Italian I

The big picture

Benvenuti. Welcome to Italian. The best news for a beginner is that Italian is almost perfectly phonetic. Once you learn a short set of rules, you can read nearly any word aloud correctly, because the letters map to sounds in a steady, predictable way. Italian is also famous for its clear, musical vowels, which stay pure and never trail off the way English vowels often do. This first lesson covers the alphabet, the vowels, the soft and hard sounds of c and g, the special clusters gli, gn, and sc, the double consonants, and where the stress usually falls.

Key idea: Italian rewards you at once. Learn the sound rules once and you can pronounce new words on sight, long before you know what they mean.

The alphabet

The core Italian alphabet has 21 letters. Five more, j, k, w, x, and y, appear only in foreign or borrowed words such as jeans and taxi. Knowing the letter names lets you spell your name aloud. A few names are worth noting: h is called acca and is always silent, c is ci, g is gi, s is esse, and z is zeta. The five vowels a, e, i, o, and u keep simple, clean names that match their own sounds.

The vowels

Italian vowels are crisp and constant. Give each one clean sound and do not let it glide into a second sound. The letters e and o each have a slightly open and a slightly closed version, but as a beginner you can start with one clear sound per vowel and refine later.

Vowel	Sounds like	Example	English
a	ah in father	casa	house
e	eh in bed	sera	evening
i	ee in see	vino	wine
o	oh in note	sole	sun
u	oo in food	luna	moon

Read these aloud with pure vowels: amico (friend), pane (bread), libro (book), uno (one), museo (museum). Even when vowels sit side by side they each keep their sound, so Europa is eh-oo-ROH-pah and aiuto (help) is ah-YOO-toh.

The soft and hard c and g

Two letters change their sound depending on the vowel that follows. Before a, o, or u the letters c and g are hard; before e or i they turn soft. To keep a hard sound before e or i, Italian inserts an h; to make a soft sound before a, o, or u, it inserts an i.

Spelling	Sound	Example	English
ca, co, cu	hard k	casa	house
ce, ci	ch in church	ciao	hi, bye
che, chi	hard k	chi	who
ga, go, gu	hard g	gatto	cat
ge, gi	j in jam	gelato	ice cream
ghe, ghi	hard g	spaghetti	spaghetti

So cena (dinner) starts like the English chain, but che (that, what) starts like a hard k. In the same way giorno (day) begins like the English jam, while ghiaccio (ice) keeps a hard g. This one rule unlocks thousands of words.

The clusters gli, gn, and sc

Three letter groups have their own fixed sounds, and none of them matches English spelling. Learn these and very little on the page will surprise you.

Cluster	Sounds like	Example	English
gli	lli in million	famiglia	family
gn	ny in canyon	gnocchi	gnocchi
sce, sci	sh in shoe	pesce	fish
sca, sco, scu	sk in sky	scuola	school

The group gli is a soft, liquid sound heard in figlio (son) and aglio (garlic). The group gn is exactly the Spanish n-tilde, heard in bagno (bathroom) and signore (sir). And sc is soft like sh before e or i, as in sciare (to ski), but hard like sk before a, o, or u, as in scala (stairs).

Double consonants

Italian truly holds its double consonants, and the length can change the meaning. A double letter is pressed a beat longer than a single one. Compare nonno (grandfather) with nono (ninth), palla (ball) with pala (shovel), and sette (seven) with sete (thirst). You will also meet doubles in everyday words like pizza, caffè (coffee), and ragazzo (boy). Give them their full weight and native speakers will understand you far more easily.

A few more letters

Three more sounds round out the picture. The letter h is always silent, appearing in forms of avere such as ho (I have) and after c or g to harden them. The letter r is a rolled or tapped sound made with the tip of the tongue, as in Spanish, heard in Roma. The letter z is a crisp ts or dz, so grazie (thank you) has a ts and zero has a dz. The pair qu is said kw, as in quattro (four).

Where the stress falls

Most Italian words are stressed on the next-to-last syllable, as in a-MI-co (friend) and si-GNO-ra (madam). When the stress lands on the final vowel, Italian writes an accent on it, so you see it in città (city), caffè (coffee), perché (why, because), and università. A smaller group of words is stressed on the third-from-last syllable, such as tavolo (table), sabato (Saturday), and musica. These have no written mark, so you learn them as you go.

Putting the sounds together

Read these aloud and apply the rules. Each line gives the meaning and a hint.

• Buongiorno! (Good morning. The gi is soft, like the English jam.)
• Mi chiamo Chiara. (My name is Chiara. Both ch groups are a hard k.)
• Vorrei un caffè. (I would like a coffee. Roll the double r, hold the double f.)
• Che buona la pizza! (How good the pizza is. che is k, and hold the double z.)
• La famiglia mangia gnocchi. (The family eats gnocchi. gli is liquid, gn is ny.)

A short dialogue: spelling a name

Spelling aloud is one of the first real tasks you will face. Here is a tiny exchange.

• Anna: Come ti chiami? (What is your name?)
• Giulia: Mi chiamo Giulia. (My name is Giulia.)
• Anna: Come si scrive? (How do you spell it?)
• Giulia: Gi, i, u, elle, i, a. (G, i, u, l, i, a.)
• Anna: E il cognome? (And your surname?)
• Giulia: Rossi. Erre, o, doppia esse, i. (Rossi. R, o, double s, i.)

