I NOMI

Nouns (and how to make them plural)

Italian nouns are divided into two genders: masculine and feminine.

Italian nouns end in 3 possible ways:

-A    like pizza, pasta, casa

-O    like bambino, minuto, disegno

-E    like ristorante, studente, ospedale

Words borrowed from another language like sport, weekend, jogging, film are masculine and have no plural form.

1. Nouns which end in -A are nearly always feminine; to make them plural change -A to -E: e.g.casa = house ; houses = casepizza = pizza ; pizzas = pizzeporta = door ; doors = porte

2. Nouns which end in -O are nearly always masculine; to make them plural change -O to -I: e.g.ragazzo = boy ; boys = ragazzigelato = ice cream ; ice creams = gelatitempo = time ; times = tempi

3. Nouns which end in -E can be either masculine or feminine and you have to learn the gender when you learn the word; to make these nouns plural change -E to -I :e.g.ristorante = restaurant ; restaurants = ristorantinotte = night ; nights = nottistudente = student ; students = studenti

Notes:1. Many nouns in Italian end in -ità (note the grave accent on the final -a). These nouns do not have a plural form. Nor does the noun città (city).

2. Look at these two masculine nouns: zio (plural zii) and occhio (plural occhi). You will only find two 'i's if the 'i' in the singular carries the stress of the word.

3. Spelling: Nouns ending in -ca and -ga are spelt -che and -ghe in the plural: e.g.

banca = bank ; banks = bancheriga = line ; lines = righe

Nouns ending in -co and -go are spelt -chi and -ghi in the plural: e.g.

fico = fig ; figs = fichifungo = mushroom ; mushrooms = funghi

Exercise 1: Turn all the nouns below into the plural. (This is not an interactive exercise; you'll have to use paper and check your answers)

porta ; finestra ; gatto ; cane ; ombrello ; ospedale ; cerimonia ; opportunità ; film ; posto ; lago ; unione ; spiaggia ; giacca ; albergo ; sbaglio ; sacco ; università ; sport ; città.

To check your answers click here.

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N.B. THIS IS NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE SET OF RULES: THERE ARE SOME IRREGULAR NOUNS WHICH ARE NOT DEALT WITH HERE. LEARN THEM AS YOU MEET THEM!

However, you ought to know the following:

A. These nouns are masculine although they end in -a:

1. il cinema 2. Nouns ending in -ma which are Greek in origin.

il clima il diploma il problema il programma il tema (theme)

B. Nouns ending in -ista correspond to English nouns ending in -ist; they denote people who do things and can be masculine or feminine; the plural can be -isti or -iste depending on the gender.

C. The noun mano is feminine even although it end in -o: la mano and the plural is le mani.

D. Some masculine nouns have strange plurals:

singular plural

   il braccio (arm)   le braccia

   il dito (finger)   le dita

   l'osso (bone)   le ossa

   il labbro (lip)   le labbra

   l'uovo (egg)   le uova

   il paio (pair)   le paia

E. These two nouns are irregular!

singular plural

   l'uomo (man)   gli uomini

   la moglie (wife)   le mogli

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L'articolo determinativo— The Definite Article

This is the grammatical name for the English word “the”.

1 Feminine nouns — easy.

If the feminine noun is singular, use LA (or abbreviate it to L'if the noun begins with a vowel). If the feminine noun is plural use LE and never abbreviate it, even if the noun begins with a vowel. For example:

singular plural

   la ragazza   le ragazze

   la casa    le case

   l'ora    le ore

   l'erba    le erbe

   la chiave   le chiavi

   la notte    le notti

   l'opinione    le opinioni

   l'opportunità    le opportunità

 

2 Masculine nouns — tricky.

There is only one word for "the" for feminine nouns, but before a masculine noun you need to choose between IL and LO. You make the choice depending on how the masculine noun begins. You should find that you choose IL most of the time. Here are the rules:

1. Use IL and its plural I when the masculine noun begins with a consonant. 2. Use LO and its plural GLI when the masculine noun begins with a vowel, or z or

“impure s” — i.e. the letter s followed by another consonant. LO can be abbreviated to L' before a word beginning with a vowel.

3. Remember that any nouns borrowed from another language are masculine and have no plural.

This table summarises all you need to know about masculine nouns and there articles:

singular plural

   il ragazzo    i ragazzi

   il ristorante    i ristoranti

   l'albergo    gli alberghi

   lo sbaglio    gli sbagli

   lo zio    gli zii

   l'ufficiale    gli ufficiali

   lo sport    gli sport

   il film    i film

If you can master how to change words from singular to plural a huge amount of Italian grammar will become very easy. It is vital that you try very hard to master this piece of grammar before you move on.

If you can master the definite article, you will be able to understand and use correctly some necessary but rather tricky pieces of Italian grammar, so try to master this before you move on.

L'articolo indeterminativo — The Indefinite Article

This is the grammatical name for the English word “a”.

1 Feminine nouns — easy.

The word for “a” before a feminine noun is una which can be abbreviated to un' if the noun begins with a vowel.

2 Masculine nouns — less easy.

The usual word is un which is used before all masculine nouns (including those which begin with a vowel) except those which begin with z or s impure. Study the following table which should explain it all.

masculine feminine

   un ragazzo    una ragazza

   un amico    un'amica

   un ospedale    un'intezione

   uno sconto    una scarpa

   uno specchio    una specie

   uno zingaro    una zingara

   un salmone    una salsiccia

   un trattore    una trattoria

Exercise 2 : Put the Definite Article (il/lo/l'/la/l') in front of each of the following singular nouns; if you are not immediately sure of the gender of the noun, check in a dictionary.

1) ..... paesino

6) .... madre

2) ..... stanza7) .... padre

3) ..... stato 8) .... umidità

4) ..... acqua9) .... zucchero

5) .....occhio 10) .... insalata

Exercise 3: Put the Indefinite Article (un/uno/una/un') in front of each of the following nouns; if you are not immediately sure of the gender of the noun, check in a dictionary.

1) ..... paesino

6) .... madre

2) ..... stanza7) .... padre

3) ..... stato 8) .... orecchio

4) ..... opinione

9) .... zero

5) .....occhio 10) .... insalata

Exercise 4: change all the following phrases into the plural:

1. la sera 2. la stazione 3. l'uva 4. l'idea 5. il libro 6. il dente 7. lo strumento 8. lo studente 9. l'ospedale 10. l'uccello

To check your answers click here

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The Partitive Article — Il Partitivo

This is the grammatical name for the English word "some" or "any".

There are several ways that this can be translated into Italian but you must master the first method so that you can use the two irregular adjectives bello and quello which follow the same pattern.

1 The commonest word for "some" is del. This word is a combination of the word di and the various forms of the definite article as shown in the table below. If you're not sure about all the various forms of the definite article revise it again here .

  masc. sing. fem. sing. masc. plur. fem. plur.

Definite Article   il   lo   l'   la   l'   i   gli     le

Partitive Article  del  dello  dell'  della  dell'  dei  degli    delle

Master this word before you move on. The form you need is the one which corresponds to the definite article which would be used with the noun: for example:1. Suppose you want to say "some wine"; 'the' wine is il vino, so 'some' wine is del vino.2. Suppose you want to say "some friends" ; 'the' friends is gli amici, so 'some' friends is degli amici.

You will see that to handle this word correctly you must understand the definite article. Revise it again if you have to but it won't get any easier if you pretend that it will go away if you ignore it.

Exercise 1 Here is a shopping list; translate the items into Italian. (Use a dictionary for the nouns)

1. some wine 2. some bread 3. some cheese 4. some apples 5. some fruit 6. some biscuits 7. some mineral water 8. some oil 9. some vinegar 10. some garlic 11. some spaghetti (N.B. this word is masc. plur.) 12. some lasagne (N.B. this word is fem. plur.) 13. some sugar

14. some onions 15. some courgettes (courgette = zucchino)

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2 Use a dictionary to help you translate these sentence into Italian, using the correct part of del.

N.B. "there is" = c'è ; "there are" = ci sono.

1. Is there any bread? 2. Are there any rolls? 3. Is there any butter? 4. Is there any oil? 5. There are some nice strawberries in the garden (nel giardino) 6. There is some wine downstairs. 7. There are some houses 8. Are there any shops? 9. Is there any fresh milk? 10. There are some mistakes.

To check your answers click here.

Master the word del before you go any further. The adjectives bello and quello follow the same pattern; learn it thoroughly.

Here are the other ways of saying "some" : Look carefully at the conditions under which they can be used.

2 alcuni ; alcune [only used with a plural noun; it agrees with its noun]

e.g. I invited some friends = Ho invitato alcuni amici      I spent a few hours in Rome = Ho passato alcune ore a Roma

3 qualche [invariable; followed by a singular noun in Italian, but its meaning is plural]

This is a good one to use in higher writing.

e.g.   I invited some friends = Ho invitato qualche amico      I spent a few hours in Rome = Ho passato qualche ora a Roma.      I have been leaninng Italian for a few weeks = Imparo l'italiano da qualche settimana.      I would like to spend some days in Rome = Vorrei passare qualche giorno a Roma.

4 un po' di = a little; a bit of ; some [invariable]

e.g.  I need a bit of peace = Ho bisogno di un po' di pace.     I take a little milk in my coffee = prendo un po' di latte nel caffe.

5 NOT USED IN A NEGATIVE SENTENCE IN ITALIAN:

e.g.  I don't have any problems = Non ho problemi     There's no more milk = Non c è più latte.

6 nessun ; nessuno ; nessuna ; nessun' = not any [double negative! sing.only]

e.g.  I didn't prepare any special dishes = Non ho preparato nessun piatto speciale.     I don't have any idea = Non ho nessun'idea.

 

Exercise 3 Here are some sentences in English which have been partially translated into Italian. You have to supply the missing words, but be careful, not all the gaps require a word — look at 5 above!

1. I bought some pasta = Ho comprato ______ pasta. 2. Some friends invited me to a party. = ___________ amici mi hanno invitato a una

festa. 3. I met some nice people = Ho conosciuto ___________ persone simpatiche. 4. There were some long tables = C'erano ________ lunghi tavoli. 5. On the tables there were some bottles of beer = Sui tavoli c'era _________ bottiglia di

birra. 6. There were also a few plates of cheese. = C'erano anche ________ piatti di formaggio. 7. There wasn't any more sparkling wine nor any brandy. = Non c'era più _______

spumante e neanche ______ cognac. 8. I drank a few glasses of red wine = Ho bevuto _______ bicchiere di vino rosso. 9. I ate some salad, and some olives = Ho mangiato _______ insalata e ________ olive. 10. Maria left with some students. = Maria è partita con ________ studenti.

To check your answers click here.

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ADJECTIVES — Aggettivi

This page is divided into 4 sections dealing with:

regular adjectives

irregular adjectives

possessive adjectives

comparative and superlative adjectives

 1. REGULAR ADJECTIVES  

Adjectives in Italian must match the noun they describe in gender and number.

This means that if the noun is feminine, the adjective must be feminine, andif the noun is plural, the adjective must be plural.

Gender means making the adjective masculine or feminine to agree with the noun.Number means making the adjective singular or plural to agree with the noun.

Adjectives make their plurals in the same way that nouns make their plurals, so go back and revise the page about nouns if you are not sure.

In Italian, adjectives usually come after the noun they are describing but a few always stand before their noun; these are as follows:

1. possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her etc.) which are dealt with below. 2. demonstrative adjectives (this/that) also dealt with below. 3. the adjectives "molto" (much) and "troppo" (too much) 4. some adjectives denoting size can come before or after their noun.

In dictionaries, adjectives are always given in the masculine singular and this may not be the form in which you need the adjective and you may have to change it.

There are only 3 irregular adjectives which you need to know; they are dealt with at the end of this page.

Italian adjectives are of two basic types: piccolo and grande — i.e. they either end in -o or they end in -e.

