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VictorianSchoolofLanguagesDistanceEducationDepartmentofEducationandTraining

VCEITALIAN

GRAMMARSUPPLEMENT

This supplement was developed by: Rita Peroni, Annamaria Giorlando, Rosa Vitelli Italian teachers, Victorian School of Languages

Editing, formatting and layout: Tess Lee Ack

Photographs purchased from Fotolia.com:

(All other photographs used in this document are from pixabay.com and require no attribution.)

Writing letter: © Hayati Kayhan; Motorbike: © Yuri Bizgaimer; Toast: © Irochka; Suitcase: © Alex Kalmbach; Coffee: © volff; Tea: © amenic181; Pharmacist: © Minerva Studio; Student & laptop: © WavebreakmediaMicro; Flinders St station: © Christopher Meder; Table setting: © Africa Studio; Sleeping: © Focus Pocus LTD; Car: © Rawpixel; Students: © Tyler Olsen; Office worker: © Frank Boston; Boy studying: © daniaphoto; Watching movie: © Deklofenak; Bedtime story: © Temych; Museum: © thamerpic; Party gear: © BeTa‐Artworks; Stamps: © PHILETDOM; Mineral water: © Gresei; Blanket: © kuzina1964; Cinema: © snvv; Clocks: © max dallocco; Four seasons: © artisticco.

VICTORIAN SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES Department of Education and Training, 2015 Produced by the Victorian School of Languages Copyright protects this publication. Except for purposes permitted by the Copyright Act, reproduction by whatever means is prohibited. However, limited photocopying for classroom use is permitted by educational institutions that have a licence with the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL). Any enquiries should be addressed to the Copyright Officer, Legislative Services, Department of Education and Training, GPO Box 4367, Melbourne 3001.

To contact the Victorian School of Languages Distance Education Section:

Telephone: (03) 9474 0500

Freecall: 1800 675 872

Fax: (03) 9416 8598

Postal Address: 315 Clarendon Street Thornbury 3071

Email: [email protected]

Websites: http://www.vsl.vic.edu.au (administration) http://www.languages.vic.edu.au (course materials)

INDICE(CONTENTS) NOTE: When viewing this document online, Ctrl + click on a topic below to go to that page.

Introduzione – Introduction 1

1 La Concordanza – Agreement 4

2 I Sostantivi – Nouns 5

3 Gli Articoli – Articles 13

4 Gli Aggettivi – Adjectives 15

5 I Comparativi – Comparatives 19

6 I Superlativi – Superlatives 20

7 Gli Aggettivi Possessivi – Possessive Adjectives 21

8 Gli Avverbi – Adverbs 22

9 Le Preposizioni – Prepositions 25

10 Le Preposizioni Articolate – Articulated Prepositions 26

11 I Pronomi – Pronouns 27

12 I Pronomi Personali: Soggetto – Subject Pronouns 28

13 I Pronomi Personali: Oggetto Diretto – Direct Object Pronouns 30

14 I Pronomi Personali: Oggetto Diretto –Indirect Object Pronouns 32

15 La Particella Pronominale ne – The Indirect Object Pronoun ne 34

16 I Pronomi Combinati – Combined Pronouns 35

17 I Pronomi Riflessivi – Reflexive pronouns 36

18 La Particella Pronominale si – The pronoun particle si 37

19 I Pronomi Possessivi – Possessive Pronouns 38

20 I Pronomi Dimostrativi – Demonstrative Pronouns 40

21 I Pronomi Indefiniti – Indefinite Pronouns 41

22 I Pronomi Relativi – Relative Pronouns 42

23 I Pronomi Interrogativi – Interrogative Pronouns 44

24 L’Uso dei Verbi – Use of Verbs 45

25 Il Presente – The Present Tense 47

26 Il Verbo piacere – The Verb piacere (to like) 51

27 Il Gerundio – The Present Participle 52

28 Stare + Gerundio – The Present Progressive Tense 54

29 Il Futuro – The Future Tense 54

30 Il Passato Prossimo – The Perfect Tense 57

31 L’Imperfetto – The Imperfect Tense 61

32 Il Trapassato Prossimo – The Pluperfect Tense 64

33 Il Passato Remoto – The Past Historic Tense 65

34 l’Imperativo – The Imperative 67

35 Il Condizionale Presente – The Present Conditional 71

36 Il Condizionale Passato – The Conditional Perfect 72

37 Il Congiuntivo Presente – The Present Subjunctive 73

38 Il Congiuntivo Passato – The Past Subjunctive 78

39 L’Imperfetto del Congiuntivo – The Imperfect Subjunctive 79

40 Il Trapassato del Congiuntivo – The Pluperfect Subjunctive 81

41 Struttura delle frasi – Sentence Structure 82

42 Espressioni con avere – Expressions with avere 85

43 Espressioni con fare – Expressions with fare 87

44 Discorso Diretto ed Indiretto – Direct and Indirect Discourse 88

45 La Forma Passiva – The Passive Voice 90

46 Il tu ed il Lei – Informal and Formal Address 91

47 Le Frasi Interrogative – Questions 91

48 I Numeri – Numbers 93

49 L’Ora – Telling the Time 94

50 I Giorni, i Mesi, le Date, le Stagioni – Days, Months, Dates, Seasons 95

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Victorian School of Languages – VCE Italian Grammar Supplement

Introduzione–Introduction

This Italian Grammar Supplement contains a summary of the grammatical structures with which students of VCE Italian should be familiar. In VCE Italian you are required to study various topics and will be asked to perform certain tasks in Italian. In order to complete these tasks properly, you need to be familiar with conventions of the text type and the vocabulary and expressions related to the topic, but you also need to use certain grammatical structures correctly. If, for example, you are asked to write a letter to a new pen pal in which you describe how you spent your last holidays, you will need to be able to: conform to appropriate letter writing conventions

That is, you need to know how Italians set out a personal letter and use appropriate opening and closing formulas. You would also use the familiar form of address rather than the polite form. For example:

Caro amico, Come stai? Spero bene… ………………………. Ciao per adesso! Scrivimi presto.

demonstrate an understanding of sentence structure

You need to understand that even the simplest sentence is made up of a subject and a predicate, and that the predicate must contain at least one finite verb.(If there are two verbs in the clause then the second verb must be in the infinitive form.) You can make up a more complex sentence by adding together two or more clauses each with its own subject and predicate.

SUBJECT PREDICATE

Io e la mia famiglia | andiamo spesso a Firenze a trovare degli amici. FINITE VERB

use the perfect tense of regular and irregular verbs, including reflexive verbs,

where appropriate

You will need to describe past events what you did, what you saw etc. So you need to understand which auxiliary to use, essere or avere, and how to form the past participles. For example:

Per le vacanze io e la mia famiglia siamo andati a Firenze. Abbiamo visitato la Galleria degli Uffizi e Santa Maria del Fiore. Mi sono divertita un mondo!

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Victorian School of Languages – Italian Grammar Supplement

use the present tense where appropriate

You may want to use the present tense of the verb piacere to express your likes and dislikes or essere to give some general information about where you spent your holidays. For example:

Mi piace molto Firenze. È una città meravigliosa. Ci sono tanti posti interessanti da vedere.

use the imperfect tense where appropriate

This tense is used for descriptions in the past (e.g. to describe the weather etc.) and to recount habitual or recurrent events in the past, such as what you used to do every day during your holiday.

Ogni giorno mi alzavo presto e facevo una lunga passeggiata lungo il fiume Arno. use appropriate adjectives, adverbs and adverbial phrases

… to give more information about a noun or verb.

Firenze è una bella città antica. Ogni giorno mi alzavo presto e mi vestivo in fretta. use appropriate prepositions and articulated prepositions

… to show the relationship between words. For example when you want to express to, from, of, with, by and for.

Ho passato le vacanze a Firenze. Sono andato alla Galleria degli Uffizi con la mia amica Giovanna. Ho visto il campanile di Giotto e Santa Maria del Fiore. Ho comprato un ricordo per mia madre.

use the singular and plural forms of definite and indefinite articles correctly

… to make sure that the articles you use agree with the nouns they qualify.

Ho passato le vacanze a Firenze. Firenze è una bella città. Ho visitato tutti i posti interessanti.

form the plural of nouns and adjectives

Check that you have the correct plural endings. For example:

Gli edifici sono antichi e ci sono molti monumenti importanti. Le strade sono strette e le piazze sono grandi.

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watch agreements

Make sure that the different components in the sentence are in agreement. That is, the verbs should agree with the subject/subjects; articles and adjectives should agree with the nouns they qualify and pronouns with the nouns they replace.

La mia amica è andata a Firenze per le vacanze estive. use correct punctuation

Always check that your sentences are punctuated properly. Make sure every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. Use other punctuation marks where appropriate.

La settimana prossima, Alison, una mia amica inglese, mi incontrerà ad Arezzo. Che bello! Non vedo l’ora di rivederla!

E tu, cosa fai di bello durante le vacanze? As you can see from this list, what may appear to be a simple task requires a fairly extensive knowledge of Italian grammar. So before attempting any task, make sure you are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to do it.

Tips

Always write a detailed plan first.

Make sure you understand the conventions of the text type.

Compile a list of words and expressions related to the topic.

Think about the structures you are likely to need. You can do this by carefully studying examples of the task given in your Workbook.

Make a list of the relevant grammar topics and study the notes on them in this Supplement.

If you’re still not confident about any aspect of the task, ask your teacher for help.

Always draft, check and edit your work carefully. Make sure that there is agreement between the different components of the sentence, and check spelling and punctuation.

3rd person singular form of verb

feminine plural article, noun and adjective

feminine singular article, possessive adjective and noun

feminine singular ending on past participle

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1 LaConcordanza–Agreement

1.1 In Italian, the grammatical function of words is not so much determined by the order in which they appear in a sentence, as is often the case in English, as by the form they take (which usually involves changes in endings). This in turn is determined by the way words relate to one another.

All words are in some way connected by means of grammatical markers.

An example of this in English is the ‐s ending used to mark the plural of most nouns. This system of interconnection is called AGREEMENT. One of the most common errors made by

students is failing to make the agreement between the words in a sentence. Lets take a closer look at a simple Italian sentence:

Mia zia è arrivata.

As you can see from this example, the connection between the different parts of the sentence is marked in some way. In other words, there is agreement between the various components.

1.2 Here is a list of things you should always check when producing Italian sentences.

Does the article agree with the noun?

Is the noun ending correct?

Are the adjectives in the correct form to agree with the nouns they refer to?

Is the verb in the correct form to match the subject of the sentence?

If using reflexive verbs, make sure that the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject of the sentence.

If there are two verbs in the same clause, remember that the second verb is always in the infinitive1 form.

When using the perfect tense (passato prossimo), make sure you have used the correct auxiliary verb.

Do you need to make any agreement with the past participle and the subject of the sentence or the preceding direct object pronoun?

1 Verbs are usually referred to by their infinitive, a form of the verb which does not tense, person or number. For example, in English we would speak of the verbs ‘to be’, ‘to have’, ‘to live’ etc. These are infinitives. The Italian equivalents would be, essere, avere, vivere etc.

feminine singular possessive adjective

the past participle has a feminine singular ending

3rd person singular form of perfect tense

feminine singular noun

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2 ISostantivi–Nouns

2.1 Gender of nouns

Nouns are words we use to label or name objects, people, animals, concepts etc. In Italian, all nouns have a gender: they can be either masculine or feminine. The ending of a noun gives us a clue as to its gender.

2.2 Nouns that end in ‐o are usually masculine.

e.g. il ragazzo (the boy) il teatro (the theatre) Carlo 2.3 Nouns that end in ‐a are usually feminine.

e.g. la ragazza (the girl) l’Italia (Italy) Stella 2.4 Nouns ending in ‐e can be either masculine or feminine. Some of these nouns refer to people, so

the gender of the noun can be determined by the sex of the person. For example:

masculine feminine

il padre (the father) la madre (the mother)

il nipote (the nephew; grandson) la nipote (the niece; granddaughter) 2.5 But there are many nouns ending in ‐e which refer to things. To be sure of the gender of a

specific noun ending in ‐e, you need to consult a dictionary or check the article1 that precedes it. For example:

il giornale (masculine) la televisione (feminine)

There are many nouns that don’t fit into the categories above. They have irregular endings.2 You just have to learn them as you come across them. You can look up the spelling, gender, plural form and meaning of Italian nouns in an online dictionary, e.g. http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english‐italian.

2.6 Regular noun plurals

The ending of a noun will also tell you if it’s singular (referring to only one person, thing etc.) or plural (referring to more than one person, thing etc.)

Here’s a simple table to help you remember regular noun endings.3

singular plural Examples:

masculine ‐o ‐i il gatto (the cat) – i gatti (the cats)

feminine ‐a ‐e la donna (the woman) – le donne (the women)

masculine or feminine ‐e ‐i il padre (the father) – i padri (the fathers)

la classe (the class) – le classi (the classes)

1 Articles are words such as ‘a/an’ and ‘the’, which usually accompany a noun. See section 3. 2 See the notes on irregular nouns in section 2.7. 3 See section 2.13 to 2.18 for information on irregular noun plurals.

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2.7 Irregular noun endings

As you may have guessed, there are many nouns that don’t fit into the patterns set out above. They have irregular endings. Here are the more common exceptions to the rule.

2.8 Masculine nouns ending in ‐a

Most of the masculine nouns which end in ‐a are derived from the Greek language. Here is a list of the more common ones.

il problema the problem il tema the theme il sistema the system il pilota the pilot il poeta the poet il dramma the drama il poema the poem il Papa the Pope il programma the program il clima the climate

These nouns form the plural with the ending ‐i. For example:

il programma i programmi il problema i problemi il tema i temi il dramma i drammi

2.9 Feminine nouns ending in ‐o

Here is a list of some common feminine nouns which fall into this category. These nouns generally do not change their ending in the plural form. (Note the plural form of la mano, an exception to the rule). The article1 of course changes in the usual way.

singular plural la mano the hand le mani la foto2 the photo le foto la radio the radio le radio l’auto3 the car le auto la moto4 the motorbike le moto

2.10 Singular nouns ending in ‐i

A few nouns end in ‐i in the singular. They can be either masculine or feminine. They don’t change in the plural, however, note that the articles must change.

singular plural la tesi the thesis le tesi la crisi the crisis le crisi la bici5 the bike le bici il brindisi the toast (cheers) i brindisi

1 See section 3 for more information about articles. 2 short for fotografia. 3 short for automobile. 4 short for motocicletta. 5 short for bicicletta.

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2.11 Foreign words

Nouns borrowed from other languages are generally considered masculine. They too don’t change in the plural; however, note that the article must change.

singular plural il film i film lo sport gli sport il bar i bar il tram i tram il weekend i weekend

2.12 Masculine and feminine forms of the same noun

There are a number of nouns which have both a masculine and a feminine form. Most of these nouns refer to people.

Usually, the final vowel is changed to ‐a for the feminine form, as in the examples below. Note that the article also changes.

il ragazzo the boy la ragazza the girl il figlio the son la figlia the daughter il nonno the grandfather la nonna the grandmother il cugino the [male] cousin la cugina the [female] cousin il signore the gentleman la signora the lady il cameriere the waiter la cameriera the waitress l’infermiere the [male] nurse l’infermiera the [female] nurse

Other nouns which fall into this category are those which end in ‐tore in the masculine form. This usually changes to ‐trice in the feminine form, as in the following examples.

l’attore the [male] actor l’attrice the [female] actor l’autore the [male] author l’autrice the [female] author

Some masculine nouns change their ending to ‐essa to become feminine.

lo studente the [male] student la studentessa the [female] student il professore the [male] teacher la professoressa the [female] teacher il dottore the [male] doctor la dottoressa the [female] doctor

2.13 Irregular noun plurals

There are many nouns that don’t fit into the categories set out in section 2.6. They have irregular plural endings. Try to learn them as you come across them. For now, you should concentrate on learning at least the regular patterns. However, there are a few rules that you should be aware of.

2.14 Plural of words ending in ‐co, ‐go, ‐ca or ‐ga

You should already be aware that the letters c and g in Italian produce two different sounds, depending on the vowels that follow them. In most cases, it is important to maintain the same sound in the plural form. Study the following:

The letter c is pronounced:

like ch (soft sound), when followed by the vowels i or e

e.g. baci (kisses), amici (friends), luce (light)

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like k (hard sound), when followed by the vowels a, o or u, or the letter h

e.g. amica (female friend), parco (park), occhio (eye) The letter g is pronounced:

like j (soft sound), when followed by the vowels i or e

e.g. bugia (lie), gente (people), gita (trip, tour)

like g (hard sound), when followed by the vowels a, o or u, or the letter h

e.g. gatto (cat), gonna (the skirt), ghiaccio (ice)

Keeping these sound patterns in mind, you should be careful to maintain the same ‘hard’ sound in the plural form of words that end in ‐co, ‐go, ‐ca and ‐ga. To do this, you must add an h before the plural ending. Without the h, the ‘hard’ sounds would change to ‘soft’ sounds. By adding h the ‘hard’ sound is maintained. For example:

singular plural

parco park parchi

amica [female] friend amiche

riga ruler righe

dialogo dialogue dialoghi

There are some exceptions to this rule. Try to learn them as you come across them. Some of the more common ones are:

singular plural

amico [male] friend amici

nemico enemy nemici

psicologo psychologist psicologi

medico medic medici

astrologo astrologist astrologi

greco Greek greci 2.15 Plural of masculine nouns ending in ‐ca and ‐ga

There are a number of masculine nouns which end in ‐ca or ‐ga. They form their plural in ‐chi and ‐ghi. For example:

singular plural

il collega [male] colleague i colleghi

il monarca monarch i monarchi

il duca duke i duchi

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2.16 Plural of feminine nouns ending in ‐cia and ‐gia.

Most feminine nouns which end in ‐cia or ‐gia change their ending to ‐ce and ‐ge in the plural form. For example:

singular plural

la valigia suitcase le valige

la pioggia rain le piogge

la doccia shower le docce

la guancia cheek le guance

NOTE: a) An exception to this rule is camicia (shirt). Its plural form is camicie.

b) If the ‐i in the ‐cia and ‐gia ending is stressed, then the regular plural ending applies. For example:

la bugia lie le bugie

la farmacia chemist le farmacie

2.17 Plural of nouns ending in an accented vowel

Nouns which have an accent on their final vowel do not change their ending in the plural form; however, the article changes in the normal way. For example:

singular plural

la città the city le città

l’università the university le università

la società the society le società

il caffè the coffee i caffè 2.18 Plural of nouns with only one syllable

One‐syllable nouns do not change their ending in the plural form. For example:

singular plural

il tè tea i tè

il re king i re 2.19 Compound nouns

Compound nouns are formed by putting two nouns together, or by combining a noun and an adjective, or two adjectives, or a verb or a noun etc. Study the table on the next page.

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Composition of noun Formation of the plural Example

noun + noun If the second noun complements the first, then only the first noun changes in the plural form

il pescespada (pesce con la spada)

swordfish i pescispada

If, on the other hand, the first noun complements the second, then the second noun changes in the plural form.

la ferrovia (via di ferro)

railway le ferrovie

noun + adjective With this combination, both parts change in the plural.

la cassaforte safe

le casseforti

adjective + noun The second part (the noun) changes to the plural.

il francobollo stamp

i francobolli

adjective + adjective The second adjective changes into the plural. il pianoforte piano

i pianoforti

verb + masculine noun The second part (the noun), changes into the plural.

il grattacielo skyscaper i grattacieli

verb + feminine noun Neither component changes in the plural form. (The article, of course, changes in the usual way).

il portacenere ashtray

i portacenere

verb + plural noun Neither component changes in the plural form. (The article, of course, changes in the usual way).

il portapenne pen holder

i portapenne

verb + verb Neither component changes into the plural form. (The article, of course, changes in the usual way).

il toccasana cure‐all

i toccasana

2.20 Compound nouns beginning with capo‐

A large number of compound nouns begin with capo‐. Look at the table below and learn as many as you can.

singular plural singular plural

caporeparto head of department

capireparto capolavoro masterpiece

capolavori

capoluogo capital city

capoluoghi capopopolo activist

capipopolo

caposquadra foreman

capisquadra capostazione station master

capistazione

capofamiglia head of the family

capifamiglia capotecnico

technical director capitecnici

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2.21 Some compound nouns don’t follow any particular rule. The more common ones are listed below.

singular plural

mezzaluna half‐moon

mezzelune

mezzanotte midnight

mezzenotti

pomodoro tomato

pomodori pomidori pomidoro

2.22 Modified nouns

In Italian, the preferred way to indicate size, quality and speaker’s attitude is to use a suffix. For example:

tazza tazzina; casa casetta; libro librone etc.

Note that when a suffix is added to a noun, the final vowel of the word is dropped.

Suffixes can be: accrescitivi (augmentative); diminuitivi/vezzeggiativi (diminutive); peggiorativi (pejorative/depreciatory).

Study the following table carefully.