Common misconceptions

• c and g are always hard. They are soft before e and i, so ciao begins like church and gelato begins like jam.
• gli sounds like the English glee. It does not. It is a soft, liquid sound, closer to the lli in million.
• The letter h is pronounced. Italian h is always silent; it only hardens a c or g or fills out forms of avere.
• Double consonants make no difference. They do. nonno and nono, or palla and pala, are different words.

Recap

• Italian is highly phonetic, and its five vowels stay pure and clear.
• c and g are hard before a, o, u and soft before e, i; an h keeps them hard, an i makes them soft.
• gli is liquid like million, gn is ny like canyon, and sc is sh before e or i.
• Double consonants are held longer and can change meaning, as in sette and sete.
• Stress usually falls on the next-to-last syllable; a final stressed vowel takes a written accent.

Sources

1. "Italian phonology." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Italian orthography." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
3. "Gemination." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Pronuncia." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
5. "Italian." Wikibooks, en.wikibooks.org.

The big picture

Every Italian conversation opens with a greeting, and a dozen set phrases will carry you into almost any exchange. Italian also makes an early choice that English does not: it has two words for you. One, tu, is informal and warm; the other, Lei, is formal and respectful. Choosing the right one is a matter of courtesy, so we will learn the rule clearly. This lesson gives you greetings, farewells, the phrases for introducing yourself, and the polite words that smooth every interaction.

Key idea: Learn a small stock of greetings plus the tu and Lei distinction, and you can start and end real conversations from your very first day.

Hello and goodbye

Italian greetings often depend on the time of day. The famous word ciao means both hi and bye, but it is informal, so save it for friends. A safe neutral hello is salve.

Italian	English	When
Ciao	Hi, bye	informal, with friends
Salve	Hello	neutral, polite
Buongiorno	Good morning, good day	morning and daytime
Buonasera	Good evening	late afternoon and evening
Buonanotte	Good night	when parting for the night
Arrivederci	Goodbye	neutral farewell
A domani	See you tomorrow	any time

Two more are handy: a presto (see you soon) and a più tardi (see you later). In a shop or office, a clerk will greet you with buongiorno, and you answer the same way. Save ciao for people you already know well.

How are you?

To ask how someone is, the form depends on formality. Informally you say Come stai? and formally Come sta?; the casual Come va? works for both. A natural follow-up is E tu? or the formal E Lei? Here are common answers, from best to worst.

Italian	English
Molto bene, grazie.	Very well, thank you.
Bene, grazie.	Fine, thanks.
Non c'è male.	Not bad.
Così così.	So-so.
Male.	Bad.

A friendly exchange runs like this: Ciao, come stai? Bene, grazie, e tu? Anch'io bene. Notice that anch'io means me too, and that grazie can sit before or after the adjective.

Introducing yourself

Now you can say who you are. The most common opener is Mi chiamo, literally I call myself, that is, my name is. You can also simply say Sono plus your name.

Italian	English
Mi chiamo Marco.	My name is Marco.
Come ti chiami? / Come si chiama?	What is your name? (informal / formal)
Sono Anna.	I am Anna.
Piacere.	Pleased to meet you.
Piacere mio.	The pleasure is mine.

Saying where you are from

To give your origin, use essere di plus a city or sono plus a nationality. Ask with Di dove sei? (informal) or Di dov'è? (formal). To say where you live, use abito a plus a city.

Italian	English
Sono di Roma.	I am from Rome.
Sono italiano. / Sono italiana.	I am Italian. (male / female)
Sono americano. / Sono americana.	I am American. (male / female)
Abito a Milano.	I live in Milan.

tu or Lei?

This is the heart of Italian politeness. Use tu with family, close friends, classmates, children, and animals. Use Lei with strangers, older people, officials, and anyone in a shop, office, or formal setting. When you meet an adult for the first time, Lei is the safe, respectful choice, and people will invite you to switch to tu when they are ready. The verb changes with the pronoun, so you say Come stai? with tu but Come sta? with Lei.

Key idea: The polite pronoun Lei is often written with a capital L, which sets it apart from lei, meaning she.

Please, thank you, and sorry

A few courtesy words appear constantly. Learn per favore (please), grazie (thank you), and prego (you are welcome, and also go ahead). To apologize or get attention, use scusa with a friend and scusi with someone you address as Lei. To express regret, say mi dispiace (I am sorry). One useful quirk: prego does double duty, meaning you are welcome, after you, and here you go, depending on the moment.

A short dialogue

Two adults meet for the first time, so they use the formal Lei.

• Signor Bruni: Buongiorno! Mi chiamo Bruni. Lei come si chiama? (Good day. My name is Bruni. What is your name?)
• Signora Conti: Buongiorno. Mi chiamo Conti. Piacere. (Good day. My name is Conti. Pleased to meet you.)
• Signor Bruni: Di dov'è, signora Conti? (Where are you from, Mrs. Conti?)
• Signora Conti: Sono di Firenze. E Lei? (I am from Florence. And you?)
• Signor Bruni: Sono di Napoli. (I am from Naples.)

A second dialogue: two students

Two classmates of the same age use the informal tu.

• Luca: Ciao! Mi chiamo Luca. E tu? (Hi. My name is Luca. And you?)
• Sara: Ciao Luca, sono Sara. Piacere. (Hi Luca, I am Sara. Nice to meet you.)
• Luca: Di dove sei? (Where are you from?)
• Sara: Sono di Torino. E tu? (I am from Turin. And you?)
• Luca: Sono di Bologna. Come stai? (I am from Bologna. How are you?)
• Sara: Molto bene, grazie! (Very well, thanks.)

From Lei to tu

Relationships in Italian often begin with Lei and later move to tu. The older person or the host usually offers the switch with a phrase like Diamoci del tu (Let us use tu with each other). Accepting is friendly and completely normal. Until that moment, staying with Lei signals respect rather than distance, so there is no rush and no risk in waiting for the invitation.

Common misconceptions

• Ciao is always a safe hello. It is informal. With a stranger or an elder it can seem too familiar, so use salve, buongiorno, or Lei.
• Lei and lei are the same word. The capital letter matters. Lei is the formal you, while lei means she.
• prego only means please. The word for please is per favore. prego means you are welcome, after you, or here you go.
• Buonanotte works like buonasera. Buonasera greets someone in the evening, while buonanotte is said only when parting for the night.

Recap

• Greetings depend on the time of day: buongiorno, buonasera, and buonanotte; ciao and salve are all-purpose.
• Ask how someone is with Come stai? informally or Come sta? formally.
• Introduce yourself with Mi chiamo, give origin with Sono di, and say where you live with Abito a.
• Use tu with friends and family, and Lei with strangers and elders; when unsure, choose Lei.
• per favore, grazie, prego, and scusi are the courtesy words you will use most.

Sources

1. "T-V distinction." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "ciao." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
3. "buongiorno." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "Pronomi personali." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
5. "Learn Italian." Societa Dante Alighieri, dante.global.

The big picture

Every Italian noun has a gender, either masculine or feminine. There is no neuter, which is simpler than German. Gender is grammatical, not biological, so a book is masculine and a table is feminine for no deep reason. The gender controls the words around the noun, above all the word for the. Italian also chooses its article by the first sound of the following word, so the safest habit is to learn every noun together with its article, as a single package.

Key idea: Do not learn casa; learn la casa. The article is part of the word, and it carries the gender you will need for everything else.

Gender from the ending

The ending of a noun is a strong clue to its gender. Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine, and nouns ending in -a are usually feminine. Nouns ending in -e can be either, so those you learn one by one.

Ending	Usual gender	Example	English
-o	masculine	il libro	the book
-a	feminine	la casa	the house
-e	either	il cane / la chiave	the dog / the key

A few exceptions are worth memorizing early. La mano (hand) is feminine though it ends in -o, and il problema (problem) is masculine though it ends in -a, like several words of Greek origin such as il programma and il tema.

The definite article: the

English has one word for the. Italian has seven, chosen by gender, number, and the first sound of the noun. For masculine nouns you use il before most consonants, lo before s plus a consonant or before z, gn, ps, and l' before a vowel. For feminine nouns you use la before a consonant and l' before a vowel.

Form	Used before	Singular	Plural
il	masc. + consonant	il ragazzo	i ragazzi
lo	masc. + s+cons., z, gn, ps	lo studente	gli studenti
l' (masc.)	masc. + vowel	l'amico	gli amici
la	fem. + consonant	la ragazza	le ragazze
l' (fem.)	fem. + vowel	l'amica	le amiche

Notice the plural pattern: il becomes i, while lo and both l' forms become gli for masculine, and la and l' become le for feminine. So one book is il libro, and the books are i libri; the friend is l'amico, and the friends are gli amici.

The indefinite article: a and an

For a or an, Italian uses un for most masculine nouns, uno for masculine nouns starting with s plus a consonant or with z, gn, ps, and una for feminine nouns, shortened to un' before a vowel. There is no plural of these, just as English has no plural of a.

Form	Used before	Example	English
un	masc. + vowel or consonant	un libro, un amico	a book, a friend
uno	masc. + s+cons., z, gn, ps	uno studente	a student
una	fem. + consonant	una casa	a house
un'	fem. + vowel	un'amica	a friend (female)

Watch the apostrophe. A masculine friend is un amico with no apostrophe, but a female friend is un'amica with one. The apostrophe marks the feminine here, so it is not a small detail.

Making nouns plural

Italian forms plurals by changing the final vowel, not by adding an s. Masculine nouns in -o take -i, feminine nouns in -a take -e, and nouns in -e of either gender take -i.

Singular	Plural	English
il libro	i libri	book, books
la casa	le case	house, houses
il cane	i cani	dog, dogs
la chiave	le chiavi	key, keys

Two groups do not change at all. Nouns with a stressed final vowel, such as la città (city) and il caffè (coffee), stay the same in the plural, so you say le città and i caffè. Short foreign words like il bar and il film are also invariable, giving i bar and i film.

Example sentences

• Il ragazzo legge un libro. (The boy reads a book.)
• La casa è grande. (The house is big.)
• Gli studenti sono qui. (The students are here.)
• C'è un'amica alla porta. (There is a friend, female, at the door.)
• Le città italiane sono belle. (Italian cities are beautiful.)

A short dialogue: what is that?

A simple way to practice articles is to point and ask.

• Maestra: Che cos'è? (What is it?)
• Studente: E un tavolo. (It is a table.)
• Maestra: E questo? E una finestra? (And this? Is it a window?)
• Studente: No, e una porta. (No, it is a door.)
• Maestra: Bravo. Il tavolo e marrone e la porta e bianca. (Well done. The table is brown and the door is white.)

Common misconceptions

• Every -o noun is masculine and every -a noun is feminine. Almost, but la mano is feminine and il problema is masculine, so learn the exceptions.
• libreria means library. It is a false friend. libreria is a bookshop; a library is a biblioteca.
• il works before every masculine noun. No. Use lo before s plus a consonant or before z, gn, ps, as in lo studente and lo zaino.
• Plurals add an s. Italian changes the final vowel instead: -o becomes -i and -a becomes -e.

Recap

• Every Italian noun is masculine or feminine, and the ending gives a strong hint: -o masculine, -a feminine, -e either.
• The definite article has seven forms: il, lo, l', la, i, gli, le, chosen by gender, number, and first sound.
• The indefinite article is un, uno, una, or un', with the apostrophe marking the feminine un'amica.
• Plurals change the vowel: -o to -i, -a to -e, and -e to -i.
• Words with a final accent, like citta and caffe, and short foreign words do not change in the plural.

Sources

1. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Nome." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "Articolo." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
4. "libreria." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "gli." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.

The big picture

To say who does something, Italian uses subject pronouns, but it drops them far more often than English does, because the verb ending already shows the subject. The two verbs you need first are essere (to be) and avere (to have). They are irregular, so you memorize them, and they are worth every minute, since they appear constantly and later help you build the past tense.

Key idea: Because each verb form is distinct, Sono italiano already means I am Italian, with no need to say io.

The subject pronouns

Here are the pronouns with their meanings. Italian has no separate word for it; you use lui or lei for things by their gender, or simply drop the pronoun.

Pronoun	English	Pronoun	English
io	I	noi	we
tu	you (informal)	voi	you all
lui / lei / Lei	he / she / you (formal)	loro	they

The verb essere (to be)

Learn these six forms by heart. Note that the third-person form è carries a written accent, which separates it from e, meaning and.

Pronoun	essere	Example	English
io	sono	Io sono Anna.	I am Anna.
tu	sei	Tu sei alto.	You are tall.
lui / lei / Lei	è	Lei è medico.	She is a doctor.
noi	siamo	Noi siamo amici.	We are friends.
voi	siete	Voi siete giovani.	You all are young.
loro	sono	Loro sono di Roma.	They are from Rome.

Use essere for identity, origin, nationality, and lasting traits: Sono studente (I am a student), Siamo di Milano (We are from Milan), Il libro è interessante (The book is interesting). The io and loro forms are both sono, and the sentence context tells them apart.

The verb avere (to have)

The verb avere is your second cornerstone. Remember that the letter h at the start of ho, hai, ha, and hanno is completely silent; it is only there to mark the spelling.

Pronoun	avere	Example	English
io	ho	Ho un cane.	I have a dog.
tu	hai	Hai tempo?	Do you have time?
lui / lei / Lei	ha	Lui ha una macchina.	He has a car.
noi	abbiamo	Abbiamo fame.	We are hungry.
voi	avete	Avete una casa.	You all have a house.
loro	hanno	Hanno due figli.	They have two children.

avere for age and states

Italian uses avere where English uses to be for several states. The most important is age: Ho venti anni means literally I have twenty years, that is, I am twenty years old. Other avere expressions describe how the body feels.

Italian	English
avere ... anni	to be ... years old
avere fame / sete	to be hungry / thirsty
avere caldo / freddo	to be hot / cold
avere sonno	to be sleepy
avere ragione	to be right

So Ho caldo means I am hot, and Ha sonno means he or she is sleepy. Take care with caldo: it means hot, not cold, and it is one of the most common false friends for English speakers.

Dropping the pronoun

Because each ending is unique, Italian usually leaves the pronoun out. You say Sono di Napoli rather than Io sono di Napoli, and Hai una penna? rather than Tu hai una penna? You add the pronoun back only for emphasis or contrast, as in Io sono italiano, ma lui è francese (I am Italian, but he is French). This dropping of the subject is normal and natural, so get used to hearing verbs without a pronoun in front.

A short dialogue

Two people compare a few basic facts.

• Marco: Ciao, sono Marco. Ho ventidue anni. E tu? (Hi, I am Marco. I am twenty-two. And you?)
• Elena: Sono Elena, ho venti anni. Sei di Roma? (I am Elena, I am twenty. Are you from Rome?)
• Marco: No, sono di Bari. Ho fame. Hai fame anche tu? (No, I am from Bari. I am hungry. Are you hungry too?)
• Elena: Si, ho fame e ho sete. (Yes, I am hungry and thirsty.)

Common misconceptions

• caldo means cold. It is a false friend. caldo means hot, so Ho caldo is I am hot; cold is freddo.
• Age uses essere, like English to be. Italian uses avere: Ho trent'anni, literally I have thirty years.
• You must always say io, tu, lui. Italian normally drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending shows who it is.
• The h in ho is pronounced. It is silent; ho, hai, ha, and hanno simply begin with a vowel sound.

Recap

• The subject pronouns are io, tu, lui, lei, Lei, noi, voi, and loro; there is no separate word for it.
• essere means to be: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono, used for identity, origin, and traits.
• avere means to have: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno, with a silent h.
• Use avere for age and states: Ho venti anni, ho fame, ho caldo.
• Italian usually drops the subject pronoun, adding it back only for emphasis or contrast.

Sources

1. "Romance copula." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "essere." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
3. "avere." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "caldo." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Pronomi personali." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.

The big picture

An Italian verb in its base form is the infinitive, and it ends in -are, -ere, or -ire. To use it, you drop that ending to find the stem, then add a new ending that matches the subject. Learn the three patterns and you can handle thousands of verbs. As in Spanish, Italian has a single present tense that covers both I speak and I am speaking, so there is no separate progressive form to learn first.

Key idea: parlo does the work of I speak, I am speaking, and I do speak. One present tense, three English meanings.

