Italian

## External Resources

https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingo/wiki/index#wiki\_italian

## Basics 1

Welcome to the Italian course! Remember that you can click on the words to see tips of possible translations.

### *Personal pronouns*

The subject pronouns in Italian are:

* Io - *I*
* Tu - Singular *You*
* Lui - *He*
* Lei - *She*
* Esso/Essa - *It* (archaic and literary)
* Noi - *We*
* Voi - Plural *You* / *You all*
* Loro - *They* (speaking of people)
* Essi/Esse - *They* (archaic and literary)

The verb is always conjugated to match the subject, and the subject is only specified for clarity or emphasis.

### *Articles*

Articles have to match gender and number of the noun they refer to.

The singular determinate articles (the) are:

* Lo - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN, and some rarer consonant clusters.
* Il - masculine, used before consonants except the above.
* La - feminine, used before all consonants.
* L' - an *elision* of the above used before vowels.

The indeterminate articles (*a*/*an*) are:

* Uno - masculine, used before Z, S+consonant, GN, and some rarer consonant clusters.
* Un - masculine, used in all other cases.
* Una - feminine, used before all consonants.
* Un' - feminine, used before vowels.

## Basics 2

### *Plural articles*

* The plural definite articles (*the*) are:
* *Gli* - for masculine nouns before vowels, Z, S+consonant, GN and some rarer consonant clusters.
* *I* - for masculine nouns in all other cases.
* *Le* - for feminine nouns.

### *Articulated prepositions*

When some prepositions are followed by a definite article they merge into a single word.

* Article: il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le
* Di + article: del, dello, della, dell', dei, degli, delle
* A + article: al, allo, alla, all', ai, agli, alle
* Da + article: dal, dallo, dalla, dall', dai, dagli, dalle
* In + article: nel, nello, nella, nell', nei, negli, nelle
* Su + article: sul, sullo, sulla, sull', sui, sugli, sulle

The compounds formed by *con* and *per* are archaic and literary, with the exception of *col* (con + il) for which the contraction is optional.

## Phrases

### *Negations*

In this section you'll use negations for the first time.

The English *no* has two main uses:

Particle (e.g. "no!"): this translates directly to the Italian *no*.

Determiner (e.g. "no one"): you'll learn the translations for this in a later section.

The English *not* almost always translates to the Italian *non*. However, while not often follows the verb it negates or its auxiliary, the Italian *non* always precedes it.

### *Greetings*

* *Ciao* is used both ways in Italian: when meeting (also *salve*) and when parting (also *arrivederci* or *addio*).
* *Buongiorno* and *buonasera* are normally used when meeting, although they can be used when parting as well: the first is used in the first half of the day and the latter in the remaining half.
* *Buonanotte* is always used when parting, as it presumes that the day is over (same as "good night").
* *Prego* is a courtesy form used in many occasions to accompany a kind action, and it's the customary answer to reply to received thanks.
* *Per favore*, *per piacere* and *per cortesia* are courtesy forms used when asking for something.

## Food

### *Ingredients*

Italian has three ways to express the presence of an ingredient in the name of a dish:
*Dish* di *ingredient*: the ingredient is the main or only component of the dish, e.g. "succo di limone" (lemon juice). In this case the article is never used before the ingredient.

* *Dish* con *ingredient*: the ingredient is a visible component of the dish or used as garnish, e.g. "fragole con panna" (strawberries with cream). In this case a definite article can be used before the ingredient.
* *Dish* a *ingredient*: the dish has been flavored with the ingredient, or tastes like the ingredient, e.g. "gelato al cioccolato" (chocolate ice cream). In this case the definite article is mandatory before the ingredient, forming an articulated preposition with *a*.

When there is no room for confusion the three can occasionally be mixed up, e.g. "panino al salame" is as common as "panino con salame"; however, in many cases using one instead of the other can give hints on the dish's composition.

### Questions

In this section you'll meet the first proper questions. In Italian word order doesn't change in a question, meaning that the question mark at the end and the raising tone of voice are usually the only differences between a question and a statement.

### Tips

It's important to keep in mind that the English idiom of "having food" being synonymous with "eating food" doesn't apply to Italian, where "avere cibo" simply means owning food.

## Plurals

You already met some noun variations in gender and number in the past lessons.

The most common noun classes in Italian are the following: Nouns ending in *a* in the singular and *e* in the plural, e.g. "la ragazza" / "le ragazze": most nouns in this class are feminine.