If the adjective ends in -o, it has four possible endlings: piccolo (masc. sing.) piccola (fem. sing.)

piccolo (masc. sing.) piccola (fem. sing.)

piccoli (masc. plur.) piccole (fem. plur.)

Now compare an adjective that ends in -e

grande (masc. sing.) grande (fem. sing.)

grandi (masc. plur.) grandi (fem. plur.)

This type of adjective has no feminine form; it only has a plural form which is both masculine and feminine.

Spelling: Be careful when changing some adjectives because you may need to make a spelling change to preserve the sound of the consonant before the ending: for example:

stanco (masc. sing.) stanca (fem. sing.)

stanchi (masc. plur.) stanche (fem. plur.)

lungo (masc. sing.) lunga (fem. sing.)

lunghi (masc. plur.) lunghe (fem. plur.)

drammatico (masc. sing.)

drammatica (fem. sing.)

drammatici (masc. plur.)

drammatiche (fem. plur.)

The last adjective above "drammatico" shows you something which regularly happens with adjectives ending in "-ico", — i.e.the masculine plural is -ici while the feminine plural is -iche.Similarly, adjectives ending in "-igo" have the masculine plural -igi, and the feminine plural -ighe.

Remember the rules for making nouns and adjectives plural:

singular plural   ends in -a   change to -e

  ends in -o   change to -i  ends in -e   change to -i

Now try a couple of exercises to see if you have mastered the idea of plurals of nouns and agreement of adjectives:

Exercise 1 : Change the following phrases into the plural. If you have not met the definite article yet, don't try to make the first word in each phrase plural. If you need to revise the article, do that before you try this exercise.

1. la bella ragazza 2. il nuovo metodo 3. il bravo studente 4. il vecchio amico scozzese 5. il giovane ragazzo 6. la prima lezione francese 7. il formaggio francese 8. lo studente tedesco 9. il nuovo sport popolare 10. la grande città industriale 11. il vino magnifico italiano 12. l'attore famoso.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2 Change the following phrases into the plural. Be careful about the spelling of some of the adjectives in the plural. You don't need to know the definite article for this exercise.

1. capello lungo e biondo 2. occhio castano e lucido 3. tifoso fanatico 4. via larga 5. vecchia fiaba fantastica 6. giacca sporca 7. strada lunga e serpeggiante 8. famiglia ricca e importante 9. giovane americano ricco 10. esercizio grammaticale

To check your answers click here.

2. IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES  

There are only 3 irregular adjectives:

1. buono (good)

2. bello (beautiful, nice) 3. quello (that)

When these adjectives are put in front of their noun, they follow their own rules:

1. buono has two forms for the masculine singular, so it looks like this:

buon or buono (masc. sing.)

buona (fem. sing.)

buoni (masc. plur.)buone (fem. plur.)

Use the form buon where you would use the indefinite article un — i.e. before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel or consonant or most groups of consonants BUTuse buono where you would use the indefinite article uno — i.e. before a masculine noun beginning with z or s+consonant.You'll see that the rest of this adjective is normal.

2. bello and quello have all the possible forms of the word del (the partitive article)  If you have not met the word del yet go and study it now because these two adjectives follow the same pattern and you need to know it. Go to the page on the Partitive Article.

For those of you who have already met the Partitive Article, here are all the possible forms of bello and quello:

masc. sing. fem. sing. masc. plur.

fem.pl.

del dello dell' della dell' dei degli delle

quel

quello

quell'

quella

quell'

quei

quegli

quelle

Exercise 4. Insert the correct part of buono, bello or quello in these phrases:

1. una [buono] idea. 2. in [quello] casa, con [quello][bello] giardino. 3. un [bello] parco. 4. [quello][bello] appartamento. 5. [bello] isola 6. in [quello] zona di [quello] piccolo paese. 7. un [buono]strumento]. 8. un [buono] amico. 9. una [buono] amica. 10. [quello] [buono] vino.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 5: Turn all the phrases in Exercise 3 into the plural.

To check your answers click here.

3. POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES: — my, your, his, her, our, their.

IMPORTANT RULE: In Italian you must put the definite article in front of these adjectives. Make yourself familiar with the table below:

  Singular Plural

  masc. fem. masc. fem.

my   il mio   la mia   i miei   le mie

your   il tuo   la tua   i tuoi   le tue

his/her   il suo   la sua   i suoi   le sue

our   il nostro   la nostra   i nostri   le nostre

your   il vostro   la vostra   i vostri   le vostre

their   il loro   la loro   i loro   le loro

Pay particular attention to the boxes which have been given a different colour and notice 2 things:

1. mio, tuo and suo behave like normal adjectives except in the masculine plural.2. loro does not make any changes at all, it is invariable.

REMEMBER! These adjectives require the definite article UNLESS you are referring to members of the family, when they are not used.

REMEMBER too, they take the gender of the noun following them, not the gender of the possessor.

Exercise 3: Translate the following phrases which use possessive adjectives into Italian:

1. my house 2. your name 3. my mother 4. our friends 5. his car 6. her father 7. their holidays 8. his father 9. my parents 10. her eyes 11. their tickets 12. our family

To check your answers click here.

4. COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE and STRUCTURES.

Very basically, “comparative” adjectives are words like “taller”, older”, “more intelligent”.

“Superlative” adjectives are words like “tallest”, “oldest”, “ most intelligent”.

In Italian there is no equivalent to the English suffixes -er and -est; instead, Italian uses the adverb più = more.

COMPARATIVES: — Comparative of Inequality:

1. Examine carefully the following sentences:

1. Maria is tall. = Maria è alta.2. Angela is taller. = Angela è più alta.3. Angela is taller than Maria = Angela è più alta di Maria

Sentence 3 show a structure called the “comparative of inequality”. Use più with the adjective to make the comparative form, and di to translate the English word than.Use it whenever you want to say someone or something is bigger than/ older than/ better than/ faster than/ someone or something else.

Now have a careful look at the following sentences, which show another type of comparison:1. Marco is intelligent = Marco è intelligente.2. Giorgio is less intelligent. = Giorgio è meno intelligente. 3. Giorgio is less intelligent than Marco = Giorgio è meno intelligente di Marco.

Sentence 3 shows another type of “comparative of inequality” — when you want to say someone/something is less old/interesting/exciting than someone/something else; use meno for the English word less and di to translate the English word than.

Comparative of Equality:

This is when you say something like “Edinburgh is as lively as Glasgow”, or “Hearts are as good as Hibs”

Here is how you would say that in Italian:1. Edinburgh is as lively as Glasgow = Edimburgo è così vivace come Glasgow.2. Hearts are as good as Hibs = Gli Hearts sono così bravi come gli Hibs.

Alternatively, you can express as .....as by using tanto ...... quanto (like the correlative construction in Latin).So you could translate the two sentences above this way:

1. Edinburgh is as lively as Glasgow = Edimburgo è tanto vivace quanto Glasgow.2. Hearts are as good as Hibs = Gli Hearts sono tanto bravi quanto gli Hibs.

 

SUPERLATIVES.

In English we can use the suffix -est to create the superlative form of the adjective, producing words like oldest, weakest, fastest etc.There is no equivalent in Italian. Instead you use the definite article (il/la/i/le) plus più or meno and the adjective.

Some examples should make this clear. Read carefully the following English sentences and their translation into Italian:

1. The most beautiful churches in Tuscany are in Florence.    = Le chiese più belle della Toscana sono a Firenze.

2. The oldest houses in the city are being restored.   = Le case più vecchie della città sono in restauro.

3. Milan is the richest city in the country.  =  Milano è la città più ricca del Paese.

4. They are the fastest cars in the world.   = Sono le macchine più veloci del mondo.

N.B. Notice how, in Italian, the phrases “in Tuscany”, “in the city” etc. are translated with the preposition di.

THE ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE

This is the grand name for the suffix -issimo (which you must have seen many times if you are a musician).To make it, drop the final vowel of the simple adjective and add -issimo, e.g.:1. bello (beautiful) — bellissimo (very beautiful) or you could say molto bello2. veloce (fast) ——— velocissimo (very fast) or you could say molto veloce

Be careful! sometimes you will have to insert the letter h to preserve the sound of the consonant; e.g.:1. lungo (long) — lunghissimo (very long) = molto lungo2. simpatico (nice) — simpatichissimo (very nice) = molto simpatico3. fresco (fresh) — freschissimo (very fresh) = molto fresco

Use this form of the word if you want to say, for example:

1. Venice is a very beautiful city.   = Venezia è una città bellissima.

2. Italian women are always very elegant.   = Le donne italiane sono sempre elegantissime.

Finally, a few adjectives have kept their comparative and superlative forms from Latin:

simple comparative superlative

buono (good) migliore (better) ottimo (best)

cattivo (bad) peggiore (worse) pessimo (worst)

basso (low) inferiore (lower) infimo (lowest)

alto (high) superiore (higher) supremo (highest)

piccolo (small) minore (smaller) minimo (smallest)

grande (big) maggiore (bigger) massimo (biggest)

However, you can also say più buono and il più buono and buonissimo, and similarly with the others in the table.

The last structure you should know is how you say in Italian phrases like “as long as possible” , “as warm as possible”

In Italian the equivalent is: “il più lungo possibile” and “il più caldo possibile”.

Return to the Grammar Index Page.

Prepositions are words which stand before a noun or pronoun to create a phrase which can show place, time, or manner, e.g.:

1. under the table = sotto la tavola2. at midnight = a mezzanotte3. with great care = con grande cura.

There are a few common “simple” prepositions which you should know and their basic meanings are given below. Learn them!

a to ; at ; in

da from ; at the house of ..

su on

in in ; on

di of

These prepositions combine with the various forms of the definite article (il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le) to form a single word. This is a fundamental part of Italian grammar and you must know it. The table below shows you what happens when these words combine.

In combination with the article, these simple prepositions are called “articulated prepositions” — preposizioni articolate.

  masculine sing. fem. sing. masc. plur. fem. pl..

  il lo, l' la, l' i gli le

a al allo, all' alla, all' ai agli alle

da dal dallo, dall' dalla, dall' dai dagli dalle

su sul sullo, sull' sulla, sull' sui sugli sulle

in nel nello, nell' nella, nell' nei negli nelle

di del dello, dell' della, dell' dei degli delle

N.B. Be particularly careful with the preposition in which has unusual forms when combined with the article.

N.N.B Learn thoroughly the preposition di in its various combinations because this word is also the “partitive article” which is equivalent to the English word “some”. It is also the pattern for the two irregular adjectives bello and quello which, instead of having just the usual four forms, have all the possible forms of the word del.

What the table above means is that instead of saying a le ragazze (to the girls), you say alle ragazze.Similarly, you do not say in il giardino (in the garden), but nel giardino.

Now try this exercise:

Exercise 1. Translate into English:

1. sulla tavola 2. dalla scuola 3. alla porta della chiesa 4. nel centro della città 5. sui tetti delle case 6. il nome dello studente 7. negli alberghi 8. sul pavimento 9. al cinema 10. sulla sedia nella cucina

To check your answers click here .

Exercise 2. Translate into Italian:

1. on the chair 2. on the table in the kitchen 3. in the bathroom 4. from the boys 5. to the hotels 6. in the drawer of the table 7. the names of the students 8. at the window of the bedroom 9. in the pupils' books — i.e. "in the books of the pupils" 10. at the end of the day

To check your answers click here .

Prepositions are awkward because they often do not correspond exactly with the equivalent propisition in the other language. There is no easy way to master them; you must simply try to remember the way they are used in Italian. It would take up too much space to give you a definitive list of the various usages which are not the same as in English, but here are a few usages which you must know:

I. The preposition a.

1. The preposition a already has three basic meanings (to, at, in) but you must know the following usages:

Abito a Edimburgo = I live in Edinburgh [use a if you are referring to a town, otherwise use in]

C'è un programma alla televisione = There is a programme on television.

Non è possibile andare a piedi = It's not possible to go on foot. Passo le vacanze al mare = I spend my holidays at the seaside. Vorrei andare all'estero = I would like to go abroad.

2. The preposition a also links certain verbs to a following infinitive, such as:

andare a to go to ...aiutare a to help to ...cominciare a to start/begin toimparare a to learn to ...incoraggiare a to encourage to ...insegnare a to teach to ...mettersi a to start/begin to ...pensare a to think about ....provare a to try to ...riuscire a to manage tovenire a to come to ...

3. The preposition a also links certain adjectives to a following infinitive, such as:

abituato a accustomed to ...attento a careful to ...pronto a ready to ...

II The preposition da.

1. The preposition da has the same meaning as the preposition chez in French: —

  Rosaria abitava dalla nonna = Rosaria used to live at her grandmother's .

  Ho comprato del dentifricio dal farmacista. = I bought some toothpaste at the chemist's.

  C'era una festa da Franco. = There was a party at Franco's house.

2. Da is used to make an expression of time (with a verb in the present tense in Italian) to show actions or circumstances that began in the past and continue into the present: e.g.  Carla impara l'italiano da un anno = Carla has been learning Italian for a year.    Ti aspetto da un'ora = I have been waiting for you for an hour.

3. Da specifies the agent in a passive sentence, e.g.:  L'inglese è parlato da quasi tutti = English is spoken by nearly everyone.   Marcovaldo è un libro scritto da Calvino = "Marcovaldo" is a book written by Calvino.

4. Da can indicate what something is used for, e.g.:  un campo da calcio = a football pitch

    un campo da golf = a golf course   scarpe da sci = ski boots.

5. Da can be followed by an infinitive in expressions like:  Non c'è niente da fare. = There is nothing to do.  Cosa c'è da mangiare? = What is there to eat?

III The preposition su

ascoltavo un dibatito sulla politica = I was listening to a discussion about politics. ho letto sul giornale. = I read in the newspaper.

IV The preposition in

1. In is used with the names of countries, states, or regions to show place, e.g.:   Abito in Scozia = I live in Scotland.   Molti scozzesi sono emigrati in Canada = Many Scots emigrated to Canada.

2. In is used with all methods of transport:

in macchina by car...in aereo by planein moto by scooterin bicicletta by bicyclein barca by boatin treno by trainin autobus by busin pullman by coach

V The preposition di

1. Di shows possession, e.g.:

Hai visto gli occhiali di Lucia? = Have you seen Lucia's glasses? Di chi sono queste scarpe? = Whose shoes are these?

2. Di shows what something is made of, e.g:

una cravatta di seta = a silk tie scarpe di cuoio = leather shoes

3. Di is used to make time phrases, e.g.:

di sera in the eveningsdi mattina in the morningsdi solito usuallydi nuovo againdi rado rarely

4. Di is used after some verbs like parlare, discutere, trattare to indicate the topic of discussion, e.g.:

Non mi piace parlare di religione = I don't like talking about religion. Questo libro tratta del problema della droga = This book deals with the problem of

drugs.

5. Di is used in expressions making comparisons, e.g.:

Giovanni è più intelligente del fratello = Giovanni is more intelligent then his brother. Tu parli italiano meglio di me. = You speak Italian better than I do.

6. Di is used with the verb essere to indicate origin, e.g.:

La mia famiglia è di Bologna = My family are from Bologna. Tu sei di qui? = Are you from here?

7. Di is also used after certain adjectives to link them to an infinitive verb, e.g.:

capace di capable of ...contento di happy to ...desideroso di eager to ...felice di happy to ...incapace di ... incapable ofsicuro di sure of ...soddisfatto di satisfied to ... spiacente di sorry to ...stanco di tired of ...triste di sad to ...

8. Di is also used after several verbs to link to a following infinitive, e.g.:

accorgersi di to realise; be awarecercare di to try to ...chiedere di to ask to ...consigliare di to advise to ...decidere di to decide to ...dimenticare di to forget to ...domandare di to ask ...essere in grado di to be in a position to ...fingere di to pretend to ...

finire di to finishimmaginare di to imaginelamentarsi di to complain aboutoffrire di to offerpensare di to think ofpermettere di to allowproibire di to forbidrendersi conto di to realise; be awarericordarsi di to rememberscegliere di to choose to ...smettere di to stopsperare di to hope to ...tentare di to attempt to ... trattare di to be about; deal withvietare di to forbid

Prepositions are words which stand before a noun or pronoun to create a phrase which can show place, time, or manner, e.g.:

1. under the table = sotto la tavola2. at midnight = a mezzanotte3. with great care = con grande cura.

There are a few common “simple” prepositions which you should know and their basic meanings are given below. Learn them!

a to ; at ; in

da from ; at the house of ..

su on

in in ; on

di of

These prepositions combine with the various forms of the definite article (il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le) to form a single word. This is a fundamental part of Italian grammar and you must know it. The table below shows you what happens when these words combine.

In combination with the article, these simple prepositions are called “articulated prepositions” — preposizioni articolate.

  masculine sing. fem. sing. masc. plur. fem. pl..

  il lo, l' la, l' i gli le

a al allo, all' alla, all' ai agli alle

da dal dallo, dall' dalla, dall' dai dagli dalle

su sul sullo, sull' sulla, sull' sui sugli sulle

in nel nello, nell' nella, nell' nei negli nelle

di del dello, dell' della, dell' dei degli delle

N.B. Be particularly careful with the preposition in which has unusual forms when combined with the article.

N.N.B Learn thoroughly the preposition di in its various combinations because this word is also the “partitive article” which is equivalent to the English word “some”. It is also the pattern for the two irregular adjectives bello and quello which, instead of having just the usual four forms, have all the possible forms of the word del.

What the table above means is that instead of saying a le ragazze (to the girls), you say alle ragazze.Similarly, you do not say in il giardino (in the garden), but nel giardino.

Now try this exercise:

Exercise 1. Translate into English:

1. sulla tavola 2. dalla scuola 3. alla porta della chiesa 4. nel centro della città 5. sui tetti delle case 6. il nome dello studente 7. negli alberghi 8. sul pavimento 9. al cinema 10. sulla sedia nella cucina

To check your answers click here .

Exercise 2. Translate into Italian:

1. on the chair 2. on the table in the kitchen 3. in the bathroom 4. from the boys 5. to the hotels 6. in the drawer of the table 7. the names of the students 8. at the window of the bedroom 9. in the pupils' books — i.e. "in the books of the pupils" 10. at the end of the day

To check your answers click here .

Prepositions are awkward because they often do not correspond exactly with the equivalent propisition in the other language. There is no easy way to master them; you must simply try to remember the way they are used in Italian. It would take up too much space to give you a definitive list of the various usages which are not the same as in English, but here are a few usages which you must know:

I. The preposition a.

1. The preposition a already has three basic meanings (to, at, in) but you must know the following usages:

Abito a Edimburgo = I live in Edinburgh [use a if you are referring to a town, otherwise use in]

C'è un programma alla televisione = There is a programme on television. Non è possibile andare a piedi = It's not possible to go on foot. Passo le vacanze al mare = I spend my holidays at the seaside. Vorrei andare all'estero = I would like to go abroad.

2. The preposition a also links certain verbs to a following infinitive, such as:

andare a to go to ...aiutare a to help to ...

cominciare a to start/begin toimparare a to learn to ...incoraggiare a to encourage to ...insegnare a to teach to ...mettersi a to start/begin to ...pensare a to think about ....provare a to try to ...riuscire a to manage tovenire a to come to ...

3. The preposition a also links certain adjectives to a following infinitive, such as:

abituato a accustomed to ...attento a careful to ...pronto a ready to ...

II The preposition da.

1. The preposition da has the same meaning as the preposition chez in French: —

  Rosaria abitava dalla nonna = Rosaria used to live at her grandmother's .

  Ho comprato del dentifricio dal farmacista. = I bought some toothpaste at the chemist's.

  C'era una festa da Franco. = There was a party at Franco's house.

2. Da is used to make an expression of time (with a verb in the present tense in Italian) to show actions or circumstances that began in the past and continue into the present: e.g.  Carla impara l'italiano da un anno = Carla has been learning Italian for a year.    Ti aspetto da un'ora = I have been waiting for you for an hour.

3. Da specifies the agent in a passive sentence, e.g.:  L'inglese è parlato da quasi tutti = English is spoken by nearly everyone.   Marcovaldo è un libro scritto da Calvino = "Marcovaldo" is a book written by Calvino.

4. Da can indicate what something is used for, e.g.:  un campo da calcio = a football pitch    un campo da golf = a golf course   scarpe da sci = ski boots.

5. Da can be followed by an infinitive in expressions like:  Non c'è niente da fare. = There is nothing to do.  Cosa c'è da mangiare? = What is there to eat?

III The preposition su

ascoltavo un dibatito sulla politica = I was listening to a discussion about politics. ho letto sul giornale. = I read in the newspaper.

IV The preposition in

1. In is used with the names of countries, states, or regions to show place, e.g.:   Abito in Scozia = I live in Scotland.   Molti scozzesi sono emigrati in Canada = Many Scots emigrated to Canada.

2. In is used with all methods of transport:

in macchina by car...in aereo by planein moto by scooterin bicicletta by bicyclein barca by boatin treno by trainin autobus by busin pullman by coach

V The preposition di

1. Di shows possession, e.g.:

Hai visto gli occhiali di Lucia? = Have you seen Lucia's glasses? Di chi sono queste scarpe? = Whose shoes are these?

2. Di shows what something is made of, e.g:

una cravatta di seta = a silk tie scarpe di cuoio = leather shoes

3. Di is used to make time phrases, e.g.:

di sera in the eveningsdi mattina in the morningsdi solito usuallydi nuovo againdi rado rarely

4. Di is used after some verbs like parlare, discutere, trattare to indicate the topic of discussion, e.g.:

Non mi piace parlare di religione = I don't like talking about religion. Questo libro tratta del problema della droga = This book deals with the problem of

drugs.

5. Di is used in expressions making comparisons, e.g.:

Giovanni è più intelligente del fratello = Giovanni is more intelligent then his brother. Tu parli italiano meglio di me. = You speak Italian better than I do.

6. Di is used with the verb essere to indicate origin, e.g.:

La mia famiglia è di Bologna = My family are from Bologna. Tu sei di qui? = Are you from here?

7. Di is also used after certain adjectives to link them to an infinitive verb, e.g.:

capace di capable of ...contento di happy to ...desideroso di eager to ...felice di happy to ...incapace di ... incapable ofsicuro di sure of ...soddisfatto di satisfied to ... spiacente di sorry to ...stanco di tired of ...triste di sad to ...

8. Di is also used after several verbs to link to a following infinitive, e.g.:

accorgersi di to realise; be awarecercare di to try to ...chiedere di to ask to ...consigliare di to advise to ...decidere di to decide to ...dimenticare di to forget to ...domandare di to ask ...essere in grado di to be in a position to ...fingere di to pretend to ...finire di to finishimmaginare di to imaginelamentarsi di to complain aboutoffrire di to offerpensare di to think ofpermettere di to allowproibire di to forbidrendersi conto di to realise; be awarericordarsi di to remember

scegliere di to choose to ...smettere di to stopsperare di to hope to ...tentare di to attempt to ... trattare di to be about; deal withvietare di to forbid

 VERBS — I VERBI

Italian verbs are arranged into three groups or conjugations depending on the vowel in the infinitive:

1. parlare: ending in -are

2. vedere: ending in -ere

3. finire: ending in -ire

You need to know the type of verb you are dealing with so that you can make the tenses correctly.

Some verbs are irregular in that they seem to have an infinitive which fits into the scheme above but they make some of their tenses in a different way. there are very few of these verbs and the best thing to do is learn them when you are learning or revising a particular tense. There is only one verb which is irregular in nearly all its tenses and that is essere (to be).