The three conjugations

Here are three model verbs: parlare (to speak), scrivere (to write), and dormire (to sleep). Drop the ending, then add the endings shown.

Pronoun	parlare	scrivere	dormire
io	parlo	scrivo	dormo
tu	parli	scrivi	dormi
lui / lei	parla	scrive	dorme
noi	parliamo	scriviamo	dormiamo
voi	parlate	scrivete	dormite
loro	parlano	scrivono	dormono

Notice the overlaps. The io ending is -o for all three, the tu ending is -i for all three, and the noi ending is -iamo for all three. The main differences are in the lui, voi, and loro rows, where -are keeps an a and the other two keep an e or o.

The -isc- group

Many, though not all, -ire verbs add the letters -isc- in every form except noi and voi. The classic model is capire (to understand).

Pronoun	capire	Pronoun	capire
io	capisco	noi	capiamo
tu	capisci	voi	capite
lui / lei	capisce	loro	capiscono

Other common -isc- verbs are finire (to finish), preferire (to prefer), and pulire (to clean). There is no simple rule for which -ire verbs take -isc-, so learn each verb with its pattern. Plain -ire verbs like dormire, partire (to leave), and aprire (to open) do not add it.

A small spelling rule

Verbs whose infinitive ends in -care or -gare add an h before endings that begin with i, so the hard c and g sounds are kept. So giocare (to play) gives tu giochi and noi giochiamo, and pagare (to pay) gives tu paghi. Verbs ending in -iare, such as studiare (to study) and mangiare (to eat), drop the extra i, so tu studi and tu mangi, not studii or mangii.

Common regular verbs

Practice the patterns with these everyday verbs. Conjugate them by dropping the ending and adding the right one: lavorare (to work), abitare (to live, to reside), guardare (to watch), leggere (to read), prendere (to take, to have food or drink), vedere (to see), sentire (to hear, to feel), and aprire (to open). With just these you can already describe much of a normal day.

Word order and negation

Italian word order is close to English: subject, then verb, then the rest, though the subject is often dropped. To make a sentence negative, put non directly before the verb, as in Non parlo francese (I do not speak French) and Non capisco (I do not understand). Adverbs of frequency such as sempre (always), spesso (often), a volte (sometimes), and mai (never) usually follow the verb, as in Leggo sempre la sera (I always read in the evening). With mai the sentence also keeps non, as in Non mangio mai carne (I never eat meat).

Example sentences

• Parlo italiano e inglese. (I speak Italian and English.)
• Maria scrive una lettera. (Maria is writing a letter.)
• I bambini dormono. (The children are sleeping.)
• Non capisco la domanda. (I do not understand the question.)
• Noi mangiamo la pizza. (We are eating pizza.)

A short dialogue

Two friends talk about study and work.

• Paolo: Cosa studi? (What do you study?)
• Lucia: Studio medicina. E tu, lavori? (I study medicine. And you, do you work?)
• Paolo: Si, lavoro in un bar e leggo molto. (Yes, I work in a bar and read a lot.)
• Lucia: Capisci l'inglese? (Do you understand English?)
• Paolo: Capisco un po', ma preferisco l'italiano. (I understand a little, but I prefer Italian.)

Common misconceptions

• -ere and -ire verbs are conjugated identically. They match in most forms, but voi differs: scrivete versus dormite.
• Every -ire verb takes -isc-. Only many do, such as capire and finire; dormire and partire do not.
• The present tense means only the simple present. It also covers the progressive, so scrivo can mean I write or I am writing.
• You keep the spelling in giocare as gioci. No. -care and -gare verbs add an h, giving giochi and paghi, to keep the hard sound.

Recap

• Italian verbs end in -are, -ere, or -ire; drop the ending to find the stem, then add the personal ending.
• The io, tu, and noi endings, -o, -i, and -iamo, are shared by all three families.
• Many -ire verbs add -isc- in all forms except noi and voi, as in capisco and capiscono.
• Verbs in -care and -gare add an h before i; verbs in -iare drop the extra i.
• One present tense covers I speak, I am speaking, and I do speak.

Sources

1. "Italian conjugation." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Verbo." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "mangiare." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "dormire." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian." Wikibooks, en.wikibooks.org.

The big picture

An adjective describes a noun, and in Italian it must agree with that noun in gender and number. This is one of the biggest differences from English, where adjectives never change. The good news is that adjectives use the same endings you already know from nouns, so the vowels do familiar work. There are two families: adjectives that end in -o, with four forms, and adjectives that end in -e, with only two.

Key idea: Match the adjective to its noun. A feminine plural noun needs a feminine plural adjective, every time.

Four-form adjectives

An adjective that ends in -o has four forms, one for each gender and number. Take alto (tall).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	alto	alti
Feminine	alta	alte

So you say il ragazzo alto (the tall boy), la ragazza alta (the tall girl), i ragazzi alti (the tall boys), and le ragazze alte (the tall girls). The adjective simply copies the gender and number of the noun.

Two-form adjectives

An adjective that ends in -e does not change for gender, only for number. It has just two forms, singular in -e and plural in -i. Take grande (big) and intelligente (intelligent).

	Singular	Plural
Masculine or feminine	grande	grandi

So a big house and a big book use the same word: una casa grande and un libro grande. In the plural both become grandi: case grandi and libri grandi. The same holds for verde (green), felice (happy), and difficile (difficult).

