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When speaking of somebody's profession we use the article with fare: I am an engineer, but omit it with essere note how English usage differs: I am an engineer. We can summarise these patterns in the following way: An adjective is a word that qualifies the meaning of a noun by adding some spec- ification or description to it.
There are many different categories of adjective including demonstrative questo, quello , interrogative quale , possessive mio, tuo , indefinite alcuni, qualche and negative nessun. But in this chapter we only cover the use of aggettivi qual- ificativi: The other types of adjectives will be shown in Chapter 3, together with the corresponding pronouns. The adjective Common adjective patterns Almost all descriptive adjectives follow the same basic patterns as the nouns see 1.
There are two 'classes' or groups of adjectives: In the second group, the ending is the same for both masculine and feminine: Feminine piccola piccole grande grandi m. The gender and number of the adjective must agree with the noun to which it refers see 1.
Singular Plural Singular Plural Masculine libro piccolo balcone piccolo Feminine penna piccola libri piccoli libro grande libri grandi balconi piccoli balcone grande balconi grandi penne piccole penna grande penne grandi stazione piccola stazioni piccole stazione grande stazioni grandi Exceptions to this pattern Only a few descriptive adjectives have a different pattern from those shown above.
Adjectives with singular -a for both masculine and feminine have masculine plural in -i and feminine plural in -e. Many of these have endings such as -ista, -asta, -ita, -ida, -ota for nouns with similar endings, see 1. The most common invari- able adjectives are: This is the usual non-emphatic position occupied by the adjective, when it expresses a basic, intrinsic characteristic of the noun: Ho visto un film interessante Abbiamo visitato una citta storica I saw an interesting film We visited an historic city Adjectives of shape, colour and nationality almost always come after the noun.
Note that adjectives of nationality never have a capital letter in Italian: Although Italian descriptive adjectives, particularly the most common e. Dammi il cacciavite piccolo. Give me the small screwdriver, not the big one Sul tavolo c'era un piccolo cacciavite. There was a small screwdriver on the table, description of screwdriver Sandra e una ragazza bella.
Sandra is a beautiful girl, not merely nice Sandra e una bella ragazza. Sandra is a really beautiful girl. Ho comprato una macchina nuova. I bought a new car. Paola put on a new dress, another, a different one Some adjectives have a completely different meaning from their common one when their position is changed, expressing their literal meaning when used after, but a quite different, often figurative, meaning when used before: Pavarotti un grande uomo a great man e. Napoleon Ci sono molti studenti poveri There are many poor students Poveri studenti! The exam will be hard! Note that bello, when positioned before the noun see example above, un bel prob- lema changes its endings in the same way as the definite article il, la, lo, etc.
The adjective buono, on the other hand, follows the pattern of the indefinite article un, una, un', uno see 1. La mia macchina e veloce come la tua. My car is as fast as yours. La mia macchina e piii veloce della tua. My car is faster than yours. La mia macchina e meno veloce della tua. My car is less fast than yours. As a reinforcement, we can also use the words tanto, altrettanto or cosi before the first element: II mio nuovo ufficio e comodo quanto quello di prima.
My new office is as comfortable as the one I had before. La mia collega e tanto carina quanto efficiente. My colleague is as pretty as she is efficient. Qui le melanzane non sono care come in Inghilterra. Here aubergines are not as dear as in England. Sandro e piu bravo di Angelo a bridge.
Sandro is better than Angelo at bridge. E stato meno facile di quanto pensassi. It was less easy than I expected. E piii facile criticare che risolvere i problemi. It's easier to criticise than to solve problems. Sara e piii carina che intelligente. Sara is prettier than she is intelligent. The choice of di or che depends on what part of speech the second element of the comparison is, and on its position in the sentence: Special forms of comparative Four very common adjectives have a special form of comparative: Similarly, minore can mean 'smaller' or 'younger', but can also mean 'less, the lesser' when referring to an abstract quality: La maggiore si chiama Diana.
I have two sisters. The elder is called Diana. Noi abbiamo una maggiore responsabilita di voi. We have a greater responsibility than you. II mio fratello minore frequenta la scuola elementare. My little younger brother goes to elementary school. Lui lavora con minore impegno da quando si e sposato. He works with less commitment since he got married.
Relative superlatives To refer to something or somebody as having 'the most' of a certain quality, in rela- tion to other individuals, we use il piu together with the relevant adjective. This is called the relative superlative: Silvia e la piu brava studentessa della nostra classe. Silvia is the best student in our class. Pavarotti e il tenore italiano piu famoso del mondo. Pavarotti is the most famous Italian tenor in the world. II Po e il piii lungo iiume italiano. The Po is the longest Italian river. Again, a few common adjectives have a special form of relative superlative, as well as the regular one: Secondo me, il problema maggiore dei giorni nostri e la droga.
In my opinion, the greatest problem in our time is that of drugs. Absolute superlatives Absolute superlatives indicate the greatest possible degree of a quality, but without any comparison being made. Superlative adjectives are formed in Italian by adding the suffix -issimo to the end of the adjective: Nouns, adjectives and articles used together in a noun group must agree in number and gender.
For example, if we use a feminine singular noun such as borsa 'bag', we have to use a feminine singular article la and adjective rossa: La borsa rossa The red bag If we use a masculine plural noun such as sandali 'sandals', we have to use a mascu- line plural article i and adjective rossi: I sandali rossi The red sandals The English articles and adjectives are identical in both examples 'the red. II vestito rosso I sandali rossi La borsa rossa Le scarpe rosse Noun and adjective of same pattern When noun and adjective belong to the same pattern of endings, the agreement will be obvious: Sul tavolo c'e un piatto rotondo.
On the table there is a round dish. I met two Italian girls. Noun and adjective of different patterns It is more difficult to remember how to make the agreement when the noun and adjective belong to different patterns and therefore have different endings: Sul tavolo c'e un piatto grande. There is a large dish on the table. I met two English girls. II programma era noioso. The programme was boring. La radio era rotta. The radio was broken. More than one noun same gender If an adjective refers to more than one noun of the same gender, it will be plural and have the same gender as the nouns: Ho comprato un libro e un vocabolario tedeschi.
I bought a German book and German dictionary. Ho comprato una grammatica e un'agenda tedesche. I bought a German grammar and a German diary. More than one noun different genders If the two nouns are of different genders then the adjective is generally masculine plural: Ho comprato un vocabolario e una grammatica tedeschi. I bought a German dictionary and a German grammar. However if the second of the two nouns - the one nearest to the adjective - is femi- nine plural, the adjective may sometimes agree with it: Ho comprato un vocabolario e due grammatiche tedesche.
I bought a German dictionary and two German grammars. Italian has a complex system of different verb forms. In the first section of this chapter we shall intro- duce the general features of Italian verbs, both regular and irregular, with a brief explanation of basic grammatical terminology, which will help you to understand these features.
In the second section, the different verb forms are illustrated in table form for the regular and the most common irregular verbs and also for the passive forms of the four regular verb types. Finally, in the third section, we look at the different verb moods and tenses individually with brief explanations on their use. Part B of the book illustrates usage more fully. Grammatical subject Usually the subject of a verb is the 'agent' or 'doer' of an action, the 'protagonist' of an event: Noi partiamo per l'America. We leave for America. Franco e Teresa partono per l'America.
Franco and Teresa leave for America. Sometimes we talk of facts rather than actions. Here the 'subject' of the verb is not 'doing' anything, but is the theme or main topic expressed by the verb: Questo film dura due ore. This film lasts two hours. However the grammatical subject of the verb may be different from the real subject or agent of the action. This is the case with passive constructions see Persons of the verb The different forms of the verb, determined by its grammatical subject, are called the persons this is a purely grammatical term, not necessarily referring to human beings: The different endings immediately identify the 'person' - the subject of the action - unlike in English where only the third person singular has a distinctive ending T eat, you eat, he eats'.
Stamattina non mi sono fatto la barba. Want to rent a villa? Arriviamo a casa un'ora. The plane should arrive inside of an hour, adverb The inside walls of the church are covered with art. Modern Italian Grammar presents language by function, with examples of usage and full explana- tions of how to express specific functions in Part B. La Bella Lingua In Italian, subject pronouns are used much less frequently than in English and other lan- guages because the verb endings usually indicate the subject quite clearly. The clue is in the endings.
How old are you? Using a subject pronoun to refer to the third person is often unnecessary where the person or thing has already been mentioned: Quanti anni ha Maria? How old is Maria? Verb conjugations The fact that Italian verbs have a pattern of six distinct verb endings in each of the tenses creates a large number of different forms of the same verb almost a hundred!
Fortunately, most verbs follow common patterns of change known as conjugations. Each verb has an invariable part the 'stem' , which carries its meaning, and an inflected part the 'ending' which identifies the person, the tense, the mood, and other features. The regular conjugation patterns are shown in the verb tables below 2. Traditionally we distinguish three conjugations defined by the form that the verb takes in the infinitive the infinitive is the form used in dictionary entries: Both patterns, however, are considered as belonging to the same conju- gation, because of the -ire ending of the infinitive.
Moods and tenses Moods The different forms and uses of Italian verbs are traditionally grouped in seven moods. These convey the different characteristics of the actions or facts that the speaker or writer wants to communicate: The ways in which moods are used to express distinct communicative functions and mean- ings are illustrated in Part B. Tenses The word tense denotes the different verb forms that indicate the relationship between the action or event referred to and the time of speaking or writing or other refer- ence point in time. There is a range of different tenses for each mood of verbs except the imperative.
In Italian, different tenses are sometimes used to distinguish features of verbs other than time relationships. For example, perfect and imperfect tenses can express the aspect of the action see Chapter 13 , while different subjunctive and conditional tenses can express different degrees of doubt, possibility, politeness, etc. Simple and compound tenses Many tenses of Italian verbs are formed using the past participle of the main verb along with either avere or essere as the auxiliary verb.
These are called compound tenses. One major area of difficulty for students of Italian is knowing which verbs use avere in compound tenses and which use essere. In order to be able to do this, it is useful to understand the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs see 2. All passive forms of verbs see 2. There may be a direct object as in: Lucia scrive una lettera. Lucia writes a letter. We look for a house. Here the action of the verb can be completed by answering the question che cosa?
The direct object of the verb is the noun that can answer this question without the use of a preposition in this case una lettera and una casa: Che cosa scrive Lucia? What is Lucia writing? Lucia is writing a letter. What are we looking for? We're looking for a house. But some Italian verbs cannot be completed by a direct object and the question che cosa?
II treno per Napoli e partito alle 6. The train to Naples left at 6. Because it determines their different uses, especially in the compound tenses, knowing whether verbs are transitive or intransitive is very important. Check by either looking in a dictionary or seeing whether you can ask and answer the question che cosa? In dictionaries all verb entries carry the following indications: Problems arise also from the fact that many English verbs used transitively and intransitively have an Italian counterpart that can only be used intransitively.
Below we show some examples of English phrases that cannot be translated directly into Italian, since the verbs camminare, volare, guidare and viaggiare are not gener- ally used transitively: I'm going to walk the dog. Can you drive me home? Travel the world with Airmiles! Verbs that can be used both transitively and intransitively Some verbs can be used both transitively with a direct object and intransitively without a direct object , for example aumentare, cambiare, cominciare, crescere, diminuire, finire and passare.
In the first two examples that follow, the subjects of these actions - beginning and finishing - are people and the verbs have direct objects 'the lesson', 'the holidays'. II professore comincia la lezione alle The teacher begins the lesson at Finiamo le vacanze in agosto.
We finish our holidays in August. In the next two examples below , the same verbs this time with 'the lesson' and 'the holidays' as subject cannot have a direct object: Lucia ha scritto una lettera. Abbiamo cercato una casa. Lucia wrote a letter. We looked for a house. Andiamo in ufficio alle 9. II treno per Napoli parte alle 6.
Siamo andate in ufficio alle 9. We go to the office at 9. The train to Naples leaves at 6. We went to the office at 9. La lezione comincia alle The lesson begins at The holidays finish in August. In simple tenses, the forms of the verbs are identical, whether transitive or intran- sitive. But the compound tenses, such as the past, vary according to whether they are used transitively or intransitively: II professore ha cominciato la lezione.
The teacher began the lesson. La lezione e cominciata alle The lesson began at Abbiamo finito le vacanze in agosto. We finished the holidays in August. Le vacanze sono finite in agosto. The holidays finished in August. When used transitively, verbs such as correre 'to run', saltare 'to jump', vivere to live' take avere: Hanno corso un grosso rischio.
They ran a great risk. Oggi ho saltato il pranzo. Today I skipped lunch. Ho vissuto una vita d'inferno. I have lived a life of hell. I lived in London for 10 years. The children jumped down from the bed. Verbs like these are marked in dictionaries as v. Verbs using the auxiliary avere even when used intransitively Generally Italian transitive verbs use the auxiliary avere, while intransitive verbs use the auxiliary essere in the compound tenses.
However, there are quite a few verbs that use the auxiliary avere even when used intransitively. Here are the most common: I walked for two hours. General features of verbs Come hai dormito? How did you sleep? Avete giocato a carte? Did you play cards? The different voices or relationships are: II meccanico ripara la macchina. The mechanic repairs the car.
Luisa e guardata da Gianni. Luisa is watched by Gianni. La macchina e riparata dal meccanico. The car is repaired by the mechanic. In the second example, the agent of the action is clearly the mechanic the one who repairs the car , but the grammatical subject of the passive verb is the car. Gianni si guarda alio specchio.
Gianni looks at himself in the mirror. There are other verb forms that are not strictly speaking reflexive but are similar in form. The passive form The passive of Italian verbs is formed by the use of the past participle and the auxil- iary essere, using the same tense as the corresponding active form.
The passive conjugation of verbs is shown in the verb tables in 2. The passive can also be formed using venire or andare as auxiliary instead of essere see Only transitive verbs can have a passive form see 2. Passive sentences sentences based on a passive verb are used when we want to focus on the action itself or the object of an action, rather than on the agent of an action. For more examples on the use of the passive, see VERBS The reflexive and pronominal form Reflexive verb forms Reflexive verbs are active verb forms accompanied by a reflexive pronoun see 3.
Look at these two examples: Franchi sta lavando la macchina. Mr Franchi is washing the car. Franchi si sta lavando. Mr Franchi is washing himself. In the first example above, the direct object of the action of washing is the car. It is separate from the person who is doing it the subject of the action. In the second example, the subject and the object of the action are the same person II Sig. This is the reflexive form, in which the reflexive pronoun refers to the person carrying out the action, but at the same time is also the object of it.
The position of the reflexive pronoun is the same as that of all other unstressed personal pronouns see 3. Please, have a seat make yourself comfortable. In genere i giovani italiani si vestono alia moda. In general young people in Italy dress fashionably. Dovete prepararvi ad uscire. You must prepare yourselves to go out. Get yourself ready to go out! In the compound tenses, reflexive verbs are conjugated with the verb essere, even though the verbs are transitive cf. The past participle has to agree with the subject: Stamattina i bambini si sono alzati alle 6.
This morning the children got themselves up at 6. Mi sono vestita con calma. I got dressed slowly. Pronominal verb forms Pronominal verb forms are verb forms which use the reflexive pronoun. In Italian they are used much more frequently than in English because we can use them not only in a true reflexive pattern, but also in many other ways. In true reflexives see above , the subject and object of the verb are one and the same.
Although this is not the case with pronominal verb forms, they still embody the concept of 'reci- procal' or 'reflexive' action an action relating or reflecting back to the subject. The different uses of the pronominal verb form will become clear from the examples below. Note the use of the auxiliary essere in the compound tenses: Giulio si lava le mani. Giulio washes his hands.
Mi metto la giacca. I put on my jacket. Stamattina non mi sono fatto la barba. This morning I didn't shave myself. In the examples above, the actions are not truly reflexive, since the subjects and the objects of the actions are not exactly identical: In the last example, the participle can also agree with the object: Stamattina non mi sono fatta la barba. The reflexive pronoun can also be omitted in which case the construction no longer takes essere in the compound tenses: Giulio lava le mani.
Non ho fatto la barba. Mario e Nicoletta si sposano domani. Mario and Nicoletta are getting married tomorrow. Dove vi siete conosciuti tu e Maria? Where did you and Maria meet each other? Ci siamo incontrati in Spagna. We met each other in Spain. Note how in the examples above the reflexive pronoun marks an event or action taking place within the subject; the two people are at the same time the subject and the object of a reciprocal action.
