72269523 italian language grammar

7/31/2019 72269523 Italian Language Grammar

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Italian Language Grammar

ITALIAN ARTICLESIn 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) of the noun.

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

il professore the teacher. il telefono the phone. il vecchio zio the old uncle.

la is the definite article that corresponds to feminine nouns. Examples:

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

When using nouns, you must make sure that you use the correct gender and number when using an

identifier. The identifiers are il, lo, la, i, gli, le, un, uno and una. Il, lo and la are singular definite

articles, which means you are talking about a specific thing. Examples:

La sedia the chair (you are talking about a specific chair) Il telefono verde The telephone is green. 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", use una, 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 articles when you are talking about several specific members of a group. There are no plural

forms of uno and una, and to translate "some" when used in sentences, one must use indeterminate

pronouns. Examples

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

In Italian, larticolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter ofnoun or adjective it precedes. There are some guidelines that help you to determine what article to use.


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For singular nouns:

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

la-LA: is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant l-L: This is the elision of lo or la is used before masculine or femenine nouns beginning with a v

Examples:

o zucchero the sugar il vecchio zio the old unclelo zio the uncle l'impatto the impact (masculine)il castello the castle l'acqua the water (feminine)la scatola the box

For plural nouns:

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

i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previou 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

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used withsingular 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 understand the use of these articles:

uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.

un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you have to use

"UNO"

una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.

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

Examples:


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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.

ITALIAN NOUNS

Noun (nome) is a person, place, or thing. Nouns have endings that change depending on the genderand number. So, the ending of an Italian noun reveals its gender (masculine or feminine) and number

(singular or plural).

Singular Plural

MASC.il piatto bianco (the white plate)il cane grande (the large dog)

i piatti bianchi (the white plates)i cani grandi (the large dogs)

FEM.la pizza calda (hot pizza)la carne tenera (tender meat)

le pizze calde (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.

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 -o, while feminine nouns end in a(-t).

Masculine FeminineTavolo (table) Casa (house)

Sviluppo (development) Rosa (rouse)

Organismo (organism) Citt (city)

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

un treno e una bicicletta A train and a bicycleun aeroplano e unautomobile An airplane and a caruno stadio e una stazione One(an) stage and one(a) station


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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 nunfratello 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:

o Artista artisto Giornalista journalisto Pianista pianisto Turista tourist etc

Some other nouns, like:

camerata comrade consorte consort


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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 fused 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 fobecomes "the old houses", only the noun changes, while in Italian also the article and the adjective wouldturned in plural form.

Number Inflections for Nouns: There are many rules to obtain the plural of italian nouns; but, generallyplural is derived according to the following rules:

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

For masculine nouns

Singular Plural English

fratello fratelli brotherslibro libri booksnonno nonni grandfather ragazzo ragazzi boysFor Femenine nouns


casa case housespenna penne penspizza pizze pizzasragazza ragazze girls

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


bicchiere bicchieri (wine) glasschiave chiavi keysfiume fiumi riversfrase frasi phrases

As a particular case, we have the words ending with co, ca, go, ga; these nouns and adjectives ad


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their plural form. Examples:


buco buchi holesfico fichi figs

chirurgo chirurghi surgeonsmucca mucche cows However, when the vowel that comes before co or go is i (i.e. ... ico, ...igo), in most cases the mas

plural drops the h, thus becoming ...-ci or ...-gi (English sound ...chyh or ...jyh). Examples:


amico amici friendsnemico nemici enemiestecnico tecnici technicalcomico comici comical - comedians

Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant (such as words of foreign origin) do not cha

the plural, nor do the abbreviated words.

Singular In plural would be... English

caff due caff Two coffeesfilm due film Two filmsfoto due foto Two photos

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


il trib i trib the tribes

la citt le citt the citiesl'analisi gli analisi the analyses

Note: Adjectives follow the same two patterns as nouns

ITALIAN PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns are little words that replace persons or things: he, she, they, it, me, her etc.

