Osnove - Tips and notes

Welcome to the Italian course! Remember that you can click on the words to see tips of
possible translations.
Personal pronouns
The subject pronouns in Italian are:
Io - I
Tu - Singular You
Lui - He
Lei - She
Esso/Essa - It (archaic and literary)
Noi - We
Voi - Plural You / You all
Loro - They (speaking of people)
Essi/Esse - They (archaic and literary)
The verb is always conjugated to match the subject, and the subject is only specified for clarity
or emphasis.
Articles
Articles have to match gender and number of the noun they refer to.
The singular determinate articles (the) are:
Lo - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN, and some rarer consonant clusters.
Il - masculine, used before consonants except the above.
La - feminine, used before all consonants.
L' - an elision of the above used before vowels.
The indeterminate articles (a/an) are:
Uno - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN, and some rarer consonant clusters.
Un - masculine, used in all other cases.
Una - feminine, used before all consonants.
Un' - feminine, used before vowels.

Osnove I - Tips and notes

Plural articles
The plural definite articles (the) are:
Gli - for masculine nouns before vowels, Z, S+consonant, GN and some rarer consonant
clusters.
I - for masculine nouns in all other cases.
 Le - for feminine nouns.
Articulated prepositions
When some prepositions are followed by a definite article they merge into a single word.
Article: il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le
Di + article: del, dello, della, dell', dei, degli, delle
A + article: al, allo, alla, all', ai, agli, alle
Da + article: dal, dallo, dalla, dall', dai, dagli, dalle
In + article: nel, nello, nella, nell', nei, negli, nelle
Su + article: sul, sullo, sulla, sull', sui, sugli, sulle
The compounds formed by con and per are archaic and literary, with the exception of col (con
+ il) for which the contraction is optional.

Fraze - Tips and notes

Negations
In this section you'll use negations for the first time.
The English no has two main uses:
Particle (e.g. "no!"): this translates directly to the Italian no.
Determiner (e.g. "no one"): you'll learn the translations for this in a later section.
The English not almost always translates to the Italian non. However, while not often follows
the verb it negates or its auxiliary, the Italian non always precedes it.
Greetings
Ciao is used both ways in Italian: when meeting (also salve) and when parting (also
arrivederci or addio).
Buongiorno and buonasera are normally used when meeting, although they can be used
when parting as well: the first is used in the first half of the day and the latter in the
remaining half.
Buonanotte is always used when parting, as it presumes that the day is over (same as
"good night").
Prego is a courtesy form used in many occasions to accompany a kind action, and it's the
customary answer to reply to received thanks.
Per favore, per piacere and per cortesia are courtesy forms used when asking for
something.

Hrana - Tips and notes

Ingredients
Italian has three ways to express the presence of an ingredient in the name of a dish:
 Dish di ingredient: the ingredient is the main or only component of the dish, e.g. "succo
di limone" (lemon juice). In this case the article is never used before the ingredient.
Dish con ingredient: the ingredient is a visible component of the dish or used as garnish,
e.g. "fragole con panna" (strawberries with cream). In this case a definite article can be
used before the ingredient.
Dish a ingredient: the dish has been flavored with the ingredient, or tastes like the
ingredient, e.g. "gelato al cioccolato" (chocolate ice cream). In this case the definite
article is mandatory before the ingredient, forming an articulated preposition with a.
When there is no room for confusion the three can occasionally be mixed up, e.g. "panino al
salame" is as common as "panino con salame"; however, in many cases using one instead of the
other can give hints on the dish's composition.

Questions
In this section you'll meet the first proper questions. In Italian word order doesn't change in a
question, meaning that the question mark at the end and the raising tone of voice are usually the
only differences between a question and a statement.
Tips
It's important to keep in mind that the English idiom of "having food" being synonymous with
"eating food" doesn't apply to Italian, where "avere cibo" simply means owning food.