The same actions can be expressed by the active form, in which case one person is the subject and the other is the object: Domani Mario sposa Nicoletta. Tomorrow Mario will marry Nicoletta. Dove tu hai conosciuto Maria? Where did you meet Maria? I met Dr Rossi in Spain. Stasera cl vediamo un bel film. Tonight we'll watch a nice film.
Voglio mangiarmi una pizza! I really want a pizza! Mi sono dimenticata le chiavi! I forgot the keys! In the examples above, the objects of the verbs are totally separate from, and not part of, the subjects. However the use of the reflexive pronoun shows the intensity felt by the people carrying out these actions. The same sentences can be expressed without using the reflexive pronouns, but then the statements will sound much less emotional, more objective: Stasera vediamo un bel film. Voglio mangiare una pizza. Ho dimenticato le chiavi. There are a few Italian verbs that are always or almost always used with a reflexive pronoun, because of the 'psychological' and subjective meaning they convey, for example: Non ti accorgi che e tardi?
Don't you realise that it's late? Vi siete divertiti a Roma? Did you have a good time in Rome? Giulia si e pentita di aver accettato quel lavoro. Giulia regretted having accepted that job. Non vergognarri di questo errore, non e colpa tua. Don't be ashamed of this mistake.
It's not your fault. Nella mia famiglia si parlano tre lingue. In my family three languages are spoken. Dal terrazzo si vedono i tetti della citta. From the terrace the roofs of the city can be seen one can see the roofs. In the first example, the si passivante form appears identical to the si imper- sonate form 'one' speaks Italian described in 2. However, when there is a plural subject, as in the second two examples, the verb is plural, so it becomes clear that the construction is passive 'three languages are spoken', 'the roofs can be seen'.
Impersonal si The pronoun si is also used to express the impersonal form of verbs see also Si lavora meglio con il fresco. One works better in cool weather. Stasera si va a ballare. Tonight everybody is going to dance. A tavola non si invecchia. One doesn't get old at the dinner table. Popular saying, meant to discourage people from hurrying when eating Notice that the impersonal form is always formed with si and the third person singular of the verb. Verb tables All the examples shown in the tables in 2. Certain verbs use essere instead see 2.
The simpli- fied tables in 2. We call these patterns regular because the stems of these verbs remain constantly the same or invari- able throughout the whole system of moods and tenses. Understanding the way the endings the variable part of the verb change, will allow us to learn all the possible forms of most Italian verbs. Notice the two patterns of the 3rd conjugation, and remember that the pattern in -isco is the most frequent. Notice how each passive tense is formed by the corresponding tense of the auxil- iary essere see below 2.
In this table the participle is masculine singular, but in actual use it agrees with gender and number of the subject see below , as do all compound forms of verbs using essere. Italian has a large number of irregular verbs, most of them in the 2nd conjugation, including many verbs frequently used in everyday language. Sometimes the irregular changes of the stem are unique to one verb as in the case of avere and essere.
Sometimes several verbs may be grouped under a common pattern of irregularity, and this can help to memorise the many but not always unpredictable deviations from the 'norm'. The complete conjugations of five irregular verbs are shown below 2. These verbs have been chosen not only because of their frequency of use, but also because in some cases their patterns are followed by several other irregular verbs. A complete list of irregular verbs in alphabetical order is in Appendix II. They share a common feature: The verbs avere 'to have' see When used in this way, they are called verbi servili 'modal verbs'.
Ieri ho dovuto chiudere io l'ufficio. I had to lock the office, yesterday. Quando potremo incontrare il Dott. When can we meet Dr Salvi? Voglio tornare a casa presto stasera. I want to go home early tonight. The verb essere is highly irregular, with varied stems in almost all tenses. Avere, dovere, potere, volere also have varying stems in their present indicative tenses, but a common pattern of contraction in their future and present conditional tense with the vowel -e- dropping to give the the future forms av-ro, dov-ro, etc.
In the tables below, note how the compound tenses of essere take essere as their auxiliary, and the participle has to agree in number and gender. Infinitive Infinito Present Presente av-ere ess-ere dov-ere pot-ere vol-ere Past Passato avere avuto essere stato avere dovuto avere potuto avere voluto Indicative Indicativo Present Presente ho son-o dev-o debbo poss-o vogli-o hai se-i dev-i puo-i vuo-i ha e dev-e pud vuol-e abb-iamo s-iamo dobb-iamo poss-iamo vogl-iamo av-ete si-ete dov-ete pot-ete vol-ete hanno s-ono dev-ono debbono poss-ono vogli-ono Imperfect Imperfetto av-evo ero dov-evo pot-evo vol-evo av-evi eri dov-evi pot-evi vol-evi av-eva era dov-eva pot-eva vol-eva Verb tables 2.
Infinitive mood infinito The infinitive is the basic form of verbs, and the one used as dictionary entry in other words, the name of the verb. It is the infinitive form -are, -ere, -ire or -rre that tells us which conjugation a verb belongs to. The infinitive has a present and a past tense. The past is formed by the past participle and the infinitive avere or essere.
When formed with essere, the past infinitive changes form to agree with the verb subject see examples below. In their present indicative, these verbs follow the -go pattern shown below 2. Dobbiamo partire alle 7. We must leave at 7. Sai usare il computer? Can you use the computer? Penso di avere capito. I think I have understood. Non riesco a sentire la tua voce. I can't hear your voice. In most cases the infinitive is linked to preceding verbs by a preposition such as di or a as in the last two examples above see list of verbs and prepositions in Appendix IV.
However with the verbs potere, dovere, volere, sapere, preferire, desiderare, amare, osare, no preposition is needed. For particular uses of infinitive with a prepo- sition, see 4. In Italian the subject of the infinitive must be the same as that of the verb on which it depends. Otherwise two separate finite verbs must be used, usually linked by che. An exception to this is when the main verb of the clause is fare or lasciare see also Ho fatto entrare i signori. I allowed the gentlemen to come in.
The infinitive can be used by itself, without depending on another verb, when it is used to tell somebody not to do something, i. Be quiet, don't speak. Non sporgersi dal finestrino. Don't lean out of the window. Note how a phrase that was originally the imperative of a verb used reflexively non ti scordare 'do not forget' has now become the name of a flower: Nontiscordardime Forget-me-not Moods and tenses of verbs Infinitive as a noun: Infinitive verbs are often used instead of nouns, sometimes preceded by the definite article, in the masculine singular form: Mangiare e necessario per vivere.
Eating is necessary for life. II sapere degli antichi si trasmette di generazione in generazione. The wisdom of the ancients is handed down from generation to generation. For further uses of the infinitive and past infinitive, see also We shall look here at the eight tenses of the indicative mood, both regular and irregular forms, with a brief refer- ence to their use, covered in detail in Part B. Present indicative jndicativo presente The forms of the present indicative of the three regular conjugations are shown in the verb tables above 2.
In addition to avere, essere, dovere, potere, volere shown in the verb tables above, some common verbs with irregular present indicative are illustrated below. These are the regular verbs ending in -care, -gare, such as cercare, pagare: In those forms that include i cerchi, cerchiamo , the h indicates the pronuncia- tion with hard g: There is no doubling of the i in the second person singular and first person plural forms: Although some verbs appear irregular, their forms are in fact regular but are based on an older form of the infini- tive see 2.
The verb sapere is irregular both in the ending and in its stem changes: The following verbs have in common a pattern in which some persons are formed with g and some without see Appendix II for a complete list. Verbs following the pattern of porre are: Other verbs following its pattern are: VERBS Uses of the present indicative Verbs in the present indicative express actions, facts and situations that happen or are going on at the moment when we speak or write.
Mara, il telefono suona. Mara, the phone is ringing. Nel mio ufficio il telefono suona continuamente di mattina. In my office the phone rings continuously in the mornings. La domenica le campane della chiesa suonano alle 8 meno On Sundays the church bells ring at 10 to 8. Gli Italiani fumano piu degli inglesi. Italians smoke more than English people. Le balene sono mammiferi. There are two situations in which the present indicative is used to refer to facts that are not in the present time: Domani arrivano gli ospiti spagnoli.
