch on familiar topics like jobs, sports, children — just say it in Italian! Small talk describes the brief conversations that you have with people you don’t know well. Small talk generally consists of greetings and introductions and descriptions of personal information and interests.
Greetings and introductions
Although the Italians are often more formal than we are in America, you don’t need to wait around to be introduced to someone. Take the initiative to walk up to someone and say hello. The most common ways to greet someone is to simply say hello (Salve orBuon giorno). The following phrases are all you need to get a conversation started.

Mi chiamo . . . (My name is . . .)

Lei come si chiama? (What’s your name? [Formal])

Permette che mi presenti mia moglie, Fabiana? (May I introduce my wife, Fabiana?).

Greetings and introductions are usually accompanied by a Come sta? (How are you? [Formal]) There are many possible responses, but the most common would be to say I’m doing well (Sto bene!) or I’m so-so (Così così.).
Personal information
After the necessary introductions, small talk is really just a question of sharing information about yourself and asking the other person questions about themselves. The following phrases will come in handy when you’re chitchatting with someone new.

Sono degli . . . (I am from . . .)

Di dov’è Lei? (Where are you from?)

Che lavoro fa? (What is your profession?)

Quanti anni hai? (How old are you?)

Dove vite? (Where do you live?)

Sono uno studente/ studentessa. [M/F] (I’m a student.)

Sono insegnante. [M]/Faccio l’insegnate. [F] (I’m a teacher.)

Sei sposato? [M]/Sei sposata? [F] (Are you married?)

Hai dei figli? [Informal] (Do you have any children?)

Ho tre figli. (I have three children.)

Sono uno studente. [M]/Sono una studentessa. [F] (I’m a student.)

Remember to use the formal Lei version of you when meeting someone for the first time.

Italian Nouns

Italian Pronouns

Italian Verbs

Italian Prepositions

Italian Conjunctions

The Auxiliary Verbs: Essere and Avere

Essere:

io sono I am tu sei you are lui/lei/Lei è he/she is noi siamo we are voi siete you are loro sono they are

Avere:

io ho I have tu hai you have lui/lei/Lei ha he/ she has noi abbiamo we have voi avete you have loro hanno they have

Italian Subject Pronouns / Pronomi personali

io	ee-oh	I	noi	noy	we
tu	too	you (informal singular)	voi	voy	you (informal plural)
lui, lei	lwee/lay	he, she	loro	loh-roh	they
Lei	lay	you (formal singular)	Loro	loh-roh	you (formal plural)

In Italian, the present indicative tense works much like the present tense in English. To conjugate Italian verbs in the present indicative tense, you first need to understand that Italian infinitives (the “to” form, as in to die, to sleep, to dream) end in one of three ways — and that you conjugate the verb based on that ending:

Verbs that end in -are
Verbs that end in -ere
Verbs that end in -ire The endings of regular verbs don’t change. Master the endings for each mode and tense, and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that verbs agree with subjects and subject pronouns (io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, noi, voi, loro/Loro):

Common Regular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Lavorare (to work)*	*Prendere (to take; to order)*	*Partire (to leave)*	*Capire (to understand)*
io	lavoro	prendo	parto	capisco
tu	lavori	prendi	parti	capisci
lui/lei/Lei	lavora	prende	parte	capisce
noi	lavoriamo	prendiamo	partiamo	capiamo
voi	lavorate	prendete	partite	capite
loro/Loro	lavorano	prendono	partono	capiscono

Unfortunately, there are also irregular verbs, which you have to memorize. You’ll find that the more you practice them, the easier it is to use them in conversation:

Common Irregular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Andare (to go)*	*Bere (to drink)*	*Dare (to give)*	*Fare (to do)*	*Stare (to stay)*	*Venire (to come)*
io	vado	bevo	do	faccio	sto	vengo
tu	vai	bevi	dai	fai	stai	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	va	beve	dà	fa	sta	viene
noi	andiamo	beviamo	diamo	facciamo	stiamo	veniamo
voi	andate	bevete	date	fate	state	venite
loro/Loro	vanno	bevono	danno	fanno	stanno	vengono

Italian Subject Pronouns and Object Pronouns:

Person	Singular	Plural

1st. person	mi » me	ci » us
2nd. person familiar	ti » you	vi » you
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Li » You (m.)
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Le » You (f.)
3rd. person	lo » him, it	li » them (m.)
3rd. person	la » her it	le » them (f.)

These pronouns are used as follows:

They stand immediately before the verb or the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses. Examples:

Li ho invitati a cena » I have invited them to dinner
L’ho veduta ieri » I saw her yesterday
Ci hanno guardati e ci hanno seguiti » They watched us and followed us

In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun.

Non la mangia » He doesn’t eat it
Perchè non li inviti? » Why don’t you invite them?

The object pronoun is attached to the end of an infinitive. Note that the final –e of the infinitive is dropped.

È importante mangiarla ogni giorno » It is important to eat it every day
Volevo comprarla » I wanted to buy it

The Object pronouns are attached to ecco to express here I am, here you are, here he is, and so on.

Dov’è la signorina? – Eccola! » Where is the young woman? – Here she is!
Hai trovato le chiavi? – Sì, eccole! » Have you found the keys? – Yes, here they are!

The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l’.

(*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized.

Holiday Phrases:

Buon Anno!	Happy New Year!
Buona Pasqua!	Happy Easter!
Buon compleanno!	Happy Birthday!
Buon Natale!	Merry Christmas!
Buone feste!	Happy Holidays!
Buona vacanza!	Have a good vacation!
Buon divertimento!	Have a good time!
Buon viaggio!	Have a good trip!
Tanti auguri!	Best wishes!