Plurali (mnozina) - Tips and notes

You already met some noun variations in gender and number in the past lessons.
The most common noun classes in Italian are the following:
Nouns ending in a in the singular and e in the plural, e.g. "la ragazza" / "le ragazze":
most nouns in this class are feminine.
Nouns ending in o in the singular and i in the plural, e.g. "il ragazzo" / "i ragazzi": most
nouns in this class are masculine.
Nouns ending in e in the singular and i in the plural, e.g. "il pesce" / "i pesci": nouns in
this class can be any gender.
Nouns ending in a in the singular and i in the plural, e.g. "il problema" / "i problemi":
most nouns in this class are masculine

Possessives (prisvojne zamenice) - Tips and notes

Italian possessive pronouns are in the form definite article + possessive adjective, e.g. "il mio
..." or "la mia ..." for "mine is...".
Italian possessive adjectives are usually positioned before the noun, and following the article if
present.
In Italian an article is almost always mandatory before a possessive. The exceptions are:
It's not used before close family members, in the singular and not modified, e.g. "mio
 padre" (my father), unless the possessive is "loro" (in which case the article is needed).
It's optional when the possessive adjective is alone as a predicate, e.g. " mio" (it's
mine).
It's not used in a small number of set phrases, e.g. "casa mia" (my home).
Possessive adjectives and pronouns decline in gender and number like any other adjective, i.e.
according to the object they refer to and not to the owner.
Mine: "il mio", "la mia", "i miei", "le mie"
Yours (sing): "il tuo", "la tua", "i tuoi", "le tue"
His/Hers/Its: "il suo", "la sua", "i suoi", "le sue"
Ours: "il nostro", "la nostra", "i nostri", "le nostre"
Yours (plur): "il vostro", "la vostra", "i vostri", "le vostre"
Theirs: "il loro", "la loro", "i loro", "le loro"
Italian possessives are in the form definite article (il, la, i, le) + possessive adjective. They
agree with the gender and number of the thing they describe:
My/Mine: "il mio", "la mia", "i miei", "le mie"
Your/Yours (sing): "il tuo", "la tua", "i tuoi", "le tue"
His/Hers/Its/Your (formal)/Yours (formal): "il suo", "la sua", "i suoi", "le sue"
Our/Ours: "il nostro", "la nostra", "i nostri", "le nostre"
Your/Yours (plur): "il vostro", "la vostra", "i vostri", "le vostre"
Their/Theirs: "il loro", "la loro", "i loro", "le loro"
il mio cane My dog ("Cane" is masculine singular, so we use "il" and "mio.")
la mia pizza My pizza ("Pizza" is feminine singular, so we use "la" and "mia.")
Even though in English the possessive in the third person (his, her, its) varies based on the
owner, remember that in Italian the gender and number are determined by the thing being
owned:
il cane di Giulia > il suo cane ("Cane" is masculine, so we use the masculine, even though it is
her dog.)
In Italian an article is almost always mandatory before a possessive. The exceptions are:
It's not used before close family members, in the singular and not modified, e.g. "mio
padre" (my father), unless the possessive is "loro" (in which case the article is needed).
It's optional when the possessive adjective is alone following a form of "essere," e.g. "
mio" (it's mine).
It's not used in a small number of set phrases, e.g. "casa mia" (my home).
Possessive pronouns (possessives acting as a noun) are formed using the definite article and the
possessive. They agree with the object they describe, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in
the sentence:
Dov' la tua macchina? La mia qui. Where is your car? Mine is here. (It is understood that
"la mia" refers to my car, so it is feminine.)
Prezent I - Tips and notes
In this section you'll learn some common verbs; let's have a look at the "tough" ones.

Conoscere vs Sapere
Both verbs translate the English "to know": that means that while the difference is obvious to
speakers of other languages (e.g. German kennen vs wissen, Spanish conocer vs saber, Latin
cognoscere vs sapere), it might be particularly hard for native English speakers.
Conoscere means to be acquainted or familiar with someone or something: it's the way
you "know" persons, places, or news.
Sapere means to possess information about something: it's the way you know or learn
most facts.
Piacere
This is the first verb you'll meet with a different transitiveness compared to English: it means
"to like" but the one being liked is the subject! Again, this is something that speakers of other
languages might be familiar with (e.g. German gefllt mir, Spanish me gusta, Latin placet
mihi):
(en) Juliet (subject) likes Romeo (direct object)
(it) A Giulietta (indirect object) piace Romeo (subject) or
(it) Romeo (subject) piace a Giulietta (indirect object).
Note that contrary to Spanish the indirect object doesn't need a reinforcement (A Julieta le
gusta Romeo), and instead using one is often regarded as a grammar mistake.