Tomorrow the Spanish guests are coming. L'anno prossimo compriamo una macchina nuova. Next year we'll buy a new car. This is done when the events are described in a narrative way and is very common in history books and news reports: Nel Roma diventa capitale dTtalia. Rome became the capital of Italy in Al quinto rigore Baggio sbaglia e l'ltalia perde il Campionato del Mondo. At the fifth penalty Baggio missed the penalty kick and Italy lost the World Cup. Several verbs have an irregular future indicative. A similar contracted pattern can be seen in the present tense of the conditional of the same verbs andare andrei , bere berrei , potere potrei.
The future of essere is very irregular: Uses of the future The future indicative tense is naturally mainly used to refer to facts that will happen in a time subsequent to the time when we speak. However Italians use this tense sparingly, often preferring to use the present tense instead see The future tense is also used in Italian to express probability, as in English 'it will be. Saranno le tre meno dieci. What time is it? It must be about ten to three. Chi saral Sara Davide. The phone is ringing. Who could it possibly be? It will be Davide. Future perfect futuro anteriore Forms The future perfect is a compound tense formed of the future tense of the auxiliary avere or essere together with the past participle of the verb.
The forms of the future perfect are shown in the verb tables 2. Uses of the future perfect The future perfect is used to indicate facts or actions that will take place in the future in relation to the moment when we are speaking or writing , but before facts or actions that will happen even later; it is a sort of 'past in the future': Non so se avro finito il lavoro quando arrivera il cliente.
I don't know whether I will have finished the job by the time the customer comes. Stiamo aspettando la fattura. Quando avremo ricevuto la fattura, Le invieremo i soldi. We are waiting for the invoice. When we've received the invoice, we'll send you the money. Each of the three verbs in these two sentences could be illustrated by a time sequence: More examples of the use of the future perfect can be found in Imperfect indicative indicativo imperfetto The forms of the imperfect of the three regular conjugations are shown in the verb tables.
The imperfect indicative is formed by adding the endings -avo, -evo, -ivo for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugations respectively to the stem of the verb. It is the most regular of all the tenses of Italian verbs. The imperfect of the 2nd conjugation verbs with contracted infinitive in -urre is regular, but follows the pattern of the stem in due-, giving produrre: Similarly, the verbs with contracted infinitive in -orre have a regular imperfect based on the stem in pon-: The contracted infinitive bere has a regular imperfect bev-evo.
The only true irregular imperfect is that of essere: Uses of the imperfect The imperfect indicative is mainly used to refer to the past see In using past tenses, one should always consider the context or aspect. The question of aspect and the choice of imperfect or perfect is very important when referring to the past in Italian, particularly in situations where the two past forms are used in the same sentence see Here is a summary of the most common cases when the imperfect indicative is used: Prendevamo sempre il caffe alle We used to have a coffee at Forms Guardavo la televisione quando e'e stato il terremoto.
I was watching television when the earthquake struck. Era mezzanotte, pioveva e la macchina correva silenziosa. It was midnight, it was raining and the car ran silently. Non ho mangiato perche non avevo fame. I didn't eat because I wasn't hungry 46 Moods and tenses of verbs Erano gia le 5. La settimana scorsa mi hanno detto che tu venivi saresti venuto ieri. Last week I was told that you'd come yesterday. In a few cases the imperfect indicative is not used to refer to past time, but as a substitute for a different verb mood such as conditional or subjunctive: Volevo vorrei delle rose.
I'd like some roses. Buongiorno, cercavo un libro di Umberto Eco. Good morning, I'm looking for a book by Umberto Eco. Mi scusi, non volevo disturbare. Excuse me, I don't want to disturb you. This is more common in spoken than in written Italian. Se andavi piu piano non facevi l'incidente. If you had gone more slowly, you wouldn't have had the accident. For the use of the imperfect of modal verbs dovere, potere, volere, see Of the two forms of the perfect compound and simple the compound is by far the more frequently used, especially in spoken language.
The uses of the compound perfect and other past tenses are illustrated in Part B. Uses of the compound perfect The compound perfect refers to facts that are seen as completed, but have some relation to the present, generally in one of the following two contexts: Ho appena preso un caffe.
I've just had a coffee. Avete capito quello che ho detto? Did you understand what I said? Siamo venuti in Inghilterra vent'anni fa. We came to England 20 years ago and we are still here. La Basilica di S. Pietro e stata costruita nel Cinquecento. Peter's Basilica was built in the 16th century and you can still see it now Because of these characteristics the compound perfect is very frequently used in conversational Italian, allowing the speaker to relate the facts of the past to the present.
Simple perfect passato remoto Forms The forms of the simple perfect passato remoto of the three regular conjugations are shown in the verb tables 2. Note in particular that the simple perfect of certain 2nd conjugation verbs has alter- native forms for the first person singular and third person singular and plural: The most common irregularity is the short -si ending alternating with the longer form based on the stem of the infinitive, e. Vissi male a Milano. Percid sono tomato a Napoli. I had a bad time living in Milan. That's why I came back to Naples and I am still here.
I dinosauri scomparvero 65 milioni d'anni fa. Dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago. In spoken Italian, the simple perfect tends to be used very seldom in the north of Italy, but quite often in Tuscany, and in central and southern Italy, in the contexts mentioned above. In written language, the simple perfect is very common, espe- cially in narrative and historical language, because of the precise way in which it defines the past Typically it is the tense of fairy tales, when events are placed in a far and abstract past, in a different dimension separate from the reality of the present: Come andb che maestro Ciliegia, falegname, trovb un pezzo di legna che piangeva e rideva come un bambino.
Appena maestro Ciliegia ebbe visto quel pezzo di legno, si rallegrb tutto e, dandosi una fregatina di mani per la contentezza, borbottb a mezza voce: Detto fatto, prese subito l'ascia arrotata per cominciare a levargli la scorza e a digrossarlo; ma quando fu li per lasciare andare la prima asciata, rimase col braccio sospeso in aria, perche senti una vocina sottile che disse raccomandandosi: It is formed by the past participle and the imperfect of avere or essere.
Barrons has a terrific book that concentrates exclusively on verbs, aptly called Italian Verbs. Children's books are another fun way of building vo- cabolario. If you're in Italy, visit the libreria bookstore and pick up a few. Italian publications, especially magazines, are usually quite entertaining, full of glossy, color ads and interesting facts.
The elegant world of la moda fashion , il viag- gio travel , and la cucina food are three popular topics. Pick up a copy and figure out the contents by studying the titles. Also, the next time a friend takes a trip to Italy, ask him or her to bring back the in-flight magazine if it has both Italian and English. Alitalia pro- duces a wonderful publication that has the Italian and the English side by side. You'll be surprised at how much you can pick up. Become a Class Act Call your local universitd and investigate whether it has an Italian department.
Find out if it has a mailing list for events, and make a point of meeting other "Italophiles. Every week, make it a ritual to sit in front of your televisione for educational purposes, naturally. Needless to say, you want the subtitled versions stay away from anything dubbed — a character is his voice. Listen to the actors and mimic them, or simply read the translations and enjoy.
You will absorb far more if you are relaxed and having fun. Try to make out the different words within each frase. Isolate words that are repeated. Make it a challenge and see how many words you understand. Get the Right Tools Invest in a good bilingual dictionary, preferably one printed in Italia that offers vari- ous features, such as stress accentuation many dictionaries will indicate irregularly stressed syllables and parts of speech. Bigger is not necessarily better — choose a dizionario that isn't too cumbersome so you'll be more likely to bring it with you.
Don't skimp on price here — a good dictionary is something you'll keep for a long time. Flash cards are also a good resource. You can pick up a box of flash cards at any book- store, or you can make your own. That unused box of business cards from your old job, or unused pages from your last address book are perfetto. Punch holes in them and put 10 or 20 on a key ring so you can put them in your pocket or bag for "study quickies. Find out what station has Italian news. RAI, the Italian television and radio network, airs programs every day.
Even though it will sound as though they are speaking a mil- lion miles a minuto, exposing your ears to the lingua will evolve into understanding it. Read the Fine Print Keep the owner's manual to any appliances, electronics, or cameras that include mul- tilingual instructions. This is a great way to learn technical terms — and, once more, you don't need to pick up a dictionary; the English translation is probably already there. Find Birds of a Feather Study the lingua with a friend.
There's nothing like having a partner to keep you motivated and on your toes. Practice together, and maybe invest in a private tutor to meet with you every couple of weeks. The costo is usually reasonable considering the kind of attenzione you will receive, and it will be good incentive to keep up with your studies. There's nothing like a good conversazione or quarrel to hone your skills. Play It Again, Salvatore Make tapes of yourself speaking Italian, and then play these tapes to a native Italian speaker your new friends, the waiter in the local ristorante, your nonna, or anyone who will listen.
