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 INTRODUCTION
Basic Italian Language Course.
In this course we offer you an explanation of Chapter 1 n Spanish, about the
basic Italian grammar, that necessary to establish a Pronunciation.
non-specialized, informal conversation. Additionally you will find some
In this first approach to Italian we explain the correspondence between spelling
and phonemes, that is, between writing and pronunciation. also, some
communicative functions; Most letters have approximately the same
pronunciation in Italian and Spanish, therefore we will limit ourselves to those
cases where there is no such correspondence.
iiitd lt á ddl áli ifl á d di t The pronunciation will always be found between
bars: / / rules that adolescents, perhaps find the answers to We have opted for
a system of figurative pronunciation that, although it is not as
exact as those that use the symbols of the International Phonetic of the
Alphabet, it is easier for those who are not going to listen to the
teacher directly.
incidental role.
The Italian “ch” will always correspond to the sound /k/
This brochure would constitute, therefore, a reference material or self-Ex: che
/ke/ chi /ki/ as in the words “chiaro” /kiáro/: clear, “chitarra” /kitárra/: guitar, “che”
/ke/: what, “chi” /ki/: who.
We recommend taking a course where the dialogues focus on working on The
“c”, when it is in front of “a”, “o” and “u”, it is pronounced the same as in
Spanish , but in front of the vowels “e” , “i” has the sound of our /ch/:
reading relevant texts about Italian and universal culture, the
Ex: “house” /kása/, “thing” /kósa/, “cuore” /kuóre/: heart. But now let's look at
these examples: “cielo” /chélo/, “ciao” /cháo/: hello / goodbye – “ciao” is used
interchangeably in greetings and farewells-, “certo” /chérto/: true, true.
correction of the local form Therefore we have… we must disdain for the
achievement of general
communicative competence. undoubtedly constitutes an aspect that
ca /ka/ - che /ke/ - chi /ki/ - co
/ko/ - cu /ku/ and… cia /cha/ - is not
ce, cie /che/ - ci /chi/ - cio /cho/ - ciu / chu/ The “g” in front of “a”, “o” and “u” is
pronounced as in Spanish; but in front of “e”, “i” is pronounced approximately
like the /y/ that Argentines use, although somewhat stronger, making more
pressure with the central part of the tongue against the palate.

For example “gatto” /gát-to/, “war” /güérra/: war, but “già” /ya/: already,
mangiare /manyáre/: eat, turn /yíro/: walk, return.

To achieve the strong sound of the “g” in front of “e”, “i”, you must write the
combination of letters “gh”, eg ghiaccio /guiácho/: ice.

The combination “gn” gives the sound of our /ñ/ eg “lavagna /laváña/:
blackboard, cagna /káña/: bitch.

Then we will have…

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ga /ga/ - ghe /gue/ - ghi /gui/ - go /go/ - gu /gu/ and...

gia /ya/ - ge, gie /ye/ - gi /yi/ - gio /yo/ - giu /yu/.

The combination “gli” gives us the sound of the Spanish “ll” in regions where
the phenomenon known as “yeísimo” does not exist - which is the
pronunciation of the spellings “y” and “ll” with the same sound in words like “ “I”
and “drizzle”, for example. We will represent this “ll” sound with the Greek letter
landa /λ/ ej moglie /moλe/: wife, gli /λi/: (special case of the masculine definite
article in the plural: los.).

There are, however, a few exceptions that are pronounced as in Spanish: e.g.,
ganglio /gánglio/: ganglio, negligente /negliyénte/: negligente, glycerina
/glicherína/: glycerin, etc.

The sci-sce sounds are pronounced like the sh in English: e.g., gli sci /λi shi/:
skis.

Double consonants either have a stronger sound than when they are single, or
they are pronounced both. Let's look at some examples:

“spiaggia” /spiad-ýa/: beach, cavallo /kavál-lo/: horse –note that two separate
L's are pronounced-, penna /pén-na/ pen, pencil, anno /an- no/: year (note
Consider the risk you run here of not pronouncing both consonants, ha-ha-ha)

The “z” has two pronunciations, one voiceless /ts/ and the other voiced /dz/, eg
prezzo /pret-tso/: price, zucchero /dzuk-kero/: sugar, mezzogiorno /med-
dzoyorno/: noon, ragazza / ragat-tsa/: girl.

Here too, in cases with double zz consonants (/ts/ and /dz/) it must be
pronounced with a double or stronger sound.

The “s” can also have a voiceless sound and a voiced sound that we
phonetically represent with /s/ for the “harsh” or dull sound, and /z/ for the
voiced or “sweet” sound.

In our first lessons we will offer some figurative transcriptions, but later we will
dispense with them, since the rules are very stable.

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 Episode 2

Personal pronouns and the verb “essere” (to be)

Singular

io sono: I am / I am

tu sei: you are / are

lei è: she is / is

lui è: he is / is

Lei è: you are / are (formal address)

Plural

noi siamo: we are

voi seven: you are / you are

parrot sono: they / they are / are

Parrot sono: you are/are (formal address, quite obsolete nowadays)

As you can see, for the formal address (You) the same pronoun is used as
for the third person of the feminine singular (She), only it is commonly written
with a capital letter, even if it is not at the beginning of the sentence.
Therefore the sentence “Lei parla bene l'italiano” could well be “You speak
Italian well” or “She speaks Italian well” and to be sure who we are referring
to we depend on the context.

Let's now look at some examples with these verbs:

Io sono l'insegnante d'italiano /io sóno linseñánte ditaliáno/: I am the

teacher / teacher of Italian.

Tu sei una ragazza molto simpatica /tu sei una ragát-tsa mólto simpatika/:
You are a very nice girl.

Maria è l'amica di Lucia /maría è lamíka di luchía/: María is Lucía's friend.

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Noi siamo gli studenti d'italiano /noi siámo λi studénti ditaliáno/: We are the
Italian students.

Anche voi seven studentsi? / ánke voi siéte studénti/ Are you also students?

Lui è il signor(e) Berlucci /lui e il siñór (e) berlúchi/: This is Mr. Berlucci.

Loro sono entrambi italiani /lóro sóno entrambi italiáni/: They (both) are
Italian

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 Chapter 3

Minidialogues

In this chapter, we propose some mini-dialogues where examples appear

that illustrate the grammar studied previously.

1 • __ Did I read the signor* Berlucci? /lei e il siñor berlúchi/ Are you Mr.
Berlucci?

◙ __ No, my dispiace. No sono io. I love Paolo Bianco. /no, my dispiáche,

non sóno ío, ío mi kiámo paolo biánko/ I'm not sorry, it's not me. My name is
Paolo Bianco.

2 ◘ __ Are you Lucia's friend? /tu sei lamíko di luchía/ Are you Lucía's
friend?

◙ __ Yes, that's it. /yes, it's me/ Yes, it's me.

3 ♦ __ Chi è il direttore qui? /ki e il diret-tóre kuí/ Who is the director here?

•__ Il direttore è quel Signore tall and grasso /il diret-tóre and kuel siñóre
álto e gráso/ The director is that tall and thick / fat man.

4 ◘ __ Lei è foreign? /lei è straniéro/ Are you a foreigner?

◙ __ Yes, I sound strange. I sound Italian. /yes, I am foreign, I am Italian/

Yes, I am a foreigner. I'm italian.

5 • __Voi seven tourists? /voi siéte turísti/ Are you tourists?

♦ __ Yes, siamo turisti. Siamo tedeschi. /si, siámo turísti, siámo tedeski/
Yes, we are tourists. We are German.

* Note: The word “signore” and titles that end in –ere/-ore: such as
professore, dottore, ingegnere, infermiere, etc. in front of a name or surname
lose the final “e”: dottor Michele, Signor Martínez, professor Rossi.

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 Chapter 4

The definite articles (the, the, the, the)

Articles in Italian are more abundant than in Spanish, as there are cases in
which they must change according to the letters with which the word they
define begins.