* Nouns ending in *o* in the singular and *i* in the plural, e.g. "il ragazzo" / "i ragazzi": most nouns in this class are masculine.
* Nouns ending in *e* in the singular and *i* in the plural, e.g. "il pesce" / "i pesci": nouns in this class can be any gender.
* Nouns ending in *a* in the singular and *i* in the plural, e.g. "il problema" / "i problemi": most nouns in this class are masculine

## Animals

**Was that a question?**

Asking questions in Italian is easy! Just pronounce any statement as a question.

* È un uccello. (*It's a bird.*)
* È un uccello? (*Is it a bird?*)

Did tou notice that **it** uses the same verb form as he and she? That might come in handy!

**Z as in zoo**

 The letter **z** in Italian has two different sounds.

* **z**oo (it sounds like **dz**, as in clou**ds**)
* **z**ucchero (it sounds like **ts**, as in ne**ts**)

There's no general rule, so you'll have to remember how **z** sounds in the most common Italian words.

Here's one tip for you though: when **z** isn't the first letter of a word, it sounds longer and stronger. Same thing for double **z**.

* cola**z**ione, gra**z**ie (as in pi**zz**a, but longer)
* ta**zz**a, raga**zz**o, raga**zz**a (as in pi**zz**a, but longer)

**Nello zoo**

In Italian, you come across many word combinations. **Nel** and **nello** are a couple of them. Let's see how they are formed.

* In + il = **nel**
* In + lo = **nello**

For example, you can see these combinations used to talk about the location of people, animals, and objects.

* Le scimmie sono **nello** zoo. (*The monkeys are in the zoo*)

## Possessives

Italian possessives are in the form definite article (il, la, i, le) + possessive adjective. They agree with the gender and number of the thing they describe:

* My/Mine: "il mio", "la mia", "i miei", "le mie"
* Your/Yours (sing): "il tuo", "la tua", "i tuoi", "le tue"
* His/Hers/Its/Your (formal)/Yours (formal): "il suo", "la sua", "i suoi", "le sue"
* Our/Ours: "il nostro", "la nostra", "i nostri", "le nostre"
* Your/Yours (plur): "il vostro", "la vostra", "i vostri", "le vostre"
* Their/Theirs: "il loro", "la loro", "i loro", "le loro"

**il mio** cane *My dog* ("Cane" is masculine singular, so we use "il" and "mio.")

**la mia** pizza *My pizza* ("Pizza" is feminine singular, so we use "la" and "mia.")

Even though in English the possessive in the third person (his, her, its) varies based on the owner, remember that in Italian the gender and number are determined by the thing being owned:

il cane **di Giulia > il suo** cane ("Cane" is masculine, so we use the masculine, even though it is her dog.)

In Italian an article is almost always mandatory before a possessive. The exceptions are:

* It's not used before close family members, in the singular and not modified, e.g. "mio padre" (my father), unless the possessive is "loro" (in which case the article is needed).
* It's optional when the possessive adjective is alone following a form of "essere," e.g. "è mio" (it's mine).
* It's not used in a small number of set phrases, e.g. "casa mia" (my home).

Possessive pronouns (possessives acting as a noun) are formed using the definite article and the possessive. They agree with the object they describe, even if it is not explicitly mentioned in the sentence:

Dov'è la tua macchina? **La mia** è qui. *Where is your car? Mine is here.* (It is understood that "la mia" refers to my car, so it is feminine.)

## Present 1

In this section you'll learn some common verbs; let's have a look at the "tough" ones.

### **Conoscere vs Sapere**

Both verbs translate the English "to know": that means that while the difference is obvious to speakers of other languages (e.g. German *kennen* vs *wissen*, Spanish *conocer* vs *saber*, Latin *cognoscere* vs *sapere*), it might be particularly hard for native English speakers.

*Conoscere* means to be acquainted or familiar with someone or something: it's the way you "know" persons, places, or news.

*Sapere* means to possess information about something: it's the way you know or learn most facts.

### **Piacere**

This is the first verb you'll meet with a different transitiveness compared to English: it means "to like" but the one being liked is the subject! Again, this is something that speakers of other languages might be familiar with (e.g. German *gefällt mir*, Spanish *me gusta*, Latin *placet mihi*):

* (en) Juliet (subject) likes Romeo (direct object)
* (it) A Giulietta (indirect object) piace Romeo (subject) or
* (it) Romeo (subject) piace a Giulietta (indirect object).

Note that contrary to Spanish the indirect object doesn't need a reinforcement (A Julieta *le gusta* Romeo), and instead using one is often regarded as a grammar mistake.

**Mancare**

The verb "mancare," when referring to people, works like "piacere": the indirect object misses the subject.

