Italian Words and Phrases

Buongiorno! (boo-ohn-johr-noh) (Hello! and Good morning!) Arrivederci! (ahr-ree-veh-dehr-chee) (Goodbye!) (Formal) Ciao! (chah-oh) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Informal) Salve! (sahl-veh) (Hello! and Good-bye!) (Neutral) Buonasera! (boo-oh-nah-seh-rah) (Good afternoon! Good evening!) (Formal) Buonanotte! (boo-oh-nah-noht-teh) (Good night!) (Informal) Mi chiamo…(mee kee-ah-moh) (My name is. . .) Come sta? (koh-meh stah) (How are you?) (Formal) Come stai? (koh-meh stah-ee) (How are you?) (Informal) Bene, grazie. (beh-neh grah-tsee-eh) (Fine, thank you.) Per favore? (pehr fah-voh-reh) (Please.) Grazie. (grah-tsee-eh) (Thank you.) Non c'è di che. (nohn cheh dee keh) (You’re welcome.) Mi dispiace. (mee dees-pee-ah-cheh) (I’m sorry.) Mi scusi. (mee skoo-zee) (Excuse me.) Sì. (see) (Yes.) No. (noh) (No.) Parla inglese? (pahr-lah een-gleh-zeh) (Do you speak English?) Chi? (kee) (Who?) Cosa? (koh-sah) (What?) Quando? (koo-ahn-doh) (When?) Dove? (doh-veh) (Where?) Perché? (pehr-keh) (Why?) Come? (koh-meh) (How?) Quanto? (koo-anh-toh) (How much?) N.B. The verb 'essere' is also the auxiliary verb Permesso? (pehr-mehs-soh) for (May I?) the past participle is "stato". Here is the itself; full past tense : I was/have been

sono stato/a

we were

you were

sei stato/a you were

siete stati/e

he was

è stato

sono stati/e

she was

è stata

they were

siamo stati/e

Notice how the past participle must change to match the gender and number of the subject.

Italian/Abbreviation domenica/do.

Pronunciation

Translation

doh-meh-nee-kah

Sunday

lunedì/lun.

Loo-neh-dee

Monday

martedì/mar.

Mahr-teh-dee

Tuesday

mercoledì/mer.

mehr-koh-leh-dee

Wednesday

giovedì/gio.

Joh-veh-dee

Thursday

venerdì/ven.

veh-nehr-dee

Friday

sabato/sab.

sah-bah-toh

Saturday

Aiuto! (ah-yoo-toh) (Help!) Emergenza! (eh-mehr-jehn-tsah) (Emergency!) Chiamate la polizia! (chee-ah-mah-teh lah poh-lee-tsee-ah) (Call the police!) Chiamate un'ambulanza! (kee-ah-mah-teh oo-nahm-boo-lahn-tsah) (Call an ambulance!) Ho bisogno di un medico. (oh bee-zoh-nyoh dee oon meh-dee-koh) (I need a doctor.) Dov' è l'ospedale? (doh-veh lohs-peh-dah-leh) (Where is the hospital?) Counting in Italian Italian zero uno due tre quattro cinque sei sette otto nove dieci

Pronunciation dzeh-roh oo-noh doo-eh treh koo-aht-troh cheen-koo-eh say seht-teh oht-toh noh-veh dee-eh-chee

Translation 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

undici dodici tredici quattordici quindici sedici diciassette diciotto diciannove venti ventuno ventidue trenta quaranta cinquanta sessanta settanta ottanta novanta cento cinquecento mille duemila un milione due milioni un miliardo

oon-dee-chee doh-dee-chee treh-dee-chee koo-aht-tohr-dee-chee koo-een-dee-chee say-dee-chee dee-chahs-seht-teh dee-choht-toh dee-chahn-noh-veh vehn-tee vehn-too-noh vehn-tee-doo-eh trehn-tah koo-ah-rah-tah cheen-koo-ahn-tah sehs-sahn-tah seht-than-tah oht-than-tah noh-vahn-tah chehn-toh cheen-koo-eh-chehn-toh meel-leh doo-eh-mee-lah oon mee-lee-oh-neh doo-eh mee-lee-oh-nee oon mee-lee-ahr-doh

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 500 1,000 2,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000,000

English Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Hello, my name is John. What is your name? How are you? I am fine. Nice to meet you. Goodbye. See you later. I am lost. Where is the restroom? the hotel the restaurant the airport the American embassy Excuse me. Please. Thank you. I'm sorry. You are welcome (it was nothing). How much does it cost? There are many. Will you buy this? What time is it? How do you say maybe in French? Yes. No. I do not understand. Would you speak slower, please. Who? Why?

family => la famiglia relatives => il parenti parents => i genitori mother => la madre father => il padre brother => il fratello sister => la sorella son => il figlio daughter => la figlia uncle => lo zio aunt => la zia grandmother => la nonna grandfather => il nonno

Italian Buona mattina. Buon pomeriggio. Buona sera. Ciao, il mio nome è John. Come ti chiami? Come stai? Sto benissimo. Piacere. Arrivederci. A presto. Sono perso. Dov' è il bagno? l'hotel il ristorante l'aeroporto l'ambasciata americana Mi scusi. Per favore. Grazie. Sono spiacente. Di niente. Quanto costa? Ce ne sono molti. Comprate questo? Che ora e`? Come si dice forse in francese? Sì. No. Non capisco. Puo` parlare lentamente per piacere? Chi? Perchè?

grandchildren => nipoti grandson => il nipote granddaughter => la nipote niece => la nipote nephew => il nipote cousin (m/f) => il cugino / la cugina husband => il marito wife => la moglie single => singolo married => sposato divorced => divorziato widow => vedova

office => ufficio city => città the rent => l'affitto tax => tassa the cost => il costo price => il prezzo bill => fattura estimate => valutazione check => l'assegno balance => totale passport => passaporto luggage/baggage => bagaglio

Accounting => la contabilità Algebra => l' algebra Art => l'arte Biology => la biologia Business => il commercio Chemistry => la chimica Computer Science => l'informatica Dance => la danza Economics => l'economia Foreign languages => le lingue straniere Geography => la geografia Geometry => la geometria History => la storia Math => la matematica Music => la musica Physical education => l'educazione fisica Physics => la fisica Political Science => le scienze politiche

to pay => pagare to buy => comprare to sell => vendere to cost => costare to rent => affittare to deposit => depositare currency exchange => cambio customs => abitudini entrance => entrata exit => uscita information => le informazioni

board/chalkboard => la lavagna book => il libro college => l'università computer => il computer desk => il banco dictionary => il dizionario paper => la carta pencil => la matita pen => la penna professor => il professore / la professoressa school =>la scuola student => lo studente teacher => il maestro / la maestra test/quiz => l'esame (m) university => l' università to study => studiare to learn => imparare to teach => insegnare

breakfast => la colazione lunch => il pranzo dinner => la cena

bread => il pane pasta => la pasta cereal => i cereali

bowl => la ciotola cup => la tazza fork => la forchetta knife => il coltello plate => il piatto spoon => il cucchiaio

fruit => la frutta apple => la mela banana => la banana orange => l'arancia grapes => l'uva peach => la pesca tomato => il pomodoro

beer => la birra coffee => il caffè juice => il succo di frutta milk => il latte tea => il tè water => l'acqua wine => il vino desert => il dolce ice cream => il gelato cake/pie => la torta butter => il burro jam => la marmellata sugar => lo zucchero salt => il sale pepper => il pepe broth/soup => il brodo / la zuppa How do we get to ? => Come si arriva a______ Where is _? => Dov'e` il/la_ What time does it leave? => A che ora parte il/la __ Can you draw it for me? => Puo` scriverlo per favore? map => la cartina corner => l'angolo street => la starda city => la citta` downtown => il centro citta` house => la casa apartment => l' appartamento room => la stanza living room => il soggiorno kitchen => la cucina dining room => la sala da pranzo hallway => il corridoio stairs => la scala bathroom => il bagno bathtub => la vasca da bagno shower => l' acquazzone sink => il lavandino roof => il tetto garage => il garage

watermelon => l'anguria meat => la carne chicken => il pollo turkey => il tacchino ham => il prosciutto fish => il pesce egg => l' uovo cheese => il formaggio vegetables => le verdure lettuce => la lattuga broccoli => i broccoli carrot => la carota celery => il sedano cucumber => il cetriolo salad => l'insalata

to accelerate => accelerare to break/stop => fermarsi to go => andare turn left => girare a sinistra turn right => girare a destra go straight => andare diritto

table => la tavola chair => la sedia couch => il divano desk => la scrivania window => la finestra door => la porta wall => la parete / il muro bed => il letto blanket => la coperta television => la televisione radio => la radio refrigerator => il frigorifero stove => la stufa oven => il forno

yard => il prato closet => l'armadio

head => la testa brain => il cervello hair => i capelli face => la faccia ear => l'orecchio eye => l'occhio mouth => la bocca nose => il naso neck => il collo shoulder => la spalla chest => il torace stomach => lo stomaco waist => la vita back => la schiena heart => il cuore arm => il braccio elbow => il gomito wrist => polso hand => la mano finger => il dito leg => la gamba thigh => la coscia shin => lo stinco foot => il piede toe => il dito dog => il cane cat => il gatto mouse => il topo bird => l'uccello chicken/rooster => il pollo/gallo cow => la mucca duck => l'anatra goat => la capra horse => il cavallo pig => il maiale sheep => la pecora lion => il leone tiger => la tigre bear => l'orso

dishwasher => la lavapiatti microwave => il microonde light => la luce garbage => l' immondizia hat => il capello earrings => gli orecchini shirt => la camicia blouse => la camicetta dress => il vestito pants => i pantaloni jeans => i jeans shorts => i pantaloncini skirt => la gonna sock => il calzino shoe => la scarpa swimsuit => il costume da bagno underwear => la biancheria intima glove => il guanto belt => la cintura coat => il cappotto ring => l' anello My arm hurts. =>Mi fa male il braccio. Are you hurt? => State male? I have a headache. => Ho mal di testa. Do you have aspirin? => Avete un' aspirina? You are hurting me. => Mi fate male. Don't hurt him/her. => No fargli/farle male.

forest => la foresta trees => l' albero plant => la pianta flower => il fiore jungle => la giungla ocean => l'oceano river => il fiume pond => lo stagno lake => il lago hill => la collina mountain => la montagna waterfall => la cascata rainbow => l'arcobaleno sky => il cielo cloud => la nube

wolf => il lupo elephant => l'elefante monkey => la scimmia skunk => la puzzola eagle => l'aquila fish => il pesce whale => la balena

rain => la pioggia snow => la neve

angel => l'angelo baptism => il battesimo Bible => la Bibbia bishop => il vescovo Buddhism => il Buddismo cathedral => la cattedrale Christianity => cristianita` church => la chiesa faith => la fede God => dio heaven => il cielo

hell => l'inferno Judaism => il Giudaismo monastery => il monastero Pope => il papa prophet => il profeta Protestant => protestante religion => la religione sermon => il sermone temple => il tempio worship => il culto

archer => il tiratore d'arco armor => l'armatura arrow => la freccia axe => l'ascia bow => l'arco castle => il castello cauldron => il calderone demon => il diavolo devil => il diavolo dragon => il drago dungeon => il castello dwarf => il nano elf => l'elfo fairy => la fata ghost => il fantasma unicorn => l'unicorno wizard => il mago

giant => il gigante goblin => il nano king => il re knight => il cavaliere lance => la lancia magic => la magia mermaid => la sirena moat => il fossato monster => il mostro mummy => la mummia princess => la principessa queen => la regina shield => lo scudo sword => la spada throne => il trono tower => la torretta

Colors in English Pronunciation in Italian

black white gray brown red orange yellow green blue purple

nero/a bianco/a grigio/a marrone/i rosso/a arancione/i giallo/a verde/i azzurro/a viola

Days of the Week: Sunday => domenica Monday => lunedì Tuesday => martedì Wednesday => mercoledì Thursday => giovedì Friday => venerdì Saturday => sabato Months of the Year: January => gennaio February => febbraio March => marzo April => aprile May => maggio June => giugno July => luglio August => agosto September => settembre October => ottobre November => novembre December => dicembre English a/an (f) a/an (m) a/an (mp) abbey abbot ability able above

Italian una un uno abbazia abate abilita' abile sopra

Seasons: Spring => la primavera Summer => l'estate Autumn/Fall => l'autunno Winter => l'inverno Other: day => il giorno today => oggi yesterday => ieri tomorrow => domani week => la settimana next => il prossimo last => l'ultimo month => il mese year => l'anno decade => decennio century => secolo

abundantly abbondantemente abyss abisso academy accademia accent accento accountant ragioniere accounting ragioneria address indirizzo adjustment aggiustamento adorable adorabile after dopo afternoon pomeriggio again ancora agent agente air aria airplane aeroplano airport aeroporto airports aeroporti alcohol alcool algorithm algoritmo alien alieno alive vive alive vivi alive vivo alive viva alloy lega almond mandorla almonds mandorle almost quasi alone solo alphabet alfabeto alphabetic (f) alfabetica alphabetic (fp) alfabetiche alphabetic (m) alfabetico alphabetic (mp) alfabetici alphabets alfabeti alphanumeric (f) alfanumerica alphanumeric (fp) alfanumeriche alphanumeric (m) alfanumerico alphanumeric (mp) alfanumerici already gia'

also alternative alternative always ambassador American anatomy and angel angry animal Ann answer ant Anthony Antoinette appetizer apple approval apricot apricots April apron apropos arm armchair arms arrow art artichoke article ash cenere ashes ceneri at a atlantic atlantico August agosto aunt zia aunts zie author autore authority autorita'

anche alternativo alternativa sempre ambasciatore americano anatomia e angelo arrabbiato animale Anna risposta formica Antonio Antonietta antipasto mela approvazione albicocca albicocche aprile grembiule a proposito braccio poltrona braccia freccia arte carciofo articolo

autumn autunno average media awake sveglio axe ascia backpack zaino bad cattiva bad cattive bad cattivo bad cattivi baggage bagaglio bagpipe cornamusa bagpipes cornamuse ball palla balls palle banana banana bananas banane bank banca bankrupt bancarotta barber barbiere barefoot scalzo basil basilico basket canestro bat pipistrello beach spiaggia beam trave bean fagiolo beans fagioli bear orso beard barba bears orsi beautiful bella beautiful bellissimo beauty bellezza beaver castoro because (a) perche' bed letto bedroom camera da letto bee ape beer birra beers birre

bees bell belt belts Berlin better bible bicycle bicycles big big bill billion bird birds birth birthday biscuit biscuits bishop bison bitch bitter black (f) black (fp) black (m) black (mp) blackbird blackboard blade blind (f) blind (fp) blind (m) blind (mp) blood blouse blue boat bomb bombs

api campana cintura cinture Berlino meglio bibbia bicicletta biciclette grosso grande conto miliardo uccello uccelli nascita compleanno biscotto biscotti vescovo bisonte cagna amaro nera nere nero neri merlo lavagna lama cieca cieche cieco ciechi sangue camicetta blu battello bomba bombe

bone osso bones ossa book libro both ambedue bow fiocco bow arco bowl scodella boy ragazzo boys ragazzi brain cervello brains cervelli branch ramo bread pane breakfast colazione breast seno breathtaking mozzafiato brick mattone bridge ponte brief breve British britannico broom scopa broth brodo brother fratello brown marrone brush pennello brush spazzola building edificio bull toro bullet pallottola bullets pallottole bumper paraurti bus autobus bush cespuglio but ma butler maggiordomo butter burro butterflies farfalle butterfly farfalla button bottone by per

cabbage cabbages cable cage cake cakes camel camomile camping Canadian canal candidate candle candlestick cane canteen car car carnation carnival carrot carving castle cat catholic catholic catholic catholic cause ceiling celery cell cell cement cent centimeter centimeters central cents centuries

cavolo cavoli cavo gabbia torta torte cammello camomilla campeggio canadese canale candidato candela candeliere canna borraccia auto automobile garofano carnevale carota intaglio castello gatto cattolico cattolica cattoliche cattolici causa soffitto sedano cellula cella cemento centesimo centimetro centimetri centrale centesimi secoli

century cereal cereals certain certificate chain chair chalk chandelier check checkup cheerful cheese cherries cherry chess chest chestnut chicken chicken chicory child childhood chin chocolate Christmas church churches cinnamon circle citizen city clam clams clay clay clean clear cliff clock

secolo cereale cereali certo attestato catena sedia gesso lampadario assegno esame allegro formaggio ciliege ciliegia scacchi petto castagna gallina pollo cicoria bambino infanzia mento cioccolata natale chiesa chiese cannella cerchio cittadino citta' vongola vongole creta argilla pulito chiaro scoglio orologio

closed (f) closed (fp) closed (m) closed (mp) closet clothing cloud clouds clouds club coach cocoa cod coffee coffin cold color colors comb comma committee compact compass concept concert conqueror conquest constrain container content contented contents cooked cool copper copybook corner correctly cotton countryside

chiusa chiuse chiuso chiusi armadio abbigliamento nuvola nubi nuvole mazza allenatore cacao merluzzo caffe' bara freddo colore colori pettine virgola comitato compatto bussola concetto concerto conquistatore conquista vincolo recipiente contenuto contento contenuto cotto fresco rame quaderno angolo correttamente cotone campagna

courage court cousin cousins cow cows crab crazy crazy cream crease credit cricket crow cruise cube cup cups curfew customer customers cuttlefish daddy dark dark dashboard daughter dawn day dead dead dead dead deads dear (fs) dear (ms) death December deep deer

coraggio corte cugino cugini mucca mucche granchio matto pazzo crema piega credito grillo corvo crociera cubo tazza tazze coprifuoco cliente clienti seppia babbo oscuro scuro cruscotto figlia aurora giorno morto morta morte morti morti cara caro morte dicembre profondo cervo

definition definizione degree laurea democracy democrazia departure partenza designated (f) designata designated (m) designato desire voglia destiny destino dictionary dizionario difficult difficile digit cifra digits cifre dinner cena dinners cene dirty sporco dish piatto dishwasher lavastoviglie distance distanza ditch fossato ditch fossa doctor medico dog cane dogs cani dollar dollaro dollars dollari dolly bambola dolphin delfino donkey asino door porta doorbell campanello double doppio doubt dubbio dough pasta dove tortora dove colomba dowry dote draftsman disegnatore dragon drago dream sogno dreams sogni

dress drill dry duck during dust eagle eagles ear earl ears earth earthquake east Easter eastern easy echo economy edition eel eggplant eggplants eight eighty election elephant elephants elevator elevators empty end England English engraving enough especially even evening ever

abito trapano secco anatra durante polvere aquila aquile orecchio conte orecchie terra terremoto est pasqua orientale facile eco economia edizione anguilla melanzana melanzane otto ottanta elezione elefante elefanti ascensore ascensori vuoto fine Inghilterra inglese incisione abbastanza soprattutto pari sera sempre

everyone ognuno evil cattivo examination esame example esempio excuse scusa exit uscita eye occhio facade facciata face faccia fair fiera faithful fedele fake finto falls cascata false finto false falso families famiglie family famiglia far lontano fashion moda fast veloce fat grasso father padre fathers padri fear paura feather piuma feathers piume February febbraio feet piedi female femmina fennel finocchio ferocious feroce fiction finzione field campo fifth quinto fifty cinquanta fig fico finger dito fir abete fire fuoco fireflies lucciole

firefly fireplace first fish fisherman fishermen fishes five flame flat flavor flight Florence florist flour flower flute fly fog food foot footstep footwear for force foreigner forest forever fork forks fortune forty four fourth fox frame frames France Frank frantic

lucciola caminetto primo pesce pescatore pescatori pesci cinque fiamma piatto sapore volo Firenze fioraio farina fiore flauto mosca nebbia cibo piede passo calzatura per forza straniero foresta per sempre forchetta forchette fortuna quaranta quattro quarto volpe cornice cornici Francia Franco frenetico

free libero free gratuito freedom liberta' French francese friday venerdi' friend amico friendship amicizia frog rana frogs rane from da fruit frutta full (fp) piene full (fs) piena full (m) pieno full (mp) pieni function funzione fund fondo game gioco garden orto garden giardino garlic aglio gate cancello gate porta geese oche German tedesco Germany Germania gipsy zingaro girl ragazza girls ragazze glass vetro glue colla glutton ghiottone glycerin glicerina goat capra god dio goddess dea godfather padrino godmother madrina gold oro golden dorato

golf golf good buono good-bye arrivederci goose oca gourmet buongustaio government governo grandfather nonno grandfathers nonni grandma nonna grandmother nonna grandmothers nonne grandpa nonno grape uva graveyard cimitero gray grigio great grandfather bisnonno great grandfathers bisnonni great grandmother bisnonna great grandmothers bisnonne greedy avido green verde grill griglia grove boschetto growth crescita guard guardia guide guida guitar chitarra guitars chitarre gulch burrone gutter grondaia hair capelli hairdresser parrucchiere half mezzo ham prosciutto hammer martello hand mano handful manciata handkerchief fazzoletto hands mani happy felice

happy (m) harbor hard hare harp harps hat hawk hay hazelnut he head heart heat heat heaven hedgehog height Helen helicopter hello help hen her here here here hi hiccup high hill him hole hole holiday home homework honey honor honored

contento porto duro lepre arpa arpe cappello falco fieno nocciola egli testa cuore calore caldo paradiso porcospino altezza Elena elicottero salve aiuto gallina ella qua qui qui ciao singhiozzo alto collina egli buco foro festa casa compito miele onore onorato

hook hope horn horse (f) hot (f) hot (fp) hot (m) hot (mp) hotel hour house how hug hunger hurricane hurricanes husband hyacinth hybrid I I drink ice idea if ill impossible income incongruous inconsistent inflation inhabitant injury inlay inquest instead insurance interesting international intimacy invasion

gancio speranza corno cavalla calda calde caldo caldi albergo ora casa come abbraccio fame uragano uragani marito giacinto ibrido io bevo ghiaccio idea se malato impossibile rendita incongruo incongruente inflazione abitante ferita intarsio inchiesta invece assicurazione interessante internazionale intimita' invasione

Irish irlandese iron ferro island isola Italian italiano Italy Italia jade giada jaguar giaguaro January gennaio Japan Giappone jasmine gelsomino jellyfish medusa job mestiere John Giovanni Joseph Giuseppe judge giudice Juliette Giulietta July luglio June giugno kaleidoscope caleidoscopio key tasto key chiave keyboard tastiera keys chiavi keys tasti kick calcio kidney rene kindergarten asilo king re kiss bacio kitchen cucina kite aquilone kites aquiloni kitten micetto knee ginocchio knife coltello knight cavaliere knights cavalieri knives coltelli knob maniglia knob manopola

knot nodo labyrinth labirinto lace merletto lack carenza lagoon laguna lake lago lakes laghi lamb agnello landscape paesaggio language linguaggio languages linguaggi lantern lanterna last ultimo lathe tornio laugh risata laundry lavanderia Lausanne Losanna lavender lavanda law legge lawyer avvocato laxative lassativo layer strato lead piombo leaf foglia league lega leaves foglie left sinistra leg gamba legs gambe lemon limone lemonade limonata length lunghezza leopard leopardo less meno lesson lezione letter lettera level livello liberty liberta' library biblioteca lie bugia

life vita light luce light (f) chiara light (m) chiaro lights luci lily giglio line linea lion leone lioness leonessa lip labbro lips labbra lipstick rossetto lives vite lobster aragosta lobsters aragoste London Londra long lungo loss perdita lost (f) persa lost (fp) perse lost (m) perso lost (mp) persi lottery lotteria Louis Luigi love amore lover amante luck fortuna lullaby ninnananna lunch pranzo lung polmone lungs polmoni luxury lusso magazine rivista magic magico maid cameriera mail posta majority maggioranza man uomo manager gerente manager gestore

mandrel manuscript many marble March market marvel marvelous mass massage master match matrix May meat medal medicine meeting meeting melody member men menu mercy mermaid merry message metal method Mexico mice midday middle midnight Milan milk million mind mine (fs) mine (ms)

mandrino manoscritto molti marmo marzo mercato meraviglia meraviglioso messa massaggio padrone fiammifero matrice maggio carne medaglia medicina riunione incontro melodia membro uomini menu' pieta' sirena allegro messaggio metallo metodo Messico topi mezzogiorno mezzo mezzanotte Milano latte milione mente mia mio

mint menta minus meno misleading fuorviante mist nebbia model (f) modella model (m) modello mom mamma monday lunedi' money denaro monkey scimmia month mese monthly mensile moon luna moose alce more piu' morning mattino Moscow Mosca mother madre mount monte mountain montagna mourning lutto mouse topo mouth bocca movie theater cinema much molto mud fango mule mulo music musica mussel cozza mussels cozze my (fs) mia my (ms) mio nail unghia nail chiodo naked (f) nuda naked (m) nudo nap pisolo nap pisolino napkin tovagliolo Naples Napoli

narrow nation national nations near necklace need needle nephew (m) nest net never new news newspaper nice (f) nice (fs) nice (m) nice (ms) nicotine niece (f) night nights nine ninety no noble nobody noon north nose nothing November now number nun nuns nymph nymphs oasis

stretto nazione nazionale nazioni vicino collana bisogno ago nipote nido rete mai nuovo notizie giornale carina simpatica carino simpatico nicotina nipote notte notti nove novanta no nobile nessuno mezzogiorno nord naso niente novembre adesso numero suora suore ninfa ninfe oasi

October odd offense oil ointment old olive one one hundred one hundred and thirty one thousand onion onions only or orange orange oranges orchid original ornament ostrich outrage outside owl oxygen oyster pacific page painter painting pair paio palm palma palms palme pamphlet opuscolo pan padella pancake frittella pans padelle pants pantaloni paper carta

ottobre dispari offesa olio unguento vecchio oliva uno cento centotrenta mille cipolla cipolle solo o arancione arancia arance orchidea originale ornamento struzzo oltraggio fuori gufo ossigeno ostrica pacifico pagina pittore dipinto

parachute paradox paragraph parakeet parcel parent parents Paris parish park parking lot parking lot parrot parrots parsley parson party passport pasta paste payment pea peace peach peach tree peaches peacock peak peanut peanuts pear pearl pears peas pen pencil penguin people people pepper

paracadute paradosso paragrafo parrocchetto pacco genitore genitori Parigi parrocchia parco parcheggio posteggio pappagallo pappagalli prezzemolo parroco partito passaporto pasta pasta pagamento pisello pace pesca pesco pesche pavone cima arachide arachidi pera perla pere piselli penna matita pinguino gente popolo pepe

percent percento permission permesso pharmacy farmacia physics fisica physique fisico piano pianoforte picture fotografia picture quadro pig maiale pigeon piccione pigs maiali pin spillo pincers tenaglie pinch pizzico pinch pizzicotto pine pino pink rosa pioneer pioniere pirate pirata pizza pizza plane aereo planet pianeta planets pianeti plaster gesso plate piatto platypus ornitorinco pleasure piacere pliers pinze point punto poison veleno pole palo police polizia pollution inquinamento pomegranate melagrana poor povero Pope Papa portal portone postcard cartolina pot pentola potato patata

potatoes patate power potere precious prezioso presence presenza present regalo pressure pressione pretty bello pretty (f) carina pretty (m) carino price prezzo pride orgoglio priest prete priest sacerdote prince principe princess principessa prison prigione problem problema proceeding procedimento professional professionale progress progresso pronunciation pronuncia property proprieta' prophecy profezia prophet profeta proposal proposta proud (f) orgogliosa proud (m) orgoglioso public pubblico pudding budino pumpkin zucca pumpkins zucche puppet burattino purple viola purse borsa pyramid piramide quail quaglia quality qualita' quantity quantita' quartz quarzo queen regina

queens quiet rabbit raccoon radio rain rainbow rainbows rat rate rather ray recent recipe rectangle red reform refrigerator regret regret reindeer relative relatives religion rent research restaurant rhubarb rich right right ring ripe risk river road rock Rome roof room

regine tranquillo coniglio procione radio pioggia arcobaleno arcobaleni ratto tasso piuttosto raggio recente ricetta rettangolo rosso riforma frigorifero pentimento rammarico renna parente parenti religione affitto ricerca ristorante rabarbaro ricco destra giusto anello maturo rischio fiume strada roccia Roma tetto stanza

rooster gallo root radice rope corda rose rosa rosemary rosmarino rotten marcio round rotondo ruler riga Russian russo sad triste saint santo salad insalata salary salario salt sale sand sabbia sapphire zaffiro saturday sabato school scuola scientist scienziato scissors forbici scissors forbice Scotland Scozia Scottish scozzese screw vite screwdriver caccivite sea mare seagull gabbiano seal sigillo seaweed alga secluded appartato seclusion isolamento secluted isolato second secondo secretary (f) segretaria secretary (m) segretario sector settore security sicurezza seed seme September settembre seven sette

seventy sex shame shark shark sharks she sheep sheet shell shepard ship shirt shoe shop short short shot shower shower Sicily sick side sides signature silent (f) silent (fp) silent (m) silent (mp) silver simple sin sincere singer sink sinner (f) sinner (m) sinners (fp) sinners (mp) sins

settanta sesso smacco pescecane squalo pescecani ella pecora lenzuolo conchiglia pastore nave camicia scarpa negozio corto basso sparo acquazzone doccia Sicilia ammalato lato lati firma zitta zitte zitto zitti argento semplice peccato sincero cantante lavandino peccatrice peccatore peccatrici peccatori peccati

sir sister six sixty skeleton skin skirt sky sleigh slice slipper slow slowly small smoke snake snow snowfall soap soap bar sober soccer sock socks soldier soldiers sole some something son song soul sound south souvenir space Spain Spanish sparrow speech

signore sorella sei sessanta scheletro pelle gonna cielo slitta fetta pantofola lento adagio piccolo fumo serpente neve nevicata sapone saponetta sobrio calcio calza calze soldato soldati sogliola qualche qualcosa figlio canzone anima suono sud ricordo spazio Spagna spagnolo passero discorso

spider spider web spiders spoon spoons spot spring spring spy square squid squirrel stadium stain star starry (fp) starry (fs) starry (mp) starry (ms) stars start station statue steel stem stink stomach stone stool store storm straight strawberry street street strength stress stripe strong stubborn

ragno ragnatela ragni cucchiaio cucchiai macchia molla primavera spia quadrato calamaro scoiattolo stadio macchia stella stellate stellata stellati stellato stelle partenza stazione statua acciaio gambo puzza stomaco pietra sgabello negozio tempesta diritto fragola via strada forza tensione striscia forte ostinato

student student sugar suit suitable summer sun sunday supermarket surgeon surname sustained swamp swan sweat sweater sweet swimming pool swindle symbol symphony synthetic system table tablecloth tail tails talk tall tan tangerine target targets tariff taste tea teacher (f) teacher (m) teachers (fp) teachers (mp)

scolaro studente zucchero abito adatto estate sole domenica supermercato chirurgo cognome sostenuto palude cigno sudore maglione dolce piscina truffa simbolo sinfonia sintetico sistema tavolo tovaglia coda code parlare alto abbronzatura mandarino bersaglio bersagli tariffa gusto te maestra maestro maestre maestri

tear tears teeth telephone television temperature temple ten tender tenderness tense tepid test thank you the (f) the (fp) the (m) the (m) the (mp) the (mp) theater then theory therapy there there these (f) these (m) they they thief thing third thirty this (f) this (m) three throne thumb thumbs

lacrima lacrime denti telefono televisione temperatura tempio dieci tenero tenerezza teso tiepido esame grazie la le il lo i gli teatro allora teoria terapia la' li' queste questi loro essi ladro cosa terzo trenta questa questo tre trono pollice pollici

thunder thursday tie tiger tights tile time tired to to abolish to abuse to accuse to achieve to adjust to adore to announce to announce to annoy to answer to applaud to ask to avoid to awake to bark to believe to boil to bring to build to buy to call to can to carve to cause to choose to choose to clean to close to come to compact to contain

tuono giovedi' cravatta tigre calzamaglia mattonella tempo stanco a abolire abusare accusare compiere aggiustare adorare annunziare annunciare infastidire rispondere applaudire chiedere evitare svegliare abbaiare credere bollire portare costruire comprare chiamare potere intagliare causare sceliere scegliere pulire chiudere venire compattare contenere

to convince to cook to create to cross to cry to cut to dance to deceive to deliver to depart to desacrate to designate to desire to die to do to dream to drink to drive to dry to earn to eat to enchant to enclose to end to engrave to excuse to fail to faint to fall to feel to find to finish to fish to fit to fly to forget to forgive to gnaw to go to grow

convincere cucinare creare attraversare piangere tagliare ballare ingannare recapitare partire profanare designare desiderare morire fare sognare bere guidare asciugare guadagnare mangiare incantare accludere finire incidere scusare fallire svenire cadere sentire trovare finire pescare aggiustare volare dimenticare perdonare rodere andare crescere

to guess to happen to have to hear to hear to help to hide to honor to hope to hug to hunt to ignite to ignore to inlay to invent to invite to judge to jump to kill to kiss to know to know to laugh to leave to lie to lift to light to like to listen to live to look to lose to love to make to manage to manage to massage to mold to oblige to open

indovinare accadere avere sentire udire aiutare nascondere onorare sperare abbracciare cacciare infiammare ignorare intarsiare inventare invitare giudicare saltare uccidere baciare sapere conoscere ridere partire mentire sollevare accendere piacere ascoltare vivere guardare perdere amare fare gestire dirigere massaggiare plasmare obbligare aprire

to paint to pass to pay to perturb to phone to pinch to play to play to poison to pray to press to print to process to pull to put to rain to read to receive to reimburse to rent to respond to resume to ridicule to run to search to seat to see to select to sell to send to shake to shape to shine to shine to sign to sing to sleep to slip to smoke to snow

dipingere passare pagare perturbare telefonare pizzicare suonare giocare avvelenare pregare premere stampare trattare tirare mettere piovere leggere ricevere rimborsare affittare rispondere riprendere deridere correre cercare sedere vedere selezionare vendere mandare tremare plasmare risplendere brillare firmare cantare dormire scivolare fumare nevicare

to solve to speak to spurt to squeeze to squirt to stink to stop to study to sustain to swear to sweat to swim to take to thank to think to threaten to train to travel to tremble to understand to understand to upset to use to ventilate to visit to vote to walk to walk to want to wash to wet to whistle to win to wish to work to write tobacco today tomato tomatoes

risolvere parlare spruzzare spremere schizzare puzzare fermare studiare sostenere giurare sudare nuotare prendere ringraziare pensare minacciare allenare viaggiare tremare capire comprendere sconvolgere usare ventilare visitare votare passeggiare camminare volere lavare bagnare fischiare vincere desiderare lavorare scrivere tabacco oggi pomodoro pomodori

tomorrow tongue tonight too tooth top torpedo tourism tourist town toy toy toys trace train trainer training trains transfusion translate trap trapeze trash trash treasure tree triangle trigger trip triumph trophy tropic trousers trout true trumpet truth tuesday tuna Turin

domani lingua stanotte anche dente trottola siluro turismo turista paese balocco giocattolo balocchi traccia treno allenatore allenamento treni trasfusione tradurre trappola trapezio immondizia spazzatura tesoro albero triangolo grilletto viaggio trionfo trofeo tropico pantaloni trota vero tromba verita' martedi' tonno Torino

turkey turtle twenty twins two two hundred and fifty type typewriter ugliness ugly umbrella uncle uncles under underneath unfair unfortunately United States unthinkable until until us use useful useless vacant vacant vacation vacation (p) vacation (s) varnish vast veal vegetable vegetables vegetables vegetables Venice verb verdict

tacchino tartaruga venti gemelli due duecentocinquanta tipo macchina da scrivere bruttezza brutto ombrello zio zii sotto sotto ingiusto sfortunatamente Stati Uniti impensabile fino a fino noi uso utile inutile vuoto vacante ferie vacanze vacanza vernice vasto vitello ortaggio verdure verdura ortaggi Venezia verbo verdetto

vertical vessel vessel vice Vincent vinegar vineyard violin virgin virtue virus vise vitamin vocal voice void void vote vowel wagon waiter waitress Wales wallet war warrior warriors washable watch water wave waves wax we weak weather wedding wednesday week weeks

verticale vaso vascello vizio Vincenzo aceto vigna violino vergine virtu' virus morsa vitamina vocale voce inutile vuoto voto vocale carro cameriere cameriera Galles portafoglio guerra guerriero guerrieri lavabile orologio acqua onda onde cera noi debole tempo matrimonio mercoledi' settimana settimane

weight well well west western whale whales what wheel when where which while whim whistle white (f) white (fp) white (m) who why (q) wide width wife wig will wind window windows windshield wine wing wings winter wish witch witches without wizard wolf woman

peso pozzo bene ovest occidentale balena balene cosa ruota quando dove quale mentre capriccio fischio bianca bianche bianco chi perche' largo larghezza moglie parrucca voglia vento finestra finestre parabrezza vino ala ali inverno desiderio strega streghe senza mago lupo donna

women wonder wonderful wood woods wool word words work worker workers wound wrong year yeast yes yesterday yolk you you young yours (f) yours (m) zebra zero zeroes zip

donne meraviglia meraviglioso legno bosco lana parola parole lavoro lavoratore lavoratori ferita sbagliato anno lievito si' ieri tuorlo voi tu giovane tua tuo zebra zero zeri cerniera