Nouns Suffixes Meaning Examples

Accrescitivi

Augmentative

‐one (‐ona) bigness, wideness, hugeness

libro (book) librone (big, heavy book)

partita (game) partitona (big game)

Diminuitivi

Diminutive

‐ino (‐ina)

‐ello (ella)

‐etto (etta)

smallness, littleness

paese (town/country) paesino (little town/country)

partita (game) partitina (little game)

bambino (child) bambinello (very little child)

Vezzeggiativi Diminutive

‐etto (‐etta)

‐uccio (‐uccia)

‐uzzo (‐uzza)

‐icciolo (‐ icciola)

affection, endearment

casa (house) casetta (small house)

bocca (mouth) boccuccia (cute little mouth)

pietra (stone) pietruzza (pretty little stone)

muro (wall) muricciolo (little, low wall)

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Nouns Suffixes Meaning Examples

Peggiorativi/ dispregiativi

Pejorative/ depreciatory

‐accio (‐accia)

‐astro (‐astra)

‐aglia

material/

physical or moral negative

qualities

tempo (weather) tempaccio (bad/awful weather)

poeta (poet) poetastro (bad poet)

paese (town/country) paesaccio (bad town/country)

sorella (sister) sorellastra (step‐sister)

gente (people) gentaglia (very bad people)

2.23 Note that some feminine words become masculine when they take the suffix ‐one: la donna (the woman) il donnone (the big woman)

la porta (the door) il portone (the street door)

la palla (the ball) il pallone (the soccer ball)

la nebbia (the fog) il nebbione (the dense fog)

la parola (the word) il parolone (the big [long] word)

la stanza (the room) lo stanzone (the large room)

la febbre (the fever) il febbrone (the very high fever) 2.24 Collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups of:

people la banda (the band), la classe (the class), il coro (the choir), la gente (the people), la coppia (the pair), la folla (the crowd), la giuria (the jury)

animals il gregge (the flock/herd), lo sciame (the swarm [of insects]), lo stormo (the flight/flock [of birds])

things la pineta (the plantation of pines), il bosco (the forest), l’anno (the year), la settimana (the week), l’arredamento (the furnishings)

Though collective nouns represent more than one person, animal or thing, the adjectives used to describe them are in the singular form and the verb in the sentence is in the 3rd person singular. For example:

La banda della scuola suona ogni venerdì. The school band plays every Friday.

Un piccolo gregge pascola nel prato. A small flock grazes in the paddock.

L’anno scolastico è molto lungo. The school year is very long.

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3 GliArticoli–Articles

3.1 Articles are words placed before nouns that allow us to specify the nouns in some way. There are two types of articles, definite and indefinite.

The article (from the Latin word articulus which means ‘small binding’) always precedes the noun and corresponds to the English ‘the’ (definite article) or ‘a/an’ (indefinite article).

In Italian, the form of both definite and indefinite articles varies, depending on the type of nouns they accompany. The tables following show the singular and plural forms of the articles.

3.2 The definite article (‘the’)

The articles used to designate specific nouns are called definite articles.

singular plural used with…

masculine

il i most masculine nouns beginning with a consonant.

e.g. il libro (the book) i libri (the books)

l’ gli masculine nouns beginning with a vowel.

e.g. l’orologio (the clock) gli orologi (the clocks)

lo gli

masculine nouns beginning with s followed by a consonant (st, sp, sc etc.) or nouns beginning with z, gn or ps.

e.g. lo zaino (the backpack) gli zaini (the backpacks)

lo psicologo (the psychologist) gli psicologi (the psychologist)

feminine

la le feminine nouns beginning with a consonant.

e.g. la porta (the door) le porte (the doors)

l’ le feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.

e.g. l’amica (the (female) friend) le amiche (the [female] friends)

3.3 The indefinite article (‘a/an’)

The articles used to designate non‐specific nouns are called indefinite articles.

masculine

un used with most masculine nouns

e.g. un libro (a book), un fratello (a brother)

uno used only with masculine nouns beginning with s followed by a consonant or nouns beginning with z, gn or ps.

e.g. uno zaino (backpack), uno psicologo (a psychologist)

feminine

una used with all feminine nouns beginning with a consonant

e.g. una porta (a door), una sorella (a sister)

un’ used with feminine nouns beginning with a vowel

e.g. un’amica (a (female) friend), un’aula (a classroom)

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3.4 There are no plural forms of the indefinite article. You could, however use the (plural) partitive articles (see 3.6 below) to refer to more than one non‐specific noun. The partitive article is used to express ‘some’ or ‘any’. For example:

Ho letto un libro interessante. Ho letto dei libri interessanti. I’ve read an interesting book. I’ve read some interesting books.

Marco ha uno zaino rosso. Marco ha degli zaini rossi. Marco has a red backpack. Marco has some red backpacks.

Carla ha un’amica inglese. Carla ha delle amiche inglesi. Carla has an English (girl) friend. Carla has some English (girl) friends.

3.5 Here’s a summary of the Italian articles. (m) = masculine; (f) = feminine

definite indefinite

Any word which takes

il or l’ (m) can also take un

lo can also take uno

la can also take una

l’ (f) can also take un’

3.6 The partitive article

The partitive article is used to express ‘some’ or ‘any’. It is formed by combining the preposition di with the appropriate definite articles.1 The table below shows all the forms of the partitive article – note that the i of the preposition di changes to e when combined with the articles.

di + il lo l’ la i gli le

= del dello dell’ della dei degli delle

Here are some examples of use:

Prendo della frutta, per favore. (I’ll have some fruit, please.)

di + la = della

La mamma spesso compra dei pasticcini per colazione. (Mum often buys some pastries for breakfast.)

di + i = dei

Gradiresti del caffè? (Would you like some coffee?)

di + il = del

Per secondo prendo delle tagliatelle ai funghi. (For second course I’ll have some tagliatelle ai funghi.)

di + le = delle

Ha degli zaini rossi? Do you have any red backpacks?

di + gli = degli

3.7 In negative sentences the partitive article is omitted in Italian. For example:

Prendo dello zucchero Non prendo zucchero. I’ll take some sugar. I don’t take (any) sugar.

Mangiamo della pasta. Non mangiamo pasta. We eat some pasta. We don’t eat (any) pasta.

1 The articulated forms of the preposition di look exactly the same but are used in a different context.

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4 GliAggettivi–Adjectives

4.1 There are a number of important points to remember about adjectives:

The rules governing noun endings and plurals also apply to adjectives.

Adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

Just like the articles, adjectives must always agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (feminine or masculine) with the noun they qualify.

In the dictionary adjectives are listed in the masculine singular form

There are five categories of adjective. 4.2 Adjectives that end in ‐o in the dictionary form (masculine singular) have four possible endings:

singular plural Esempi:

masculine ‐o ‐i sportivo, sportivi, sportiva, sportive (sporty)

calmo, calmi, calma, calme (calm/serene/quiet)

alto, alti, alta, alte (tall/high)

serio, seri, seria, serie (serious) feminine ‐a ‐e

4.3 Adjectives that end in ‐e in the dictionary form (masculine or feminine singular) have two

possible endings:

singular plural Esempi:

masculine or feminine ‐e ‐i

intelligente, intelligenti (intelligent)

grande, grandi (big/large/great)

sensibile, sensibili (sensitive)

forte, forti (strong)

4.4 Adjectives that change their spelling in the plural follow the same rules that govern nouns. (See

section 2.14 above.)

a) Adjectives ending in ‐co/‐ca form their plural:

with ‐chi/‐che if the stress is on the syllable preceding ‐co/‐ca.

e.g. bianco bianchi; bianca bianche (white)

with ‐ci/‐che if the stress in on the third last syllable preceding ‐co/‐ca.

e.g. antipatico antipatici; antipatica antipatiche (not nice/disagreeable)

b) Adjectives ending in ‐go/‐ga form their plural:

with ‐ghi/‐ghe

e.g. lungo lunghi; lunga lunghe (long)

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c) Adjectives ending in ‐cio/‐cia and ‐gio/‐gia form their plural:

with ‐ci/‐cie or ‐gi/‐gie if the c or g is preceded by a vowel.

e.g. sudicio sudici; sudicia sudicie (very dirty) grigio grigi; grigia grigie (grey)

with ‐ci/‐ce or ‐gi/‐ge if the c or g is preceded by a consonant.

e.g. riccio ricci; riccia ricce (curly) saggio saggi; saggia sagge (wise)

4.5 A few adjectives do not change (i.e. have the same form for masculine, feminine, singular or

plural). The most common of these are adjectives of colour:

marrone (brown), arancione (orange), rosa (pink), blu (blue), viola (purple) etc.

e.g. la maglia marrone (the brown sweater), le scarpe marrone (the brown shoes), il pallone blu (the blue ball), i palloni blu (the blue balls) etc.

4.6 Adjectives that end in ‐a have the same form in the singular and two forms in the plural.

Here is a summary of these endings.

singular plural

masculine ‐a ‐i

feminine ‐a ‐e

e.g. Giorgio è altruista. (Giorgio is altruistic.) Sally è altruista. (Sally is altruistic.) I ragazzi di oggi sono altruisti. (Today’s youth are altruistic.) Quelle ragazze sono altruiste. (Those girls are altruistic.)

4.7 Italian adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

e.g. i capelli lunghi (long hair) la città grande (the big city)

However, if you want to place more emphasis on the adjective than the noun, then the adjective can go before.

e.g. i lunghi capelli (long hair) la grande città (the big city) 4.8 To modify adjectives, you can use the following adverbs:

abbastanza (rather, fairly; enough) un po’ (a bit, a little)

molto (a lot, very) troppo (too much)

e.g. Sono abbastanza sensibile. (I’m quite sensitive.) Lisa è molto intelligente. (Lisa is very intelligent.) Silvia è un po’ timida. (Silvia is a little shy.) Daniel è troppo serio. (Daniel is too serious.)

4.9 Adjectives are used to express nationality.

Unlike English, the first letter of an adjective of nationality is written in lower case in Italian.

Like other adjectives, the endings of adjectives of nationality change in different ways to agree with the subject.

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Some adjectives of nationality change in four ways:

country masc. sing. masc. plural fem. sing. fem. plural

Italia Australia America Grecia Spagna

italiano australiano americano

greco spagnolo

italiani australiani americani

greci spagnoli

italiana australiana americana

greca spagnola

italiane australiane americane greche spagnole

Some change in two ways, with only a singular and a plural form

country m. & f. sing. m. & f. plural

Inghilterra Francia Canada

Danimarca Portogallo

inglese francese canadese danese

portoghese

inglesi francesi canadesi danesi

portoghesi

Some change in ways which are really hard to guess, so you just have to learn them carefully.

country masc. sing. masc. plural fem. sing. fem. plural

Belgio Germania Marocco Egitto Austria

belga tedesco

marocchino egiziano austriaco

belgi tedeschi

marocchini egiziani austriaci

belga tedesca

marocchina egiziana austriaca

belghe tedesche

marocchine egiziane austriache

4.10 The ending used to talk about the people (in general) of a particular nationality is always

masculine plural (e.g. gli italiani, gli australiani, i francesi). 4.11 Some common and frequently used adjectives, such as bello, buono and grande, generally

precede the noun. Here’s a list of adjectives which fall into this category.

bello beautiful/nice piccolo small/little caro dear

giovane young grande large/big/great lungo long

buono good santo saint cattivo bad

brutto ugly/bad vecchio old nuovo new

bravo good/capable stesso same 4.12 The adjectives bello, grande, santo, and buono have shortened forms when they precede the

noun. Study the following examples.

bello (beautiful/handsome)

When this adjective follows the noun, it follows the regular pattern of adjective endings. When it precedes the noun, however, it takes on the following forms.

(Note the similarity between the different adjective endings and the definite articles you would use before these nouns.)

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masculine feminine

singular plural singular plural

bel ragazzo bell’uomo bello stadio

bei ragazzi begli uomini begli stadi

bella ragazza bell’amica

belle ragazze belle amiche

buono (good)

When this adjective precedes a singular noun, it follows the same pattern as the indefinite articles, un/uno/una/un’.

masculine feminine

buon ragazzo buono studente buon amico

buona ragazza buon’amica

Buono forms its plural in the usual way: buoni and buone.

grande (big/large/great)

The adjective grande can be shortened to gran before masculine and feminine nouns beginning with a consonant other than z, ‘impure s’ or ps. Study the following examples.

un gran signore un grande artista

una gran maestra una grande psicologa

An exception to the rule: when grande comes before masculine singular nouns beginning with the letter u, it changes to grand’. For example:

un grand’uomo a great man

The plural form of grande is grandi, for all nouns.

Santo (Saint)

Santo is shortened to San before masculine singular nouns (including proper names) beginning with a consonant other than z, ‘impure s’ or ps. For example:

San Francesco; San Nicola; but Santo Stefano

Sant’ is used before all masculine and feminine nouns beginning with a vowel:

Sant’Antonio; Sant’Agata

Santa is used before all other feminine singular nouns. For example:

Santa Gabriella; Santa Rosa; but Sant’Anna

The plural forms follow the usual pattern. They are santi and sante.

Piazza San Marco, Venezia

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5 IComparativi–Comparatives

5.1 When comparing two people or things, you need to use special adjectives called comparative adjectives. There are three types of comparative adjectives which are used to express different levels of quality: greater, lesser or equal.

A Comparatives of Superiority are expressed as follows:

più + adjective + di (che is used if the word following the adjective is another adjective.)

e.g. Rosy è più innamorata di Gianni. (Rosy is more in love than Gianni.)

L’amore è più fresco della1 primavera. (Love is fresher than Spring.)

Maria è più pigra che studiosa. (Maria is more lazy than studious.) B Comparatives of Inferiority are expressed as follows:

meno + adjective + di

e.g. Gianni è meno innamorato di Rosy. (Gianni is less in love than Rosy.)

Luisa è meno bella di Rosy. (Luisa is less beautiful than Rosy.)

I cani sono meno carini dei gatti. (Dogs are less cute than cats.) C Comparatives of Equality are formed as follows:

(tanto + adjective + quanto) or (così + adjective + come)

e.g. Gianni è tanto innamorato quanto Rosy. (Gianni is as much in love as Rosy.)

L’amore è così fresco come la primavera. (Love is as fresh as Spring.)

NOTE: The words tanto and così may be omitted. For example:

Gianni è innamorato quanto Rosy. Maria è bella come Rosy. 5.2 Some adjectives also have an irregular form of comparative of superiority.

The most common ones are:

buono (good) migliore (better)

cattivo (bad) peggiore (worse)

grande (big/great/old) maggiore (greater/older/elder)

piccolo (small/young) minore (smaller/younger)

e.g. Questa pizzeria è migliore che quella. (This pizza parlour is better than that one.)

Carlo e minore che Paolo. (Carlo is younger than Paolo.)

Ti senti migliore o peggiore? (Are you feeling better or worse?)

1 Remember that di combines with a definite article to form an articulated preposition. See section 9.1.

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6 ISuperlativi–Superlatives

6.1 The superlative implies the highest or lowest degree of quality. In English, we use the words ‘the most’ or add ‐est to the end of an adjective to indicate the superlative.

In Italian there are two different types of superlatives: the relative superlative and the absolute superlative.

6.2 The relative superlative is formed as follows:

A Highest degree: definite article + più + adjective + di

e.g. Giusi è la più piccola della classe. (Giusi is the smallest/youngest in the class.)

B Lowest degree: definite article + meno + adjective + di

e.g. Mario è il meno intelligente di tutti. (Mario is the least intelligent of all.)

6.3 The absolute superlative can be formed:

A by adding ‐issimo/a/i/e to the adjective

e.g. piccolo piccolissimo (really small); bella bellissima (really beautiful)

B by putting words like molto (very), assai (much), estremamente (extremely), assolutamente (absolutely) before the adjective

e.g. molto piccolo, estremamente alto etc.

C by repeating the adjective

e.g. piccolo piccolo (really small) 6.4 Some adjectives have irregular superlatives in addition to their regular forms.

Adjective Absolute superlative

Regular Irregular

buono cattivo grande piccolo

buonissimo cattivissimo grandissimo piccolissimo

ottimo pessimo massimo minimo

Usually the irregular form is used for qualities and values; the regular forms to indicate material attributes. For example:

Il signor Meri è un’ottima persona. (qualities and values) Mr. Meri is an excellent/very good person.

La pelle di quelle scarpe è buonissima. (material attributes) The leather of those shoes is very good.

Maria ha un pessimo carattere. (qualities and values) Maria has a very bad character.

La macchina di Giovanni è piccolissima. (material attributes) Giovanni’s car is very small.

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6.5 Some adjectives have an irregular form of the superlative of superiority. The most common ones are:

buono (good) il/la migliore (the best) cattivo (bad) il/la peggiore (the worst) grande (big/great/old) il/la maggiore (the greatest/oldest/eldest) piccolo (small/young) il/la minore (the smallest/youngest)

The article must agree in gender and number with the noun being described, and the adjective ending must show number (singular or plural).

e.g. Questa è la migliore pizzeria. (This is the best pizza parlour.)

In Sicilia trovi i migliori dolci. (In Sicily you find the best sweets.)

È il peggiore film che abbia mai visto. (It’s the worst film I’ve ever seen.)

La mia sorella maggiore ha due figli. (My oldest sister has two children.)

7 GliAggettiviPossessivi–PossessiveAdjectives

7.1 Possessive adjectives are used to express ownership and belonging. They act like all other adjectives, in that they must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (feminine or masculine) with the noun they describe. For example:

mia madre – my mother mio padre – my father 7.2 In Italian, unlike English, possessive adjectives are usually preceded by the definite article,

except with members of the family in the singular form.

la mia borsa – my bag le mie borse – my bags mia sorella – my sister but le mie sorelle – my sisters 7.3 Although the definite article is usually omitted before singular members of the family, the

exceptions to this rule are nouns which have been modified in some way; by an adjective, a suffix or phrase.

mio fratello – my brother but il mio fratellino – my little brother mia sorella – my sister but la mia cara sorella – my dear sister 7.4 Here’s a summary of the possessive adjectives:

masc.sing. fem.sing. masc. pl. fem. pl.

my il mio/mio

(for a relative)1 la mia/mia

(for a relative) i miei le mie

your (singular familiar form)

il tuo/tuo (for a relative)

la tua/tua (for a relative)

i tuoi le tue

your (singular polite form)

il suo/suo (for a relative)

la sua/sua (for a relative)

i suoi le sue

his or her or its il suo/suo

(for a relative) la sua/sua

(for a relative) i suoi le sue

1 Note that with singular members of the family, the definite article is omitted. See section 7.2 above.

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our il nostro/nostro(for a relative)

la nostra/nostra (for a relative)

i nostri le nostre

your (plural familiar form)

il vostro/vostro (for a relative)

la vostra/vostra (for a relative)

i vostri le vostre

your (plural polite form)

il loro/loro (for a relative)

la loro/loro (for a relative)

i loro le loro

their il loro/loro

(for a relative) la loro/loro

(for a relative) i loro le loro

8 GliAvverbi–Adverbs

8.1 Adverbs are words which describe, modify or specify the meaning of an adjective, a verb or another adverb. Adverbs are invariable – they don’t have gender or number, so there is no need for agreement.

Adverbs express manner (avverbi di modo), time (avverbi di tempo), quantity (avverbi di quantità), and place (avverbi di luogo). They answer questions like ‘how?’, ‘when?’, ‘how much/many?’, ‘to what degree/extent?’ and ‘where?’

Adverb modifies the adjective Adverb describes the verb

e.g. Un uomo, abbastanza vecchio, camminava lentamente lungo la strada. An old travelling salesman would walk slowly down the street.

Adverb describes the verb

Le massaie calavano il loro panierino molto attentamente sul marciapiede.

Adverb describes the adverb

The housewives would lower their basket carefully to the pavement. 8.2 Formation of adverbs

Most adverbs are derived from the corresponding adjective. They are formed by adding ‐mente to the feminine singular form of the adjective.

e.g. lento lenta lentamente – slowly

vero vera veramente – truly

onesto onesta onestamente – honestly 8.3 Many adjectives ending in ‐e simply add ‐mente without any change to form the corresponding

adverb.

e.g. enorme enormemente – enormously

breve brevemente – briefly

paziente pazientemente – patiently

veloce velocemente – quickly/fast

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8.4 However, adjectives ending in ‐le or ‐re drop their final ‐e before ‐mente is added.

e.g. gentile gentilmente – kindly

facile facilmente – easily

naturale naturalmente – naturally

regolare regolarmente – regularly

particolare particolarmente – particularly

singolare singolarmente – singularly 8.5 There are many adverbs which don’t follow the usual pattern of formation and have their own

form. Here are some examples:

tardi (late) bene (well) male (badly) molto (very) poco (little)

piano (slowly) spesso (often) mai (never) prima (before) oggi (today) 8.6 Adverbs can be divided into four groups, depending on their function:

adverbs of manner, time, place, and quantity. 8.7 Adverbs of manner (Avverbi di modo)

Adverbs of manner can answer the question ‘how?’. Most adverbs of manner end in ‐mente, corresponding to the English ‐ly.

e.g. generalmente (generally) lentamente (slowly) facilmente (easily)

Some other adverbs of manner are:

bene (well) insieme (together) male (badly) volentieri (willingly) piano (slowly/softly) giusto (rightly) forte (strongly/loudly) e.g. I ragazzi si allontanano rapidamente. The boys move away rapidly.

Andrei volentieri con voi al cinema se avessi il tempo. I would willingly come to the movies with you if I had the time.