**Io** (subject) non **le** (indirect object) manco. *She does not miss me.*

## Colors

Most adjectives (like colors) in Italian have a masculine singular ending in either -O or -E. The ones that end in -O have separate feminine and masculine forms. Take for example "rosso":

il libro rosso / la camicia rossa / i libri rossi / le camicie rosse

Adjectives ending in E only have two forms: singular (-E) and plural (-I). They don't distinguish between masculine and feminine. "Verde" works this way:

il libro verde / la camicia verde / i libri verdi / le camicie verdi

With colors, certain words don't change at all (in the dictionary you'll see them called "invariable") because they are nouns, not adjectives. "Rosa" is an example of this, because it is the word for "rose":

il libro rosa / la camicia rosa / i libri rosa / le camicie rosa

## Conjunctions

Before a vowel (A, E, I, O, U), the conjunctions "e" and "o" and the preposition "a" may add a D (ed, od, ad). In current Italian grammar, this is optional, but is advised if the word following begins with the same letter (ed Elena, od olio, ad Alessandria). "Od" is used almost exclusively with words beginning with O, but you will see the others before other vowels ("ed io," for example).

## Prepositions

**Prepositions**, just like in English, don't always make sense. For example, things that in English are *in* something, in Italian may be *at* something. It very much depends on context, and/or on the verb that precedes them (again, just like in English). However, you'll find that most of the time English and Italian are not that different after all!

The main prepositions are *di*, *a*, *da*, *in*, *con*, *su*, *per*, *tra*, *fra*.

**Tra** and **fra** both mean *between*, or *among*, and they're almost completely interchangeable nowadays. However, it's better not to use *tra* before a *tr* sound, or *fra* before a *fr* sound.

**Tra fr**atelli. = Between/Among brothers.

**Fra tr**e persone. = Between/Among three people.

They can also mean **in**, when talking about time:

Incontriamoci **tra/fra** due ore. = Let's meet **in** two hours.

The main difference between English and Italian, however, is that some Italian prepositions have to be combined with the article **the** whenever it ends up next to them. As you can see, *di* and *in* change into *de-* and *ne-* respectively, but the rest are quite predictable!

## Clitic Pronouns

In this section, you will see several different types of object pronouns: 1) **direct objects**, 2) **indirect objects**, 3) **objects of preposition**, 4) **reflexive pronouns**, 5) the **passive “si,”** and 5) **ci** and **ne**.

1) **Direct objects**

A *direct object* receives the action of the verb and answers the question, “What?” For example:

* Vedo la ragazza. *I see the girl.*

We can ask, “What do I see?” and answer “The girl.” So “la ragazza” is our direct object.

Just like how in English we can replace “the girl” with the pronoun “her,” in Italian we can replace direct objects with pronouns. The direct object pronouns are the following:

1. Table 1

Usually these pronouns come **before** your verb. So the sentence “Vedo **la ragazza**” becomes “**La** vedo” (*I see **her***).

Sometimes pronouns are put after the verb for emphasis, and then use a different set of pronouns, called **tonic pronouns**:

1. Table 2

Except for “me” and “te,” these are the same forms as the subject pronouns. Going back to “Vedo la ragazza,” we can say “Vedo **lei**,” if we want to emphasize that it is *her* (not someone else).

2) **Indirect objects**

Like direct objects answer the question “What?” *indirect objects* usually answer the question “To whom?” or “For whom?” For example:

* Scrivo a mia sorella. *I write to my sister.*

“My sister” answers the question, “To whom do I write?” so “mia sorella” is the indirect object.

The indirect object pronouns look like the direct object pronouns, except the third person:

1. Table 3

Like the direct object pronouns, these typically come before the verb:

* Scrivo a mia sorella. **Le** scrivo. *I write to my sister. I write to her.*

You can also use the tonic pronouns (see above) after the verb for emphasis or clarification, but with the indirect object, “a” is required:

* Scrivo **a lei**.

The only exception is “loro,” which does not require “a”:

* Scrivo ai miei amici. **Gli** scrivo. / Scrivo **loro**. *I write to my friends. I write to them.*

3) **Objects of preposition**

After a preposition (for example, “con,” “di,” “per”), you should use a **tonic pronoun** (see above):

* Non so niente di **te**. *I don’t know anything about you.*

4) **Reflexive pronouns**

In Italian, some verbs are reflexive, meaning that the person doing the action does it to him or herself. Examples of this would be “mettersi” (to put a piece of clothing on), “chiamarsi” (literally “to call oneself”), and “sentirsi” (to feel). In the dictionary, you may notice that the infinitive has “si” on the end to show the verb is reflexive.

Reflexive verbs have their own pronouns: