ITALIAN LESSONS - ARTICLES / ARTICULI

Definite and Indefinite articles Articuli indeterminativo ed determinativo Articles are words that precede the substantive (a noun). Definite article: used to indicate that a thing is unique in some way. Indefinite article: used to indicate that a thing is not identified as unique. In Italian the article must agree in gender and number with the noun, which means that the definite article la, for example, should precede a singular and feminine. Study the chart below:

Definite - THE Articles Singular

Indefinite - A / AN Singular (there is not Plural a formal plural) UN / UNO

Masculine (maschile) Feminine (femminile)

IL / L' / LO I / GLI

LA / L'

LE

UNA / UN'

* Note L - before a vowel Lo- before words starting with: s + another consonant (ie: st; sb) or z Gli- before a vowel or words starting with: s + another consonant (ie: st; sb) or z

Un' - before a vowel (only to feminine words) Uno - before words starting with: s + another consonant (ie: st; sb) or z Una - before a consonante

Examples Study the examples below: Definite article - masculine Il libro The book L'amico The friend (the male friend) Lo spettacolo The spectacle Lo zio - The uncle I libri The books Gli amici The friends Gli spettacoli - The spectacles Gli zoccoli - The claws

Un libro A book Un premio - a prize Un amico A friend Uno spettacolo A spectacle Uno zoccolo - A claw Definite article - feminine PLURAL

IN ITALIAN / PLURALI DELLA PAROLE

La macchina The car L'amica The friend (the female friend) Le macchine The cars Le amiche Indefinite article - feminine

Una macchina A car Unamica a friend (a female friend)

About plural sopra i plurali The plural in Italian is quite different from the plural in English or any other romance languages such as Spanish, French or Portuguese. The general rule in English is to add the letter " s " at the end of a word. In Italian the general rule is to substitute the last letter of a a masculine word for the vowel " i " or if it is a feminine word the general rule is to substitute the last letter for the vowel " e ".

Examples Esempio

Singular Il libro La tavola Il bambino La ragazza

Plural I libri le tavole i bambini Le ragazze

Translation The book the books The table The tables The baby the babies The girl - the girls
Words ending in co/ go or cio/gio In order to keep the sound of singular words ending in co/go or cio/gio there are some specific rules.

Most of the words ending in "co" and "go" follow the general rule that was mentioned above, but in some cases the pronunciation is changed when the vowel i is added to form the plural. Usually words ending in VCV (vowel - consonant - vowel) have the pronunciation changed in the plural. Words ending in CCV (consonant consonant vowel) do not have the pronunciation changed but some orthographic adjustments may be necessary in order to keep the sound of the word. Study the chart below:

Singular L'amico

Plural Gli amici

Translation The friend the friends

Observation

Il medico

I medici Tedeschi ('Tedesci' would change the pronunciation) I funghi ('fungi' would change the pronunciation) I dialoghi ('dialogi' would

The rule is the same but the pronunciation of the "c" is different. The rule is the same The (medical) doctor but the pronunciation of the doctors the "c" is different German - Germans The rule is different but the pronunciation of the "c" is the same The rule is different but the pronunciation of the "g" is the same The rule is different but

Tedesco

Il fungo

The mushroom - the mushrooms

The dialogue - the

pronunciation)

"g" is the same

Words ending in "cio", "zio" and "gio" are subjected to a different rule. To get the word pluralized you just must drop the last vowel.

REGULAR VERBS - PRESENT TENSE - VERBI PRESENTE

Some words ending in "" or "" dont suffer any changes when pluralized and some words can be masculine in the singular form and feminine in the plural form.

In Italian youll find regulars and irregular verbs. Regular verbs are easier to learn because when conjugating they follow a regular pattern that can be generalized to all the others regular verbs. In this lesson you will learn how to conjugate the Regular Verbs. In Italian there are 3 different classes of verbs: verbs ending in are, verbs ending in ere, verbs ending in ire. Each class of regular verbs has its own pattern of termination when conjugated. Those classes of verbs are known in Italian as: Prima coniugazione - literally 'first conjugation' (verbs ending in are) Seconda coniugazione - literally 'second conjugation' (verbs ending in ere) Terza coniugazione - literally 'third conjugation' (verbs ending in ire).

When conjugating regular verbs in Italian you just have to preserve the root of the verb and substitute are or ere for the following bold terminations.

Regula r verbs

Prima coniugazione Parlare (to speak) parl- | -o parl- | -i

Seconda coniugazione

Terza coniugazione (Primo Gruppo)

Person Io Tu Lui / lei / Lei esso / essa Noi Voi Loro

Rispondere Sentire (to (to answer) rispond- | -o rispond- | -i feel) sent- | -o sent- | -i

Terza coniugazione (Secondo Gruppo) Capire (to understand) cap- | -isco cap- | -isci

parl- | -a

rispond- | -e

sent- | -e

cap- | -isce

parl- | -iamo parl- | -ate parl- | -ano

rispond- | -iamo

sent- | -iamo cap- | -iamo cap- | -ite cap- | -iscono

rispond- | -ete sent- | -ite rispond- | -onosent- | -ono

Examples of verbs in each conjugation:

Prima coniugazione

Seconda coniugazione

Terza coniugazione (Primo Gruppo)

Terza coniugazione (Secondo Gruppo)

- (to love) - Abitare - (to live)

- Temere - (to fear)

- Morire - (to die) - Capire - (to understand)

- Parlare - (to speak) - Credere - Aprire Verbs IRREGULAR VERBS / PRESENT TENSE - VERBI PRESENTE - - (to open) - (to believe - Finire - Mancare trust) - (to finish) - (to need) - Sentire - Conoscere - (to feel) - Preferire - Magiare - (to know) - (to prefer) - (to eat) - Vestire - Trovare - (to dress) - Studiare - (to find) - (to study)

- Rispondere - (to answer / - Dormire reply) - (to sleep)

Examples: Verbo mangiare / verb to eat (verbi regolari - prima coniugazione) Io mangio. (I eat) Tu mangi. (You eat - informal) Lei mangia. (You eat - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui mangia. (He eats) Lei mangia. (She eats) Noi mangiamo. (We eat) Voi mangiate. (You eat - more than one person) Loro mangiano. (They eat)

Verbo temere / verb to fear (verbi regolari - seconda coniugazione) Io temo. (I fear) Tu temi. (You fear - informal) Lei teme. (You fear - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui teme. (He fears) Lei teme. (She fears) Noi temiamo. (We fear) Voi temete. (You fear - more than one person) Loro temono. (They fear)

Verbo venire / verb to come (verbi regolari - terza coniugazione primo gruppo) Io vengo. (I come) Tu vieni. (You come - informal) Lei viene. (You come - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui viene. (He comes) Lei viene. (She comes) Noi veniamo. (We come) Voi venite. (You come - more than one person) Loro vengono. (They come)

Verbo preferire / verb to prefer (verbi regolari - terza coniugazione secondo gruppo) Io preferisco. (I prefer)

Lei preferisce. (You prefer - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui preferisce. (He prefers) Lei preferisce. (She prefers) Noi preferiamo. (We prefer) Voi preferite. (You prefer - more than one person) Loro preferiscono. (They prefer)

Irregular verbs are harder to learn because when the verb is conjugated there is not a regular pattern that can be generalized to all verbs or persons. In this lesson you will learn the conjugation of some irregular verbs and we strongly recommend you to memorize them. As you have seen in the lesson about Regular Verbs, in Italian there are three classes of verbs: Prima coniugazione - literally 'first conjugation' (verbs ending in are)

Seconda coniugazione - literally 'second conjugation' (verbs ending in ere) Terza coniugazione - literally 'third conjugation' (verbs ending in ire).

I - Examples - irregular verbs in present tense - Prima coniugazione.

Irregular Andare verbs Person (to go) Io Tu Lui / lei / Lei esso va / essa Noi Voi Loro andiamo andate vanno vado vai

Dare (to give) do dai d diamo date danno

Stare (to stay / remain) sto stai sta stiamo state stanno

Fare (to do / to make) faccio fai fa facciamo fate fanno

II - Examples - irregular verbs in present tense - Seconda coniugazione.

