Active & Passive Voices

In passive sentences, the subject receives the action of the verb.  In active sentences, the subject does the action. 
However, the meaning of both sentences is the same.  The passive form is only possible with transitive verbs and
is much more common in English than in Italian. 

The passive form consists of the verb essere plus the past participle of the main verb followed by da (by) and its
contractions.  Essere should be in the same tense as the verb in its corresponding active sentence. 

The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Active Voice Passive Voice

I miei genitori pagano l'affitto. L'affitto è pagato dai miei genitori.

My parents pay the rent. The rent is paid by my parents.

Examples:

Active. » Le ragazze firmano il contratto

Passive. » I contratti sono firmati dalle ragazze.
                The contracts are signed by the girls.

Active. » Carlo arreda la stanza

Passive. » La stanza è (stata) arredata da Carlo.
                The room has been furnished by Carl.

Active. » I miei genitori pagheranno l'affitto .

Passive. » L'affitto sarà pagato dai miei genitori.
                The rent will be paid by my parents.

Italian Adjetives
Italian and English differ in their usage of adjectives. Italian descriptive adjectives are usually placed after the noun they
modify, and with which they agree in gender and number. As a difference with English, adjectives may be placed both
before and after the noun.

 La grande città  »  the large town.

 La città grande  »  the large town.

-are both correct, but in the second one the idea of large is slightly more. More examples:

 La macchina rossa  »  the red car

 Le macchine rosse  »  the red cars
 Il divano rosso  »  the red sofa
 I divani rossi  »  the red sofas
Endings for adjectives: 

- Adjectives ending in -o have four forms. They need to modify their endings for gender and number.

Gender & number  Adjective ending

masculine singular     -o

masculine plural    -i

feminine singular       -a

feminine plural     -e

There's a list of adjectives ending in -o:

• allegro  »  cheerful, happy • grasso  »  fat

• buono  »  good, kind • leggero  »  light

• cattivo  »  bad, wicked • nuovo  »  new

• freddo  »  cold • pieno  »  full

• stretto  »  narrow • timido  »  timid, shy

Examples:

• il gatto nero (the black cat, m)  »  i gatti neri (the black cats, m)
• la gatta nera (the black cat, f)  »  le gatte nere (the black cats, f)

• il ragazzo cattivo (the bad boy)  »  i ragazzi cattivi (the bad boys)
• la ragazza cattiva (the bad girl)  »  le ragazze cattive (the bad girls)

More:
- Italian Adjective’s II

Italian Adjectives
- Adjectives that end in -e do not need to modify their endings for gender. Their endings change to "i" only
depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. Examples:

 Il libro verde  »  the green book

 La porta verde  »  the green door
 I libri verdi  »  the green books
 Le porte verdi  »  the green doors

There are quite a few other exceptions for forming plural adjectives. For instance, adjectives that end in -io
(with the stress falling on that i) form the plural with the ending -ii: addio/addii; leggio/leggii; zio/zii. The
table below contains a chart of other irregular adjective endings you should know.
 
Singular Ending Plural Ending Singular Ending Plural Ending

  -ca   -che   -ga   -ghe

  -cia   -ce   -gia   -ge
  -cio   -ci   -gio   -gi
  -co   -chi   -glia   -glie
  -scia   -sce   -glio   -gli
  -scio   -sci   -go   -ghi
Examples:

 pacifico pacific (m) » pacifici pacific

 pacifica pacific (f) » pacifiche pacific
 largo large (m) » larghi large
 larga large (f) » larghe large
 vecchio old (m) » vecchi old
 vecchia old (f) » vecchie old
 bianco white (m) » bianchi white
 bianca white (f) » bianche white

There are only 3 irregular adjectives: buono (good), bello (beautiful, nice), quello (that). When these adjectives
are put in front of their noun, they follow their own rules.

Italian Adverbs
An adverb (avverbio) is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. An adverb can be compared
to an adjective but instead it says something about a verb or an adjective instead of a noun.

o Luciano agisce lentamentes  »  Luciano acts slowly.

o Leonardo viene tardi  »  Leonardo comes late.
o Usciamo adesso  »  We're leaving now.
o Ci andiamo a giugno   »  We are going there in June.

In English, adverbs are often formed by adding the suffix -ly to adjectives: slowly, softly, surely. Adverbs often
answer the question: come? (how?), quando? (when?), or dove? (where?)

In Italian, many adverbs are formed by adding the ending -mente (which corresponds to the suffix -ly) to the
feminine form of the adjective:

Adjective (masc.) Adjective (fem.) Adverb

felice (happy) felice (happy) felicemente (happily)

vero (true) vera (true) veramente (truly)
lento (slow) lenta (slow) lentamente (slowly)
stanco (tired) stanca (tired) stancamente (tiredly)
Examples:
 o Lui corre rapidamente  »  He runs fast
o Parlo lentamente  »  I speak slowly
o Parla Italiano fluentemente  »  He/She/It speaks Italian fluently

If the adjective ends in -le or -re, the final vowel e is dropped before adding the suffix -mente:

Adjective (m. or f.) Adjectival root Adverb

esemplare(exemplary) esemplari- esemplarmente(exemplarily)

gentile (kind) gentil- gentilmente(kindly)
speciale(special) special- specialmente(especially)
generale (general) general- generalmente(generally)
regolare (regular) regolar- regolarmente(regularly)
Not all Italian adverbs are formed from adjectives. Below we have a list of those adverbs.

ITALIAN ENGLISH   ITALIAN ENGLISH

ancora still   già already

attorno around, about   inoltre moreover
bene well   insieme together
contro against   male badly
dentro in, inside   (non)...mai never
dietro behind of   (non)...più not anymore
dopo then, afterwards   oltre beyond
fuori outside   sempre always
Examples:

o Beve sempre la birra  »  He always drinks beer.

o Sono arrivato tardi al museo  »  I arrived late at the museum.
o Non ci sei più andata  »  You don't go there anymore.
o Enzo è sempre venuto in orario  »  Enzo always came on time.
o Non ho ancora finito i miei compiti  »  I still hadn't finished my homework.

Italian Articles
In Italian, as well as all the other Romance languages (French, Spanish, etc), all nouns have a gender and a
number associated with them. The article indicates gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of
the noun.

"il"-"lo" are the definite article that corresponds to masculine nouns. Examples:

 il professore  »  the teacher.
 il telefono  »  the phone.
 il vecchio zio  »  the old uncle.
“la” is the definite article that corresponds to feminine nouns. Examples:

 la casa  »  the house.
 la tavola  »  the table.
 la finestra  »  the window.

When using nouns, you must make sure that you use the correct gender and number when using an identifier. The
identifiers are il, lo, la, i, gli, le, un, uno and una. Il, lo and la are singular definite articles, which means you are
talking about a specific thing. Examples:

 La sedia  »  the chair (you are talking about a specific chair)

 Il telefono è verde  »  The telephone is green.
 La parete è brutta  »  The wall is ugly.

The use of these identifiers is identical to the way you would say it in English - if you want to say "a table", use
una, and if you want to say "the table", use la.

"i" and "gli" are the plural of "il" and "lo", and "le" is the plural of "la". You use these plural definite articles
when you are talking about several specific members of a group. There are no plural forms of uno and una, and to
translate "some" when used in sentences, one must use indeterminate pronouns. Examples

 Le stanze sono grandi  »  The rooms are big.

 Delle sedie sono in cucina  »  Some chairs are in the kitchen.
 Gli stessi ragazzi  »  the same boys
 Dei tavoli  »  some tables.

To learn more about articles, click the following sections:

» Italian Definite Article: la - lo - il

» Italian Indefinite Article: una - uno - un

Italian Definite Articles

In Italian, l’articolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the
noun or adjective it precedes. There are some guidelines that help you to determine what article to use.

For singular nouns:

 lo-LO: is used for all masculine nouns beginning with s+consonant or z.

 il-IL: is used for all masculine nouns starting in a consonant, except the case where you use "lo".
 la-LA: is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant
 l’-L’: This is the elision of lo or la is used before masculine or femenine nouns beginning with a vowel.

Examples:

º il vecchio zio  »  the old uncle

º lo zucchero  »  the sugar
º lo zio  »  the uncle º l'impatto  » the impact (masculine)
 º il castello  »  the castle º l'acqua  »  the water (feminine)
º la scatola  »  the box  
For plural nouns:

 gli-GLI: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with vowels, the consonant z , cluster gn or clusters
made of s+consonant.
 i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previous case:
 le-LE: It is used before any plural feminine noun

Examples:

º gli elefanti  »  the elephants

º gli artisti  »  the artists
º le ali  »  the wings º i ragazzi  »the boys
º i cavalli  »  the horses º gli stessi ragazzi  » the same boys

Italian Indefinite Articles

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an and is used with singular
nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.

When the noun to which the article applies is a masculine noun then "a/an" can be translated as "un", or "uno", if
the article applies to a feminine noun then the article that has to be used is "una". As the definite articles, there are
some rules to understand the use of these articles:

 uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.

 un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you have to use "UNO"
 una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.
 un'-UN': It is the elision of una, used when feminine nouns start with any vowel.

Examples:

 
A train and a bicycle
º un treno e una bicicletta
º un aeroplano e un’automobile An airplane and a car
º uno stadio e una stazione One(an) stage and one(a) station

When plural nouns are indefinite, they simply do not use an article, or they use the partitive form: i.e. cats (no
article) or some cats (partitive), coins or some coins (partitive), etc. Partitive will be dealt with further on, so for
the time being simply disregard its use.

Auxiliary Verbs in Italian

"Essere" (to be) and "Avere" (to have) are called auxiliary verbs; they are called so because they help in the
formation of compound tenses ("essere" + the past participle of a verb, "avere" + the past participle of a verb)
and the passive construction ("essere" + a verb)

Generally speaking, "avere" is used with Transitive verbs (verbs which take an object) while "essere" is used
with Reflexive and Intransitive verbs (verbs of motion, position, physical or mental condition, etc.). Examples:

o Abbiamo venduto la casa  »  We have sold the house

o Si è frenata  »  She restrained herself
o Voi siete arrivati a tempo  »  You arrived on time

"Stare" (to stay, to be) is used as an auxiliary verb with adverbial participles (so-called gerunds) to form
Progresive Tenses:

The present progressive uses the present tense of "stare":

Sto parlando  »  I am speaking

The past progressiveuses the imperfect tense of "stare":

Stava leggendo  »  He was reading

"Andare" is used in a similar fashion as an auxiliary verb: Example:

o Andava cantando  »  He went around singing

Italian Compound Tenses

Italian features a set of compound tenses, based either on avere (to have) or essere (to be). The three compound tenses
are:

English tense Italian Tense English Italian

Recent Past Passato Prossimo have done ho fatto

Recent Pluperfect Trapassato Prossimo had done(*) avevo fatto

Remote Pluperfect Trapassato Remoto had done ebbi fatto

Future
Futuro Anteriore will have done avrò fatto
Perfect

The choice of whether to use avere or essere depends on the type of verb:

● Non-reflexive transitive verbs (i.e. verbs that take a direct object) use avere

● Intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take a direct object), verbs of motion, and reflexive verbs (even if those verbs
are based on transitive verbs) take essere

(*) The Trapassato Prossimo (Recent Pluperfect) and the Trapassato Remoto (Remote Pluperfect) are separate tenses in
Italian though not in English.

More:
- Compound Tenses

Italian Compound Tenses

The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as the passato prossimo
(present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs in compound tense formations. For
example: io sono stato (I was) and ho avuto (I had).

