Italian Language Guide

8/7/2019 Italian Language Guide

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Active & Passive Voices

In passive sentences, the subject receives the action of the verb. In active sentences, the subject does the actionHowever, the meaning of both sentences is the same. The passive form is only possible with transitive verbs a

is much more common in English than in Italian.

The passive form consists of the verb essere plus the past participle of the main verb followed by da (by) and itcontractions. Essere should be in the same tense as the verb in its corresponding active sentence.

The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Active Voice Passive Voice

I miei genitori pagano l'affitto. L'affitto pagato dai miei genitori.

My parents pay the rent. The rent is paid by my parents.

Examples:

Active. Le ragazze firmano il contratto

Passive. I contratti sono firmati dalle ragazze.

The contracts are signed by the girls.

Active. Carlo arreda la stanza

Passive. La stanza (stata) arredata da Carlo.The room has been furnished by Carl.

Active. I miei genitori pagheranno l'affitto .

Passive. L'affitto sar pagato dai miei genitori.The rent will be paid bymy parents.

Italian Adjetives

Italian and English differ in their usage of adjectives. Italian descriptive adjectives are usually placed after the noun the

modify, and with which they agree in gender and number. As a difference with English, adjectives may be placed both

before and after the noun.

y La grande citt the large town.y La citt grande the large town.

-are both correct, but in the second one the idea of large is slightly more. More examples:

y La macchina rossa the red cary Le macchine rosse the red carsy Ildivano rosso the red sofay I divani rossi the red sofas


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Endings for adjectives:

- Adjectives ending in -o have four forms. They need to modify their endings for gender and number.

Gender & number Adjective ending

masculine singular -o

masculine plural -i

feminine singular -a

feminine plural -e

There's a list of adjectives ending in -o:

allegro cheerful, happy grasso fat

buono good, kind leggero light

cattivo bad, wicked nuovo new

freddo cold pieno full

stretto narrow timido timid, shy

Examples:

il gatto nero (the black cat, m) i gatti neri (the black cats, m) la gatta nera (the black cat, f) le gatte nere (the black cats, f)

il ragazzo cattivo (the bad boy) i ragazzi cattivi (the bad boys) la ragazza cattiva (the bad girl) le ragazze cattive (the bad girls)

More:

- Italian Adjectives II

Italian Adjectives- Adjectives that end in -e do not need to modify their endings for gender. Their endings change to "i"only

depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. Examples:

y Il libro verde the green booky La porta verde the green doory I libri verdi the green booksy Le porte verdi the green doors


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There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -(with the stress falling on that i) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii. Thetable below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know.

Singular Ending Plural Ending Singular Ending Plural Ending

-ca -che -ga -ghe

-cia -ce -gia -ge

-cio

-ci

-gio

-gi

-co -chi -glia -glie

-scia -sce -glio -gli

-scio -sci -go -ghi

Examples:

y pacifico pacific (m) pacifici pacificy pacifica pacific (f) pacifiche pacificy largo large (m) larghi largey larga large (f) larghe largey vecchio old (m) vecchi oldy vecchia old (f) vecchie oldy bianco white (m) bianchi whitey bianca white (f) bianche white

There are only 3 irregular adjectives: buono (good), bello (beautiful, nice), quello (that). When these adjectives

are put in front of their noun, they follow their own rules.

Italian Adverbs

An adverb (avverbio) is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb can be compar

to an adjective but instead it says something about a verb or an adjective instead of a noun.

o Luciano agisce lentamentes Luciano acts slowly.o Leonardo viene tardi Leonardo comes late.o Usciamo adesso We're leaving now.o Ci andiamo a giugno We are going there in June.

In English, adverbs are often formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives: slowly, softly, surely. Adverbs oftenanswer the question: come? (how?), quando? (when?), or dove? (where?)

In Italian, many adverbs are formed by adding the ending -mente (which corresponds to the suffix -ly) to the

feminine form of the adjective:

Adjective (masc.) Adjective (fem.) Adverb

elice (happy) elice (happy) elicemente(happily)

vero (true) vera (true) veramente(truly)

lento (slow) lenta (slow) lentamente(slowly)

stanco (tired) stanca (tired) stancamente(tiredly)


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Examples:

o Lui corre rapidamente He runs fasto Parlo lentamente I speak slowlyo Parla Italiano fluentemente He/She/It speaks Italian fluently

If the adjective ends in -le or-re, the final vowel e is dropped before adding the suffix -mente:

Adjective (m. or f.) Adjectival root Adverb

esemplare(exemplary) esemplari- esemplarmente(exemplarily)

gentile(kind) gentil- gentilmente(kindly)

speciale(special) special- specialmente(especially)

generale(general) general- generalmente(generally)

regolare(regular) regolar- regolarmente(regularly)

Not all Italian adverbs are formed from adjectives. Below we have a list of those adverbs.

ITALIAN ENGLISH ITALIAN ENGLISH

ancora still gi already

attorno around, about inoltre moreover

bene well insieme together

contro against male badly

dentro in, inside (non)...mai never

dietro behind of (non)...pi not anymore

dopo then, afterwards oltre beyond

uori outside sempre always

Examples:

o Beve sempre la birra He always drinks beer.o Sono arrivato tardi al museo I arrived late at the museum.o Non ci sei pi andata You don't go there anymore.o Enzo sempre venuto in orario Enzo always came on time.o Non ho ancorafinito i miei compiti I still hadn't finished my homework.

Italian Articles

In Italian, as well as all the other Romance languages (French, Spanish, etc), all nouns have a gender and a

number associated with them. The article indicates gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) othe noun.

"il"-"lo" are the definite article that corresponds to masculine nouns. Examples:

y il professore the teacher.y il telefono the phone.


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y il vecchio zio the old uncle.la is the definite article that corresponds to feminine nouns. Examples:

y la casa the house.y la tavola the table.y la finestra the window.

When using nouns, you must make sure that you use the correct gender and number when using an identifier. Tidentifiers are il, lo, la, i, gli, le, un, uno and una. Il, lo and la are singular definite articles, which means you artalking about a specific thing. Examples:

y La sedia the chair (you are talking about a specific chair)y Il telefono verde The telephone is green.y La parete brutta The wall is ugly.

The use of these identifiers is identical to the way you would say it in English - if you want to say "a table", usuna, and if you want to say "the table", use la.

"i" and "gli" are the plural of"il" and "lo", and "le" is the plural of"la". You use these plural definite articwhen you are talking about several specific members of a group. There are no plural forms of uno and una, andtranslate "some" when used in sentences, one must use indeterminate pronouns. Examples

y Le stanze sono grandi The rooms are big.y Delle sedie sono in cucina Some chairs are in the kitchen.y Gli stessi ragazzi the same boysy Dei tavoli some tables.

To learn more about articles, click the following sections:

Italian Definite Article: la - lo - ilItalian Indefinite Article: una - uno - un

Italian Definite Articles

In Italian, larticolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the

noun or adjective it precedes. There are some guidelines that help you to determine what article to use.

For singular nouns:

y lo-LO: is used for all masculine nouns beginning with s+consonant or z.y il-IL: is used for all masculine nouns starting in a consonant, except the case where you use "lo".y la-LA: is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonanty l-L: This is the elision of lo or la is used before masculine or femenine nouns beginning with a vowel

Examples:

lo zucchero the sugar il vecchio zio the old uncle

lo zio the uncle l'impatto the impact (masculine)il castello the castle l'acqua the water (feminine)


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la scatola the box

For plural nouns:

y gli-GLI: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with vowels, the consonant z , cluster gn or clustersmade of s+consonant.

y i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previous casey le-LE: It is used before any plural feminine noun

Examples:

gli artisti the artists gli elefanti the elephantsle ali the wings i ragazzi the boysi cavalli the horses gli stessi ragazzi the same boys

Italian Indefinite Articles

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used with singular

nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.

When the noun to which the article applies is a masculine noun then "a/an" can be translated as "un", or "uno",the article applies to a feminine noun then the article that has to be used is "una". As the definite articles, there

some rules to understand the use of these articles:

y uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.y un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you have to use "UNO"y una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.y un'-UN': It is the elision of una, used when feminine nouns start with any vowel.