Ask them to evaluate your linguistic strengths and weaknesses. There's Nothing to Stop You Learning la bella lingua will not occur overnight. Many people find that, as with all new projects, they are hard-working and organized for the first few lessons, but then life gets in the way. Even if it's for only five minutes a day, be committed. You can learn Italian; I've taught hundreds of people and know from esperienza it does not have to remain a dream.
There is nothing to stop you from obtaining this goal. At times, your progresso will be obvious; other times, you will wonder what, if anything, is being accomplished. Remember, it's the viaggio that counts, not just the destinazione. The following lista outlines a few things to keep in mind that will make your journey a little easier: Whether you devote 10 rninuti a day every giorno, or two hours a week on Sundays, stick to your programma.
If you can't do it one week, no guilt trips. Make it up the next week. Grammar is simply a tool for learning a language. You figured out how to communicate your needs and understand what your mamma was telling you long before you could identify an adjective, noun, or verb. It probably started with a simple word, such as "cookie," which you mis- pronounced as coo-coo. As you matured, you began expressing your likes and dislikes with words such as "No! Grammar is simply the vocabolario, as any trade will have, used in language learning.
You never know what mistake might end up being a discovery. Would we recognize Christopher Columbus if he had made it to India? As the result of a major wrong turn, he stumbled upon the Americas. The Italians are among the most warm, hospitable, easy- going, open-minded people you will ever meet.
Say buon giorno good day every time you walk into an establishment, and watch the response. They are listening to what you are trying to express, not what mistakes you may have made. It's another story to master this rich, complicated tongue, but you can cross that ponte when you come to it. You start at the beginning. One foot in front of the other, an entire continente can be traversed, step by step. Now, as a fun exercise, go back through this chapter and count how many new Italian words you learned just for showing up here — and without even trying!
Remember that la lingua is simply a means to communicate your thoughts to another persona. If you can learn to speak one language, you can learn to speak another. Whether it takes you three months or three years, one step in front of the other is the way you will achieve your goals. Italian ristoranti specializing in different regional tastes have cropped up in just about every villaggio and citta.
Italian films have made us laugh so hard our sides hurt, yet we can never escape the teatro without having dabbed at the corners of our eyes at least once. Advertisers have hooked into the enormous appeal that Vltalia has for almost every prodotto imaginable, and there is more than one commercial using the Italian language to make its point. Italian lingo ciao , bravo, ancora! This chapter offers you a different eye on the Italian language and compares it with English. It also gives a summary of different parts of grammatica and attempts to take away some of the intimidation factor that often accompanies learning a new lingua.
Within the Italian peninsula lived the Estrucans giving Tuscany its name , Faliscans, Oscans, Umbrians, and a slew of other tribes. These Italic languages all contributed to the eventual development of the language we now recognize as Italian. It is not clear when Italian became a distinct language from Latin, since no Italian text has been recorded before the tenth century; however, we do know that by the fourth century, St Jerome had translated the Bible from Latin into the language spoken by the common people.
Latin Lovers The history of the Italian language spans centuries and begins with classical Latin, the literary language of ancient Roma and the language used principally by the upper classes, the educated, and later the clergy — hence the term Romance languages from which French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Rumanian are also derived. These languages were all offshoots, or dialects. Italian is the Romance language closest to Latin. La Bella Lingua Set aside a predetermined amount of study time that you can realis- tically commit toward your goal of learning Italian.
Whether it's eight minuti a day or un'ora twice a week, stick to it Languages are like seeds that drift from one area into another, germinating wherever there is ripe soil. Latin made its way into English during the seventh century as England was converting to Christianity, and later during a revival in classical scholarship stemming from the Renaissance Rinascimento , literally meaning "rebirth". During the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies, hundreds of Latin words were incorporated into English, resulting in much of today's legal and medical terminologia. As a result, many small words in modern English have their origins in Latin, a hop from Italian.
Chapter 4, "You Know More Than You Think," presents you with a more thorough listing of those similar words, or cog- nates. Keep in mind that English is a much broader language than Italian in terms of the sheer number of words it possesses. By adding the ending -ino to the word gatto, we create the word gattino. A commonly used superlative in English is -est which is attached to adjectives to describe the smallest, biggest, or best. In Italian, this would be expressed with the ending -issimo, as in the adjec- tive bellissimo very beautiful, gorgeous.
In spite of the fact that Italian has fewer words than English, Italians have no difficulty expressing themselves, as you will find out for yourself. How Do You Say? Dialect A dialect is a variation of a language, usually particular to a region and often quite different from the standard spoken vernacular. Due to its shape and long history of outside influences, Italy has hundreds of different dialects, many of which are still used today.
Some dialects are virtually identical to Italian, but with particular collo- quialisms and idiomatic expressions understood only by those familiar with the di- alect. Other dialects are like different languages. For example, up north in Lombardia, you'll hear a specifically German accent and a softening of the R's, a result of the district's rule by Austria at one time. In the Piedmont region, you can hear the French influ- ence. Down south near Napoli, you can hear Spanish and French, whereas in Cala- bria, certain expessions are quite clearly Greek kalimera means literally "Good day" in modern Greek or Albanian in nature.
The islands of Sardegna and Sicilia also have their own languages. Many Italian immigrants brought their dialects to the United States, where they were further influenced by factors such as culture, English, and other dialects. This partly explains why the Italian spoken by many immigrants often differs greatly from the Italian presented in this book — and why you may still have difficulty communicating with your grandmother after having mastered the basics. Many variations or dialects of Italian are spoken around the world today, in such places as Switzerland and many parts of South America.
What's What A diminutive is a suffix, or end- ing, that denotes smallness, youth, or familiarity, such as caro dear and carino cute , ragazzo boy and ragazzino small boy. A superlative expresses the ex- treme, or highest degree of some- thing, such as bello beautiful and bellissimo gorgeous. It was his poetry that legitimized the Italian language as we know it today, since all his predecessors wrote exclusively in Latin. His most famous work.
La Divina Commedia, is an epic poem depicting an imaginary journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. That work was actually influenced by another of the world's greatest poets, Virgilio Virgil , who served as Dante's guide both literally, as a writer, and figuratively, in the story itself. Tuscan Italian In modern Italy, the standard language taught in schools and spoken on television is Tuscan Italian, primarily because this was the regional dialect used by the great me- dieval writers Dante, Petrarca, and Boccaccio, all of whom used what was then only a spoken language.
Modern Italian is often quite different from the Italian used during the Middle Ages, but, as when you compare modern English to Old English, there are also striking similarities. Look at this excerpt from Dante's Inferno: Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, che la diritta via era smarrita. In the middle of our life's journey I found myself in a dark wood, out of which the straight way was lost.
The Italian has a wonderful rhyme quality — the word vita working with the word smarrita. Although the translation to English loses some of the flow and meaning of the poem, you can still get a sense of what is being communicated; and you certainly can gain an understanding of the musicality of the language. It's like looking at a photograph of a bright, sunny day where you can see the colori but you can't feel the warmth of the sun, experience the expanse of blue sky, or hear the vento rustle the leaves in the trees.
As an early Humanist, Petrarca 's Ideas focused more on love and other earthly concerns, making him very popular during the Renaissance. Giovanni Boccaccio has been rated one of the greatest literary figures of Italy. A contemporary of Petrarca, he is most known for The Decameron. Written around the time of the Black Death of , The Decameron is a collection of novellas, many comic, some bawdy, a few tragic— and all captivating and engaging.
So What's Your Story? By using your powers of deduction, it's often possibile to figure out a word's significato simply by looking at its root. Per es- empio, the word pomodoro means "tomato" in Italian. Coming from the Latin words pomum "apple" or "fruit" and oro signifying "gold" , the word derives from the Latin aurum connected to the word aurora, meaning "dawn" or "redness". Thus the word pomodoro breaks down to literally mean "golden apple. In Italian, the word for the season spring is primavera, virtually meaning "first green. Think verb, or in Latin, verbum, meaning "word.