Some verbs have infinitives which are shortened versions of their original forms and this is why they seem to be irregular, in fact it is the infinitive which is slightly irregular. the common ones are:

dire, shortened from dicere

fare, shortened from facere

bere, shortened from bevere

porre, shortened from ponere

-durre, shortened from -ducere

To see how verbs make their various tenses, return to

 PRESENT TENSE — TEMPO PRESENTE

In English this tense looks like "he runs", "they live", "she is working", "we are talking"These four examples all have pronouns — he, they, she, we, but in Italian the pronouns are not necessary because the verb always has an ending to indicate what personal pronoun we want. the four English examples above would each be one single word in Italian.

Italian does have personal pronouns; you won't see them very often, but here they are:

  io   I   noi   we

  tu   you   voi   you

  lui   he   loro   they

  lei   she    

  Lei   you    

The pronoun Lei (with a capital L) means you. It is different from the pronoun tu because Lei is formal: you would use it when politely addressing a stranger; if you speak to someone using a formal title like signore/signorina you should use Lei and even if you don't use the pronoun, the verb should be in the 3rd person singular.

Italian verbs fall into 3 types, depending on the vowel in the infinitive. The grammatical name is not type but conjugation and that's the name I'm going to use.

Conjugation 1 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ARE Conjugation 2 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ERE Conjugation 3 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -IRE

  1 PARLARE 2 SCRIVERE 3 DORMIRE 3 CAPIRE

1st pers. sing.   I    parlo    scrivo    dormo    capisco

2nd pers. sing.  you    parli    scrivi    dormi    capisci

3rd pers. sing.  he, she, it

   parla    scrive    dorme    capisce

1st pers. plur.  we    parliamo    scriviamo    dormiamo    capiamo

2nd pers. plur.  you    parlate    scrivete    dormite    capite

3rd pers. plur.  they    parlano    scrivono    dormono    capiscono

Don't let a table like this put you off; look for all the similarities, not the differences; for example:

All verbs use the ending -o for the first person singular — i.e. if you want to say I do something.

All verbs use the ending -i for the second person singular — i.e. if you want to say you do something.

All verbs use the ending -iamo for the first person plural — i.e. if you want to say we do something.

English has three forms of the present tense and Italian has only one. In English we can say I speak or I am speaking but in Italian there is only the form parlo. To ask a question in English we would use the phrase do you speak? but in Italian you can only indicate a question by the tone of your voice or by writing a question mark — parli?

You'll see that there are two examples of a 3rd conjugation verb, dormire and capire and they behave differently. Most verbs behave like dormire but a small number insert the syllable -isc- before the personal endings. There is no rule about which do and which don't, you just have to learn as you meet them. The commonest ones which insert -isc- are:-

finire (to finish) preferire (to prefer)

pulire (to clean) punire (to punish) spedire (to send)

IRREGULAR VERBS — There are very few verbs which do not fit into the scheme shown in the table above, but two which are very important are the verb avere (to have) and the verb essere (to be) because as well as being very common verbs in their own right, they are also the auxiliary verbs which help to make the past tense (passato prossimo). Here they are:

  avere to have

essere

to be

1  ho I have  sono I am

2  haiyou have

 sei you are

3  hahe/she/it has

 èhe/she/it is

1abbiamo

we have

 siamo

we are

2  avete you have

 sieteyou are

3  hannothey have

 sonothey are

There are twelve common verbs which are irregular in their present tense. They are in the table below. You have to learn them because you will not be able to find these forms in a dictionary.

avere = to have

essere = to be

venire = to come

uscire = to go out

andare = to go

dare = to give

ho sono vengo esco vado do

hai sei vieni esci vai dai

ha è viene esce va dà

abbiamo siamo veniamo usciamo andiamo diamo

avete siete venite uscite andate date

hanno sono vengono escono vanno danno

 

fare= to do; make

sapere = to know

stare = to stay; be

potere = can

dovere = must

volere = to want

faccio so sto posso devo voglio

fai sai stai puoi devi vuoi

fa sa sta può deve vuole

facciamo sappiamo stiamo possiamo dobbiamo vogliamo

fate sapete state potete dovete volete

fanno sanno stanno possono devono vogliono

 

THE FUTURE TENSE — IL FUTURO

The future tense in English is a compound (i.e. more than a single word) tense, made with the auxiliary verbs "shall" and "will".

In Italian, the future tense is a simple (i.e. single word) tense, made by adding six ending to the present infinitive:

singular plural

  -ò = I shall ...   -emo = we shall...

  -ai = you will ...   -ete = you will ...

  -à = he/she will...   -anno = they will...

These ending are attached to the present infinitive which loses the final -e. Look at the table below:

parlare scrivere partire

  parlerò   scriverò   partirò

  parlerai   scriverai   partirai

  parlerà   scriverà   partirà

  parleremo   scriveremo   partiremo

  parlerete   scriverete   partirete

  parleranno

  scriveranno

  partiranno

Please note three things:

1. Verbs like parlare change the vowel in their infinitive from -a- to -e-

2. There are accents written on the First Person Singular and Third Person Singular in all verbs.

3. You will have to be careful with the spelling of some verbs when you put them into the Future Tense in order to preserve the sound in their infinitive. This will happen with verbs ending in -care and -gare, e.g.

pagare (to pay)       I'll pay = pagheròcercare (to look for)   I'll look for = cercherò

This will also happen with verbs ending in -ciare and -giare, e.g.

cominciare (to begin)  I'll begin = cominceròviaggiare (to travel)   I'll travel = viaggerò

IRREGULAR VERBS: A few verbs don't quite follow the pattern above. You need to learn what they do:

The Future Tense of avere and essere is:

avere essere

  avrò   sarò

  avrai   sarai

  avrà   sarà

  avremo   saremo

  avrete   sarete

  avranno   saranno

There are another ten common verbs which you need to learn:

andare dare fare stare sapere dovere potere volere vedere venire

 andrò  darò  farò  starò  saprò  dovrò  potrò  vorrò  vedrò  verrò

 andrai  darai  farai  starai  saprai  dovrai  potrai  vorrai  vedrai  verrai

 andrà  darà  farà  starà  saprà  dovrà  potrà  vorrà  vedrà  verrà

 andremo

 daremo

 faremo

 staremo

 sapremo

 dovremo

 potremo

 vorremo

 vedremo

 verremo

 andrete

 darete

 farete

 starete

 saprete

 dovrete

 potrete

 vorrete

 vedrete

 verrete

 andranno

 daranno

 faranno

 staranno

 sapranno

 dovranno

 potranno

 vorranno

 vedranno

 verranno

Apart from the verb essere, only two verbs, volere and venire, are awkward and need careful att

The Conditional — Il Modo Condizionale: condizionale presente

The Conditional is a mood of the verb for expressing hopes, wishes and aspirations.

In English, the equivalent is the tense/mood made with the the auxiliary very would: e.g.—

 I would take a holiday if I had the time.  I'm sure that you would enjoy the party, even if your parents are there too.

This mood of the verb is made up like the future tense, by adding endings to the infinitive. The endings are:

singular plural

 -ei = I would ...  -emmo = we would...

 -esti = you would ...  -este = you would ...

 -ebbe = he/she would...

 -ebbero = they would...

These ending are attached to the present infinitive which loses the final -e. Look at the table below:

parlare scrivere partire

  parlerei   scriverei   partirei

  parleresti   scriveresti   partiresti

  parlerebbe   scriverebbe   partirebbe

  parleremmo   scriveremmo   partiremmo

  parlereste   scrivereste   partireste

  parlerebbero   scriverebbero   partirebbero

Please note that as with the Future Tense, verbs like parlare change the vowel in their infinitive from -a- to -e- and also the spelling changes for the Future Tense which affect verbs ending -care, -gare, -ciare and -giare also apply to this tense.

IRREGULAR VERBS: The verbs which were irregular in their Future Tense, are also irregular in the Conditional, but all you need to do is change the endings:

The Conditional of avere and essere is:

avere essere

  avrei   sarei

  avresti   saresti

  avrebbe   sarebbe

  avremmo   saremmo

  avreste   sareste

  avrebbero   sarebbero

There are the other ten common verbs which you need to learn:

andare dare fare stare sapere dovere potere volere vedere venire

andrei darei farei starei saprei dovrei potrei vorrei vedrei verrei

andresti

daresti

faresti

staresti

sapresti

dovresti

potresti

vorresti

vedresti

verresti

andrebbe

darebbe

farebbe

starebbe

saprebbe

dovrebbe

potrebbe

vorrebbe

vedrebbe

verrebbe

andremmo

daremmo

faremmo

staremmo

sapremmo

dovremmo

potremmo

vorremmo

vedremmo

verremmo

andreste

dareste

fareste

stareste

sapreste

dovreste

potreste

vorreste

vedreste

verreste

andrebbero

darebbero

farebbero

starebbero

saprebbero

dovrebbero

potrebbero

vorrebbero

vedrebbero

verrebbero

So, once you have learned how this mood is formed,you need to be clear about when it is used. Here is a list:

1. to express wishes, hopes, desires, aspirations:

I would enjoy spending a year abroad.Mi piacerebbe passare un anno all'estero.

2. to express a request politely:

I would like an ice-creamvorrei un gelato.

Could you help me, please?Potresti aiutarmi, per favore? (informal)Potrebbe aiutarmi, per favore?(formal)

3. to express doubt:

I don't think that he would earn much money.Non penso che guadagnerebbe molti soldi.

Mum doesn't think it would be a good idea.La mamma non crede che sarebbe una buon'idea.

4. to express personal opinions:

I would say that it should be possible to do it.direi che dovrebbe essere possibile farlo.

5. to repeat rumours, hearsay and other people's opinions:

According to press, they will probably get divorced:Secondo la stampa, si divorzierebbero.

 

The modal verbs: potere (can), dovere (must/ have to), and volere (want) need a bit of care:

potrei = I could

dovrei = I should

vorrei = I would like

For Example:

1. Sandra could learn Italian but she's too lazy.Sandra potrebbe imparare l'italiano me è troppo pigra.

2. They should write to you soon.Dovrebbero scriverti presto.

3. Giorgio would like to accompany you.Giorgio vorrebbe accompagnarti.

Return to Grammar Index Page.

 

The Past Conditional — Il Condizionale Passato

In English the equivalent tense/mood is made with the auxiliaries would have: e.g.—

 I would have gone, if I had been invited.  He would have earned more money in the States.

In Italian this is a compound tense (i.e.made with more than one word). It is made with the present conditional tense of the auxiliary verb (avere or essere) and the past participle of the verb. Study the table below:

parlare finire arrivare partire vestirsi

avrei parlato avrei finito sarei arrivato/a sarei partito/ami sarei vestito/a

avresti parlato avresti finitosaresti arrivato/a

saresti partito/ati saresti vestito/a

avrebbe parlato

avrebbe finitosarebbe arrivato/a

sarebbe partito/a

si sarebbe vestito/a

avremmo parlato

avremmo finito

saremmo arrivati/e

saremmo partiti/e

ci saremmo vestiti/e

avreste parlato avreste finitosareste arrivati/e

sareste partiti/evi sareste vestiti/e

avrebbero parlato

avrebbero finito

sarebbero arrivati/e

sarebbero partiti/e

si sarebbero vestiti/e

So, when do you use it?

1. to express a past intention or wish that can no longer be fulfilled:

I would have booked the hotel last week; now it's too late.Avrei prenotato l'albergo la settimana scorsa; adesso è troppo tardi.

Maria would have come to the party but she is ill.Maria sarebbe venuta alla festa ma sta male.  

2. to express "the future in the past" — i.e. in reported speech to express a future action from a point of view in the past: e.g.

She said yesterday that she would come.Lei ha detto ieri che sarebbe venuta.   I knew that it would be difficult.Ho saputo che sarebbe stato difficile.   My father promised that he would buy me a car for my birthday.Mio padre ha promesso che mi avrebbe comprato una macchina per il mio compleanno.  

The "future in the past" is a difficult piece of grammar but you might want to use it in Higher writing. In essence you use the past conditional when the clause introduced by "that" in English, or "che" in Italian follows a verb in the past tense. In English the verb in the "that" clause sounds like a conditional, but in Italian it has to be past conditional.The modal verbs: potere (can), dovere (must/ have to), and volere (want) need a bit of care:

avrei potuto = I could have

avrei dovuto = I should have

avrei voluto = I would have liked to

For Example:

1. Claudia could sit her exams next week; she could have sat them all last week. Claudia potrebbe fare gli esami la settimana prossima; avrebbe potuto farli la settimana scorsa.

2. You should go to the doctor's; you should have gone yesterdayDovresti andare dal medico; avresti dovuto andare ieri.

3. Giorgio would have liked to accompany you.Giorgio avrebbe voluto accompagnarti.

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The Perfect Tense — Il Passato Prossimo

1. This is a compound tense — i.e. composed of two words — auxiliary verb and past participle.

2. This tense corresponds to two different tenses in English:

The Simple Past: e.g. I visited Italy last year. The Present Perfect: e.g. She has gone on holiday for a month.

N.B. This means that the English "I went" and "I have gone" are the same in Italian.

To make this tense you need the present tense of avere followed by the past participle of the verb you want. You already know the present tense of avere, so you now need you learn how to make the past participle. The table below explains how:

Present Infinitive Past Participle

  parlare   parlato

  vedere   veduto

  finire   finito

So, to say in Italian "I have finished" you say Ho (I have) finito (finished); if you want to say "I finished" it is also Ho finito.It is important that you understand that you can only make the past tense in Italian in two words — auxiliary verb and a past participle. Here is the full past tense of the verb vedere (to see) :

ho veduto I saw; I have seenabbiamo veduto

we saw; we have seen

hai vedutoyou saw; you have seen

avete vedutoyou saw; you have seen

ha veduto he/she saw; has seen hanno vedutothey saw; they have seen

Note that the past participle does not change when the auxiliary verb is avere.

If you have learned French you will see that the system is exactly the same.

The vast majority of verbs make their past participle by following the pattern in the table above, but some do not follow the general rule; they are called strong verbs. You have to learn them as you meet them but listed below you will find some of the most common verbs. Learn them now!

infinitive meaning past participle

 aprire  to open    aperto

 bere  to drink    bevuto

 chiedere  to ask    chiesto

 chiudere  to close    chiuso

 dire to say; to tell

   detto

 fare  to make;    fatto

to do

 leggere  to read    letto

 mettere  to put    messo

 prendere  to take    preso

 rispondere  to answer    risposto

 scegliere  to choose    scelto

 scoprire to discover

   scoperto

 scrivere  to write    scritto

 smettere  to stop    smesso

 vedere  to see    visto

 vincere  to win    vinto

 vivere  to live    vissuto

You will see that the verb vedere (to see) has two past participles: veduto and visto; choose whichever you like.

 

Verbs which require the verb essere as the auxiliary:

Intransitive verbs (usually verbs of motion) and all the reflexive verbs require essere as the auxiliary verb, not avere. This means that you use the present tense of essere and the past participle.

N.B. When essere is the auxiliary, the past participle agrees with the subject of the verb. 

For example: “The girls have left” = Le ragazze sono partite.           “The boys arrived late” = I ragazzi sono arrivati in ritardo.             “The children woke up early” = I bambini si sono svegliati presto.

Listed below are the commonest verbs which require essere as their auxiliary; learn them now be careful to learn the strong past participles.

Infinitive Meaning Past

Participle

andare   to go andato

venire   to come venuto

partire   to leave partito

arrivare   to arrive arrivato

entrare   to enter entrato

uscire   to go out uscito

salire  to get into salito

scendere  to get out of

sceso

nascere  to be born nato

morire   to die morto

tornare   to return tornato

cadere   to fall caduto

rimanere   to remain rimasto

succedere   to happen successo

essere    to be stato

diventare   to become diventato

This is a very important tense: you must be able to use it for both Standard Grade and Higher. Try the following exercises.

Exercise 1. Translate into English:

1. Ho mangiato troppo. 2. Non ho mai visitato Roma. 3. Hai fatto i compiti? 4. Dove hai passato le vacanze? 5. Non ho fatto niente durante le vacanze. 6. Ho letto un libro interessante la settimana scorsa. 7. Hai visto quel film ieri sera? 8. Mariella ha chiuso la porta quando ha lasciato la casa. 9. La mamma ha comprato del pane al mercato. 10. Cosa hai preso da mangiare oggi?

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2. Translate into English:

1. La famiglia è andata a Roma. 2. Tutti sono arrivati in treno. 3. La mia amica è partita ieri sera. 4. L'uomo è salito in macchina. 5. Roberto si è svegliato molto presto. 6. Le ragazze si sono alzate alle sette. 7. I miei genitori sono venuti qui anni fa. 8. La principessa Diana è nata in Inghilterra ma è morta a Parigi. 9. Sono rimasti dieci giorni a Bologna. 10. Dopo la guerra gli uomini sono tornati a casa.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 3 Translate into Italian: [transitive verbs — use avere as the auxiliary]

1. I visited Italy last year. 2. I had a strange dream. 3. We have finished. 4. Have you seen my watch? 5. They spent two weeks in Sicily. 6. We ate a delicious pizza. 7. Marco drank too much. 8. They have not paid the bill. 9. I have never slept so well. 10. I closed the door and opened the windows.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 4. Translate into Italian: [intransitive and reflexive verbs — use essere as the auxiliary]

1. The results have arrived. 2. Maria has gone to the cinema. 3. The guests left this morning. 4. The girls got up very early. 5. Franco got dressed in a hurry. 6. The children fell asleep. 7. Giuliana has been in Florence on holiday. 8. The others arrived two hours ago. 9. She went out and got into the car. 10. The boys have gone home.

To check your answers click here.

THE IMPERFECT TENSE — L'IMPERFETTO

In Italian the imperfect tense is a simple (i.e. a single word) past tense for describing repeated actions in the past or conditions that last for an indefinite time or for descriptions in the past.

In English, the equivalent tense is the continuous past or the structure used to....  Here are some examples of the tense in English:

1. I was listening to some music.

2. My parents were watching television. 3. I used to play football when I was younger. 4. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. 5. Every Saturday they worked in a supermarket 6. Every morning she would wait for the postman to arrive.

N.B. In sentence 5, the English verb is worked — i.e. the 'simple past' but in Italian you must use the imperfect because the phrase "every Saturday" shows that the action was repeated in the past.

     In sentence 6, the English verb is would wait which sounds like the 'conditional' but this is yet another way the English language has of showing repeated actions in the past. Translated into Italian, the verb would be in the imperfect tense.

This is an easy tense to make in Italian; it has very few exceptions: each verb group adds a set of endings to the stem. In the table below you will see the full scheme. Look for the similarities not the differences!

parlare scrivere dormire

 parlavo  (I was speaking)

  scrivevo      (I was writing)

  dormivo     (I was sleeping)

 parlavi   scrivevi   dormivi

 parlava   scriveva   dormiva

 parlavamo   scrivevamo   dormivamo

 parlavate   scrivevate   dormivate

 parlavano   scrivevano   dormivano

You'll see that each verb uses the endings -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano.

In front of these endings you will find the same vowel as the verb has in its infinitive.

The exceptions: You need to learn the following verbs which do not follow the above rule.

ESSERE

    ero (I was)

    eri

    era

    eravamo

    eravate

    erano

There are another five verbs which have a contracted infinitive but they make this tense from their original uncontracted infinitive:

 fare [facere]

 dire [dicere]

 bere [bevere]

 porre [ponere]

 -durre [ducere]

 facevo  dicevo  bevevo  ponevo  -ducevo

 facevi  dicevi  bevevi  ponevi  -ducevi

 faceva  diceva  beveva  poneva  -duceva

 facevamo  dicevamo  bevevamo  ponevamo  -ducevamo

 facevate  dicevate  bevevate  ponevate  -ducevate

 facevano  dicevano  bevevano  ponevano  -ducevano

N.B. The verb -durre does not exist in this simple form; it always has a prefix like produrre (to produce), ridurre (to reduce) etc.

The other verbs have the following meanings:

1. fare = to do; to make 2. dire = to say ; to tell 3. bere = to drink 4. porre = to put ; to place

NN.B There is one odd place where this tense is used when you would not expect it: if you look at the following piece of English translated into Italian, you'll see it:

"The policeman asked me where Stefano lived, but I didn't know= Il poliziotto mi ha chiesto dove abitava Stefano, ma non lo sapevo.

Usually if you want to say "I didn't know", you say "non ho saputo". (past tense).

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The Pluperfect Tense — Il Trapassato Prossimo

In English this is a compound tense using the auxiliary "had" and a past participle.

In Italian this is a compound tense (i.e. two words) using the imperfect tense of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the verb.

The tense describes an action in the past which took place before another action in the past: e.g.

1. I looked for my friend but he had already left.Ho cercato il mio amico ma lui era già partito.

2. My sister gave me a present of a book which I had read years ago.Mia sorella mi ha regalato un libro che avevo letto anni fa.

Here is the full pluperfect tense of a few verbs:

fare meaning vedere meaning partire meaning

avevo fatto I had done avevo visto I had seen ero partito/a I had gone

avevi fatto you had done avevi visto you had seen eri partito/a you had gone

aveva fattohe/she had done

aveva vistohe/she had seen

era partito/a he/she had gone

avevamo fatto

we had doneavevamo visto

we had seeneravamo partiti/e

we had gone

avevate fatto you had doneavevate visto

you had seeneravate partiti/e

you had gone

avevano fatto

they had doneavevano visto

they had seenerano partiti/e

they had gone

Exercise 1 Translate the following sentences or clauses into Italian:

1. When I had finished, ........ 2. They had already arrived. 3. My parents had bought a house near Naples. 4. Because I had forgotten to telephone, ..... 5. The train had already left. 6. They had cancelled our flight.

To check your answers click here.

 

IL GERUNDIO 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 table below will show you how the gerundio is made from the present infinitive:

infinitive meaning gerundio meaning

parlare to speak parlando speaking

vedere to see vedendo seeing

dormire to sleep dormendo sleeping

 

N.B. The gerundio is invariable; it does not behave like an adjective. For example:

1. Sandra fell while skiing = Sandra è caduta sciando 2. Seeing him, the others went away = Vedendolo, gli altri sono andati via.

Notice in the last example in Italian the gerundio “vedendolo”. The “lo” is the pronoun 'him' and it illustrates a rule with the gerundio, that pronouns are attached to the end of it to make one word, they are not put in front of it as happens with the ordinary tenses of the verb.

STRUCTURE: This part of the verb creates a present and past continuous tense when the verb “stare” is used as the auxiliary. For example:

1. I am thinking = sto pensando. 2. She is crying = sta piangendo. 3. They were waiting = stavano aspettando. 4. We were watching TV = stavamo guardando la TV.

Exercise 1. Translate these sentences into English:

1. Cosa stai facendo? 2. Sto leggendo il giornale. 3. Stanno preparando l'insalata. 4. Stavo ascoltando la radio quando il telefono ha squillato. 5. I ragazzi stavano vestendosi.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2. Translate these sentences into Italian:

1. I am writing a letter. 2. She is waiting for a phone call. 3. I was watching a football match. 4. He was doing something. 5. The girls were sleeping.

To check your answers click here.

 

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS and REFLEXIVE VERBS and how to use them:

mi    myself ci   ourselves

ti    yourself vi    yourselves

si himself/herself si  themselves

Rules:

1. Like all pronouns, the reflexive pronouns stand before the verb or the auxiliary verb in compound tenses. e.g.:

Mio fratello si chiama Giancarlo = My brother is called Giancarlo. L'uomo si è ucciso = the man killed himself.