In Italian there are four compound tenses:

Present Perfect: The passato prossimo—grammatically referred to as the present perfect—is a compound tense
(tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past or that occurred long ago but
still has ties to the present. Examples:

 Ho appena chiamato  »  I just called

 Mi sono iscritto all'università quattro anni fa  »  I entered the university four years ago
 Questa mattina sono uscito presto  »  This morning I left early
 Il Petrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali  »  Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets

Future perfect: The futuro anteriore or future perfect tense is a compound tense. How to express the idea of  "I
will have" or "they will have"? Use future perfect tense. Examples:

 Alle sette avremo già mangiato  »  By seven we'll already have eaten
 Noi avremo parlato al padre di Anna  »  We will already have spoken to Anna's father

Pluperfect (past perfect tense): In English the past perfect tense (trapassato prossimo) is formed with the
auxiliary "had" + the past participle of the main verb. In Italian, the trapassato prossimo, a compound tense, is
formed with the imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb.

 Già erano partiti quando sono arrivato  »  They had already left when I arrived
 Avevo chiuso le finestre quando è cominciato a piovere  »  I had shut the windows when it started to rain
 La macchina sbandava perché aveva piovuto  »  The car was sliding because it had rained

Past anterior (trapassato remoto): Known in English as the preterite perfect, is used primarily in literary
contexts. It's a compound tense formed with the passato remoto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past
participle of the acting verb.

To see how avere and essere conjugate in the remote past tense, see the tables below.

CONJUGATING AVERE IN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I (io) ebbi (noi) avemmo
II (tu) avesti (voi) aveste
III (lui, lei, Lei) ebbe (loro, Loro) ebbero
     
CONJUGATING ESSERE IN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I (io) fui (noi) fummo
 II (tu) fosti (voi) foste
III (lui, lei, Lei) fu (loro, Loro) furono
Examples:

 Partirono, quando ebbero ricevuto la notizia

»  They were leaving when they received the notice
 Renata entrò, appena Giorgio fu uscito
»  Renata entered just after Giorgio had left
 Andò a casa, quando ebbe finito di lavorare
»  He went home when he had finished working

As you can see, in each sentence set in the trapassato remoto, you will encounter an expression of time, such as
the following: appena (scarcely), dopo che (as soon as), or finché non (up until).

Italian Conjugation
The infinitives of all Regular Verbs in Italian end in are, ere, or ire and are referred to as first, second, or third
conjugation verbs, respectively.

In English the infinitive (l'infinito) consists of to + verb. Examples:

o amare - to love.
o temere - to fear.
o sentire - to hear.

See Italian Verbs for some examples of verb termination and features.

Below you have detailed lists with three italian regular verbs’s conjugations in the eight simple & compound
tenses: Parlare (To talk) Scrivere (To write) Dormire (To sleep) and Capire (to understand). The last one has a
different conjugation in present tense, as you can see in the first table, but is a regular verb as well.

» Simple tense conjugations:

  Present tense, imperfect, simple past and future tenses.

» Compound tense conjugations:

  Present perfect, future perfect, plusperfect past anterior.

Conjugation of irregular verbs: While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the most commonly
used ones are irregular; they do not follow the regular pattern of conjugation (infinitive stem + endings). In
particular, the auxiliary verbs essere and avere, and the common modal verbs potere (ability, to be able to),
dovere (duty, to have to), stare (to stand, to be in a particular state), sapere (to know), and volere (to want to) are
all irregular.

» Irregular verbs conjugations:

  Essere, avere, potere, dovere.
Italian Verbs
A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter),
or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand).

Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense,
aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (what
we usually call subject, object, etc.). Examples:

o Vado in Italia con la mia famiglia  »  I will go to Italy with my family.

o Il biglietto costa 2200 dollari australiani  »  The ticket costs 2200 australian dolars.
o Faccio studiare i ragazzi  »  I make the boys study.
o Noi studiamo sempre  »  We always study.
o Vuole anche questo libro  »  He wants that book, too.
o Le fragole sono dolcissime  »  Strawberries are very sweet.
o Questa arancia è molto buona  »  This orange is very good.
o Lei parla piano piano  »  She speaks very softly

In Italian, most verbs end in a common pattern, such as -are, -ere, and -ire. These are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
conjugations respectively. Examples:

ARE Means ERE Means IRE Means IRE (*) Means

to to to to
parlare scrivere dormire finire
speak write sleep finish
to to to to
cantare vedere partire colpire
sing see leave hit
to to to to
lavorare vendere aprire costruire
work sell open build
to to to to
amare vivere servire sparire
love live serve disappear
The features of the verbs are:

 The Person:  (indicates the subject that does the action)

The persons in Italian are io, tu, lui (masculine), lei (feminine), noi, voi, loro (masculine and feminine).

 The Manner: (indicates how the action happens)

In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicative),
congiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitive),
gerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

 The Time:  (indicates when the action happens)

In Italian there are many different times: all the seven manners of the verb have different times.The times
can be simple (only one word) or compound (two or more words).

 The Form: (indicates the kind of action)

In Italian the form can be active transitive, active intransitive, reflexive and passive.

(*) There are few verbs of the -ire conjugation in Italian that have different suffix.
Simple Tense Conjugation
Below we have a list of 3 regular verbs and their simple tense conjugation.

» Present Tense:

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) Parlo Scrivo dormo capisco

tu (You) Parli scrivi dormi capisci
lui / lei (He, She, It) Parla scrive dorme capisce
noi (We) Parliamo scriviamo dormiamo capiamo
voi (You) Parlate scrivete dormite capite
loro (They) Parlano scrivono dormono capisc

» Imperfect Tense (Imperfetto):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) Parlavo scrivevo dormivo capivo

tu (You) arlavi scrivevi dormivi capivi
lui / lei (He, She, It) Parlava scriveva dormiva capiva
noi (We) Parlavamo scrivevamo dormivamo capivamo
voi (You) Parlavate scrivevate dormivate capivate
loro (They) Parlavano scrivevano dormivano capivano

» Future Tense (Futuro semplice):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) parlerò scriverò dormirò capirò

tu (You) parlerai scriverai dormirai capirai
lui / lei parlerà scriverà dormirà capirà
noi (We) parleremo scriveremo dormiremo capiremo
voi (You) parlerete scriverete dormiete capirete
loro (They) parleranno scriveranno dormiranno capiranno

» Simple Past Tense (Passato remoto):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) parlai scrissi dormii capii

tu (You) parlasti scrivesti dormisti capisti
lui / lei (He, She, It) parlò scrisse dormì capì
noi (We) parlammo scrivemmo dormimmo capimmo
voi (You) parlaste scriveste dormiste capiste
loro (They) parlarono scrissero dormirono capirono

Compound Tense Conjugation

Below we have a list of 3 regular verbs and their simple tense conjugation.

»Present perfect (Passato prossimo):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) ho Parlato ho scritto ho dormito ho capito

tu (You) hai parlato hai scritto hai dormito hai capito
lui / lei (He, She, It) ha Parlato ha scritto ha dormito ha capito
noi (We) abbiamo parlato abbiamo scritto abbiamo dormito abbiamo capito
voi (You) avete parlato avete scritto avete dormito avete capito
loro (They) hanno parlato hanno scritto hanno dormito hanno capito

»Plusperfect - Past perfect (Trapassato prossimo):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) avevo parlato avevo scritto avevo dormito avevo capito
tu (You) avevi parlato avevi scritto avevi dormito avevi capito
lui / lei
(He, She, It) aveva parlato aveva scritto aveva dormito aveva capito

noi (We) avevamo parlato avevamo scritto avevamo dormito avevamo capito
voi (You) avevate parlato avevate scritto avevate dormito avevate capito
loro (They) avevano parlato avevano scritto avevano dormito avevano capito

» Future Perfect (Futuro anteriore):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) avrò parlato avrò scritto avrò dormito avrò capito

tu (You) avrai parlato avrai scritto avrai dormito avrai capito
lui / lei
(He, She, It) avrà parlato avrà scritto avrà dormito avrà capito

noi (We) avremo parlato avremo scritto avremo dormito avremo capito
voi (You) avrete parlato avrete scritto avrete dormito avrete capito
loro (They) avranno parlato avranno scritto avranno dormito avranno capito

»Preterite perfect (Trapassato remoto):

Personal pronoun Parlare Scrivere Dormire Capire

io (I) ebbi parlato ebbi scritto ebbi dormito ebbi capito

tu (You) avesti parlato avesti scritto avesti dormito avesti capito
lui / lei
(He, She, It) ebbe parlato ebbe scritto ebbe dormito ebbe capito

noi (We) avemmo parlato avemmo scritto avemmo dormito avemmo capito
voi (You) aveste parlato aveste scritto aveste dormito aveste capito
loro (They) ebbero parlato ebbero scritto ebbero dormito ebbero capito

Irregular Verbs Conjugation

» Essere (To be - an auxiliary)

         

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

io sono fui ero sarò

tu sei fosti eri sarai
egli è fu era sarà
noi siamo fummo eravamo saremo
voi siete foste eravate sarete
essi sono furono erano saranno
 

» Avere (To have - an auxiliary)

         

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

io ho ebbi avevo avrò

tu hai avesti avevi avrai
egli ha ebbe aveva avrà
noi abbiamo avemmo avevamo avremo
voi avete aveste avevate avrete
essi hanno ebbero avevano avranno
 

» Potere (To be able to - a modal)

         

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

io posso potei potevo potrò
tu puoi potesti potevi potrai
egli può poté poteva potrà
noi possiamo potemmo potevamo potremo
voi potete poteste potevate potrete
essi possono poterono potevano potranno
 

» Dovere (To have to to, must - a modal)

         

Pron. Present Preterite Imperfect Future

io devo dovei dovevo dovrò

tu devi dovesti dovevi dovrai
egli deve dovè doveva dovrà
noi dobbiamo dovemmo dovevamo dovremo
voi dovete doveste dovevate dovrete
essi devono doverono dovevano dovranno

Italian Conjunction
Conjunctions (le congiunzioni) join words and sentences together. Some of them are simple and common and don't cause
any trouble--such as "e" and "o." Some other, longer ones require the use of the subjunctive. They are:

- benché, sebbene, malgrado, nonostante, quantunque

  » all mean: although, in spite of, even though

- purché, a patto che, a condizione che

  » all mean: provided that

- nel caso che

  » in case

Some others require the use of the subjunctive only if the subject of the main verb and the subject of the subjunctive are
different; if the subjects are the same, the infinitive is required. They are:
- affinché, perché, cosicché, in modo che  »  in order to, so that
- senza che  »  without
- prima che  »  before

Below we have a list of the most common conjunctions:

Italiano English Takes subjunctive?

a meno che...non   unless   yes  

affinché   so that, in order that   yes  
perché (with sub)   so that, in order that   yes  
in modo che   so that, in order that   yes  
benché   although   yes  
malgrado   although   yes  
sebbene   although   yes  
quantunque   although   yes  
prima che   before   yes  
purché   provided that   yes  
a patto che   provided that   yes  
a condizione che   provided that   yes  
senza che   without   yes  
anche se   even if   no  
dopo che   after   no  
dunque   therefore   no  
perché (w/out sub)   because   no  
perciò   for this reason, therfore   no  
però   however   no  
poiche   since, seeing that   no  
quindi   therefore, consequently   no  
siccome   as, since   no  

Italian Subjunctive
The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions,
etc. and is used much more frequently in Italian.  It is mainly used in dependent clauses
(sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not have a complete meaning) that are
introduced by che.