The common form that these articles have in Italian is the following:

il: the

the: the

1: the

him: the

Examples:

il ragazzo: the boy il libro: the book

la ragazza: the girl la rivista: the

magazine
i ragazzi: the boys
i libri: the books
le ragazze: the girls
you derived it: the
Also note how masculine nouns that end in “o” form the plural by changing
this vowel to “i” eg ragazzo (sing) ragazzi (pl) and feminine nouns that end in
“a” form the plural by changing this vowel to “e” , eg ragazza (sing) ragazze
(pl). This is also valid for adjectives. Ex Il expensive book. I libri darling.

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Now, if the noun begins with a vowel, the article will always be an
apostrophized “l”: (l') for both the masculine and feminine singular:

l'allievo: the student

l'aria: the air (feminine in Italian)

l'auto: the car (feminine in Italian, because it is the abbreviation of

automòbile, which is also feminine, but is usually called la macchina /mák-
kina/

l'aula: the classroom

l'aiuto: the help (masculine in Italian)

l'uomo: the man

For the plural in this case we use the article “gli” with the masculine; but we
keep “le” with the feminine.

Gli alunni: the students

Gli uomini: men

Le auto: the autos (as auto is a linguistic loanword from Greek, it remains
the same in the plural. This happens with all the foreign words that have
been incorporated into Italian, e.g. bar, drink, gas, weekend, hotel, garage,
etc.)

In the case of cinema it is the contraction of cinematography (plural

cinematografie) and does not enter into the classification of foreign words;
but the contracted form remains the same in the plural.

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 Chapter 5

Articles (continued)

With masculine nouns that begin with an impure “s” (an “s” followed by
another consonant, e.g., st – sp – sc – sch – str – sv), those that begin with
z, and consonant clusters, such as gn – ps –, etc., the article used is “lo”:

lo zio: the uncle

lo spettacolo: the spectacle

lo stesso: the same

lo studente: the student

lo specchio /lo spek-kio/: the mirror

With the feminine these words maintain the article “the”:

la zia: aunt

the studentessa: the student

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To finish this chapter, let's look at some examples within some mini-dialogues:

1 ♦ __Tu sei l'insegnante d'italian? (Are you an Italian teacher?)

• __ No, io facto il cameriere, ma mia moglie è professoressa. (No, I am a

waiter; but my wife is a teacher.)

2 ◙ __ Dov'è il libro? Dove did you rive him ? /dové il libro.../ (Where is the
book? Where are the magazines?)

◘ __ The book is on your table, but you read it on your letter. (The book is on
the table, but the magazines are on the bed.)

3 • __Have you seen that what I specchio is broken? /ai vísto ke lo spék-kio e
rót-to/ (Have you seen that the mirror is broken?)

♦ __ Yes, the language is so sporche! /si, e le lendzuóle sóno spórke/ (Yes,

and the sheets are dirty.)

• __ The conditioned air does not work! /e lária conditsionáta non funtsióna/
(And the air conditioning does not work!)

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 Chapter 6

The verb “avere”

This verb has two meanings, one as an auxiliary verb in the antepresent
tense, that is, “have,” and another as a main verb, “have.” In this chapter we
will focus on this second meaning.

Singular

io ho: I have

you hai: you have

lui ha: he has

lei ha: she has

Lei ha: you have (formal)

Plural

noi abbiamo: we have you

voi avete: you have

hanno parrot: they have

Hanno parrot: you have (formal)

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Examples:

Quanti anni hai? /kuánti an-ni ai/ How old are you?

Io ho quarantatre anni /ío ó kuarantatré án-ni/: I am 43 years old.

Lei ha un figlio e due figlie /lei á un fíλio e dúe fíλie/: You have a son and two
daughters / She has a son and two daughters (depending on context).

Voi avete i biglietti? /voi avéte i biλiét-ti/ Do you have the tickets?

Loro hanno molti amici stranieri /lóro án-no mólti amíchi straniéri/ They have
many foreign friends. / You have many foreign friends. (depending on context).

Don't you have any pizza to eat? /tu non ái vóλia di manyáre una pítsa/: Don't
you want to eat a pizza?

You should know that, as happens in Spanish, the personal pronoun can be
omitted in Italian, since the verbal form tells us what grammatical person is
being talked about, e.g. Parlo un po' l'italiano: I speak a little Italian – it is
understood that It is about the first person singular, that is, I-.

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 Chapter 7

Dialogue with learned verbs

Let's look at this little dialogue where the verbs we have studied so far are
mostly used:

♦ __ Lei è l'insegnante d'italian?

• __ Yes, that's it. E tu chi sei?

♦ __ Sono il nuovo studente. My name is Juan. What's your name, professor?

• __ Io mi chiamo Gianni.

♦ __ What is your knowledge?

• __ Rizzo, Gianni Rizzo. Piacere.

♦ __ Il piacere è tutto mio, Professor Rizzo.

• __ Sei esposato, Juan?

♦ __ Yes, I am married. My moglie is an infermiera.

• __ Io, invece, sono ancora celibe. How many years has your moglie?

♦ __ He hasn't said so much. È ancora molto giovane.

• __ Avete figli?

♦ __ No, we did not abbiamo ancora figli.

• __Be'. We are seeing Monday to Friday.

♦ __ ArrivederLa, professor.

Figurative pronunciation:

/lei é linseñánte ditaliano/

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/yes, sóno ío, e tú ki sei/

/sóno il new student, il mio nome e juan, kuál e il súo nome professor/

/io mi kiamo yán-ni/

/e kuál é il suo koñóme/

/rítso, yán-ni rítso, piachére/

/il piachére e tut-to mio professor rítso/

/sei sposáto juan/

/yes, sóno sposáto, mia móλie è infermiéra/

/ío, invéche, sóno ankóra chélibe, /e kuánti án-ni á túa móλie/

/ne á soltánto dichon-nóve, é ankóra mólto yóvane/

/avete fíλi/

/no, non ab-biámo ankóra fíλi /

/bé, chi vediámo monnedí a letsione /

/arrivéderla professor/

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TRANSLATION:

Are you the Italian teacher?

Yes, it's me. And who are you?

I'm the new student. My name is Juan. What is your name, professor?

My name is Gianni.

And what is your last name?

Rizzo, Gianni Rizzo. It's a pleasure.

The pleasure is all mine, Professor Rizzo.

Are you married, Juan?

Yes, I'm married. My wife is a nurse

I, on the other hand, am still single. And how old is your wife?

She is only 19 years old. He is still very young.

Do you have children?

No, we don't have children yet.

Well, see you at the lesson on Monday.

See you teacher. (lit. Until I see it again)

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 Chapter 8

Communicative functions and vocabulary

ask the name

What's your name? (What is your name?) (formal, I use “you”)

What's your name? (What is your name?) (familiar, use of “you”)

Come si chiama Lei? /kóme si kiáma lei/ (What is your name?)

Do you eat chiami? /kóme ti kiami/ (What's your name?)

Mi può will say your name, please? (Can you tell me your name, please?)

What is your knowledge? (What is his/your last name?)

Introduce oneself

Ciao, io sono… (Hello, I am…)

Good morning. Io mi chiamo... (Good morning. My name is...)

Allora, my present. I sound it... (Then, I introduce myself. I am…)

Piacere (It's a pleasure)

È stato un piacere (It was a pleasure.)

Molto lieto di fare la sua conoscenza (Nice to meet you) (lit. Very happy to
make me your acquaintance)

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Ask about someone's marital status

What is your civil status? (What is your marital status?)

Is he/she married? (Are you married?) Are you married? (Are you married?)

Sei maritata? (You're married? –informal, only for the feminine.)