Where adjectives go

Unlike English, most descriptive adjectives come after the noun: una macchina rossa (a red car), not una rossa macchina. This is the normal position for color, shape, nationality, and most qualities. A small group of common, short adjectives usually comes before the noun instead, such as bello (beautiful), buono (good), bravo (skilled), grande, piccolo (small), giovane (young), and nuovo (new).

bello and buono before the noun

When bello comes before a noun, it changes shape to match the article, just as the definite article does. So you get bel ragazzo, bello studente, bell'uomo, bella casa, and in the plural bei ragazzi and begli amici. Likewise buono shortens to buon before most masculine nouns, giving buon giorno and buon amico, but buona idea for the feminine. After the noun, both return to the plain forms bello and buono.

Colors

Colors are adjectives, so most of them agree. The -o colors have four forms, and the -e colors have two.

Italian	English	Italian	English
rosso	red	verde	green
giallo	yellow	nero	black
bianco	white	grigio	gray
blu	blue	rosa	pink

Three of these never change: blu, rosa, and viola (purple) are invariable, so you say una macchina blu and due macchine blu with no ending. Note also that bianco keeps its hard c, so the plurals are bianchi and bianche.

Describing people

Combine essere with adjectives to describe looks and character: alto or basso (tall or short), giovane or vecchio (young or old), simpatico (nice, likeable), and intelligente. For touch and comfort you might use morbido (soft) and duro (hard). A full description agrees throughout: Mia sorella è simpatica e intelligente means My sister is nice and intelligent, with both adjectives feminine.

Adjectives of quantity

A few common words about quantity come before the noun and agree with it, such as molto (much, many), poco (little, few), tanto (so much), and troppo (too much). So you say molti amici (many friends) and molte case (many houses). Be careful with molto, though: when it means very and describes an adjective, it does not change, as in molto bello (very beautiful) and molto belle (very beautiful, feminine plural). So the quantity use agrees with the noun, but the very use stays fixed.

A short dialogue

Two friends describe a new apartment.

• Gio: Com'è la casa nuova? (What is the new house like?)
• Sara: E grande e luminosa. (It is big and bright.)
• Gio: E le stanze? (And the rooms?)
• Sara: Belle. Ci sono due camere piccole e una cucina rossa. (Beautiful. There are two small bedrooms and a red kitchen.)
• Gio: Che bella casa! (What a beautiful house!)

Common misconceptions

• Adjectives never change, as in English. Italian adjectives agree in gender and number, so ragazza alta but ragazzi alti.
• Adjectives always come before the noun. Most follow the noun: una macchina rossa, not una rossa macchina.
• morbido means morbid. It is a false friend. morbido means soft; the English morbid is morboso.
• Every color agrees. blu, rosa, and viola are invariable, so due macchine blu keeps no ending.

Recap

• Adjectives agree with their noun in gender and number.
• Adjectives in -o have four forms; adjectives in -e have two.
• Most descriptive adjectives follow the noun; a few short ones, like bello and buono, come before it.
• bello and buono change shape before a noun, matching the article.
• Most colors agree, but blu, rosa, and viola are invariable.

Sources

1. "Adjective." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Aggettivi." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "bello." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "morbido." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Talking about family is one of the most natural early conversations, and it is the perfect place to learn possessives, the words for my, your, and their. Italian possessives have a surprise for English speakers: they normally travel with the definite article, so my book is il mio libro, literally the my book. There is one neat exception for close family, which we will learn clearly. First, the family itself.

Key idea: An Italian possessive agrees with the thing owned, not with the owner, so suo can mean his or her depending on the noun.

The family

Here are the core members. The masculine plural covers a mixed group, so i genitori means the parents and i fratelli can mean the siblings.

Italian	English	Italian	English
il padre	father	la madre	mother
il figlio	son	la figlia	daughter
il fratello	brother	la sorella	sister
il nonno	grandfather	la nonna	grandmother
lo zio	uncle	la zia	aunt
il cugino	cousin (m)	la cugina	cousin (f)

Two words are easy to confuse. I genitori means the parents, while i parenti means the relatives, the wider family. Do not mix them up, because parenti is a classic false friend.

Possessive adjectives

Each possessive has four forms, agreeing with the thing owned. Here they are with the article that usually goes in front.

Owner	Masc. sing.	Fem. sing.	Masc. pl.	Fem. pl.
my	il mio	la mia	i miei	le mie
your (tu)	il tuo	la tua	i tuoi	le tue
his / her	il suo	la sua	i suoi	le sue
our	il nostro	la nostra	i nostri	le nostre
their	il loro	la loro	i loro	le loro

Because the possessive agrees with the noun, il suo libro is his book or her book, and la sua casa is his house or her house. The owner does not change the form; only the thing owned does. Notice that loro is invariable and never adds an ending, though it still takes the article.

The family exception

Here is the neat rule. With a singular, unmodified family member you drop the article: mia madre (my mother), tuo fratello (your brother), suo padre (his or her father). But you keep the article in three cases: in the plural, as in i miei fratelli (my brothers); with loro, as in il loro padre (their father); and when the family word is modified, as in la mia sorella maggiore (my older sister) or the affectionate la mia mamma.

More family words

A few more relatives complete the family tree. A husband is il marito and a wife is la moglie; a nephew or grandson is il nipote and a niece or granddaughter is la nipote, one word doing double duty. A brother-in-law is il cognato and a sister-in-law is la cognata. Affectionate names are common too: children say mamma and papà for mom and dad, and these keep the article, as in la mia mamma and il mio papà.