Cammina piano! Walk slowly!

La mamma non sta molto bene. My mother is not very well. 8.8 Adverbs of time (Avverbi di tempo)

Adverbs of time can answer questions like ‘when?’ or ‘how many times/how often?’ The most common adverbs of time are:

oggi (today) spesso (often) domani (tomorrow) finora (until now) ieri (yesterday) mai (never) adesso (now) sempre (always) poi/dopo (after) prima (before) allora (then) recentemente (recently) ancora (again) raramente (rarely)

e.g. Allora ci vediamo domani. We’ll see each other tomorrow then.

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Ti pensiamo spesso. We think of you often.

Recentemente ho letto un bel libro. Recently I read a beautiful book.

Finora siete stati fortunati. Until now you have been lucky. 8.9 Adverbs of place (Avverbi di luogo)

Adverbs of place can answer the question ‘where?’ and indicate where something or someone is or where an action is performed. Here are some of the most common adverbs of place and examples of how they are used:

qui/qua (here) quaggiù (down here) quassù (up here)

e.g. Il libro è qui (or qua). The book is here. (i.e. near the person who is talking)

lì/là (there) laggiù (down there) lassù (up there)

e.g. Il bambino è lassù. The child is down there. (i.e. far from the speaker and listener)

dove (where) – may be used instead of the relative pronoun in cui.

e.g. Il paese dove (in cui) vivo è tranquillo. The town where (in which) I live is peaceful.

dovunque (everywhere)

e.g. Mia figlia mi segue dovunque io vada. My daughter follows me everywhere I go.

lontano (far) vicino (near) dentro (inside) fuori (outside)

davanti (in front) dietro (behind) dopo (after) etc.

e.g. L’ufficio postale è lontano da qui. The post office is far from here.

Il cane va fuori ogni notte. The dog goes out every night.

Il gatto sta sempre dentro. The cat always stays inside.

ci/vi1 (in this/that place) ne2 (from there) – may be used instead of da lì.

e.g. – Vai in vacanza al mare? – Are you going to the seaside for the holidays?

– Sì, ci vado con la mia famiglia. – Yes I’m going (there) with my family.

Maria entrò in casa sorridendo, ma ne uscì piangendo. Maria entered the house smiling but came out (from there) crying.

1 These are not to be confused with the pronouns covered in sections 13, 14 and 17. 2 Not to be confused with the pronoun covered in section 15.

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8.10 Adverbs of quantity (Avverbi di quantità)

Adverbs of quantity can answer the question ‘how much?’ and indicate quantity. Some common adverbs of quantity are:

abbastanza (enough/quite) affatto (not at all) appena (hardly/barely)

assai (much) molto (much/very) poco (little) piuttosto (rather)

e.g. Sara è abbastanza brava in Italiano ma Stefania è molto brava. Sara is quite good in Italian but Stefania is very good.

Questo pane basta appena. This bread is barely enough.

8.11 Adverbal expressions

Here are some of the most commonly used adverbal expressions:

in fretta e furia carelessly alla svelta quickly

di corsa running una volta once

fra poco in a while da lontano from a distance

da vicino near press’a poco approximately

di meno less senza dubbio without a doubt

a poco a poco little by little piano piano slowly slowly

di bene in meglio (to get) better and better

9 LePreposizioni–Prepositions

9.1 Prepositions are little words that come before other words or a phrase to show their relationship to some other parts of the sentence. The most common prepositions are:

a to or at

su on

in in

da from

di of

con with

per for

tra/frabetween, within

e.g. Domani vado in centro a fare delle compere. shows where subject is going shows purpose of outing

(Tomorrow I’ll go to the city to do some shopping.)

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10 LePreposizioniArticolate–ArticulatedPrepositions

10.1 When certain prepositions are followed by definite articles, they join with them to form new combined words known as articulated prepositions. Study the table below carefully, and learn the articulated prepositions by heart.

(Note how important it is to know which definite article a noun takes, so that you can use the correct form of the articulated preposition.)

il lo l’ la i gli le

a (to) al allo all’ alla ai agli alle

di (of) del dello dell’ della dei degli delle

da (from) dal dallo dall’ dalla dai dagli dalle

su (on) sul sullo sull’ sulla sui sugli sulle

in (in) nel nello nell’ nella nei negli nelle

e.g. Domani sera vado al cinema. Tomorrow I’ll go to the movies. È il marito della maestra. He is the husband of the teacher. Il mio libro è sulla scrivania. My book is on the desk. Il professore è nell’aula. The teacher is in the classroom. Ho ricevuto un regalo dagli zii. I received a gift from the (my) uncles.

10.2 The preposition con usually only combines with the articles il and l’, but even this is optional.

e.g. Stella arriva coll’avvocato. or Stella arriva con l’avvocato. Giorgio parla col dottore. or Giorgio parla con il dottore.

10.3 The prepositions per and tra (fra) are never articulated. 10.4 The preposition a is not articulated in certain expressions with andare …

e.g. Vado a scuola. I go to school. a casa. I go home. a teatro. I go to the theatre. … or with names of cities and towns.

e.g. Vado a Melbourne. ad Arezzo. a Cortona.

10.5 In other expressions with andare involving the names of certain places, the preposition in is

used instead of a. Here is a list of the more common places preceded by the preposition in.

Vado

in città. in montagna. in campagna. in chiesa. in piscina. in biblioteca. in pizzeria. in gelateria.

I go

to (into) the city. to the mountains. to (into) the country. to church. to the swimming pool. to the library. to the pizza parlour. to the ice‐cream parlour.

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Vado

in bagno. in cucina. in camera da letto. in salotto. in giardino.

I go

to (into ) the bathroom. to (into ) the kitchen. to (into ) the bedroom to (into) the living room. to (into) the garden.

10.6 Note, however, that the articulated preposition must be used if the noun is modified by an

adjective or by a suffix or a phrase.

e.g. nella camera da letto di mia sorella (modified by a phrase)

al teatro comunale (modified by an adjective)

nella cittadina (modified by a suffix)

nel grande salotto (modified by an adjective) 10.7 Here are some common expressions, including prepositions, which are used to indicate precise

locations. The prepositions a and di in these expressions are usually articulated when a noun follows.

vicino a near, next to accanto a beside, next to

tra between di fronte a opposite

a sinistra di on/to the left of a destra di on/to the right of

davanti a in front of dietro a behind e.g. Il mio letto è accanto alla finestra. My bed is beside the window.

Di fronte al bar c’è l’ufficio postale. Opposite the bar there’s a post office.

11 IPronomi–Pronouns

11.1 A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to speed up a conversation, to avoid repetitions, to be concise or to refer back to a piece of information given before.

Pronouns can substitute for words already used:

e.g. Ho scritto a Gina per dirle che accettavo di vederla. I wrote to Gina to tell (to) her that I was willing to see her.

The pronouns ‐le and ‐la substitute for the name Gina. Without the pronouns, the sentence would sound quite odd:

Ho scritto a Gina per dire a Gina che accettavo di vedere Gina. I wrote to Gina to tell Gina that I was willing to see Gina.

Pronouns can refer to someone or something that has already been mentioned.

e.g. Marco mi ha detto che non saresti venuto più. Questo mi è dispiaciuto molto. Marco told me that you would not be coming again. I was very sorry to hear this.

In this example, questo refers back to what was said in the first sentence.

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Pronouns can also substitute for…

adjectives:

e.g. Pensavo che il tuo amico fosse una persona intelligente, invece non lo è. I thought that your friend was an intelligent person, but (instead) he isn’t.

Here, the pronoun lo is used instead of (una persona) intelligente.

verbs:

e.g. Aveva capito la lezione e lo ha detto all’insegnante. He had understood the lesson and told the teacher (this).

Without the pronoun lo, the sentence would be: Aveva capito la lezione e ha detto all’insegnante che aveva capito.

an entire sentence:

e.g. – Sai che oggi arriverà Giorgio da Roma? – Did you know that Giorgio will be arriving from Rome today?

– No, non lo sapevo. – No, I didn’t know that.

Without lo, the second sentence would be:

– No, non sapevo che oggi arriverà Giorgio da Roma. 11.2 There are a number of different types of pronouns. They are:

personal nouns (subject/object)

reflexive pronouns

possessive pronouns

demonstrative pronouns

indefinite pronouns

relative pronouns

interrogative pronouns

See the following sections for more details.

12 IPronomiPersonali:Soggetto–SubjectPronouns

12.1 The Italian subject pronouns (indicating the person or thing doing the action in a sentence) are:

Singular Plural

1st person io I noi we

2nd person tu you (informal) voi you (informal)

Lei you (formal) Loro you (formal)

3rd person lui he/it loro they

lei she/it

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12.2 When the subject of a sentence is not a person, the 3rd person singular or 3rd person plural forms of the verb must be used. The subject pronouns you can use in this case are esso/essa (‘it’), essi/esse (‘they’). Though you will rarely need to use these pronouns, you may occasionally see them in texts.

e.g In casa abbiamo un cane ed una gatta. Esso si chiama Totò ed essa si chiama Giuseppina.

At home we have a dog and a cat. He is called Totò and she is called Giuseppina.

(In the second sentence, the subject pronouns esso and essa had to be used to give the appropriate emphasis as well as to avoid ambiguity.)

12.3 Sometimes the subject of a sentence can be a verb or verb phrase. In this case the 3rd person

singular form of the verb must be used. The pronouns esso or essa would not be appropriate in this case. Instead you could use questo or ciò if necessary.

e.g. Mi piace molto leggere. Questo è il mio passatempo preferito. I really like reading. It (i.e. reading) is my favourite pastime.

Spesso, scegliere l’albergo giusto può essere difficile e ciò può causare tanti problemi. Often, choosing the right hotel can be difficult and it (i.e. choosing a hotel) can cause many problems.

12.4 Expressing ‘you’

There are four ways of saying ‘you’ in Italian: tu, voi, Lei and Loro.

Tu (for one person) and voi (for more than one person) are used with close friends, family members and children.

e.g. Tu sei un caro amico! You are a dear friend!

Voi, cari cugini… You, my dear cousins …

Lei (for one person) and Loro (for two or more people, male or female) are used to address

older people, people in authority, strangers or acquaintances.

e.g. Mi dispiace, professore, Lei si sbaglia. I’m sorry, professor, you are mistaken.

Loro, signorine, possono entrare. You, young ladies, may enter.

Lei and Loro used in formal situations are usually written with a capital L to distinguish them from lei (she) and loro (they). However, the capitalisation is becoming less common in modern Italian.

See section 46 below for more on formal and informal address. 12.5 The subject pronouns are usually omitted in Italian because the ending of the verb clearly

indicates who is doing the action expressed by the verb.

e.g. Io vado/Vado al cinema. I go (I’m going) to the movies.

(There can be no doubt about the subject of the sentence because vado can only mean ‘I go’.)

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12.6 The subject pronoun is usually only used in Italian:

to avoid ambiguity with verb forms that are the same for 1st, 2nd and 3rd person, such as in the present subjunctive.

e.g. Pensi che io possa fare questo. You think I can do this.

Pensi che tu possa fare questo. You think you can do this.

Pensi che lui possa fare questo. You think he can do this.

to emphasise the subject using words like solo/soltanto (only), nemmeno/neppure/neanche (neither/not even), perfino (even), anche/pure (also).

e.g. Soltanto tu puoi convincermi. Only you can convince me.

Neanche lei lo sapeva. Not even she knew about it.

Perfino tu mi consideri colpevole. Even you consider me guilty.

to provide contrast between the subjects.

e.g. Io studio e voi vi divertite. I study and you enjoy yourselves.

13 IPronomiPersonali:OggettoDiretto–DirectObjectPronouns

13.1 As the name suggest, a direct object pronoun is used to replace the direct object in a sentence. A direct object is the person or thing that directly receives the action of the verb and can answer the question ‘whom?’ or ‘what?’

Verbs that take a direct object are called transitive verbs (e.g. to see, to find, to eat). Those that cannot take a direct object are called intransitive verbs (for example, to come, to arrive, to go, to die). The forms of the direct object pronouns are as follows:

Singular Plural

1st person mi me ci us

2nd person ti

La

you (informal)

you (formal)

vi

Li, Le

you (informal)

you (formal)

3rd person lo

la

him, it (m)

her, it (f)

li

le

them (m)

them (f) 13.2 Italian direct object pronouns normally precede a conjugated verb.

e.g. – Conoscete Loretta? – Do you know Loretta?

– Sì, la conosciamo bene. – Yes, we know her well.

Lei compra i dolci, e io li faccio. She buys sweets and I make them.

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13.3 lo and la (and less often mi, ti, ci, vi) drop their final vowel before verbs beginning with a vowel (except forms of essere) and before the forms ho, hai, ha, hanno of the verb avere. (This is called elision.) However, the plural forms li and le are never elided.

e.g. L’inglese? L’hanno imparato in Inghilterra. English? They learned it in England.

Abbiamo la macchina ma non l’usiamo mai. We have a car but we never use it.

Li invitiamo a cena domani sera. We will invite them to dinner tomorrow night.

13.4 When an infinitive is used, the direct object pronoun is attached to the end of the infinitive.

In that case the infinitive drops the final ‐e.

e.g. – Hai visto il nonno? – Have you seen grandfather?

– No, ma penso di visitarlo oggi. – No, but I’m thinking of visiting him today.

È importante farlo. It’s important to do it.

13.5 If, however, the infinitive is governed by the verbs dovere, potere or volere, the pronouns may

either be attached to the infinitive or placed before the entire verb phrase.

e.g. Voglio invitarti. or Ti voglio invitare. I want to invite you.

Dobbiamo aiutarla. or La dobbiamo aiutare. We must help her.

13.6 In negative sentences, the direct object pronoun is placed after the word non, when it appears

before the verb.

e.g. Non invitiamo Mario. Non lo invitiamo. We won’t invite Mario. We won’t invite him.

13.7 Some Italian verbs take a direct object, whereas their English equivalents require a preposition

(to, for, at) before the object. Some examples are:

ascoltare to listen to chiedere to ask for pagare to pay for aspettare to wait for cercare to look for guardare to look at

e.g. Amo la musica; l’ascolto sempre. I like music; I listen to it always.

Se vuoi il numero, devi chiederlo. If you want the number; you have to ask for it.

– Cerchi il tuo portafoglio? – Are you looking for your wallet?

– Sì, lo cerco da un’ora. – Yes, I’ve been looking for it for an hour.

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14 IPronomiPersonali:OggettoDiretto–IndirectObjectPronouns

14.1 An indirect object differs from a direct object in that the action of the verb affects it indirectly; the action of the verb is done to or for the indirect object. Compare:

Direct object Indirect object

I brought the book. I brought the book to my sister.

I brought (to/for) my sister the book.

I brought the book for my sister.

An indirect object answers the question ‘to whom?’ or ‘for whom?’ In English the indirect object may either stand alone or be introduced by ‘to’ or ‘for’. It depends on the word order (‘I gave my sister the book’ or ‘I gave the book to my sister’).

14.2 Indirect object pronouns differ from direct object pronouns only in the formal 2nd person and 3rd

person forms (singular and plural).

Singular Plural

1st person mi to me ci to us

2nd person ti to you (informal) vi to you (informal)

Le to you (formal) Loro to you (formal)

3rd person gli

le to him, it (m)

to her, it (f) loro to them (m & f)

14.3 Indirect object pronouns, like direct object pronouns, normally precede a conjugated verb –

except for loro and Loro, which follow the verb.

e.g. Non gli danno molti libri. They don’t give him many books.

Le ho offerto una bibita. I offered her a drink.

Ho chiesto loro di venire stasera. I asked them to come this evening.

In contemporary usage, loro is often replaced by gli, which precedes the verb.

e.g. Quando parliamo loro? When will we speak to them? Quando gli parliamo? When will we speak to them?

14.4 With the exception of loro, indirect object pronouns governed by an infinitive normally follow

the verb, and are attached to the end of it. Note also that the infinitive drops the final ‐e.

e.g. Non vogliamo rispondergli. We don’t want to reply to him. Ho bisogno di parlarle. I need to talk to her. Perchè non volete scrivere loro? Why don’t you want to write to them?

14.5 If the infinitive is governed by the verbs dovere, potere or volere, the pronoun may either be

attached to the infinitive or be placed before the entire verb phrase.

e.g. Posso parlarLe? May I talk to you? Le posso parlare?

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Dobbiamo offrirgli il caffè? Do we have to offer him some coffee? Gli dobbiamo offrire il caffè?

14.6 In compound tenses, it is important to know whether the object pronoun is a direct or an

indirect one, in order to use the correct form of the past participle.

The past participle must agree with a preceding direct object pronoun; but it never agrees with a preceding indirect object pronoun.

e.g. Maria? L’ho vista ieri sera ma non le ho parlato. Maria? I saw her last night but I didn’t speak to her.

14.7 Some Italian verbs take an indirect object, whereas their English equivalents take a direct object.

e.g. Telefono a Marco. Gli telefono. I phone Marco. I phone him.

The most common of these verbs are:

bastare a – to suffice, to last chiedere a – to ask dire a – to tell dispiacere a – to be sorry fare bene a – to be good for fare male a – to hurt, to be bad for piacere a – to please rispondere a – to answer somigliare a – to resemble, to be like telefonare a – to phone volere bene a – to love, to care for

With these verbs, it’s important to remember to use the indirect object pronouns. e.g. Le dico sempre la verità. I always tell her the truth.

Il vino gli fa male. Wine is bad for him.

Signora, chi Le ha risposto? Madam, who answered you?

Ti voglio tanto bene. I love you very much.

Somiglio a mia madre; le somiglio negli occhi. I resemble my mother: I take after her in the eyes.

14.8 Indirect object pronouns may be replaced by disjunctive pronouns to provide emphasis or

contrast. The forms of these disjunctive pronouns are:

Singular Plural

a me to me a noi to us

a te to you a voi to you

a lui, a lei to him, to her a loro to them

a Lei to you (formal) a Loro to you (formal)

e.g. A me piace molto andare al cimema ma a lui piace andare in discoteca. (I like to go to the movies but he likes to go to the disco.)

preceding direct object pronoun

no agreement of the past participle

agreement of the past participle

indirect object pronoun

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15 LaParticellaPronominalene–TheIndirectObjectPronounne

15.1 The pronoun ne has several uses in Italian. Just like ci, ne is used to replace a prepositional phrase. Most of the time the prepositional phrase is introduced by di, or sometimes da. Study the following.

15.2 Ne can replace:

a prepositional phrase

e.g. Non dovete avere paura degli esami. You must not be afraid of the exams.

Non dovete averne paura. You must not be afraid of them.

In the example above the pronoun ne replaces degli esami to mean ‘of them’.

Che cosa pensi di quell’attrice? What do you think about (of) that actress?

Che cosa ne pensi? What you think about (of) her?

di + an infinitive phrase

e.g. Hai voglia di uscire questa sera? Do you feel like going out tonight? No, non ne ho voglia. No, I don’t feel like it.

15.3 Ne can also replace:

da + a place (The English equivalent ‘from there’ is not always expressed.)

e.g. – È già uscita dalla casa? – Has she already gone out of the house?

– Si, ne è uscita proprio in questo momento. – Yes, she went out (of it) just this minute.

15.4 Ne also replaces the partitive construction. Its English equivalent is ‘some’ or ‘any’.

e.g. – Vuoi del formaggio? – Do you want some cheese? – Ne vuoi? – Do you want some? – No, non ne voglio, grazie. – No, I don’t want any, thank you.

15.5 Ne also replaces nouns preceded by a number or an expression of quantity (molto, poco, tanto,

troppo, etc; un chilo, due bottiglie, tre scatole, etc.)

Note that the number or expression of quantity remains. In this situation ne means ‘of it’ or ‘of them’, although this is not usually expressed in English.

e.g. – Quanti fratelli hai? – How many brothers do you have? – Ne ho due. – I have two (of them).

– Leggono molte riviste? – Do they read many magazines? – Sì, ne leggono molte. – Yes, they read many (of them).

– Hai comprato la carne? – Did you buy the meat? – Sì, ne ho comprato un chilo. – Yes, I bought one kilo (of it).

Note that the preposition ne always precedes the verb.

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15.6 When ne is used in the way shown above, and the verb is in a compound tense, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the noun that ne replaces.

e.g. – Hanno comprato dei romanzi? – Did they buy any novels? – Sì, ne hanno comprati. – Yes, they bought some.

– Hai visitato molte gallerie? – Did you visit many galleries? – Sì, ne ho visitate molte. – Yes, I visited many (of them).

16 IPronomiCombinati–CombinedPronouns

16.1 When both a direct and an indirect object pronoun appear in the same sentence, the combined forms are governed by certain rules:

1 The indirect object pronoun usually precedes the direct object pronoun.

2 The indirect object pronouns mi, ti, ci and vi change their final vowel to ‐e.

3 The pronouns gli, le, and Le (polite form), all change to glie‐ and are joined to the direct object pronoun.

4 Loro doesn’t change and is preceded by the direct object pronoun. (In modern Italian, loro tends to behave like gli, le, and Le.

e.g. Vuole il conto? Glielo porto subito. Do you want the bill? I’ll bring it to you straight away.