I am married (I am married)

I am celibate (I am single –male-)

scapolo (single –male-)

nubile (single –feminine-)

vedovo/a (widower)

Saying goodbye (Prendere congedo / commiato)

A dopo (See you later)

I must walk. A più tardi (I have to go. See you later)

Arrivederci (See you soon)

A domani: (See you tomorrow)

A monday / martedì / mercoledì / giovedì / venerdì / sabato / domenica

(Until Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday...)

Ask the age

How many years has it? (How old is he?) Quanti anni hai? (…have? –
treatment of “you”)

What is your età? / What is your età?

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To tell the age, we need to know the numbers:
one undici wind trentuno...

due dodici ventidue trentotto...

three tredici ventitre

quattro quattordici ventiquattro quaranta

cinque quindici twenty-five quarantuno..

six sedici ventisei quarantotto...

sette diciassette ventisette

otto diciotto wind fifty

nine diciannove ventinove fifty-one

sixteen venti thirty cinquantotto

sessanta, settanta, ottante, novanta, cento, centouno, centodue, centotre...,

centodieci..., duecento, duecentocinque, trecento; But come on man, no one
lives that long.

Notice how the tens join the “one” and the “otto”

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 Chapter 9

Mini-dialogue

Let's now observe another mini-dialogue where some of the communicative

functions studied in the previous chapter are observed. We recommend you
practice these functions with a partner using personal information.

__ Sei maritata, Lucia?

__ Yes, I am married to four years. And you?
__ No, non ancora, thank God. Chi è tuo marito?
__ È a foreign ragazzo.

Davvero? What is your nationality? -

__ Lui is Canadian.

Non è vero! -
__ Yes, it is true. Dopo I present it to you.
__ Bene. Adesso devo andare via. Ciao.
Ciao.

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TRANSLATION:

Are you married, Lucia?

Yes, I have been married for four years. And you?

No, not yet, thank God. Who is your husband?

He is a foreign boy.

Really? What is your nationality?

He is Canadian.

It isn't true!

Yes it is true. Then I'll present it to you.

Good. Now I have to go. Bye bye.

Bye bye.

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 Chapter 10

The conjugations of the verbs in the present indicative.

To learn to conjugate verbs in Italian we will take as an example three model

verbs that are regular since a significant group of verbs with the same
ending follow the same pattern for their conjugation.

The first group is made up of those verbs that are conjugated the same as
the verb AMARE – ending: “…are”-. The second group is made up of those
verbs that conjugate the same as the verb TEMERE – ending “…ere”-. In
the third we have those verbs that are conjugated as the verb PARTIRE.

There is a group of verbs within the third group that take –isc, between the
root and the ending. (they are conjugated like the verb FINIRE, which we will
see later). With regular verbs the stem of the verb is always kept unchanged
and changes are made in the ending, depending on the grammatical person
being spoken of. These verbs will serve as models to conjugate all other
regular verbs with the same ending.

1st Group:

AMARE (verb root: AM-) (ending –ARE): (to love).

I love him (I love)

Your friend (you love)

Lei/Lui loves (you/she/he loves)

Noi amiamo (we love you)

Voi amate (you love each other)

Loro amano (they/they love)

The verbs are conjugated in the same way: lavorare (work), pensare (think),
guadagnare (earn, e.g., money), visitare (visit), insegnare (teach), salutare
(greet), viaggiare (travel), mangiare (eat), I will study

(study), imparare (learn), aspettare (wait, await) and many other verbs that
you will discover little by little.

Examples in use:

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•
I love you so much! (I love you so much!)
•
Non guadagno molto denaro. (I don not earn a lot of money.)
•
__ Chi aspetti? __ I look like a friend. (__ Who are you waiting for? __ I
wait for a friend.)
•
Marta visits her friend on a fine day. (Maria visits her friends for the
weekend.)
•
Gli students greet the professor. (The students greet the teacher.)

Chapter 11

Second group of regular verbs

TEMERE (verb root: TEM-) (ending -ERE): (to fear)

I fear it (I fear it)

Tu temi (you fear)

Lei/Lui teme (you/she/he fears)

Noi temiamo (we fear you)

Voi temete (you are afraid)

Loro temono (they fear)

Other verbs in this same group are: vedere (see), credere (believe), scrivere
(write), vivere (live), prendere (take, catch), mettere (put), etc.

Examples:

Gli studentsi write the phrases. (Students write the sentences)

Did you see that ragazza? It's my fidanzata. (See that girl? Is my girlfriend.)

Do you believe that it is possible? (Do you believe it is possible?)

Ci vediamo dopo. (See you later.)

Did I turn on your quest'bus? (Do you take this bus?)

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 Chapter 12

Conjugation of the third group

PARTIRE (root: -PART) (ending: -IRE): (to split)

I'm leaving (I'm leaving)

Your parti (you part)

Lei/Lui part (you/she/he part)

Noi partiamo (we part)

Voi partite (you partite)

Parrot parton (they part)

The verbs are also conjugated in this way: dormere (sleep), Sentere (feel,
listen), aprire (open), etc.

Examples:

How now does the baby sleep? (What time does the child sleep?)

Did you feel that rumor? (Do you hear that noise too?)

Loro aprono i libri a page dodici. (They open the books to page twelve.)

Chapter 13

Conjugation of special verbs of the third group

FINIRE (root: -FIN) (ending: -IRE): (end)

I finish /finísko/ (I finish)

Tu finisci /finischi/ (you finish)

Lei / Lui finisce /finísche/ (you / she / he finishes)

Noi finiamo /finiámo/ (we finish you)

Voi finite /finíte/ (you finish)

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Finiscono parrot /finískono/ (they / they finish)

The verbs are also conjugated in this way: capire (understand, understand),
spedire (send, send), preferire (prefer), etc.

Examples:

A che now finisci il tuo lavoro? (What time do you finish your work?) Finisco

il mio lavoro alle cinque. (I finish my work at five.) Capisci ciò what can I tell

you? (Do you understand what I'm telling you?) Non capisco ciò che mi dici.

(I do not understand what you tell me.)

Parrot prefers not to handle the fish. (They prefer to eat fish.)

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 Chapter 14

daily routines

With verbs in the simple present tense of the indicative mood we can talk, among
other things, about our daily routines, the things we like and don't like, etc. Let's
see now what my daily routine is and that of mine:

Ogni giorno, mi alzo alle sette. My wash and dopo faccio the first colazione -di
solito pane con burro, caffellatte-. I put my dress in the back of the house so I
can turn on the bus and go to work. I work on the other side and mezzanine all
the five. Il pranzo lo faccio (nella) a scuola, dove lavoro.

When I finish my work, I return home, I have some coffee with my baby, I turn on
a cooker and then I have dinner.

It will be that I keep the TV on my own (you see), I read any book and I go to
letto verso the undici and mezza, so I will work on the last day.

My moglie does not work outside the house. Lei è casalinga: always resta a casa
fa tutto il lavoro. Lei lavora più di me! Wash, cook, clean the house and also sew.
My children go to school in the morning and the pomeriggio restano a casa,
giocano un pò, fanno il bagno, e fanno le solite cose.

Some notes on the above text:

aiutare: help. -Noun: l'aiuto (masculine).

alzarsi: (get up) – io mi alzo, tu ti alzi, lei / lui si alta, noi ci alziamo, voi vi altate,
loro si altano. (Reflexive verb: the subject and the object are the same person.)

andare a letto: (lie down, go to bed) Io vado a letto alle undici e mezza. (I go to
bed at half past eleven.) Synonym: coricarsi: my corico, you corico...

andare: (go) Irregular verb with high frequency of use: Io vado, tu vai, lei / lui va,
noi andiamo, voi andate, loro vanno.

esco (from the verb “uscire” = go out: Io esco, tu esci, lei / lui esce, noi usciamo,
voi uscite, loro escono).

fare: (to do) – Io faccio, tu fai, lei / lui fa, noi facciamo, voi fate, loro fanno fare il
bagno / la doccia: (to bathe, literally: to do the bath / (take the bath) / the shower)
.

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fare la prima colazione: (to have breakfast).

giocare: (play). gioco, giochi, gioca, giochiamo, giochiate, giocano.

moglie: wife.

prendere: take, take, eg, the bus, dinner, the bathroom, etc.

TRANSLATION:

Every day I get up at seven. I wash and then have breakfast – usually bread with
butter and coffee with milk. Then I get dressed and leave the house to take the
bus and go to work. I work from eight thirty to five. I eat lunch at school, where I
work.

When I finish my work, I return home, help my wife a little with the boys/children,
take a shower and later have dinner.

At night I usually watch TV, read a book and then go to bed around eleven thirty
because I have to work the next day.

My wife doesn't work outside the home. She is a housewife: she always stays at
home and does all the work. Work harder than me! He washes, cooks, cleans
the house and so many other things. The children go to school in the morning
and in the afternoon they stay home, play a little, take a bath and do the usual
things.

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Let's now see a list of the most common domestic activities:

The domestic face:

Fare il letto: make the bed

Cambiare le lenzuole: change the sheets

Scopare il pavimento: sweep the floor

Spolverare i mobili: dust the furniture

Lavare i vestiti: wash clothes

Stirare i vestiti: ironing clothes

Cucinare: cook

Lavare i piatti: wash the dishes

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 Chapter 15

Pronouns and reflexive verbs

In the previous chapter we saw some examples of reflexive verbs,

alzarsi,trabajosi,vestisi (get up, wash, get dressed) and we explained that in
reflexive verbs the subject (who performs the action) and the object (on whom
the action falls) are the same person. When I say “I comb my hair,” it is I who do
the combing and the action is carried out on my own person.

The reflexive pronouns are:

mi (me), ti (te), si (se), ci (nos), vi (os), si (se)

Let's now look at some examples with these and other common verbs:

pettinarsi: (combing hair) Io mi pettino, tu ti pettini, lei / lui si pettina, noi ci

pettiniamo, loro si pettinano.

chiamarsi: (call yourself) mi chiamo, ti chiami, ci chiamiamo…

lavasi i denti: (brush your teeth) eg, (I wash my teeth...).

radersi: (shave) eg, Io mi rado ogni mattina. (I shave every morning.)

lavasi: (wash) my wash, you wash, yes wash...

dress: (dress) my dress, you dress, if you dress, we dress...

svegliarsi: (wake up)

Let's look at other examples of reflexive verbs:

Loro si amano da molto tempo.: (They have loved each other for a long time.)

Noi ci vediamo spesso.: (We see each other often.)

Chapter 16

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Try answering these personal questions:

What time does it rise?

(Che) thing fa dopo essersi raised? –*the word “Che” can be omitted, and in fact
it is common to do so-

(Which) thing does it take on its own for the first colazione?

Study or work?

Dove lavora? / Dove studies?

What is your work schedule?

Who is coming home?

(Which) would it be something easy on its own? Rhyme home?

Would you please put away the TV?

What time is going to letto?

Now, before reading what follows on the next page, try asking these same
questions treating your interlocutor as “you.” Once you have done the exercise,
never before, check with what follows.

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What are you praying for?

What's wrong with you?

What did I do on my own for the first colazione?

Study or labor? Dove labori / Dove studi?

What is your work schedule?

What time do you return home?

Could it be something easy on its own? Rimani home?

Can I keep the TV?

A che ora vai a letto?

Chapter 17

Most common irregular verbs

We have already learned to conjugate regular verbs in Italian that are divided
into three declensions: amare, temere, partere. However, there are many verbs
that do not follow this regularity and are widely used in the language, since it is
precisely the use that has "deformed" them.

Now we will combine some of the most necessary for basic communication:

Andare: (go) I will say: (say)

I ford: (I go) I say it: (I say)

You go: (you go) You say: (you say)

Lei / lui va: (goes) Lei/Lui says: (says)

Noi andiamo: (let's Noi diciamo: (we say)

go)
Voi dite: (you say)
Voi go: (you go)
Dicon parrot: (they say)
Parrot vanno: (they
go)

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Venire: (come) Sapere: (know)

I'm coming I so

You come Your sai

Lei/Lui is Lei/Lui sa
coming
Noi sappiamo
Noi we came
Voi sapete
I'm coming
healthy parrot
venom parrot

Uscire: (exit) Fare: (do)

I know it Io factio

Your esci Your fai

Lei / Lui esce Lei/Lui fa

Noi usciamo Noi facciamo

Voi uscite Voi fate

Escono Parrot fanno parrot

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I rhyme I do

Your rhyme Your dai

Lei/Lui rimane Lei/Lui da

Noi we rhyme Noi diamo

Voi rhyme Voi date

Rimangono parrot danno parrot

Rimanere: (stay, stay) Dare:
(give)
Most of the available dictionaries offer the complete conjugation of irregular
verbs when they present the infinitive. With regular verbs conjugation is
generally not offered.

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 Examples with irregular verbs: __ Dove vai? (Where are you going?)

__ Ford dalla mia fidanzata. (I'm going to my girlfriend's house.)

__ Dove Friday? (Where do you come from/come from?)

__ I come from Italy. (I come from Italy / I come from Italy.)

Il fine settimana remango a casa o vado dai miei amici. (On the weekend I stay
at home or go to my friends' houses.)

Many Italians use the English word weekend to refer to the weekend, eg, Il
weekend esco con degli amici. (I'm going out with some friends this weekend.)

__Say what happens? (Do you know what happens?)

__ No, he's not aware. (No, I do not know anything.)

__ Do you have my phone number? (I give you my phone number?)

__ No, thank you. Ce l'ho. (No, thanks. I have it.)

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 Chapter 18

I verbi servili (Servile verbs)

This is the name given to those verbs that are accompanied by another verb in
the infinitive and that express nuances such as duty, necessity, ability, desire.

Knowing these verbs we can save many situations in which we cannot

conjugate a certain verb, for example, if I do not know how to conjugate the verb
andare (go) in the first person, then I say: Io devo andare... (I must go...), that is,
I just have to know the infinitive of the main verb and use it with the properly
conjugated “servile verb.”

Let's now look at these very useful verbs:

Dovere: (duty, have to...)

I devo (I must, I have to...)

Your devi (you must, you have to...)

Lei / Lui deve (must, has to...)

Noi dobbiamo (we must, we have to...)

Voi dovete (you must, you have to...)

Devon parrot (they must, they have to...)

Ex. Devo partere domattina: (I have to leave tomorrow morning.)

Devi dirmi la veritá: (You have to tell me the truth.)

Dobbiamo andare via subito: (We have to leave right away.)

Potere: (power)

Io posso (I can)

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You puoi (you can)

Lei / Lui può (may)

Noi possiamo (we can)

Voi potete (you can)

Possono parrot (can)

Ex. __Tu puoi parlare Italian? (You can speak Italian?)

__No, I can't talk about it, but I can capture it well. (No, I can't speak it, but I
can understand it well.)

__Potete, will I come with noi? (Can you come with us?)

__Non possiamo. Dobbiamo rimanere qui.: (We can't. We must stay here.)

__Puoi dirmi che pray sono? (Can you tell me what time it is?)

__Sono le cinque. (It's five o'clock.)

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Volere: (want)

Io voglio (I want)

Your vuoi (want)

Lei / Lui vuole (wants)

Noi vogliamo (we want)

Voi volete (you want)

Vogliono parrot (want)

Ex. Non voglio fare niente oggi. : (I do not want to do anything today.)

Will you come with me? : (Do you want to come with me?)

Lei non vuole parlare con me. : (She/You don't want to talk to me –
depending on context-.)

We can use this same technique with verbs that express similar meanings
such as desiderare (to desire, a regular verb of the first group), preferire (to
prefer, conjugated as “finire”).

Ex. __ Will you come with me?