The "congiuntivo" is also required with particular expressions such as:

 Impersonal forms  »  è necessario che, bisogna che, è importante che... tu

venga al cinema - it's necessary that, it's important that... you come to the
movie
 Comparative clauses  »  è il film più interessante che abbia visto - it is the most
interesting movie that I saw
 Sentences introduced by  »  affinché - perché (so that), tranne che (a part that),
a meno che (unless), sebbene - malgrado - nonostante (altough), purché - a
patto che (provided that), come se (as if)
  Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns  »  qualsiasi - qualunque
(any), chiunque (whoever), dovunque (anywhere)
 Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns  »  niente che - nulla che
(nothing that), nessuno che (nobody that), l'unico/a che - il solo/a che (the only
one that)

Italian subjunctive has four forms. The two first ones (Present and Imperfect
Subjunctive) are simple tenses, with their own inflections:

 Present Subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)

 Imperfect Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Imperfetto)

And the last compound tenses (congiuntivo passato and congiuntivo trapassato) are
made in the same way as the indicative ones (auxiliary verb + past participle of the
main verb), though the two auxiliaries essere and avere use subjunctive inflections.

 Perfect (Past) Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Passato)

 Pluperfect (Congiuntivo trapassato)

Present Subjunctive
The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

ARE ending ERE ending 1st. IRE 2nd. IRE

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.

-i -iamo -a -iamo -a -iamo -isca -iamo

-i -iate -a -iate -a -iate -isca -iate

-i -ino -a -ano -a -ano -isca -iscano

In the other hand, most irregular verbs that change stem in the present conjugation change stem in the "congiuntivo".

The table below provides examples of three regular verbs conjugated in the present subjunctive tense.

Che+Pronoun -ARE Verb -ERE Verb -IRE Verbs

che io parli scriva senta capisca

che tu parli scriva senta capisca
che lui/lei/Lei parli scriva senta capisca
che noi parliamo scriviamo sentiamo capiamo
che voi parliate scriviate sentiate capiate
che loro/Loro parlino scrivano sentano capiscano
Typical phrases that call for the subjunctive tense include:

Credo che... Non suggerisco che...

(I believe that...) (I'm not suggesting that...)

Suppongo che... Può darsi che...

(I suppose that...) (It's possible that...)

Immagino che... Penso che...

(I imagine that...) (I think that...)

È necessario che... Non sono certo che...

(It is necessary that...) (I'm not sure that...)

Mi piace che... È probabile che...

(I'd like that...) (It is probable that...)

Non vale la pena che... Ho l'impressione che...

(It's not worth it that...) (I have the impression that...)

Examples:

 •  Ho paura che sia troppo tardi  »  I am afraid it may be too late
 •  Credo che lavino il cane molto spesso
     »  I think that they wash the dog very often
 •  Desidero che venga con me  »  I want her to come with me
 •  Spero che prenda la giusta decisione
     »  I hope that he / she takes (= will take) the right decision
 •  Penso che dorma  »  I think he's sleeping
 •  Che abbia venduto la macchina?  »  I wonder if he sold his car

Imperfect Subjunctive
Is used when the action expressed in a conditional sentence is not sure: if I came...; in the case you went...; should he
call...; etc. This subjunctive is formed by adding personal endings to the imperfect stem.

For conjugations of regular verbs, the endings are identical for all three conjugations:

    1st. CONJUGATION   2nd. CONJUGATION   3rd. CONJUGATION

Parlare Vendere Dormire

Che +      
To Speak To Sell To Sleep

Pronoun   parla-   vende-   dormi-

che io   parla-ssi   vende-ssi   dormi-ssi

che tu   parla-ssi   vende-ssi   dormi-ssi

che lei   parla-sse   vende-sse   dormi-sse

che noi   parla-ssimo   vende-ssimo   dormi-ssimo

che voi   parla-ste   vende-ste   dormi-ste

che loro   parla-ssero    vende-ssero   dormi-ssero

Examples:

 •  Credevo che avessero ragione  »  I thought they were right

 •  Non era probabile che prendessimo una decisione
     »  It wasn't likely we would make a decision
 •  Non c'era nessuno che ci capisse
     »  There was no one who understood us
 •  Il razzismo era il peggior problema che ci fosse
     »  Racism was the worst problem there was.

Perfect Subjunctive
The Perfect subjunctive or past subjunctive ("congiuntivo passato"), is a "compound tense" (like the "passato prossimo")
because it is formed with the present subjunctive of an auxiliary verbs ("essere" or "avere") plus the past participle of a
verb.

Whether it requires "essere" or "avere", depends on the verb. If the verb is a transitive verb, it requires the auxiliary
"avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it
requires the auxiliary "essere".

Personal Pronoun Auxiliar "avere" Past Participle   English

io abbia parlato I have spoken, I spoke

tu abbia parlato you have spoken, you spoke
lei abbia parlato she has spoken, she spoke
noi abbiamo parlato we have spoken, we spoke
voi abbiate parlato you have spoken, you spoke
loro abbiano parlato they have spoken, they spoke
       

       

Personal Pronoun Auxiliar "essere" Past Participle   English

io sia arrivato I have arrived, I arrived

tu sia arrivato you have arrived, you arrived
lei sia arrivata she has arrived, she arrived
noi siamo arrivati we have arrived, we arrived
voi siate arrivati you have arrived, you arrived
 loro siano arrivate they (f.) have arrived, they arrived
"Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive
require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho viaggiato, ho vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the
auxiliary "essere"

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (to be
born)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

 •  Credo che abbiano ripreso le discussioni

     »  I think they resumed discussions
 •  Mi dispiace che abbia parlato così
     »  I'm sorry that he spoke that way
 •  Siamo contenti che siano venuti  »  We're glad they came
 •  Non credo che siano andati in Italia
     »  I don't believe they went to Italy

Pluperfect
To complete the fourth of subjunctive-tense verb forms, there's the congiuntivo trapassato
(referred to as the past perfect subjunctive in English), which is a compound tense. Form this
tense with the congiuntivo imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past
participle of the acting verb.

Che+Pronoun Avere Essere

che io avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)

che tu avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)
che lui/lei/Lei avesse avuto fosse stato(-a)
che noi avessimo avuto fossimo stati(-e)
che voi aveste avuto foste stati(-e)
che loro/Loro avessero avuto fossero stati(-e)

Bellow we have a list with some examples of congiuntivo trapassato with the verbs
"mangiare" (to eat), "leggere" (to read), "andare" (to go) and "venire" (to come).

  AVERE ESSERE

Pron. Mangiare Leggere Andare Venire

io avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi  venuto/a

tu avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/a
lui avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato fosse venuto
lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andata fosse venuta
Lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato/a fosse venuto/a
noi avessimo mangiato avessimo letto fossimo andati/e fossimo venuti/e
voi aveste mangiato aveste letto foste andati/e foste venuti/e
loro avessero mangiato avessero letto fossero andati/e fossero venuti/e

As well as the congiuntivo passato, the verbs "Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer),
"viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere"
("avessi dormito, avessi risposto, avessi viaggiato, avessi vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)...
require the auxiliary "essere"

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to
remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

 •  Speravo che avessero capito

     »  I was hoping they had understood
 •  Avevo paura che non avessero risolto quel problema
     »  I was afraid they hadn't resolved that problem
 •  Vorrebbero che io raccontassi una storia
     »  They would like me to tell a story
 •  Non volevo che tu lo facessi così presto
     »  I didn't want you to do it as soon

Italian Definite Articles

In Italian, l’articolo determinativo has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the
noun or adjective it precedes. There are some guidelines that help you to determine what article to use.

For singular nouns:

 lo-LO: is used for all masculine nouns beginning with s+consonant or z.

 il-IL: is used for all masculine nouns starting in a consonant, except the case where you use "lo".
 la-LA: is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant
 l’-L’: This is the elision of lo or la is used before masculine or femenine nouns beginning with a vowel.

Examples:

º il vecchio zio  »  the old uncle

º o zucchero  »  the sugar
º lo zio  »  the uncle º l'impatto  » the impact (masculine)
º il castello  »  the castle º l'acqua  »  the water (feminine)
º la scatola  »  the box  
For plural nouns:

 gli-GLI: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with vowels, the consonant z , cluster gn or clusters
made of s+consonant.
 i-I: It is used whith masculine nouns starting with consonants which do not belong to the previous case:
 le-LE: It is used before any plural feminine noun

Examples:

º gli elefanti  »  the elephants

º gli artisti  »  the artists
º le ali  »  the wings º i ragazzi  »the boys
º i cavalli  »  the horses º gli stessi ragazzi  » the same boys

Demonstrative Adjectives
When demonstrative pronouns questo (questa, questi, queste) and quello (quella, quelli, quelle) are followed by a
noun, they turn into adjectives.

The Demonstrative adjective (aggetivi dimostrativi) are:

  Singolare Singular   Plurale Plural

Masculine questo this   questi these
Feminine questa this   queste these
           
Masculine quello that   quelli those
Feminine quella that   quelle those
           
Masculine codesto that   codesti those
Feminine codesta that   codeste those

Codesto refers to something near the person being spoken to, but itis falling into disuse: quello is replacing it.

There is elision of questo, questa, and quella before a noun beginning with a vowel. Examples:

o quest'aereo  »  this airplane

o quest'aula  »  this classroom
o quell'autostrada  »  that highway

Questa is sometimes shortened to "sta" and contracted with the noun it modifies:

o questa sera (this evening)   »  stasera (this evening)

Demonstratives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify, and always precede them:

 Questo libro  »  this book

  Quella casa   »  that house

More examples:

 Quel film che ti ho raccomandato si chiama "La vita é bella".

The movie that I recommended to you is called "The life is beauty"
 Roberto Benigni è quell'attore che fa ridere tutti.
Roberto Benigni is the actor that made everybody laugh.
 Quell'attrice che lavora nel film si chiama Nicoletta Braschi; è quella che è sposata con Benigni.
The actress that was in that movie is Nicoletta Braschi; she is Benigni's wife.

Demonstrative Pronouns
They are used to indicate a person or an object, as if pointing towards it with a finger. As for the possessives, the
adjectives and the pronouns for the demonstratives have the same form. The Demonstrative Pronouns are:

  Singolare Singular   Plurale Plural

Masc. Questo this / this one   questi these / these ones
Fem. Questa this / this one   queste these / these ones
           
Masc. Quello that / that one   quelli those / those ones
Fem. Quella that / that one   quelle those / those ones
Examples:

o Questo è il tuo cane  »  this is your dog, or this one is your dog
o Quella è mia madre  »  that one (= that woman) is my mother
o Quelli sono i suoi libri  »  those are his/her books, or those ones are his/her books
o Queste sono le nostre zie  »  these are our aunts or these ones are our aunts
o Questa e quella sono identiche   »  this one and that one are identical

These pronouns may be used either as a subject of the sentence (as in the previous examples), or as an object (as
in the following sentences), in which case the English translation always includes ...one:

o (egli / ella) non prese questa, ma quella  »  he / she did not take this one, but that one
o (tu) comprerai quelli  »  you will buy those ones
o Domani vernicerò questi  »  tomorrow I will paint these ones
o Preferite questo o quello?   »  do you prefer this one or that one?

Italian Determiners
Determiners are words (as an article, possessive, demonstrative or quantifier) that makes
specific the denotation of a noun phrase. In Italian they agree in gender and number with the
noun.

Articles (a, an, the): They are used before nouns, but in Italian, nouns have gender and the
articles must agree with the gender. Masculine words generally end in -o and feminine words
generally end in -a. Words that end in -e may be either, so you will just have to memorize the
gender.