Examples:

When plural nouns are indefinite, they simply do not use an article, or they use the partitive form: i.e. cats (noarticle) or some cats (partitive), coins or some coins (partitive), etc. Partitive will be dealt with further on, so fo

the time being simply disregard its use.

un treno e una bicicletta A train and a bicycle

un aeroplano e unautomobile An airplane and a caruno stadio e una stazione One(an) stage and one(a) station

Auxiliary Verbs in Italian

"Essere" (to be) and "Avere" (to have) are called auxiliary verbs; they are called so because they help in the

formation ofcompound tenses("essere"+ the past participle of a verb, "avere"+ the past participle of a verb)and the passive construction ("essere"+ a verb)

Generally speaking, "avere" is used with Transitive verbs (verbs which take an object) while "essere" is used

with Reflexive and Intransitive verbs (verbs of motion, position, physical or mental condition, etc.). Examples:


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o Abbiamo venduto la casa We have sold the houseo Si frenata She restrained herselfo Voi siete arrivati a tempo You arrived on time

"Stare" (to stay, to be) is used as an auxiliary verb with adverbial participles (so-called gerunds) to formProgresive Tenses:

The present progressiveuses the present tense of "stare":Sto parlando I am speaking

The past progressiveuses the imperfect tense of "stare":Stava leggendo He was reading

"Andare" is used in a similar fashion as an auxiliary verb: Example:

o Andava cantando He went around singing

Italian Compound Tenses

Italian features a set of compound tenses, based either on avere(to have) or essere(to be). The three compound tenses

are:

English tense Italian Tense English Italian

Recent Past Passato Prossimo have done ho fatto

Recent Pluperfect Trapassato Prossimo had done(*) avevo fatto

Remote Pluperfect Trapassato Remoto had done ebbi fatto

Future

PerfectFuturo Anteriore will have done avr fatto

The choice of whether to use avere or essere depends on the type of verb:

Non-reflexive transitive verbs (i.e. verbs that take a direct object) useavere

Intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take a direct object), verbs of motion, and reflexive verbs (even if those ve

are based on transitive verbs) take essere

(*) The Trapassato Prossimo (Recent Pluperfect) and the Trapassato Remoto (Remote Pluperfect) are separate tenses i

Italian though not in English.

More:

- Compound Tenses


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Italian Compound Tenses

The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as the passatoprossim

(present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs in compound tense formations. Forexample: io sono stato (I was) and ho avuto (I had).

In Italian there are four compound tenses:

Present Perfect: Thepassato prossimogrammatically referred to as the present perfectis a compound tens(tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past or that occurred long ago but

still has ties to the present. Examples:

y Ho appena chiamato I just calledy Mi sono iscritto all'universit quattro anni fa I entered the university four years agoy Questa mattina sono uscito presto This morning I left earlyy IlPetrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets

Future perfect: Thefuturo anteriore or future perfect tense is a compound tense. How to express the idea of "

will have" or "they will have"? Use future perfect tense. Examples:

y Alle sette avremo gi mangiato By seven we'll already have eateny Noi avremo parlato al padre di Anna We will already have spoken to Anna's father

Pluperfect (past perfect tense): In English the past perfect tense (trapassato prossimo) is formed with theauxiliary "had" + the past participle of the main verb. In Italian, the trapassato prossimo, a compound tense, is

formed with the imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb.

y Gi erano partiti quando sono arrivato They had already left when I arrivedy Avevo chiuso le finestre quando cominciato a piovere I had shut the windows when it started to raiy La macchina sbandava perch aveva piovuto The car was sliding because it had rained

Past anterior (trapassato remoto): Known in English as the preterite perfect, is used primarily in literary

contexts. It's a compound tense formed with thepassato remoto of the auxiliary verb avere oressere and thepaarticiple of the acting verb.

To see how avere and essere conjugate in the remote past tense, see the tables below.

CONJUGATING AVEREIN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURALI (io) ebbi (noi) avemmoII (tu) avesti (voi) aveste

III (lui, lei, Lei) ebbe (loro, Loro) ebbero

CONJUGATING ESSEREIN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURALI (io) fui (noi) fummo

II (tu) fosti (voi) fosteIII (lui, lei, Lei) fu (loro, Loro) furono


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Examples:

y Partirono, quando ebbero ricevuto la notizia They were leaving when they received the notice

y Renata entr, appena Giorgio fu uscito Renata entered just after Giorgio had left

y And a casa, quando ebbe finito di lavorare He went home when he had finished working

As you can see, in each sentence set in the trapassato remoto, you will encounter an expression of time, such as

the following: appena (scarcely), dopo che (as soon as), or finch non (up until).

Italian Conjugation

The infinitives of all Regular Verbs in Italian end in are, ere, orire and are referred to as first, second, or thir

conjugation verbs, respectively.

In English the infinitive (l'infinito) consists of to + verb. Examples:

o amare- to love.o temere- to fear.o sentire- to hear.

See Italian Verbs for some examples of verb termination and features.

Below you have detailed lists with three italian regular verbss conjugations in the eight simple & compound

tenses: Parlare (To talk) Scrivere (To write) Dormire (To sleep) and Capire (to understand). The last one has a

different conjugation in present tense, as you can see in the first table, but is a regular verb as well.

Simple tense conjugations:Present tense, imperfect, simple past and future tenses.

Compound tense conjugations:

Present perfect, future perfect, plusperfect past anterior.

Conjugation of irregular verbs: While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the most commonlyused ones are irregular; they do not follow the regular pattern of conjugation (infinitive stem + endings). In

particular, the auxiliary verbs essere and avere, and the common modal verbspotere (ability, to be able to),

dovere (duty, to have to),stare (to stand, to be in a particular state),sapere (to know), and volere (to want to) aall irregular.

Irregular verbs conjugations:Essere, avere, potere, dovere.


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Italian Verbs

A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter

or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand).

Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense,aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (wh

we usually call subject, object, etc.). Examples:

o Vado in Italia con la mia famiglia I will go to Italy with my family.o Il biglietto costa 2200 dollari australiani The ticket costs 2200 australian dolars.o Faccio studiare i ragazzi I make the boys study.o Noi studiamo sempre We always study.o Vuole anche questo libro He wants that book, too.o Le fragole sono dolcissime Strawberries are very sweet.o Questa arancia molto buona This orange is very good.o Lei parla piano piano She speaks very softly

In Italian, most verbs end in a common pattern, such as -are, -ere, and -ire. These are the 1st, 2nd and 3rdconjugations respectively. Examples:

ARE Means ERE Means IRE Means IRE (*) Means

arlareto

speakscrivere

to

writedormire

to

sleepinire

to

finish

cantareto

singvedere

to

seeartire

to

leavecolpire

to

hit

lavorareto

workvendere

to

sellaprire

to

opencostruire

to

build

amareto

love vivereto

live servireto

serve sparireto

disappear

The features of the verbs are:

y The Person: (indicates the subject that does the action)The persons in Italian are io, tu, lui (masculine), lei (feminine), noi, voi, loro (masculine and feminine).

y The Manner:(indicates how the action happens)In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicative),

congiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitive),gerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

y The Time: (indicates when the action happens)In Italian there are many different times: all the seven manners of the verb have different times.The timcan be simple (only one word) or compound (two or more words).

y The Form: (indicates the kind of action)In Italian the form can be active transitive, active intransitive, reflexive and passive.

(*)There are few verbs of the -ire conjugation in Italian that have different suffix.


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Simple Tense Conjugation

Below we have a list of 3 regular verbs and their simple tense conjugation.

Present Tense:

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I)Parlo Scrivo dormo capisco

tu (You)Parli scrivi dormi capisci

lui / lei (He, She, It)Parla scrive dorme capisce

noi (We)Parliamo scriviamo dormiamo capiamo

voi (You)Parlate scrivete dormite capite

loro (They)Parlano scrivono dormono capisc

Imperfect Tense (Imperfetto):


io (I)Parlavo scrivevo dormivo capivo

tu (You) arlavi scrivevi dormivi capivi

lui / lei (He, She, It)Parlava scriveva dormiva capiva

noi (We)Parlavamo scrivevamo dormivamo capivamo

voi (You)Parlavate scrivevate dormivate capivate

loro (They)Parlavano scrivevano dormivano capivano

Future Tense (Futuro semplice):


io (I) parler scriver dormir ca

tu (You) parlerai scriverai dormirai cap

lui / lei parler scriver dormir ca


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noi (We) parleremo scriveremo dormiremo capire

voi (You) parlerete scriverete dormiete capi

loro (They) parleranno scriveranno dormiranno capira

S

imple Past Tense (Passato remoto):


io (I) parlai scrissi dormii

tu (You) parlasti scrivesti dormisti

lui / lei (He, She, It) parl scrisse dorm

noi (We)

parlammo scrivemmo dormimmo voi (You)

parlaste scriveste dormiste

loro (They) parlarono scrissero dormirono

Compound Tense Conjugation

Below we have a list of 3 regular verbs and their simple tense conjugation.