Irregular Bere Sapere verbs Person (to drink) (to know) Io Tu Lui / lei / Lei esso beve / essa Noi Voi Loro beviamo bevete bevono sappiamo sapete sanno sa bevo bevi so sai

Vedere (to see) vedo vedi vede vediamo vedete vedono

Potere (to can / be able to) posso puoi pu possiamo potete possono

III - Examples - irregular verbs in present tense - Terza coniugazione.

verbs Person Io Tu Lui / lei /

(to go up / (to say / to to rise) salgo sali tell) dico dici

(to come) vengo vieni

(to go out / to get out) esco esci

Lei esso sale / essa Noi Voi Loro saliamo salite salgono

dice viene VERB TO BE esce - ESSERE Verbs - Present tense (Verbi - presente) diciamo dite dicono veniamo venite vengono usciamo uscite escono

Examples:

Irregular verb (verbi irregolari - prima coniugazione) Io vado in Italia questa settimana. (I go to Italy this week) Tu vai in Spagna? (Do you go to Spain? - informal) Lei va in Spagna? (Do you go to Spain? - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui d. (He gives) Lei d. (She gives) Noi facciamo. (We make) Voi fate. (You make - more than one person) Loro stanno bene. (They are well - they are well now)

Irregular verb (verbi irregolari - seconda coniugazione) Io vedo il futuro. (I see the future) Tu bevi molto vino. (You drink a lot of wine - informal) Lei beve molto vino. (You drink a lot of wine - formal - the 'L' of the word 'Lei' is always a capital letter) Lui sa la centratura. (He knows the true) Lei sa la centratura. (She knows the true) Noi possiamo fare la differenza . (We can make a difference) Voi sapete perch siamo qui?. (Do you know why we are here? - more than one person) Loro vedono che impossibile vincere. (They see that it is impossible to win)

Irregular verb (verbi irregolari - terza coniugazione) Io dico che lei bellissima. (I say that she is very beautiful) Lui viene constantemente qui. (He always comes here.) Lei dice le cose giuste. (She says the right things) Noi saliamo sul tetto della casa. (We go out trough the roof of the house) Voi venite a casa mia? (Do you come to my house? - more than one person) Loro escono dal gioco. (They are leaving the game / match)

The verb to be. Il verbo essere.

The verb to be - essere - is used for conditions or characteristics that are either permanent or transitory. It is important to mention that in Italian the verb essere is also one of the verbs that is used as an auxiliary verb for past tenses a. So, we strongly recommend you to learn this verb before all the others. Compare: Your team has just won the championship. You are happy and talk to your friend... - Io sono molto felice! (I am very happy!) You are happy now, the reason is because your team won the championship. This could be a transitory situation. Today you are happier because of a particular reason, event or situation.

Your friend Luciano is always in a good mood. He is always happy and you are talking about him to another friend

- Luciano felice (Luciano is happy) Luciano is happy kind of person. Being always happy is a quality of him.

Conjugation of the verb essere n Italian, the conjugation of the verb is the result of the root of the verb (stem) and a specific termination. For example, the conjugation of a verb for the person Io (I) is different from Tu (you), so usually the termination of the verb is enough to indicate which person the verb is related to, even when the person is omitted in a sentence. The verb essere is irregular which means that there is not a general pattern of conjugations that you can follow and apply for other verbs. Verb Essere

Person Io Tu Lui / lei / Lei Noi

Essere (to be) sono sei siamo

Translation (I) am (You - informal) are (He / she / you formal) is (We) are

Voi Loro
Examples:

siete sono

(You) are (They) are

Io sono ingegnere. (I am an engineer.)

Sono insegnante. (I am a teacher.) The termination of the verb is enough to indicate which person the verb is related to, even when the person is omitted in the VERB TO HAVE - AVERE sentence. Sono is used just to refer to I

Sono italiano. (I am Italian). Reading this sentence we know that the person who is speaking is a man, because the adjective italiano - is in the masculine form ) Sono italiana. (I am Italian) Reading this sentence we know that the person who is speaking is a woman, because the adjective italiana is in the feminine form) Dove sei? (Where are you?). See the conjugated verb sei is related to the person you (tu) Lui felice (He is happy) In this case ' felice' could be referring to he or she, so in order to specify who is happy, usually the person is used before the verb) Siamo qui. (We are here). In this case the conjugated verb siamo is used just to refer to we (noi) Noi siamo qui. (We are here)This sentence has the same meaning than the sentence above, but theperson we - 'noi' was used to emphasize the sentence

The verb to have. Il verbo avere. The verb avere means to have and it is used for express that someone possesses something In Italian the verb avere is also used as an auxiliary verb for past tenses as the verb essere is. So we strongly recommend you to learn it before all others verbs. Examples: You have bought a car. You are talking to a friend... - Ho una macchina. (I have a car)

You and your wife have a dog. You are talking to a friend... - Noi abbiamo un cane. (We have a dog)

Note that the person could be omitted as 'ho' is specific to the person 'Io' (I) and thus can not be used to another person.