Personal pronouns can 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 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:


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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 cold

Since 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 or contrast 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 a table with subject pronouns:

Persons Singular Plural

1st. person io I noi we2nd. person familiar tu you voi you2nd. person polite* Lei you Loro You

3rd. person

lui him loro themlei 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 areseldom 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 this distinction does not cause any important change, because all other parts of the sentence

(nouns, verb inflections, 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. The direct object receives the action of the verb directly while the indirect object is indirectly

affected by it.

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/pronouns/direct-object.asphttp://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/pronouns/indirect-object.asphttp://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/pronouns/indirect-object.asphttp://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/pronouns/direct-object.asp


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

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNSA 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 us2nd. person familiar ti you vi you2nd. 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.


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INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNSWhile 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 Pluralmi (to/for) me ci (to/for) usti (to/for) you (informal) vi (to/for) you (informal)gli (to/for) him, it loro (to/for) them (m. & f.)le (to/for) her, itLe (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.

Gli hai detto di comprare un regalo per sua madre? Did you tell him/them to buy a present for (his/their) mother.

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?


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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.

ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS

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

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used togetherdefinite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they afollowed (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, sincein in con with tra, fra betweensu on per 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 of Paul")o la madre diRoberto Robert's mothero 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 cha"ad". Examples:

o regalo il libro a Stefania I give the book to Stephanieo vender la bicicletta a Carlo 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 Hamburg


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

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

o Vivo a Foggia da 16 anni I've lived in Foggia for 16 yearso Vengo da Foggia I come from Foggiao Questo corso stato fatto da Davide This course was made by Davideo Sono da Davide 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 su Firenze 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 time 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 time

o l'alberofra(tra) le due case alto the tree between the two houses is tall

ITALIAN VERBS


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A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to gor 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 tenaspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its argumen

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

parlareto

speakscrivere

to

writedormire

to

sleepfinire

to

finish

cantareto

singvedere

to

seepartire

to

leavecolpire

to

hit

lavorareto

workvendere

to

sellaprire

to

opencostruire

to

build

amareto

lovevivere

to

liveservire

to

servesparire

to

disappea

The features of the verbs are:

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 femi

The Manner:(indicates how the action happens)In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicacongiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitivegerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

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

The Form: (indicates the kind of action)

In Italian the form can be active transitive, active intransitive, reflexive and passive.


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

ACTIVE & PASSIVE VOICESIn passive sentences, the subject receives the action of the verb. In active sentences, the subject does theHowever, the meaning of both sentences is the same. The passive form is only possible with transitive vis 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)contractions. 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 contrattoPassive. I contratti sono firmati dalle ragazze. The contracts are signed by the girls.

Active. Carlo arreda la stanzaPassive. 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 by my parents.

ITALIAN ADJETIVES

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

after the noun they modify, and with which they agree in gender and number. As a difference with

English, adjectives may be placed both before or after the noun.

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


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

La macchina rossa the red car Le macchine rosse the red cars Il divano rosso the red sofa I divani rossi the red sofas

Endings for adjectives:

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

number.

Gender & numberAdjective

ending

masculine singular -omasculine plural -afeminine singular -ifeminine 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 newfreddo cold pieno fullstretto narrow timido timid, shy

Exampes:

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)

- 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:

Il libro verde the green book La porta verde the green door I libri verdi the green books Le porte verdi the green doors

There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectivesthat end in -io (with the stress falling on that i) form the plural with the ending


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-ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii;zio/zii. The table below contains a chart of other irregularadjective 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:

pacifico pacific (m) pacificipacific pacifica pacific (f) pacifiche pacific largo large (m) larghilarge

larga large (f) larghe large vecchio old (m) vecchiold vecchia old (f) vecchie old bianco white (m) bianchiwhite 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 ADVERBSAn adverb (avverbio) is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb canbe compared 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 often answer 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

felice (happy) felice (happy) felicemente(happily)


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vero (true) vera (true) veramente(truly)lento (slow) lenta (slow) lentamente(slowly)stanco (tired) stanca (tired) stancamente(tiredly)

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 alreadyattorno around, about inoltre moreoverbene well insieme together

contro against male badlydentro in, inside (non)...mai neverdietro behind of (non)...pi not anymoredopo then, afterwards oltre beyondfuori 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 ancora finito i miei compiti I still hadn't finished my homework.

AUXILIARY VERBS IN ITALIAN


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"Essere"(to be) and "Avere"(to have) are called auxiliary verbs; they are called so because they helpin the formation ofcompound tenses("essere"+ the past participle of a verb, "avere"+ the pastparticiple 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:

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

form Progresive 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). Thethree compound tenses are:

English tense Italian Tense English Italian

Recent Past Passato Prossimo have done ho fattoRecent Pluperfect Trapassato Prossimo had done(*) avevo fattoRemote Pluperfect Trapassato Remoto had done ebbi fattoFuture

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) use avere Intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take a direct object), verbs of motion, and reflexive

verbs (even if those verbs are based on transitive verbs) take essere

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

separate tenses in Italian though not in English.


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he compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as thepassatoprossimo (present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs incompound tense formations. For example: 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 acompound tense (tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past orthat occurred long ago but still has ties to the present. Examples:

Ho appena chiamato I just called Mi sono iscritto all'universit quattro anni fa I entered the university four years ago Questa mattina sono uscito presto This morning I left early Il Petrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets

Future perfect: The futuro anteriore or future perfect tense is a compound tense. How to express theidea of "I will have" or "they will have"? Use future perfect tense. Examples:

Alle sette avremo gi mangiato By seven we'll already have eaten 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 the auxiliary "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.

Gi erano partiti quando sono arrivato They had already left when I arrived Avevo chiuso le finestre quando cominciato a piovere I had shut the windows when it

started to rain

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 auxiliaryverb avere or essere and thepast participle of the acting verb.

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

CONJUGATINGAVEREIN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I (io) ebbi (noi) avemmoII (tu) avesti (voi) avesteIII (lui, lei, Lei) ebbe (loro, Loro) ebbero

CONJUGATINGESSEREIN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I (io) fui (noi) fummoII (tu) fosti (voi) fosteIII (lui, lei, Lei) fu (loro, Loro) furono

Examples:


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

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

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, or ire and are referred to as first,

second, or third 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.

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

aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its argumenwe 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

parlareto

speakscrivere

to

writedormire

to

sleepfinire

to

finish

cantare to vedere to partire to colpire to


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sing see leave hit

lavorareto

workvendere

to

sellaprire

to

opencostruire

to

build

amareto

lovevivere

to

liveservire

to

servesparire

to

disappea

The features of the verbs are:

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 femi

The Manner:(indicates how the action happens)In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicacongiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitivegerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

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

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.

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) andCapire (to understand).

The last one has a different conjugation in present tense, as you can see in the first table, but is aregular verb as well.

SIMPLE TENSE CONJUGATION

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

Present Tense:

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capireio (I) parlo Scrivo dormo capiscotu (You) parli scrivi dormi capiscilui / lei (He, She, It) parla scrive dorme capiscenoi (We) parliamo scriviamo dormiamo capiamovoi (You) parlate scrivete dormite capiteloro (They) parlano scrivono dormono capisc


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Imperfect Tense (Imperfetto):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) Parlavo scrivevo dormivo capivotu (You) arlavi scrivevi dormivi capivi

lui / lei (He, She, It) Parlava scriveva dormiva capivanoi (We) Parlavamo scrivevamo dormivamo capivamovoi (You) Parlavate scrivevate dormivate capivateloro (They) Parlavano scrivevano dormivano capivano

Future Tense (Futuro semplice):


io (I) parler scriver dormir capirtu (You) parlerai scriverai dormirai capirailui / lei parler scriver dormir capirnoi (We) parleremo scriveremo dormiremo capiremovoi (You) parlerete scriverete dormiete capireteloro (They) parleranno scriveranno dormiranno capiranno

Simple Past Tense (Passato remoto):


io (I) parlai scrissi dormii capiitu (You) parlasti scrivesti dormisti capistilui / lei (He, She, It) parl scrisse dorm cap

noi (We) parlammo scrivemmo dormimmo capimmovoi (You) parlaste scriveste dormiste capisteloro (They) parlarono scrissero dormirono capirono

COMPOUND TENSECONJUGATION

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


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lui / lei (He, She, It) ha Parlato ha scritto ha dormito ha capitonoi (We) abbiamo parlato abbiamo scritto abbiamo dormito abbiamo capvoi (You) avete parlato avete scritto avete dormito avete capitoloro (They) hanno parlato hanno scritto hanno dormito hanno capito

Plusperfect - Past perfect (Trapassato prossimo):

Personal pronounParlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) avevo parlato avevo scritto avevo dormito avevo capitotu (You) avevi parlato avevi scritto avevi dormito avevi capitolui / lei(He, She, It)

aveva parlato aveva scritto aveva dormito aveva capito

noi (We) avevamo parlato avevamo scritto avevamo dormito avevamo capvoi (You) avevate parlato avevate scritto avevate dormito avevate capiloro (They) avevano parlato avevano scritto avevano dormito avevano cap

Future Perfect (Futuro anteriore):


io (I) avr parlato avr scritto avr dormito avr captu (You) avrai parlato avrai scritto avrai dormito avrai caplui / lei(He, She, It)

avr parlato avr scritto avr dormito avr capi

noi (We) avremo parlato avremo scritto avremo dormito avremo cvoi (You) avrete parlato avrete scritto avrete dormito avrete ca

loro (They) avranno parlato avranno scritto avranno dormito avranno

Preterite perfect (Trapassato remoto):


io (I) ebbi parlato ebbi scritto ebbi dormito ebbi capitu (You) avesti parlato avesti scritto avesti dormito avesti calui / lei(He, She, It)

ebbe parlato ebbe scritto ebbe dormito ebbe cap

noi (We) avemmo parlato avemmo scritto avemmo dormito avemmo

voi (You) aveste parlato aveste scritto aveste dormito aveste caloro (They) ebbero parlato ebbero scritto ebbero dormito ebbero c

Conjugation of irregular verbs: While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the most

commonly used ones are irregular; they do not follow the regular pattern of conjugation (infinitive

stem + endings). In particular, the auxiliary verbs essere andavere, and the common modalverbspotere (ability, to be able to), dovere (duty, to have to), stare (to stand, to be in a particularstate), sapere (to know), and volere (to want to) are all irregular.


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IRREGULAR VERBS

CONJUGATION Essere (To be - an auxiliary)

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

io sono fui ero sartu sei fosti eri saraiegli fu era sarnoi siamo fummo eravamo saremovoi siete foste eravate sarete

essi sono furono erano saranno

Avere (To have - an auxiliary)


io ho ebbi avevo avrtu hai avesti avevi avraiegli ha ebbe aveva avrnoi abbiamo avemmo avevamo avremo

voi avete aveste avevate avreteessi hanno ebbero avevano avranno

Potere (To be able to - a modal)


io posso potei potevo potrtu puoi potesti potevi potraiegli pu pot poteva potr

noi possiamo potemmo potevamo potremovoi potete poteste potevate potreteessi possono poterono potevano potranno

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


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io devo dovei dovevo dovrtu devi dovesti dovevi dovraiegli deve dov doveva dovrnoi dobbiamo dovemmo dovevamo dovremo

voi dovete doveste dovevate dovreteessi devono doverono dovevano dovranno

ITALIAN CONJUNCTION

Conjunctions (le congiunzioni) join words and sentences together. Some of them are simple andcommon and don't cause any trouble--such as "e" and "o." Some other, longer ones require the use of

the subjunctive. 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

- nel caso 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 are 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 yesaffinch so that, in order that yesperch (with sub) so that, in order that yes

in modo che so that, in order that yesbench although yesmalgrado although yessebbene although yesquantunque although yesprima che before yespurch provided that yesa patto che provided that yes
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/subjunctive/http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/subjunctive/


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a condizione che provided that yessenza che without yesanche se even if nodopo che after nodunque therefore no

perch (w/out sub) because noperci for this reason, therfore noper however nopoiche since, seeing that noquindi therefore, consequently nosiccome as, since no

ITALIAN SUBJUNCTIVE

The 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 are introduced by che.