16.2 Study the table below which summarises the combined object pronouns.

Direct

Indirect + lo + la + li + le + ne

mi me lo me la me li me le me ne

ti te lo te la te li te le te ne

gli

glielo gliela glieli gliele gliene le

Le (formal)

ci ce lo ce la ce li ce le ce ne

vi ve lo ve la ve li ve le ve ne

Loro/Loro (formal)

lo … loro (glielo)1

la … loro (gliela)

li … loro (glieli)

le … loro (gliele)

ne … loro (gliene)

1 Note that in modern usage loro can behave in the same way as gli or le when combined with a direct pronoun. Both forms are correct.

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17 IPronomiRiflessivi–Reflexivepronouns

17.1 Reflexive pronouns always accompany the reflexive verbs.1 The Italian reflexive pronouns are:

Singular Plural

mi myself ci ourselves

ti yourself (informal) vi yourselves (informal)

si yourself (formal) si yourselves (formal)

si himself, herself, itself si themselves

17.2 Important things to remember about reflexive verbs and pronouns:

Reflexive pronouns usually precede the verb.

e.g. Giovanni si veste. Giovanni dresses himself.

Io mi alzo alle sette. I get up at seven (o’clock).

Reflexive verbs can be recognised by the reflexive pronoun si attached to the end of the

infinitive form.

e.g. lavarsi (to wash oneself) vestirsi (to dress oneself, get dressed) alzarsi (to get up2) etc.

The reflexive pronoun is attached to the end of the verb when it is in certain forms: the

infinitive, imperative (familiar form), or present participle.

e.g. (infinitive)

Lavarsi è importante. To wash oneself is important. Ti ho detto di lavarti. I told you to wash yourself.

(imperative)

Giovanni, lavati i capelli! Giovanni, wash your hair! Ragazzi, svegliatevi alle sette. Boys, wake up at 7.00!

(present participle)

Vestendosi, si è accorta che mancava un bottone alla camicia. Dressing herself, she realised that a button was missing on her shirt.

The reflexive pronoun can also be attached to a past particple when used on its own.

e.g. Accortosi del pericolo, si fermò. Having become aware of the danger, he stopped.

1 See section 25.9 for more information about reflexive verbs. 2 Remember that not all verbs which are reflexive in Italian are reflexive in English – alzarsi (to get up) is a perfect example.

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18 LaParticellaPronominalesi–Thepronounparticlesi

18.1 The pronoun particle si has a number of different uses:

reflexive si

impersonal si

passive si

reciprocal si 18.2 The reflexive pronoun si is used to indicate actions which are both executed and received by the

same subject, i.e. where the subject acts upon itself.1 18.3 The impersonal pronoun si followed by a 3rd person singular verb is used in sentences with an

indefinite subject. English uses words like ‘one’, ‘people’, ‘they’, ‘you’ or ‘we’. Impersonal si has two functions:

It can substitute for noi

e.g. Qui si vende libri. = Qui (noi) vendiamo libri. We sell books here.2

Si è arrivati tardi ieri sera. = Siamo arrivati tardi ieri sera. We arrived late last night.

It can have the meaning of:

uno (one), qualcuno (someone), ognuno (each one), tutti (everyone), le persone (people/persons), la gente (people) etc.

e.g. In Inghilterra si guida a sinistra. = In Inghilterra tutti/le persone guidano a sinistra.

In England everyone drives/people drive on the left. 18.4 When si + verb is followed by a plural noun (direct object), the verb can be in the 3rd person

plural form.

e.g. All’aeroporto si fanno molti scioperi. They strike a lot (there are a lot of strikes) at the airport.

18.5 Impersonal si constructions are always conjugated with essere in compound tenses and the past

participle must agree in number and gender with the noun.

e.g. Si è visto molto a Napoli. We saw a lot in Naples.

Si sono organizzati dei giri turistici. Guided tours were organised.

18.6 Adjectives used in impersonal si constructions are always in the plural form.

e.g. Quando si è giovani si è sempre felici.

1 See section 17 above, and for a complete review of reflexive verbs see section 25.9. 2 In English we would often use the passive voice in this situation: ‘Books are sold here’. See section 18.7.

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18.7 When a reflexive verb is used in a si construction, both a reflexive pronoun and an impersonal pronoun are needed. It would sound quite odd to repeat the same word, so the impersonal si is replaced by ci to make the sentence sound better.

e.g. Ci si stanca molto con il caldo. People get (one gets) very tired when it’s hot.

Ci si alza tardi la domenica. We get (one gets) up late on Sundays.

18.7 The passive si is used to express the passive form of the verb (the passive voice1) briefly and

concisely. In passive sentences the recipient of the action, rather than the doer, is the subject.

e.g. L’hamburger si mangia con le mani. Hamburgers are eaten with the hands.

La neve si vede dalla finestra. The snow is seen (can be seen) from the window.

18.9 Reciprocal si is used when two or more subjects perform an action that reverts back on the

subjects (i.e. the action is reciprocated).

e.g. Elena e Giovanni si amano. (i.e. Elena ama Giovanni e Giovanni ama Elena.) Elena and Giovanni love each other.

19 IPronomiPossessivi–PossessivePronouns

19.1 Possessive pronouns have the same forms as the possessive adjectives. They replace a noun modified by a possessive adjective and translate the English words ‘mine’, ‘yours’, ‘his’, ‘hers’, ‘ours’, ‘theirs’ etc. Possessive pronouns must agree in number and gender with the noun they replace.

e.g. Mi puoi prestare una penna? Ho perso la mia. Can you lend me a pen? I’ve lost mine.

In this example the possessive pronoun la mia is used instead of la mia penna. Here are a few more examples:

È tua2 questa calcolatrice? Is this calculator yours?

Di chi è questo libro? – È suo. Whose book is this? – It’s his/hers.

1 For more information about the passive voice, see section 45. 2 Note that when a possessive pronoun immediately follows the verb essere, the article is omitted.

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19.2 Observe the difference between the possessive adjectives and the possessive pronouns:

Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns

il mio [banco], la mia [sedia] il mio, la mia

i miei [libri], le mie [matite] i miei, le mie

il tuo [diario], la tua [gomma] il tuo, la tua

il suo [astuccio], la sua [riga] il suo, la sua

il Suo [quaderno], la Sua [borsa] il Suo, la Sua

i suoi (Suoi) [amici], le sue (Sue) [amiche] i suoi (Suoi), le sue (Sue)

il nostro [professore], la nostra [maestra] il nostro, la nostra

i nostri [professori], le nostre [compagne] i nostri, le nostre

il vostro [amico], la vostra [amica] il vostro, la vostra

il loro (Loro) [amico], la loro (Loro) [amica] il loro (Loro), la loro (Loro)

i loro (Loro) [amici], le loro (Loro) [amiche] i loro (Loro), le (Loro)

19.3 Possessive pronouns normally retain the article, even when they refer to relatives.

e.g. Mia madre sta bene; come sta la tua? My mother is well; how is yours?

19.4 The masculine plural forms i miei, i tuoi, i Suoi, etc., are used to refer to relatives,

close friends, and followers.

e.g. Tanti saluti ai1 tuoi. Best regards to your family.

19.5 When a possessive pronoun is used after the verb essere, the article is usually omitted.

e.g. – È vostra quella macchina? – Is that car yours?

– Sì è nostra. – Yes it’s ours.

The article is retained, however, if emphasis is needed or if there’s a need for distinction.

e.g. Questa è la nostra macchina. Quella lì è la loro. This is our car. That one there is theirs.

1 Remember that when an article is preceded by a preposition, the two combine to become an articulated preposition – see section 9.

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20 IPronomiDimostrativi–DemonstrativePronouns

20.1 The demonstrative pronouns questo and quello are used to replace a noun that has been previously mentioned, as if pointing to it with your finger, to determine the position occupied by the object in space, time or in the sentence.

These pronouns must agree in number and gender with the object they indicate and correspond to the English, ‘this’, ‘this one’, ‘that’, ‘that one’, ‘these’, ‘those’, etc.

e.g. Questo è il mio libro. This is my book.

Quelli sono i figli di Giovanni. Those are Giovanni’s children.

Quelle sono le compagne di mia figlia. Those are my daughter’s school friends.

Questi sono i nonni di Maria. These are Maria’s grandparents.

Questa è la professoressa d’Italiano. This is the Italian teacher.

20.2 Questo/a, questi/e (this, this one, these, these ones):

…used to indicate something or somebody near the person who is speaking.

e.g. Questa è la mia casa. This is my house.

Questi sono i miei amici. These are my friends.

20.3 Quello/a, quelli/e (that, that one, those, thoses ones):

…used to indicate something or somebody further away from the person speaking.

e.g. Quello è il campo da tennis della scuola. That is the school’s tennis court.

Quelle sono le sue matite. Those are her/his pencils.

20.4 Note that, especially in spoken Italian, questo and quello are often accompanied by the adverbs

qua/qui (here) or lì/là1 (there).

e.g. Quello lì è il mio libro. That one there is my book.

Questa qui è l’amica di Paola. This one here is Paola’s friend.

1 Note that lì and là need an accent on the final vowel, to avoid confusion with la (article/object pronoun) and li (object pronoun).

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21 IPronomiIndefiniti–IndefinitePronouns

21.1 Indefinite pronouns are words which refer to persons, things or periods that are not specific. They can be positive or negative. In the table below you will find the most common positive and negative indefinite pronouns. Study them thoroughly.

Positivi Positive Negativi Negative

qualcuno

chiunque

ognuno

molti

someone, somebody

anyone, anybody

everyone, everybody

many

nessuno no one, nobody

qualcosa something niente, nulla nothing

ogni cosa, tutto

tutti

everything

everyone, everybody

nessuno not any, none

e.g. C’è qualcuno che ti vuole parlare al telefono. There’s someone who wants to talk to you on the phone.

Tutto era sul letto. Everything was on the bed.

21.2 Indefinite pronouns can be either variable (changing form to denote gender and number) or

invariable (form stays the same). Study the table below.

invariable (These pronouns don’t show gender or number to agree with the noun/s)

chiunque, qualcosa ,nulla, molto, nessuno, tutto ciascuno, ognuno

variable (These pronouns have four possible forms: masculine or feminine, singular or plural)

molto (molta, molti, molte); tutto (tutta, tutti, tutte)

e.g. Chiunque può fare questo. Anyone can do this.

Nessuno mi ha telefonato. Nobody has telephoned me.

Tutti erano presenti alla cerimonia. Everyone was present at the ceremony.

– Hai mangiato la pasta? – Have you eaten the pasta?

– Sì, l’ho mangiata tutta. – Yes, I ate it all.

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22 IPronomiRelativi–RelativePronouns

22.1 A relative pronoun introduces a clause that refers a noun in the main clause – ineffect, it combines two separate sentences. Study the examples below very carefully (and note the use of punctuation in Italian).

Roberto ha superato l’esame. Robert passed the exam.

+ Roberto ha frequentato regolarmente le lezioni. Robert has attended classes regularly.

Roberto, che ha frequentato regolarmente le lezioni, ha superato l’esame. Robert, who attended classes regularly, passed the exam.

Ho visto il fratello di Gianna. I saw Gianna’s brother.

+ Il fratello di Gianna adesso lavora a Singapore. Gianna’s brother is now working in Singapore.

Ho visto il fratello di Gianna, il quale adesso lavora a Singapore. I saw Gianna’s brother, who is now working in Singapore.

La ragazza è bellissima. The girl is very beautiful.

+ Noi parliamo della ragazza. We talk about the girl.

La ragazza di cui parliamo è bellissima. The girl about whom we are talking is very beautiful.

22.2 Important things to remember about relative pronouns

1 In English relative pronouns are often omitted. But in Italian the relative pronoun must be expressed.

e.g. Il ragazzo che vedi è il mio amico Riccardo. The boy (whom) you see is my friend Riccardo.

2 In Italian, if a preposition is needed, it must be placed before the relative pronoun.

e.g. Il ragazzo di cui ti parlavo è mio cugino. The boy that I was telling you about is my cousin. or The boy I was telling you about is my cousin. or The boy about whom I was talking is my cousin.

3 The relative pronouns in Italian are: che, cui, il quale, la quale, i quali, le quali. 22.3 The relative pronoun che corresponds to the English ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘that’ and ‘which’. It refers

to both persons and things and can function as either the subject or the object of a relative clause. It can be singular or plural, masculine or feminine.

e.g. I bambini che (masculine, plural, subject) giocano sono i miei figli. The children who are playing are my children.

ll libro che (masculine, singular, object) ti hanno dato, è molto interessante. The book [that] they gave you is very interesting.

Le ragazze che (feminine, plural, subject) ci salutano sono della prima classe. The girls who are waving at us are from the first grade.

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La penna che (feminine, singular, object) mi hai prestato, non funziona. The pen [which/that] you lent me doesn’t work.

22.4 The relative pronoun cui has both an invariable and a variable form.

a) In its invariable form, cui replaces nouns or pronouns that designate persons, animals, things and places and corresponds to the English ‘whom’, ‘that’ or ‘which’. It is used when the dependent clause is introduced by a preposition (e.g. a cui, di cui, da cui, in cui, per cui etc.)

e.g. La ragazza con cui sono uscito è la mia fidanzata. The girl with whom I went out is my fiancée.

Questi sono i signori (a) cui abbiamo telefonato. These are the gentlemen whom we telephoned

NOTE: i The preposition a may be omitted before the relative pronoun cui.

ii In conversation dove is often used instead of in cui to refer to places.

e.g. Il negozio in cui (dove) lavoro è molto grande. The shop in which (where) I work is very big.

Melbourne è la città in cui (dove) abito. Melbourne is the city in which (where) I live.

iii Cui is never used to replace a direct object.

b) The variable form of cui (preceded by the definite article) corresponds to the English ‘whose’. It is variable because the article must agreee in number and gender with the noun which follows it.

e.g. Ho incontrato la ragazza la cui madre è morta. I met the girl whose mother died.

Ho parlato con la signora il cui cane abbiamo trovato. I spoke to the lady whose dog we found.

Questa è la signora le cui figlie hai incontrato alla festa di Marina. This is the lady whose daughters you met at Marina’s party.

Quel signore, i cui figli studiano in America, è mio zio. That man, whose sons (children) are studying in America, is my uncle.

22.5 The definite article + the relative pronoun quale can be used instead of che or cui in the

following situations:

(Note however, that quale is variable. It has a singular and a plural form and agrees with the noun it qualifies.)

a) The definite article + quale is used instead of che to avoid ambiguity because the article

indicates the gender and number of the antecedent.

e.g. Ho parlato con la sorella di Gino la quale è parrucchiera. I spoke to Gino’s sister, who is a hairdresser.

Gli amici di mio padre, i quali arrivano oggi, vivono in Francia. My father’s friends who are arriving today, live in France.

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b) The definite article + quale is frequently used instead of cui with a preposition. Most of the prepositions must, of course, become articulated.

e.g. al quale, della quale, nei quali, sulle quali, etc.

Study these examples carefully:

e.g. Queste sono le ragazze delle quali (di cui) ti parlavo. These are the girls whom I was speaking to you about.

È un problema al quale (a cui) bisogna trovare una soluzione. It is a problem for which a solution must be found.

23 IPronomiInterrogativi–InterrogativePronouns

23.1 Interrogative pronouns are words used to ask questions which cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. They require some information in response.

23.2 Here are some common interrogative pronouns you can use to form questions:

chi? Who? Chi è quella ragazza? Who is that girl?

che/che cosa/cosa? What? Cosa vuoi fare adesso? What do you want to do now?

dove? (dov’ before è)

Where?

Dove abiti? Where do you live? Dov’è la tua casa? Where is your house?

quando? (quand’ before a vowel)

When? Quando parti? When will you leave?

perchè? Why? Perchè piangi? Why are you crying?

quanto? (before a verb) quant’ (before a vowel)

How much?

Quanto costa? Quant’è? How much does it cost? Quanto mangi? How much do you eat?

23.3 Some interrogative words are adjectives. Study the examples below.

che?

Which?

Che classe fai? Which class are you in?

quale?

(quali before plural nouns)

(qual before è)

Quale cartolina vuole? Which card do you want?

Quali materie ti interessano di più? Which subjects interest you the most?

Qual è la tua casa? Which is your house?

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quanto? (before a noun) – must agree in number and gender with the noun

it refers to

How much?

How many?

Quanto pane hai comprato? How much bread did you buy?

Quanta frutta mangi al giorno? How much fruit do you eat each day?

Quante persone ci sono? How many people are there? Quanti anni hai? How old are you?

24 L’UsodeiVerbi–UseofVerbs

24.1 Verbs are words used to express action or being. A verb tells us that a person or thing:

does or is doing something

e.g. Mario legge un libro. Mario reads/is reading a book.

is in some state or condition

e.g. Silvia è innamorata. Silvia is in love.

is approaching some state or condition

e.g. Comincia a farsi buio. It is getting dark.

24.2 The infinitive

Verbs are usually referred to by their infinitive form. This is the form you find in a dictionary. It is called infinitive because it is not bound by either person or number.

In Italian, the infinitive form of a verb can be identified by its ending. The infinitives of the first group (conjugation) end in ‐are, the second group end in ‐ere and the third group end in ‐ire.

e.g. parlare (to speak), scrivere (to write), sentire (to listen, hear, feel).

All verbs fall into one of these three groups. They are also referred to as verbs of the first, second and third conjugation, respectively.

In English an infinitive verb is usually preceded by the preposition ‘to’:

e.g. to be, to have, to go, to see, etc. 24.3 Tense

Different tenses are used to indicate when the action of the sentence has occurred: now (present tense), before (past tense) and after (future tense).

e.g. Ieri sono andata al cinema con i miei amici. past Yesterday I went to the movies with my friends.

Oggi rimango a casa e mi riposo. present Today I am staying at home and resting.

Domani andrò a scuola. future Tomorrow I will go to school.

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In order to form different tenses, English often uses auxiliary verbs (such as ‘have’, ‘had’, ‘will’, and ‘would’). In Italian, an ending is usually added to the verb stem1 to indicate a particular tense (although an auxiliary verb is used in one of the past tenses, the passato prossimo, as you see in the first example above).

Mood

Verbs can be conjugated in different moods. The mood indicates the manner in which the action expressed by the verb is happening and also the attitude, point of view or state of mind of the speaker toward what he or she is saying.

There are four moods: indicative, subjunctive, imperative and conditional.

Indicative mood

The indicative mood is by far the most common. It is used to convey actions, conditions or states of being that are fact (or that pass for facts).

The indicative mood has eight different tenses:

present (presente), future (futuro), future anterior (futuro anteriore), imperfect (imperfetto), perfect (passato prossimo), pluperfect (trapassato prossimo), past historic (passato remoto), past absolute pluperfect (trapassato remoto)

Subjunctive mood

This mood is used to express subjectivity, hypothesis, doubt, personal opinion, wishes and commands (formal imperative). It has four tenses:

present (congiuntivo presente), past (congiuntivo passato), imperfect (imperfetto del congiuntivo) and past perfect (trapassato del congiuntivo).

Conditional mood

This mood is used to express the possibility of a result if a certain condition is fulfilled and is also used to express a polite request. This mood has only two tenses:

present conditional (condizionale presente) and past conditional (condizionale passato).

Imperative mood

This mood is used to give commands or make suggestions. It has only one tense: The Present Imperative (Imperativo).

24.4 Subject/verb agreement

Verbs are words that indicate the action performed by the subject of the sentence. For this reason, the verb must agree with the subject of the sentence in person (1st, 2nd or 3rd person2) and number (singular or plural).

3

rd person singular subject 3

rd person plural subject

e.g. Martino studia. Gli studenti studiano. 3

rd person singular verb ending 3

rd person plural verb ending

1 The verb stem is formed by removing the ‐are, ‐ere or ‐ire ending. 2 1st person = the person(s) speaking (I, we); 2nd person = the person(s) being spoken to or addressed (you); 3rd person = the person(s) or thing(s) being spoken about (he, she, it, they). See section 40.2.

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In other words, when you write a sentence in Italian, you must check that you have conjugated the verb correctly, that is, that the form of the verb matches the subject of the sentence (person and number). This is called agreement of subject and verb.

Here’s a summary of subject/verb agreement.

number person Italian subject pronoun

English equivalent

Examples

singular

1st io I (io) Mi chiamo Stella.

2nd tu you (singular familiar)

(tu) Come ti chiami?

3rd lui lei Lei

he/it she/it you

(singular polite)

(lui) Si chiama Marco. (lei) Si chiama Daniela. Professoressa, Lei come si chiama?

plural

1st noi we Io e la mia famiglia (= noi) abitiamo in Via Delle Grotte.

2nd voi you (plural familiar)

(voi) Dove abitate?

3rd loro Loro

they you

(plural polite)

Le ragazze (loro) ascoltano la musica. Signori, (Loro) dove abitano?

In English, a subject pronoun (such as ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘he’, ‘she’ etc.) is always used to indicate or replace the subject in a sentence. In Italian, however, subject pronouns are usually omitted, since the ending of the verb changes to indicate the person.They are generally only used to give a special emphasis or to avoid ambiguity.

25 IlPresente–ThePresentTense

25.1 Use of the present tense

The present tense in Italian is equivalent to the English present or present continuous tense.

e.g. Mario legge un libro. Mario reads (or: is reading) a book.

La signora Paolini lavora in un ufficio. Mrs Paolini works (or: is working) in an office.

25.2 The present tense is also used to express an action in the near future that is considered certain.

(We do this in English too.) There are often other words in the sentence that indicate a future time.

e.g. I miei amici arrivano domani. My friends will arrive tomorrow. (They’re arriving tomorrow.)

Stasera vado a teatro. This evening I’m going to the theatre. (This evening I’ll go to the theatre.)

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25.3 The present tense of regular verbs

The present tense of regular verbs is formed as follows:

The infinitive ending of the verb (‐are, ‐ere, ‐ire) is dropped, and to the remaining verb stem, different present tense endings are added for each person.

The table below shows you how three different verbs are conjugated into the present tense. Pay particular attention to the endings.

Singular

Person First conjugation

parlare Second conjugation

scrivere Third conjugation

sentire

1st parlo scrivo sento

2nd parli scrivi senti

Plural

3rd parla scrive sente

1st parliamo scriviamo sentiamo

2nd parlate scrivete sentite

3rd parlano scrivono sentono

e.g. Maria e Rosa parlano al telefono per delle ore. Maria and Rosa talk on the phone for hours.

Scrivo una lettera a mia sorella. I write/am writing a letter to my sister.

Sentiamo gli uccelli cantare. We hear the birds sing.

Queste scarpe costano molto. These shoes cost a lot.

25.4 In the first conjugation only (‐are verbs), if the verb stem ends in a hard c or g sound, an h is

added before the ‐i and ‐iamo endings to maintain the hard sound. Some common verbs in this group are: pagare (to pay); cercare (to look for); toccare (to touch).

e.g. pagare (to pay): (io) pago, (tu) paghi, (lui/lei) paga, (noi) paghiamo, (voi) pagate, (loro) pagano

25.5 Also in the first conjugation, if a verb ends in ‐ciare or ‐giare you drop the ‐i of the infinitive

before the endings ‐i and ‐iamo to avoid having a double i. Some common verbs in this group are: mangiare (to eat); cominciare (to begin); viaggiare (to travel); noleggiare (to hire); assaggiare (to taste).

e.g. mangiare (to eat): (io) mangio, (tu) mangi, (lui/lei) mangia, (noi) mangiamo, (voi) mangiate, (loro) mangiano

25.6 The third conjugation of verbs (‐ire verbs) contains a sub‐grou of verbs that add ‐isc in front of

the endings ‐o, ‐i, ‐e and ‐ono.

Some common verbs in this group are: pulire (to clean); finire (to finish); capire (to understand); preferire (to prefer); fiorire (to flower); punire (to punish); unire (to unite).

e.g. pulire (to clean): (io) pulisco, (tu) pulisci, (lui/lei) pulisce, (noi) puliamo, (voi) pulite, (loro) puliscono

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25.7 The present tense of irregular verbs

A number of verbs do not follow the regular patterns above. Unfortunately, there is no easy way of remembering them – you just have to learn them by heart as you come across them. To avoid mistakes, consult your dictionary where all irregular forms for each verb are given.

Here are the more common irregular verbs. The irregular forms are in bold print. Note that all forms of the verb essere are irregular.

NOTE: The verb piacere (to like) is also irregular. As this is quite a tricky verb to use, it is covered in more detail in section 26.

person avere

(to have) essere (to be)

fare (to do)

andare (to go)

singular 1st ho sono faccio vado

2nd hai sei fai vai

3rd ha è fa va

plural

1st abbiamo siamo facciamo andiamo

2nd avete siete fate andate

3rd hanno sono fanno vanno

person dire

(to say) stare

(to stay/be) dare

(to give) sapere

(to know)

singular 1st dico sto do so

2nd dici stai dai sai

3rd dice sta dà sa

plural

1st diciamo stiamo diamo sappiamo

2nd dite state date sapete

3rd dicono stanno danno sanno

person volere

(to want) potere

(to be able, can) dovere

(to have to, must) venire

(to come)

singular 1st voglio posso devo vengo

2nd vuoi puoi devi vieni

3rd vuole può deve viene

plural

1st vogliamo possiamo dobbiamo veniamo

2nd volete potete dovete venite

3rd vogliono possono devono vengono

25.8 When there are two verbs in the same clause, the second verb is always in the infinitive form.

This often happens when you use the verbs dovere (must, to have to), potere (can, to be able to) and volere (to want to). These three verbs are known as the modal verbs.

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e.g. Devo andare a scuola alle sette e mezzo. first verb: present second verb: I have to go to school at 7:30 am. tense form infinitive form

25.9 Reflexive verbs

A verb is called reflexive when the action expressed by the verb reverts back to the subject. Reflexive verbs are always accompanied by a reflexive pronoun (see section 17 above).

3

rd person singular

subject pronoun and verb

e.g. Lui si veste. He dresses himself.

3rd person singular reflexive pronoun

The object of the action (‘himself’) is identical to the subject (‘he’).

25.10 The reflexive pronoun si (‘oneself’) is attached to the end of an infinitive to indicate that verb

is reflexive. Not all verbs that are reflexive in Italian are reflexive in English.

Here is a list of the most common reflexive verbs in Italian.

chiamarsi to be named/call oneself asciugarsi to dry oneself addormentarsi to fall asleep pettinarsi to comb one’s hair coricarsi to go to bed vestirsi to get dressed svegliarsi to wake up mettersi to put on (clothing) alzarsi to get up/stand up levarsi to take off (clothing) lavarsi to wash oneself sbrigarsi to hurry up/make haste sedersi to sit down divertirsi to enjoy oneself/have a good time riposarsi to rest sedersi to sit down innamorarsi to fall in love sposarsi to get married farsi la doccia/il bagno to have a shower/bath radersi/farsi la barba to shave comportarsi bene/male to behave well/badly

25.11 A reflexive pronoun (mi, ti, si, ci, vi or si) must always be used with a reflexive verband must

agree with the subject of the verb. Apart from this difference, reflexive verbs behave just like other verbs and follow the usual patterns for the different tenses.

Study the present tense forms of the verb alzarsi (a regular ‐are verb) below:

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[io] Mi alzo alle sette. I get up at seven o’clock.

Tu, a che ora ti alzi? At what time do you get up?

Stella [lei] si alza alle sette. Stella [she] gets up at seven.

Il signor Ricci [lui] si alza alle sei. Mr. Ricci [he] gets up at six.

[noi] Ci alziamo alle otto. We get up at eight.

[voi] Vi alzate alle sette e mezzo. You (plural) get up at seven thirty.

Stella e Claudia [loro] si alzano alle sette. Stella and Claudia [they] get up at seven. 25.12 When a reflexive verb is the second verb in a clause, then the appropriate reflexive pronoun is

attached to the end of the infinitive. The final vowel of the infinitive (‐e) is dropped. The reflexive pronoun must still match the subject of the sentence.

e.g. Devo alzarmi presto domani mattina. I must get [myself] up early tomorrow morning.

The object of the verb (myself – mi) agrees with the subject (I – io).

26 IlVerbopiacere–TheVerbpiacere(tolike)

26.1 The verb piacere is used to express liking. This is a tricky Italian verb because, although the English equivalent is ‘to like’, the two verbs are used in quite different ways. The literal meaning of piacere is ‘to be pleasing to’. So to say, for example, ‘I like tennis’, Italians say Mi piace il tennis (i.e. ‘Tennis is pleasing to me’). Study this example carefully:

Il calcio piace a Daniele. or A Daniele piace il calcio. Daniele likes soccer.

In both Italian sentences, the subject of the sentence is il calcio and not Daniele (as it would be in English with the verb ‘to like’).

Daniele is the indirect object of the verb piacere (as you can tell by the preposition a that precedes it).

In other words, it is il calcio that is pleasing (i.e. piace) to Daniele (i.e. a Daniele). 26.2 The verb piacere is almost always used in the 3rd person singular (piace) or plural (piacciono).

Study the following examples carefully.

e.g. Mi piace Maria. I like Maria or Maria is pleasing to me.

‘Maria’ is the subject of this sentence, so the 3rd person singular form of piacere is required.

Ti piacciono i romanzi di Umberto Eco? Do you like the novels of Umberto Eco? or

Are Umberto Eco’s novels pleasing to you?

‘Umberto Eco’s novels’ is the subject of this sentence, so the 3rd person plural (piacciono) of piacere is required.

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26.3 When the subject of the sentence is a verb (in the infinitive form), the 3rd person singular form of piacere is used.

e.g. Mi piace sciare. I like skiing. (Skiing is pleasing to me)

A Marco non piace fare i compiti. Marco doesn’t like doing homework.

(Doing homework is not pleasing to Marco.)

Ti piace nuotare? Do you like swimming? (Is swimming pleasing to you?)

26.4 The opposite of piacere is non piacere (to dislike, to not like), not to be confused with

dispiacere, which means ‘to be sorry, to be bothered, to mind’.

e.g. Non mi piace studiare la sera tardi. I don’t like studying (to study) late at night.

Non posso venire con te, mi dispiace. I can’t come with you, I’m sorry.

26.5 Other verbs that use the same construction as piacere are:

mancare (to lack, to be short[of]), occorrere (to need), restare (to have [something] left).

e.g. Mi mancano i soldi per il viaggio. I don’t have the money for the trip.

Ad Antonio occorre il libro di storia. Antonio needs the history book.

Ci occorrono molte cose. We need many things.

Ci restano ancora dieci pagine da leggere. We still have ten pages to read.

27 IlGerundio–ThePresentParticiple

27.1 Formation of the present participle

The present participle in Italian is obtained by adding certain suffixes (endings) to the verb stem. These forms correspond to the ‐ing form of verbs in English.1

e.g. Mi sono rotto il braccio giocando a calcio. I broke my arm playing soccer.

The present participle suffixes vary according to the three verb conjugations.

For ‐are verbs the suffix ‐ando is added to the verb stem.

For ‐ere and ‐ire verbs, the suffix ‐endo is added to the verb stem.

1 When these ‐ing forms are used as nouns in English, they are called gerunds.

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Study the examples below.

parlare leggere partire to speak to read to leave

parlando leggendo partendo speaking reading leaving

27.2 Some verbs have irregular present participle forms. These verbs have an irregular stem, which is

generally taken from the root of the present tense. The suffixes however are the same as those used for regular verbs. Here is a list of the more common irregular present participles:

Infinitive Root Present participle

bere (to drink) bev‐ bevendo

fare (to do, to make) fac‐ facendo

dire (to say) dic‐ dicendo

muovere (to move) mov‐ movendo

tradurre (to translate) traduc‐ traducendo

cuocere (to cook) coc‐ cocendo 27.3 The present participle is used:

to translate expressions with ‘since’ and ‘because’ to indicate causation.

e.g. Me ne vado a casa, non avendo nient’altro da fare. I’m going home because (since) I have nothing else to do.

Essendo tardi, vado a letto. Since it is late, I’m going to bed.

to translate expressions with ‘if’ used to indicate a future conditional.

e.g. Arrivando in tempo prenderemo il volo delle sette. If we arrive on time, we’ll catch the 7:00 flight.

Partendo presto, arriveremo all’ora di pranzo. If we leave early we’ll get there at lunchtime.

to translate an English present participle used to describe how an action takes place.

e.g. I bambini sono usciti dall’aula ridendo. The children left the classroom laughing.

Tornava a casa dal lavoro cantando. He would return home from work singing.

to form a progressive tense with stare.

e.g. – Che cosa stai facendo? – What are you doing?

– Sto leggendo un romanzo. – I’m reading a novel.

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28 Stare+Gerundio–ThePresentProgressiveTense

28.1 The present progressive1 construction in Italian is formed with the present tense of the verb stare followed by a present participle. It is used to express an action currently in progress.

e.g. Che cosa stai facendo? What are you doing?

Sto leggendo un fumetto. I’m reading a comic book.

This tense is used much less in Italian than in English. Its use is optional and it can always be

replaced by the normal present tense.

e.g. Sto guardando la televisione. or simply Guardo la televisione.

I’m watching television. 28.2 In the progressive construction of reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun may precede the verb

stare or it may be attached to the present participle form.

e.g. Mi sto lavando. or Sto lavandomi. I’m washing myself.

28.3 As with the reflexive pronouns, the object pronouns may preceed the verb stare or may be

attached to the present participle form in the progressive construction.

e.g. Claudio la sta mangiando. or Claudio sta mangiandola. Claudio is eating it.

29 IlFuturo–TheFutureTense

29.1 The future tense is used to express a more distant future, in contrast to an immediate future, which is usually expressed in the present tense.

e.g. Non ci andiamo oggi. Ci andremo domenica prossima. We’re not going today. We’re going next Sunday.

29.2 The future tense may be used to express probability in the present.

e.g. Sarà un po’ vecchia ma funziona bene. It may be old but it works well.

La macchina sarà già pronta. The car must be ready (is probably ready).

1 Also known as the present continuous tense in English.

present participle of farepresent tense of stare,2nd person singular

present tense of stare,1st person singular

present participle of leggere

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29.3 In Italian, the future tense consists of a single verb; in English, on the other hand, it consists of the auxiliary ‘will’ (or sometimes ‘shall’) and the basic verb.

e.g. Adele comprerà una macchina nuova. Adele will buy a new car.

Partiranno abbastanza presto. They’ll leave quite early. 29.4 Just like the present tense, special endings are used to form the future tense in Italian. All regular verbs form the future tense by adding endings to the stem of the verb.

e.g. Finirò il mio lavoro. I will finish my work.

Prenderò un caffè al bar. I will have a coffee at the bar.

Mangerò una pizza. I will eat a pizza. 29.5 Regular future tense forms

‐are verbs ‐ere verbs ‐ire verbs

ballare: to dance stem – ball‐

prendere: to take stem – prend‐

finire: to finish stem – fin‐

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

ballerò

ballerai

ballerà

balleremo

ballerete

balleranno

prenderò

prenderai

prenderà

prenderemo

prenderete

prenderanno

finirò

finirai

finirà

finiremo

finirete

finiranno 29.6 Verbs with infinitives that end in ‐care and ‐gare add an h to the stem for the future tense to

preserve the hard sound of the c or g of the infinitive.

cerare: to search stem – cerc‐h

pagare: to pay stem – pag‐h

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

cercherò

cercherai

cercherà

cercheremo

cercherete

cercheranno

pagherò

pagherai

pagherà

pagheremo

pagherete

pagheranno 29.7 Irregular future tense forms

There are a number of verbs that are irregular in the future tense.

In the future tense, the verbs dare, stare and fare simply drop the final ‐e of their infinitives to form the stems dar‐, star‐ and far. The ‐a does not change to ‐e as with the regular ‐are verbs. To these stems are added the future endings.

e.g. Noi faremo una passeggiata. We will go for a walk.

I bambini staranno a casa tutto il giorno. The children will remain home all day.

Il professore ci darà i voti alla fine del corso. The teacher will give us our marks at the end of the course.

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29.8 All forms of the verb essere and avere are irregular in the future tense. Learn them by heart!

essere: to be avere: to have

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

sarò

sarai

sarà

saremo

sarete

saranno

avrò

avrai

avrà

avremo

avrete

avranno 29.9 Like avere above, the verbs andare (to go), cadere (to fall), dovere (to have to), potere (to be

able to), sapere (to know), vedere (to see) and vivere (to live) have shortened future tense endings.

e.g. L’anno prossimo andrò in Italia. Next year I will go to Italy.

Vedremo la torre di Pisa. We will see the tower of Pisa.

Here are examples of two verbs in this category:

andare: to go

stem – and‐ cadere: to fall stem – cad‐

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

andrò

andrai

andrà

andremo

andrete

andranno

cadrò

cadrai

cadrà

cadremo

cadrete

cadranno 29.10 The verbs bere (to drink), volere (to want), valere (to be worth), tenere (to hold; have),

rimanere (to stay; remain), parere (to seem) and venire (to come) are also irregular in the future tense. They have a double r (‐rr‐) in the future ending, and the stem is irregular too.

e.g. (io) Verrò alle due in punto.| I will come at two o’clock on the dot.

Noi berremo un po’ di vino. We will drink a little wine.

Here are examples of two verbs in this category:

berre: to drink

stem – be‐ venire: to come

stem – ve‐

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

berrò

berrai

berrà

berremo

berrete

berranno

verrò

verrai

verrà

verremo

verrete

verranno

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29.11 Reflexive verbs behave the same way as other verbs in the future tense, but remember to use the correct reflexive pronoun before the verb.

e.g. Domenica prossima mi alzerò alle cinque. Next Sunday I will get up at five o’clock.

Ci divertiremo molto alla gita. We will enjoy ourselves on the trip.

30 IlPassatoProssimo–ThePerfectTense

30.1 The perfect tense (passato prossimo) is used to describe actions and events that have occurred and were completed in the past, particularly the recent past. It is often accompanied by an expression of past time such as: due ore fa (two hours ago), stamattina (this morning), ieri (yesterday), sabato scorso (last Saturday), etc.

e.g. – Che cosa hai comprato ieri? – What did you buy yesterday? – Ho comprato un paio di scarpe. – I bought a pair of shoes.

– Hai telefonato a Marina? – Did you ring Marina? – Sì, ho telefonato due ora fa. – Yes, I rang two hours ago.

The passato prossimo has three English equivalents, depending on the context.

e.g. Hai studiato per l’esame di storia? Did you study for the history exam?

Ho studiato per l’esame di storia. I have studied for the history exam. or I studied for the history exam. or I did study for the history exam.

30.2 The passato prossimo is a compound tense. This means it is made up of two parts:

the auxiliary (‘helping’) verb (a present tense form of either essere or avere) and the past participle of the verb, as shown below:

Ieri ho comprato un vestito nuovo. Yesterday I bought a new dress.

30.3 The past participle

Regular past participles are formed by adding a specific ending to the stem of the verb, as follows:

‐ato is added to the stem of ‐are verbs:

e.g. comprare – compr + ato = comprato

‐uto is added to the stem of ‐ere verbs:

e.g. vendere – vend + uto = venduto

‐ito is added to the stem of ‐ire verbs:

e.g. finire – fin + ito = finito

auxiliary verb past participle

present tense of avere, 1

st person

regular past participle ending, ‐are verb

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Note that some otherwise irregular verbs may have regular past participles.

e.g. andare – andato; volere – voluto. 30.4 The past participles of some commonly used verbs are irregular.

Here are some you are likely to meet often:

Irregular verb Past participle

fare (to do/make) fatto (done/made)

aprire (to open) aperto (opened)

dire (to say) detto (said)

essere (to be) stato (been)

scrivere (to write) scritto (written)

nascere (to be born) nato (born)

leggere (to read) letto (read)

mettere (to put) messo (put)

bere (to drink) bevuto (drunk)

piacere (to like/be pleasing) piaciuto (liked)

coprire (to cover) coperto (covered)

vedere (to see) visto1 (seen)

morire (to die) morto (died) 30.5 The passato prossimo with avere

Most Italian verbs form the perfect tense using avere as their auxiliary verb.

e.g. Ieri sera abbiamo visto un bel film alla televisione. Yesterday we saw a lovely film on television.

These verbs are mostly transitive – that is, they can take a direct object that answers the question ‘what’? or ‘whom’?

e.g. Ho comprato … (che cosa?) … un paio di scarpe I bought … (what?) … a pair of shoes

Ho fatto … (che cosa?) … i compiti I did … (what?) … my homework

Ho visto … (che cosa?) … un film I saw … (what?) … a film

Ho visto … (chi?) … Daniela I saw … (whom?) … Daniela

30.6 The passato prossimo with essere

Some Italian verbs form the perfect tense using essere as their auxiliary verb.

e.g. Ieri sera sono andato al cinema con i miei amici. Last night I went to the movies with my friends.

1 The verb vedere has both a regular (veduto) and an irregular past participle (visto). Either may be used, though visto is probably more common.

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Essere is used as the auxiliary in the perfect tense when the verb:

indicates motion

e.g. andare (to go), partire (to leave), arrivare (to arrive), venire (to come) etc.

indicates a state of being or change of state

e.g. essere/stare (to be/stay); morire/nascere (to be born/to die)

describes atmospheric phenomena

e.g. piovere (to rain); nevicare (to snow) etc.

(NOTE: These verbs are only used in the 3rd person singular or in the infinitive form.)

is reflexive

e.g. lavarsi (to wash oneself); alzarsi (to get up) etc.

is the verb piacere 30.7 Agreement of the past participle

The past participles of this group of verbs must agree in number and gender with the subject of the sentence, as shown below:

Per le vacanze, Elena è andata in montagna a sciare.

For the holidays, Elena went to the mountains to ski.

I signori Castelli sono rimasti a casa.

(Mr and Mrs Castelli stayed at home.) So, when essere is used, the passato prossimo is formed in three steps:

Step 1: Use the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb essere, according to the subject of the sentence (i.e. sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono).

Step 2: Add the correct past participle.

Step 3: Change the final vowel of the past participle (where appropriate) to match the gender and number of the subject. If the subject is made up of mixed genders (e.g. Daniela e Marco), use the masculine plural form.

e.g. Daniela e Marco sono usciti insieme ieri sera. Daniela and Marco went out together last night.

subject past participle

subject past participle

feminine singular subject

feminine singular past participle ending

masculine plural subject

masculine plural past participle ending

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singular plural

masculine ‐o ‐i

feminine ‐a ‐e

Here are three examples of verbs conjugated in the perfect tense, with essere as the auxiliary verb.

andare (to go) partire (to leave) essere (to be)

io sono andato(a) sono partito(a) sono stato(a)

tu sei andato(a) sei partito(a) sei stato(a)

lui/lei è andato(a) è partito(a) è stato(a)

noi siamo andati(e) siamo partiti(e) siamo stati(e)

voi siete andati(e) siete partiti(e) siete stati(e)

loro sono andati(e) sono partiti(e) sono stati(e)

30.8 The verbs essere and stare have the same past participle: stato. The English equivalent of both

essere and stare is ‘to be’, but they are used in different contexts.

Essere is used in descriptions, particularly to describe qualities of a person or thing.

e.g. Marina è bella; è una studentessa; è brava; etc. Maria is beautiful; she is a student; she is good; etc.

Stare is used to describe feelings or a state of being.

e.g. – Come stai Marina? – How are you Marina? – Sto bene grazie. – I’m well, thank you.

Stare can also mean ‘to stay’.

e.g. Quando sei andato in Italia, dove sei stato? When you went to Italy, where did you stay?

Both verbs, however, can be used to indicate location.

e.g. Sono a Melborne. Sto a casa. I’m in Melbourne. I’m at home.

30.9 The perfect tense of reflexive verbs

All reflexive verbs use essere as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tense. The reflexive pronoun (mi, ti, si etc.) goes before the auxiliary verb. Like all other verbs which use essere as their auxiliary, the past participles of reflexive verbs must agree in number and gender with the subject of the sentence.

e.g. Mi sono alzata presto stamattina. I got up early this morning.

Daniela si è lavata e si è vestita in fretta. Daniela washed and dressed in a hurry.

Marco e Daniela si sono divertiti insieme. Marco and Daniela enjoyed themselves together.

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31 L’Imperfetto–TheImperfectTense

31.1 The imperfect tense is a descriptive tense used to describe how things and people were in the past, or an action that was not completed. It is used to express a recurrent or habitual action in the past and to indicate age, time, size, colour, the weather etc., in the past. Here are some examples of the imperfect tense.

e.g. Da piccolo, andavo ogni giorno a trovare i nonni. As a child, I used to go to visit my grandparents every day.

(recurrent or habitual action)

Quando sono partita dall’Italia avevo quattro anni. When I left Italy, I was four years old.

(indicates age in the past)

Faceva un freddo da morire. It was freezing.

(describes the weather in the past) 31.2 Formation of the imperfect tense

The imperfect tense is formed by adding special endings to the stem1 of all regular and most irregular verbs. Study the examples below and learn the imperfect endings for each of the three conjugations.

(Note that the endings are identical for all three conjugations except for the first letter.)

parlare: to speak stem – parl‐

vedere: to see stem – ved‐

finire: to finish stem – fin‐

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

parlavo

parlavi

parlava

parlavamo

parlavate

parlavano

vedevo

vedevi

vedeva

vedevamo

vedevate

vedevano

finivo

finivi

finiva

finivamo

finivate

finivano 31.3 Irregular forms of the imperfect tense

A number of verbs do not fit into the pattern described above. These are mostly verbs which have an irregular stem. These verbs take their stem from their original Latin infinitives, shown below in red. The endings follow the usual pattern.

1 The verb stem is the infinitive minus the ‐are, ‐ere or ‐ire ending.

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fare to make/do

dire to say

porre to place/put

produrre to produce

bere to drink

facere dicere ponere producere bevere1

facevo

facevi

faceva

facevamo

facevate

facevano

dicevo

dicevi

diceva

dicevamo

dicevate

dicevano

ponevo

ponevi

poneva

ponevamo

ponevate

ponevano

producevo

producevi

produceva

producevamo

producevate

producevano

bevevo

bevevi

beveva

bevevamo

bevevate

bevevano

31.4 In the imperfect tense the verb essere (to be) is irregular in all its forms. Learn it by heart!

ero eravamo

eri eravate

era erano 31.5 The verb trarre (to extract, to pull, to draw) uses the irregular stem tra‐ to form the imperfect

tense. The regular imperfect endings for ‐ere verbs are then added to this stem.

NOTE: All verbs ending in ‐trarre follow this rule. Two common verbs in this category are attrarre (to attract) and contrarre (to contract).

trarre to extract, to pull

attrarre to attract

Irregular stem – tra‐ Irregular stem – attra‐

traevo

traevi

traeva

traevamo

traevate

traevano

attraevo

attraevi

attraeva

attraevamo

attraevate

attraevano

31.6 Uses of the imperfect tense

The imperfect tense is used:

to describe an action or condition which occurred over a period of time. The English equivalent would be the past progressive or past continuous structure ‘…was/were + ‐ing’.

e.g. Il signor Ricci guardava la televisione da solo. Mr Ricci was watching television on his own.

Gli studenti leggevano il libro attentamente. The students were reading the book attentively.

1 Bevere isn’t actually the Latin root of bere. It’s an old Italian form of the infintive which isn’t used any more.

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to describe a habitual or repeated action in the past. The English equivalent of this is ‘used to’ or ‘would’ + the verb.

e.g. Studiavo l’italiano. I used to study Italian.

Ogni sera mia madre mi leggeva una storia. Every night my mother would read me a story.

to describe actions which were already taking place when something else happened, or to descibe two actions happening at the same time.

e.g. Dormivo quando Roberto è tornato a casa. I was sleeping when Roberto returned home.

Silvia leggeva una rivista mentre la professoressa parlava. Silvia was reading a book while the teacher was talking.

to describe the weather, state of health, mental state or to indicate age, time, size, colour, etc. in the past.

e.g. Faceva bel tempo. The weather was nice.

Erano le due e mezzo. It was 2:30.

Giovanni non si sentiva bene. Giovanni wasn’t feeling well.

31.7 Perfect versus imperfect tense

The perfect tense and the imperfect tense each have specific uses and express different things about the past.

The perfect tense (passato prossimo) is a narrative tense used to report an action that was completed (perfected) in the past. In other words, it is used to describe an action which began and was completed at a definite time in the past. Even though the action may have taken place over an extended period of time, the perfect tense is used if the action has been terminated (completed/perfected)

The imperfect tense (imperfetto) is a descriptive tense, used to describe how things and people were in the past.

Since the word ‘imperfect’ means ‘not perfected’ or ‘not completed’ the imperfect tense is also used to express a past action in progress, that is ‘going on’ with no reference to its completion.

The imperfect tense is also used to express a continuing action in the past or actions which were customary or habitual or regular events in the past.

Study the following examples.

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Perfect Tense (Passato Prossimo)

Domenica scorsa Giovanni è andato a trovare i nonni. Last Sunday Giovanni went to visit his grandparents.

(action completed in the past)

Imperfect Tense (Imperfetto)

La domenica Giovanni visitava i nonni. On Sundays Giovanni would visit his grandparents.

(habitual action in the past)

Perfect Tense (Passato Prossimo)

Ho visto Maria in chiesa domenica scorsa. I saw Maria in church last Sunday.

(action completed in the past)

Imperfect Tense (Imperfetto)

Vedevo Maria spesso in chiesa. I used to see Maria often in church.

(habitual action in the past) 31.8 Here’s a summary of how the perfect and imperfect tenses are used.

The imperfect tense: expresses ‘what one used to do’ (a repeated or habitual action)

expresses ‘what was going on’ (action in progress)

The perfect tense: expresses ‘what happened’ (action completed in the past)

32 IlTrapassatoProssimo–ThePluperfectTense

32.1 Use of the pluperfect tense

The pluperfect tense is used when you are talking about events in the past to indicate that certain events (completed actions) took place before others – i.e. further back in the past.

e.g. Giada è andata a letto dopo che aveva fatto i compiti. Giada went to bed after she had done her homework.

Gli amici erano già usciti quando sonmo arrivato dal lavoro. My friends had already left when I arrived home from work.

Ero stanco perchè avevo lavorato indfessamente tutto il giorno. I was tired because I had worked hard all day. As these examples show, the pluperfect tense tells us the order of past events: first Giada did her homework, then she went to bed; Laura rrived home before she rang Tony and so on. The pluperfect tense is generally used in combination with another past tense.

32.2 Formation of the pluperfect tense

Almost everything you learned about the perfect tense (passato prossimo) in section 30 applies to the pluperfect tense. The only difference is that the imperfect (imperfetto) forms of the auxiliary verbs avere and essere are used instead of the present tense forms. (Remember that essere is completely irregular in the imperfect tense – see section 31.4.)

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33 IlPassatoRemoto–ThePastHistoricTense

33. 1 The past historic (passato remoto) is one of the three main tenses used to express an action completed in the past.

The past historic (passato remoto) differs from the perfect (passato prossimo) and imperfect (imperfetto) tenses in that it used to express an action which took place in the past, without any reference to the present.

The passato remoto is not used in everyday conversation. It is generally used in literature, the press, formal writing, to recount historical events, in fairy tales etc.

e.g. L’Italia divenne uno stato indipendente nel 1861. Italy became an independent state in 1861.

Subito dopo l’incidente, la macchina si allontanò di corsa. Shortly after the accident, the car quickly moved away.

Una volta, un pescatore trovò un pesciolino d’oro che gli parlò e … Once, a fisherman found a goldfish that spoke to him and …

33.2 The passato remoto of regular verbs is formed by adding special endings to the stem of the

verb. Study the examples below.

ballare (to dance) sedere (to sit) partire (to leave) finire1 (to finish)

ballai sedei partii finii

ballasti sedesti partisti finisti

ballò sedè (sedette)2 partì finì

ballammo sedemmo partimmo finimmo

ballaste sedeste partiste finiste

ballarono sederono (sedettero) partirono finirono

33.3 Here are the passato remoto forms of the most common irregular verbs.

Consult your dictionary for the passato remoto forms of verbs not included here (or go to http://www.italian‐verbs.com/ and type the infinitive.)

essere (to be) avere (to have) stare (to stay/ be) dare (to give)

fui ebbi stetti diedi

fosti avesti stesti desti

fu ebbe stette diede

fummo avemmo stemmo demmo

foste aveste steste deste

furono ebbero stettero dettero

1 Note that verbs of the ‐isc group of ‐ire verbs form the passato remoto without adding ‐isc before the ending. For more information on this group of verbs see section 25.6. 2 Note that there are two options for the 3rd person singular and plural for ‐ere verbs.

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33.4 The majority of verbs with an irregular passato remoto are those from the second conjugation (‐ere verbs). They are usually irregular in the 1st and 3rd person singular and the 3rd person plural. Study the examples below. The irregular forms are in italics. The regular patterns are in red.

leggere (to read) prendere (to take) scendere (to descend) scrivere (to write)

lessi presi scesi scrissi

leggesti prendesti scendesti scrivesti

lesse prese scese scrisse

leggemmo prendemmo scendemmo scrivemmo

leggeste prendeste scendeste scriveste

lessero presero scesero scrissero

33.5 The verbs bere, dire and fare use the Latin stem to form the regular forms of the passato

remoto. The irregular forms are in italics. The regular patterns are in red.

bere (to drink) from the Latin bevere

dire (to say) from the Latin dicere

fare (to do) from the Latin facere

bevvi dissi feci

bevesti dicesti facesti

bevve disse fece

bevemmo dicemmo facemmo

beveste diceste faceste

bevvero dissero fecero

33.6 Here’s a summary of the how the various past tenses are used.

The Imperfect Tense: expresses ‘what one used to do’ (a repeated or habitual action)

expresses ‘what was going on’ (action in progress)

The Perfect Tense: expresses ‘what happened’ (action completed in the past)

The Pluperfect Tense expresses ‘what had happened’ (prior to another event in the past)

The Past Historic: expresses ‘what happened’ in the distant past (without any reference to the present)

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34 l’Imperativo–TheImperative

34 1 The imperative form of verbs is used to give instructions, orders, suggestions or advice. There are different forms, depending on whom you are addressing, and what type of verb you are using.

34.2 Informal (familiar form) – singular

Tu (‘you’) form, 2nd person singular

If you want to give instructions or orders to one person you know well (that is, someone you call by their first name and address with tu), the imperative has the following forms:

a) For verbs whose infinitive ends in ‐are, the instruction ends in ‐a (the same as the 3rd person singular of the present tense).

Infinitive Stem Imperative ending

parl‐are parl‐ parl‐a

e.g. Parla! Ascolta! Mangia! Gira! Attraversa! Canta!

b) For verbs whose infinitive ends in ‐ere or ‐ire, the instruction ends in ‐i (same as the the 3rd person singular of the present tense)

Infinitive Stem Imperative ending

legg‐ere

apr‐ire

legg‐

apr‐

legg‐i

apr‐i

e.g. Leggi! Scrivi! Ripeti! Apri! Chiudi!

Study these examples:

Maria, apri la finestra per favore! Maria, open the window please!

Giovanni, scrivi una lettera a tua madre! Giovanni, write a letter to your mother!

Parla più piano per favore! Speak more softly please!

Chiudi la porta! Close the door!

Finisci il lavoro, Marco! Finish the work, Marco!

Gira a destra e poi prendi la prima strada a sinistra. Turn right and then take the first street on the left.

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34.3 Informal (familiar form) – plural

Voi (‘you’) form, 2nd person plural

If you are giving intructions to more than one person you know well (a group of people you would normally address as voi), then the imperative forms are exactly the same as the 2nd person plural form of the present tense.The endings are ‐ate and ‐ete and ‐ite.

e.g. parlate! scrivete! aprite! leggete! fate! rispondete! etc.

Study the following examples:

Ragazzi, leggete il primo capitolo per lunedì! Kids (boys and girls), read the first chapter for Monday!

Aprite i vostri libri! Open your books!

Ragazze, cantate una canzone! Girls, sing a song! 34.4 Irregular imperative forms

You already know that there are some Italian verbs which behave in an irregular fashion. Most of these verbs also have an irregular informal tu and voi imperative form. Here are some of the more commonly used ones:

familiar singular form familiar plural form

(to be) essere sii! siate!

(to give) avere abbi! abbiate!

(to do) fare fà! fate!

(to give) dare dà! date!

(to go) andare và! andate!

(to say) dire dì! dite!

(to know) sapere sappi! sappiate!

(to stay) stare stà state!


Lisa, stà zitta! Lisa, be quiet!

Dì la verità, Giorgio! Tell the truth, Giorgio!

State attenti, bambini! Be careful children!

Siate bravi! Be good! 34.5 Negative commands: (informal negative imperatives)

a) Informal ‘you’ – tu (2nd person singular)

To tell one person whom you address by their fist name not to do something, you use non + the infinitive form of the verb.

e.g. non parlare! non scrivere! non aprire! etc.

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Maria, non aprire la finestra per favore! Maria, don’t open the window please!

Giovanni, non scrivere sul libro! Giovanni, don’t write on the book!

Non parlare così forte per favore! Don’t speak so loud please!

Non chiudere la porta! Don’t close the door!

b) Informal ‘you’ (plural) – voi (2nd person plural)

To tell a group of people whom you address by their first names not to do something, you use non + the 2nd person plural form of the verb. This is the same as the present tense. Study the following examples:

Ragazzi, non parlate così forte! Kids, don’t speak so loud!

Non aprite i vostri libri! Don’t open your books!

Ragazze, non venite in ritardo! Girls, don’t come late! 34.6 Polite imperative forms

To give commands and instructions in a formal (polite) way (i.e. to people whom you would address with a title such as Signora/Signore, Professore/Professoressa etc.), you need to use the polite imperative form.

The formal (polite) commands are taken from the subjunctive form1 of the verbs.

To form the singular polite imperative (i.e. the Lei form):

1 With –are ending verbs, add –i to the stem.

e.g. aspettare aspett‐ + ‐i aspetti

2 With ‐ere and ‐ire verbs, add ‐a to the stem.

e.g. chiedere chied‐ + ‐a chieda

aprire apr‐ + ‐a apra

To form the plural polite imperative (i.e. the Loro form):

1 With ‐are ending verbs, add ‐ino to the stem.

e.g. aspettare aspett‐ + ‐ino aspettino

2 With ‐ere and ‐ire verbs, add ‐ano to the stem.

e.g. chiedere chied‐ + ‐ano chiedano

aprire apr‐ + ‐ano aprano Study these examples:

Signora, prenda qualcosa da bere! Madam, have something to drink!

1 See section 36 for more information about the subjunctive mood.

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Signore, firmi qui per favore! Sir, sign here please!

Signori, aspettino nella sala d’attesa per favore! Gentlemen, wait in the waiting room please! 34.7 Irregular polite imperative forms

A number of verbs have irregular formal imperative forms. Here are some of the more commonly used ones.

familiar singular form familiar plural form

(to be) essere sia! siano!

(to give) avere abbia! abbiano!

(to do) fare faccia! facciano!

(to give) dare dia! diano!

(to go) andare vada! vadano!

(to say) dire dica! dicano!

(to know) sapere sappia! sappiano!

(to stay) stare stia stiano!


Per andare al museo Signora, vada sempre dritto! To go to the museum, madam, go straight ahead!

Mi dia mezzo chilo di pomodori per favore! Give me half a kilo of tomatoes please!

Signori, per favore abbiate pazienza! Gentlemen, please be patient! 34.8 Polite negative imperatives

To tell a person or a group of people not to do something politely, you use non + the appropriate polite imperative form.


Signora Ricci, per favore, non arrivi in ritardo. Signora Ricci, please don’t arrive late.

Signori, non facciano troppo rumore, per favore! Gentlemen, don’t make too much noise please.

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35 IlCondizionalePresente–ThePresentConditional

35.1 The conditional in Italian is used in much the same way as in English.

Mi piacerebbe andare in Italia. I would like to go to Italy.

Berresti un caffè? Would you drink a coffee? 35.2 Formation of the present conditional

In English the conditional is formed by adding the auxiliaries would, should or could before the verb. In Italian the conditional is formed by adding special endings to the stem of the verb.

Study the conditional forms of the verbs below, representing the three conjugations.

parlare vendere partire

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

parlerei

parleresti

parlerebbe

parleremmo

parlereste

parlerebbero

venderei

venderesti

venderebbe

venderemmo

vendereste

venderebbero

partirei

partiresti

partirebbe

partiremmo

partireste

partirebbero

35.3 The spelling conventions that apply to the future tense must also be observed in the conditional

forms.

e.g. Lo pagheremmo volontieri. We would gladly pay for it.

Giocheresti a tennis? Would you play tennis? 35.4 Use of the present conditional

The conditional is used to express actions or states that might occur in the future, with the underlying understanding that certain conditions must first be met.

e.g. Quel bambino mangerebbe tutta la torta. That little boy would eat all the cake. (…if he had the chance)

Andrei volentieri in Italia. I would gladly go to Italy. (…if I had the money)

35.5 The conditional is also used to add politeness to requests and wishes just as one would in

English.

e.g. Signora, prenderebbe qualcosa da bere? Madam, would you like something to drink?

Vorrei un chilo di pomodori per favore. I would like a kilo of tomatoes please.

35.6 The present conditional is used in the main clause of a contrary to fact hypothetical1 statement

in the present. Note that the imperfect subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause. (See section 38.4 for more information about the imperfect subjunctive.)

e.g. Se fossi ricco, comprerei una Ferrari. If I were rich I would buy a Ferrari.

1 A hypothetical statement expresses a possibility, one based more on surmise than on evidence.

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Andrei volontieri a vedere quel film, se avessi una serata libera. I would gladly go to see that film if I had an evening free.

35.7 The present conditional of auxiliary verbs avere and essere

The present conditional of the auxiliary verbs avere and essere are used in the formation of the conditional perfect, so it’s important to learn them by heart.

avere essere

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

avrei

avresti

avrebbe

avremmo

avreste

avrebbero

sarei

saresti

sarebbe

saremmo

sareste

sarebbero

36 IlCondizionalePassato–TheConditionalPerfect

36.1 Formation of the conditional perfect (or past conditional)

Just like the perfect tense, the conditional perfect is a compound tense made up of an auxiliary (either avere or essere) and the past.

It is formed with the present conditional form of the auxiliary verb, followed by the the past participle of the main verb. The rules which apply to the perfect tense of the indicative mood (e.g. which auxiliary verb is used) apply here also.

Look carefully at how two verbs are conjugated in the conditional perfect. Note that one uses avere as the auxiliary verb while the other uses essere. Note also that the past participle of verbs requiring essere as the auxiliary must agree in number and gender with the subject of the verb, just as it does in the perfect tense of the indicative mood.

parlare (to speak) andare (to go)

io

tu

lui/lei

noi

voi

loro

avrei parlato

avresti parlato

avrebbe parlato

avremmo parlato

avreste parlato

avrebbero parlato

sarei uscito/a

saresti uscito/a

sarebbe uscito/a

saremmo usciti/e

sareste usciti/e

sarebbero usciti/e

e.g. Invece di andare alla festa, sarei rimasta volontieri a casa. Instead of going to the party, I would have gladly stayed (at) home.

Mi avevi promesso che avresti telefonato più spesso. You had promised me that you would telephone more often.