Rather than memorizing a list of words, try creating associations with words you already know. Sometimes it's as semplice as adding a vowel here and there, or tacking on an Italian ending. Your cog- nitive abilita to make sense will do the rest. Once you have an understanding of how the endings change from English to Italian, you'll be able to switch from one lingua to the other in no time at all. Understanding what your motives are for learning Italian is key to accomplishing your goals. Having a destination will help you map out the journey. It will help you to gloss over certain lezioni lessons that may be less relevant to your purpose, while concentrating on those elements of the language more suited to fit your needs.
Here are some examples: Instead, you should focus on verbs and their tenses, nouns, and adjectives. Here, pronunciation is essential, and a knowledge of some common idiomatic expressions is helpful to break the ice. Devel- oping a sizable repertoire of words related to your interests will make your viag- gio to Italy that much more interesting as you seek new ristoranti and hidden treasures.
It's good to know a few verb infinitives just to get you pointed in the right direction, but it might not be necessario to spend too much time on the many tenses. The point is to be able to meet your needs and express your thoughts. Use the street signs as opportunities to gain insight about Italy and its rich culture.
La Bella Lingua Having a good bilingual dizionario is essential to learn- ing a new language, whatever your purpose may be. Use your dictionary as an adventurer would use a map. Keep it handy, somewhere where you do most of your studying so that you don't have far to reach every time a new word pops up. You'll be amazed at how often you'll use it if you're not climbing a ladder to get to the top shelf of your bookcase whenever a need arises. You should understand the significance of the abbreviations used in the defi- nitions. The following table lists a few of them. Singular feminine noun — m.
Singular masculine noun s.
Transitive verb — v. There is often a handy summary of the language tucked away somewhere in the front or back pages. Read the small print. Speak Easy Some of you may not remember seventh-grade grammar as well as you would like. After all, at the time, you could see no practical purpose; you never envisioned that you would actually choose to learn a language on your own, and you were much too busy writing notes to your best friend to pay attention to your teacher.
You're older now, your hormones are in check, and you're a little wiser, so take a trip down memory lane and review some of those parts of speech. Person , Place , or Pasta Nouns are people, places, things, and ideas. Poet, Pompei, pasta, and principle are all nouns. In Italian, all nouns have a gender: They are either masculine m. In addition, all nouns in Italian indicate number: They are either singular s. La Bella Lingua If an explanation given in this book still leaves you confused, refer to that same topic in a grammar book such as Italian Verbs and Essentials of Grammar, by Carlo Graziano Passport Books.
Sometimes it takes two different explanations to fully grasp a new concept. They are big, little, pretty, ugly, and all the colors of the rainbow. Unlike English, Italian adjectives agree in number and gender sex with the nouns they modify. For example, if the noun is singular and masculine, as in il vino the wine , then the adjective must also be singular and masculine, as in il vino rosso the red wine.
In Italian, the adjective is almost always placed after the noun it modifies, as in la casa bianca the house white , but exceptions exist, as in il bravo ragazzo the good boy. You'll get a much clearer idea of how adjectives work in a little while. Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
They move us quickly and hap- pily toward our goal of learning Italian. Most adverbs in English end in -ly. In Italian, many adverbs end in -mente, such as rapidamente and allegramente. Pronouns substitute for nouns and refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. We ate a lot of food in the restaurant, and it the food cost quite a penny. In Italian, pronouns are a little more complicated because they must, like nouns, reflect sex and number.
There is no neuter it in Italian. There are several kinds of pronouns, of which the most important to remember are subject pronouns he, she, and so on , direct object pronouns, and indirect object pronouns it. It's All Relative Prepositions are words such as above, along, beyond, before, through, in, on, at, to, for, and so on that are placed before nouns to indicate a relationship to other words in a sentence. Prepositions are best learned in connection with the expressions in which they are used.
For example, you may think about someone, but you can also think of going on vacation. Where the Action Is Verbs indicate action. An infinitive verb is a verb that has not been conjugated, as in to be, to eat, or to travel. A conjugated verb is simply a form of the verb that agrees with the subject.
You conjugate verbs in English all the time when you say "I am," "you are," and "he is. Intransitive verbs can stand alone, without a direct object, as "sing" does in the sen- tence "I sing. Transitive verbs can be followed by a direct object or require a reflexive pronoun, as in "We kissed one another," or "Robert is going to the party. It's important to remember how versatile words can be, and you do that by looking at the entire sentence. This is essential to extrapo- lating the meaning of the text or even a word that you don't recognize.
Look at the word inside. Watch how the meaning changes in the following sentences: The plane should arrive inside of an hour, adverb The inside walls of the church are covered with art. If there's more than one translation listed in your dictionary for a given word, it's impor- tant to take your time and skim through the list After you have found your word, if you are still not sure of whether it is the appropriate translation, look up the word you just chose in its opposite language.
For example, if you are looking up the word mean, ask yourself whether you want the adjective mean as in nasty or the verb to mean as in "to signify". Practice Makes Perfetto Using the Italian definitions just given, figure out the part of speech for "inside" in each of the following sentences, and complete the translated sentences in Italian: We live inside the walls of the city.
Abitiamo le mura della citta. The woman's insides hurt. Alla donna fa male lo. We will arrive home inside an hour. Arriviamo a casa un'ora. He has inside information on the Palio. Lui ha sul Palio. The inside of the church is dark. L' della chiesa e scuro. You can improve your Italian without having to read a thing. Some titles include these: Okay, let's go back to the seventh grade again.
The sun is shining outside the school windows, and the teacher is droning on about objects and subjects. As she's speaking, you're on the verge of falling asleep. The room is too hot, you're bored, and you're thinking, "I'm never going to need this to do anything! But you still aren't quite sure what an ob- ject is, unless it's something unidentified and coming from parts unknown.
Use a sentence from your first-grade book to look at what an object is Jack throws Jane a ball. Take a minuto to find the verbo in this sentence. Remember, verbs are where the action is. Did you figure out it was the verb "to throw"? You're on your way. Who threw the ball? Jack did, that's who — and he is your subject. The million-Zzre question now is, what did Jack throw? That's the di- rect object. A direct object is the recipient of the verb's action. In sentences with two nouns following the verb, the first is generally the indirect object, the word that tells to whom or for whom the action was done Jane.
Let's continue with Jack and Jane. Jane, never one to say no to a challenge, decides to keep the ball rolling. Analyze the next sentence for its subject and object pronouns: She throws it back to him. Did you figure out that "she" is the subject pro- noun substituting for "Jane" and "it" substitut- ing for "ball" is the object pronoun? So you see, there's nothing to worry about. You know every- thing you need to get this ball rolling and learn the language you've always dreamed of knowing. Drawing from Esperienza Have you ever studied another lingua? Perhaps you took spagnolo when you were in high school.
At the urging of your parents, you might have studied Latino, and after three semesters of it, all you can remember are the words veni, vedi, vici came, saw, conquered. Whatever the last language was that you studied, whether it was francese, russo, ebreo Hebrew , or cinese, it will be the first lingua to come out of your mouth La Bella Lingua Make a list of 10 topics you would like to be able to talk about in Italian.
Put the list at the front of your notebook so that you're reminded of your goals. If your frase comes out one-third itaLiano, one-third francese, and one-third inglese, it's still better than nothing. La Bella Lingua Pull out your old notes from the last time you studied a foreign Lingua. If you've been out of scuoLa for a while, they will be a good reminder. You may be sur- prised to see that you actually learned something back then, even if your heart wasn't in it As you wallow in nostalgic longing for those years, remind yourself that there's no time like the pre- sente to begin something new.
It's naturale — your brain retains everything, although some of the informazione ends up stored away until you decide to dust off the cobwebs and reopen the files. Your pronunciation may initially reflect those first lan- guage classes, but you'll soon be rounding your R's and wooing your partner Italian-style in no time flat.
If you have studied another Romance language, you'll already be familiar with the basic struttura of Italian. Let's take a look at some of those basic regole rules: Per esem- pio, if a noun is feminine singular, its adjective must also be feminine singular, as in la lingua italiana. The familiar form, tu, is used with friends and children. Your body will remember in ways your mind will not. Studying aloud will get your mouth into the habit of helping you to ricordare. If you read the words, write them down, and read aloud, you'll be speaking in no time.
Understanding the differ- ent parts of speech takes away the mystery of learning a second language. At first, it's all just a jumble of sounds and letters and words, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, your confusione is replaced with comprensione as a clear picture emerges. Italian Pronunciation Initially, it seems as though anyone speaking Italian is singing. There is a continuity and fluidity that reminds you of a beautifully sustained note. This has a great deal to do with the fact that almost all Italian words end in a vowel and are often pro- nounced as if joined together.
With few exceptions, Italian pronunciation is very easy to learn. As a phonetic lan- guage, what you see is what you say — at least most of the time. Once you learn how to read the music, you'll be able to play along with anyone. The key is to understand the basic differences between the English and Italian rules of pronunciation. When pronouncing Italian words, keep your tongue and mouth alert Emphasize double conso- nants without overstressing letters or syllables; otherwise you'll end up sounding like someone trying a little too hard.
The same d is used in the word ciao. Nonetheless, after some time even these sounds will come easily to the atten- tive listener. Italian requires clean diction with clearly pronounced vowels and s. Double consonants in words such as anno year , birra beer , and gatto cat should be em- phasized. Avoid sounding overly nasal or guttural. You will see less of the pronunciation in later chapters. Flip back to this chapter if you are not sure of how a word should be pronounced.
As you read, you'll discover that the spelling of Italian words follows a logical pattern. Italian uses the grave accent ' , pronounced grav, on words where the stress falls on the final syllable: Don't be surprised to find conflict- ing examples. The written accent is also used to distinguish several Italian words from others that have the same spelling but a different meaning. I'animale instead of lo animate d'ltalia instead of di Italia dov'e instead of dove e Don't Get Stressed Out As a rule, most Italian words are stressed on the next-to-last syllable, such signorina see-nyoh-ree - nah , and minestrone mee-neh-stroh-neh.
Exceptions exist, making rules rather difficult to follow.
Some words are stressed on the third-to-last syllable, such as automobile ow-toh-moh-bee-leh and dialogo dee-ah-loh-goh. Other words — mostly verb forms — are stressed on the fourth-to-last syllable, such as studiano stoo - dee-ah-noh , and telefonano teh-leh-foh-nah-noh. Finally, stress should be placed on the last syllable when you see an accent mark at the end of a word, such as citta chee-tah , universita oo-nee-ver-see-ta , and virtu veer-too. I've indicated in the early chapters where to put the stress in words of three syllables or more, and in words of two syllables with an accented and thus stressed syllable.
In the future, consult a good dictionary when you are unclear about which sylla- ble should be emphasized. Generally, you will see either an accent placed above, or a dot placed below the stressed vowel. Some Italian letter combinations are seldom found in English. These sounds include the gl com- bination in words such as figlio son pronounced fee-lyoh ; the word gli the pronounced ylee, like the ll in the English word million ; and the gn combination, seen in words such as gnocchi potato dumplings pronounced nyoh-kee , and bagno bathroom pronounced bah-nyoh, like the ny sound in canyon or the ni sound in onion.
Always remember to enunciate vowels clearly and not to slur your words. Say what you see. Double RR's should be held and emphasized when trilled. Double consonants should always be emphasized— but never as separate sounds. They should be joined and slide into one another, as in the word pizza pee-tsah. Rolling Your R's There are a few sounds in Italian that are not found in English, the most obvious being the rolled R. Now curl the tip of your tongue and exhale. You should get the beginning trill of a rolled R. Once you get it, be subtle — a little trill will do. The Long and the Short of It: Vowels The Italian word for "vowel" — vocale — is almost the same as the English word "vocal," a good reminder that Italian vowels should always be pronounced clearly.
If you can master the vowels, you're already halfway to the point of sounding Italian. The follow- ing table shows how the vowels are pronounced. Read aloud to practice. Consonants The following table contains a list of consonants and includes letters recognized in foreign languages. Once you get the hang of it, Italian is so easy to pronounce that it would be just as simple to read the words without the pronunciation guide.
Most Italian consonants are pronounced like the English ones. It's the different letter combi- nations that take a little study. La Bella Lingua The best way to remember how a particular letter combination should be pronounced i's to simply recall a word that you already know. Per esempio, the word ciao is pronounced with the soft c, as in "chow. The word Chianti is pronounced with a hard c, as in kee-ahn-tee.
When you come across other words such as chi and perche with this combination, you'll know just how they're pronounced. A Say ah, as in "father": The rules change depending on what vowel is connected to what consonant. By remembering even one word's pronunciation that follows a given rule, you can always fall back on that word as a way of checking yourself. The following examples illustrate many letter combinations you'll find in Italian. You know more than you think! It's important to see how much Italian and English share.
Remember that a lot of English derives from Latin. It helps to make associations with familiar words. Each time you do this, you are creating a bridge from one shore to another. For example, the word luna moon comes from Latin, as we see in the English word "lunatic. A11 sorts of associations can be made to "illumi- nate" in Italian, illuminare these connections. Dipthongs No, a dipthong is not a teeny-weeny bikini. The term "diphthong" refers to any pair of vowels that begins with one vowel sound and ends with a different vowel sound within the same syllable.
Keep in mind that not all pairs of vowels form dipthongs. Double Consonants Anytime you see a double consonant in a word, such as birra beer or anno year , it is important to emphasize that consonant, or you may be misunderstood. Take a look at a few words whose meanings change when there is a double consonant. As you will see, in some cases you definitely want to emphasize those double consonants: I am anno ahn-noh: A double ss is pronounced like the s in the English word "tassel" and the Italian word passo pass.
A single z is pronounced like the z in the word "zebra. Double consonants will not be highlighted in the pronunciation. It's up to you to emphasize them. Practice pronouncing the following words, remembering to slide the syllables together: The word zia zee-ah maintains two distinct, separate sounds and consequently does not produce a diphthong. On the other hand, the word Italia ee-tahl-yah does produce a diphthong.
Keep in mind that diphthongs are always pronounced as one sound. A Is for Ancona When spelling out words, rather than using proper names like you do in English T as in Tom , Italians often use the names of Italian cities. A practical way of remembering the alphabet is to learn how to spell your name in Italian. The name of the Italian letter is given beside the letter. The stressed syllable is in bold. Examples of foreign letters are given with commonly used nouns. The best way to learn how to speak another language is to spend time listening to it.
If you don't have live entertainment, some suggestions include these: Visit your local biblioteca library or libreria bookstore to see what they have on hand. Audio cassettes are excellent for developing listening skills. You may want to see if your local universita has a language lab you can use. La Bella Lingua Expand your vocabulary.
Play the Italian name game with friends interested in learning Italian. Using the letters of a famous Italian name, see how many Italian words you can come up with. Keep your Italian dictionary close by. There are many wonderful sites now offering audio samples. Listen to the Italian radio station or invest in some music you've never heard before. Aside from opera, you'll find Italian hip-hop, rock and roll, and traditional folk songs, often with lyrics.
Listen to the different dialects. Patience and Practice Pay Off Anyone who has ever studied — or even heard someone studying — a new musical in- strument knows that the first time you pick up a violin, you're not going to sound like a virtuoso yet another Italian word. Fortunately, learning Italian is much easier than playing a violino. With a dash of pazienza, a dollop of dedication, and a pinch of pratica, you'll be rolling your R's and sounding like a true Italian speaker in no time.
Keep renting films, listening to musica, and getting out there. Tickle a single R, but rrrrrrroll your double RR's. Rev them like an engine, purr like a cat, or growl like a bear. Slide those syllables together! What if you were told that you were already halfway to speaking Italian? The fact is, you are. Remember that English, although a Germanic language, contains many words of Latin origin. The list of Italian words you already know is longer than you can imagine. Some are virtually the same, whereas most are easily identified by their similarity to English.
Telefono, attenzione, universita, automobile, studente — the list goes on and on. Cognates show how seemingly different languages are connected. Any words that are similar to and look the same as other words in a foreign language are called cognates, or, in Italian, parole simili literally, "similar words". By the end of this chapter, you will be in the know for one of the mysteries of language learning — and with this key, many doors will be opened.
False cognates can be misleading; in Italian, the word parenti means "relatives," not "parents," as one might think. A Little Fantasia You get off the aeroplano in Roma and push your way through la dogana — no, you're not declaring anything. You hail a tassi and tell the driver you want to go to centro, where an adorable pensione that a friend recom- mended awaits your arrivo. As you race away from the chaos of the aeroporto and onto the autostrada, you are amazed by how veloce the automobili travel; everyone seems to be in such a hurry!