Present perfect (Passato prossimo):


io (I)ho Parlato ho scritto ho dormito ho capito

tu (You)hai parlato hai scritto hai dormito hai capito

lui / lei (He, She, It)ha Parlato ha scritto ha dormito ha capito

noi (We)

abbiamo parlato abbiamo scritto abbiamo dormito abbiamo capitovoi (You)

avete parlato avete scritto avete dormito avete capito

loro (They)hanno parlato hanno scritto hanno dormito hanno capito

Plusperfect - Past perfect (Trapassato prossimo):



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io (I)avevo parlato avevo scritto avevo dormito avevo capito

tu (You)avevi parlato avevi scritto avevi dormito avevi capito

lui / lei

(He, She, It) aveva parlato aveva scritto aveva dormito aveva capito

noi (We) avevamo parlato avevamo scritto avevamo dormito avevamo capito

voi (You)avevate parlato avevate scritto avevate dormito avevate capito

loro (They)avevano parlato avevano scritto avevano dormito avevano capito

Future Perfect (Futuro anteriore):


io (I)avr parlato avr scritto avr dormito avr capito

tu (You)avrai parlato avrai scritto avrai dormito avrai capito

lui / lei

(He, She, It) avr parlato avr scritto avr dormito avr capito

noi (We)avremo parlato avremo scritto avremo dormito avremo capito

voi (You)avrete parlato avrete scritto avrete dormito avrete capito

loro (They)avranno parlato avranno scritto avranno dormito avranno capito

Preterite perfect (Trapassato remoto):


io (I)ebbi parlato ebbi scritto ebbi dormito ebbi capito

tu (You)avesti parlato avesti scritto avesti dormito avesti capito

lui / lei

(He, She, It) ebbe parlato ebbe scritto ebbe dormito ebbe capito

noi (We)avemmo parlato avemmo scritto avemmo dormito avemmo capito

voi (You)aveste parlato aveste scritto aveste dormito aveste capito

loro (They)ebbero parlato ebbero scritto ebbero dormito ebbero capito


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Irregular Verbs Conjugation

Essere (To be - an auxiliary)

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

iosono fui ero sar

tusei fosti eri sarai

egli fu era sar

noisiamo fummo eravamo saremo

voisiete foste eravate sarete

essi sono furono erano saranno

Avere (To have - an auxiliary)


ioho ebbi avevo avr

tuhai avesti avevi avrai

egliha ebbe aveva avr

noiabbiamo avemmo avevamo avremo

voiavete aveste avevate avrete

essihanno ebbero avevano avranno


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Potere (To be able to - a modal)


io posso potei potevo p

tu puoi potesti potevi p

egli pu pot poteva p

noi possiamo potemmo potevamo potre

voi potete poteste potevate po

essi possono poterono potevano potr

Dovere (To have to to, must - a modal)


iodevo dovei dovevo dovr

tu

devi dovesti dovevi dovraiegli

deve dov doveva dovr

noidobbiamo dovemmo dovevamo dovremo

voidovete doveste dovevate dovrete

essidevono doverono dovevano dovranno

Italian ConjunctionConjunctions (le congiunzioni) join words and sentences together. Some of them are simple and common and don't cau

any trouble--such as "e" and "o." Some other, longer ones require the use of thesubjunctive. They are:

- bench, sebbene, malgrado, nonostante, quantunque

all mean: although, in spite of, even though

-purch, a patto che, a condizione che

all mean: provided that


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- nelcaso che

in case

Some others require the use of the subjunctive only if the subject of the main verb and the subject of the subjunctive a

different; if the subjects are the same, the infinitive is required. They are:

- affinch, perch, cosicch, in modo che in order to, so that- senza che without

-prima che before

Below we have a list of the most common conjunctions:

Italiano English Takes subjunctive?

a meno che...non unless yes

affinch so that, in order that yeserch (with sub) so that, in order that yes

in modo che so that, in order that yesbench although yes

malgrado although yessebbene although yes

quantunque although yesrima che before yes

urch provided that yesa patto che provided that yes

a condizione che provided that yessenza che without yes

anche se even if no

dopo che after nodunque therefore no

erch (w/out sub) because no

erci for this reason, therfore noer however no

oiche since, seeing that noquindi therefore, consequently nosiccome as, since no

Italian SubjunctiveThe Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions,etc. and is used much more frequently in Italian. It is mainly used in dependent clauses

(sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not have a complete meaning) that areintroduced by che.

The "congiuntivo" is also required with particular expressions such as:

y Impersonal forms necessario che, bisogna che, importante che... tuvenga al cinema- it's necessary that, it's important that... you come to the


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moviey Comparative clauses il film pi interessante che abbia visto- it is the most

interesting movie that I sawy Sentences introduced by affinch - perch (so that), tranne che (a part that),

a meno che (unless),sebbene - malgrado - nonostante (altough),purch - apatto che (provided that), come se (as if)

y Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns qualsiasi - qualunque(any), chiunque (whoever), dovunque (anywhere)

y Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns niente che - nulla che(nothing that), nessuno che (nobody that), l'unico/a che - il solo/a che (the only

one that)

Italian subjunctive has four forms. The two first ones (Present and Imperfect

Subjunctive) are simple tenses, with their own inflections:

y Present Subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)y Imperfect Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Imperfetto)

And the last compound tenses (congiuntivo passato and congiuntivo trapassato) are

made in the same way as the indicative ones (auxiliary verb + past participle of themain verb), though the two auxiliaries essere and avere use subjunctive inflections.

y Perfect (Past) Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Passato)y Pluperfect (Congiuntivo trapassato)

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

ARE ending ERE ending 1st. IRE 2nd. IRE

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.

-i -iamo -a -iamo -a -iamo -isca -iamo

-i -iate -a -iate -a -iate -isca -iate

-i -ino -a -ano -a -ano -isca -iscano

In the other hand, most irregular verbs that change stem in the present conjugation change stem in the "congiuntivo".

The table below provides examples of three regular verbs conjugated in the present subjunctive tense.

Che+Pronoun -ARE Verb -ERE Verb -IRE Verbs

che io parli scriva senta capiscache tu parli scriva senta capisca


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che lui/lei/Lei parli scriva senta capiscache noi parliamo scriviamo sentiamo capiamo

che voi parliate scriviate sentiate capiateche loro/Loro parlino scrivano sentano capiscano

Typical phrases that call for the subjunctive tense include:

Credo che...

(I believe that...)

Non suggerisco che...

(I'm not suggesting that...)

Suppongo che...

(I suppose that...)

Pu darsi che...

(It's possible that...)

Immagino che...

(I imagine that...)

Penso che...

(I think that...)

necessario che...

(It is necessary that...)

Non sono certo che...

(I'm not sure that...)

Mi piace che...(I'd like that...)

probabile che...(It is probable that...)

Non vale la pena che...

(It's not worth it that...)

Ho l'impressione che...

(I have the impression that...)

Examples:

Ho paura che sia troppo tardi I am afraid it may be too late

Credo che lavino ilcane molto spesso

I think that they wash the dog very often

Desidero che venga con me I want her to come with me

Spero che prenda la giusta decisione

I hope that he / she takes (=will take) the right decision

Penso che dorma I think he's sleeping

Che abbia venduto la macchina? I wonder if he sold his car

Imperfect Subjunctive

Is used when the action expressed in a conditional sentence is not sure: if I came...; in the case you went...; should he

call...; etc. This subjunctive is formed by adding personal endings to the imperfect stem.

For conjugations of regular verbs, the endings are identical for all three conjugations:

1st. CONJUGATION 2nd. CONJUGATION 3rd. CONJUGATION

Che +Parlare

To Speak

Vendere

To Sell

Dormire

To Sleep


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Pronoun parla- vende- dormi-

che io parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssi

che tu parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssi

che lei parla-sse vende-sse dormi-sse

che noi parla-ssimo vende-ssimo dormi-ssimo

che voi parla-ste vende-ste dormi-ste

che loro parla-ssero vende-ssero dormi-ssero

Examples:

Credevo che avessero ragione I thought they were right

Non era probabile che prendessimo una decisione

It wasn't likely we would make a decision

Non c'era nessuno che ci capisse

There was noone who understood us

Ilrazzismo era ilpeggior problema che ci fosse

Racism was the worst problem there was.