Singolare	Singular	Plurale	Plural
mi	(to/for) me	ci	(to/for) us
ti	(to/for) you (informal)	vi	(to/for) you (informal)
gli	(to/for) him, it	loro	(to/for) them (m. & f.)
le	(to/for) her, it
Le	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)	Loro	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)

Useful Words in Italian:

and	e	eh	always	sempre	sehm-preh
or	o	oh	often	spesso	speh-soh
but	ma	mah	sometimes	qualche volta	kwal-keh vohl-tah
not	non	nohn	usually	usualmente	oo-zoo-al-mehn-teh
while	mentre	mehn-treh	especially	specialmente	speh-chee-al-mehn-teh
if	se	seh	except	eccetto	eh-cheh-toh
because	perché	pehr-kay	book	il libro	lee-broh
very, a lot	molto	mohl-toh	pencil	la matita	mah-tee-tah
also, too	anche	ahn-keh	pen	la penna	pehn-nah
although	benché	behn-keh	paper	la carta	kar-tah
now	adesso, ora	ah-deh-so, oh-rah	dog	il cane	kah-neh
perhaps, maybe	forse	for-seh	cat	il gatto	gah-toh
then	allora, poi	ahl-loh-rah, poy	friend (fem)	l’amica	ah-mee-kah
there is	c’è	cheh	friend (masc)	l’amico	ah-mee-koh
there are	ci sono	chee soh-noh	woman	la donna	dohn-nah
there was	c’era	che-rah	man	l’uomo	woh-moh
there were	c’erano	che-rah-no	girl	la ragazza	rah-gat-sah
here is	ecco	ehk-koh	boy	il ragazzo	rah-gat-soh

Question Words in Italian:

Who	Chi	kee
Whose	Di chi	dee kee
What	Che cosa	keh koh-sah
Why	Perché	pehr-keh
When	Quando	kwahn-doh
Where	Dove	doh-veh
How	Come	koh-meh
How much	Quanto	kwahn-toh
Which	Quale	kwah-leh

Days of the week:

Monday	lunedì	loo-neh-dee
Tuesday	martedì	mahr-teh-dee
Wednesday	mercoledì	mehr-koh-leh-dee
Thursday	giovedì	zhoh-veh-dee
Friday	venerdì	veh-nehr-dee
Saturday	sabato	sah-bah-toh
Sunday	domenica	doh-men-ee-kah
yesterday	ieri	yer-ee
day before yesterday	avantieri / l’altroieri (m)	ah-vahn-tyee-ree
last night	ieri sera	yer-ee seh-rah
today	oggi	ohd-jee
tomorrow	domani	doh-mahn-ee
day after tomorrow	dopodomani	doh-poh-doh-mahn-ee
day	il giorno	eel zhor-noh

To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc., use il before lunedì through sabato, and la before domenica.

Months of the year:

January	gennaio	jehn-nah-yoh
February	febbraio	fehb-brah-yoh
March	marzo	mar-tsoh
April	aprile	ah-pree-leh
May	maggio	mahd-joh
June	giugno	joo-nyoh
July	luglio	loo-lyoh
August	agosto	ah-goh-stoh
September	settembre	seht-tehm-breh
October	ottobre	oht-toh-breh
November	novembre	noh-vehm-breh
December	dicembre	dee-chem-breh
week	la settimana	lah sett-ee-mah-nah
month	il mese	eel meh-zeh
year	l’anno	lahn-noh

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Pronouns:

Maschile singolare	Maschile plurale	Femminile singolare	Femminile plurale
il mioil tuo il suo il nostro il vostro il loro	i mieii tuoi i suoi i nostri i vostri i loro	la miala tua la sua la nostra la vostra la loro	le miele tue le sue le nostre le vostre le loro

Italian Grammar Lessons: The Three Groups Of Regular Verbs

Italian Grammar Lessons: Reflexive Verbs

Modal Verbs – Present Tense

Io posso
Tu puoi
Egli può
Noi possiamo
Voi potete
Essi possono

Io voglio
Tu vuoi
Egli/ella vuole
Noi vogliamo
Voi volete
Essi vogliono

Io devo
Tu devi
Egli/ella deve
Noi dobbiamo
Voi dovete
Essi devono

Non puoi capire
Non devi partire
Non vuoi lasciarmi vero?

With the compound tenses, the modal verbs take the auxiliary plus the infinitive that follows. For example:

Claudio HA DOVUTO lasciare il suo lavoro. (dovere richiede AVERE)
Maria HA DOVUTO studiare. (studiare richiede AVERE)
Maria E’ DOVUTA uscire (uscire richiede essere)
Maria HA POTUTO parlare con lui (potere richiede avere)
Maria E’ POTUTA venire alla festa (venire richiede essere)
Maria HA VOLUTO mangiare (mangiare richiede volere)
Maria E’ VOLUTA VENIRE al cinema con me (venire richiede essere)

The auxiliary verb “to be” is used in the following examples:

Compound tenses and with many intransitive verbs like “sono partita“, “mio fratello è uscito.”
With impersonal verbs: piove (it’s raining), fa freddo (it’s cold), fa caldo (it’s warm)
With reflexive verbs: “Maria si è lavata le mani e si è messa il tovagliolo prima di mangiare.” (“Maria washed her hands and put out the table cloth before eating.”)

volere – to want (to)	potere – to be able to	dovere – to have to
io voglio	io posso	io devo
tu vuoi	tu puoi	tu devi
Lei vuole	Lei puo’	Lei deve
lui/lei vuole	lui/lei puo’	lui/lei deve
noi vogliamo	noi possiamo	noi dobbiamo
voi volete	voi potete	voi dovete
loro vogliono	loro possono	loro devono

Italian Articles

When to Use Articles

Italian Grammar Lessons: prepositions, ‘a’ or ‘in’?

Italian Grammar Lessons: There is/are – C’è / ci sono

Italian Grammar Lessons: Plurals

Instead “la mano” which is a true feminine word that ends in “o” has the regular plural “le mani” following the rules for forming the plural.