parlare-to speak/talk, vedere-to see, vendere-to sell, mandare-to send, volere-to want, dire-to tell, aspettare-to wait, domandare-to ask a question, piacere-to like, amare-to love, odire-to hate, viaggiare-to travel, mangiare-to eat, guadare-to watch, camminare-to walk, correre-to run, andare-to go, provare-to try, nascere-to be born, morire-to die,cercare-to look for, vestirsi-to get dressed, mettere-to put, divertirsi-to have fun, essere-to be, avere-to have, cambiare-to change, chiamarsi-to be named/called, telefonare-to call, cambiare a casa-to move, cultivare-to grow, piantere-to plant, avere bisogno di-to need, dovere-to must/have to, dipingere-to paint, disegnare-to draw, insegnare-to teach, imparare-to learn, scrivere- to write, leggere-to read, cantare-to sing, ballare-to dance, fare la spesa-to go shopping, fare pipi`-to pee, fare-to do or make, fare una doccia- to take a shower, prendere-to take, diventare-to become, spiegare-to explain, capire-to understand, pulire-to clean, passare l'aspirapolvere- to vaccum, polvere-to dust, credere-to believe, giocare-to play, partire-to leave, ascoltare-to listen, sentire-to hear/feel, rimanere-to stay, restare-to rest, piovere-to rain, avere paura di-to be afraid of, avere fame-to be hungry, avere sonno-to be sleepy, avere sete-to be thirsty, piangere-to cry, toccare-to touch, traddure-to translate, alzarsi-to get up, lavarsi/lavare-to wash, tenere-to keep, cucinare-to cook, lavorare-to work. some of the verbs i gave you are irregular, some are regular

GRAMMAR

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 = case pizza = pizza ; pizzas = pizze porta = 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 = ragazzi gelato = ice cream ; ice creams = gelati tempo = 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 = ristoranti notte = night ; nights = notti studente = 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 = banche riga = line ; lines = righe Nouns ending in -co and -go are spelt -chi and -ghi in the plural: e.g. fico = fig ; figs = fichi fungo = 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. 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 l'uomo (man) la moglie (wife)

plural gli uomini le mogli

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 useLE and never abbreviate it, even if the noun begins with a vowel. For example: singular la ragazza

plural le ragazze

la casa

le case

l'ora

le ore

l'erba la chiave

le erbe 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) ..... stanza 7) .... padre 3) ..... stato 8) .... umidità 4) ..... acqua 9) .... 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) ..... stanza 7) .... padre 3) ..... stato 8) .... orecchio 4) ..... 9) .... zero opinione 5) .....occhio 10) .... insalata Exercise 4: change all the following phrases into the plural: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

la sera la stazione l'uva l'idea il libro il dente lo strumento lo studente

9. l'ospedale 10.l'uccello 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. Definite Article

il

lo

l'

Partitive Article

del

dello dell'

fem. sing.

masc. plur.

la

i

l'

della dell' dei

fem. plur.

gli

le

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) 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. 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. 4. 5. 6. 7.

I met some nice people = Ho conosciuto ___________ persone simpatiche. There were some long tables = C'erano ________ lunghi tavoli. On the tables there were some bottles of beer = Sui tavoli c'era _________ bottiglia di birra. There were also a few plates of cheese. = C'erano anche ________ piatti di formaggio. 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.

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, and if 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. 2. 3. 4.

possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her etc.) which are dealt with below. demonstrative adjectives (this/that) also dealt with below. the adjectives "molto" (much) and "troppo" (too much) 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. 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

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 BUT use 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. dell'

masc. plur. fem.pl.

del dello

dell' della

dei degli

delle

quel quello

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

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 masc.

Plural 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

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 lessold/interesting/exciting than someone/something else; use meno for the English word less and di to translate the English wordthan.

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 likeoldest, 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 bello 2. 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 lungo 2. simpatico (nice) — simpatichissimo (very nice) = molto simpatico 3. 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”.

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 tavola 2. at midnight = a mezzanotte 3. 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 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 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 to imparare 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 to venire a to come to ... 3. The preposition a also links certain adjectives to a following infinitive, such as: abituato a attento a pronto a

accustomed to ... careful to ... 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 in aereo in moto in bicicletta in barca in treno in autobus in pullman

by car... by plane by scooter by bicycle by boat by train by bus 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 evenings di mattina in the mornings di solito usually di nuovo again di 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 of sicuro 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 cercare di chiedere di consigliare di decidere di dimenticare di domandare di essere in grado di fingere di finire di immaginare di lamentarsi di offrire di

to realise; be aware to try to ... to ask to ... to advise to ... to decide to ... to forget to ... to ask ... to be in a position to ... to pretend to ... to finish to imagine to complain about to offer

pensare di permettere di proibire di rendersi conto di ricordarsi di scegliere di smettere di sperare di tentare di trattare di vietare di

to think of to allow to forbid to realise; be aware to remember to choose to ... to stop to hope to ... to attempt to ... to be about; deal with to forbid

9. Di also acts as the partitive article.

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

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

2 hai

you have

3 ha

he/she è /it has

1 abbiamo

we have

2 avete 3 hanno

you have they have

sei

I am you are he/she /it is

siamo we are siete

you are

sono

they 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; potere = can dovere = must volere = to want be

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 -e2. 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 = pagherò cercare (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 = comincerò viaggiare (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

potrete

vorrete

vedrete

farete

starete

saprete

dovrete

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 attention.

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

ven

andrei

darei

farei

starei

saprei

dovrei

potrei

vorrei

vedrei

verrei

andresti

daresti

faresti

staresti

sapresti

dovresti

potresti

vorresti

vedresti

verrest

andrebbe

darebbe

farebbe

starebbe

saprebbe

dovrebbe

potrebbe

vorrebbe

vedrebbe

verreb

andremmo daremmo faremmo staremmo sapremmo dovremmo potremmo vorremmo vedremmo verrem andreste

dareste

fareste

stareste

sapreste

dovreste

potreste

vorreste

vedreste

verrest

andrebbero darebbero farebbero starebbero saprebbero dovrebbero potrebbero vorrebbero vedrebbero verreb 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-cream vorrei 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.

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

avrei parlato

avrei finito

sarei arrivato/a

avresti parlato

avresti finito

saresti arrivato/a saresti partito/a ti saresti vestito/a

sarei partito/a

vestirsi mi sarei vestito/a

avrebbe parlato avrebbe finito

sarebbe arrivato/a

sarebbe partito/a si sarebbe vestito/a

avremmo parlato

avremmo finito

saremmo arrivati/e

saremmo partiti/e

avreste parlato

avreste finito

sareste arrivati/e sareste partiti/e vi sareste vestiti/e

avrebbero parlato

avrebbero finito

sarebbero arrivati/e

sarebbero partiti/e

ci saremmo vestiti/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 yesterday Dovresti andare dal medico; avresti dovuto andare ieri. 3. Giorgio would have liked to accompany you. Giorgio avrebbe voluto accompagnarti.