Examples:

un amico  »  a friend (m) degli amici  »  friends

l'amico  »  the friend gli amici  »  the friends

   

un' amica  »  a friend (f) delle amiche  »  friends

l'amica  »  the friend le amiche  »  the friends

   

un ragazzo  »  a boy dei ragazzi  »  boys

il ragazzo  »  the boy i ragazzi  »  the boys

   

una ragazza  »  a girl delle ragazze  »  girls

la ragazza  »  the girl le ragazze   »  the girls

   

uno stato  »  a state (m) dei stati  »  states

lo stato  »  the state gli stati  »  the states

   

uno zingaro  »  a gypsy (m) dei zingari  »  gypsies

lo zingaro  »  the gypsy gli zingari  »  the gypsies

See [Italian Articles] for a deeper explanation and some examples of definite and undefinite
articles.

Possessive Adjectives (my, your, his, her):

See [Italian Possessive Adjectives] for a deeper explanation and some examples of
this topic.

Examples:

Singular Plural

il mio amico » my friend (male) i miei amici » my friends (males)

il nostro amico » our friend (male) i nostri amici » our friends (males)

la mia amica » my friend (female) le miei amiche » my friends (females)

 la nostra amica » our friend (female) le nostre amiche » our friends (females)

Demonstrative Adjective (this, these, that, those):

See [Italian Demonstrative Adjectives] for a deeper explanation and some examples
of this topic.

Examples:

Singular Plural

questo libro » this book questi libri » these books

quel libro » that book quei libri » those books

quello studente » that student quelli studenti » those books

quella donna » that woman quelle donne » those women

Italian Exclamation
The exclamation "What...!" is expressed in Italian with the help of the word che. These phrases will surely prove
to be very useful in your Italian conversations:

o Che bei fiori!   »  What beautiful flowers!

o Che belle ragazze!   »  What beautiful girls!
o Che buon'idea!   »  What a good idea!
o Che partita!   »  What a game!
o Che rumore!   »  What a noise!

The Exclamation Pronouns give a stronger emphasis to an exclamation, although their use is not always
necessary. The more usually exclamation pronouns are:

che...!  quanto...!  quanti...!

how...! how...!   how much...! how many...!
Examples:

o che bello!  »  how nice! (masculine singular)

o che bella!  »  how nice! (feminine singular)
o quanto ha mangiato!  »  how much he ate!
o quanto dormono!  »  how much they sleep!
o quanto vino!  »  how much wine!
o quanta roba!  »  how much stuff!

Below is a list with the "Ten more used Italian Expressions":

 Mamma mia! (My goodness!)

Italians use Mamma mia! (mahm-mah mee-ah) to express surprise, impatience, happiness, sorrow—any
 strong emotion.
 Che bello! (How lovely!)
Che bello! (keh behl-loh) is used when you're enthusiastic about something.
 Uffa! (Aargh!)
Uffa! (oof-fah) is a clear way to show that you're annoyed, bored, angry, or fed up.
 Che ne so! (How should I know?)
When Italians want to say that they have no idea, they shrug their shoulders and say Che ne so! (keh neh
soh).
 Magari! (If only!)
Magari (mah-gah-ree) is just one word, but it expresses a lot. It indicates a strong wish or hope. It's a
good answer if, for instance, somebody asks you if you'd like to win the lottery.
 Ti sta bene! (Serves you right!)
Ti sta bene! (tee stah beh-neh) is the Italian way to say "Serves you right!"
 Non te la prendere! (Don't get so upset! / Don't think about it!)
If you see that somebody is sad, worried, or upset, you can try to console him by saying Non te la
prendere! (nohn teh lah prehn-deh-reh).
 Che macello! (What a mess!)
Figuring out the derivation of Che macello! (keh mah-chehl-loh) isn't difficult. The literal translation is
"What a slaughterhouse!"
 Non mi va! (I don't feel like it!)
Non mi va! (nohn mee vah) is one of the first phrases that Italian children learn. It means that you don't
want to do something.
 Mi raccomando! (Please, I beg you!)
With Mi raccomando! (mee rahk-koh-mahn-doh), you express a special emphasis in asking for
something. An example is Telefonami, mi raccomando! (Don't forget to call me, please!)

Italian Gerund
This is equivalent to the English present participle — i.e. the part of the verb ending in
-ing, like thinking, running, talking, going etc.

The Adverbial Present Participle or gerund ("gerundio") is formed by adding a suffix

to the verb stem:

 ARE verbs add "-ando". Example:  parl-ando   (speaking)

 ERE verbs add "-endo". Example:  vend-endo   (selling)
 IRE verbs add "-endo". Example:  dorm-endo   (sleeping)

Adverbial participles answer questions about the action expressed by the main verb.
Examples:

o Sbagliando si impara  »  One learns by making mistakes

(answering the question, "How does one learn?").

They are used like English present participles to form progressive tenses with the verb
"stare":

o Sto parlando  »  I am talking

 (Present progressive, answering the question, "What am I engaged in doing?");
o Stava dormendo  »  He was sleeping
(Past progressive, answering the question, "What was he engaged in doing?").

Because they function as adverbs, defining an action, these participles are invariable in
form, and do not agree in gender or number with the subject of the verb.

The Adverbial Present Participle (Gerundio perfetto) is formed with the adverbial
present participle of the auxiliary verb and the past participle of the main verb:
"avendo parlato" (having spoken); "essendo arrivato" (having arrived).

The Italian name "gerundio" has led to the use of the English word "gerund" to denote
adverbial participles.  This is misleading, since the English gerund is a verbal noun
("Walking is good exercise").  It is best for English--speaking students to avoid using
the term "gerund" when studying the Romance languages like Spanish and Italian.
Examples:

o Cosa stai facendo?  »  What are you doing?

o Sto legendo il giornale.  »  I am reading the newspaper.
o Stanno preparando l'insalata.  »  They are preparing the salad.
o Stavo ascoltando la radio quando il telefono ha squillato.  »  I was listening to
the radio when the telephone rang.
o I ragazzi stavano vestendosi.  »  the boys were gettin dressed.

The ending follows the form of unisex adjectives ending in "_e," changing to "_i" in
the plural: "l'uomo dormente" (the sleeping man); "le lezione seguenti" (the following
lessons).

Italian Indefinite Articles

The Italian indefinite article (l'articolo indeterminativo) corresponds to English a/an
and is used with singular nouns. It also corresponds to the number one.

When the noun to which the article applies is a masculine noun then "a/an" can be
translated as "un", or "uno", if the article applies to a feminine noun then the article
that has to be used is "una". As the definite articles, there are some rules to understand
the use of these articles:

 uno-UNO: It is used for masculine words beginning with z or s + consonant.

 un-UN: It is used for all other masculine words, except the cases where you
have to use "UNO"
 una-UNA: it is used with feminine nouns starting with any consonant.
 un'-UN': It is the elision of una, used when feminine nouns start with any
vowel.

Examples:
  º un treno e una bicicletta
º un aeroplano e un’automobile
º uno stadio e una stazione
A train and a bicycle
An airplane and a car
One(an) stage and one(a) station
When plural nouns are indefinite, they simply do not use an article, or they use the
partitive form: i.e. cats (no article) or some cats (partitive), coins or some coins
(partitive), etc. Partitive will be dealt with further on, so for the time being simply
disregard its use.

Italian Interjection
An interjection is a word or expression often given increased emotive value in the stream of speech.

Although a interjección can form a complete sentence (that is to say, expressing a thought with no need of a
subject and a verb), one can often also be inserted within an sentence, separated generally by commas of the rest
of the sentence. Interjections are rarely used in formal or business writing. In print interjection is usually followed
by an exclamation mark or a comma:

 suvvia! = C'mon!
 aiuto! = help!
 hey! = hey!
 oh! = wow!
 ahi! = ouch!
 bontà mia! = My goodness!

Examples:

o Ahi!  Mi sono rotto una gamba!

»  Ouch! I broke my leg!
o Suvvia, vedi di non dire sciocchezze!
»  C'mon stop talking nonsense!

You can see a list with the Ten more used Italian Exclamating Expressions

Italian intonation
You love those melodious sounds at the opera, and listening to the voices of those Italian stars in foreign films is an aural
thrill.

Below You have some tips will help you to sound like you were born in Italy:

» Usually, Italian words are stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable.

   

» When the final -e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followed by
a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.

   

» Following the above rule, dottore (doctor) becomes dottor Nardi/Doctor Nardi and professore (professor) becomes
professor Pace/Professor Pace.

   
» When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel. For instance, cioè
(namely) and città (city).

Additionally You can see a list with the Ten more used Italian Exclamating Expressions

Italian Nouns
Noun (nome) is a person, place, or thing. Nouns have endings that change depending on the gender and number. So, the
ending of an Italian noun reveals its gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

  Singular Plural

il piatto bianco (the white plate) i piatti bianchi (the white plates)
MASC.
il cane grande (the large dog) i cani grandi (the large dogs)

la pizza calda (hot pizza) le pizze calde (hot pizzas)

FEM.
la carne tenera (tender meat) le carni tenere (tender meats)

Nouns often are accompanied by a masculine or feminine definite article (In english: "The"): il, lo, la (singular);
i, gli, le (plural). Indefinite articles (Like the English a, an, some) - un, una (singular). However, As in English,
there's no indefinite articles for plural nouns.

Noun Gender:
In English, a vast majority of nouns are neutre (masculine and feminine are only used for human beings or for animals),
while articles and adjectives have no gender at all. In Italian instead, nouns, adjectives and articles too are either
masculine or feminine, but never neutre.

Noun Number:
For nouns, the number (whether the word is singular or plural) works exactly as in English: the singular form is used when
referring to one subject and the plural form when referring to two or more. But in Italian also adjectives and articles are
number-sensitive, whereas in English only the noun changes; while in Italian also the article and the adjective would be
turned in plural form.

Gender of italian nouns

Most Italian nouns end in a vowel—those that end in a consonant are of foreign origin—and all nouns have a
gender, even those that refer to a qualities, ideas, and things. Usually, Italian singular masculine nouns end in -o,
while feminine nouns end in –a(-tà).
» Masculine » Feminine
   Tavolo (table)    Casa (house)
   Sviluppo (development)    Rosa (rouse)
    Organismo (organism)    Città (city)
There are exceptions for this rule, of course (see table below):

» Masculine » Feminine
   Giornale (newspaper)    F rase (sentence)
   Pane (bread)    Canzone (song)
   Nome (name)       Notte (night)
Gender Inflections for Nouns:

 Feminine is often obtained from masculine by the alternation -o : -a in the endings

» Masculine » Feminine
   Amico friend    Amica friend
   Bambino little boy    Bambina little girl
   Cugino cousin (he)    Cugina cousin (she)
   Figlio son    Figlia daughter
   Maestro master, teacher        Maestra teacher (female)
The alteration -e : -a also occurs, cf.:

» Masculine » Feminine
   Signore mister    Signora mistress
   Padrone master, owner    Padrona mistress of the house
 Sometimes masculine and feminine are derived from different (or modified) roots:

» Masculine » Feminine
   frate friar    soura nun
   fratello brother    sorella sister
   padre father    madre mother
   uomo man    donna woman
   paperone drake    oca duck
 These are nouns with one form for both genders. Here are included all the nouns suffixed by -ista.
Examples:

o Artista  »  artist

o Giornalista  »  journalist
o Pianista  »  pianist
o Turista  »  tourist etc

 Some other nouns, like:

» camerata comrade » consorte consort

» compatriota compatriot » amante lover
» eresiarca heresiarch » cliente client
» idiota idiot » commerciante trader
» omicida murderer     » interprete interpreter

Number of italian nouns

For nouns, the number (whether the word is singular or plural) works exactly as in English: the singular form is
used when referring to one subject and the plural form when referring to two or more. But in Italian also
adjectives and articles are number-sensitive, whereas in English they are not: "the old house" in plural form
becomes "the old houses", only the noun changes, while in Italian also the article and the adjective would be
turned in plural form.