Italian Grammar Lessons: Like – Piace/Piacciono

Il presente: -are verbs

1. ABITARE :		to live
Io:	abito	Noi:	abitiamo
Tu:	abiti	Voi:	abitate
Lui:	abita	Loro:	abitano

2. ARRIVARE :		to arrive
Io:	arrivo	Noi:	arriviamo
Tu:	arrivi	Voi:	arrivate
Lui:	arriva	Loro:	arrivano

3. ASPETTARE :		to wait for
Io:	aspetto	Noi:	aspettiamo
Tu:	aspetti	Voi:	aspettate
Lui:	aspetta	Loro:	aspettano

4. CAMMINARE :		to walk
Io:	cammino	Noi:	camminiamo
Tu:	cammini	Voi:	camminate
Lui:	cammina	Loro:	camminano

5. COMINCIARE :		to begin
Io:	comincio	Noi:	cominciamo
Tu:	cominci	Voi:	cominciate
Lui:	comincia	Loro:	cominciano

6. CUCINARE :		to cook
Io:	cucino	Noi:	cuciniamo
Tu:	cucini	Voi:	cucinate
Lui:	cucina	Loro:	cucinano

7. GUARDARE :		to watch
Io:	guardo	Noi:	guardiamo
Tu:	guardi	Voi:	guardate
Lui:	guarda	Loro:	guardano

8. IMPARARE :		to learn
Io:	imparo	Noi:	impariamo
Tu:	impari	Voi:	imparate
Lui:	impara	Loro:	imparano

9. LAVORARE :		to work
Io:	lavoro	Noi:	lavoriamo
Tu:	lavori	Voi:	lavorate
Lui:	lavora	Loro:	lavorano

10. MANDARE :		to send
Io:	mando	Noi:	mandiamo
Tu:	mandi	Voi:	mandate
Lui:	manda	Loro:	mandano

11. NUOTARE :		to swim
Io:	nuoto	Noi:	nuotiamo
Tu:	nuoti	Voi:	nuotate
Lui:	nuota	Loro:	nuotano

12. PENSARE :		to think
Io:	penso	Noi:	pensiamo
Tu:	pensi	Voi:	pensate
Lui:	pensa	Loro:	pensano

13. PORTARE :		to bring
Io:	porto	Noi:	portiamo
Tu:	porti	Voi:	portate
Lui:	porta	Loro:	portano

14. TORNARE :		to return
Io:	torno	Noi:	torniamo
Tu:	torni	Voi:	tornate
Lui:	torna	Loro:	tornano

Il presente: -ere verbs

1. CADERE :		to fall
Io:	cado	Noi:	cadiamo
Tu:	cadi	Voi:	cadete
Lui:	cade	Loro:	cadono

2. CHIEDERE :		to ask
Io:	chiedo	Noi:	chiediamo
Tu:	chiedi	Voi:	chiedete
Lui:	chiede	Loro:	chiedono

3. CHIUDERE :		to close
Io:	chiudo	Noi:	chiudiamo
Tu:	chiudi	Voi:	chiudete
Lui:	chiude	Loro:	chiudono

4. CREDERE :		to believe
Io:	credo	Noi:	crediamo
Tu:	credi	Voi:	credete
Lui:	crede	Loro:	credono

5. LEGGERE :		to read
Io:	leggo	Noi:	leggiamo
Tu:	leggi	Voi:	leggete
Lui:	legge	Loro:	leggono

6. METTERE :		to put
Io:	metto	Noi:	mettiamo
Tu:	metti	Voi:	mettete
Lui:	mette	Loro:	mettono

7. PERDERE :		to lose
Io:	perdo	Noi:	perdiamo
Tu:	perdi	Voi:	perdete
Lui:	perde	Loro:	perdono

8. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

9. RICEVERE :		to receive
Io:	ricevo	Noi:	riceviamo
Tu:	ricevi	Voi:	ricevete
Lui:	riceve	Loro:	ricevono

10. RIPETERE :		to repeat
Io:	ripeto	Noi:	ripetiamo
Tu:	ripeti	Voi:	ripetete
Lui:	ripete	Loro:	ripetono

11. RISPONDERE :		to answer
Io:	rispondo	Noi:	rispondiamo
Tu:	rispondi	Voi:	rispondete
Lui:	risponde	Loro:	rispondono

12. SCRIVERE :		to write
Io:	scrivo	Noi:	scriviamo
Tu:	scrivi	Voi:	scrivete
Lui:	scrive	Loro:	scrivono

13. SPENDERE :		to spend (money)
Io:	spendo	Noi:	spendiamo
Tu:	spendi	Voi:	spendete
Lui:	spende	Loro:	spendono

14. VEDERE :		to see
Io:	vedo	Noi:	vediamo
Tu:	vedi	Voi:	vedete
Lui:	vede	Loro:	vedono

15. VIVERE :		to live
Io:	vivo	Noi:	viviamo
Tu:	vivi	Voi:	vivete
Lui:	vive	Loro:	vivono

Il presente: -ire verbs

1. APRIRE :		to open
Io:	apro	Noi:	apriamo
Tu:	apri	Voi:	aprite
Lui:	apre	Loro:	aprono

2. DORMIRE :		to sleep
Io:	dormo	Noi:	dormiamo
Tu:	dormi	Voi:	dormite
Lui:	dorme	Loro:	dormono

3. MENTIRE :		to lie
Io:	mento	Noi:	mentiamo
Tu:	menti	Voi:	mentite
Lui:	mente	Loro:	mentono

4. OFFRIRE :		to offer
Io:	offro	Noi:	offriamo
Tu:	offri	Voi:	offrite
Lui:	offre	Loro:	offrono

5. PARTIRE :		to leave
Io:	parto	Noi:	partiamo
Tu:	parti	Voi:	partite
Lui:	parte	Loro:	partono

6. SEGUIRE :		to follow
Io:	seguo	Noi:	seguiamo
Tu:	segui	Voi:	seguite
Lui:	segue	Loro:	seguono

7. SENTIRE :		to hear
Io:	sento	Noi:	sentiamo
Tu:	senti	Voi:	sentite
Lui:	sente	Loro:	sentono

8. SERVIRE :		to serve
Io:	servo	Noi:	serviamo
Tu:	servi	Voi:	servite
Lui:	serve	Loro:	servono

9. VESTIRE :		to dress
Io:	vesto	Noi:	vestiamo
Tu:	vesti	Voi:	vestite
Lui:	veste	Loro:	vestono

Il presente: all verbs

1. ANDARE :		to go
Io:	vado	Noi:	andiamo
Tu:	vai	Voi:	andate
Lui:	va	Loro:	vanno

2. AVERE :		to have
Io:	ho	Noi:	abbiamo
Tu:	hai	Voi:	avete
Lui:	ha	Loro:	hanno

3. CONOSCERE :		to know
Io:	conosco	Noi:	conosciamo
Tu:	conosci	Voi:	conoscete
Lui:	conosce	Loro:	conoscono

4. DARE :		to give
Io:	do	Noi:	diamo
Tu:	dai	Voi:	date
Lui:	dà	Loro:	danno

5. DEDICARE :		to dedicate
Io:	dedico	Noi:	dedichiamo
Tu:	dedichi	Voi:	dedicate
Lui:	dedica	Loro:	dedicano

6. DIRE :		to say or tell
Io:	dico	Noi:	diciamo
Tu:	dici	Voi:	dite
Lui:	dice	Loro:	dicono

7. DOVERE :		to must or have to
Io:	devo	Noi:	dobbiamo
Tu:	devi	Voi:	dovete
Lui:	deve	Loro:	devono

8. ESSERE :		to be
Io:	sono	Noi:	siamo
Tu:	sei	Voi:	siete
Lui:	è	Loro:	sono

9. FARE :		to make or do
Io:	faccio	Noi:	facciamo
Tu:	fai	Voi:	fate
Lui:	fa	Loro:	fanno

10. INSEGNARE :		to teach
Io:	insegno	Noi:	insegniamo
Tu:	insegni	Voi:	insegnate
Lui:	insegna	Loro:	insegnano

11. METTERSI :		to put on
Io:	mi metto	Noi:	ci mettiamo
Tu:	ti metti	Voi:	vi mettete
Lui:	si mette	Loro:	si mettono

12. PERDERSI :		to get lost
Io:	mi perdo	Noi:	ci perdiamo
Tu:	ti perdi	Voi:	vi perdete
Lui:	si perde	Loro:	si perdono

13. POTERE :		to be able
Io:	posso	Noi:	possiamo
Tu:	puoi	Voi:	potete
Lui:	può	Loro:	possono

14. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

15. PREPARARSI :		to get ready
Io:	mi preparo	Noi:	ci prepariamo
Tu:	ti prepari	Voi:	vi preparate
Lui:	si prepara	Loro:	si preparano

16. PROIBIRE :		to forbid
Io:	proibisco	Noi:	proibiamo
Tu:	proibisci	Voi:	proibite
Lui:	proibisce	Loro:	proibiscono

INTRODUCTIONS

Introductions in Italian

Informal

A: Giulia, ti presento il mio amico David. B: Piacere di conoscerti! C: Piacere mio!

A: Maria, ecco il mio nuovo vicino. B: Piacere, io sono Maria. Tu come ti chiami? C: Mi chiamo David, piacere!

Formal

A: Buonasera signora Riva, le presento il mio amico. B: Sono Giovanna, molto lieta! C: Piacere, David.

A: Scusi, è lei la dottoressa Rossi? B: Si sono io, e lei come si chiama? A: Sono Maria Ricci, piacere.

Look at the conjugation of the following verbs:

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

CHIAMARSI (to call yourself)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Io mi chiamo

Tu ti chiami

Lui/Lei si chiamaPresent Perfect (Passato Prossimo)

How to say hello and goodbye in Italian.

Saying hello	Saying goodbye
Ciao Hi Buongiorno Good morning Buonasera Good evening Salve Hello	Arrivederci Goodbye A dopo See you later A domani See you tomorrow A presto See you soon

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

VOLERE (to want)

FARE (to make)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Noi siamo

Voi siete

Loro sono

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Noi abbiamo

Voi avete

Loro hanno

Io voglio

Tu vuoi

Lui/Lei vuole

Noi vogliamo

Voi volete

Loro vogliono

Io faccio

Tu fai

Lui/Lei fa

Noi facciamo

Voi fate

Loro fanno

Saying Hello in Italian

INCONTRO TRA AMICHE – Dialogo informale SAYING HELLO TO FRIENDS – informal dialogue

A: Ciao Anna! B: Ciao Francesca, come stai? A: Molto bene grazie, e tu? B: Non c’è male, grazie.

INCONTRO TRA ADULTI – Dialogo formale SAYING HELLO FORMALLY

A: Buongiorno signora Rossi! B: Buongiorno, come sta? A: Abbastanza bene, grazie. E lei? B: Così così.

Saying Goodbye in Italian

Informal:

A: Ciao Monica, ci vediamo dopo! B: Ciao Tania, a più tardi!

A: Buonanotte Valentina, alla prossima volta! B: Ciao, a presto!

Formal:

A: ArrivederLa professoressa! B: Arrivederci ragazzi! A domani!

Saying Hello in Italian

INCONTRO TRA AMICHE – Dialogo informale SAYING HELLO TO FRIENDS – informal dialogue

A: Ciao Anna! B: Ciao Francesca, come stai? A: Molto bene grazie, e tu? B: Non c’è male, grazie.

INCONTRO TRA ADULTI – Dialogo formale SAYING HELLO FORMALLY

A: Buongiorno signora Rossi! B: Buongiorno, come sta? A: Abbastanza bene, grazie. E lei? B: Così così.

BERE (to drink)

AIUTARE (to help)

MANGIARE (to eat)

Io bevo

Tu bevi

Lui /Lei beve

Noi beviamo

Voi bevete

Loro bevono

Io aiuto

Tu aiuti

Lui /Lei aiuta

Noi aiutiamo

Voi aiutate

Loro aiutano

Io mangio

Tu mangi

Lui/Lei mangia

Noi mangiamo

Voi mangiate

Loro mangiano

4) The plural of nouns are formed in this way:

Masculine

Feminine

libro – libri

coltello – coltelli

albero – alberi

matita – matite

strada – strade

casa – case

AT THE STATION

Giorgia: Io vorrei qualcosa da mangiare. E voi? Manuela e Veronica: Si, anche noi! Andiamo in quel ristorante vicino!

ORDERING FOOD AT THE RESTAURANT

Cameriere: Qualcosa da bere? Giorgia:3 bottiglie di acqua naturale, grazie!

Veronica: Scusi, potrebbe portarci il conto? Cameriere: Voilà! In tutto 30 euro! Giorgia:Grazie e arrivederci! Cameriere: Arrivederci!

Present Perfect (Passato Prossimo)

-are	-ato
-ere	-uto
-ire	-ito

at, to	a	over / above	sopra
in	in	under / below	sotto
on / up	su	inside	dentro
from, by	da	outside	fuori
of	di	around	intorno a
with	con	between	tra
without	senza	among	fra
for	per	near	vicino a
next to	accanto a	far	lontano da
behind	dietro	before	prima (di)
in front of	davanti a	after	dopo (di)
across	attraverso	against	contro
down	giù	toward	verso

Reflexive Verbs:

Reflexive verbs express actions performed by the subject on the subject. These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, but a reflexive pronoun precedes the verb form. This pronoun

Reflexive Pronouns
mi	ci
ti	vi
si	si

Common reflexive verbs:

to be satisfied with	accontentarsi di	to graduate (from college)	laurearsi
to fall asleep	addormentarsi	to wash up	lavarsi
to get up	alzarsi	to put on	mettersi
to be bored	annoiarsi	to get organized	organizzarsi
to get angry	arrabbiarsi	to make a reservation	prenotarsi
to be called	chiamarsi	to remember to	ricordarsi di
to forget to	dimenticarsi di	to make a mistake	sbagliarsi
to graduate (from high school)	diplomarsi	to feel (well, bad)	sentirsi (bene, male)
to have a good time	divertirsi	to specialize	specializzarsi
to shave (the face)	farsi la barba / radersi	to get married	sposarsi
to stop (oneself)	fermarsi	to wake up	svegliarsi
to complain about	lamentarsi di	to get dressed	vestirsi

Io mi lavo. I wash myself. Noi ci alziamo presto. We get up early. Si sveglia alle sette. She wakes up at seven.

to embrace	abbracciarsi	to run into	incontrarsi
to help	aiutarsi	to fall in love with	innamorarsi
to kiss	baciarsi	to greet	salutarsi
to understand	capirsi	to write to	scriversi
to meet	conoscersi	to phone	telefonarsi
to exchange gifts	farsi regali	to see	vedersi
to look at	guardarsi

Ci scriviamo ogni settimana. We write to each other every week. Vi vedete spesso? Do you see each other often?

Basic Conversation:

yes	si
no	no
please / you’re welcome	Per piacere / prego or figurati
you’re very welcome	Sei veramente il benvenuto
thank you	grazie
thank you very much	grazie mille
thanks	grazie
Excuse me!	Mi scusi!

Communication

English	Italian	Pronunciation (Audio)
I understand.	Capisco
I don’t understand	Non capisco
Hello (on the phone) / I beg your pardon?	Pronto
What does that mean?	Cosa significa?
I don’t know.	non lo so
I don’t speak Polish.	Non parlo Polacco
I speak a little Polish.	Parlo poco Polacco
Do you speak english? (informal)	Parli Inglese?
Do you speak english? (formal)	Lei parla Inglese?
Yes, I do speak english.	Si, parlo inglese.
No, I don’t speak english.	No, non parlo inglese

Making acquaintances

English	Italian	Pronunciation (Audio)
Please talk more slowly!	Parla più piano perfavore!
Nice to meet you!	Piacere di conoscerti!
How are you?	Come stai?
Good, thank you	Bene, grazie
I’m well, thanks!	Sto bene, grazie!
Not bad, thanks!	Non male, grazie!
very bad	molto male
What’s your name?	Come ti chiami?
My name is […].	mi chiamo
What’s your first name?	Qual’e il tuo nome?
My first name is […]	Il mio nome è
How old are you?	Quanti anni hai?
I’m […] years old.	Ho … anni
What are your hobbies?	Quali sono i tuoi hobby?
What do you like doing?	Cosa ti piace fare?
What are you doing (at the moment)?	Cosa stai facendo adesso?
Where do you live?	Dove abiti?
I live in […]	vivo a
I’m from England	Vengo dall’Inghilterra
I’m English	Sono Inglese

Italian Grammar: “tu” and “Lei” forms

This lesson is about the informal and formal “tu” and “lei” forms in Italian grammar, and also covers useful phrases for first meetings. In Italian you use the second person form “tu” (you) when speaking to someone you know or someone of your own age or younger, but “Lei” when being formal. So for example, in formal situations we’d say “Che lavoro fa?” (What job does he/she do?) rather than “Che lavoro fai?” (What job do you do?). Check out these informal / formal versions of conversations you might have on first meeting someone. INFORMAL: Ciao, come stai? [Hello, how are you?] FORMAL: Buongiorno come sta? [Good morning, how are you?] REPLY: Bene grazie [Fine thank you.] INFORMAL: Come ti chiami? [What is your name?] FORMAL: Lei come si chiama? [What is your name?] REPLY: Mi chiamo … [My name is …] / Sono … [I am … ] INFORMAL: E tu? [And you?] FORMAL: E Lei? [And you?] REPLY: Piacere. [A pleasure!] INFORMAL: Di dove sei? [Where are you from?] FORMAL: Di dove è? [Where are you from?] REPLY: Sono …, di … [I’m (nationality), from (city)] INFORMAL: Dove vivi? [Where do you live?] FORMAL: Dove vive? [Where do you live?] INFORMAL: Come si scrive il tuo cognome? [How do you spell your surname?] FORMAL: Come si scrive il suo cognome? [How do you spell your surname?] INFORMAL: Come si pronuncia il tuo cognome? [How do you pronounce your surname?] FORMAL: Come si pronuncia il suo cognome? [How do you pronounce your surname?] INFORMAL: Quanti anni hai? [How old are you?] FORMAL: Quanti anni ha? [How old are you?] REPLY: Ho … anni [I am … years old] INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone number?] FORMAL: Qual è il suo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone number?] INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo indirizzo? [What is your address?] FORMAL: Qual è il suo indirizzo? [What is your address?] INFORMAL: Che lavoro fai? [What is your job?] FORMAL: Che lavoro fa? [What is your job?] REPLY: Sono … [I am … ] INFORMAL: Ciao, alla prossima volta! [Bye, see you at the next time!] FORMAL: Arrivederla, spero di vederla presto! [Bye, see you at the next time!] REPLY: A presto! [See you soon!]
Italian Grammar Lessons: The Past / Passato Prossimo

This lesson will show you how to use the principle Italian past tense, the “passato prossimo”. Italian has a “near past” tense and a “remote past” tense. The latter is used mostly in narratives (novels and the like) so in normal conversation you will not normally need to choose between them. Just use the passato prossimo, as explained on this page. For English speakers, there is one point of confusion: in English, you choose between the Simple Past tense (“I studied”) and the Present Perfect tense (“I have studied”). When speaking Italian, both forms would translate as the passato prossimo, even though the passato prossimo LOOKS more like the second one (“Ho studiato” = “I have studied”??) because of the use of the auxiliary verb “avere”. It’s confusing, but the thing to remember is that when you’re talking, you use the passato prossimo 99% of the time. The “passato prossimo” is formed with the auxiliary verb essere OR avere + participio passato (past participle). Just in case you’re still vague on the conjugation of “essere” and “avere”, here they are: essere – to be io sono tu sei lui/lei è noi siamo voi siete loro sono avere – to have io ho tu hai lui/lei ha noi abbiamo voi avete loro hanno You probably don’t know the “participio passato” (past participle) of the verbs you’ve learnt, but not to worry! You can normally form the “participio passato” from the infinitive of a verb (this only applies to “regular” verbs) by changing the ending of verb: -are → ato (mangiare-mangiato) -ere → uto (avere-avuto) -ire → ito (dormire-dormito) So when you want to talk about a past action or event, you need to use avere or essere plus the past participle. But which one? Avere or essere? The majority of verbs use “avere”, just like in English (I have studied). For example: Paola ha dormito a lungo. Mario ha visitato un museo. Io e Marco abbiamo pranzato in un locale tipico. I ragazzi hanno mangiato una pizza. But essere is used with: – verbs of movement – verbs of changing state – reflexive verbs For example: Paola è andata al cinema. Mario è andato al cinema. Io e Maria siamo andate al cinema. I ragazzi sono andati a casa. Note that with “essere” the ending of the past participle changes to reflect the gender and singluar/plural of the subject. The final thing you need to remember is that there are regular and irregular past participle forms. Examples of regular past participle forms: andare – (essere) andato/a avere – (avere) avuto tornare – (essere) tornato/a dormire – (avere) dormito cercare – (avere) cercato montare – (avere) montato mangiare – (avere) mangiato preparare – (avere) preparato guardare – (avere) guardato Examples of irregular past participle forms: fare – (avere) fatto mettere – (avere) messo venire – (essere) venuto prendere – (avere) preso essere – (essere)stato/a leggere – (avere) letto rimanere – (essere) rimasto aprire – (avere) aperto dire – (avere) detto scegliere – (avere) scelto scrivere – (avere) scritto uscire – (essere) uscito/a vedere – (avere) visto
Italian Grammar Lessons: Two Irregular Adjectives & Adverbs

Two important irregular adjectives are buono – good and cattivo – bad. The comparative and superlative forms are: buono – good, migliore – better, il migliore – the best cattivo – bad, peggiore – worse, il peggiore – the worst For example: Questo è un buon libro. – This is a good book. Il mio libro è migliore del tuo. – My book is better than yours. E’ il libro migliore che ho letto. – It’s the best book I’ve read. Quel cane ha un cattivo carattere. – That dog has a bad character. Il tempo a Bologna è peggiore del tempo al sud Italia. – The weather in Bologna is worse than in the south of Italy. Questa è la peggiore pizza che ho mangiato. – This is the worst pizza I’ve eaten. The adverb forms are also irregular and confusingly similar to the adjectives: bene – well, meglio – better male – badly, peggio – worse For example: Parli l’italiano bene. – You speak Italian well. Parli l’italiano meglio del tuo amico. – You speak Italian better than your friend. Guidi male. – You drive badly. Guidi peggio di un italiano! – You drive worse than an Italian!

Italian Grammar Lessons: the impersonal form with ‘Si’

In this lesson you will study the impersonal form with ‘si’, which is more or less the Italian equivalent of the passive form in English. For example, in English: In Bologna people eat a lot of meat. (active form) In Bologna a lot of meat is eaten. (passive form) The same effect is achieved in Italian using the “impersonal si” and the third person singular or third person plural. You need to choose singular or plural according to the object of the verb (meat, in my example). Look at these examples: Singular A Bologna la gente mangia molta carne. A Bologna si mangia molta carne. “molta carne” – is singular so we use “mangia” Plural A Bologna la gente mangia molti gelati. A Bologna si mangiano molti gelati. “molti gelati” – is plural so we use “mangiano” Further examples: In Italia quando si mangiano gli spaghetti (plural), si usa solo la forchetta (singular). Dopo i pasti non si beve il cappuccino (singular). Il salame non si compra (singular). I vini rossi non si bevono freddi (plural). A colazione non si mangiano i salumi (plural). La vera pizza si prepara (singular) con la mozzarella. La domenica si mangia molto (singular). Il sabato si dorme a lungo.
Italian Grammar Lessons: Adverbs

This lesson is about what an adverb is and how most adverbs are formed in Italian grammar. An adverb is an invariable part of the sentence (that means it cannot be declined for number, gender and case) and it determines, modifies the way an action is done or specifies something about a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It usually answers to the question “How?” (“Come?” in italian). Adverbs are formed by adding the suffix “-mente” to the feminine singular form of the adjective. For example: lento → lenta → lentamente giusto → giusta → giustamente felice → felice → felicemente If the adjective ends in “-ile” or “-ale”, you simply add the suffix to the root of the adjective. For example: gentile → gentilmente (gently) servile → servilmente (slavishly) speciale → specialmente (especially) generale → generalmente (generally) It is important to note that not all the adjectives can turn into adverbs and that not all the adverbs are derived from adjectives! As said, the adverbs can modify or specify the word to which they are referred. It can be a verb: Ex. Lui parla chiaramente (He speaks clearly) Or an adjective: Il fiore è veramente bello. (The flower is really beautiful)

Italian LingQ
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ITALIAN VOCABULARY

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ITALIAN GRAMMAR: Nouns and Genders

Classroom - Italian, Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

ITALIAN NOUNS AND GENDERS Most Italian nouns end in a vowel—those that end in a consonant are of foreign origin—and all nouns have a gender, even those that refer to a qualities, ideas, and things. Usually, Italian singular masculine nouns end in –o, while feminine nouns end in –a(-tà).

» Masculine	» Feminine
Tavolo (table)	Casa (house)
Sviluppo (development)	Rosa (rouse)
Organismo (organism)	Città (city)

There are exceptions for this rule, of course (see table below):

» Masculine	» Feminine
Giornale (newspaper)	F rase (sentence)
Pane (bread)	Canzone (song)
Nome (name)	Notte (night)

Gender Inflections for Nouns:

Feminine is often obtained from masculine by the alternation -o : -a in the endings

» Masculine	» Feminine
Amico friend	Amica friend
Bambino little boy	Bambina little girl
Cugino cousin (he)	Cugina cousin (she)
Figlio son	Figlia daughter
Maestro master, teacher	Maestra teacher (female)

The alteration -e : -a also occurs, cf.:

» Masculine	» Feminine
Signore mister	Signora mistress
Padrone master, owner	Padrona mistress of the house

Sometimes masculine and feminine are derived from different (or modified) roots:

» Masculine	» Feminine
frate friar	soura nun
fratello brother	sorella sister
padre father	madre mother
uomo man	donna woman
paperone drake	oca duck

These are nouns with one form for both genders. Here are included all the nouns suffixed by -ista. Examples:
- Artista » artist
- Giornalista » journalist
- Pianista » pianist
- Turista » tourist etc

Some other nouns, like:

» camerata comrade	» consorte consort
» compatriota compatriot	» amante lover
» eresiarca heresiarch	» cliente client
» idiota idiot	» commerciante trader
» omicida murderer	» interprete interpreter