Prepositions (predlozi) - Tips and notes

Prepositions, just like in English, don't always make sense. For example, things that in English
are in something, in Italian may be at something. It very much depends on context, and/or on
the verb that precedes them (again, just like in English). However, you'll find that most of the
time English and Italian are not that different after all!
The main prepositions are di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra, fra.
Tra and fra both mean between, or among, and they're almost completely interchangeable
nowadays. However, it's better not to use tra before a tr sound, or fra before a fr sound.
Tra fratelli. = Between/Among brothers.
Fra tre persone. = Between/Among three people.
They can also mean in, when talking about time:
Incontriamoci tra/fra due ore. = Let's meet in two hours.
The main difference between English and Italian, however, is that some Italian prepositions
have to be combined with the article the whenever it ends up next to them. As you can see, di
and in change into de- and ne- respectively, but the rest are quite predictable!

Italian English il lo la i gli le

di of, from del dello della dei degli delle
a to, at al allo alla ai agli alle
da from, by, since dal dallo dalla dai dagli dalle
in in, into nel nello nella nei negli nelle
con il, con con con i, con
con with con le
col lo la coi gli
su on, about sul sullo sulla sui sugli sulle
per for, through per il per lo per la per i per gli per le
between,
tra/fra tra il tra lo tra la tra i tra gli tra le
among

Occupations (zanimanja) - Tips and notes

There are three ways to specify an occupation in Italian:
Fare + determinate article + profession (e.g. Faccio il medico): by far the most common
way. It describes the person's current role as an activity.
Essere + indeterminate article + profession (e.g. Sono un medico - I am a medic): similar
to the English construction, it describes the person's professional category. It can be used
even if the person doesn't currently work in the profession, and the indefinite article can
be dropped in informal contexts.
Lavorare come + profession (e.g. Lavoro come medico - I work as a medic): more
formal than the previous versions, it describes the current occupation but might not be
the role the person identifies with.

Verbs: Present 2 - Tips and notes

The verb "mancare," when referring to people, works like "piacere": the indirect object misses
the subject.
Io (subject) non le (indirect object) manco.
She does not miss me.

Clitic Pronouns (valjda pokazne zamenice)

In this section, you will see several different types of object pronouns:
 1) direct objects,
2) 2) indirect objects,
3) 3) objects of preposition,
4) 4) reflexive pronouns,
5) 5) the passive si, and 5) ci and ne.
1) Direct objects
A direct object receives the action of the verb and answers the question, What? For example:
Vedo la ragazza. I see the girl.
We can ask, What do I see? and answer The girl. So la ragazza is our direct object.
Just like how in English we can replace the girl with the pronoun her, in Italian we can
replace direct objects with pronouns. The direct object pronouns are the following:

1st person singular (me) mi 1st person plural (us) ci

2nd person plural
2nd person singular (you) ti vi
(you)
3rd person singular (him, her, formal lo, la, 3rd person plural
li, le
you) La (them)
Usually these pronouns come before your verb. So the sentence Vedo la ragazza becomes
La vedo (I see her).
Sometimes pronouns are put after the verb for emphasis, and then use a different set of
pronouns, called tonic pronouns:

1st person singular (me) me 1st person plural (us) noi

2nd person singular (you) te 2nd person plural (you) voi
3rd person singular (him, her, formal
lui, lei, Lei 3rd person plural (them) loro
you)
Except for me and te, these are the same forms as the subject pronouns. Going back to
Vedo la ragazza, we can say Vedo lei, if we want to emphasize that it is her (not someone
else).
2) Indirect objects
Like direct objects answer the question What? indirect objects usually answer the question
To whom? or For whom? For example:
Scrivo a mia sorella. I write to my sister.
My sister answers the question, To whom do I write? so mia sorella is the indirect object.
The indirect object pronouns look like the direct object pronouns, except the third person:
1st person singular (to me) mi 1st person plural (to us) ci
2nd person singular (to you) ti 2nd person plural (to you) vi
3rd person singular (to him, her, formal
gli, le, Le 3rd person plural (to them) gli
you)
Like the direct object pronouns, these typically come before the verb:
Scrivo a mia sorella. Le scrivo. I write to my sister. I write to her.
You can also use the tonic pronouns (see above) after the verb for emphasis or clarification, but
with the indirect object, a is required:
Scrivo a lei.
The only exception is loro, which does not require a:
Scrivo ai miei amici. Gli scrivo. / Scrivo loro. I write to my friends. I write to them.
3) Objects of preposition
After a preposition (for example, con, di, per), you should use a tonic pronoun (see
above):
Non so niente di te. I dont know anything about you.
4) Reflexive pronouns
In Italian, some verbs are reflexive, meaning that the person doing the action does it to him or
herself. Examples of this would be mettersi (to put a piece of clothing on), chiamarsi
(literally to call oneself), and sentirsi (to feel). In the dictionary, you may notice that the
infinitive has si on the end to show the verb is reflexive.
Reflexive verbs have their own pronouns:

io mi noi ci
tu ti voi vi
lui, lei, Lei si loro si
These pronouns match the verb (mi with the io form, ti with tu, etc.) and are usually
placed before the verb:
Mi metto la giacca. I put on my coat.
5) The passive si (si passivante)
We use the passive or impersonal si when we don't want to state who exactly did the action.
This can be translated in different ways in English. For example:
In Italia si mangia la pizza.
This could be translated as: In Italy, pizza is eaten, In Italy, you (in general) eat pizza, In Italy,
one eats pizza, In Italy, they (in general) eat pizza, among other things. The important thing to
remember is that this action is not being done by any specific person.
To form this, use si and a verb in the third person (the form for lui/lei or loro). If there is an
object after the verb, the verb agrees with the object. So we say:
Si mangia la pizza. ; but
Si mangiano le pizze.
If there is no object, the verb is singular:
Si mangia.
For reflexive verbs, you add ci before si:
Ci si alza presto. One gets up early.
6) Ci and ne
Ci and ne replace prepositional phrases. Ci replaces in or a and their object:
Vai a Roma? No, non ci vado. Are you going to Rome? No, Im not going there.
Ne replaces di and its object:
Vuoi una di queste caramelle? Ne vuoi una? Do you want one of these candies? Do you
want one of them?

Numbers - Tips and notes

Age
To express a person's age, Italian offers the choice of either a number or an adjective:
When using a number, age is formulated as a number of years the person "has", e.g. "lei
ha 14 anni" (she has 14 years -> she is 14 years old). This is the most commonly used
form.
When using an adjective, the latter is formed substituting "-enne" to the last letter of the
number, e.g. "lei quattordicenne" (she is 14 years old). This form cannot be used for
ages 10 and lower, but allows substantivation, i.e. it's possible to say "la quattordicenne"
to mean "the 14 y.o. girl".
Time
Alongside numbers, in this section you'll learn how to express the time of day: in Italian it is
always expressed as a hour number, e.g.
1 AM -> l'una (one)
1 PM -> le tredici (thirteen)
The most common format is in multiples of 24 hours, but it's also possible to express it in
multiples of 12, in which case to avoid confusion it could be necessary to specify the period of
day:
1 AM -> l'una di notte (one in the night)
 1 PM -> l'una del pomeriggio (one in the afternoon)
Minutes are expressed as additions (e) or subtractions (meno):
10 past 8 -> le otto e dieci (eight and ten)
10 to 8 -> le otto meno dieci (eight minus ten)
a quarter to 8 -> le otto meno un quarto
half past 8 -> le otto e mezza

Verbs: Present Perfect - Tips and notes

The Italian passato prossimo (near past tense) is very similar, in form and definition, to the
English present perfect: however, there are some important differences to keep in mind.
Just like in English, it is supposed to express a completed action close or with some
relation to the present. The ongoing trend among Italian speakers, however, is to use the
tense for all completed actions in the past, in place of the standard passato remoto.
Contrary to present perfect, it is not limited to unspecified times, and can instead be used
with a specific time indication.

Auxiliary
In many cases the choice of auxiliary differs between English and Italian.
Reflexive verbs always use essere.
Transitive verbs normally use avere.
Intransitive verbs have no clear rule, and some verbs can use either.

Past participle
The past participle is a verbal adjective, and as such can be declined in gender and number.
If the verb is conjugated with a third person direct object clitic (lo, la, l', li, le) or (with
some exceptions) the partitive clitic (ne), it must match gender and number of the clitic;
If the verb is conjugated with any other direct object clitic, it can optionally match its
gender and number;
Otherwise, if the auxiliary is essere it must match gender and number of the subject;
In any other case, the masculine singular form must be used.