__ No, I prefer to rest what. I do not desidero far niente.

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 Chapter 19

Most common adjectives to describe people or objects.

In this chapter we will learn some adjectives with their antonyms and synonyms
where possible and see some descriptions of people. Remember that adjectives
in Italian are conjugated the same as nouns.

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high basso: bass

amabile: kind scortese: rude, impolite

beautiful beautiful/ brutto: ugly

biondo: blonde brown, bruno: black (brown)

hair

good: good cattive: bad

chiaro: sure dark

amusing: fun, entertaining noioso: boring

strong: strong debole: weak

Freddo: Cold broth: hot

gentile: gentle scortese: spoiled

giovane: young old: old

gradevole: nice sgradevole: unpleasant

big piccolo: small

grasso: fat, thick lean: skinny, thin

intelligente /intel-liyente/ stupido: stupid

Length Width stretto: narrow

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liscio: smooth, wavy: curly
(simple).
lungo: long short

new: new old: old

polished: clean sporco: dirty

tranquillo /trankuí-lo/: calm rumorous: noisy

Let's look at these adjectives in descriptions of people:

Francesca is a tall, lean and healthy girl, with blue eyes and very white skin.
Laura, her sister, is always bassa, grassa and bruna, con gli occhi neri. There
are wavy and brown capelli. (Francesca is a tall, thin and blonde girl, she has
blue eyes and very white skin. Laura, her sister, is on the other hand
short/small, thick/fat and dark, with black eyes. He has curly, brown hair.)

I like the tall girl and the bass girl, the bionde and the brune, with the lisce
capelli, ondulati, oppure ricci, col naso piccolo or col naso grande, with gli occhi
verdi, blu or neri... A me piacciono tutte le donne! (I like tall women and short
women, those who are blonde and those who are brunettes, with straight, wavy
or curly hair, with a small nose or a big nose, with green, blue or black eyes... I
like all women!)

Lucia is an intelligent and even beautiful girl. È very gradevole and polite. I read
the long neck, the ballerine, the thick labbra and the thin and white teeth. Ha la
pelle un po' abbronzata. (Lucía is an intelligent and also beautiful girl. He is very
nice and courteous. It has a long neck, like ballerinas, thick lips and small, white
teeth. He has slightly tanned skin.)

Notice how some prepositions are articulated with articles:

col: with + il (with the…), coi: with + i (with the…)

Eg, col nasso piccolo (with a small nose), coi capelli ricci (with curly hair)

nel: in + el (in the…), nella: in + la (in the…), nei: in + i (in the…)

Eg, nel parco (in the park), nella piazza (in the square), nei luoghi (in places),
nell'università (in the university) nello specchio (in the mirror).

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Also notice how the adjectives are conjugated in gender and number:

Il ragazzo alto / i ragazzi alti / la ragazza alta / le ragazze alte.

Also see how all adjectives that end in the letter “e” form the plural with “i”,
regardless of gender:

L'uomo intelligente / gli uomini intelligenti / la donna intelligente / le donne

intelligenti. (The intelligent man / the men... / the woman... / the women...)

The big house / le case grandi / il momento piacevole / i momenti piacevoli.

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 Chapter 20

Possessive adjectives: my(s), your(s), their(s), your(s), our(s)

In the Spanish norm that we use here in America, the informal pronoun of the
second person plural is never used. There are even many people who think that
“you” is an extremely formal pronoun and use it in a joking way at times. Here –
in almost all of Latin America – we always use the pronoun “you”, even when we
treat the people in the group as “you” individually. In Italian the pronoun “voi” is
used for the second person plural when in the singular we treat them as “you”.
The Spanish norm is, therefore, closer to the Italian one and those who are used
to using “you” find it much easier to conjugate verbs in Italian, use pronouns of
all kinds, possessive adjectives, etc.

In America we only have four forms of the possessive adjective: my(s), your(s),
his(s) -for him, her, you, they/them, you-, and our/a(s). In Spain we have, in
addition to the above, your(s). In Italian we will find six possessive adjectives:
mio, tuo, suo, nostro, vostro and loro. These adjectives are generally
accompanied by the definite article and vary according to gender and number,
except for “parrot”, which only takes the gender and number in the article.

Let's see:

For the first person singular (io)

il mio, la mia, i miei (masculine plural), le mie (feminine plural)

Eg, il mio amico (my friend), la mia amica (my friend), i miei amici (my friends), le
mie amiche (my friends).

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For the second person singular familiar/informal (tu)

il tuo, la tua, i tuoi, le tue

Eg, il tuo fidanzato (your boyfriend), la tua fidanzata (your girlfriend), i tuoi cugini
(your cousins), le tue cugine (your cousins).

For the third person singular or the respectful form of the second person (lei, lui,
Lei)

il suo, la sua, i suoi, le sue

For example, il suo amico (your friend –his, hers, yours, depending on the
context-), la sua amica (your friend), i suoi genitori (your parents), le sue sorelle
(your sisters).

For the first person plural (noi)

il nostro, la nostra, i nostri, le nostre

Eg, il nostro amico (our friend), la nostra amica (our friend), i nostri figli (our sons),
le nostre figlie (our daughters)

For the second person plural familiar/informal (voi)

il vostro, la vostra, i vostri, le vostre

Eg, il vostro figlio (your son), la vostra casa (your house), i vostri amici (your
friends), le vostre lettere (your letters)

For the third person plural, or second person in the formal address (parrot)

il loro, la loro, i loro, le loro

Eg, il loro amico (your friend -theirs-, your friend -this formal treatment is not very
common in everyday language-), la loro vita (their life -theirs-), i loro ragazzi (their
boys –theirs), le loro fidanzate (their girlfriends –theirs)

The article is not used to refer to closely related people such as mother, father,
son, brother in the singular, although it is always used if the singular is modified by
adjectives or diminutives and always in the plural.

We say: mio padre, mia mamma, mio fratello, but: il mio caro papa, il mio
fratellino, i miei genitori, i miei fratelli, le mie sorelle

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 Chapter 21

Possessive adjectives: Examples in mini-dialogues.

__Come if chiama la tua fidanzata? (What's your girlfriend's name?)

__My trust is true Carla. E tuo marito, come si chiama? (My girlfriend's name is
Carla. And your husband, what's his name?

__Mio marito si chiama Gianluca and nostri figli si chiamano Giorgio e Pietro. (My
husband's name is Gianluca and our children's names are Giorgio and Pietro.)

Have you seen my book? (Have you seen my book?)

Yes, your book is your quella sedia. (Yes, your book is on that chair.)

__ Sai, Paolo? C'è una festa domani. All of us are friends with the trustworthy
loro. (You know, Paolo? There's a party tomorrow. All our friends go with their
girlfriends.)

__ Allora, we dobbiamo portare noi anche le nostre! (Then we must also take
ours.)

__ What is your età? (How old are you?)

__ Ho 44 years. Mine dates back to April 15, 1961. (I am 44 years old.

My date of birth is April 15, 1961.)

Chapter 22

The antepresent (passato prossimo)

As its Italian name indicates, this tense is used to talk about facts, events, etc. that
occurred in a non-remote past and generally at a defined time, e.g., “this
morning”, “yesterday”, “last month”, “three days ago”… That is, it is not the case of
“passato remote” indefinite that we will see later, e.g., “when I was little”, “a long
time ago”…

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The main difficulty that the passato prossimo offers to the Spanish-speaker is that
in Italian we use a compound verbal form in cases where in Spanish a simple form
is preferred: the past tense.

Let's look at some examples:

Italian: Ieri ho mangiato pollo arrosto (literally: Yesterday I had roast chicken. In
Spanish, since it is a completed action, it is preferred to simply say “Yesterday I
ate roast chicken.”

The same thing happens in cases that are even more shocking to us:

Did I work? (literally: Have you worked yesterday?) instead of “Did you work
yesterday?”