Number Inflections for Nouns: There are many rules to obtain the plural of italian nouns; but, generally, the
plural is derived according to the following rules:

 For regular masculine nouns that end in -o, the ending changes to -i in the plural. In the same way regular
feminine nouns that end in -a take on -e endings in the plural. Examples:

For masculine nouns

Singular Plural English

fratello fratelli brothers

libro libri books
nonno nonni grandfather
ragazzo ragazzi boys
For Femenine nouns
Singular Plural English

casa case houses

penna penne pens
pizza pizze pizzas
ragazza ragazze girls
 The plural forms of some nouns end in -e will end in -i (regardless of whether these nouns are masculine
or feminine).

Singular Plural English

bicchiere bicchieri (wine) glass

chiave chiavi keys
fiume fiumi rivers
frase frasi phrases
 As a particular case, we have the words ending with co, ca, go, ga; these nouns and adjectives add an h to
their plural form. Examples:

Singular Plural English

buco buchi holes

fico fichi figs
chirurgo chirurghi surgeons
mucca mucche cows
 However, when the vowel that comes before co or go is i (i.e. ...ico, ...igo), in most cases the masculin
plural drops the h, thus becoming ...-ci or ...-gi (English sound ...chyh or ...jyh). Examples:
 Singular Plural English

amico amici friends

nemico nemici enemies
tecnico tecnici technical
comico comici comical - comedians
 Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant (such as words of foreign origin) do not change in
the plural, nor do the abbreviated words.

Singular In plural would be... English

caffè due caffè Two coffees

film due film Two films
foto due foto Two photos
 In other cases the plural is a little difficult to recognize for a beginner; many times is recognized by
external indicators, as articles, pronouns etc. Examples:

Singular Plural English

il tribù i tribù the tribes

la città le città the cities
l'analisi gli analisi the analyses
Note: Adjectives follow the same two patterns as nouns

Italian Onomatopoeia
Bang! boom! pop! splat! thump! goosh! boing! sss!. As you say these words, you can hear each of these different sounds
that objects make, and there are lots more of them. That's onomatopoeia, using speech sounds to mimic sounds we hear
around us.

In Italian there are many of onomatopoeic sounds, for example:

Animal name Sound name Onomatopoeia

Le api (bees) ronzano (buz) zzzzzz

Gli uccelli (birds) cinguettano (chirp) cip cip.

I gatti (cast) miagolano (mew) miao.

I pulcini (chicks) pigolano pio pio.

Le mucche (cows) muggiscono (low) muuuuuu.

I corvi (crows) gracchiano (caw) cra cra.

I cuculi (cuckoos)   cucú, cucú..

I cani (dogs) abbaiano (bark) bau bau.

Gli asini (donkeys) ragliano (bray) i-oo, i-oo.

 Le oche (geese) starnazzano (honk) qua qua.

Le rane (frogs) gracidano (croak) cra cra.

Le galline (hens) (cakle and cluck) coccodè.

I cavalli (horses) nitriscono (neigh or whinney)  

I topi (rats) squittiscono (squeak) squitt squitt.

I galli (roosters) (crook) chicchirichí.

Le pecore (sheeps) belano (bleat) beeee.

Italian Orthographic Accent

This part is not really fundamental for a beginner, who might want to skip it. However, some readers may have noticed
that in most cases the accented vowels bear a grave accent, i.e. slanted leftwards (perciò, sarà), while a few others are
slanted in the opposite direction (perché).

Modern Italian uses the following set of accented vowels:

"grave" accents. slanted leftwards

à è ì ò ù
("wide" sound pronunciation)

"acute" accent. slanted rightwards

  é      
("narrow" sound pronunciation)

It has already been said that when the accent is carried by the last syllable, an accented vowel has to be used. Since most
vowels only take the grave accent, this is the only one that can be used:

andrà he/she will go   lunedì monday

là there   finì it finished

         

falò great fire, pire   laggiù down there, over there

però but   più more - plu

Only the vowel e can take two different accents; according to the word, either one or the other should be used. These are
examples of words whose final e bears a grave accent ("wide" sound):

è he/she/it

caffè coffee or coffee-bar

frappè milk shake

In other words, instead, the final e bears the acute accent ("narrow" sound):

perché why, because

né not, nor, neither

sé self, one's self

In very few cases, an accented e can be very useful to mark the stressed syllable, thus the correct sound of the vowel:

pèsca ("wide" e) » peach   pésca ("narrow" e) » fishing

Also in this case the accent is not mandatory; actually, many people spell both words pesca (i.e. with a normal e), because
the context of the sentence is enough to understand which of the two makes more sense.

Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives are those that indicate possession or ownership. They correspond to the English "my",
"your", "his", "her", "its", "our", and "their".The Italian possessive adjectives are also preceded by definite
articles and agree in gender and number with the noun possessed, not with the possessor.

Possessive adjectives  (aggettivi possessivi) and Possessive pronouns (pronomi possessivi) are usually compound
forms which include a definite article that is not translated into English. Also, they are identical in form; the
difference is in meaning.  Where the possessive adjective "il mio" means "my," for example, the possessive
pronoun "il mio" means "mine": "le tue scarpe e le mie" » your shoes and mine.

It is important to note that possessives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, rather than with the
possessor. Examples:

o i miei amici  »  my friends.

o la loro automobile  »  their car.

The table below provides a chart of possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi) in Italian:

Masculine Feminine Possess.

Possess. Adjective Masculine Plural Feminine Plural
Singular Singular Pronoun

my il mio la mia i miei le mie mine

your (fam.) il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue yours
your (pol.) il Suo la Sua i Suoi le Sue yours
his, her , its il suo la sua i suoi le sue hers,his, its
our il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre ours
your (fam.) il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre yours
your (pol.) il Loro la Loro i Loro le Loro yours
their il loro la loro i loro le loro theirs

Yo can see that mio, tuo and suo behave like normal adjectives except in the masculine plural. Also, loro does not
make any changes at all, it is invariable. Examples:

o la mia automobile è veloce  »  my car is fast (here my acts as an adjective for the noun car)
o la loro è lenta  »  theirs is slow (here theirs is a pronoun, meaning their car, not mentioned)

o il suo gatto prese un topo  »  his cat caught a mouse

o anche il tuo prese un topo  »  also yours caught a mouse

o il vostro albero è alto  »  your (plur.) tree is tall

o il loro è basso  »  theirs is short

Only when the possessed noun is a specific family relative the article is dropped, as in English:

o mio padre è alto (not "il mio padre")  »  my father is tall
o mia madre è giovane (not "la mia madre")  »  my mother is young
o mio fratello è pigro (not "il mio fratello")  »  my brother is lazy

Another important difference is that while in English the gender of the possessive pronoun matches the possessor,
in Italian it matches the possessed subject:

o mio padre ha una bicicletta  »  my father has a bycicle

la sua bicicletta (sua matches bicicletta, feminine)  »  his bycicle (his matches father, masculine)

o mia madre ha un cane  »  my mother has a dog

il suo cane (suo matches cane, masculine)  »  her dog (her matches mother, feminine)

Italian Prepositions
Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc.

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used together with
definite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they are not
followed (and bound) to articles, they are called "simple prepositions".

Simple prepositions: They are words that aren't followed by articles. Simple prepositions are:
di (d’) » of a » to da » from, by, since
in » in con » with tra, fra » between
su » on per » for  
Di: "Di" means "of", indicating possession, or "from" (to be from). Examples:

o un bicchiere di vino  »  a glass of wine

o la città di Roma  »  the city of Rome
o il libro di Paolo  »  Paul's book (literally: "the book of Paul")
o la madre di Roberto  »  Robert's mother
o io sono di Roma  »  I am from Rome
o i due ragazzi sono di Berlino  »  the two boys are from Berlin
A: "A" means "to" (indirect object and movement) or "in", indicating location (cities and places).

When preposition "a" is followed by another word starting with a vowel, for mere phonetic reasons it changes to
"ad". Examples:

o regalo il libro a Stefania  »  I give the book to Stephanie

o venderò la bicicletta a Carlo  »  I shall sell the bycicle to Charles
o a destra  »  to the right (note how in Italian the two directions have no article)
o tornerò ad Amburgo  »  I shall return to Hamburg
o siamo a letto  »  we are in bed
o tu vivi a Roma   »  you live in Rome

Da: "Da" means "since", "from" (to come from), "by" (passive) and it's used with location referring to people.
Examples:

o Vivo a Foggia da 16 anni   »  I've lived in Foggia for 16 years

o Vengo da Foggia   »  I come from Foggia
o Questo corso è stato fatto da Davide   »  This course was made by Davide
o Sono da Davide   »  I'm at Davide's

In: "In" usually means "in". Examples:

o Vivo in una bella città   »  I live in a beautiful city.

o ho dieci monete in tasca   »  I have ten coins in my pocket
o traverseremo il fiume in barca   »  we will cross the river by boat

Con: "Con" means "with". Examples:

o Sono con te  »  I'm with you

o ho comprato il libro con pochi soldi   »  I bought the book with little money
o il bambino era con un adulto   »  the child was with an adult

Su: "Su" means "on(to)", "over". Examples:

o I libri sono su un banco   »  The books are on a desk.

o l'aereo vola su Firenze   »  The plane flies over Florence

Per: "Per" It can translate English for, to, by, or even as, according to the different use. Examples:

o Questo regalo è per te   »  This present is for Davide

o Ho un biglietto per il teatro   »  I have a ticket for the theatre
o Il pacco è per la signora   »  the parcel is for the lady

Tra-fra: "Tra" and "fra" mean "between" or "in" followed by a time expression. Examples:

o Sono tra(fra) il tavolo e la sedia  »  I'm between the table and the chair
o Vengo a casa tra(fra) due minuti  »  I'd come home in two minutes
o l'autobus passerà fra(tra) due ore  »  the bus will pass in two hours time
 o l'albero fra(tra) le due case è alto   »  the tree between the two houses is tall

Italian Prepositions
Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc.

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used together with
definite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they are not
followed (and bound) to articles, they are called "simple prepositions".

Simple prepositions: They are words that aren't followed by articles. Simple prepositions are:
di (d’) » of a » to da » from, by, since
in » in con » with tra, fra » between
su » on per » for  
Di: "Di" means "of", indicating possession, or "from" (to be from). Examples:

o un bicchiere di vino  »  a glass of wine

o la città di Roma  »  the city of Rome
o il libro di Paolo  »  Paul's book (literally: "the book of Paul")
o la madre di Roberto  »  Robert's mother
o io sono di Roma  »  I am from Rome
o i due ragazzi sono di Berlino  »  the two boys are from Berlin

A: "A" means "to" (indirect object and movement) or "in", indicating location (cities and places).

When preposition "a" is followed by another word starting with a vowel, for mere phonetic reasons it changes to
"ad". Examples:

o regalo il libro a Stefania  »  I give the book to Stephanie

o venderò la bicicletta a Carlo  »  I shall sell the bycicle to Charles
o a destra  »  to the right (note how in Italian the two directions have no article)
o tornerò ad Amburgo  »  I shall return to Hamburg
o siamo a letto  »  we are in bed
o tu vivi a Roma   »  you live in Rome

Da: "Da" means "since", "from" (to come from), "by" (passive) and it's used with location referring to people.
Examples:

o Vivo a Foggia da 16 anni   »  I've lived in Foggia for 16 years

o Vengo da Foggia   »  I come from Foggia
o Questo corso è stato fatto da Davide   »  This course was made by Davide
o Sono da Davide   »  I'm at Davide's

In: "In" usually means "in". Examples:

o Vivo in una bella città   »  I live in a beautiful city.

o ho dieci monete in tasca   »  I have ten coins in my pocket
 o traverseremo il fiume in barca   »  we will cross the river by boat

Con: "Con" means "with". Examples:

o Sono con te  »  I'm with you

o ho comprato il libro con pochi soldi   »  I bought the book with little money
o il bambino era con un adulto   »  the child was with an adult

Su: "Su" means "on(to)", "over". Examples:

o I libri sono su un banco   »  The books are on a desk.

o l'aereo vola su Firenze   »  The plane flies over Florence

Per: "Per" It can translate English for, to, by, or even as, according to the different use. Examples:

o Questo regalo è per te   »  This present is for Davide

o Ho un biglietto per il teatro   »  I have a ticket for the theatre
o Il pacco è per la signora   »  the parcel is for the lady

Tra-fra: "Tra" and "fra" mean "between" or "in" followed by a time expression. Examples:

o Sono tra(fra) il tavolo e la sedia  »  I'm between the table and the chair
o Vengo a casa tra(fra) due minuti  »  I'd come home in two minutes
o l'autobus passerà fra(tra) due ore  »  the bus will pass in two hours time
o l'albero fra(tra) le due case è alto   »  the tree between the two houses is tall

Italian Pronouns
Personal pronouns are little words that replace persons or things: he, she, they, it, me, her etc. Personal pronouns
can play the role of subjects or be in a different role. For instance, in the sentence "I eat a food", "I" is a subject,
but in the sentence "That lion wants to eat me", "me" is the object.

Other pronouns (not personal) also replace nouns, with a more specific usage. For instance, this can replace a
noun, with a meaning similar to it (or he/she), e.g. in the sentence this is good for you.

The types of object pronouns are:

   » Italian subject pronouns 

   » Italian object pronouns 
   » Italian possessive pronuns 
   » Italian relative pronouns

Subject Pronouns: Subject Pronouns are often omitted, since the verb form indicates the subject:

o Ho freddo  »  I'm cold

Since the endings of conjugated verb forms indicate person and number, subject pronouns may be omitted in
Italian except when necessary: (1) for clarity, (2) when modified by anche (also), or (3) when emphasis or
contrast is desired. Examples:

o Io ho freddo  »  I, for my part, am cold

o Lui detesta il film  »  He hates the movie
o Vorrebbe Lei venire con me?  »  Would you like to come with me?

It and they referring to things are almost never used in Italian and need not be translated. Below you can see a
table with subject pronouns:

Persons Singular Plural

1st. person io » I noi » we

2nd. person familiar tu » you voi » you
2nd. person polite* Lei » you Loro » You
lui » him loro » them
lei »her loro » them
3rd. person
esso » it (m.) essi » them (m.)
essa » it (f.) esse » them (f.)
In modern Italian he, she, and they are usually expressed by lui, lei, and loro, respectively. (Egli, ella, essi, and
esse are used more in written Italian than in the spoken language. Esso and essa are seldom used.) Examples:

o Tu ricevi una cartolina  »  You receive a postcard

o Io arrivo alle otto  »  I arrive at 8
o Lui entra in aula  »  He enters to the classroom
o Sono felice  »  We are happy

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between
masculine/feminine and neutre. Neutre gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man; but this
distinction does not cause any important change, because all other parts of the sentence (nouns, verb inflections,
adjectives, etc.) do not have a neutre gender, which is simply handled by using either masculine or feminine.

Object Pronouns: Object Pronouns are either direct or indirect, and cannot stand alone without a verb.  The
direct object receives the action of the verb directly while the indirect object is indirectly affected by it.

 Direct Object Pronouns

 Indirect Object Pronouns

(*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized.

Direct Object Pronouns

A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns.
In Italian the forms of the direct object pronouns (i pronomi diretti) are as follows:

Person Singular Plural

1st. person mi » me ci » us
2nd. person familiar ti » you vi » you
2nd. person polite* La » you (m. and f.) Li » You (m.)
Le » You (f.)
 3rd. person lo » him, it li » them (m.)
la » her it le » them (f.)
These pronouns are used as follows:

1. They stand immediately before the verb or the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses. Examples:

o Li ho invitati a cena  »  I have invited them to dinner

o L'ho veduta ieri  »  I saw her yesterday
o Ci hanno guardati e ci hanno seguiti  »  They watched us and followed us

In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun.

o Non la mangia  »  He doesn’t eat it

o Perchè non li inviti?  »  Why don’t you invite them?

2. The object pronoun is attached to the end of an infinitive. Note that the final –e of the infinitive is dropped.

o È importante mangiarla ogni giorno  »  It is important to eat it every day

o È una buon’idea invitarli  »  It’s a good idea to invite them
o Volevo comprarla  »  I wanted to buy it

3. The Object pronouns are attached to ecco to express here I am, here you are, here he is, and so on.

o Dov’è la signorina? – Eccola!  »  Where is the young woman? – Here she is!
o Hai trovato le chiavi? – Sì, eccole!  »  Have you found the keys? – Yes, here they are!

4. The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l'.

(*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized.

Indirect Object Pronouns

While direct object pronouns answer the question what? or whom? Indirect object pronouns
answer the question to whom? or for whom? Also, they're the same as the Direct Object
Pronouns except for the pronouns in the Third Person (i.e. to him; to her; to them).

Singolare Singular   Plurale Plural

mi (to/for) me   ci (to/for) us

ti (to/for) you (informal)   vi (to/for) you (informal)

gli (to/for) him, it   loro (to/for) them (m. & f.)

le (to/for) her, it      

Le (to/for) you (formal f. & m.)   Loro (to/for) you (formal f. & m.)

The direct object is governed directly by the verb, for example, in the following
statement: Romeo loved her.
The Indirect Object in an English sentence often stands where you would expect the
direct object but common sense will tell you that the direct object is later in the
sentence, e.g.: Romeo bought her a bunch of flowers.

The direct object — i.e. the thing that Romeo bought is “a bunch of flowers”; Romeo
didn't buy “her” as if she were a slave. So the pronoun her in the sentence actually
means "for her" and is the Indirect Object.

Examples:

» Qulacuno mi ha mandato una cartolina dalla Spagna

   Someone (has) sent me a postcard from Spain.

» Il professore le ha spiegato il problema

   The teacher (has) explained the problem to her.

» Gli hai detto di comprare un regalo per sua madre?

   Did you tell him/them to buy a present for (his/their) mother.

» Voglio telefonargli
   I want to phone him.

» Il signor Brambilla ci ha insegnato l'italiano

   Mr Brambilla taught us Italian.

» Cosa gli dici?

   What are you saying to him/to them?

» Lucia,tuo padre vuole parlarti!

   Lucia, your father wants to speak to you!

» Non gli ho mai chiesto di aiutarmi

   I (have) never asked him to help me.

» Non oserei consigliarti

   I would not dare to advise you

» Le ho regalato un paio di orecchini

   I gave her a present of a pair of earrings.

Sentence in Italian
Sentences are made up of one or more clauses. A clause consists of a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a predicate
(what is said about the noun or pronoun). The predicate always contains a verb. For example, in the simple
sentence:

Il re ama la regina  »  The king loves the queen.

      - re is the subject and ama is the predicate.

The Direct Object of a verb is a noun or pronoun which receives its action. In the sentence:
Il re ama la regina  »  The king loves the queen.
      - "regina" is the Direct Object of the verb.

Some verbs take an Indirect Object. For example, in the sentence:

Il re dà un regalo alla regina  »  The king gives a gift to the queen

    - "regalo" (gift) is the direct object and
      "alla regina" (to the queen) is the indirect object.

Types of Sentences:

Declarative sentences are statements; these sentences are sometimes referred to as positive sentences to
distinguish them from negative sentences. Examples:

o Parlo con Andrea  »  I’m talking with Andrea

o I libri sono su un banco  »  The books are on a desk
o Compra la frutta e la mangia  »  He buys the fruit and eats it
o Parlo bene l’italiano  »  I speak Italian well
o Domenica studio  »  I’m studying on Sunday

Negative sentences express a negation. Examples:

o Joselo non voule dormire  »  Joselo doesn't want to sleep

o Loro non parlano cinese  »  They don't speak Chinese
o Non ho paura di chiccessia  »  I'm not afraid of anybody

Interrogative sentences are questions. Examples:

o Che cos’è la semiotica ? »  What is semiotics?

o Sarà grigio e piovoso il mese ?  »  Will the month be dull and rainy?
o Sarà un esame difficile ?  »  Will it be a difficult exam?
o Qual è il numero di Roberto ?  »  What is Roberto’s number?

Negative Sentences
A negative sentence in Italian us usually made by adding non in front of the verb: Mi piace studiare / Non mi piace
studiare. There are of course other ways of expressing negation, as well. Here is a chart with negative expressions in
English and their Italian equivalent:

Non (Not)

in America non mangiamo i cani

  » in America we do not eat the dogs

non cambiare una virgola

  » not to change a single word

 

Non...mai (Never)

noi non studiamo mai il giovedì sera

  » we never study the thursday evening

Non...ancora (Not yet)

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Non...più (Not anymore No longer No more)

non ho più fame

  » I’m not hungry any more

(non ...) né...né (Neither...nor)

Nè I soldi nè il potere possono farti felice.

  » Neither money nor power can make you happy

né io né lui abbiamo visto quel film

  » Neither I nor he have seen that film

(non)...neanche, nemmeno, neppure (Not even )

(io) non lo guarderò nemmeno

  » I won't even look at him / it

non.. nessun,nessuno(a) (Not...any Nobody No one)

 
 (essi) non hanno letto nessun libro

  » they haven't read any book

quella persona non conosce nessuno

  » that person doesn't know anybody

non... niente, nulla (Nothing)

in quel cassetto egli non trovò niente

  » in that drawer he didn't find anything

da lontano (essi) non vedranno nulla

  » from afar they won't see anything

non...affatto / non...mica (Not at all )

non sono affatto innamorata del tuo ragazzo!

  » I'm not at all in love of your boy!

non sono mica pazza, io non potrei mai innamorarmi di lui!

  » I'm not crazy at all, I never could fall in love with him.

Interrogatives in Italian
This is simply obtained by adding a uestion mark at the end of the sentence, while in speech only the inflection of
the voice expresses a question.

o hai una penna rossa  »  you have a red pen

o hai una penna rossa ?  »  do you have a red pen ?

o l'albero è nel giardino  »  the tree is in the garden

o l'albero è nel giardino ?  »  is the tree in the garden ?

In spoken language, the question will be expressed by simply raising the pitch of the voice while approaching the
end of the sentence, especially stressing the last one or two words

The only situation in which words change order is when verb essere (to be) introduces a copula, expressing a
quality, a condition, etc. (not a direct object). The verb and the copula go before the rest of the sentence, and the
subject is postponed.

o la penna è rossa  »  the pen is red

 o è rossa la penna ?  »  is the pen red ?

o la casa era fredda  »  the house was cold

o era fredda la casa ?  »  was the house cold ?

o il mio gatto è nero  »  my cat is black

o è nero il mio gatto ?  »  is my cat black ?

However, all of the questions above have implied either a yes or no answer. To ask questions that require more
than a yes or no answer, you generally have to use a question word. Here is a list of some English question words
and their Italian equivalents:

What - che cosa Why - perché How many - quanti(-e)

Who - chi Which - quale How much - quanto(-a)
When - quando  Where - dove  
Examples:

o Quando ritorna Roberto ?  »  When is Roberto returning?

o Dove studia ?  »  Where does s/he study?
o Che ora é ?  »  What time is it?
o A che ora é la lezione ?  »  At what time is the lesson?
o Chi é in casa?  »  Who is in the house?
o Perché torni a scuola ?  »  Why do you return to school?
o In quale università studi ?  »  At which university do you study?
o Quanti studenti ci sono in classe ?  »  How many students are there in the classroom?

Che and cosa are abbreviated forms of che cosa. The forms are interchangeable:

o Che cosa bevi?  »  What are you drinking?

o Che dici?  »  What are you saying?
o Cosa fanno i bambini?  »  What are the children doing?

Italian Subjunctive
The Subjunctive mood expresses doubt, uncertainty, hope, fear, possibility, opinions, etc. and is used much more
frequently in Italian.  It is mainly used in dependent clauses (sentences introduced by a conjunction that do not
have a complete meaning) that are introduced by che.

The "congiuntivo" is also required with particular expressions such as:

 Impersonal forms  »  è necessario che, bisogna che, è importante che... tu venga al cinema - it's necessary
that, it's important that... you come to the movie
 Comparative clauses  »  è il film più interessante che abbia visto - it is the most interesting movie that I
saw
 Sentences introduced by  »  affinché - perché (so that), tranne che (a part that), a meno che (unless),
sebbene - malgrado - nonostante (altough), purché - a patto che (provided that), come se (as if)
 Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns  »  qualsiasi - qualunque (any), chiunque (whoever),
dovunque (anywhere)
  Sentences introduced by the adjectives or pronouns  »  niente che - nulla che (nothing that), nessuno che
(nobody that), l'unico/a che - il solo/a che (the only one that)

Italian subjunctive has four forms. The two first ones (Present and Imperfect Subjunctive) are simple tenses,
with their own inflections:

 Present Subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)

 Imperfect Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Imperfetto)

And the last compound tenses (congiuntivo passato and congiuntivo trapassato) are made in the same way as the
indicative ones (auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb), though the two auxiliaries essere and avere use
subjunctive inflections.

 Perfect (Past) Subjunctive (Congiuntivo Passato)

 Pluperfect (Congiuntivo trapassato)

Present Subjunctive
The present subjunctive of regular verbs is formed by dropping the normal endings, and adding these new endings:

ARE ending ERE ending 1st. IRE 2nd. IRE

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur.

-i -iamo -a -iamo -a -iamo -isca -iamo

-i -iate -a -iate -a -iate -isca -iate

-i -ino -a -ano -a -ano -isca -iscano

In the other hand, most irregular verbs that change stem in the present conjugation change stem in the "congiuntivo".

The table below provides examples of three regular verbs conjugated in the present subjunctive tense.

Che+Pronoun -ARE Verb -ERE Verb -IRE Verbs

che io parli scriva senta capisca

che tu parli scriva senta capisca
che lui/lei/Lei parli scriva senta capisca
che noi parliamo scriviamo sentiamo capiamo
che voi parliate scriviate sentiate capiate
che loro/Loro parlino scrivano sentano capiscano

Typical phrases that call for the subjunctive tense include:

 Credo che... Non suggerisco che...
(I believe that...) (I'm not suggesting that...)

Suppongo che... Può darsi che...

(I suppose that...) (It's possible that...)

Immagino che... Penso che...

(I imagine that...) (I think that...)

È necessario che... Non sono certo che...

(It is necessary that...) (I'm not sure that...)

Mi piace che... È probabile che...

(I'd like that...) (It is probable that...)

Non vale la pena che... Ho l'impressione che...

(It's not worth it that...) (I have the impression that...)

Examples:

 •  Ho paura che sia troppo tardi  »  I am afraid it may be too late
 •  Credo che lavino il cane molto spesso
     »  I think that they wash the dog very often
 •  Desidero che venga con me  »  I want her to come with me
 •  Spero che prenda la giusta decisione
     »  I hope that he / she takes (= will take) the right decision
 •  Penso che dorma  »  I think he's sleeping
 •  Che abbia venduto la macchina?  »  I wonder if he sold his car

Imperfect Subjunctive
Is used when the action expressed in a conditional sentence is not sure: if I came...; in the case you went...; should he
call...; etc. This subjunctive is formed by adding personal endings to the imperfect stem.

For conjugations of regular verbs, the endings are identical for all three conjugations:

    1st. CONJUGATION   2nd. CONJUGATION   3rd. CONJUGATION

Parlare Vendere Dormire

Che +      
To Speak To Sell To Sleep

Pronoun   parla-   vende-   dormi-

che io   parla-ssi   vende-ssi   dormi-ssi

che tu   parla-ssi   vende-ssi   dormi-ssi

che lei   parla-sse   vende-sse   dormi-sse

che noi   parla-ssimo   vende-ssimo   dormi-ssimo

che voi   parla-ste   vende-ste   dormi-ste

che loro   parla-ssero    vende-ssero   dormi-ssero

Examples:

 •  Credevo che avessero ragione  »  I thought they were right

 •  Non era probabile che prendessimo una decisione
     »  It wasn't likely we would make a decision
 •  Non c'era nessuno che ci capisse
     »  There was no one who understood us
 •  Il razzismo era il peggior problema che ci fosse
     »  Racism was the worst problem there was.

Perfect Subjunctive
The Perfect subjunctive or past subjunctive ("congiuntivo passato"), is a "compound tense"
(like the "passato prossimo") because it is formed with the present subjunctive of an auxiliary
verbs ("essere" or "avere") plus the past participle of a verb.

Whether it requires "essere" or "avere", depends on the verb. If the verb is a transitive verb,
it requires the auxiliary "avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express
movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it requires the auxiliary "essere".

Personal Auxiliar
Past Participle   English
Pronoun "avere"

io abbia parlato I have spoken, I spoke

tu abbia parlato you have spoken, you spoke
lei abbia parlato she has spoken, she spoke
noi abbiamo parlato we have spoken, we spoke
voi abbiate parlato you have spoken, you spoke
loro abbiano parlato they have spoken, they spoke
       

       

Personal Auxiliar
Past Participle   English
Pronoun "essere"

io sia arrivato I have arrived, I arrived

tu sia arrivato you have arrived, you arrived
lei sia arrivata she has arrived, she arrived
noi siamo arrivati we have arrived, we arrived
 voi siate arrivati you have arrived, you arrived
loro siano arrivate they (f.) have arrived, they arrived
"Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to
live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho
viaggiato, ho vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to
go out)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere"
(to remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

 •  Credo che abbiano ripreso le discussioni

     »  I think they resumed discussions
 •  Mi dispiace che abbia parlato così
     »  I'm sorry that he spoke that way
 •  Siamo contenti che siano venuti  »  We're glad they came
 •  Non credo che siano andati in Italia
     »  I don't believe they went to Italy

Pluperfect
To complete the fourth of subjunctive-tense verb forms, there's the congiuntivo trapassato (referred to as the past perfect
subjunctive in English), which is a compound tense. Form this tense with the congiuntivo imperfetto of the auxiliary verb
avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb.

Che+Pronoun Avere Essere

che io avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)

che tu avessi avuto fossi stato(-a)
che lui/lei/Lei avesse avuto fosse stato(-a)
che noi avessimo avuto fossimo stati(-e)
che voi aveste avuto foste stati(-e)
che loro/Loro avessero avuto fossero stati(-e)

Bellow we have a list with some examples of congiuntivo trapassato with the verbs "mangiare" (to eat), "leggere" (to
read), "andare" (to go) and "venire" (to come).

  AVERE ESSERE

Pron. Mangiare Leggere Andare Venire

io avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi  venuto/a

tu avessi mangiato avessi letto fossi andato/a fossi venuto/a
lui avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato fosse venuto
lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andata fosse venuta
Lei avesse mangiato avesse letto fossi andato/a fosse venuto/a
noi avessimo mangiato avessimo letto fossimo andati/e fossimo venuti/e
voi aveste mangiato aveste letto foste andati/e foste venuti/e
loro avessero mangiato avessero letto fossero andati/e fossero venuti/e

As well as the congiuntivo passato, the verbs "Dormire" (to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel),
"vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("avessi dormito, avessi risposto, avessi viaggiato, avessi
vissuto...")

Verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the auxiliary
"essere"

Verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (to be born)...
require the auxiliary "essere"

Examples:

 •  Speravo che avessero capito

     »  I was hoping they had understood
 •  Avevo paura che non avessero risolto quel problema
     »  I was afraid they hadn't resolved that problem
 •  Vorrebbero che io raccontassi una storia
     »  They would like me to tell a story
 •  Non volevo che tu lo facessi così presto
     »  I didn't want you to do it as soon

Coordinate conjunctions
Coordinate conjunctions (e, ma, and o) join units that are equal grammatically (fill the same position in the
sentence) or join two clauses of the same type:

o Scivolò e cadde sul pavimento.

» He slipped and fell on the floor.  (E joins two verbs)
o Si muoveva velocemente ma silenziosamente.
» He moved quickly but quietly. (Ma joins two adverbs)
o Possiamo andare attraverso il fiume o attraverso i boschi.
» We can go over the river or through the woods. (O joins two adverbial phrases)
o Ieri sera andò a casa e trovò le finestre rotte.
» She went home last night and found the windows broken. (E joins two clauses)

The conjunctions: entrambi / e(Both / and), non solo / ma anche (Not only / but also), sia / che (Either / or) and
nè / nè (Neither / nor); serve to intensify the coordination. Examples:

o Entrambi Maria ed io andremo alla festa.

» Both Maria and I will go to the party
 o Non solo diede regali a tutti noi, ma anche ci invitò alla festa.
» She not only gave all of us presents, but she also invited us to the party
o Nè I soldi nè il potere possono farti felice.
» Neither money nor power can make you happy
o Sia mio marito che io possiamo portarti a casa.
» Either my husband or I can drive you home

Subordinate conjunctions
Subordinate conjunctions join elements of unequal rank, establishing a relation of subordination between two
phrases or clauses. Following is the list of commonly used subordinate conjunctions:

perchè » because sebbene » although

quando » when a condizione che » at the condition that
mentre » while a meno che » unless
appena che » as soon as dopo che » after that
una volta che » once (that) before that » prima che
come » as fino a che » until
se » if  

Examples:

o Non lo vide dopo che lui ebbe lasciato la città.

» She never saw him after he left the town
o Prese la multa perchè guidava troppo veloce.
» He got a ticket because he was speeding
o Una volta che hai lavato lâauto asciugala bene.
» Once you have washed the car, dry it very well
o Si ammalò gravemente da quando ebbe l'incidente.
» She became very ill, since she had her accident
o Non va mai ai festini, a meno che sua moglie non vada con lui.
» He never goes to parties unless his wife comes with him
o Aspetteremo dentro fino a che la smette di piovere.
» We will wait inside until the rain stops

Italian Verb Tenses

Italian verbs are complex to English speakers, only because of the number of distinct forms each verb can have.
The complexity comes with the number of tenses and persons.

There is no gender distinction in Italian verbs (unlike nouns, which have two genders). However, there are six
personal forms per tense (three persons: first, second, third; and two numbers: singular, plural).

There is two verb tenses:

 Simple tenses:The simple tenses are verb tenses that consist of one word only, such as the present tense.
  Compound tenses:The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words,
such as the passato prossimo (present perfect).

The conjugated forms of verbs agree with the person and number of the subject.  There are two numbers
(singular and plural) and three persons.  First person is the speaker; second person is the one spoken to; third
person is the one spoken about. For example, for the present tense:

Persons Singular Plural

1st. Person io parlo  »  I speak noi parliamo  »  we speak

2nd. Person tu parli  »  you speak voi parlate  »  you speak
3rd. Person lei parla  »  she speaks loro parlano  »  they speak

Italian Simple Tenses

The simple tenses are verb tenses that consist of one word only, such as the present tense.

There are four simple tenses:

Present tense: The Italian present tense (presente) is happening right now. It's a simple tense—that is, the verb
form consists of one word only. Examples:

 regalo il libro a Stefania  »  I give the book to Stephanie

 i due ragazzi sono di Berlino  »  the two boys are from Berlin
 scrivo con una penna  »  I write with a pen
 ho un biglietto per il teatro  »  I have a ticket for the theatre

Imperfect tense: The imperfect is much more frequently used in Italian than in English. It expresses the English
"used to" and is used to describe actions or conditions that lasted an indefinite time in the past. It's also used to
express an habitual action in the past and to describe time, age, and weather in the past. Examples:

 Giocavo a calcio ogni pomeriggio  »  I played soccer every afternoon

 Sempre credevano tutto  »  They always believed everything
 Volevamo andare in Italia  »  We wanted to go to Italy
 Il cielo era sempre blu  »  The sky was always blue

Simple Past tense: Or remote past tense (passato remoto); is a simple tense and is formed by one word. In
general, it refers to the historical past or to events that have happened in the distant past relative to the speaker.

 Dante si rifugiò a Ravenna  »  Dante took refuge in Ravenna

 Petrarca morì nel 1374  »  Petrarca died in 1374
 Michelangelo nacque nel 1475  »  Michelangelo was born in 1475

Future tense: The future tense in Italian expresses an action that will take place in the future. Although in
English the future is expressed with the helping verb "will" or the phrase "to be going to," in Italian a verb ending
marks it as being set in the future tense.
  Alla fine di settembre partirò per Roma  »  At the end of September I will leave for Rome
 Che sarà, sarà  »  what will be, will be!

Italian Compound Tenses

The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses that consist of two words, such as the passato prossimo
(present perfect). Both the verbs essere and avere act as helping verbs in compound tense formations. For
example: io sono stato (I was) and ho avuto (I had).

In Italian there are four compound tenses:

Present Perfect: The passato prossimo—grammatically referred to as the present perfect—is a compound tense
(tempo composto) that expresses a fact or action that happened in the recent past or that occurred long ago but
still has ties to the present. Examples:

 Ho appena chiamato  »  I just called

 Mi sono iscritto all'università quattro anni fa  »  I entered the university four years ago
 Questa mattina sono uscito presto  »  This morning I left early
 Il Petrarca ha scritto sonetti immortali  »  Petrarca wrote enduring sonnets

Future perfect: The futuro anteriore or future perfect tense is a compound tense. How to express the idea of  "I
will have" or "they will have"? Use future perfect tense. Examples:

 Alle sette avremo già mangiato  »  By seven we'll already have eaten
 Noi avremo parlato al padre di Anna  »  We will already have spoken to Anna's father

Pluperfect (past perfect tense): In English the past perfect tense (trapassato prossimo) is formed with the
auxiliary "had" + the past participle of the main verb. In Italian, the trapassato prossimo, a compound tense, is
formed with the imperfetto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past participle of the acting verb.

 Già erano partiti quando sono arrivato  »  They had already left when I arrived
 Avevo chiuso le finestre quando è cominciato a piovere  »  I had shut the windows when it started to rain
 La macchina sbandava perché aveva piovuto  »  The car was sliding because it had rained

Past anterior (trapassato remoto): Known in English as the preterite perfect, is used primarily in literary
contexts. It's a compound tense formed with the passato remoto of the auxiliary verb avere or essere and the past
participle of the acting verb.

To see how avere and essere conjugate in the remote past tense, see the tables below.

CONJUGATING AVERE IN THE REMOTE PAST

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I (io) ebbi (noi) avemmo
II (tu) avesti (voi) aveste
III (lui, lei, Lei) ebbe (loro, Loro) ebbero
     
CONJUGATING ESSERE IN THE REMOTE PAST
 PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL
I (io) fui (noi) fummo
II (tu) fosti (voi) foste
III (lui, lei, Lei) fu (loro, Loro) furono
Examples:

 Partirono, quando ebbero ricevuto la notizia

»  They were leaving when they received the notice
 Renata entrò, appena Giorgio fu uscito
»  Renata entered just after Giorgio had left
 Andò a casa, quando ebbe finito di lavorare
»  He went home when he had finished working

As you can see, in each sentence set in the trapassato remoto, you will encounter an expression of time, such as
the following: appena (scarcely), dopo che (as soon as), or finché non (up until).

Italian Conjugation
The infinitives of all Regular Verbs in Italian end in are, ere, or ire and are referred to as first, second, or third
conjugation verbs, respectively.

In English the infinitive (l'infinito) consists of to + verb. Examples:

o amare - to love.
o temere - to fear.
o sentire - to hear.

See Italian Verbs for some examples of verb termination and features.

Below you have detailed lists with three italian regular verbs’s conjugations in the eight simple & compound
tenses: Parlare (To talk) Scrivere (To write) Dormire (To sleep) and Capire (to understand). The last one has a
different conjugation in present tense, as you can see in the first table, but is a regular verb as well.

» Simple tense conjugations:

  Present tense, imperfect, simple past and future tenses.

» Compound tense conjugations:

  Present perfect, future perfect, plusperfect past anterior.

Conjugation of irregular verbs: While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the most commonly
used ones are irregular; they do not follow the regular pattern of conjugation (infinitive stem + endings). In
particular, the auxiliary verbs essere and avere, and the common modal verbs potere (ability, to be able to),
dovere (duty, to have to), stare (to stand, to be in a particular state), sapere (to know), and volere (to want to) are
all irregular.

» Irregular verbs conjugations:

  Essere, avere, potere, dovere.

Subordinate conjunctions
Subordinate conjunctions join elements of unequal rank, establishing a relation of subordination between two
phrases or clauses. Following is the list of commonly used subordinate conjunctions:

perchè » because sebbene » although

quando » when a condizione che » at the condition that
mentre » while a meno che » unless
appena che » as soon as dopo che » after that
una volta che » once (that) before that » prima che
come » as fino a che » until
se » if  

Examples:

o Non lo vide dopo che lui ebbe lasciato la città.

» She never saw him after he left the town
o Prese la multa perchè guidava troppo veloce.
» He got a ticket because he was speeding
o Una volta che hai lavato lâauto asciugala bene.
» Once you have washed the car, dry it very well
o Si ammalò gravemente da quando ebbe l'incidente.
» She became very ill, since she had her accident
o Non va mai ai festini, a meno che sua moglie non vada con lui.
» He never goes to parties unless his wife comes with him
o Aspetteremo dentro fino a che la smette di piovere.
» We will wait inside until the rain stops

Italian Verb Tenses

Italian verbs are complex to English speakers, only because of the number of distinct
forms each verb can have. The complexity comes with the number of tenses and
persons.

There is no gender distinction in Italian verbs (unlike nouns, which have two genders).
However, there are six personal forms per tense (three persons: first, second, third; and
two numbers: singular, plural).

There is two verb tenses:

 Simple tenses:The simple tenses are verb tenses that consist of one word only,
such as the present tense.

 Compound tenses:The compound tenses (i tempi composti) are verb tenses

that consist of two words, such as the passato prossimo (present perfect).

The conjugated forms of verbs agree with the person and number of the subject. 
There are two numbers (singular and plural) and three persons.  First person is the
speaker; second person is the one spoken to; third person is the one spoken about. For
example, for the present tense:

Persons Singular Plural

1st. Person io parlo  »  I speak noi parliamo  »  we speak

2nd. Person tu parli  »  you speak voi parlate  »  you speak
3rd. Person lei parla  »  she speaks loro parlano  »  they speak

Italian Verbs
A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter),
or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand).

Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense,
aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (what
we usually call subject, object, etc.). Examples:

o Vado in Italia con la mia famiglia  »  I will go to Italy with my family.

o Il biglietto costa 2200 dollari australiani  »  The ticket costs 2200 australian dolars.
o Faccio studiare i ragazzi  »  I make the boys study.
o Noi studiamo sempre  »  We always study.
o Vuole anche questo libro  »  He wants that book, too.
o Le fragole sono dolcissime  »  Strawberries are very sweet.
o Questa arancia è molto buona  »  This orange is very good.
o Lei parla piano piano  »  She speaks very softly

In Italian, most verbs end in a common pattern, such as -are, -ere, and -ire. These are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
conjugations respectively. Examples:

ARE Means ERE Means IRE Means IRE (*) Means

to to to to
parlare scrivere dormire finire
speak write sleep finish
to to to to
cantare vedere partire colpire
sing see leave hit
to to to to
lavorare vendere aprire costruire
work sell open build
to to to to
amare vivere servire sparire
love live serve disappear
The features of the verbs are:

 The Person:  (indicates the subject that does the action)

The persons in Italian are io, tu, lui (masculine), lei (feminine), noi, voi, loro (masculine and feminine).

 The Manner: (indicates how the action happens)

In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicative),
congiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitive),
 gerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

 The Time:  (indicates when the action happens)

In Italian there are many different times: all the seven manners of the verb have different times.The times
can be simple (only one word) or compound (two or more words).

 The Form: (indicates the kind of action)

In Italian the form can be active transitive, active intransitive, reflexive and passive.

(*) There are few verbs of the -ire conjugation in Italian that have different suffix.

Italian Expressions
In every language we find the so-called 'idiomatic expressions', which are sentences characteristic for their
expressiveness; they are difficult to translate literally or rationally.

Here is a small list of commonly used idiomatic expressions:

To have what it takes to be a champion

Avere la stoffa del campione
Averne fin sopra i capelli To be fed up with something or someone
Dai! Come on!
Dare un colpo di telefono To telephone
Dare per scontato To take for granted
Darsi del tu To speak to each other informally
Fare il bagno To take a bath
Fare benzina To get gasoline
Fare colazione To have breakfast
Fare due passi To take a walk
Fare la doccia To take a shower
Fare una foto To take a photograph
Fare quattro chiacchiere To chat
Fare un salto To drop by someone or somewhere
Farsi un nome To become well known
Farsi in quattro To work very hard
Essere a secco To be out of money or gasoline
Essere giù di morale To feel down
Essere in piena forma To feel great; be in great shape
Essere fuori di sé To be angry
Essere fuori di testa To be out of control; nut
Essere tagliato per un lavoro To be cut for the job
In bocca al lupo Good luck; break your leg
Lasciare stare; To give up
Lasciare perdere
Mettersi in proprio
Mi prendono i cinque minuti
Non mi fa né caldo né freddo
Non mollare
Osso duro
Passarsela bene
Prendere in giro
Tenere duro
Un tipo in gamba
A chi tocca? Tocca a noi.
Vecchia roccia
To set up on one's own
I become furious, enraged
It doesn't make any difference for me
Don't give up
Tough cookie
To have a good period in life
To pull one's leg
To hold on, don't give up
A smart, capable person
Whose turn is it? It's our turn.
Good, old, strong person/ friend