Perfect Subjunctive

The Perfect subjunctive or past subjunctive ("congiuntivo passato"), is a "compound tense" (like the "passato prossimobecause it is formed with the present subjunctive of an auxiliary verbs ("essere"or"avere") plus the past participle of a

verb.

Whether it requires "essere"or "avere", depends on the verb. If the verb is a transitive verb, it requires the auxiliary

"avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it

requires the auxiliary "essere".

Personal PronounAuxiliar "avere" Past Participle English

io abbia parlato I have spoken, I spoketu abbia parlato you have spoken, you spokelei abbia parlato she has spoken, she spokenoi abbiamo parlato we have spoken, we spokevoi abbiate parlato you have spoken, you spokeloro abbiano parlato they have spoken, they spoke


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Personal PronounAuxiliar "essere" Past Participle English

io sia arrivato I have arrived, I arrivedtu sia arrivato you have arrived, you arrivedlei sia arrivata she has arrived, she arrivednoi siamo arrivati we have arrived, we arrivedvoi siate arrivati you have arrived, you arrived

loro siano arrivate they (f.) have arrived, they arrived

"Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive

require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho viaggiato, ho vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the

auxiliary "essere"

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (toborn)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

Credo che abbiano ripreso le discussioni

I think they resumed discussions

Mi dispiace che abbia parlato cos

I'm sorry that he spoke that way

Siamo contenti che siano venuti We're glad they came

Non credo che siano andati in Italia

I don't believe they went to Italy

Pluperfect

To complete the fourth of subjunctive-tense verb forms, there's the congiuntivo trapassato

(referred to as the past perfect subjunctive in English), which is a compound tense. Form this

tense with the congiuntivo imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past

participle of the acting verb.

Che+Pronoun Avere Essere

che io avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)

che tu avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)che lui/lei/Lei avesse avuto fosse stato(-a)

che noi avessimo avuto fossimo stati(-e)che voi aveste avuto foste stati(-e)che loro/Loro avessero avuto fossero stati(-e)

Bellow we have a list with some examples ofcongiuntivo trapassato with the verbs

"mangiare"(to eat), "leggere"(to read), "andare"(to go) and "venire"(to come).


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AVERE ESSERE

Pron. Mangiare Leggere Andare Venire

io avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/a

tu avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/alui avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato fosse venuto

lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andata fosse venuta

Lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato/a fosse venuto/a

noi avessimo mangiato avessimo letto fossimo andati/e fossimo venuti/e

voi aveste mangiato aveste letto foste andati/e foste venuti/e

loro avessero mangiato avessero letto fossero andati/e fossero venuti/e

As well as the congiuntivo passato, the verbs "Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer),

"viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere"

("avessi dormito, avessi risposto, avessi viaggiato, avessi vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)...

require the auxiliary "essere"

Verbs that express state of being, l ike "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to

remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

Speravo che avessero capito

I was hoping they had understood

Avevo paura che non avessero risolto quelproblema

I was afraid they hadn't resolved that problem

Vorrebbero che io raccontassi una storia

They would like me to tell a story

Non volevo che tu lo facessi cos presto

I didn't want you to do it as soon

Italian Definite Articles

In Italian, larticolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the

noun or adjective it precedes. There are some guidelines that help you to determine what article to use.

For singular nouns:

y lo-LO: is used for all masculine nouns beginning with s+consonant or z.y il-IL: is used for all masculine nouns starting in a consonant, except the case where you use "lo".y la-LA: is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant


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y l-L: This is the elision of lo or la is used before masculine or femenine nouns beginning with a vowelExamples:

o zucchero the sugar il vecchio zio the old uncle

lo zio the uncle l'impatto the impact (masculine)il castello the castle l'acqua the water (feminine)

la scatola the box

For plural nouns:

y gli-GLI: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with vowels, the consonant z , cluster gn or clustersmade of s+consonant.

y i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previous casey le-LE: It is used before any plural feminine noun

Examples:

gli artisti the artists gli elefanti the elephants

le ali the wings i ragazzi the boysi cavalli the horses gli stessi ragazzi the same boys

Demonstrative Adjectives

When demonstrative pronouns questo (questa, questi, queste) and quello (quella, quelli, quelle) are followed b

noun, they turn into adjectives.

The Demonstrative adjective (aggetivi dimostrativi) are:

Singolare Singular Plurale Plural

Masculine questo this questi these

Feminine questa this queste these

Masculine quello that quelli those

Feminine quella that quelle those

Masculine codesto that codesti those

Feminine codesta that codeste those

Codesto refers to something near the person being spoken to, but itis falling into disuse: quello is replacing it.

There is elision ofquesto, questa, and quella before a noun beginning with a vowel. Examples:

o quest'aereo this airplaneo quest'aula this classroomo quell'autostrada that highway


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Questa is sometimes shortened to "sta" and contracted with the noun it modifies:

o questa sera (this evening) stasera (this evening)Demonstratives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify, and always precede them:

y Questo libro this booky Quella casa that house

More examples:

y Quel film che ti ho raccomandato si chiama "La vita bella".The movie that I recommended to you is called "The life is beauty"

y Roberto Benigni quell'attore che fa ridere tutti.Roberto Benigni is the actor that made everybody laugh.

y Quell'attrice che lavora nel film si chiama Nicoletta Braschi; quella che sposata con Benigni.The actress that was in that movie is Nicoletta Braschi; she is Benigni's wife.

Demonstrative Pronouns

They are used to indicate a person or an object, as if pointing towards it with a finger. As for the possessives, th

adjectives and the pronouns for the demonstratives have the same form. The Demonstrative Pronouns are:


Masc. Questo this / this one questi these / these ones

Fem. Questa this / this one queste these / these ones

Masc. Quello that / that one quelli those / those ones

Fem. Quella that / that one quelle those / those ones

Examples:

o Questo il tuo cane this is your dog, or this one is your dogo Quella mia madre that one (= that woman) is my mothero Quelli sono i suoi libri those are his/her books, or those ones are his/her bookso Queste sono le nostre zie these are our aunts or these ones are our auntso Questa e quella sono identiche this one and that one are identical

These pronouns may be used either as a subject of the sentence (as in the previous examples), or as an object (ain the following sentences), in which case the English translation always includes ...one:

o (egli / ella) non prese questa, ma quella he / she did not take this one, but that oneo (tu) comprerai quelli you will buy those oneso Domani vernicer questi tomorrow I will paint these oneso Preferite questo o quello? do you prefer this one or that one?

Italian Determiners


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Determiners are words (as an article, possessive, demonstrative or quantifier) that makes

specific the denotation of a noun phrase. In Italian they agree in gender and number with the

noun.

Articles (a, an, the): They are used before nouns, but in Italian, nouns have gender and the

articles must agree with the gender. Masculine words generally end in -o and feminine words

generally end in -a. Words that end in -e may be either, so you will just have to memorize the

gender.

Examples:

un amico a friend (m) degli amici friends

l'amico the friend gli amici the friends

un' amica a friend (f) delle amiche friends

l'amica the friend le amiche the friends

un ragazzo a boy dei ragazzi boys

ilragazzo the boy i ragazzi the boys

una ragazza a girl delle ragazze girls

la ragazza the girl le ragazze the girls

uno stato a state (m) dei stati states

lo stato the state gli stati the states

uno zingaro a gypsy (m) dei zingari gypsies

lo zingaro the gypsy gli zingari the gypsies

See [Italian Articles] for a deeper explanation and some examples of definite and undefinite

articles.

Possessive Adjectives (my, your, his, her):See [Italian Possessive Adjectives] for a deeper explanation and some examples of

this topic.


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Examples:

Singular Plural

ilmio amico my friend (male) i miei amici my friends (males)

ilnostro amico our friend (male) i nostri amici our friends (males)

la mia amica my friend (female) le miei amiche my friends (females)

la nostra amica our friend (female) le nostre amiche our friends (females)

Demonstrative Adjective (this, these, that, those):See [Italian Demonstrative Adjectives] for a deeper explanation and some examplesof this topic.

Examples:

Singular Plural

questo libro this book questilibri these books

quellibro that book queilibri those books

quello studente that student quelli studenti those books

quella donna that woman quelle donne those women

Italian Exclamation

The exclamation "What...!" is expressed in Italian with the help of the word che. These phrases will surely provto be very useful in your Italian conversations:

o Che bei fiori! What beautiful flowers!o Che belle ragazze! What beautiful girls!o Che buon'idea! What a good idea!o Che partita! What a game!o Che rumore! What a noise!

The Exclamation Pronouns give a stronger emphasis to an exclamation, although their use is not alwaysnecessary. The more usually exclamation pronouns are:

che...!

how...!quanto...!

how...! how much...!quanti...!how many...!

Examples:


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o che bello! how nice! (masculine singular)o che bella! how nice! (feminine singular)o quanto ha mangiato! how much he ate!o quanto dormono! how much they sleep!o quanto vino! how much wine!o quanta roba! how much stuff!

Below is a list with the "Ten more used Italian Expressions":

y Mamma mia!(My goodness!)Italians useMamma mia! (mahm-mah mee-ah) to express surprise, impatience, happiness, sorrowanystrong emotion.

y Che bello!(How lovely!)Che bello! (keh behl-loh) is used when you're enthusiastic about something.

y Uffa!(Aargh!)Uffa! (oof-fah) is a clear way to show that you're annoyed, bored, angry, or fed up.

y Che ne so!(How should I know?)When Italians want to say that they have no idea, they shrug their shoulders and say Che ne so! (keh nesoh).

y Magari!(If only!)Magari (mah-gah-ree) is just one word, but it expresses a lot. It indicates a strong wish or hope. It's agood answer if, for instance, somebody asks you if you'd like to win the lottery.

y Ti sta bene!(Serves you right!)Ti sta bene! (tee stah beh-neh) is the Italian way to say "Serves you right!"

y Non te la prendere!(Don't get so upset! /Don't think about it!)If you see that somebody is sad, worried, or upset, you can try to console him by saying Non te laprendere! (nohn teh lah prehn-deh-reh).

y Che macello!(What a mess!)Figuring out the derivation ofChe macello! (keh mah-chehl-loh) isn't difficult. The literal translation is

"What a slaughterhouse!"

y Non mi va!(I don't feel like it!)Non mi va! (nohn mee vah) is one of the first phrases that Italian children learn. It means that you don'twant to do something.

y Mi raccomando!(Please, I beg you!)WithMi raccomando! (mee rahk-koh-mahn-doh), you express a special emphasis in asking forsomething. An example is Telefonami, mi raccomando! (Don't forget to call me, please!)

Italian Gerund

This is equivalent to the English present participle i.e. the part of the verb ending in-ing, like thinking, running, talking, going etc.

The Adverbial Present Participle or gerund ("gerundio") is formed by adding a suffixto the verb stem:

ARE verbs add "-ando". Example: parl-ando (speaking) ERE verbs add "-endo". Example: vend-endo (selling) IRE verbs add "-endo". Example: dorm-endo (sleeping)

Adverbial participles answer questions about the action expressed by the main verb.


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Examples:

o Sbagliando si impara One learns by making mistakes(answering the question, "How does one learn?").

They are used like English present participles to form progressive tenses with the verb"stare":

o Sto parlando I am talking(Present progressive, answering the question, "What am I engaged in doing?");

o Stava dormendo He was sleeping(Past progressive, answering the question, "What was he engaged in doing?").

Because they function as adverbs, defining an action, these participles are invariable in

form, and do not agree in gender or number with the subject of the verb.

The Adverbial Present Participle (Gerundio perfetto) is formed with the adverbialpresent participle of the auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb:

"avendo parlato" (having spoken); "essendo arrivato" (having arrived).

The Italian name "gerundio"has led to the use of the English word "gerund" to denoteadverbial participles. This is misleading, since the English gerund is a verbal noun

("Walking is good exercise"). It is best for English--speaking students to avoid usingthe term "gerund" when studying the Romance languages like Spanish and Italian.

Examples:

o Cosa stai facendo? What are you doing?o Sto legendo il giornale. I am reading the newspaper.o Stanno preparando l'insalata. They are preparing the salad.o Stavo ascoltando la radio quando il telefono ha squillato. I was listening to

the radio when the telephone rang.o I ragazzi stavano vestendosi. the boys were gettin dressed.

The ending follows the form of unisex adjectives ending in "_e," changing to "_i" in

the plural: "l'uomo dormente" (the sleeping man); "le lezione seguenti" (the followinglessons).

Italian Indefinite Articles

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an

and is used with singular nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.

When the noun to which the article applies is a masculine noun then "a/an" can be

translated as "un", or "uno", if the article applies to a feminine noun then the article

that has to be used is "una". As the definite articles, there are some rules to understandthe use of these articles:

y uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.y un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you

have to use "UNO"y una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.


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y un'-UN': It is the elision of una, used when feminine nouns start with anyvowel.

Examples:

When plural nouns are indefinite, they simply do not use an article, or they use the

partitive form: i.e. cats (no article) or some cats (partitive), coins or some coins(partitive), etc. Partitive will be dealt with further on, so for the time being simply

disregard its use.

un treno e una bicicletta A train and a bicycle

un aeroplano e unautomobile An airplane and a caruno stadio e una stazione One(an) stage and one(a) station

Italian Interjection

An interjection is a word or expression often given increased emotive value in the stream of speech.

Although a interjeccin can form a complete sentence (that is to say, expressing a thought with no need of asubject and a verb), one can often also be inserted within an sentence, separated generally by commas of the re

of the sentence. Interjections are rarely used in formal or business writing. In print interjection is usually followby an exclamation mark or a comma:

y suvvia! = C'mon!y aiuto! = help!y hey! = hey!y oh! = wow!y ahi! = ouch!y bont mia! =My goodness!

Examples:

o Ahi! Mi sono rotto una gamba! Ouch! I broke my leg!

o Suvvia, vedi di non dire sciocchezze! C'mon stop talking nonsense!

You can see a list with the Ten more used Italian Exclamating Expressions

Italian intonationYou love those melodious sounds at the opera, and listening to the voices of those Italian stars in foreign films is an au

thrill.

Below You have some tips will help you to sound like you were born in Italy:

Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable.


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When the final -e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followe

a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.

Following the above rule, dottore(doctor) becomes dottorNardi/Doctor Nardi andprofessore (professor)

becomesprofessorPace/Professor Pace.

When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel. For instance,

cio(namely) and citt(city).

Additionally You can see a list with the Ten more used Italian Exclamating Expressions

Italian Nouns

Noun (nome) is a person, place, or thing. Nouns have endings that change depending on the gender and number. So, th

ending of an Italian noun reveals its gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

Singular Plural

MASC.ilpiatto bianco (the white plate)

ilcane grande (the large dog)

i piatti bianchi(the white plates)

i cani grandi(the large dogs)

FEM.la pizza ca

lda (hot pizza)

la carne tenera (tender meat)

le pizze ca

lde (hot pizzas)

le carni tenere (tender meats)

Nouns often are accompanied by a masculine or feminine definite article (In english: "The"): il, lo, la (singular

i, gli, le (plural). Indefinite articles (Like the English a, an, some) -un, una (singular). However, As in English

there's no indefinite articles for plural nouns.

Noun Gender:

In English, a vast majority of nouns are neutre (masculine and feminine are only used for human beings or for animals)

while articles and adjectives have no gender at all. In Italian instead, nouns, adjectives and articles too are eithermasculine or feminine, but never neutre.

Noun Number:

For nouns, the number (whether the word is singular or plural) works exactly as in English: the singular form is used wh

referring to one subject and the plural form when referring to two or more.But in Italian also adjectives and articles ar

number-sensitive, whereas in English only the noun changes; while in Italian also the article and the adjective would be

turned in plural form.


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Gender of italian nouns

Most Italian nouns end in a vowelthose that end in a consonant are of foreign originand all nouns have a

gender, even those that refer to a qualities, ideas, and things. Usually, Italian singular masculine nouns end in -while feminine nouns end in a(-t).

Masculine Feminine

Tavolo (table)C

asa (house)Sviluppo (development) Rosa (rouse)

Organismo (organism) Citt (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:

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

y 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


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y These are nouns with one form for both genders. Here are included all the nouns suffixed by -ista.Examples:

o Artista artisto Giornalista journalisto Pianista pianisto Turista tourist etc

y Some other nouns, like: camerata comrade consorte consort

compatriota compatriot amante lover

eresiarca heresiarch cliente client

idiota idiot commerciante trader

omicida murderer interprete interpreter

Number of italian nouns

For nouns, the number (whether the word is singular or plural) works exactly as in English: the singular form i

used when referring to one subject and the plural form when referring to two or more. But in Italian alsoadjectives and articles are number-sensitive, whereas in English they are not: "the old house" in plural form

becomes "the old houses", only the noun changes, while in Italian also the article and the adjective would beturned in plural form.

NumberInflections for Nouns: There are many rules to obtain the plural of italian nouns; but, generally, theplural is derived according to the following rules:

y For regular masculine nouns that end in -o, the ending changes to -i in the plural. In the same way regulfeminine nouns that end in -a take on -e endings in the plural. Examples:

For masculine nouns

Singular Plural English

fratello fratelli brotherslibro libri books

nonno nonni grandfather

ragazzo ragazzi boysFor Femenine nouns


casa case houses penna penne pens

pizza pizze pizzasragazza ragazze girls

y The plural forms of some nouns end in -e will end in -i (regardless of whether these nouns are masculinor feminine).


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bicchiere bicchieri (wine) glass

chiave chiavi keysfiume fiumi rivers

frase frasi phrases

y As a particular case, we have the words ending with co, ca, go, ga; these nouns and adjectives add an htheir plural form. Examples:


buco buchi holesfico fichi figschirurgo chirurghi surgeons

mucca mucche cows

y However, when the vowel that comes before co or go is i (i.e. ...ico, ...igo), in most cases the masculinplural drops the h, thus becoming ...-ci or ...-gi (English sound ...chyh or ...jyh). Examples:


amico amici friendsnemico nemici enemies

tecnico tecnici technicalcomico comici comical - comedians

y Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant (such as words of foreign origin) do not change inthe plural, nor do the abbreviated words.

Singular In plural would be... English

caff due caff Two coffeesfilm due film Two films

foto due foto Two photos

y In other cases the plural is a little difficult to recognize for a beginner; many times is recognized byexternal indicators, as articles, pronouns etc. Examples:


il trib i trib the tribesla citt le citt the cities

l'analisi gli analisi the analyses

Note: Adjectives follow the same two patterns as nouns

Italian Onomatopoeia

Bang! boom! pop! splat! thump! goosh! boing! sss!. As you say these words, you can hear each of these different sound

that objects make, and there are lots more of them. That's onomatopoeia, using speech sounds to mimic sounds we he

around us.


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In Italian there are many of onomatopoeic sounds, for example:

Animal name Sound name Onomatopoeia

Le api (bees) ronzano (buz) zzzzzz

Gli uccelli (birds) cinguettano (chirp) cip cip.

I gatti (cast) miagolano (mew) miao.

I pulcini (chicks) pigolano pio pio.

Le mucche (cows) muggiscono (low) muuuuuu.

I corvi (crows) gracchiano(caw) cra cra.

I cuculi (cuckoos) cuc, cuc..

I cani (dogs) abbaiano (bark) bau bau.

Gli asini (donkeys) ragliano(bray) i-oo, i-oo.

Le oche (geese) starnazzano (honk) qua qua.

Le rane (frogs) gracidano (croak) cra cra.

Le galline (hens) (cakle and cluck) coccod.

I cavalli (horses) nitriscono (neigh or whinney)

I topi (rats) squittiscono(squeak) squitt squitt.

I galli (roosters) (crook) chicchirich.

Le pecore (sheeps) belano (bleat) beeee.

Italian Orthographic Accent

This part is not really fundamental for a beginner, who might want to skip it. However, some readers may have noticed

that in most cases the accented vowels bear a grave accent, i.e. slanted leftwards(perci, sar), while a few others are

slanted in the opposite direction (perch).

Modern Italian uses the following set of accented vowels:

"grave" accents. slanted leftwards

("wide" sound pronunciation)

"acute" accent. slanted rightwards

("narrow" sound pronunciation)


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It has already been said that when the accent is carried by the last syllable, an accented vowel has to be used. Since m

vowels only take the grave accent, this is the only one that can be used:

andr he/she will go luned monday

l there fin it finished

fal great fire, pire laggi down there, over there

per but pi more - plu

Only the vowel e can take two different accents; according to the word, either one or the other should be used. These

examples of words whose final e bears a grave accent ("wide" sound):

he/she/it

caff coffee or coffee-bar

frapp milk shake

In other words, instead, the final e bears the acute accent ("narrow" sound):

perch why, because

n not, nor, neither

s self, one's self

In very few cases, an accented e can be very useful to mark the stressed syllable, thus the correct sound of the vowel:

psca("wide"e) peach psca("narrow"e) fishing

Also in this case the accent is not mandatory; actually, many people spell both words pesca (i.e. with a normal e), beca

the context of the sentence is enough to understand which of the two makes more sense.

Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives are those that indicate possession or ownership. They correspond to the English "my","your", "his", "her", "its", "our", and "their".The Italian possessive adjectives are also preceded by defin

articles and agree in gender and number with the noun possessed, not with the possessor.

Possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi) and Possessive pronouns (pronomi possessivi) are usually compou

forms which include a definite article that is not translated into English. Also, they are identical in form; thedifference is in meaning. Where the possessive adjective "il mio"means "my," for example, the possessive


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pronoun "il mio"means "mine": "letuescarpee le mie" your shoes and mine.

It is important to note that possessives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, rather than with thpossessor. Examples:

o imieiamici my friends.o la loro automobile their car.

The table below provides a chart of possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi) in Italian:

Possess. AdjectiveMasculine

Singular

Feminine

SingularMasculine Plural Feminine Plural

Possess.

Pronoun

my il mio la mia i miei le mie mine

your (fam.) il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue yours

your (pol.) il Suo la Sua i Suoi le Sue yours

his, her , its il suo la sua i suoi le sue hers,his, its

our il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre ours

your (fam.) il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre yours

your (pol.) il Loro la Loro i Loro le Loro yours

their il loro la loro i loro le loro theirs

Yo can see that mio, tuo andsuo behave like normal adjectives except in the masculine plural. Also, loro does make any changes at all, it is invariable. Examples:

o la mia automobile veloce my car is fast (here my acts as an adjective for the noun car)o la loro lenta theirs is slow (here theirs is a pronoun, meaning their car, not mentioned)o il suo gatto prese un topo his cat caught a mouseo anche il tuo prese un topo also yours caught a mouseo il vostro albero alto your (plur.) tree is tallo il loro basso theirs is short

Only when the possessed noun is a specific family relative the article is dropped, as in English:

o mio padre alto(not "il mio padre") my father is tallo mia madre giovane(not "la mia madre") my mother is youngo mio fratello pigro(not "il mio fratello") my brother is lazy

Another important difference is that while in English the gender of the possessive pronoun matches the possessin Italian it matches the possessed subject:

o mio padre ha una bicicletta my father has a byciclela sua bicicletta (sua matches bicicletta, feminine) his bycicle (his matches father, masculine)

o mia madre ha uncane my mother has a dogil suo cane (suo matches cane, masculine) her dog (her matches mother, feminine)

Italian Prepositions


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Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used together withdefinite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they are not

followed (and bound) to articles, they are called "simple prepositions".

Simple prepositions: They are words that aren't followed by articles. Simple prepositions are:

di (d) of a to da from, by, since

in in con with tra, fra between

su on er for

Di: "Di" means "of", indicating possession, or "from" (to be from). Examples:

o un bicchiere divino a glass of wineo la citt diRoma the city of Romeo il libro diPaolo Paul's book (literally: "the book ofPaul")o la madre diRoberto Robert's mothero io sono diRoma I am from Romeo

i due ragazzi sono diB

erlino the two boys are from Berlin

A: "A" means "to" (indirect object and movement) or "in", indicating location (cities and places).

When preposition "a" is followed by another word starting with a vowel, for mere phonetic reasons it changes "ad". Examples:

o regalo il libro aStefania I give the book to Stephanieo vender la bicicletta aCarlo I shall sell the bycicle to Charleso a destra to the right (note how in Italian the two directions have no article)o torner adAmburgo I shall return to Hamburgo

siamo a letto we are in bedo tu vivi aRoma you live in Rome

Da: "Da" means "since", "from" (to come from), "by" (passive) and it's used with location referring to people.

Examples:

o Vivo aFoggia da 16 anni I've lived in Foggia for 16 yearso Vengo daFoggia I come from Foggiao Questo corso stato fatto daDavide This course was made by Davideo Sono daDavide I'm at Davide's

In: "In" usually means "in". Examples:

o Vivo in una bella citt I live in a beautiful city.o ho dieci monete in tasca I have ten coins in my pocketo traverseremo il fiume in barca we will cross the river by boat

Con: "Con" means "with". Examples:

o Sono con te I'm with youo ho comprato il libro con pochi soldi I bought the book with little money


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o il bambino era con un adulto the child was with an adultSu: "Su" means "on(to)", "over". Examples:

o I libri sono su un banco The books are on a desk.o l'aereo vola suFirenze The plane flies over Florence

Per: "Per" It can translate English for, to, by, or even as, according to the different use. Examples:

o Questo regalo perte This present is for Davideo Ho un bigliettoperil teatro I have a ticket for the theatreo Il pacco perla signora the parcel is for the lady

Tra-fra: "Tra" and "fra" mean "between" or "in" followed by a t ime expression. Examples:

o Sono tra(fra) il tavolo e la sedia I'm between the table and the chairo Vengo a casa tra(fra) due minuti I'd come home in two minuteso l'autobus passerfra(tra) due ore the bus will pass in two hours timeo l'alberofra(tra) le due case alto the tree between the two houses is tall

Italian Prepositions

Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used together with

definite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they are notfollowed (and bound) to articles, they are called "simple prepositions".

Simple prepositions: They are words that aren't followed by articles. Simple prepositions are:di (d) of a to da from, by, since

in in con with tra, fra between

su on er for

Di: "Di" means "of", indicating possession, or "from" (to be from). Examples:

o un bicchiere divino a glass of wineo la citt diRoma the city of Romeo il libro diPaolo Paul's book (literally: "the book ofPaul")o

la madre diRoberto Robert's mother

o io sono diRoma I am from Romeo i due ragazzi sono diBerlino the two boys are from Berlin

A: "A" means "to" (indirect object and movement) or "in", indicating location (cities and places).

When preposition "a" is followed by another word starting with a vowel, for mere phonetic reasons it changes

"ad". Examples:

o regalo il libro aStefania I give the book to Stephanieo vender la bicicletta aCarlo I shall sell the bycicle to Charles


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o a destra to the right (note how in Italian the two directions have no article)o torner adAmburgo I shall return to Hamburgo siamo a letto we are in bedo tu vivi aRoma you live in Rome

Da: "Da" means "since", "from" (to come from), "by" (passive) and it's used with location referring to people.

Examples:

o Vivo aFoggia da 16 anni I've lived in Foggia for 16 yearso Vengo daFoggia I come from Foggiao Questo corso stato fatto daDavide This course was made by Davideo Sono daDavide I'm at Davide's

In: "In" usually means "in". Examples:

o Vivo in una bella citt I live in a beautiful city.o ho dieci monete in tasca I have ten coins in my pocketo traverseremo il fiume in barca we will cross the river by boat

Con: "Con" means "with". Examples:

o Sono con te I'm with youo ho comprato il libro con pochi soldi I bought the book with little moneyo il bambino era con un adulto the child was with an adult

Su: "Su" means "on(to)", "over". Examples:

o I libri sono su un banco The books are on a desk.o l'aereo vola suFirenze The plane flies over Florence

Per: "Per" It can translate English for, to, by, or even as, according to the different use. Examples:

o Questo regalo perte This present is for Davideo Ho un bigliettoperil teatro I have a ticket for the theatreo Il pacco perla signora the parcel is for the lady

Tra-fra: "Tra" and "fra" mean "between" or "in" followed by a t ime expression. Examples:

o Sono tra(fra) il tavolo e la sedia I'm between the table and the chairo Vengo a casa tra(fra) due minuti I'd come home in two minuteso l'autobus passerfra(tra) due ore the bus will pass in two hours timeo l'alberofra(tra) le due case alto the tree between the two houses is tall

Italian Pronouns

Personal pronouns are little words that replace persons or things: he, she, they, it, me, her etc. Personal pronouncan play the role of subjects or be in a different role. For instance, in the sentence "I eat a food", "I" is a subject

but in the sentence "That lion wants to eat me", "me" is the object.

Other pronouns (not personal) also replace nouns, with a more specific usage. For instance, this can replace a


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noun, with a meaning similar to it (or he/she), e.g. in the sentence this is good for you.

The types of object pronouns are:

Italian subject pronouns

Italian object pronouns

Italian possessive pronuns

Italian relative pronouns

Subject Pronouns: Subject Pronouns are often omitted, since the verb form indicates the subject:

o Ho freddo I'm coldSince the endings of conjugated verb forms indicate person and number, subject pronouns may be omitted in

Italian except when necessary: (1) for clarity, (2) when modified by anche (also), or (3) when emphasis orcontrast is desired. Examples:

o Io ho freddo I, for my part, am coldo Luidetesta il film He hates the movieo Vorrebbe Leivenire con me? Would you like to come with me?

It and they referring to things are almost never used in Italian and need not be translated. Below you can see atable with subject pronouns:

Persons Singular Plural

1st. person io I noi we

2nd. person familiar tu you voi you

2nd. person polite* Lei you Loro You

3rd. person

lui him loro them

lei her loro themesso it (m.) essi them (m.)

essa it (f.) esse them (f.)

In modern Italian he, she, and they are usually expressed by lui, lei, and loro, respectively. (Egli, ella, essi, and

esse are used more in written Italian than in the spoken language. Esso and essa are seldom used.) Examples:

o Tu ricevi una cartolina You receive a postcardo Io arrivo alle otto I arrive at 8o Lui entra in aula He enters to the classroomo Sono felice We are happy

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between

masculine/feminine and neutre. Neutre gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man; but thisdistinction does not cause any important change, because all other parts of the sentence (nouns, verb inflection

adjectives, etc.) do not have a neutre gender, which is simply handled by using either masculine or feminine.

Object Pronouns: Object Pronouns are either direct or indirect, and cannot stand alone without a verb. Thedirect object receives the action of the verb directly while the indirect object is indirectly affected by it.

y Direct Object Pronounsy Indirect Object Pronouns


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

Direct Object Pronouns

A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nounsIn 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.)

Le You (f.)

3rd. person lo him, it li them (m.)

la her it le them (f.)

These pronouns are used as follows:

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

o Li ho invitati a cena I have invited them to dinnero L'ho veduta ieri I saw her yesterdayo 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.

o Non la mangia He doesnt eat ito Perch non li inviti? Why dont you invite them?

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

o importante mangiarla ogni giorno It is important to eat it every dayo una buonidea invitarli Its a good idea to invite themo Volevo comprarla I wanted to buy it

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

o Dov la signorina? Eccola! Where is the young woman? Here she is!o Hai trovato le chiavi? S, eccole! Have you found the keys? Yes, here they are!

4. The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l'.

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

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).


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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 thesentence, 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 actuallymeans "for her" and is the Indirect Object.

Examples:

Qulacuno mi ha mandato una cartolina dalla SpagnaSomeone (has) sent me a postcard from Spain.

Il professore le ha spiegato il problema

The teacher (has) explained the problem to her.

Gli hai detto di comprare un regalo per sua madre?

Did you tell him/them to buy a present for (his/their) mother.

Voglio telefonargliI want to phone him.

Il signorBrambilla 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


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Le ho regalato un paio di orecchini

I gave her a present of a pair of earrings.

Sentence in Italian

Sentences are made up of one or more clauses. A clause consists of a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a predica

(what is said about the noun or pronoun). The predicate always contains a verb. For example, in the simple

sentence:

Il reama la regina The king loves the queen.

- re is the subject and ama is the predicate.

The Direct Object of a verb is a noun or pronoun which receives its action. In the sentence:

Il reama la regina The king loves the queen.

- "regina" is the Direct Object of the verb.

Some verbs take an Indirect Object. For example, in the sentence:

Il re d un regalo alla regina The king gives a gift to the queen

- "regalo" (gift) is the direct object and"alla regina" (to the queen) is the indirect object.