We must also add that in Italian the compound verb form is also used in those
cases where we prefer it:

I haven't seen that film. (I haven't seen that movie.)

To form the passato prossimo in Italian we use the auxiliary verb avere or essere
– depending on the case, as we will see later – plus the passive participle of the
main verb, which is the one that carries the semantic load, that is, the meaning.

Let us also remember that the verb “avere”, in addition to being the auxiliary verb
“haber”, has the meaning of “have” in Italian. Compare:

Ex. Ho parlato con lei: (I have spoken with her / I spoke with her.)

Ho un appuntamento col doctor: (I have an appointment with the doctor.)

Chapter 23

Il passato prossimo (Part Two)

Verbs that end in –ARE form the participle by adding _ATO from the root, e.g.,
parlare: parlato, pensare: pensato…

parlare: to speak-------- parlato: spoken

mangiare: eat------------ mangiato: eaten

viaggiare: travel--------- viaggiato: traveled

dimenticare: forget-----dimenticate: forgotten

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save: look----------------- save: looked

fare: do-------------------- fatto: done

I will think: think---------thought: thought

lavorare: work-----------lavorato: worked

Mini-dialogues:

A__ Cosa hai fatto ieri? (What did you do yesterday?)

B__ Ieri ho lavorato tutto il giorno. (Yesterday I worked all day.)

A__ E dove hai cenato? (And where have you had dinner?)

B__ Ho mangiato al ristorante. (I ate at the restaurant.)

C__ Have you thought about what problem? (Have you thought about that
problem?)

D__ No, we don't have time to wait. (No, we haven't had time.)

E__ Abbiamo seen that the ragazza di cui ci hai parlato. (We have seen that girl
you told us about.)

F__ Allora, do you know me? (So, have you met her?)

E__ No, I haven't presented it. (No, they didn't introduce it to us.)

Observe in this last mini-dialogue how the participle is declined in gender - and
number - when before the auxiliary we find the pronouns as a complement, me, la,
lo, li, le, ci, vi, although in these cases lo and la always they are reduced to l'.

Eg., __Hai seen quell'uomo? (Have you seen... / Did you see that man?)

__Yes, have you seen it ?

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 __Have you seen that ragazza? (Have you seen... / Did you see the girl?)

__Yes, I've seen it .

__Hai letto i libri? (Have you read… / Did you read the books?)

__ Yes, li ho letti.

__Hai I bought it? (Have you bought… / Did you buy the chairs?)

__Yes, I'll buy you .

Chapter 24

Il passato prossimo (Part Three)

Verbs that end in _ERE form the participle with the ending – UTO, with many
exceptions.

potere: power------------------------ potuto: could

sapere: know------------------------- saputo: known

volere: want-------------------------- volute: dear

dovere: duty, have to-------------- dovuto: due, had to

conoscere: know--------------------conosciuto: known

godere: enjoy------------------------ goduto: enjoyed

crescere: grow----------------------- cresciuto*: grown

Most common exceptions:

mettere: put-------------------------- messo: position

prendere: take, catch-------------- prisoner: taken, caught

chiedere: ask, ask------------------ chiesto: asked, requested

scrivere: write------------------------ script: written

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*The verb cresciuto, together with a group of verbs of state or movement, form the
passato prossimo with the auxiliary essere –not avere- and the participle in that
case is conjugated in gender and number in agreement with the subject.

Ex., Sono cresciuto / Sono cresciuta

Sei cresciuto / Sei cresciuta

È cresciuto / È cresciuta

Siamo cresciuti / Siamo cresciute

Siete cresciuti / Siete cresciute

Sono cresciuti / Sono cresciute

E.g., Come sei cresciuta! (How you have grown!) –said to a woman or girl-

Now let's look at some examples with participles that end in – UTO.

__ Hai goduto lo spettacolo? (Did you enjoy the show?)

__ Yes, l'ho goduto tops out thoroughly. (Yes, I enjoyed it from start to finish.)

__ Ho prisoner a bagno dopo dinner. (I took a bath after dinner.)

__ Guarda, che dicono che non è convenient per la salute! (Look, they say it's not
good for your health!

__ Avete potuto farmi quel favore? (Have you been able to do me that favor?)

__ No, perché abbiamo dovuto fare molte altre cose. (No, because we have had
to do many things.)

__ Have you caught the bus? (Have you taken the bus?)

__ No, if we come on foot. (No, we came on foot.)*

*Note that this is a verb of movement, therefore it is conjugated with the auxiliary
verb essere and the participle is declined in gender and number.

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__ Is Roberto happy ? (Have you asked Roberto?)

__ Yes, ma non m'ha voluto rispondere. (Yes, but he/she did not want to
respond.)

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50
 Chapter 25

Il passato prossimo (Part Four)

Verbs ending in –IRE form the participle with the ending - ITO, with some
exceptions.

I will sleep: sleep dormito: asleep

finish: finish finite: finished

capire: understand, understand capito: understood, understood

I will feel: hear, feel sentito: heard, sense

guarire: cure, heal guarito: cured

spedire: send, send expedito: sent, sent

uscire: leave uscito: exited

I will say: say detto: said (exception)

Ex. Ho dormito fine a mezzogiorno (I slept until noon.)

Avete sentito ciò che lui ha detto? (Have you heard what he said?)

Lei ha guarito le mie ferite (She has healed my wounds.)

Parrot hanno capito tutto. (They have understood everything.)

Abbiamo già finito il lavoro. (We already finished / we have finished the
work.)

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☻ Now we invite you to perform the following exercise where you must write the
verb that occurs in parentheses in the antepresent tense – the solution in the
next chapter – Note the verbs in the past tense highlighted in blue. We will take
care of them later.

Ugo speaks his ciò that he has fatto ieri…

Ieri ______________________fine at 10 in the morning. (I will sleep)

Dopo che mi sono raised, ______________ the first colazione and sono andato
dalla mia fidanzata. (I will catch on). Ci sono stato due ore. I read it ______ del
piú e del meno. (I will talk). Finally, I return home,_the TV and __________ a
Panino perché non avevoglia di cucinare. (keep, keep)

Chapter 26

The verbs of movement or state in the “passato prossimo”.

Review of the exercise from the previous chapter:

Ugo speaks his ciò that he has fatto ieri…

Ieri ho slept fine there 10 in the morning. Dopo che mi sono raised, ho preso la
prima colazione e sono yato dalla mia fidanzata. Ci sono stato due ore. We read
what we said about the piú and the meno. Finally, I returned home, put away the
TV and held a panino perche without having my cooking.

VERBS OF MOVEMENT OR STATE

There is a group of verbs that do not form the “passato prossimo” or antepresent

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as we have seen so far, but rather take the verb ÈSSERE as an auxiliary verb
and the participle is then conjugated according to gender (masculine/feminine)
and number (singular/plural ). These verbs are not numerous, but their
frequency of use is high. We have already had some contact with them in the
previous lesson exercise.

The same verb ÈSSERE (ser/estar) takes this pattern when used in the passato
prossimo:

Io sono stato (masc.): I have been/been (a male person speaks)

Io sono stata (fem.): I have been/been (a female person speaks)

Tu sei stato/a: You have been/been

Lei è stata : She has been/been (or You have been/been)

Lui è stato: He has been/been

Noi siamo stati/e: We have been/been

Voi seven stati/e: You have been/been

Loro sono stati/e: They have been/been

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Let's take a look at other examples in the chart below:
Maschile Feminine (Translation)
Io ritornate sound ritornata I have returned/I returned
You seiandate andata you have gone/were
Lui epartite ---------- He has departed/departed
Read and-------- uscita She has left/went out
noi siamo andati go away We have gone/were
Voi seven parts partite You have left / you have left
They have gone out

parrot sono iti uscite

As we have seen, in these cases the participle is declined in the same way as
nouns and adjectives, that is, they end in “o” for the masculine singular, in “i” for
the masculine plural, in “a” for the feminine singular. , and in “e” for the feminine
plural.