2. Reflexive verbs use essere as the auxiliary verb as in the last example above. e.g.:

I bambini si erano vestiti = The children had got dressed A che ora ti alzerai, Luisa? = What time will you be getting up, Luisa?

3. Reflexive pronouns are added to the end of the infinitive, gerundio and imperative to form one word. e.g.:

Ero così stanco che non ho potuto alzarmi = I was so tired that I couldn't get up. Maria è in bagno,e sta lavandosi i capelli = Maria is in the bathroom, she's washing her hair.

English has very few real reflexive verbs, like to enjoy oneself, to hurt oneself, to kill oneself, but they are very common in Italian, often where English uses another verbal phrase. It is useful to know the commonest reflexive verbs; here are a few to learn as items of vocabulary, along with their meaning.

svegliarsi to wake upalzarsi to get uplavarsi to get washedvestirsi to get dressedspogliarsi to get undressedpettinarsi to comb one's hairtruccarsi to put on makeuplamentarsi to complaindivertirsi to enjoy oneselffermarsi to stopsedersi to sit muoversi to moveannoiarsi to get boredarrabbiarsi to get angryavvicinarsi to approachsbagliarsi to make a mistakepreoccuparsito be worried

accorgersito be aware of; realise

Relfexive verbs behave like ordinary verbs except that you have to put a reflexive pronoun in front. Make sure you know what type of verb you are dealing with; e.g. divertirsi is conjugated as divertire with a reflexive pronoun in front; similarly annoiarsi is annoiare with a reflexive pronoun. If you would like to see the whole present tense of a reflexive verb look at the table below, where divertirsi (to enjoy oneself) has been laid out for you:

mi diverto ci divertiamo

ti diverti vi divertite

si diverte si divertono

N.B. Higher candidates: make sure you know and can use the following reflexive verbs:

1. mettersi a ... = to start to ... 2. accorgersi di ... = to be aware of; to realise 3. andarsene ...= to go away; leave [= s'en aller in French]

Now try some exercises to see if you have grasped the idea.

Exercise 1. Translate into English.

1. Ogni mattina mia madre si alza alle sette. 2. Ieri mi sono svegliato molto presto. 3. La festa era orrenda; mi sono annoiato molto. 4. Prima di vestirti, Franco, devi lavarti la faccia. 5. Gina si era già lavata i denti. 6. Se tu prendi la macchina, papà si arrabbierà. 7. Avevo paura di sbagliarmi. 8. Luigi si annoia perché non c'è niente da fare. 9. Ci siamo divertiti alla festa. 10. Il treno, avvicinandosi alla stazione, si è fermato all'improvviso.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 2. Complete the following passage by transforming the infinitive verbs into the correct form of the present tense.

Signor Tommasini is describing his daily routine before he leaves home in the morning.

Di solito la mattina [svegliarsi] alle sette. [alzarsi] poco dopo e [farsi] la doccia. Poi [radersi] e [spruzzarsi] con il dopobarba. Infine [vestirsi] e vado in cucina dove [prepararsi] un cappuccino. Dopo la colazione [lavarsi] i denti, [guardarsi] allo specchio, [mettersi] la giacca ed esco di casa.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 3. Try to describe your daily routine; translate the following sentences, then modify them to suit your own situation.

1. I wake up at 7.30. 2. I get up a little later. 3. I get dressed in a hurry. 4. I make myself breakfast. 5. Then I brush my teeth. 6. I look at myself in the mirror and comb my hair. 7. Before leaving the house, I put on a coat.

To check your answers click here.

Exercise 4. Re-write exercise 3 in the perfect tense.

1. I woke up at 7.30.

2. I got up a little later.etc.

To check your answers click here.

 

The Modal Verbs

There are three verbs called “modal verbs” which you will meet very frequently; learn them thoroughly because they have very basic meanings and you will want to use them in speaking and writing. They are the verbs:

potere  = to be able; can dovere = to have to ; must volere  = to want

These verbs are followed by an infinitive verb without any linking preposition.

We'll look at the verbs individually

1. potere = to be able; can. Here is the scheme of its tenses; the present tense is irregular and is written out in full; you should be able to complete the other tenses if you are given the First Person. The present subjunctive is also irregular:

present future conditional past

cond. imperfect perfect pluperfect pres.subj. impf. subj.

 posso  potrò  potrei avrei potuto

 potevo ho potuto

 avevo potuto

 io possa io potessi

 puoi              tu possa tu poteesi

 può            lui/lei possa

  potesse

 possiamo              possiamo   potessimo

 potete              possiate   poteste

 possono              possano   potessero

Exercise 1. Translate into English. — These sentences require a knowledge of all the tenses, and the subjunctive.

1. Non posso fare ciò che mi chiedi. 2. Non ho potuto finire l'esercizio. 3. Alla fine degli esami, Marco potrà rilassarsi. 4. Forse qualcuno più giovane potrebbe aiutare. 5. Quando era studente, poteva uscire a divertirsi tutte le sere. 6. Se mi telefoni domani, è possibile che ti possa dare un risposta. 7. Potrei usare questa macchina, ma preferirei un'altra. 8. Se Maria avesse potuto scegliere, avrebbe fatto una carriera diversa. 9. Avrei potuto andare alla festa, ma ho deciso di stare a casa. 10. Sì, Marco avrebbe potuto accompagnarci, ma vuole andare da solo.

To check your answers, click here.

The conditional mood of this verb translates the English "could" when you mean something like "I could go, but I don't want to."The past conditional translates the English "could have" , e.g. "I could have gone, but I didn't want to."

Use this information to help you translate the following sentences into Italian.

Exercise 2. Translate into Italian:

1. He can speak Italian very well. 2. I have never been able to understand French. 3. During the holidays I shall be able to sleep all day. 4. When they were children, they were able to understand English. 5. I can't eat much. 6. I used to be able to play the piano years ago.

7. Adriana could come with us but she prefers to go out with her boyfried. 8. I could have danced all night. 9. We could have taken a taxi. 10. If I could have gone, I would have enjoyed myself.

To check your answers, click here.

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2. dovere = to be have to; must; ought to. Here is the scheme of its tenses; the present tense is irregular and is written out in full; you should be able to complete the other tenses if you are given the First Person. The present subjunctive is also irregular:

present future conditional past

cond. imperfect perfect pluperfect pres.subj. impf. subj.

 devo dovrò dovrei avrei

dovuto dovevo

ho dovuto

avevo dovuto

io debba io dovessi

 devi             tu debba   tu dovessi

 deve            lui/lei debba

  dovesse

dobbiamo              dobbiamo   dovessimo

 dovete              dobbiate   doveste

 devono              debbano   dovessero

N.B. The conditional of this verb translates the English "ought" or "should"; the past conditional translates the English "ought to have ..." or "should have"

Exercise 3. Translate into English. — These sentences require a knowledge of all the tenses, and the subjunctive.

1. Devo partire subito, ho fretta. 2. Purtroppo dovrete fare l'esercizio di nuovo. 3. Quando ero piccolo, dovevo imparare a suonare il violino. 4. Daniela non è venuta; ha dovuto andare all'ospedale. 5. Dobbiamo comprare i biglietti prima di salire in autobus. 6. L'insegnante dice che Franco dovrebbe passare gli esami facilmente. 7. L'insegnante dice che Franco avrebbe dovuto passare gli esami facilmente. 8. I tuoi genitori avrebbero dovuto educarti meglio. 9. E' probabile che tu debba rifare l'esame. 10. Se io avessi dovuto prendere soldi in prestito, non avrei potuto andare all'università.

To check your answers, click here.

Exercise 4. Translate into Italian.— These sentences get progressively more difficult.

1. I must finish this work.

2. I shall have to listen more attentively. 3. Unfortunately Maria's sister has had to cancel her holiday. 4. In primary school we used to have to wear short trousers. 5. I often had to stay at home because I didn't have any money. 6. It ought to be quite easy. 7. The doctor says that I should try to relax. 8. The students should have finished the course by now. 9. It is possible that Angela must pay the fine, if she can't find the ticket. 10. If my father had had to emigrate, he would have gone to America.

To check your answers, click here.

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3. volere = to want. Here is the scheme of its tenses; the present tense is irregular and is written out in full; you should be able to complete the other tenses if you are given the First Person. The present subjunctive is also irregular:

present future conditional past

cond. imperfect perfect pluperfect pres.subj. impf. subj.

 voglio vorrò vorrei avrei

voluto volevo

ho voluto

avevo voluto

io voglia io volessi

 vuoi             tu voglia   tu volessi

 vuole            lui/lei voglia

   volesse

vogliamo              vogliamo   volessimo

 volete              vogliate   voleste

 vogliono              vogliano   volessero

Exercise 5. Translate into English. — These sentences require a knowledge of all the tenses, and the subjunctive.

1. Gina non vuole accompagnarci. 2. Quando ero piccolo,volevo avere un bicicletta. 3. So che non hai fame adesso, ma forse vorrai qualcosa più tardi. 4. Vorrei chiederti qualcosa. 5. Noi tutti vorremmo più soldi e più tempo libero. 6. Cosa vorresti vedere a Pisa? 7. Avrei voluto comprarti qualcosa, ma non avevo i soldi. 8. Forse il tuo amico vorrebbe che tu lo invitasse alla festa. 9. Era possibile che i tuoi amici volessero andarci senza di te. 10. Se io avessi voluto imparare la grammatica, ne avrei comprato un libro.

Exercise 6. Translate into Italian.

1. I want to telephone him.

2. I was not wanting to disturb you. 3. When they were little, they wanted to have a pet. 4. My cousin would like to go on holiday with me. 5. I had never wanted to work in an office. 6. My mother would have liked a bigger house. 7. My parents don't want me to go on holiday with my friends. 8. Our teacher would like us to finish this for tomorrow. 9. It seemed that Carla wanted a more interesting job. 10. If I had wanted to study medicine, the course would have lasted six years.

To check your answers, click here.

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THE IMPERATIVE MOOD

This is the form of the verb which is used to give orders, commands or requests.

For example:

1. Listen carefully = Ascolta attentamente. 2. Take notes in Italian. = Prendete appunti in italiano. 3. Let's go! = Andiamo!

Here is how the imperative is formed:

  parlare ripetere aprire finire

sing.   parla   ripeti   apri   finisci

plur.   parlate   ripetete   aprite   finite

These forms are the most frequently used.

However, to express a command or request in more polite or formal language, use the following forms:

  parlare ripetere aprire finire

sing.   parli   ripeta   apra   finisca

plur.   parlino   ripetano   aprano   finiscano

This is why there are apparently two ways of saying "Excuse me". The explanation is:Use scusa if you addressing someone informally.Use scusi if you are being formal or polite.

There is also a form of the imperative equivalent to the English structure "Let's finish early" "Let's go to lunch". The equivalent in Italian is:Let's finish early = Finiamo presto.Let's go to lunch = Andiamo a pranzare.

You'll see that this form of the imperative is the same as the ordinary present tense.

A few verbs have an irregular formation:

  andare dare fare stare dire

sing.   va'   da'   fa' sta'   di'

plur.   andate  date  fate  state  dite

Very often general commands are expressed by the infinitive, e.g.:

1. Tirare = Pull 2. Spingere = Push

Remember that pronouns get attached to the end of the imperative to form one word, e.g.

1. Ripetilo, per favore. = Repeat it, please. 2. Leggimelo = Read me it.

With imperatives of only one syllable, like da', fa', sta', di', the first consonant of the pronoun is doubled (but not with "gli"), e.g.

1. Dimmi! = Tell me! 2. Stacci = Stay there

3. Dammelo! = Give me it! 4. Diglielo = Tell it to him!

However, with the formal imperative, pronouns go in front of it, e.g.:

1. Mi dica! = Tell me. 2. S'accomodi! = Have a seat.

 

NEGATIVE COMMANDS: "DON'T EAT IN THE CORRIDORS" "NO SMOKING"

Negative commands are usually expressed in Italian with non followed by the infinitive verb.For example:

1. Don't eat in the corridors! = Non mangiare nei corridoi! 2. No smoking! = Non fumare! 3. Don't throw things out of the window = Non gettare oggetti dalla finestra.