Types ofSentences:

Declarative sentences are statements; these sentences are sometimes referred to as positive sentences to

distinguish them from negative sentences. Examples:

o Parlo con Andrea Im talking with Andreao I libri sono su un banco The books are on a desko Compra la frutta e la mangia He buys the fruit and eats ito Parlo bene litaliano I speak Italian wello Domenica studio Im studying on Sunday

Negative sentences express a negation. Examples:

o Joselo non voule dormire Joselo doesn't want to sleepo Loro non parlano cinese They don't speakChineseo Non ho paura di chiccessia I'm not afraid of anybody

Interrogative sentences are questions. Examples:

o Che cos la semiotica ? What is semiotics?o Sar grigio e piovoso il mese ? Will the month be dull and rainy?o Sar un esame difficile ? Will it be a difficult exam?o Qual il numero diRoberto ? What is Robertos number?

Negative Sentences


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A negative sentence in Italian us usually made by adding non in front of the verb:Mi piace studiare /Non mi piace

studiare. There are of course other ways of expressing negation, as well. Here is a chart with negative expressions in

English and their Italian equivalent:

Non(Not)

in America non mangiamo i cani

in America we do not eat the dogs

non cambiare una virgola

not to change a single word

Non...mai(Never)

noi non studiamo mai ilgioved sera

we never study the thursday evening

Non...ancora(Not yet)

Non hai ancora un account?Creane uno!

No account yet? Create one!

Non...pi(Not anymore No longer No more)

non ho pi fame

Im not hungry any more

(non ...) n...n(Neither...nor)

N I soldi n ilpotere possono farti felice.

Neither money nor power can make you happy


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n io n lui abbiamo visto quel film

Neither I nor he have seen that film

(non)...neanche, nemmeno, neppure (Not even )

(io) non lo guarder nemmeno

I won't even look at him / it

non.. nessun,nessuno(a) (Not...any Nobody Noone)

(essi) non hanno letto nessun libro

they haven't read any book

quella persona non conosce nessuno

that person doesn't know anybody

non... niente, nulla(Nothing)

in quelcassetto egli non trov niente

in that drawer he didn't find anything

da lontano (essi) non vedranno nulla

from afar they won't see anything

non...affatto / non...mica(Not at all )

non sono affatto innamorata deltuo ragazzo!

I'm not at all in love of your boy!

non sono mica pazza, io non potrei mai innamorarmi dilui!

I'm not crazy at all, I never could fall in love with him.


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Interrogatives in Italian

This is simply obtained by adding a uestion mark at the end of the sentence, while in speech only the inflection

the voice expresses a question.

o hai una penna rossa you have a red peno hai una penna rossa ? do you have a red pen ?o l'albero nel giardino the tree is in the gardeno l'albero nel giardino ? is the tree in the garden ?

In spoken language, the question will be expressed by simply raising the pitch of the voice while approaching tend of the sentence, especially stressing the last one or two words

The only situation in which words change order is when verb essere (to be) introduces a copula, expressing a

quality, a condition, etc. (not a direct object). The verb and the copula go before the rest of the sentence, and thsubject is postponed.

o la penna rossa the pen is redo rossa la penna ? is the pen red ?o la casa era fredda the house was coldo era fredda la casa ? was the house cold ?o il mio gatto nero my cat is blacko nero il mio gatto ? is my cat black ?

However, all of the questions above have implied either a yes or no answer. To ask questions that require more

than a yes or no answer, you generally have to use a question word. Here is a list of some English question wor

and their Italian equivalents:

What-che cosa Why-perch How many-quanti(-e)

Who-chi Which-quale How much-quanto(-a)

When-quando Where-dove

Examples:

o QuandoritornaRoberto ? When is Roberto returning?o Dovestudia ? Where does s/he study?o Cheora ? What time is it?o Acheora la lezione ? At what time is the lesson?o Chi in casa? Who is in the house?o Perchtorni a scuola ? Why do you return to school?o Inqualeuniversit studi ? At which university do you study?o Quantistudenti ci sono in classe ? How many students are there in the classroom?

Che and cosa are abbreviated forms of che cosa. The forms are interchangeable:

o Che cosabevi? What are you drinking?o Chedici? What are you saying?


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o Cosafanno i bambini? What are the children doing?

Italian Subjunctive

The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions, etc. and is used much mo

frequently in Italian. It is mainly used in dependent clauses (sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not

have a complete meaning) that are introduced by che.

The "congiuntivo" is also required with particular expressions such as:

y Impersonal forms necessario che, bisogna che, importante che... tu venga al cinema- it's necessathat, it's important that... you come to the movie

y Comparative clauses il film pi interessante che abbia visto- it is the most interesting movie that Isaw

y Sentences introduced by affinch - perch (so that), tranne che (a part that), a meno che (unless),sebbene - malgrado - nonostante (altough),purch - a patto che (provided that), come se (as if)

y Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns qualsiasi - qualunque (any), chiunque (whoeverdovunque (anywhere)

y Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns niente che - nulla che (nothing that), nessuno ch(nobody that), l'unico/a che - il solo/a che (the only one that)

Italian subjunctive has four forms. The two first ones (Present and Imperfect Subjunctive) are simple tenses,

with their own inflections:

y Present Subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)y Imperfect Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Imperfetto)

And the last compound tenses (congiuntivo passato and congiuntivo trapassato) are made in the same way as th

indicative ones (auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb), though the two auxiliaries essere and avere usubjunctive inflections.

y Perfect (Past) Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Passato)y Pluperfect (Congiuntivo trapassato)

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

ARE ending ERE ending 1st. IRE 2nd. IRE

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.

-i -iamo -a -iamo -a -iamo -isca -iamo

-i -iate -a -iate -a -iate -isca -iate

-i -ino -a -ano -a -ano -isca -iscano


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In the other hand, most irregular verbs that change stem in the present conjugation change stem in the "congiuntivo".

The table below provides examples of three regular verbs conjugated in the present subjunctive tense.

Che+Pronoun -ARE Verb -ERE Verb -IRE Verbs

che io parli scriva senta capisca

che tu parli scriva senta capiscache lui/lei/Lei parli scriva senta capisca

che noi parliamo scriviamo sentiamo capiamoche voi parliate scriviate sentiate capiate

che loro/Loro parlino scrivano sentano capiscano

Typical phrases that call for the subjunctive tense include:

Credo che...

(I believe that...)

Non suggerisco che...

(I'm not suggesting that...)

Suppongo che...

(I suppose that...)

Pu darsi che...

(It's possible that...)

Immagino che...

(I imagine that...)

Penso che...

(I think that...)

necessario che...

(It is necessary that...)

Non sono certo che...

(I'm not sure that...)

Mi piace che...

(I'd like that...)

probabile che...

(It is probable that...)

Non vale la pena che...

(It's not worth it that...)

Ho l'impressione che...

(I have the impression that...)

Examples:

Ho paura che sia troppo tardi I am afraid it may be too late

Credo che lavino ilcane molto spesso

I think that they wash the dog very often Desidero che venga con me I want her to come with me

Spero che prenda la giusta decisione

I hope that he / she takes (=will take) the right decision

Penso che dorma I think he's sleeping

Che abbia venduto la macchina? I wonder if he sold his car

Imperfect Subjunctive


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Is used when the action expressed in a conditional sentence is not sure: if I came...; in the case you went...; should he

call...; etc. This subjunctive is formed by adding personal endings to the imperfect stem.

For conjugations of regular verbs, the endings are identical for all three conjugations:

1st. CONJUGATION 2nd. CONJUGATION 3rd. CONJUGATION

Che +

Parlare

To Speak

Vendere

To Sell

Dormire

To Sleep

Pronoun parla- vende- dormi-

che io parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssi

che tu parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssi

che lei parla-sse vende-sse dormi-sse

che noi parla-ssimo vende-ssimo dormi-ssimo

che voi parla-ste vende-ste dormi-ste

che loro parla-ssero vende-ssero dormi-ssero

Examples:

Credevo che avessero ragione I thought they were right

Non era probabile che prendessimo una decisione

It wasn't likely we would make a decision Non c'era nessuno che ci capisse

There was noone who understood us

Ilrazzismo era ilpeggior problema che ci fosse

Racism was the worst problem there was.

Perfect Subjunctive

The Perfect subjunctive or past subjunctive ("congiuntivo passato"), is a "compound tense"

(like the "passato prossimo") because it is formed with the present subjunctive of an auxiliaryverbs ("essere"or"avere") plus the past participle of a verb.

Whether it requires "essere"or "avere", depends on the verb. If the verb is a transitive verb,

it requires the auxiliary "avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express

movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it requires the auxiliary"essere".

Personal

Pronoun

Auxiliar

"avere"Past Particip

Documents

Italian Language Guide