The driver of the tassi asks E la Sua prima volta in Italia? You smile and nod your head: You saw the word primo from the last time you ordered a plate of pasta in your local Italian ristorante and remember that it means "first," like the word "primary. It's a strange sensazione, but you feel as though you've been here before. How could that be? Italian has several definite articles, all of which indicate gender masculine or feminine and number singular or plural.
When you look at the following list of cognates, you'll notice that all Italian nouns are marked by a defi- nite article. Although the gender of nouns is easily identifiable in Italian, it is best to learn the noun with its appropriate definite article. It might seem confusing at first For now, keep in mind the following: If It Looks Like a Duck La Bella Lingua Collect menus from your favorite Italian ristorante and study the ingredienti for each piatto.
Often, what sounds exotic is simply a description of the food. Angel hair pasta, called capellini, literally means "thin hairs. Study the places and the time and dates in the following two tables to get un'idea of how many parole simili exist be- tween Italian and English. Nine out of ten times, your initial gut response will be correct — trust it! Where in the World: Places Where to begin? Look at the cognates in the following table. Each noun is given with the appropriate definite article to get you started understanding gender.
La Bella Lingua Why memorize a hundred words when you can study a handful of endings? The possibilita are endless! Although exceptions exist, it's amazing how many English words can be easily converted into Italian by substituting a little letter: Sure you do — the following table lists some cognates related to time. Time and Dates Italian English Italian English Vanniversario the anniversary il minuto the minute annuale annual la notte the night biennale biannual I'ora the hour la data the date il secondo the second la festa il millennio the holiday as in "festive" the millennium il tempo the time also, weather How Intelligente You Are!
Convert the following words into Italian by changing the endings accordingly. Thinking about everything you've learned so far in this chapter on cognates, cover the English translation in the following table with a piece of paper, and try to guess the meanings of these adjective cognates. Additionally, they are listed according to their gen- der. Your job is to simply write down what they mean in English. Masculine Nouns Study the different articles used in front of these masculine nouns.
Do you see a pattern beginning to emerge? Masculine Cognates Italian Masculine Nouns English Translation Italian Masculine Nouns English Translation Vaeroplano il motore Vanniversario il museo I'arco il naso Vattore I'odore I'autohus il paradiso il caffe il presidente il colore il profiimo il comunismo il programma il continente il rispetto il co tone il salario il direttore il servizio il dizionario il socialismo il dottore lo spirito I'elefante lo studente il fatto il tassi il gruppo il te I'idiota il telefono il limone il treno il meccanico Feminine Nouns Try the same thing with these feminine nouns in the following table.
Go ahead, tell the world you're studying Italian. My, aren't you proud? In Italian, these words are given a gender and, with a few exceptions, are pronounced similarly. Each word is shown with the appropriate Italian definite article. Fortunately, in Italian there aren't many false cognates, or falsi amici. The following table shows you a few false cognates of which you should be aware.
False Friends Italian Word Meaning Italian Word Meaning ape bee lunatico moody argomento issue magazzino department store camera room marrone brown come how morbido soft con with pesante heavy commozione emotion rumore noise fabbrica factory sano healthy fattoria farm sensibile sensitive not "sensible" firma signature stampa press not "stamp" grosso large testa head libreria bookstore How Much Do You Understand Already?
You've unpacked your bags and are ready to hit the town. Read the following sen- tences and try to determine their meaning. Check your pronunciation guide especially with those c's and g's to make sure you sound like a native: La citta e bella.
II museo e interessante. II ristorante e terribile. II servizio e buono. La giacca e grande. La montagna e alta. Your Turn Now write and say the following sentences in Italian. Look back at your cognate list to make sure you are using the appropriate article. The equivalent of is in Italian is e.
The doctor is elegant. The violence is terrible. The president is famous. The discussion is important. The bank is rich. The idiot is intelligent. In general, masculine nouns use adjectives ending in -o, and feminine nouns use adjectives ending in -a. Everything has to agree, as in la lingua italiana or il dizionario italiano. Verb Cognates Many Italian verbs are so simile to their English counterparts that you will recognize their significato almost immediately.
Per fortuna, it is easy to identify an infinitive verbo in Italian because of the endings. Take a look at the following table and see if you can determinate the meanings of the verb cognates listed. When you look up a verb in a dictionary, it is important to look it up under its infinitive form. Verbs are perhaps the trickiest aspect of learning any language because they have so many forms, or tenses, such as the present, simple past, future, conditional, and so on. Many Italian verbs change significantly after they are conjugated.
As in English, if you do not know that the infinitive form of the word ate is "to eat," you cannot find it in the dictionary. How much have you learned so far? Test the waters with the following exercises. Translation Please You shouldn't have too much of a problem deciphering the meaning of these cognate-rich sentences: L'ltalia fa parte del continente europeo. Lo studente studia la matematica e storia.
L'attore e molto famoso nel cinema. II meccanico ripara Vautomobile. II cuoco prepara un'insalata e un antipasto. II dottore conversa con il paziente. La famiglia desidera un appartamento moderno e grande. La turista giapponese visita il museo e la cattedrale. Il presidente presenta il programma. Roberto preferisce la musica classica. Imagine that you have just arrived in Italy, and you want to express your opinions to a fellow traveler.
Use what you have learned in this chapter and try to express the following: The chocolate is delicious. The restaurant is excellent. The city is splendid and magnificent. The perfume is elegant. The conversation is interesting. The doctor is sincere. The student is intelligent. The museum is important. The cathedral is high. The train is fast. The following literary titles here all contain cognates.
Give their English equivalents: For example, guardare is "to look at. You may think you are saying one thing when you actually are saying another. That should give you a lift — it's time to go to the next level. How Do You Do? You should be looking for ways to practice your new salutations whenever there's an opportunity. Maybe it's when you speak to the elegant signora who greets you every Friday night at your local Italian ristorante.
Perhaps it's with your nonna, if you can get her to speak in Italian. But if you have no friends or family to practice with, then it'll have to be the television screen as you watch Fellini's Amarcord for the fifth time. These are the first things after the swear words anyone learns in a foreign language. You want to know how to introduce yourself and be able to say, "Hello, I come in peace. What do you mean? What does it mean? How do you say? Stranger in a Strange Land You almost always want to begin a conversazione with a stranger in the polite form of address.
It gives you a chance to warm up to someone and then switch into the tu once a relationship has been established. You'll learn more about the different ways of expressing that incredible being that is you in Chapter 7, "What's the Subject? As you read aloud, try to sound naturale. To help you with the pronun- ciation, the stress has been indicated in words of three syllables and more.
If it has not been indicated, each syllable should be pronounced equally. Emphasize those doubled consonants when you see them. Signorina see-nyoh-ree-nah Miss Come sta? Sto bene, e Lei? I am well, and you? What's What Arrivederci literally means "to re-see one another"; the word is commonly used to say good-bye to friends or colleagues. ArrivederLa Is used under more formal circumstances.
Ci vediamo is also used often to express "see you later. The Most Important Phrases in Any Language The following table summarizes the most important phrases you should learn in any language. Pleasantries English Italian Pronunciation Greetings. Informal Greetings and Salutations Some useful informal greetings and phrases you can use in more casual, friendly situ- ations are given in the following table. Informal Salutations Italian Ciao! La Bella Lingua Here are a few exclamations you might hear: Communications You'll want to explain that you're studying Italian.
The following expressions will tell you how to tell them what you're doing. Communications Italian Pronunciation English Capisco. Lo ripeta per favore. Parli lentamente per piacere. Days When pronouncing days of the week, the accent tells you to emphasize the last sylla- ble. Italians have adopted the English way of expressing the end of the week by using our word "weekend," but you will also hear il fine della settimana.
Days of the Week Day of the Week Italian Pronunciation Monday lunedi loo-neh-dee Tuesday martedi mar-teh-dee Wednesday mercoledi mer-koh-leh-dee Thursday giovedi joh-veh-dee Friday venerdi ven-er-dee Saturday sabato sah-bah-toh Sunday domenica doh-meh-nee-kah the weekend il fine settimana eel fee-neh seh-tee-mah-nah I Mesi: Months If you're planning your next trip or want to talk astrology, knowing the month is im- portant.
Like the days of the week, the months are not capitalized in Italian. Find that special date in the following table. Italians have a similar saying, Aprile, ogni goccia un bacile. April, every drop a kiss.