This and that

To point people and things out you use the demonstratives questo (this) and quello (that). Questo agrees like a four-form adjective: questo libro, questa casa, questi libri, and queste case. So when you introduce a relative you can say questa è mia sorella (this is my sister) or questi sono i miei genitori (these are my parents).

Example sentences

• Mia madre è insegnante. (My mother is a teacher. Singular family, no article.)
• I miei nonni vivono a Verona. (My grandparents live in Verona. Plural, article kept.)
• Il loro figlio ha dieci anni. (Their son is ten. loro keeps the article.)
• La tua macchina è nuova. (Your car is new. Not family, so article kept.)
• Questi sono i miei parenti. (These are my relatives.)

A short dialogue: talking about family

Two friends compare their families.

• Dina: Hai fratelli? (Do you have siblings?)
• Enzo: Si, ho un fratello e una sorella. Mia sorella si chiama Lia. (Yes, I have a brother and a sister. My sister is called Lia.)
• Dina: E i tuoi genitori? (And your parents?)
• Enzo: Mio padre e medico e mia madre e avvocato. (My father is a doctor and my mother is a lawyer.)
• Dina: Che bella famiglia! (What a nice family!)

Common misconceptions

• parenti means parents. It is a false friend. parenti means relatives; parents are i genitori.
• The possessive agrees with the owner. No, it agrees with the thing owned, so sua casa is his or her house.
• You always drop the article with family. Only with a singular, unmodified member; plurals, loro, and modified words keep it.
• loro changes its ending. loro is invariable, but it still takes the article: il loro, la loro, i loro, le loro.

Recap

• Core family words include il padre, la madre, il fratello, la sorella, il nonno, and la nonna.
• i genitori means parents, while i parenti means relatives, a false friend.
• Possessives normally take the article and agree with the thing owned: il mio, la mia, i miei, le mie.
• Drop the article with a singular, unmodified family member: mia madre, tuo fratello.
• Keep the article in the plural, with loro, and with modified family words.

Sources

1. "Possessive." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Possessivi." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "parente." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "mio." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "famiglia." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.

The big picture

Asking questions is how a conversation grows, and Italian makes it easy. For a yes-or-no question you do not need a helper word like the English do, and you do not have to flip the word order. You keep the sentence as it is and simply raise your voice at the end, then write a question mark. Add a small set of question words and you can interview a new friend about almost anything.

Key idea: Parli italiano? has the same words as the statement Parli italiano. Only the rising tone and the question mark make it a question.

Yes-or-no questions

To ask a yes-or-no question, keep the statement order and raise your intonation. So Tu parli italiano (You speak Italian) becomes Parli italiano? (Do you speak Italian?). You answer with Sì (yes) or No. To make a sentence negative, put non right before the verb: No, non parlo italiano (No, I do not speak Italian). There is no extra do to worry about, which makes questions far simpler than in English.

Question words

To ask for specific information, use these interrogatives. Each one opens a question and pairs with a simple verb.

Italian	English	Example
chi	who	Chi è? (Who is it?)
che cosa, cosa, che	what	Cosa fai? (What are you doing?)
dove	where	Dove abiti? (Where do you live?)
quando	when	Quando parti? (When do you leave?)
perché	why	Perché studi? (Why do you study?)
come	how	Come stai? (How are you?)
quanto	how much	Quanto costa? (How much is it?)

Two forms elide before the verb è: dove plus è becomes dov'è (where is), and come plus è becomes com'è (what is it like). For which, use quale, which appears as qual è (which is) with no apostrophe.

perché means why and because

One word does double duty. Perché asks why, and the very same word answers with because. So you can ask Perché studi l'italiano? (Why do you study Italian?) and answer Perché mi piace (Because I like it). The context and the rising or falling tone make the meaning clear, and you never need a second word.

Quanto and agreement

When quanto stands before a noun, it behaves like an adjective and agrees with it. So you ask Quanti anni hai? (How many years do you have, that is, how old are you?) with the masculine plural quanti, and Quante sorelle hai? (How many sisters do you have?) with the feminine plural quante. On its own, asking a price, it stays quanto: Quanto costa?

A few more question words

Beyond the core set, three more are useful. Quale means which, with the plural quali, as in Quale libro? (Which book?) and Quali libri? (Which books?). Che can mean what kind of before a noun, as in Che lavoro fai? (What work do you do?). And di chi asks whose, as in Di chi è questo? (Whose is this?). Each opens a question the same way, with a rising tone and a question mark.

To answer, you often reuse the words of the question. If someone asks Dove abiti? you reply Abito a Roma, and if they ask Quando parti? you say Parto domani. This mirroring makes conversation easy for a beginner, because the question hands you most of the answer, and a short phrase is enough.

You can soften a question with scusi at the start, as in Scusi, che ore sono? (Excuse me, what time is it?). It is polite and buys you a moment to listen for the reply.

A short dialogue: meeting someone new

A few questions turn a greeting into a real conversation.

• Rea: Come ti chiami? (What is your name?)
• Ivan: Mi chiamo Ivan. (My name is Ivan.)
• Rea: Di dove sei e dove abiti? (Where are you from and where do you live?)
• Ivan: Sono di Kiev, ma abito a Roma. (I am from Kyiv, but I live in Rome.)
• Rea: Perché sei a Roma? (Why are you in Rome?)
• Ivan: Perché studio architettura. (Because I study architecture.)