However, if you want to direct a negative commands to more than one person, use the normal imperative preceded by non, e.g.:

1. Don't run, boys! = Non correte, ragazzi! 2. Don't eat too much, gentelmen! = Non mangiate troppo, signori!

Finally, if you want the negative command using the more formal imperative, simply put non in front of it, e.g.:

1. Don't drink it! = Non lo beva! 2. Don't give it to him! = Non glielo dia!

N.B. In the writing you will do at Standard Grade and Higher, you will probably never use this mood of the verb, but you will certainly meet it when you are reading Italian, so learn it!

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THE PASSIVE VOICE OF THE VERB

Verbs can be active or passive voice. This means that when the subject of the verb performs the action of the verb, we say that the verb is in the active voice. A verb is in the passive voice if the subject has the action of the verb done to it, e.g.:Active Voice = Calvino is writing a book = Calvino scrive un libro. Passive Voice = The book is written by Calvino = Il libro è scritto da Calvino

The passive is formed by using the appropriate tense of essere and the past participle of the verb, e.g.:

1. Lots of book have been written on this theme,= Molti libri sono stati scritti su questo tema

2. This film is being produced by Visconti.= Questo film è prodotto da Visconti.

Note the following points about the passive:

1. The passive voice always requires at least two words, sometimes three. 2. The past participle always agrees with the grammatical subject of the sentence. 3. Any tense can have a passive voice, e.g.:

present:   molte informazioni sono date dal professore               a lot of information is given by the teacher future:    molte informazioni saranno date dal professore.              a lot of information will be given by the teacher

  imperfect: molte informazioni erano date dal professore.              a lot of information was given by the teacher

perfect:   molte informazioni sono state date dal professore.              a lot of information has been given by the teacher.

pluperfect: molte informazioni erano state date dal professore.              a lot of information had been given by the teacher.

          conditional: molte informazioni sarebbero date dal professore.                    a lot of information would be given by the teacher.

past conditional: molte informazioni sabbero state date dal professore.                                     a lot of information would have been given by the teacher.

 

N.B. The verb venire can be used instead of essere in the present, future, imperfect and conditional, e.g.:

Poche macchine veranno vendute l'anno prossimo.= Few cars will be sold next year.

Although the passive voice is available as outlined above, a very neat way to create it is by using the pronoun si with the third person of the active voice of the verb. This construction is called si passivante. This is how to use it:

1. Si danno troppi soldi al sud.= Too much money is given to the South.

2. Non si mangia carne ogni giorno.= Meat is not eaten every day.

You will often see this construction in newspaper advertisements or selling or renting articles. Then the si is attached to the verb, e.g.:

1. Vendesi bicicletta.= Bicycle for sale.

2. Affittasi piccolo appartamento.= Small appartment for rent.

Students usually find the passive is awkward to form correctly in Italian; the best solution is to use the si passivante contruction, but if that is not possible, try to turn the sentence around and write it in the active voice, e.g. instead of trying to write "the tickets had already been posted by my parents" turn it into "my parents had already posted the tickets

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IMPERSONAL VERBS

These verbs only exist in the third person; there are three groups:

1. Verbs referring to the weather:

1. piove = it is raining 2. nevica = it is snowing 3. fa freddo = it is cold 4. fa caldo = it is warm

2. Impersonal expressions like “it is easy to ...”, “ it is likely that ...”, e.g.

1. è facile (+ infinitive) = it's easy to ... 2. è difficile (+ infinitive) = it's difficult to ... 3. è probabile che (+ subjunctive) = it's probable that ... 4. è necessario che (+ subjunctive) = it's necessary that ....

3. Certain verbs expressing need, necessity etc. e.g.

bisogna it's necessary

occorre it's necessary

pare it seems

sembra it seems

succede it happens

accade it happens

importa it's important; it matters

basta it is enough

However, the impersonal construction is very common in Italian when you want to show that the action of a verb is perfomed by a subject which is indefinite or by people in general.The construction uses si + 3rd person of the verb. The construction is called si impersonale. It is used where in English we would say “You go to school, you come home, you go to bed, you get up, you go to school.” or “one reads about it all the time.”

The examples below should make it clear:

1. Si lavora per guadagnare soldi.People work to earn money.

2. Non si può pagare con una carta di credito.You can't pay by credit card.

3. Come si dice awkward in italian?How do you say awkward in Italian.

4. Non si paga molto in alberghi di quella categoria.You don't pay much in hotels of that class.

5. Si scelgono diversi corsi.People choose different courses.(Different courses are chosen)

Look at the last example carefully. The verb is plural because the noun following it is plural. This usage is the same as the si passivante construction.

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THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD — IL MODO CONGIUNTIVO

All the tenses of the verb which are listed under the verbs on the Grammar Index Page, apart from the conditional tenses, are in a mood called the INDICATIVE. This is the form of the verb which is used for making statements of fact. Now meet the subjunctive:

This is a mood of the verb which no longer exists in English, except in one structure with the verb "to be", so English speakers usually find it difficult to grasp the subjunctive. Many other languages still have there subjunctive mood but it has vanished from English.It is a form of the verb which is used in Italian quite commonly in certain situations.The subjunctive mood is available in only four tenses: present, imperfect, perfect and pluperfect.

Firstly you have to get to know what the subjunctive looks like; here are some verbs to illustrate how the present and imperfect are formed:

PRESENT TENSE IMPERFECT TENSE

parlare vedere dormire capire parlare vedere capire

   parli   veda   dorma   capisca   parlassi   vedessi   capissi

   parli   veda   dorma   capisca   parlassi   vedessi   capissi

   parli   veda   dorma   capisca   parlasse   vedesse   capisse

   parliamo

  vediamo

  dormiamo

  capiamo  parlassimo

  vedessimo

  capissimo

   parliate   vediate   dormiate   capiate   parlaste   vedeste   capiste

   parlino   vedano   dormano  capiscano

  parlassero

  vedessero

  capissero

N.B. You will see that in the present tense, the first three persons of the verb are identical and this is one occasion when you will probably have to use the personal pronouns in order to avoid confusion. Similarly, in the imperfect tense, you cannot distinguish the first and second persons without using pronouns.

You know that in the present tense there are two types of verb in the Third Conjugation (those whose infinitive ends in -ire). If you are not sure of this, go back and look again at how you form the present tense by clicking here. Both these types of verb form there imperfect in the same way.

Here are the subjunctives of essere and avere. You need these as verbs in their own right but they are also the auxiliary verbs which make the perfect and pluperfect subjunctives for all the other verbs in the language.

PRESENT TENSE

IMPERFECT TENSE

essere avere essere avere

    sia    abbia    fossi   avessi

    sia    abbia    fossi   avessi

    sia    abbia    fosse   avesse

   siamo

  abbiamo

   fossimo

  avessimo

   siate   abbiate    foste   aveste

   siano  abbiano

   fossero

  avessero

Again you need to use pronouns to distinguish the persons of the verb which are identical.

The tables above show you how to make the subjunctive, now you need to learn when and when not to use it.I have divided the rest of this page into eight sections to illustrate the uses of the subjunctive. In Higher Grade Writing, I would expect you to be able to use a few clauses and structures which require the subjunctive.

SECTION 1: Use it : after impersonal verbs and expressions like:

bisogna che ...

it is necessary that ....

  è facile/difficile che ... it is easy/difficult

occorre che ...

it is necessary that ....

 è possibile/impossibile che ...

it is possible/impossible that

sembra che ...

it seems that ...  è probabile/improbabile che ...

it is probable/improbable that

pare che ... it seems that ...   è meglio che ... it is better that ...

      è peccato che ... it is a pity that ...

      è bene che ... it is good that ...

      è importante che ... it is important that

But DON'T USE IT when you use an infinitive, e.g.:

1. It is difficult to understand all this = E' difficile capire tutto questo. 2. You need to book the tickets = Bisogna prenotare i biglietti.

SECTION 2: Use it : after verbs expressing hope, want, expect, prefer, fear, think, e.g.

1. I hope that you understand all this = Spero che tu capisca tutto questo. 2. The boss wanted us all to work hard = Il padrone voleva che lavorassimo sodo. 3. My parents prefer me to go with them = I miei genitori preferiscono che io li

accompagni. 4. I thought Angelina was very sweet = Pensavo che Angelina fosse molto simpatica.

But DON'T USE IT when you use an infinitive, e.g.:

1. I hope to go to university = Spero di andare all'università. 2. I would like to study law = Vorrei studiare legge. 3. I would prefer to continue to study Spanish = Preferirei continuare a studiare lo

spagnolo. 4. I am thinking of looking for a job = Penso di cercare un lavoro.

SECTION 3: It must be used in clauses introduced by the following conjunctions:

benché althoughsebbene althoughpurché provided thata condizione che ...

on condition that ...

nel caso che ... in case

For example:

1. We enjoyed ourselves although the weather was terrible = Ci siamo divertiti benché il tempo fosse terribile

2. I'll buy him a present for his birthday provided it doesn't cost too much = Gli comprerò un regalo per il suo compleanno purché non costi troppo

3. I'll take an umbrella in case it rains.= Porterò un ombrello nel caso che piova.

SECTION 4: USE IT to express purpose after the following conjunctions BUT only if the subjects of the main and dependent clauses are different/

affinché  in order that ...; so that ...

perché  in order that ...; so that ...

cosicché  in order that ...; so that ...

in modo che

  in order that ...; so that ...

For example:

1. We hired bikes so that the children could go into the countryside.= Abbiamo noleggiato delle biciclette affinché i bambini vadano in campagna.

2. Let's wait a little for the wine to get cooler.= Aspettiamo un po' cosicche il vino sia più freddo.

But DON'T USE IT if the subjects in the two clauses are the same; instead, use per + infinitive, e.g.:

1. I would like to go to university to study foreign languages.= Vorrei andare all'università per studiare lingue straniere.

2. If I had the money, I would go to Italy to improve my Italian.= Se io avessi i soldi, andrei in Italia per migliorare il mio italiano.

3. I went to the bank in order to change money.= Sono andato alla banca per cambiare soldi.

SECTION 5: USE IT after the conjunction “prima che”to translate “before” if the subjects of the two clauses are different, e.g.:

1. I'll leave before your parents come back home.= Partirò prima che i tuoi genitori tornino a casa.

2. The house had been burning for half an hour before the firemen arrived.= La casa brucciava da una mezz'ora prima che i pompieri arrivassero.

But DON'T USE IT if the subjects in the two clauses are the same; instead, use prima di + infinitive, e.g.:

1. We played cards before going to bed.= Abbiamo giocato a carte prima di andare a letto.

2. I would like to have a gap year before going to university.= Vorrei avere un anno sabatico prima di andare all'università.

SECTION 6: USE IT after the conjunction “senza che”to translate “without” if the subjects of the two clauses are different, e.g.:

1. The boys used to smoke without their parents being aware of it.= I ragazzi fumavano senza che i loro genitori se ne accorgessero.

2. I can't do anything without my family knowing about it.= Non posso fare niente senza che la mia famiglia lo sappia.

But DON'T USE IT if the subjects in the two clauses are the same; instead, use senza + infinitive, e.g.:

1. I didn't want to come back without buying some presents.= Non volevo tornare senza comprare qualche regalo.

2. Breakfast is important. It's not a good idea to leave home without having something to eat.= La colazione è importante. Non è una buona idea uscire di casa senza mangiare qualcosa.