Conjugation of the verb avere In Italian, the conjugation of the verb is the result of the root of the verb (stem) and a specific termination. For example, the conjugation of a verb for the person Io (I) is different from Tu (you), so usually the termination of the verb is enough to indicate which person the verb is related to, even when the person is omitted in the sentence. The verb to have - avere - is an irregular verb which means that there is not a general and applicable pattern of conjugation. Study the conjugation of the verb avere below: . Verb Avere

Person Io Tu Lui / lei / Lei

Essere (to be) ho hai ha

Translation (I) have (You - informal) have (He / she / you formal) has

Voi Loro

avete hanno

(You) have (They) have

Pronunciation! Don't forget that the letter 'H' in Italian is silent which means that the pronunciation of 'ho', 'ha', 'hai', 'hanno' is exactly the same of 'o', 'a', 'ai', 'anno'. If you have any doubt, go to the alphabet page where PHRASEBOOK - WHAT is pronounced. / CHE ORE SONO? ITALIAN you can hear how each sound TIME IS IT?

Examples:

Io ho una casa. (I have a house.) Ho una casa. (I have a house.) The termination of the verb is enough to indicate which person the verb is related to, even when the person is omitted in a sentence.

Ho ventotto anni. (Literally 'I have twenty eight years' - I am twenty eight years old). Note that in Italian you express your age using the verb 'avere', not the verb 'essere' (to be) Lei ha la fortuna di essere bella. (She is lucky for being beautiful). 'Ha' could be used for either he or she, so in order to specify who has is lucky, usually the person should be referred) Abbiamo una bella casa. (We have a beautiful house) Loro hanno una fattoria. (They have a farm)

If you already know how to say numbers in Italian, it is very easy to say what time is it in Italian. The official rule says that time must be expressed in a 24:00 basis; thus at airports, train stations, newspapers, business and official information you will see the numbers 1 to 24 referring to what time it is. Informally and among friends it is common to use the 12:00 notation to express time and so the context indicates if it is 3:00 AM or 3:00 PM (15:00). Sometime you will find a comma replacing the usual colon in a timetable. So, you will see 6,00 instead of 6:00. The word "o'clock" doesn't have an equivalent in Italian. English / your clock Watch Wrist watch Italiano Orologio Orologio da polso Listen

Half past A quarter What time is it? What time is it? * Morning Afternoon Evening It is noon It is midnight It is 12:15 It is one o'clock It is two o'clock 2:00h 3:00h 4:02h 4:10h 5:15h 5:15h 6:30h 6:30h 7:45h 7:45h 7:45h 8:00h 8:50h 8:50h From 7:00h to 8:00h

e mezzo un quarto Che ore sono? Che ora ? di mattino del pormeriggio di sera mezzogiorno mezzanotte mezzo giorno e quindici l'una ora Sono le due ore Sono le due Sono le tre Sono le quattro e due Sono le quattro e dieci Sono le cinque e quindici Sono le cinque e un quarto Sono le sei e mezzo Sono le sei e trenta Sono le sette e quarantacinque Sono le sette e tre quarti Sono le otto meno un quarto Sono le otto Sono le otto e cinquanta Sono le nove meno dieci Dalle sette alle otto

From noon to 1:00h

Da mezzogiorno all'una

* There are two two ways to ask somebody what time it is; both are translated exactly in the same way in English and have the same meaning. The most common is "Che ore sono?" which is plural. It is expected that the answer will be 2 or a great number of hours. The second is "Che ora ?" which require the answer to be in singular. There are only three situations when it is possible to answer in singular: noon, midnight or 1:00 o'clock. So (you are thinking) if I am asking 'what time is it?' I don't know if it is 1:00 or 2:00, so what should I ask? Well, if you have no idea what time is it, just ask "Che ore sono?" if it is 1:10 you will get the answer " una ora"; if it is 2:10 you will get "Sono le due". If you already know that it is noon, midnight or one o'clock and something. It is convenient to ask "Che ora ?".