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Italian for Survival

Learn Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Survival Italian (Italiano) Italian is considered one of the easiest languages to learn. Many students have been able to master it in a short period of time! Italian is often described both as the language of art and music and as the language best suited for singing. Italian is easy to learn. Italian Greetings Knowing Italian greetings can make a good impression, whether you’re speaking Italian for business or while traveling. Offer polite greetings to friends and associates or as a way to break the ice when meeting new people. These are some common greetings in Italian:

Buongiorno! (bwohn-johr-noh) (Hello! and Good morning!)
Arrivederci! (ahr-ree-veh-dehr-chee) (Goodbye!) (Formal)
Ciao! (chou) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Informal)
Salve! (sahl-veh) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Neutral)
Buonasera! (bwoh-nah-seh-rah) (Good afternoon! Good evening!) (Formal)
Buonanotte! (bwoh-nah-noht-teh) (Good night!) (Informal)
Come si chiama? (koh-meh see kyah-mah) (What is your name?) (Formal)
Come ti chiami? (koh-meh tee kyah-mee) (What is your name?) (Informal)
Mi chiamo…(mee kyah-moh) (My name is. . .)
Come sta? (koh-meh stah) (How are you?) (Formal)
Come stai? (koh-meh stahy) (How are you?) (Informal)
Bene, grazie. (beh-neh grah-tsee-eh) (Fine, thank you.)

Italian Courtesy Phrases Courtesy is important no matter what country you’re in. Use these courtesy phrases when speaking in Italian so you can be considerate and polite; they’ll also help you communicate easily:

Per favore(pehr fah-voh-reh) (Please.)
Per piacere (pehr pyah-cheh-reh) (Please.)
Grazie(grah-tsee-eh) (Thank you.)
Prego!(preh-goh) (You’re welcome!; By all means, after you.)
Non c’è di che.(nohn cheh dee keh) (You’re welcome.)
Mi dispiace.(mee dees-pyah-cheh) (I’m sorry.)
Mi scusi.(mee skooh-zee) (Excuse me, formal.)
Scusi, un informazione, per favore.(skooh-zee oohn-een-fohr-mats-yoh-neh pehr fah-voh-reh) (Excuse me, I need some information, please.)
(skooh-zah) (Excuse me, I’m sorry, informal)
Permesso?(pehr-mehs-soh) (Excuse me — when walking through a crowded train compartment; also, “May I come in?” when crossing the threshold of someone’s house.)
Sì.(see) (Yes.)
(noh) (No.)

Basic Question Words in Italian To communicate in Italian and to travel with ease, there are practical questions in Italian (or any language for that matter) that you’ll use daily and have to know:

Parla inglese?(pahr-lah een-gleh-zeh) (Do you speak English?)
Chi?(kee) (Who?)
Cosa?(koh-sah) (What?)
Quando?(kwahn-doh) (When?)
Dove?(doh-veh) (Where?)
Perché?(pehr-keh) (Why?)
Come?(koh-meh) (How?)
Quanto?(kwanh-toh) (How much?)

Try these helpful phrases:

Dov’è la stazione?(doh-veh lah stah-tsyoh-neh) (Where is the station?)
Scusi, dov’è il bagno?(skooh-zee doh-veh eel bahn-yoh) (Where is the bathroom?)
Quanto dista il Colosseo?(kwahn-toh dees-tah eel koh-lohs-seh-oh) (How far is the Coloseum?)
Dove si mangia il miglior gelato?(doh-veh see mahn-jah eel meel-yohrgeh-lah-toh) (Where can you get the best ice cream?)

Come si arriva in Piazza della Repubblica? (koh-meh see ahr-ree-vah een pyahts-sah dehl-lah reh-pooh-blee-kah) (How do you get to Piazza della Repubblica?) Days of the Week in Italian In Italian, the days of the week aren’t capitalized. Eyeball this table of the days of the week in Italian (along with pronunciations and abbreviations) to ensure you get your days straight while in Italy.

Italian/Abbreviation	Pronunciation	Translation
domenica/do.	doh-meh-nee-kah	Sunday
lunedì/lun.	looh-neh-dee	Monday
martedì/mar.	mahr-teh-dee	Tuesday
mercoledì/mer.	mehr-koh-leh-dee	Wednesday
giovedì/gio.	joh-veh-dee	Thursday
venerdì/ven.	veh-nehr-dee	Friday
sabato/sab.	sah-bah-toh	Saturday

You might also need to know how to say the following:

Oggi (ohj-jee)(today)
Domani (doh-mah-nee)(tomorrow)
Dopodomani (doh-poh-doh-mah-nee) (day after tomorrow)
Ieri (yeh-ree) (yesterday)

Some Essential Phrases in Italian

English	Italian
Hello	Buongiorno
Good evening	Buonasera
Goodbye	Arriverderci
See you later	A dopo
Yes	Sì
No	No
Excuse me!	Per favore!
Thanks	Grazie
Thanks a lot	Grazie mille
Thank you for your help	Grazie per il suo aiuto
Don’t mention it	Prego
Ok	Va bene
How much is it?	Quanto costa, per favore?
Sorry!	Mi scusi !
I don’t understand	Non ho capito
I get it	Ho capito
I don’t know	Non so
Forbidden	Vietato
Excuse me, where are the toilets?	Dov’è il bagno per favore ?
Happy New Year!	Buon anno!
Happy birthday!	Buon compleanno!
Happy holiday!	Buone feste!
Congratulations!	Congratulazioni!

Italian/Vocabulary/Household

la camera = the room
la camera da letto = the bedroom
il caminetto = the fireplace
il camino = the chimney
la cantina = the cellar
la casa = the house
la credenza = the cupboard/closet
la cucina = the kitchen
il divano = the sofa
la entrata = the hall
la finestra = the window
il forno = the oven
il frigorifero = the fridge
il fuoco = the fire
il gabinetto = the lavatory
il giardino = the garden
il guardaroba = the wardrobe
l’isolato = the block of flats
la lavabiancheria = the washing machine
il lavabo = the washbasin
il lavello = the sink
il letto = the bed
la parete = the wall
la pattumiera = the dustbin
il pavimento = the floor
il pendolo = the clock
la poltrona = the armchair
la porta = the door
il portone = the front door
il riscaldamento centrale = the central heating
il rubinetto = the tap
la sala da bagno = the bathroom
la sala da pranzo = the dining room
la scala = the stairs
la sedia = the chair
il soffitto = the ceiling
lo specchio = the mirror
il tappeto = the carpet/rug
la tavola = the table
il televisore = the television set
la tenda = the curtain
il tetto = the roof