SECTION 7: USE IT with the structure“non vedo l'ora che”to translate “I can't wait; I am looking forward to” if the subjects of the two clauses are different, e.g.:

1. I can't wait for the holidays to arrive.= Non vedo l'ora che le vacanze arrivino.

2. I couldn't wait for the phone to ring.= Non vedevo l'ora che il telefono squillasse.

But DON'T USE IT if you want an infinitive; instead, use non vedo l'ora + infinitive, e.g.:

1. I can't wait to go back to Rome.= non vedo l'ora di tornare a Roma.

2. My partner was looking forward to visiting Scotland.= La mia corrispondente non vedeva l'ora di visitare la Scozia.

SECTION 8: Commonest mistakes when using the subjunctive.

These are:

1. Using the subjunctive when you don't need it. Look at the sections above and note when it is not required; it is usually only needed after certain conjunctions when the subjects in the two clauses are different.

2. Using the wrong tense.    There are only four tenses which have a subjunctive: present, imperfect, perfect, pluperfect.

Rule: If the verb in the main clause is present, future, or imperative, use the present or perfect subjunctive.     If the verb in the main clause is past, or conditional, use the imperfect or pluperfect subjunctive.

Exercise 1: Here is a short passage in English; after it you will find that most of it has been translated but you have to change the verbs given from the infinitive into the correct tense of the subjunctive. In the passage someone is telling of their dreams and wishes when he was younger and this is a situation where the subjunctive is needed.

When I was a little boy, I always wished that my father was rich. I wanted my family to live in a big house. I hoped that my father would buy us a car, and that we would spend our holidays abroad. I wanted us to live in a big town because I always thought that our town was boring and I would have liked us to have been able to go to concerts and the theatre etc.

Quando ero piccolo,sempre volevo che mio padre (essere) ricco. Volevo che la mia famiglia (abitare) in una grande casa. Speravo che mio padre ci (comprare) una macchina, e che noi (passare) le nostre vacanze all'estero.Volevo che noi (abitare) in una grande città perché pensavo sempre che il nostro paese (essere) noioso e mi sarebbe piaciuto che noi (potere) andare ai concerti ed a teatro ecc.

To check your answer click here.

Exercise 2: Translate these sentences into Italian:

1. I used to think that life in America was exciting. 2. I doubt that Anna is happy. 3. I suppose that teachers in Italy don't earn much. 4. My mother hoped that we were spending our holiday quietly. 5. I always imagined that the beaches were crowded in summer.

6. Our grandmother always wished that we had gone to university. 7. It is possible that someone has found the wallet. 8. It was necessary for the children to get dressed in a hurry. 9. I had bought a house in the country because I thought that the air was cleaner there. 10. My parents would have liked me to stay at home.

To check your answer click here.

 

 

PRONOUNS — I PRONOMI

This page is divided into six sections organised as follows:

1. Direct Object Pronouns2. Indirect Object Pronouns3. Reflexive Pronouns4. Disjunctive Pronouns5. The pronoun “ ne”6. Rules for using two pronouns before the verb

Pronouns are words which take the place of nouns.

In Italian there are four types of pronouns; they sometimes have horrendous technical names but they are quite easy. They are given below with their grammatical names and a translation into English.

There is also a special pronoun ne which is in a class of its own.

1 DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS:

mi   me ci   us

ti   you vi   you

lo   him li  them (masc.)

la   her le  them (fem.)

Layou (formal)

Le you (formal

To see how to use them click here.

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2 INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS:

mi   to/for me ci   to/for us

ti   to/for you

vi    to/for you

gli   to/for him

loro   to them

le    to/for her loro   to them

Leto you (formal)

Loroto you (formal)

To see how to use them click here.

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3 REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS:

mi    myself ci   ourselves

ti    yourself vi    yourselves

si himself/herself si  themselves

To see how to use them click here.

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4 DISJUNCTIVE PRONOUNS (used after prepositions)

me   me noi   us

te   you voi   you

lui   him loro  them (masc.)

lei   her loro  them (fem.)

Leiyou (formal)

Loro you (formal

To see how to use them, click here.

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5 THE PRONOUN ne.

This pronoun is very idiomatic. Spend a little time with it and try to master it, especially if you are doing Higher Writing.

Rules:

1. It stands before the verb or before the auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

2. It is attached to the end of the infinitive, gerundio and imperative to form one word.

3. It follows the rule about using two pronouns before the verb. Check it out in the next section.

4  In compound tenses, when ne replaces the direct object, the past participle agrees with the direct object:—

    Quante bottiglie di vino hai comprato? — Ne ho comprate dieci.    = How many bottles of wine did you buy? — I bought ten.

1. Nemeans “of it; of them”. It frequently does not need to be translated into English: e.g.:

1. Hai molti esami? — Sì, ne ho sette. = Do you have many exams? Yes, I have seven (of them)

2. Hai fatto tutti gli esercizi? — No. Però, ne ho fatti tre. = Have you done all the exercises? No. But I've done three (of them)

Although English not have an equivalent for ne in the type of sentences shown above, you must remember to use it in Italian.

2. This pronoun replaces a prepositional phrase beginning with di, and it does need to be translated into English. For example:

1. Hai paura del cane? — No, non ne ho paura.= Are you frightened of the dog? No, I'm not frightened of it.

2. Carlo parla mai della sua infanzia? — Sì, ne parla spesso. = Does Carlo ever talk about his childhood? Yes, he often talks about it.

You could find that you need to use this pronoun if you are dealing with one of the common verbs or expressions which are followed by di. Here are the commonest; try to learn them:

avere bisogno di to need

avere paura di to be afraid of

avere voglia di to want

sapere di to know of

accorgersi di to notice; realise

rendersi conto di to notice; realise

ricordarsi di to remember

dimenticarsi di to forget

For example:

1. Ti sei accorto di quanto costava la macchina? — Sì, me ne sono accorto.  = Did you notice how much the car cost? — Yes, I noticed (it).

2. Ti ricordi della scuola materna? — No, non me ne ricordo niente.  = Do you remember your nursery school? — No, I don't remember anything about it.

3. Cosa sai di Sardegna? — Non ne so molto.  = What do you know about Sardinia? — I don't know much about it.

3. This pronoun also replaces expressions consisting of da + place. For example:

1. Ha aperto la borsetta e ne ha preso una fotografia.    = She opened her handbag and took a photograph out of it.

2. A che ora tuo marito è uscito dall'ufficio? — Ne è uscito alle sette e mezzo.   = What time did your husband leave the office? He left it at 7.30.

4. This pronoun also has some idiomatic usages which have no equivalent in English. The only one which you should be familiar with is with the reflexive form of the verb andare. This produces the verb andarsene which means “to leave; go away”. Although there is no equivalent in English, in French you may have met the verb s'en aller . Here is the verb in its present and perfect tenses. This verb cannot take a direct object.

present tense passato prossimo

me ne vado I am leavingme ne sono andato/a

I left/ have left

te ne vai you .... te ne sei andato/a you ....

se ne va he/she/it .... se n'è andato/a he/she/it ....

ce ne andiamo

we ....ce ne siamo andati/e

we ....

ve ne andate you ....ve ne siete andati/e

you ....

se ne vanno they .... se ne sono andati/e

they ....

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6 RULES ABOUT USING TWO PRONOUNS.

Look at these sentences:

1. I bought her a present but forgot to give her it. 2. We sent for their autographs and they said they would give us them.

There are two pronouns highlighted in each one. English speakers often have problems translating this kind of sentence into Italian because they are not quite sure what pronouns to use. the sentences actually mean:

1. I bought a present for her, but I forgot to give it to her. 2. We sent for their autographs and they said they would sent them to us.

So, in the first sentence it is a direct object pronoun and to her is an indirect object pronoun.Similarly in the second sentence, them is a direct object pronoun and to us is an indirect object pronoun.

In Italian there is a rule which governs the order in which these pronouns are used, namely:indirect object followed by direct object.

This causes a slight change of spelling: pronouns which normally end in i change this letter to e. This is more complicated than it should be and perhaps the best way to grapple with it is to look at the following table where two pronouns are used.The first pronoun means "to me" , "to you" etc.; lo and la mean "it", and li and le mean "them". You'll see that the pronoun gli means "to him" or "to her" or "to them" and it combines into one word with the direct object pronouns lo, la, li, le.

Indirect Object prons.

Direct Object Pronouns

 lo (him/it)

la (her/it)li (them)

le (them)

ne (of it/of them)

mi (to me) me lo me la me li me le me ne

ti (to you) te lo te la te li te le te ne

gli (to him) glielo gliela glieli gliele gliene

le (to her) glielo gliela glieli gliele gliene

ci (to us) ce lo ce la ce li ce le ce ne

vi (to you) ve lo ve la ve li ve le ve ne

gli (to them) glielo gliela glieli gliele gliene

So, look at how these English senteces translate into Italian:

1. They bought a scooter and gave me it for my birthdayHanno comprato un motorino e me l'hanno regalato per il mio compleanno.

2. She doesn't have your telephone number; I'll send her it with my letter.Non ha il tuo numero telefonico; glielo mando con la mia lettera.

3. They already have the results; when will they give us them?Hanno già i risultati; quando ce li daranno?

4. He has a new car; he was showing her it. Ha una nuova macchina; gliela mostrava.

As with single pronouns, both of these pronouns get attached to the end of the infinitive, gerundio, or imperative, so the last sentence could also be : Ha una nuova macchina; stava mostrandogliela.

When added to an infinitive or imperative, pairs of pronouns can make the verb look very strange, e.g.

Ti ho comprato qualcosa; quando posso dartela? = I bought something for you; when can I give you it?Mi hanno chiesto di spiegarglielo = They asked me to explain it to them.

Quelle sigarette sono le mie; dammele subito. Those cigarettes are mine; give me them immediately.

The same rules apply to reflexive pronouns used with direct object pronoun,e.g.

Reflexive pronouns.

Direct Object Pronouns

 lo (him/it)

la (her/it)li (them)

le (them)

ne (of it/of them)

mi (myself) me lo me la me li me le me ne

ti (yourself) te lo te la te li te le te ne

si (himself/herself)

se lo se la se li se le se ne

ci (ourselves) ce lo ce la ce li ce le ce ne

vi (yourselves) ve lo ve la ve li ve le ve ne

si (themselves) se lo se la se li se le se ne

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ADVERBS — GLI AVVERBI

ADVERBS indicate time, place, manner or quantity; unlike adjectives, they are invariable and can modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

Here are some common adverbs which you should know as items of vocabulary. Learn them:

adverbs of time adverbs of place adverbs of manner adverbs of quantity

ieri yesterday qui here così so molto very

oggi today lì there bene well troppotoo (much)

domani tomorrow vicino near male badlyabbastanza

quite; enough

sempre always lontano far away meglio better piuttosto rather

spesso oftendaperttutto

everywhere

peggio worse assai quite

tardi late fuori outsidepurtroppo

unfortunately

più more

presto early dentro inside davvero really anche also

subitoimmediately

           

ancora still; again            

fa ago            

già already            

Many adverbs can be made from adjectives by adding the suffix -mente to the feminine form of the adjective as shown below:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

vero true veramente truly

chiaro clear chiaramente clearly

ovvio obvious ovviamente obviously

recente recent recentemente recently

veloce quick velocemente quickly

If the adjective ends in -le or -re and there is a vowel in front, the final -e is dropped and -mente is added, for example:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

facile easy facilmente easily

probabile probable probabilmente probably

regolare regular regolarmente regularly

popolare popular popolarmente popularly

Comparative Adverbs

Comparative is when you want to say “more easily” or “less often”.The equivalent in Italian is to say “più facile” and “meno spesso”.

Position of Adverbs:

1. Adverbs usually follow the verb they qualify: e.g.Marco va sempre in macchina = Marco always goes by car.

2. Adverbs qualifying a noun, precede it: e.g.Roma è una città molto viva = Rome is a very lively city.

3. The common adverbs ancora, anche, già, mai, più, sempre usually insert themselves between the auxiliary verb and past participle in the perfect tense: e.g.Non ho mai visitato gli Stati Uniti = I have never visited the USA.Maria è già andata via = Maria has already gone away.

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