Verbs: Infinitive 1 - Tips and notes

The Italian infinitive has many uses.
It's the common way to turn a verb into a noun, something for which English tends to
prefer the gerund
It's used for negative or generic imperatives
It's also used in many, very common, infinitive propositions
As a rule, when the subject of a subordinate sentence is the same as the one of the main
sentence, the subordinate should be "shortened" into an infinitive proposition: but in many
cases the same happens for subordinates referring to the object of the main sentence, or acting
as its object.
There is no clear-cut rule of which preposition to use before each infinitive, and sometimes
synonyms require different ones, and the same verb might require a different preposition when
used reflexively.
The verbs that can be followed directly by an infinitive are:
Modal verbs (e.g. potere, dovere, volere, sapere)
Perception verbs (e.g. vedere, sentire)
Feeling verbs (e.g. piacere, amare, odiare, preferire)
Causative verbs (e.g. fare, lasciare); not all, as e.g. permettere and ordinare need "di"
Most verbs need a preposition before the infinitive:
di is by far the most common preposition to introduce an infinitive: the list includes
among others the verbs of expression (e.g. dire, chiedere), thought (e.g. pensare, credere)
and attempt (e.g. cercare, tentare - provare being an exception).
a is mainly used for subordinates that are somewhat "after" the main sentence: as such
the list includes verbs of movement (e.g. andare, venire), preparation (e.g. provare,
prendere, mettersi), and hesitation (e.g. esitare, indugiare, tardare). If the main verb has
an object, "a" can't be used to refer to the same subject.
The infinitive subordinate can also be introduced by other sentence elements for different
effects, and in this case the prepositions are more loosely related to the main sentence:
di can express specification, e.g. "aver bisogno di dormire" (having need to sleep, i.e.
needing sleep).
da usually expresses a passive meaning, e.g. "bollette da pagare" (bills to be paid).
a can have a conditional meaning, e.g. "a sentire lui" (if hearing him, i.e. if you listen to
his opinion), but with some adjectives it has the same passive meaning as "da", e.g.
"facile a dirsi" (easy to say).
per expresses purpose and finality, e.g. "per viaggiare" (in order to travel).
in refers to the time in which the action is happening, e.g. "nel tornare a casa" (while
coming back home).

Verbs: Imperative - Tips and notes

The imperative (commands) is used for giving instructions or orders. In this
sections, you will find commands for tu, voi, Lei, and noi. These are all
formed in slightly different ways.
1) Tu
For affirmative commands for "tu," you use the 3rd person singular (the form for lui or lei) in
the present for verbs with -ARE and the normal second person (tu) for -ERE and -IRE.
Affirmative
Infinitive
command
CHIAMAR
Chiama!
E
LEGGERE Leggi!
SENTIRE Senti!
With affirmative commands with "tu," pronouns are placed at the end of the verb:
Chiamami! Call me!
For negative commands for "tu," you use the infinitive:
Negative
Infinitive
command
CHIAMAR
Non chiamare!
E
LEGGERE Non leggere!
SENTIRE Non sentire!
With negative commands, pronouns can be placed either before or on the end of the verb:
Non mi chiamare! / Non chiamarmi! Don't call me!
When attached to the end, the final E of the infinitive is dropped.
2) Voi and Noi
Forming commands with "voi" and "noi" is easy - you just use the normal present tense form!
Chiamate! Non chiamate! Call! Don't call!
Chiamiamo! Non chiamiamo! Let's call! Let's not call!
When adding pronouns to these commands, follow the same rules as with "tu" commands:
Affirmative: Chiamatemi! Chiamiamoci! Call me! Let's call each other!
Negative: Non mi chiamate! / Non chiamatemi! Non ci chiamiamo! / Non chiamiamoci!
3: Lei
Formal commands with "Lei" use the present subjunctive. You will learn the other forms of the
subjunctive mood later. For now, the regular endings for Lei are:
- -IRE (-
-ARE -IRE
ERE isc-)
-I -A -A -ISCA
CHIAMAR LEGGER SENTIR
CAPIRE
E E E
CHIAMI LEGGA SENTA CAPISCA
Words with an irregular "io" form will use this as the stem for the formal imperative. For
example:
Fare --> (io) faccio --> Faccia!
For the formal imperative, pronouns are always placed before the verb:
Mi chiami! Non mi chiami! Call me! Don't call me!