Italian/Vocabulary/Family

Mia Sorella My sister

Mio Fratello My brother

Mia Madre My mother

Mio Padre My father

Mia Zia My aunt

Mio Zio My uncle

Miei Genitori My parents

Mio Nonno My grandfather

Mia Nonna My grandmother

Miei Parenti My relatives

Mio Cugino My cousin (male)

Mia Cugina My cousin (female)

Mio Nipote My grandson/nephew

Mia Nipote My granddaughter/niece

Mio Patrigno My step father

Mia Matrigna My step mother

Mio Suocero My father-in-law

Mia Suocera My mother-in-law

Mio Genero My son-in-law

Mia Nuora My daughter-in-law

Mio Cognato My brother-in-law

Mia Cognata My sister-in-law

Italian/Vocabulary/Household Chores

I lavori di casa

To sweep the floor = Spazzare il pavimento
The broom = la scopa
The dustpan = la paletta per la spazzatura
To mop the floor = Passare lo straccio sul pavimento
The mop = lo spazzolone per il pavimento
To dust = spolverare
Change the lightbulb = Cambiare/sostituire la lampadina

Italian/Vocabulary/Time

Che ore sono? = What time is it?
Sono le dodici in punto. = It’s twelve o’clock.
E’ l’una in punto. = It’s one o’clock.
Sono le due e cinque. = It’s five past two.
Sono le sette e mezzo. = It’s half past seven.
Sono le sette e trentacinque = It’s twenty five to eight.
Sono le nove meno venti. = It is twenty to nine.
Sono le dieci meno un quarto. = It’s quarter to ten.
mezzogiorno = midday
mezzanotte = midnight
la mattina = the morning
il pomeriggio = the afternoon
la notte = the night
oggi = today
ieri = yesterday
l’altro ieri = the day before yesterday
la notte scorsa = last night
domani = tomorrow
dopodomani = the day after tomorrow

Italian/Vocabulary/Professions

l’agricoltore/l’agricoltrice (more common “coltivatrice diretta”) = the farmer
l’architetto (m/f)/l’architetta (less common) = the architect
l’atleta (m/f) = the athlete
l’avvocato (m/f)/l’avvocatessa = the lawyer
il/la barista = the barman/barmaid
il bibliotecario/ la bibliotecaria = the librarian
il cacciatore/la cacciatrice = the hunter
il cameriere/la cameriera = the waiter/waitress
il/la camionista = the lorry driver
il chirurgo/la chirurga = the surgeon
il commesso/la commessa = the shop assistant
il/la conducente di autobus = the bus driver
il dottore/la dottoressa = the doctor
l’elettricista (m/f) = the electrician
il funzionario/la funzionaria = the official
il giocatore di calico/ la giocatrice di calcio = the footballer
il/la giornalista = the journalist
il/la guardia parco = the park warden
l’idraulico/l’idraulica = the plumber
l’impiegato/l’impiegata = the employee, office worker
l’infermiere/l’infermiera = the nurse
l’ingegnere (m/f) = the engineer
l’insegnante (m/f) = the teacher
il maestro/la maestra = the primary school teacher
il marinaio/la marinaia = the sailor
il meccanico/la meccanica = the mechanic
il muratore/la muratrice = the building worker
il/la musicista = the musician
il/la negoziante = the shopkeeper
l’operaio/l’operaia = the worker
l’operaio edile = the building worker
il parrucchiere/la parrucchiera = the hairdresser
il pescatore/la pescatrice = the fisherman/fisherwoman
il/la pilota = the pilot
il politico = the politician
il poliziotto/la poliziotta = the policeman/policewoman
il pompiere/la pompiera = the fireman/firewoman
il postino/la postina = the postman/postwoman
il prete = the priest
il soldato/la soldatessa = the soldier
lo sportivo/la sportiva = the sportsman/sportswoman
il tassista/ la tassista = the taxi driver
l’ uomo d’affari/la donna d’affari = the businessman/businesswoman

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Learn Italian

Steps

COMMON EXPRESSIONS USED WITH IL PASSATO PROSSIMO

Conjugating regular Italian verbs in the Passato Prossimo

Choosing the correct auxiliary verb when using Passato Prossimo

3rd Conjugation Verbs taking “-isc-”

The Passato Prossimo

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SCRIVERE (TO WRITE)

COMMON SECOND-CONJUGATION VERBS

Italian Course: Unit 1

Italian Transport Vocabulary

Saying Hello in Italian

Common Conversational Words and Phrases in Italian

Courteous phrases

Personal pronouns

References to people

Phrases for travelers

Common places and locations

Some Italian Phrases:

How to Make Small Talk in Italian

Greetings and introductions

Personal information

Italian Nouns

Italian Pronouns

Italian Verbs

Italian Prepositions

Italian Conjunctions

The Auxiliary Verbs: Essere and Avere

Essere:

Avere:

Italian Subject Pronouns / Pronomi personali

Holiday Phrases:

Useful Words in Italian:

Question Words in Italian:

Days of the week:

Months of the year:

Possessive Pronouns:

Italian Grammar Lessons: The Three Groups Of Regular Verbs

Italian Grammar Lessons: Reflexive Verbs

Modal verbs

Italian Articles

When to Use Articles

Italian Grammar Lessons: prepositions, ‘a’ or ‘in’?

Italian Grammar Lessons: There is/are – C’è / ci sono

Italian Grammar Lessons: Plurals

Italian Grammar Lessons: Like – Piace/Piacciono

Il presente: -are verbs

Il presente: -ere verbs

Il presente: -ire verbs

Introductions in Italian

Informal

Saying Hello in Italian

Saying Goodbye in Italian

Saying Hello in Italian

Present Perfect (Passato Prossimo)

Reflexive Verbs:

Common reflexive verbs:

Communication

Making acquaintances

Italian Grammar: “tu” and “Lei” forms

Italian Grammar Lessons: The Past / Passato Prossimo

Italian Grammar Lessons: Two Irregular Adjectives & Adverbs

Italian Grammar Lessons: the impersonal form with ‘Si’

Italian Grammar Lessons: Adverbs

Common Conversational Words and Phrases in Italian

Courteous phrases

Personal pronouns

References to people

Phrases for travelers

Common places and locations

Some Italian Phrases:

How to Make Small Talk in Italian

Greetings and introductions

Personal information

Italian Nouns

Italian Pronouns

Italian Verbs

Italian Prepositions

Italian Conjunctions

The Auxiliary Verbs: Essere and Avere