Now we offer you a list of the most common verbs that are conjugated with the
auxiliary ESSERE:

Verb Participle
Andare: irAndato(-a,-i,-e): gone
Venire: comeVenuto(-a,-i,-e): come
Partir: leave, leavePartito(-a,-i,-e): party
Rimanere: remain, remain Rimasto(-a,-i,-e): remained
Essere: ser/estarStato(-a,-i,-e): been/state
Stare: beStato(-a,-i,-e)
Diventare: become, becomeDiventato(-a,-i,-e): converted
Uscire: exitUscito(-a,-i,-e): exited
Ritornare: returnRitornato(-a,-i,-e): returned
Scendere: descend, descendSceso(-a,-i,-e): descended, lowered
Salire: uploadSalito(-a,-i,-e): uploaded
Crescere: growCresciuto(-a,-i,-e): grown

Finally, let's look at some examples within illustrative sentences:

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- L'anno scorso mia moglie ed io siamo andati al mare: (Last year my wife and I
went to the sea.)

- Sei uscita ieri sera, Maria?: (Did you go out last night, Maria?)

- Voi seven stati mai in Italia?: (Have you ever been to Italy?)

- Loro sono uscite con le lore amiche: (They went out / have gone out with
their friends.)

- Il weekend* sono rimasto a casa: (On the weekend I stayed / have stayed at
home.)

* Note how we have used the Anglicism “weekend” which is heard more every
day than its Italian counterpart “il fine settimana”.

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 Chapter 27

The most common time expressions for “passato prossimo”.

The following adverbial expressions are the most common for the verb tense
we study:

L'anno scorso / Il mese scorso / la settimana scorsa: Last year / Last month /
Last week.

e.g. L'anno scorso sono andato in Italia per lavoro: (Last year I went to
Italy to work.)

Un mese fa / Due mesi fa: A month ago /…two months

Ex. Ho smesso di lavorare due mesi fa: (I stopped working two months ago.)

Qualche giorno fa: A few days ago

Ieri: Yesterday

Ieri sera: yesterday afternoon, last night

L'altroieri: The day before yesterday

Stamattina: This morning, this morning

Da un month / Da due anni: Since a month /…two years

Ex. I work in quella ditta da due anni: (I have worked in that company for two
years.)

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Let's now look at a small dialogue and try to interpret it:

Ciao, Sofia. What happened to the last weekend?

Niente d'important. Sono rhymes to home and some friends sound venuti da
me. Abbiamo drink any drink, seen any film..., ask him something. And you,
what's wrong?

Io, invece, ho avuto un fine settimana magnificent. Sono went to the sea with
my fidanzato. My sound is extremely entertaining. Ho ballato, nuotato..., ho
anche mangiato al ristorante, ho bevuto della birra come una pazza...

Truly, it was a very fun weekend, but it was also very watertight.

Chapter 28

Reflexive verbs in the antepresent

Once you have assimilated the forms that we use in the antepresent with the
verbs of movement and state, it should be much easier for you to assimilate the
forms that we use with the reflexive verbs in the passato prossimo, since in these
we always use the auxiliary “ESSERE” and participles are also declined in terms
of gender and number.

Let's see an illustrative table:

Io my sono sink I have washed/washed myself.

You you six sink you have washed/you washed
Lui Yea and sink He has washed/was washed
Read h Yea and lavata She has washed/was washed
noi ci if I lavati/e We have washed/we washed
Voi saw love
seven lavati/e you have washed/you have washed
Parro Yea sono lavati/e They have washed/were washed
Let's now look at some examples:

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Ti sei vestita in fretta: You dressed in a hurry (said to a woman).

Ci siamo conosciuti during the trip: We have met / We met during the trip.

Si è ritardato molto: It has taken a long time (we are talking about a man).

Laura si è incontrata con una vecchia amica: Laura has met/met an old friend.

Aspetta un attimo. Non mi sono ancora pettinato: Wait a moment.

I haven't done my hair yet.

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Also note these cases:

Non ho potuto farmi la barba: I haven't been able to groom my beard.

Non mi sono potuto fare la beard: I haven't been able to groom my beard.

Ha dovuto lavasi: He has had to wash /He had to wash.

Si è dovuto/a lavare: It has been had / It had to be washed.

As we have seen in these last examples, with reflexive servile verbs in the near
past (antepresent) when the reflexive pronoun comes before the auxiliary verb,
this must be a form of the verb “essere”. On the other hand, when the pronoun is
enclitic – it is attached to the verb the auxiliary “avere” is maintained.

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 Chapter 29

The future.

The future simple is a grammatical tense that does not offer much difficulty for
the student if we compare it with the “passato prossimo” that we have just
studied.

Conjugation of the first group:

AMARE: From the root AM-...

Io aMERÓ: I will love

Your amERAI: You will love

Lei / Lui amERÀ: You / She / He / will love

Noi amEREMO: We will love you

Voi amERETE: You will love each other

AMERIAN PARROT: They will love you

Conjugation of the second group:

TEMERE: From the root TEM-...

Io temERÒ: I will fear

Your fear: You will fear

Lei / Lui temERÀ: You / She / He will fear

Noi temEREMO: We will fear you

Voi temERETE: You will fear each other

Parrot fear: They will fear you

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Conjugation of the third group:

PARTIRE: From the root PART-...

Io partIRÒ: I will leave

Your partIRAI: You will leave

Lei / Lui will depart: You / She / He will depart

Noi partIREMO: We will part

Voi partIRETE: You will part

Parrot partIRANNO: They will part

Examples:

__ How much guadagnerai per this work? -How much will you earn for this
job?

__ My pagheranno poco, ma non dovrò lavorare molto. -They will pay me little;
But I won't have to work much.

__ A che ora andrai a lavorare? -What time will you go to work?

__ I lifted up all the five and used the house around all of them. -I'll get up at
five and leave the house around six or so.

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Let's now look at some verbs that present irregularities and are widely used in
everyday speech:

I will walk (Go)

Io andró (I will go)

Tu andrai (You will go)

Lei / Lui andrà (She / He will go)

Noi andremo (We will go)

Voi andrete (You will leave)

Andranno parrot (They will go)

Fare

Io farò (I will do)

Your farai (You will do)

Lei/Lui farà (She/He will do)

Noi faremo (We will do you)

Voi farete (You will do it)

Faranno parrot (They will make you)

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Vedere (See)

Io vedrò (I will see)

Tu vedrai (You will see)

Lei/Lui vedrà (She/He will see)

Voi vedrete (you will see each other)

Noi vedremo (We will see you)

Loro vedranno (They will see you)

Bere (Drink)

Io berrò (I will drink...)

Your berrai

Lei / Lui Berrà

Noi berremo

Voi berrete

prong parrot

I will come (come)

Io verrò (I will come...)

Your verrai

Lei / Lui verrà

Noi verremo

Voi verrete

summer parrot

Rimanere (Remain/Stay)

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Io rimarrò (I will stay...)

Your rimarrai

Lei / Lui rimarrà

Noi rimarremo

Voi rimarrete

Rimarranno parrot

Potere (Power)

Io potrò (I will be able to...)

Your potrai

Lei / Lui potrà

Noi potremo

Voi potrete

filly parrot

Dovere (Duty/Have to...)

Io dovrò (I will have to...)

Your dovrai

Lei / Lui dovrà

Noi dovremo

Voi dovrete

dovranno parrot

Minidialogues

Now let's look at some examples of the future within minidialogues:

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1.-

__ Cosa farai domattina? (What will you do tomorrow morning?)

__ Se farà* bel tempo andrò in (there) spiaggia con degli amici. Verrai with
noi? (If the weather is good I will go to the beach with some friends.
Will you come with us?)

__ My dispiace. Domani andró dai miei genitori. Let's have a party for my
sister's birthday. (I'm sorry. Tomorrow I'm going to my parents' house. We're
having a party for my sister's birthday.)