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36.2 Use of the conditional perfect

The conditional perfect (or past conditional) is used:

to express what would have taken place had something else not interfered.

e.g. Avrei finito il lavoro ma non avevo abbastanza tempo. I would have finished the work but I didn’t have enough time.

Mi sarebbe piaciuto andare1 al cinema con loro ma avevo un forte raffreddore. I would have liked to go to the movies with them but I had a bad cold.

to express an action that is considered in the future as viewed from the past.

e.g. Eravamo sicuri che saremmo arrivati in tempo. We were sure that we would arrive on time.

Maria mi ha detto che sarebbe venuta con Carlo. Maria told me that she would come with Carlo.

in the main clause of a hypothetical statement in the past when the ‘if’ clause (shown in

italics in the examples below)is in the pluperfect subjunctive.2

e.g. L’avrei fatto volontieri se avessi avuto il tempo. I would have gladly done it if I had had the time.

Se avessimo avuto i soldi saremmo andati in Italia per le vacanze. If we had had the money we would have gone to Italy for the holidays.

L’avrei salutata se l’avessi vista. I would have greeted her if I had seen her.

in an indirect statement to express a ‘future in the past’.

An indirect statement reports what has been said but does not quote word for word as in a direct statement.

e.g. Maria ha detto che sarebbe venuta con noi alla festa. Maria said that she would come to the party with us.

37 IlCongiuntivoPresente–ThePresentSubjunctive

37.1 The subjunctive mood is used to express subjectivity, hypothesis, doubt, personal opinion, wishes and commands (formal imperative). It has four tenses: present, past, imperfect and past perfect.

37.2 Formation of the present subjunctive

The present subjunctive is formed by adding special endings to the stem of the verb.

The stem of regular verbs is obtained from the infinitive form.

Study the following examples of regular subjunctive forms:

1 Remember that the second verb in a clause is always in the infinitive form. 2 An ‘if’ clause is the subordinate clause in a hypothetical statement, intruduced by se (if).

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‐are ‐ere ‐ire ‐ire (‐isc ending)

infinitive parlare to speak

credere to believe

dormire to sleep

finire to finish

stem parl‐ cred‐ dorm‐ finisc‐

…che io parli creda dorma finisca

…che tu parli creda dorma finisca

…che lui/lei parli creda dorma finisca

…che Lei parli creda dorma finisca

…che noi parliamo crediamo dormiamo finiamo1

…che voi parliate crediate dormiate finiate

…che loro parlino credano dormano finiscano

…che Loro parlino credano dormano finiscano

37.3 Irregular present subjunctive forms

Any verb with an irregular present tense form will also be irregular in the present subjunctive. Here is a list of the more common verbs which fall into this category (in alphabetical order).

singular plural

infinitive 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd

andare vada vada vada andiamo andiate vadano

avere abbia abbia abbia abbiamo abbiate abbiano

bere beva beva beva beviamo beviate bevano

cogliere colga colga colga cogliamo cogliate colgano

dire dica dica dica diciamo diciate dicano

dovere debba debba debba dobbiamo dobbiate debbano

essere sia sia sia siamo siate siano

fare faccia faccia faccia facciamo facciate facciano

morire muoia muoia muoia muoriamo muoriate muoiano

porre ponga ponga ponga poniamo poniate pongano

potere possa possa possa possiamo possiate possano

rimanere rimanga rimanga rimanga rimaniamo rimaniate rimangano

salire salga salga salga saliamo saliate salgano

scegliere scelga scelga scelga scegliamo scegliate scelgano

sedere segga segga segga sediamo sediate seggano

tenere tenga tenga tenga teniamo teniate tengano

1 Note carefully the present subjunctive forms of verbs of the third conjugation with the ‐isc ending. As with the present tense of the indicative mood, the ‐isc is omitted in the noi and voi forms.

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singular plural

infinitive 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 2nd 3rd

tradurre traduca traduca traduca traduciamo traduciate traducano

trarre tragga tragga tragga traiamo traiate traggano

udire oda oda oda udiamo udiate odano

uscire esca esca esca usciamo usciate escano

venire venga venga venga veniamo veniate vengano

volere voglia voglia voglia vogliamo vogliate vogliano

37.4 Use of the present subjunctive in independent clauses

Although the subjunctive in Italian is mainly used in dependent clauses, it is also used in independent clauses in the following situations:

to give an order or request something in a polite way

e.g. Sia cortese, mi può dire l’ora? Could you kindly tell me the time? (Sia cortese literally means ‘be kind’.)

Scriva questa lettera adesso, per favore! Write this letter now, please!

to express wish, fear, wonder, surprise or forbiddance

e.g. Che Dio ti assista! God be with you!

Che non avvenga proprio adesso! I hope it doesn’t happen right now.

Non immagini che gioia! You can’t imagine what joy!

Che non ti metta in testa di far questo! I hope you don’t get it into your head to do this!

Se fossi ancora giovane! If only I were still young!

in questions, to express doubt

e.g. Che sia arrivato? Do you think he has already arrived?

Che sia innamorato di te? Could he be in love with you?

to give permission or to consent

e.g. Dica pure. Go on, tell me.

Sia pure giusto, ma non sono d’accordo. It could be true, but I don’t agree.

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37.5 Use of the present subjunctive in dependent clauses

The subjunctive is needed in clauses following verbs which denote desire, fear, will, doubt, denial, hope, necessity etc. The subjunctive is normally preceded by the preposition che. Some common verbs which should be followed by the subjunctive are:

verbs which denote will, desire, hope and suggestion

insistere – to insisit preferire – to prefer volere – to want suggerire – to suggest desiderare – to wish sperare – to hope

e.g. Spero che ti senta meglio. I hope you feel better. Preferisce che io torni presto. He/she prefers that I return early.

verbs of denial and those expressing doubt

negare – to deny dubitare – to doubt rifiutare – to refuse smentire – to deny (what someone has said)

e.g. I suoi genitori negano che lui sappia la verità. His parents deny that he knows the truth.

Smentisco che tu abbia detto questo. I deny that you have said this.

verbs expressing emotion

avere paura – to be afraid temere – to fear essere contento – to be happy essere triste – to be sad essere sorpreso – to be surprised

e.g. Sono contento che tu venga alla festa. I’m happy (that) you can come to the party.

Hai paura che io abbia ragione. You’re afraid that I’m right.

verbs used to give commands; to grant or refuse permission

comandare – to command, ordinare – to order esigere – to demand richiedere – to require lasciare – to let consentire – to allow permettere – to allow proibire – to prohibit, forbid

e.g. L’insegnante richiede che gli studenti finiscano il lavoro. The teacher requires that the students finish the work.

I genitori proibiscono che i bambini giochino per strada. The parents forbid the children to play in the street.

37.6 The subjunctive and impersonal expressions

The subjunctive is also used after many impersonal expressions. Some of the more common impersonal expressions requiring the subjunctive are:

è meglio che… it’s better that…

è necessario che… it’s necessary that…

è possibile che… it’s possible that…

è impossibile che… it’s impossible that…

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è probabile che… it’s probable that…

è importante che… it’s important that…

è facile che… it’s easy that…

è difficile che… it’s difficult that…

è peccato che it’s a pity that…

bisogna che… it’s necessary that…

basta che… it’s enough that…

conviene che… it’s fitting that…

sorprende che… it’s surprising that…

si dubita che… it’s doubtful that…

importa che… it matters that…

non importa che… it doesn’t matter that…

e.g. Non importa che arrivi in ritardo. It doesn’t matter if you arrive late.

È probabile che piova domani. It’s probable that it will rain tomorrow.

37.7 The subjunctive is also used in subordinate clauses after the following conjunctions.

prima che … before … dopo che … after … finchè (non) … until … purchè … provided that … malgrado … although … affinchè … in order that … benchè … although … sebbene … although … supposto che … supposing that … così che … so that … a patto che … provided that … a meno che non … unless in modo che … so that …

e.g. Benchè sia tardi non ho sonno.

Although it’s late I’m not sleepy.

A meno che non smetta di piovere non andiamo fuori. Unless it stops raining we won’t go out.

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38 IlCongiuntivoPassato–ThePastSubjunctive

38.1 The formation of the past subjunctive

The past subjunctive is formed with the present subjunctive of avere or essere plus the past participle of the verb. Just as in the passato prossimo (perfect tense), all transitive verbs are conjugated with avere and intransitive verbs are conjugated with essere.

verbs conjugated with avere verbs conjugated with essere

…che io

…che tu

…che lui/lei

…che noi

…che voi

…che loro

abbia capito

abbia capito

abbia capito

abbiamo capito

abbiate capito

abbiano capito

…che io

…che tu

…che lui/lei

…che noi

…che voi

…che loro

sia partito/a

sia partito/a

sia partito/a

siamo partiti/e

siate partiti/e

siano partiti/e

As you can see, the past subjunctive is very similar to the perfect tense. The only difference is that the present subjunctive of the auxiliary verbs avere and essere is used instead of the normal (indicative) present tense.

38.2 The use of the past subjunctive

The past subjunctive is used to express a recent past action in a dependent clause introduced by che and which requires the subjunctive mood.

e.g. Penso che lui abbia capito. I think (that) he has understood (understood).

Credo che egli sia arrivato. I believe (that) he has arrived (arrived).

Direi che i bambini abbiano capito la lezione. I would say (that) the children have understood (understood) the lesson.

È possibile che Giovanni abbia già comprato i biglietti. It’s possible (that) Giovanni has already bought the tickets.

Temo che ci sia stato un incidente. I’m afraid (that) there has been an accident.

Sono contenta che la commedia abbia avuto un gran successo. I’m happy (that) the play has had (had) a great success.

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39 L’ImperfettodelCongiuntivo–TheImperfectSubjunctive

39.1 The formation of the imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive of most verbs is formed by adding special endings to the stem of the verb.

All regular ‐are, ‐ere, and ‐ire verbs as well as most irregular verbs form their imperfect subjunctive in this way. Study the examples below.

mangiare vendere sentire

…che io mangiassi vendessi sentissi

…che tu mangiassi vendessi sentissi

…che lui/lei mangiasse vendesse sentisse

…che noi mangiassimo vendessimo sentissimo

…che voi mangiaste vendeste sentiste

…che loro mangiassero vendessero sentissero

39.2 Irregular imperfect subjunctive forms

Most verbs follow the patterns above, however there are a few which are irregular in this tense.

Most verbs that appear to be irregular simply revert back to their original Latin or old Italian infinitives from which the stem is taken. This happens in the imperfect tense of the indicative as well. (See section 31.3). Study the following table.

modern infinitive old infinitive stem imperfect subjunctive

bere bevere bev‐ ‐che io bevessi

dire dicere dic‐ ‐che io dicessi

fare facere fac‐ ‐che io facessi

The following verbs are completely irregular in the imperfect subjunctive.

essere dare stare

…che io fossi dessi stessi

…che tu fossi dessi stessi

…che lui/lei fosse desse stesse

…che noi fossimo dessimo stessimo

…che voi foste deste steste

…che loro fossero dessero stessero

39.3 The Use of the imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause of sentences requiring the subjunctive when the verb in the main clause is either in a past tense (indicative mood) or in the conditional. Study the following sequence of tenses.

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Main clause Subordinate clause

Perfect Tense

Imperfect Subjunctive Imperfect

Past Historic

Conditional

e.g. Lui voleva che io facessi tutto il lavoro. He wanted me to do all the work.

Lui vorrebbe che io facessi tutto il lavoro. He would like me to do all the work.

Lui ha voluto che io facessi tutto il lavoro. He wanted me to do all the work.

Now compare the sequence of tenses in which the present subjunctive is used.

Main clause Subordinate clause

Present Indicative Present Subjunctive

Future Indicative

e.g. Lui vuole che io faccia tutto il lavoro. He wants me to do all the work.

Lui vorrà che io faccia tutto il lavoro. He will want me to do all the work.

The imperfect subjunctive is also used to express something unlikely to happen

or contrary to fact. Study the examples below.

e.g. Se avessi un milione di dollari! If only I had a million dollars!

Magari vincessi un milione di dollari! If only I could win a million dollars!

Vincessi pure! If I could indeed win!

Avessi la tua fortuna! If only I had your good fortune!

Se solo dicesse la verità! If only he would tell the truth!

The imperfect subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause (‘if’ clause) of a contrary to fact

hypothetical statement in the present. Note that the present conditional is used in the main clause.

e.g. Se fossi ricco comprerei una Ferrari. If I were rich I would buy a Ferrari.

Andrei volontieri a vedere quel film se avessi una serata libera. I would gladly go to see that film if I had an evening free.

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40 IlTrapassatodelCongiuntivo–ThePluperfectSubjunctive

40.1 Formation of the pluperfect subjunctive

The pluperfect subjunctive is formed with the imperfect subjunctive of avere or essere plus the past participle of the verb. Just as in the passato prossimo (perfect tense), all transitive verbs are conjugated with essere and intransitive verbs are conjugated with avere.

Verbs conjugated with avere Verbs conjugated with essere

…che io

…che tu

…che lui/lei

…che noi

…che voi

…che loro

avessi capito

avessi capito

avesse capito

avessimo capito

aveste capito

avessero capito

…che io

…che tu

…che lui/lei

…che noi

…che voi

…che loro

fossi partito/a

fossi partito/a

fosse partito/a

fossimo partiti/e

foste partiti/e

fossero partiti/e

40.2 Uses of the pluperfect subjunctive

The pluperfect subjunctive is used in clauses which require the subjunctive mood when the main clause is in a past tense and if the action of the subordinate clause took place before the action of the main clause.

e.g. Avevo paura che l’amico di Lucia non fosse venuto. I was afraid that Lucia’s friend had not come.

Avrei preferito che loro mi avessero scritto prima. I would have preferred that they had written to me earlier.

The pluperfect subjunctive is used in the subordinate clause (‘if’ clause ) of a hypothetical statement in the past when the main clause is in the conditional perfect.

e.g. L’avrei fatto volontieri se avessi avuto il tempo. I would have gladly done it if I had had the time

Se avessimo avuto i soldi saremmo andati in Italia. If we had had the money we would have gone to Italy.

L’avrei salutata se l’avessi vista. I would have greeted her if I had seen her.

40.3 The tables below summarise the sequence of tenses in sentences containing an ‘if’ clause.

‘if’ (se) clause main clause

Actual or likely to happen

present

se + future indicative

past

present

future indicative

past

imperative

e.g. Se vai al cinema, ci vediamo. (se + present + present)

Se dormirà fino a tardi, non potrà venire con me. (se + future + future)

Se è stato male, perchè non me lo ha detto? (se + past + past)

Se vieni per studiare, porta il libro di storia. (se + present + imperative)

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‘if’ (se) clause main clause

Imaginary se + imperfect subjunctive

se + pluperfect subjunctive

present conditional

conditional perfect

e.g. Se fossi ricco, andrei a vivere in Italia. If I were rich I would go and live in Italy.

Se avessi avuto il tempo, avrei letto tutto il giornale. If I had had the time, I would have read the whole newspaper.

TipYou can check the conjugation of any Italian verb (all tenses and moods) online at http://www.italian‐verbs.com/. Just type the verb infinitive and away you go!

41 Strutturadellefrasi–SentenceStructure

41.1 Simple sentences: a subject and a predicate

In Italian, as in English, a sentence must contain at the very least, a subject and a predicate.

The subject can consist of a noun (e.g. Lisa; la città; mio fratello; l’italiano etc.) or a pronoun (e.g. io; tu; lui; noi; etc.).

Remember that in Italian the pronoun is often omitted because the verb changes according to the subject of the sentence and therefore the subject of the sentence is inferred. The subject pronoun is used mainly for emphasis or to avoid any ambiguity.

The predicate is simply what you say about the subject. It must contain a finite verb.

A finite verb is a verb that denotes a particular tense (e.g. present, past, future ) and agrees with the person and number of the subject (e.g. 1st person singular – i.e. io form; 3rd person plural – i.e. loro form)

The following simple sentences have been divided into subject and predicate. The finite verbs are are in red.

subject predicate

Kate legge gli opuscoli sulla città.

L’italiano non è una lingua difficile.

La lista degli alberghi è arrivata ieri.

Il mio partner si chiama Antonio.

Lui ha quindici anni.

La mia amica ed io parliamo spesso al telefono. 41.2 Person and number

The finite verb in a sentence must always agree in person (explained below) and number, and sometimes also gender (in compound tenses, where there is a past participle), with the subject of the sentence.

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First person singular

If I refer to myself in speech or in writing, I use the 1st person singular form.

e.g. (Io) Vado a letto tardi ogni sera perchè ho molti compiti da fare. I go to bed late every night because I have a lot of homework. First person plural

If I speak or write as a member of a group, I use the 1st person plural form.

e.g. Io e Roberto andiamo a scuola insieme. Robert and I go to school together. Second person singular

If I speak or write to one other person I use the 2nd person singular form.

e.g. Hai molti compiti per lunedì? Do you have a lot of homework for Monday? Second person plural

If I speak or write to more than one person, I use the 2nd person plural form.

e.g. Ragazze, avete compiti da fare? Girls, have you got homework to do? Third person singular

If I speak or write about another person or thing, outside the group formed by you and me, I use the 3rd person plural form.

e.g. Il compito è molto difficile. The homework is very difficult.

Martino studia molto. Martino studies a lot. Third person plural

If I speak or write about more than one person or thing, outside the group formed by you and me, I use the 3rd person plural form.

e.g. I verbi francesi sono molto difficili. French verbs are very difficult.

Gli studenti dell’anno dodici studiano molto. The Year 12 students study a lot.

41.3 The subject of a sentence can be a noun or a pronoun referring to a person.

In Italian the pronoun is often omitted because the verb changes according to the subject of the sentence and therefore the subject of the sentence can easily be inferred.

2nd person singular subject – tu form

e.g. Fai qualche collezione? (Do you collect anything?)

1st person singular subject – io form

Faccio collezione di francobolli.

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41.4 The subject of a sentence can also be animals, objects, actions, countries, cities, concepts etc.

The subject pronouns you can use in this case, are esso/essa (it), essi/esse(they). Though you will rarely need to use these subject pronouns, you may occasionally see them in texts. See the examples in section 12.2.

41.5 Sometimes the subject of a sentence can be a verb or verb phrase. In this case the 3rd person

singular form of the verb must be used. The pronouns esso or essa would not be appropriate in this case. Instead you could use questo or ciò if necessary.

e.g. Durante la vacanza non sono stata bene. Con tutto ciò mi sono però divertita. During the holidays I wasn’t well. Despite this I had a good time.

Scegliere l’albergo giusto è molto importante. Questo spesso può essere difficile. Choosing the right hotel is important. This can often be difficult.

41.6 Complex sentences

Two or more simple sentences can be joined together to make a complex sentence. In other words, a complex sentence is made up of two or more distinct sections called clauses.

Each clause can stand alone as a complete sentence and must have at least a subject (or subject pronoun) and a finite verb. (Remember that in Italian the subject pronouns are usually omitted.)

The clauses of a complex sentence are usually joined together by conjunctions such as ‘and’ (e), ‘but’ (ma), ‘or’ (o), ‘because’ (perchè), ‘that’ (che) etc. For example:

1

st clause conjunction 2

nd clause

Domenica sono andato a tovare i miei nonni | che | abitano a Mildura.

finite verb finite verb

On Sunday I went to visit my grandparents who live in Mildura. 41.7 Two‐verb clauses

When there are two verbs in the same clause, only the first verb is a finite verb (that is, it changes endings – is conjugated) the second verb is always in the infinitive form as it is dependent on the first verb.

e.g. È importante prenotare una camera. It is important to book a room.

Here are some more examples:

Marina vuole visitare la città di Firenze. Marina wants to visit the city of Florence.

Bisogna scegliere un albergo. One must choose a hotel.

È importante sapere come si può chiedere la chiave. It is important to know how to ask (how one can ask) for the key.

1st verb in the present tense,

1st person singular

2ndverb in the

infinitive form

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In all the examples above, the first verb in each clause is in the present tense and the second verb is in the infinitive form. Note that the last sentence is made up of two two‐verb clauses, joined together by the connective come (‘how’).

41.8 If there are more than two verbs in a clause, then the same rule applies to all the dependent

verbs. That is, the first verb is finite (conjugated) and the other verbs in the clause must be in the infinitive form.

e.g. Devi imparare come scegliere un albergo, e come prenotare una camera. You have to learn how to choose a hotel and how to book a room.

È importante scoprire le ore dei pasti, chiedere la chiave della camera e chiedere dov’è il bar, il ristorante, l’ascensore, ecc.

It is important to find out the meal times, (to) ask for the key and (to) ask where the bar, restaurant, lift etc. are.

In the examples above, the verbs in italics are dependent on the first verb in the clause, therefore they must be in the infinitive form.

The three modal verbs – dovere, potere and volere – are often used in two‐verb clauses.

e.g. Puoi prenotare una camera prima di partire. You can book a room before leaving.

Silvia vuole sapere dov’è la sala da gioco. Silvia wants to know where the games room is.

42 Espressioniconavere–Expressionswithavere

42.1 There are many common Italian expressions which use the verb avere (‘to have’).

Many of these expressions refer to physical or mental state of being and others are idiomatic expressions. As you will see below, equivalent expressions in English often use the verb ‘to be’ rather than ‘to have’.