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

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

Comparative clauses il film pi interessante che abbia visto - it is the most interestingmovie that I saw

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

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

Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns niente che - nulla che(nothingthat), 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:

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


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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 capiscache lui/lei/Lei parli scriva senta capiscache noi parliamo scriviamo sentiamo capiamoche 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 il cane 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.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. CONJUGATChe +

Parlare

To SpeakVendere

To SellDormire

To SleepPronoun parla- vende- dormi-che io parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssiche tu parla-ssi vende-ssi dormi-ssiche lei parla-sse vende-sse dormi-sseche noi parla-ssimo vende-ssimo dormi-ssimoche voi parla-ste vende-ste dormi-steche 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 no one who understood us Il razzismo era il peggior problema che ci fosse

Racism was the worst problem there was.

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 the main verb), though the twoauxiliaries essere and avere use subjunctive inflections.

PERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE

The Perfect subjunctive or past subjunctive ("congiuntivo passato"), is a "compoundtense" (like the "passato prossimo") because 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 transitiveverb, it requires the auxiliary "avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs thatexpress movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it requires theauxiliary"essere".

Personal Auxiliar Past English


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Pronoun "avere" Participle

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 spoke

voi abbiate parlato you have spoken, you spokeloro abbiano parlato they have spoken, they spoke

Personal

Pronoun

Auxiliar

"essere"

Past

ParticipleEnglish

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"(tolive) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere"("ho dormito, ho risposto, hoviaggiato, ho vissuto...")

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

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere"(to be), "stare"(tostay), "rimanere"(to remain), "nascere"(to be born)... 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 perfect subjunctive in English), which is a compound tense. Form this tense with the congiuntivo imperf


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

AVERE ESSEREPron. Mangiare Leggere Andare Venire

io avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/atu avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/alui avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato fosse venutolei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andata fosse venutaLei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato/a fosse venuto/anoi avessimo mangiato avessimo letto fossimo andati/e fossimo venuti/voi aveste mangiato aveste letto foste andati/e foste venuti/eloro 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" travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("avessi dormito, avessi rispostviaggiato, avessi vissuto...")

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

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

Examples:

Speravo che avessero capito I was hoping they had understood

Avevo paura che non avessero risolto quel problema 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


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ITALIAN DEFINITE ARTICLES

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

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

For singular nouns:

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

Examples:

o zucchero the sugar il vecchio zio the old unclelo zio the uncle l'impatto the impact (masculine)il castello the castle l'acqua the water (feminine)la scatola the box

For plural nouns:

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

i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previou 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

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES

When demonstrative pronouns questo (questa, questi, queste) and quello (quella, quelli, quelle) are follonoun, they turn into adjectives.

The Demonstrative adjective (aggetivi dimostrativi) are:

Singolare Singular Plurale PlurMasculine questo this questi theFeminine questa this queste the


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Masculine quello that quelli thoFeminine quella that quelle thoMasculine codesto that codesti thoFeminine codesta that codeste tho

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

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

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:

Questo libro this book Quella casa that house

More examples:

Quel film che ti ho raccomandato si chiama "La vita bella".

The movie that I recommended to you is called "The life is beauty"

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

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, the adjectives and the pronouns for the demonstratives have the same form. The

Demonstrative Pronouns are:

Singolare Singular Plurale PluralMasc. questo this / this one questi these / these ones


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Fem. questa this / this one queste these / these onesMasc. quello that / that one quelli those / those onesFem. 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 (as in 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 one

o (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

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 friendsl'amico the friend gli amici the friendsun' amica a friend (f) delle amiche friendsl'amica the friend le amiche the friends

un ragazzo a boy dei ragazzi boysil ragazzo the boy i ragazzi the boysuna ragazza a girl delle ragazze girlsla ragazza the girl le ragazze the girlsuno stato a state (m) dei stati states


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lo stato the state gli stati the statesuno zingaro a gypsy (m) dei zingari gypsieslo 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.

Examples:

Singular Plural

il mio amico my friend (male) i miei amici my friends (males)il nostro 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 examples of this topic.

Examples:

Singular Plural

questo libro this book questi libri these booksquel libro that book quei libri those booksquello studente that student quelli studenti those books

quella donna that woman quelle donne those women

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES

Possessive adjectives are those that indicate possession or ownership. They correspondto the English "my", "your", "his", "her", "its", "our", and "their".The Italianpossessive adjectives are also preceded by definite articles and agree in gender andnumber with the noun possessed, not with the possessor.

Possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi) and Possessive pronouns (pronomipossessivi) are usually compound forms which include a definite article that is nottranslated into English. Also, they are identical in form; the difference is in meaning.Where the possessive adjective "il mio"means "my," for example, the possessivepronoun "il mio"means "mine": "le tue scarpe e le mie" your shoes and mine.

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

o i mieiamici my friends.o la loro automobile their car.

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

Possess.

Adjective

Masculine

Singular

Feminine

Singular

Masculine

Plural

Feminine

Plural

Possess.

Pronoun

my il mio la mia i miei le mie mineyour (fam.) il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue yoursyour (pol.) il Suo la Sua i Suoi le Sue yourshis, her , its il suo la sua i suoi le sue hers,his, itsour il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre ours

your (fam.) il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre yoursyour (pol.) il Loro la Loro i Loro le Loro yourstheir il loro la loro i loro le loro theirs

Yo can see that mio, tuo andsuo behave like normal adjectives except in the masculineplural. Also, loro does not make any changes at all, it is invariable. Examples:

o la mia automobile veloce my car is fast (here my acts as an adjective forthe 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 mouse

o 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 inEnglish:

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 possessivepronoun matches the possessor, in Italian it matches the possessed subject:

o mio padre ha una bicicletta my father has a bycicle


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la sua bicicletta (sua matches bicicletta, feminine) his bycicle (his matchesfather, masculine)

o mia madre ha un cane my mother has a dog

il suo cane (suo matches cane, masculine) her dog (her matches mother,feminine)

ITALIAN EXCLAMATION

The exclamation "What...!" is expressed in Italian with the help of the word che. These phrases willsurely prove to 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

always necessary. The more usually exclamation pronouns are:

che...!

how...!

quanto...!

how...! how much...!

quanti...!

how many...!

Examples:

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":

Mamma mia!(My goodness!)Italians use Mamma mia! (mahm-mah mee-ah) to express surprise, impatience, happiness,sorrowany strong emotion.

Che bello!(How lovely!)

Che bello! (keh behl-loh) is used when you're enthusiastic about something. Uffa!(Aargh!)

Uffa! (oof-fah) is a clear way to show that you're annoyed, bored, angry, or fed up. Che ne so!(How should I know?)

When Italians want to say that they have no idea, they shrug their shoulders and say Che neso! (keh neh soh).

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


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

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 Nonte la prendere! (nohn teh lah prehn-deh-reh).

Che macello!(What a mess!)

Figuring out the derivation ofChe macello! (keh mah-chehl-loh) isn't difficult. The literaltranslation is "What a slaughterhouse!"

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 thatyou don't want to do something.

Mi raccomando!(Please, I beg you!)With Mi 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 GERUNDThis is equivalent to the English present participle i.e. the part of the verb ending in -ing, likethinking, running, talking, going etc.

The Adverbial Present Participle or gerund ("gerundio") is formed by adding a suffix to the verbstem:

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. 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, anddo not agree in gender or number with the subject of the verb.

The Adverbial Present Participle (Gerundio perfetto) is formed with the adverbial presentparticiple of the auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb: "avendo parlato"(having


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

The Italian name "gerundio"has led to the use of the English word "gerund" to denote adverbialparticiples. This is misleading, since the English gerund is a verbal noun ("Walking is goodexercise"). It is best for English--speaking students to avoid using the 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 theplural: "l'uomo dormente"(the sleeping man); "le lezione seguenti" (the following lessons).

ITALIAN INDEFINITEARTICLES

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used withsingular 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 understand the use of these articles:

uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.

un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you have to use

"UNO"

una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.

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

Examples:

un treno e una bicicletta A train and a bicycleun aeroplano e unautomobile An airplane and a caruno stadio e una stazione One(an) stage and one(a) station


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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.

TALIAN INTERJECTIONAn interjection is a word or expression often given increased emotive value in the stream ofspeech.

Although a interjeccin can form a complete sentence (that is to say, expressing a thought withno need of a subject and a verb), one can often also be inserted within an sentence, separatedgenerally by commas of the rest of the sentence. Interjections are rarely used in formal orbusiness writing. In print interjection is usually followed by an exclamation mark or a comma:

suvvia! = C'mon! aiuto! = help! hey! = hey! oh! = wow! ahi! = ouch! 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!

