Italian Lesson 1

Italian Reading

Text: Mi chiamo Speak7 , ho 26 anni, vivo negli Stati Uniti, a Washington D.C, io parlo
l’inglese è imparo l’italiano da un mese perché mi piacerebbe visitare l’Italia un giorno di questi.

Read the text and see if you can understand anything, try not to look at the translation
below the first time.

Translation: My name is Speak7 , I’m 26 years old, I live in the USA, in Washington D.C, I
speak English, and I’ve been learning Italian for a month, because I would like to visit Italy one
of these days.

Italian Verbs:

Italian Present Tense

Regular verbs Irregular verbs
Parlare Credere Partire Finire Essere Avere
Pronouns
(to speak) (to believe) (to leave) (to finish) (to be) (to have)
I Io Parlo Credo Parto Finisco Sono Ho

You Tu Parli Credi Parti Finisci Sei Hai

He/She Lui/ lei Parla Crede Parte Finisce È Ha

We Noi Parliamo Crediamo Partiamo Finiamo Siamo Abbiamo

You Voi Parlate Credete Partite Finite Siete Avete

They Loro Parlano Credono Partono Finiscono Sono Hanno

The table above shows all types of Italian verbs in the present tense, verbs ending with
(~are, ~ere, ~ire, ~ire type two) plus irregular verbs.
The blue font at the end of the verbs shows the endings that similar verbs may take, so
it’s all about manipulating the endings…

But when it comes to irregular verbs they should be memorized by heart, since they
don’t follow a logic rule.

Note that irregular verbs are used very often, that’s why you have to focus on them.
Also note that the pronouns are optional to use, since you can understand the subject
with the way a verb is conjugated, so for example: I speak can be either: io parlo, or
simply “parlo”.

Note that “Lei” can mean (she or you formal). Italian books usually use “Egli/Ella”
for “He/She” and “Essi/Esse” for “They”.

Italian Singular to Plural (Nouns & Adjectives)

Italian nouns and adjectives are different than the English ones, The Italian noun and
adjective take 4 forms, usually nouns & adjectives take “o” at the end of the singular
masculine, and “a” for singular feminine, for plural masculine “i”, plural feminine
take “e”.

Italian Singular to Plural

Singular Singular
Plural masculine Plural feminine
masculine feminine
Small Piccolo Piccola Piccoli Piccole

Child/ Children Bambino Bambina Bambini Bambine

However, it’s not always the case, some nouns and adjectives ending with “e” for
example only change to their plural, the feminine or masculine doesn’t matter to them.

Italian Singular to Plural

Singular Singular
Plural masculine Plural feminine
masculine feminine
Big Grande Grande Grandi Grandi

Restaurant Ristorante -- Ristoranti --

Night -- Notte -- Notti

Other exceptions are:

Nouns and adjectives ending in ~co/~ca and ~go/~ga are

spelt ~chi/~che and ~ghi/~ghe in the plural; these modifications are made simply to
maintain the same sound in the plural as well as the singular.

Singular Singular
Plural masculine Plural feminine
masculine feminine
White Bianca Bianche
Bianco Bianchi
Rich Ricca Ricche
Ricco Ricchi
Mushroom -- --
Fungo Funghi
Lines Riga Righe

The definite Articles

In Italian the English “the” is expressed in a more specific way.

Italian Definite Articles

Masculine Feminine

Singular à Plural Singular à Plural

il à i [il bambino (the child) à i bambini (the children]
la à le [la donna (the woman) à le donne
lo à gli (used only before word starting with
(women)]
sc/sp/st/gn/z) [lo stato (the state) à gli stati (the
states)]
l’ à le [used only before vowels,
l’isola (the island) à le isole (the islands)]
l’ à gli [used only before vowels l’uomo (the
man) à gli uomini (men)]

The indefinite Articles

Italian Indefinite Articles

Masculine Singular Feminine Singular
Un (a book = un libro)
Una (a woman = una donna)
Uno (used only before word starting with
Un’ (used only before feminine nouns
sc/sp/st/gn/z) example:
with a vowel, instead for masculine
 (a student = uno studente) nouns with a vowel it’s used Un)
example:

(a friend = un’amica) Feminine

(a friend = un amico) Masculine

(a plane = un aereo) Masculine

As you know, the indefinite article doesn’t have plural in English, but in Italian there
is a close way to express it, in English it is expressed by “some”

A book à books (no article) or some books. Un libro à libri or dei libri (you will learn
later how to use the form “del”)

Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers:

Italian Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers are simple and easy to learn:

Italian Numbers
Cardinal Numbers Ordinal Numbers
st
1 = Uno 11 = Undici 21 = Ventuno 87 = Ottantasette 1 = Primo
2nd = For ordinal
2 = Due 12 = Dodici 22 = Ventidue 98 = Novantotto numbers after 10
Secondo
3 = Tre 13 = Tredici 23 = Ventitre 100 = Cento 3 = Terzo you only need to
rd

4= 14 = delete the last

30 = Trenta 1000 = Mille 4th = Quarto vowel and
Quattro Quattordici
add~esimo.
5= 2006 =
15 = Quindici 31 = Trentuno 5th = Quinto
Cinque Duemilasei
11th =
6 = Sei 16 = Sedici 32 = Trentadue 6th = Sesto Undicesimo
17 = A number ending 7th =
7 = Sette 43 = Quarantatre with a vowel + a Settimo
Diciassette 12th =
number starting
54 =
8 = Otto 18 = Diciotto with a vowel 8th = Ottavo Dodicesimo
Cinquantaquattro st
= 1 one loses th
19 =
9 = Nove 65 = Sessantacinque it’s vowel 9th = Nono 20 = Ventesimo
Diciannove example:
ventuno 21 10th =
10 = Dieci 20 = Venti 76 = Settantasei
Decimo
Telling the time in Italian

Time in Italian
Che ore sono? (what time is it?)
01:00 = È l’una 10:45 = Sono le undici meno un quarto
02:00 = Sono le due 12:00 = Sono le dodici
03:05 = Sono le tre e cinque È mezzogiorno = It’s midday
04:10 = Sono le quattro e dieci È mezzanotte = It’s midnight
05:15 = Sono le cinque e un quarto Note that all time expressions start with sono,
06:20 = Sono le sei e venti except one and twelve o’clock, they both start
07:30 = Sono le sette e mezza/trenta with è.

Writing training: write the same text I wrote about myself at the beginning of this
page, but this time it should be about you.

Speaking training: try to read the text you just wrote about yourself out loud, if you
find any difficulty, take a look at the Italian alphabet table.

Some expressions to read and try to memorize:

Italian Expressions
A Happy New Year Buon Anno Nuovo
After you Dopo di lei
All right Va bene / Tutto bene
All the best! Tante buone cose!
And You? E tu? E lei? (polite)
Are you hungry/thirsty.? Ha/Hai/Avete fame/sete?
Are you sure? Sei sicuro/a?
At your service A sua disposizione
August 15 wish Buon Ferragosto
Be careful Attento/a/i/e or Stai/state attento/i
Be happy Sii felice (singolar) / Siate felici (plural)
Be my guest Faccia pure
Be strong Sii forte / Sia forte (polite)
Best wishes Tanti auguri
Big/ Small Grosso or Grande/ Piccolo
Bless you (after sneezing) Salute!
Bravo Bravo/a/i/e
Call back later. Richiami più tardi.
Can I have five kilos of potatoes. Posso avere cinque chili di patate?
Can I Help You? Posso aiutarti?/ Posso aiutarla (polite)?
Can I smoke here? Posso fumare qui?
Can You Help Me? Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi? (polite)
Can You Say It Again? Potresti ripetere per favore?/ Potrebbe ripetere per favore? (polite
Can You Speak Slowly? Puoi parlare lentamente? Potrebbe parlare lentamente? (polite)
Cheer up! Ànimo!
Cheers! Salute!
Cloudy È nuvoloso
Come in Venga dentro
Come on! Dai! / Su!
Come With Me! Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite)
Congratulations! Congratulazioni!/ Felicitazioni
Damn it Dannazione
Dear Maria/Riccardo, (friendly) Cara/o Maria/Riccardo, ...
Dear Mr Giovanni, Caro signor Giovanni,
Did You Like It Here? Ti piace qui?
Did you sleep well? Ha/Hai/Avete dormito bene?
Do as you please. Be my guest Si accomodi, prego. E’ mio ospite
Do you like coffee? Le/Ti/Vi piace il caffè?
Do You Like It? Ti piace?
Do you mind my... smoking? Le spiace se... fumo?
Do you need help? Ha/Hai bisogno di aiuto?
Do You Speak (English/ Italian)? Parli (inglese/italiano)?/ Parla (inglese/italiano)? (polite)
Do your best Fai del tuo meglio
Does it bother you if ...? Disturbo se ...?
Doesn't matter Fa lo stesso / Non importa
Don't mention it Come non detto
Don't Worry! Non ti preoccupare!
Enjoy your vacation Buone vacanze
Enjoy! (For meals…) Buon appetito!
Enough! Basta!