__ Sicuramente anche tu ti funirai moltissimo! (You will surely have a lot of

fun.)

*Note how the future is used in the first verb, in which case we use the present
simple in Spanish.

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2.- __ Dove andrai il fine weekend / il weekend? (Where are you going on the
weekend?)

__ Il fine settimana rhymed home. It was very watertight. E voi, dove andrete?
(On the weekend we will stay home. I'm very tired. And where will you go?

__ Noi andremo in campagna. We imprisoned a house in affito and could

riposarci all the day without being disturbed (disturbance). (We will go to the
field. We have taken a house for rent and we will be able to rest all day without
being disturbed.)

3.-

__ Oggi dovrò fare molte cose. My aiuterai? (Today I will have to do many
things. Will you help me?)

__ Yes, volentieri. Ti aiuterò. (Yes, with pleasure. I'll help you.)

__ I'll tell you? Sicuro? (You will do it? Sure?)

__ What did I think? I did it with piacere! (But what do you think? I will do it
with pleasure!)

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 Chapter
31

The verb “have” to denote existence, availability.

In Spanish we have only one form of the verb haber in the present indicative
mood, both for the singular and the plural. This form is “there is”.

We say, for example:

There is a book on the table (singular)

There are several books on the table (plural)

In Italian, however, there is one form for the singular and another for the plural:

C'è un libro sulla tavola. (singular) /ché/

There are books on your table. (plural) /chi sono/

As you can see, the verb “haber” in Italian is made up of two elements: ci +
essere, ci means there.

Other examples:

__ Quali sono the attrezzature dell'albergo? (What are the facilities/facilities of

the hotel?)

__ Nell'albergo c'è a swimming pool. There were also restaurants in a bar.

(There is a swimming pool in the hotel. There are also two restaurants and a
bar.)

__ C'è qualcosa da bere qui? (Is there anything to drink here?)

__ Yes, I sound like ancora alcune birre. (Yes, there are still some beers.)

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In the past tense, the forms of the verb “haber” are:

C'era: there were (singular) e.g., C'era many people in the bar. (There were
many people in the bar.)

C'erano: (plural) e.g., C'erano releasing due persone nell salotto. (There were
only two people in the room.)

In the future the forms for this verb are:

Ci sarà (singular) e.g., So che ci sarà molta congratá nella tua vita. (I know
there will be a lot of happiness in your life.)

Ci saranno (plural) e.g. Ci saranno giorni quando io non ci sarò. My ricorderai

e sicuramente piangerai. (There will be days when I am not there. You will
remember me and you will surely cry.)

Finally let's look at the form of the subjunctive:

Voglio che ci sia pace fra tutti! (I want there to be peace between everyone!)

It is necessary that you sit outside the bar. (There needs to be many women in
the bar.)

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 Chapter 32

Il Passato Remoto

The “passato remote” corresponds to the time we call copreterite and is used
when talking about events that occurred in a past moment that is not
precisely defined, although not necessarily remote in time. In Spanish these
verbs have the endings –iba, -aba, -ía in the first and third person singular,
e.g.: I thought I could do it.

Let's look at the conjugations with the model verbs and then some examples:

AMARE:

Io amAVO (I loved)

Your love (You loved)

Lei/Lui amAVA (She/He/You loved)

Noi amAVAMO (We loved you)

Voi amAVATE (You loved each other)

Parrot amAVANO (They loved them)

FEAR:

Io temEVO (I feared)

Your temEVI (You feared)

Lei / Lui temEVA (She / He / You feared)

Noi temEVAMO (We feared you)

Voi temEVATE (You were afraid)

TemEVANO Parrot (They feared you)

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I WILL LEAVE

Io partIVO (I was leaving)

Your partIVI (You left)

Lei / Lui partIVA (She / He / You left)

Noi partIVAMO (We were parting)

Voi partIVATE (You are empathetic)

Parrot partIVANO (They left)

The verb ser/estar – “essere” – is also irregular in the Passato Remoto:

I was (I was)

You eri (you were)

Lei/Lui era (She/He/You were)

Noi eravamo (We were)

Voi eravate (You were)

Loro erano (They were)

Examples:

When I was out of sight, I would walk in the countryside for vacations. (When I
was little I liked to go to the countryside on vacation.)

All you have to do is make fun of everything you've ever seen. (Everyone
made fun of him because he was very afraid.)

We do not know anything fare and if we see it affinché ci aiuti. (We didn't
know what to do and we have come for you to help us.)

She was a very beautiful and talkative lady with a very sweet voice that you
face was tremare. (She was a very beautiful woman and spoke with a voice
so sweet that it made you shiver.)

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When there was a ragazzino, I knew that you were there for me. (When you
were just a child, I already knew that you were the one for me.)

Let's now see an excerpt from a job interview:

__ Cosa facevi prima di lavorare qui? (What did you do before working here?)

__ I work in a travel agency. (I worked in a travel agency.)

__ Ti aceva quel lavoro? (Did you like that job?)

__ No, I'm not really happy with the rhymanerci. (No, I wasn't really happy to
be there.)

__ E perché ci restati? (And why did you continue there?)

__ Perche non avevo niente da fare. (Because I had nothing to do.)

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 Chapter 33

The conditional mode

To conclude this grammatical synthesis of the formal aspects of the language

that must be known to satisfy the demands of a pre-level intermediate
according to most of the existing courses on the market, we will now study the
conditional mode. We use this mode when we refer to hypothetical, non-
factual facts, events or states, or when we make formal offers, eg Vorrebbe
qualcosa da bere? (Would you like something to drink?), when we talk about
our desires eg Vorrei I will go to the cinema. (I would like to go to the cinema).

Let's now look at the model verbs:

AMARE

Io amEREI (I would love)

Your amERESTI (You would love)

Lei/Lui amEREBBE (You/She/He would love)

Noi amEREMMO (We would love you)

Voi amERESTE (You would love each other)

amEREBBERO parrot (They would love you)

I WILL FEAR

Io temEREI (I would fear)

Tu temERESTI (You would fear)
Lei/Lui temEREBBE (You/She/He would fear)
Noi temEREMMO (We would fear)
Voi temERESTE (You would be afraid)
Parrot feared (They would fear you)

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I WILL LEAVE

Io partIREI (I would part)

Your partIRESTI (You would part)

Lei/Lui partIREBBE (You/She/He would part)

Noi partIREMMO (We would part)

Voi partIRESTE (You would leave)

Parrot partIREBBERO (They would part)

The verb volere (want / desire) is widely used in this way, especially in the

sphere of services:

I vorrei

You voresti

Lei/Lui vorrebbe

Noi vorremmo

Voi voi reste

Vorrebber Parrot

Ex.

__ Vorrebbe qualcosa da bere? A rum? (Would you like something to drink? A

rum?)

__ No, I really wanted to drink a beer. (No. Actually I wish I had just one beer.)

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In thepasto prossimo the auxiliary verb avere conjugated in the conditional

mood is used - or the auxiliary verb essere if it is a verb of movement or state

- plus the participle of the main verb, which must also be conjugated in gender

and number when the auxiliary is essere. Ex.

Avrei fatto l'esercizio ne avuto tempo. (I would have done the exercise if I had

had the time.)

Se l'avessimo saputo, non avremmo fatto ciò che abbiamo fatto. (If we had

known this, we would not have done what we have done.) Se fossimo venuti

presto saremmo usciti prima (If we had come earlier, we would have left first.)

These complex times are, however, the subject of study at more advanced

levels.

So far, then, this first approach to Italian grammar. Remember that learning a

language today means opening a door for tomorrow.

Good luck!

Leonar Hernandez Jimenez

December 2005.

Bibliography:

Vox Advanced Italian Dictionary. (1997) © BIBLIOGRAF, SA Spain,

Barcelona.

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