ITALIAN INTONATION

You love those melodious sounds at the opera, and listening to the voices of those Italian stars in

foreign films is an aural 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. When the final -e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they

are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.


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Following the above rule, dottore(doctor) becomes dottor Nardi/Doctor Nardiandprofessore (professor) becomesprofessor Pace/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).

ITALIAN ONOMATOPOEIA

Bang! boom! pop! splat! thump! goosh! boing! sss!. As you say these words, you can hear each ofthese different sounds that objects make, and there are lots more of them. That's onomatopoeia,

using speech sounds to mimic sounds we hear around us.

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

Animal name Sound name OnomatopoeiaLe api (bees) ronzano (buz) zzzzzzGli 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 ORTHOGRAPHICACCENT


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This part is not really fundamental for a beginner, who might want to skip it. However, some readers maynoticed that in most cases the accented vowels bear a grave accent, i.e. slanted leftwards (perci, sar), wfew 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)

It has already been said that when the accent is carried by the last syllable, an accented vowel has to be uSince most vowels only take the grave accent, this is the only one that can be used:

andr he/she will go luned mondayl there fin it finished

fal great fire, pire laggi down there, over thereper but pi more - plu

Only the vowel e can take two different accents; according to the word, either one or the other should be These are examples of words whose final e bears a grave accent ("wide" sound):

he/she/itcaff coffee or coffee-barfrapp milk shake

In other words, instead, the final e bears the acute accent ("narrow" sound):perch why, becausen not, nor, neithers self, one's self

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

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

SENTENCE IN ITALIAN


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

and a predicate (what is said about the noun or pronoun). The predicate always contains a verb. For

example, in the simple sentence:

Il re ama 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 re ama 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 of Sentences:

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 speak Chineseo 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 di Roberto ? 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 chartwith negative expressions in English and their Italian equivalent:

Non (Not)

in America non mangiamo i cani in America we do not eat the dogsnon cambiare una virgola not to change a single wordNon...mai(Never)

noi non studiamo mai il gioved sera

we never study the thursday eveningNon...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 il potere possono farti felice. Neither money nor power can make you happyn 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 / itnon.. nessun,nessuno(a) (Not...any Nobody No one)

(essi) non hanno letto nessun libro they haven't read any bookquella persona non conosce nessuno

that person doesn't know anybodynon... niente, nulla (Nothing)


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in quel cassetto egli non trov niente

in that drawer he didn't find anythingda lontano (essi) non vedranno nulla from afar they won't see anything

non...affatto / non...mica (Not at all )non sono affatto innamorata del tuo ragazzo!

I'm not at all in love of your boy!non sono mica pazza, io non potrei mai innamorarmi di lui!

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

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

inflection of the voice expresses a question.

o hai una penna rossa you have a red pen

o 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 the end 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 the subject 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 words 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 Quandoritorna Roberto ? When is Roberto returning?


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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?o Cosafanno i bambini? What are the children doing?

COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS

Coordinate conjunctions (e, ma, and o) join units that are equal grammatically (fill the sameposition in the sentence) or join two clauses of the same type:

o Scivol e cadde sul pavimento.

He slipped and fell on the floor. (E joins two verbs)o Si muoveva velocemente ma silenziosamente.

He moved quickly but quietly. (Ma joins two adverbs)o Possiamo andare attraverso il fiume o attraverso i boschi.

We can go over the river or through the woods. (O joins two adverbial phrases)o Ieri sera and a casa e trov le finestre rotte.

She went home last night and found the windows broken. (E joins two clauses)

The conjunctions: entrambi / e(Both / and), non solo / ma anche (Not only / but also),sia /che (Either / or) and n / n (Neither / nor); serve to intensify the coordination. Examples:

o Entrambi Maria ed io andremo alla festa.

Both Maria and I will go to the party

o Non solo diede regali a tutti noi, ma anche ci invit alla festa. She not only gave all of us presents, but she also invited us to the party

o N I soldi n il potere possono farti felice.

Neither money nor power can make you happy

o Sia mio marito che io possiamo portarti a casa.

Either my husband or I can drive you home


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SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS

Subordinate conjunctions join elements of unequal rank, establishing a relation of subordination

between two phrases or clauses. Following is the list of commonly used subordinate conjunctions:

perch because sebbene althoughquando when a condizione che at the condition thatmentre while a meno che unlessappena che as soon as dopo che after thatuna volta che once (that) before that prima checome as fino a che untilse if

Examples:

o Non lo vide dopo che lui ebbe lasciato la citt. She never saw him after he left the town

o Prese la multa perch guidava troppo veloce. He got a ticket because he was speeding

o Una volta che hai lavato lauto asciugala bene. Once you have washed the car, dry it very well

o Si ammal gravemente da quando ebbe l'incidente. She became very ill, since she had her accident

o Non va mai ai festini, a meno che sua moglie non vada con lui. He never goes to parties unless his wife comes with him

o Aspetteremo dentro fino a che la smette di piovere. We will wait inside until the rain stops

ITALIAN VERB TENSES

Italian verbs are complex to English speakers, only because of the number of distinct forms eachverb can have. The complexity comes with the number of tenses and persons.

There is no gender distinction in Italian verbs (unlike nouns, which have two genders). However,there are six personal forms per tense (three persons: first, second, third; and two numbers:singular, plural).

There is two verb tenses:

Simple tenses:The simple tenses are verb tenses that consist of one word only, such as the

present tense.
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Compound tenses:The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist oftwo words, such as the passato prossimo (present perfect).

The conjugated forms of verbs agree with the person and number of the subject. There are two

numbers (singular and plural) and three persons. First person is the speaker; second person is the

one spoken to; third person is the one spoken about. For example, for the present tense:

Persons Singular Plural1st. Person io parlo I speak noi parliamo we speak2nd. Person tu parli you speak voi parlate you speak3rd. Person lei parla she speaks loro parlano they speak

ITALIAN SIMPLE TENSES

The simple tenses are verb tenses that consist of one word only, such as the present tense.

There are four simple tenses:

Present tense: The Italian present tense (presente) is happening right now. It's a simple tense

that is, the verb form consists of one word only. Examples: regalo il libro a Stefania I give the book to Stephanie i due ragazzi sono di Berlino the two boys are from Berlin scrivo con una penna I write with a pen ho un biglietto per il teatro I have a ticket for the theatre

Imperfect tense: The imperfect is much more frequently used in Italian than in English. Itexpresses the English "used to" and is used to describe actions or conditions that lasted anindefinite time in the past. It's also used to express an habitual action in the past and to describetime, age, and weather in the past. Examples:

Giocavo a calcio ogni pomeriggio I played soccer every afternoon Sempre credevano tutto They always believed everything Volevamo andare in Italia We wanted to go to Italy Il cielo era sempre blu The sky was always blue
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Simple Past tense: Or remote past tense (passato remoto); is a simple tense and is formed byone word. In general, it refers to the historical past or to events that have happened in the distantpast relative to the speaker.

Dante si rifugi a Ravenna Dante took refuge in Ravenna

Petrarca mor nel 1374 Petrarca died in 1374 Michelangelo nacque nel 1475 Michelangelo was born in 1475

Future tense: The future tense in Italian expresses an action that will take place in the future.Although in English the future is expressed with the helping verb "will" or the phrase "to begoing to," in Italian a verb ending marks it as being set in the future tense.

Alla fine di settembre partir per Roma At the end of September I will leave for Rome Che sar, sar what will be, will be!

ITALIAN COMPOUND TENSES

The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as thepassatoprossimo (present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs incompound tense formations. For example: 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 tense (tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past orthat occurred long ago but still has ties to the present. Examples:

Ho appena chiamato I just called Mi sono iscritto all'universit quattro anni fa I entered the university four years ago Questa mattina sono uscito presto This morning I left early Il Petrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets

Future perfect: The futuro anteriore or future perfect tense is a compound tense. How to express theidea of "I will have" or "they will have"? Use future perfect tense. Examples:

Alle sette avremo gi mangiato By seven we'll already have eaten 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 the auxiliary "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.

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