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 seen

abbiamo veduto

we saw; we have seen

hai veduto you saw; you have seen avete veduto

you saw; you have seen

ha veduto

they saw; they have seen

he/she saw; has seen

hanno veduto

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; to do

fatto

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 diventare

to be to become

stato 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? 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.

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. 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.

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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

I was listening to some music. My parents were watching television. I used to play football when I was younger. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, the birds were singing. Every Saturday they worked in a supermarket 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 parlavo (I was speaking)

scrivere scrivevo writing)

(I was

dormire dormivo sleeping)

(I was

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. 2. 3. 4.

fare = to do; to make dire = to say ; to tell bere = to drink 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).

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 oressere 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

avevo fatto

I had done

avevi fatto aveva fatto

meaning

partire

meaning

avevo visto I had seen

ero partito/a

I had gone

you had done

avevi visto you had seen

eri partito/a

you had gone

he/she had done

aveva visto

he/she had seen

era partito/a

he/she had gone

avevamo fatto we had done

avevamo visto

we had seen

eravamo partiti/e

we had gone

avevate fatto you had done

avevate visto

you had seen

eravate partiti/e

you had gone

avevano fatto they had done

avevano visto

they had seen

erano partiti/e they had gone

Exercise 1 Translate the following sentences or clauses into Italian: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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

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. 2. 3. 4.

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

Exercise 1. Translate these sentences into English: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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

Exercise 2. Translate these sentences into Italian: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

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

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS and REFLEXIVE VERBS and how to use them: mi

myself

ci

ourselves

ti

yourself

vi

yourselves

si

himself/herse lf

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 up alzarsi to get up lavarsi to get washed vestirsi to get dressed spogliarsi to get undressed pettinarsi to comb one's hair truccarsi to put on makeup lamentarsi to complain divertirsi to enjoy oneself fermarsi to stop sedersi to sit muoversi to move annoiarsi to get bored arrabbiarsi to get angry avvicinarsi to approach sbagliarsi to make a mistake preoccuparsi to be worried accorgersi to 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; similarlyannoiarsi 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. 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. Exercise 3. Try to describe your daily routine; translate the following sentences, then modify them to suit your own situation. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

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

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.

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 posso

future conditional potrò

potrei

past cond. avrei potuto

imperfect perfect potevo

ho potuto

pluperfect pres.subj. impf. subj. 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.

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. 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 devo devi

future conditional

past cond.

dovrò

avrei dovuto

dovrei

imperfect perfect pluperfect pres.subj. dovevo

ho dovuto

avevo dovuto

impf. subj.

io debba

io dovessi

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. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Devo partire subito, ho fretta. Purtroppo dovrete fare l'esercizio di nuovo. Quando ero piccolo, dovevo imparare a suonare il violino. Daniela non è venuta; ha dovuto andare all'ospedale. Dobbiamo comprare i biglietti prima di salire in autobus. L'insegnante dice che Franco dovrebbe passare gli esami facilmente. L'insegnante dice che Franco avrebbe dovuto passare gli esami facilmente. I tuoi genitori avrebbero dovuto educarti meglio. E' probabile che tu debba rifare l'esame.

10.Se io avessi dovuto prendere soldi in prestito, non avrei potuto andare all'università. 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. 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

voglio

vorrò

avrei voluto

volevo

ho voluto

vorrei

vuoi

pluperfect pres.subj. avevo voluto

io voglia tu voglia

impf. subj. io volessi 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.

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. 2. 3. 4.

Dimmi! = Tell me! Stacci = Stay there Dammelo! = Give me it! 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!

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 passivantecontruction, 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

IMPERSONAL VERBS These verbs only exist in the third person; there are three groups: 1. Verbs referring to the weather: 1. 2. 3. 4.

piove = it is raining nevica = it is snowing fa freddo = it is cold fa caldo = it is warm

2. Impersonal expressions like “it is easy to ...”, “ it is likely that ...”, e.g. 1. 2. 3. 4.

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

3. Certain verbs expressing need, necessity etc. e.g. bisogna occorre pare sembra succede accade importa basta

it's necessary it's necessary it seems it seems it happens it happens it's important; it matters 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.

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. 2. 3. 4.

I hope that you understand all this = Spero che tu capisca tutto questo. The boss wanted us all to work hard = Il padrone voleva che lavorassimo sodo. My parents prefer me to go with them = I miei genitori preferiscono che io li accompagni. 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 sebbene purché a condizione che ... nel caso che ... For example:

although although provided that on condition that ... in case

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 perché cosicché in modo che For example:

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

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 subjects of the two clauses are different, e.g.:

che”to translate “before” if the

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 subjects of the two clauses are different, e.g.:

che”to translate “without” if the

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.

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.

PRONOUNS — I PRONOMI This page is divided into six sections organised as follows: 1. Direct Object Pronouns 2. Indirect Object Pronouns 3. Reflexive Pronouns 4. Disjunctive Pronouns 5. 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.)

Le

you (formal

La

you (formal)

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

Loro

to you (formal)

Le

to you (formal)

3 REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: mi

myself

ci

ourselves

ti

yourself

vi

yourselves

si

himself/herse lf

si

themselves

4 DISJUNCTIVE PRONOUNS (used after prepositions) me

me

noi

us

te

you

voi

you

lui

him

loro

them (masc.)

lei

her

loro

them (fem.)

Lei

you (formal) Loro you (formal

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 avere paura di avere voglia di sapere di accorgersi di rendersi conto di ricordarsi di

to need to be afraid of to want to know of to notice; realise to notice; realise to remember

dimenticarsi di For example:

to forget

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 leaving

me 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 ....

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 ne (of it/of le (them) ) 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 birthday Hanno 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/i li (them le (them ne (of it/of la (her/it) t) ) ) 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

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

troppo

too (much)

domani tomorrow

vicino

near

male

badly

abbastanza

quite; enough

sempre always

lontano

far away

meglio

better

piuttosto

rather

spesso

often

daperttutto everywhere peggio

worse

assai

quite

tardi

late

fuori

outside

purtroppo unfortunately più

more

presto

early

dentro

inside

davvero

also

subito

immediately

really

anche

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

chiaro

clear

chiaramente clearly

ovvio

obvious ovviamente

recente

recent

truly obviously

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 facile

easy

ADVERB 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