42.2 avere…anni

The verb avere is used in Italian to express age.

e.g. Io ho ventuno anni. I’m 21 years old. (Literally: I have 21 years.)

Tu, quanti anni hai? How old are you? (Literally: How many years do you have?)

Quanti anni ha tua madre? How old is your mother? (Literally: How many years does your mother have?)

I fratelli di Marina hanno quattro anni. Sono gemelli. Marina’s brothers are four years old. They are twins.

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42.3 The verb avere is used in many expressions called idioms.1

avere fame/sete – to be hungry/thirsty

e.g. – Hai fame? – Are you hungry? (Literally: ‘Do you have hunger?’)

– Sì, ho fame. Che c’è da mangiare? – Yes, I’m hungry. What is there to eat?

I bambini hanno sete. The children are thirsty.

Giorgio, hai sete? Giorgio, are you thirsty?

avere freddo/caldo – to be cold/hot (referring to how people feel, not the weather2)

e.g. – Hai freddo? Vuoi un’altra coperta? – Are you cold? Do you want another blanket?

– Di notte ho sempre freddo. – At night I’m always cold.

– Avete caldo? – Are you hot?

– In estate abbiamo sempre caldo. – In summer we’re always hot.

avere ragione/torto – to be right/wrong

e.g. Tu hai sempre ragione. You’re always right.

Loro hanno torto nel dire quello. They’re wrong in saying that.

avere paura – to be afraid/scared

e.g. La nonna ha paura di stare sola. Grandmother is afraid to stay on her own.

Ho paura del buio. I’m afraid of the dark.

avere sonno – to be sleepy/tired

e.g. Ho molto sonno. Non ho potuto dormire tutta la notte. I’m very sleepy. I couldn’t sleep all night.

Il bambino vuole dormire. Ha sonno. The baby wants to sleep. He’s sleepy.

avere fretta – to be in a hurry.

e.g. Gina ha sempre fretta. Gina’s always in a hurry.

1 Idiom is a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a particular language. Often you can’t work out the meaning of an idiomatic expression by trying to interpret it literally or translate it word‐for word. English examples include expressions such as ‘across the board’, ‘right as rain’, ‘make ends meet’ and so on. 2 See section 42.2 for expressions about the weather.

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Non posso parlare adesso. Ho fretta. I can’t talk now. I’m in a hurry.

avere voglia di… – to feel like (+ infinitive)

e.g. Non ho voglia di fare niente. I don’t feel like doing anything.

Hai voglia di andare al cinema? Do you feel like going to the movies?

43 Espressioniconfare–Expressionswithfare

43.1 Although the verb fare means ‘to do’ or ‘to make’ in English, there are many common Italian expressions in which the verb fare takes on a different meaning.

43.2 The verb fare is used in a number of expressions which refer to the weather.

When used in this way, only the 3rd person singular form is used.

e.g. Che tempo fa oggi? What is the weather like today?

Fa caldo. It is hot.

Fa freddo. It is cold.

Fa bel tempo. The weather is nice.

Fa brutto tempo. The weather is bad. 43.3 There are many other common Italian expressions in which fare takes on different meanings.

Below is a list of the more common ones. Note that some of these expressions use a reflexive form of fare.

fare colazione to have breakfast fare una passeggiata to go for a walk

fare pranzo to have lunch fare un viaggio to go for a trip

fare cena to have dinner fare le valige to pack (suitcase)

fare domanda to apply fare una domanda to ask a question

fare una visita to visit farsi il bagno to have a bath/swim

fare tardi to be late farsi la doccia to have a shower

fare presto to be early farsi la barba to shave

fare attenzione to be careful farsi male to hurt oneself

fare un regalo to give a present fare una partita di… to play a game of…

e.g. Di solito faccio pranzo all’una. I usually have lunch at one o’clock.

L’anno scorso abbiamo fatto un viaggio in Italia. Last year we made a trip to Italy.

Martino si fa il bagno ogni sera. Martino has a bath every evening.

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44 DiscorsoDirettoedIndiretto–DirectandIndirectDiscourse

44.1 With the exception of plays and dialogues in short stories and novels, speech is seldom reported word for word, as spoken (direct discourse). Usually, speech is reported indirectly. In English, indirect speech is often introduced by expressions such as, ‘said’, ‘replied’, ‘claimed’, ‘declared’ etc., followed by ‘that’. In Italian these verbs are followed by the preposition che. Here’s an example of indirect discourse.

Lisa ha detto che non viene stasera. Lisa said that she is not coming tonight. 44.2 Study carefully the tables below outlining the conversion from direct to indirect discourse.

A When converting from direct to indirect discourse, no change of tense occurs if the verb introducing the discourse is in the present or future tense.

Direct discourse Indirect discourse

Fausto dice: «Anna è simpatica.» Fausto says, ‘Anna is agreeable.’

Fausto dice che Anna è simpatica. Fausto says that Anna is agreeable.

B Many tenses and moods change in the indirect discourse if the verb introducing the direct

discourse is in a past tense.

Direct discourse (present tense) Indirect discourse (imperfect tense)

Carlo diceva sempre: «Io so nuotare molto bene.» Carlo would always say, ‘I can swim very well.’

Carlo diceva sempre che sapeva nuotare molto bene. Carlo would always say that he could swim very well.

Direct discourse (perfect or past historic tense)

Indirect discourse (pluperfect tense)

Carlo ha detto: «Ho sempre amato i miei genitori.» Carlo said, ‘I’ve always loved my parents.’

Carlo ha detto che aveva sempre amato i suoi genitori. Carlo said that he had always loved his parents.

Direct discourse (future tense) Indirect discourse (past conditional)

Carlo ha detto: «Verrò alle otto.» Carlo said, ‘I’ll come at eight.’

Carlo ha detto che sarebbe venuto alle otto. Carlo said that he would come at eight.

Direct discourse (imperative mood) Indirect discourse (imperfect subjunctive or di + infinitive)

Carlo mi ha detto: «Fammi un favore.» Carlo said, ‘Do me a favour.’

Carlo mi ha detto che gli facessi (di fargli) un favore. Carlo asked me to do him a favour.

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Direct discourse (present subjunctive) Indirect discourse (imperfect subjunctive)

Carlo disse: «Penso che lei si sbagli.» Carlo said, ‘I think she is mistaken.’

Carlo disse che pensava che lei si sbagliasse. Carlo said that he thought she was mistaken.

Direct discourse (perfect subjunctive) Indirect discourse (pluperfect subjunctive)

Carlo disse: «Temo che abbiano avuto un incidente.» Carlo said, ‘I’m afraid they’ve had an accident.’

Carlo disse che temeva che avessero avuto un incidente. Carlo said that he was afraid they had had an accident.

44.3 Many other words also change when direct discourse is converted to indirect discourse.

1 1st and 2nd person pronouns and possessives change to the 3rd person.

io, tu lui noi, voi loro

mio, tuo suo nostro, vostro loro

a me, a te a lui a noi, a voi a loro

mi, ti gli, le ci, vi gli

2 Questo becomes quello.

3 Expressions of time and place change as follows.

qui (qua) – here lì (là) – there

ora – now allora – then

oggi – today quel giorno – that day

domani – tomorrow il giorno dopo (l’indomani) – the following day

ieri – yesterday il giorno prima – the day before

la settimana scorsa – last week la settimana precedente – the week before

la settima prossima – next week la settima seguente – the following week

Direct discourse Indirect discourse

Ha confessato: «Non mi piace partire ma partirò lo stesso.» He confessed, ‘I don’t like leaving, but I’ll leave anyway.

Ha confessato che non gli piaceva partire ma che sarebbe partito lo stesso. He confessed that he didn’t like leaving but that he would be leaving anyway.’

Ha detto: «La lettera è arrivata ieri.» He said, ‘The letter arrived yesterday.’

Ha detto che la lettera era arrivata il giorno prima. He said that the letter had arrived the day before.

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45 LaFormaPassiva–ThePassiveVoice

45.1 The passive voice is a construction used to indicate that the subject undergoes the action of the verb. The object in an active sentence becomes the subject in a passive sentence.

object

e.g. Active voice: I ate the apple.

Passive voice: The apple was eaten by me.

subject

As in English, the passive voice is formed with the conjugated forms of the verb ‘to be’ (essere) and the past participle of the verb. In Italian the verb venire can also be used in some cases instead of essere.

The agent or person who performs the action is introduced by the preposition da or an appropriate articulated form.

Note also that the past participle must agree in number and gender with the subject. Compare the following sentences.

From the active voice…

La maestra

spiega 1

la nuova lezione.

ha spiegato 2

spiegava 3

aveva spiegato 4

spiegherà 5

…to the passive voice

La nuova lezione

è (viene) 1

spiegata1 dalla2 maestra.

è stata 2

era (veniva) 3

era stata 4

sarà (verrà) 5

45.2 When no specific agent is expressed, Italian uses the reflexive pronoun construction.

e.g. Qui si parla Italiano. Italian is spoken here.

Da questa finestra si vede un bel panorama. From this window, a beautiful panorama can be seen.

Come si dice «lesson» in Italiano? How is ‘lesson’ said in Italian?

1 Note the agreement of the past participle (spiegata) with the subject (la nuova lezione). 2 Note that the preposition da here is articulated. See section 10.

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46 IltuedilLei–InformalandFormalAddress

46.1 As you learned in section 12.4, there are several ways of saying ‘you’ in Italian.

The informal or familiar singular form of ‘you’ (il tu) is the 2nd person singular form (as used in English).

e.g. Come ti chiami? Dove abiti? Ti piace …? ecc. (What is your name?) (Where do you live?) (Do you like …?) etc.

The informal or familiar plural form of ‘you’ (il voi) is the 2nd person plural form.

e.g. Come vi chiamate? Dove abitate? Vi piace …? ecc. (What is your name?) (Where do you live?) (Do you like …?) etc.

The formal or polite singular form of ‘you’ (il Lei) is the same as the 3rd person feminine form

(regardless of the actual gender of the person you are speaking to).

e.g. Come si chiama? Dove abita? Le piace …? ecc. (What is your name?) (Where do you live?) (Do you like …?) etc.

The formal or polite plural form of ‘you’ (il Loro) is the 3rd person plural form.

e.g. Signori, Loro come si chiamano? Dove abitano? 46.2 Note that the polite subject pronouns are often written with a capital letter. This is to

distinguish them from the lei (she) and loro (they) forms.

47 LeFrasiInterrogative–Questions

47.1 In Italian, as in English, there are many different ways of asking a question, depending on type of response that is required.

47.2 Yes/No questions

When you want to ask a question that can be answered with words like ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘perhaps’ etc., you can simply put a question mark at the end of a normal statement. In speech, the voice goes up at the end of the sentence, as it does in English. For example:

Statements Questions

Hai fratelli e sorelle. Hai fratelli e sorelle? You have brothers and sisters. Do you have brothers and sisters?

Daniela abita in via Delle Grotte. Daniela abita in via Delle Grotte? Daniela lives in via Delle Grotte. Does Daniela live in via Delle Grotte?

47.3 Questions starting with interrogative (question) words:

These are questions which cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – they require some information in response. Here are some common interrogative words you can use to form questions:

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chi? who? Chi è quella ragazza? Who is that girl?

che/che cosa/cosa? what? Cosa vuoi fare adesso? What do you want to do now?

che? which? Che classe fai? Which class are you in?

quale? which? Quale cartolina vuole? Which card do you want?

(qual before è) Qual è la tua casa? Which is your house?

(quali before plural nouns) Quali materie ti interessano di più? Which subjects interest you the most?

dove?

(dov’ before è)

where? Dove abiti? Where do you live?

Dov’è la tua casa? Where is your house?

quando?

(quand’ before a vowel)

when? Quando parti? When will you leave?

Quand’ è che vai? When is it that you’re going?

perchè? why? Perchè piangi? Why are you crying?

quanto? (before a verb) how much? Quanto costa? How much does it cost?

Quanto costano questi libri? How much do these books cost?

Quanto mangi? How much do you eat?

(quant’ before a vowel) Quant’ è in tutto? How much is it altogether?

quanto? (before a noun) must agree in number and gender

with the noun it refers to

how much? how many?

Quanto pane hai comprato? How much bread did you buy?

Quanta frutta mangi al giorno? How much fruit do you eat each day?

Quante persone ci sono? How many people are there?

Quanti anni hai? How old are you?

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48 INumeri–Numbers

48.1 Here is a summary of how numbers are formed in Italian.

1 uno 11 undici 21 ventuno1 31 trentuno45

2 due 12 dodici 22 ventidue 32 trentadue

3 tre 13 tredici 23 ventitrè2 33 trentatrè46

4 quattro 14 quattordici 24 ventiquattro … ecc.

5 cinque 15 quindici 25 venticinque 40 quaranta

6 sei 16 sedici 26 ventisei 50 cinquanta

7 sette 17 diciassette 27 ventisette 60 sessanta

8 otto 18 diciotto 28 ventotto45 70 settanta

9 nove 19 diciannove 29 ventinove 80 ottanta

10 dieci 20 venti 30 trenta 90 novanta

100 cento 10,000 diecimila

200 duecento 20,000 ventimila

300 trecento 30,000 trentamila

400 quattrocento 40,000 quarantamila

500 cinquecento 50,000 cinquantamila

1000 mille 100,000 centomila

2000 duemila 150,000 centocinquantamila

3000 tremila 200,000 duecentomila

4000 quattromila 250,500 duecentocinquantamilacinquecento

5000 cinquemila … ecc.

Note that mille by itself means ‘one thousand’.

Note also how the spelling changes in duemila, tremila, etc.

Note that all numbers are written as one word in Italian.

1 When uno or otto is attached to a tens number, the final vowel of that number is dropped. 2 tre has an accent on the final vowel when added to another number.

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49 L’Ora–TellingtheTime

49.1 To ask what time it is, you can say either:

Che ora è? or Che ore sono?

Both expressions mean ‘What time is it?’ or ‘What’s the time?’

However, when you tell someone what the time is, you have to be careful which verb form you use – è or sono. Study the following notes carefully.

49.2 To express one o’clock, midday or midnight, you should use è:

È l’una. It’s one o’clock. È mezzogiorno. It’s midday/It’s (twelve) noon. È mezzanotte. It’s (twelve) midnight.

To express any other time, you should use sono:

e.g. Sono le due. It is two o’clock. Sono le cinque. It’s five o’clock.

To express the half hour: [hour +] e mezzo.

e.g. Sono le tre e mezzo. It’s half past three. È l’una e mezzo. It’s half past one.

To express the quarter hour: [hour +] e un quarto/meno un quarto

e.g. Sono le cinque e un quarto. It’s quarter past five È l’una meno un quarto. It’s quarter to one.

To express time after the hour: [hour +] e (dieci, venti etc.)

e.g. Sono le nove e venti. It’s twenty past nine. È l’una e dieci. It’s ten past one.

To express time before the hour: [hour +] meno (dieci, venti etc.)

e.g. Sono le quattro meno dieci. It’s ten to four. È l’una meno cinque. It’s five to one.

49.3 To indicate at what time something happens you should use:

a before mezzogiorno and mezzanotte. all’ before times with una. alle before other times.

e.g. Io torno a casa a mezzogiorno, ma mia sorella torna all’una e un quarto. I return home at midday but my sister returns at a quarter past one.

Mia madre torna a casa alle cinque e mezzo. My mother returns home at half past five.

49.4 To indicate the approximate time at which something happens, use verso.

e.g. verso l’una (at about 1:00) verso le due e mezzo (at about 2:30)

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49.5 If you need to show the difference between ‘am’ and ‘pm’, add the following expressions to the time indicated:

di mattina in the morning (am)

di sera in the evening (pm)

del pomeriggio in the afternoon (pm) 49.6 For official time, the 24‐hour clock is used in Italy, particularly for such things as timetables for

buses, trains, planes, for office hours, theatre performance times, television guides etc.

The 24‐hour clock system begins at midnight.

È l’una – is one o’clock in the morning (1:00 am).

Sono le tredici – is one o’clock in the afternoon (1:00 pm).

In other words, the ‘am’ (morning) times stay the same, while for the ‘pm’ times (afternoon and evening), you add twelve to the hour.

An important point to remember if you use the 24‐hour clock system is that you cannot use expressions like un quarto, mezza or meno. Instead you must always say the number of minutes after the hour.

e.g. 2:45 am – Sono le due e quarantacinque.

7:30 pm = 19:30 – Sono le diciannove e trenta.

You sometimes hear people using 24‐hour clock times in everyday conversation, but usually they stick to the ordinary hours. Generally it’s obvious if you mean morning or the evening. If there is any doubt, Italians can say:

e.g. le nove di mattina – 9 o’clock in the morning

le nove di sera – 9 o’clock in the evening

50 IGiorni,iMesi,leDate,leStagioni–Days,Months,Dates,Seasons

50.1 I giorni della settimana

The days of the week in Italian are:

lunedì Monday venerdì Friday

martedì Tuesday sabato Saturday

mercoledì Wednesday domenica Sunday

giovedì Thursday 50.2 Here are some important things to remember:

Unlike English, the days of the week are not capitalised in Italian.

All days of the week except domenica are masculine.

lunedì (not domenica) is the first day of the week on Italian calendars.

The definite article is used with days of the week to describe repeated or regular occurrences.

e.g. Lunedì vado al cinema. On (this) Monday I’m going to the movies. Il lunedì vado al cinema. On Mondays I go to the movies.

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50.3 The invariable adjective ogni is often used with the days of the week in the sense of ‘every’.

e.g. Ogni domenica vado al caffè. Every Sunday I go to the café. 50.4 Here are some useful expressions of time. Study them carefully and try to learn them by heart.

oggi – today

oggi pomeriggio – this afternoon

stamattina – this morning

stasera – this evening

stanotte – tonight

domani – tomorrow

ieri – yesterday

la mattina – (in) the morning

il pomeriggio – (in) the afternoon

la sera – (in) the evening

la notte – at night

domani mattina – tomorrow morning

domani pomeriggio – tomorrow afternoon

domani sera – tomorrow night

dopodomani – the day after tomorrow

lunedì mattina – Monday morning

martedì pomeriggio – Tuesday afternoon

mercoledì sera – Wednesday evening

giovedì notte – Thursday night

50.5 I mesi dell’anno

The months of the year in Italian are:

gennaio January luglio July

febbraio February agosto August

marzo March settembre September

aprile April ottobre October

maggio May novembre November

giugno June dicembre December Note that the months of the year, like the days, are not capitalised in Italian. 50.6 The preposition a is usually used with the names of the months to express ‘in’.

e.g. A febbraio vado in Italia. In February I’m going to Italy. 50.7 Le date

In English, dates are expressed in ordinal numbers (the 1st , the 2nd, the 3rd, etc.1). In Italian, however, only the first day of the month is expressed with an ordinal number (1st). The other days of the month are expressed with cardinal numbers (two, three, four, etc.)

e.g. È il primo [di] novembre. It’s the 1st of November.

È il due (tre, quattro, ecc.) [di] Marzo. It’s the 2nd (3rd, 4th, etc.) of March.

Note that the definite article il is always used in front of the number to express dates. The preposition di between the day and the month is optional.

50.8 When the date is used alone, at the top of a letter for example, the article is not used in front

of the number.

e.g. martedì, 5 (cinque) luglio

1 In writing (and especially in newspapers, official documents etc.) cardinal numbers are often used in English e.g. ‘On 1 October/On October 1…’.

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When used alone, the year requires the definite article. (Note also that numbers in Italian are written as one word.)

e.g. il millenovecentocinquantasette 1957 nel milletrecentoventuno in 1321

50.9 To ask what the date today is: Quanti ne abbiamo oggi? The answer is expressed either with Oggi ne abbiamo … or Oggi è il …

e.g. – Quanti ne abbiamo oggi?

– Oggi ne abbiamo tre. / Oggi è il tre. 50.10 To say when someone was born, use the perfect tense of the verb nascere (essere + past

participle). The past participle, like an adjective, must agree with the subject.

e.g. Mia madre è nata il 26 dicembre del 1952. My mother was born on 26 December 1952.

50.11 To refer to a particular century in Italian, there are special conventions.

Note the use of the articulated preposition nel/nell’ (see section 11). Note also that Roman numerals1 are used in writing.

nel duecento in the 1200s nel secolo XIII in the 13th century

nel trecento in the 1300s nel secolo XIV in the 14th century

nel cinquecento in the 1500s nel secolo XVI in the 16th century

nel seicento in the 1600s nel secolo XVII in the 17th century

nel settecento in the 1700s nel secolo XVIII in the 18th century

nell’ottocento in the 1800s nel secolo XIX in the 19th century

nel novecento in the 1900s nel secolo XX in the 20th century 50.12 Le stagioni

The seasons in Italian are:

la primavera spring l’autunno autumn

l’estate summer l’inverno winter 50.13 The preposition in is used with the names of the seasons to express ‘in’.

e.g. in primavera – in spring

in estate – in summer

in autunno – in autumn

in inverno – in winter With estate and inverno only, di (d’) can be used where habitual action is involved.

e.g. D’estate vado al mare. In summer I go to the beach.

D’inverno fa freddo qui. In winter it is cold here.

1 To find out how Roman numerals work, go to www.novaroma.org/via_romana/numbers.html.

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