Common misconceptions

• Italian needs a helper word like do. It does not. Parli italiano? uses only intonation to ask a question.
• You must invert the word order to ask a question. Not for yes-or-no questions; keep the order and raise your voice.
• perché means only why. The same word also means because, as in Perché mi piace.
• quanto never changes. Before a noun it agrees, as in quanti anni and quante sorelle.

Recap

• Yes-or-no questions keep statement order and use rising intonation, with no helper word.
• Negate a verb by placing non directly before it: non parlo.
• The main question words are chi, cosa, dove, quando, perché, come, and quanto.
• perché means both why and because.
• quanto agrees with a following noun: quanti anni, quante sorelle.

Sources

1. "Interrogative word." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Pronomi interrogativi." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "dove." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "perché." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Numbers appear everywhere, in prices, ages, phone numbers, dates, and the time. This lesson gathers the practical set you need to shop, make plans, and ask the time, then adds the days, the months, and the weather. None of it is difficult, and the patterns are regular once you see them. Learn these building blocks and you can arrange to meet a friend at a certain hour on a certain day, whatever the weather.

Key idea: Italian tens drop their final vowel before uno and otto, so venti plus uno is ventuno, not ventiuno.

The numbers

Here are the essentials from zero to twenty, then the tens up to one hundred.

#	Italian	#	Italian
0	zero	11	undici
1	uno	12	dodici
2	due	13	tredici
3	tre	14	quattordici
4	quattro	15	quindici
5	cinque	16	sedici
6	sei	17	diciassette
7	sette	20	venti
8	otto	30	trenta
9	nove	40	quaranta
10	dieci	100	cento

To build the numbers in between, join the ten and the unit into one word: ventidue (22), quarantacinque (45). Before uno and otto the ten drops its final vowel, giving ventuno (21), ventotto (28), and trentuno (31). When tré ends a compound it takes an accent, as in ventitré (23).

Days, months, and dates

The days of the week are lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì, sabato, and domenica. The first five carry an accent on the final i. The months are gennaio, febbraio, marzo, aprile, maggio, giugno, luglio, agosto, settembre, ottobre, novembre, and dicembre. Neither days nor months are capitalized in Italian. To give a date, use il plus the number plus the month: il cinque maggio (the fifth of May). For the first of the month, use the ordinal il primo, as in il primo gennaio.

Telling the time

To ask the time, say Che ora è? or Che ore sono? For one o'clock, noon, and midnight you use the singular è; for every other hour you use the plural sono le, because the hours are counted as plural.

• È l'una. (It is one o'clock.)
• Sono le tre. (It is three o'clock.)
• È mezzogiorno. (It is noon.) / È mezzanotte. (It is midnight.)
• Sono le quattro e mezza. (It is half past four.)
• Sono le sette e un quarto. (It is a quarter past seven.)
• Sono le nove meno un quarto. (It is a quarter to nine.)

Add di mattina (in the morning), di pomeriggio (in the afternoon), or di sera (in the evening) to be clear about the part of the day.

The weather

To ask about the weather, say Che tempo fa? Many answers use the verb fare, others use c'è or a single weather verb.

Italian	English
Fa bello. / Fa brutto.	The weather is nice. / bad.
Fa caldo. / Fa freddo.	It is hot. / cold.
C'è il sole. / C'è vento.	It is sunny. / windy.
Piove. / Nevica.	It is raining. / snowing.
È nuvoloso.	It is cloudy.

Watch caldo once more. Fa caldo means it is hot, not cold, because caldo means hot; cold is freddo, so it is cold is Fa freddo.

Beyond one hundred

Above one hundred the pattern stays regular. Cento is 100, duecento is 200, and mille is 1000, with the plural mila, so 2000 is duemila. You simply string the parts together, so 125 is centoventicinque and 2025 is duemilaventicinque. Prices use the euro, so a coffee might cost un euro e venti (one euro and twenty). With these numbers you can handle a shop, a bus ticket, or a phone number without trouble.

A short dialogue: making a plan

Two friends agree on a time and check the weather.

• Rita: Che ore sono? (What time is it?)
• Ugo: Sono le due e mezza. (It is half past two.)
• Rita: Che tempo fa oggi? (What is the weather like today?)
• Ugo: Fa caldo e c'è il sole. (It is hot and sunny.)
• Rita: Bene. A domani, il tre giugno! (Good. See you tomorrow, the third of June.)

Common misconceptions

• Days and months are capitalized, as in English. They are not; lunedì and giugno stay lowercase.
• Fa caldo means it is cold. No, caldo means hot, so Fa caldo is it is hot; cold is Fa freddo.
• You use è for every hour. Only for one, noon, and midnight; two o'clock and later use Sono le.
• Dates use ordinal numbers. Only the first does, il primo; the rest use plain numbers, as in il due maggio.

Recap

• Numbers join into one word, and tens drop their final vowel before uno and otto: ventuno, ventotto.
• Days and months are lowercase; a date is il plus the number plus the month.
• Use è for one o'clock, noon, and midnight, and Sono le for the other hours.
• Add e mezza, e un quarto, or meno un quarto for the minutes.
• Ask the weather with Che tempo fa?, and remember Fa caldo means it is hot.

Sources

1. "Names of the days of the week." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Numerali." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "lunedì." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "freddo." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Describing your day introduces a special kind of verb: the reflexive verb. These describe actions you do to yourself, such as waking up, washing, or getting dressed. Their infinitive ends in -si, as in alzarsi (to get up) and lavarsi (to wash oneself). You have already met one without knowing it, because Come ti chiami? comes from chiamarsi and literally asks how you call yourself.

Key idea: A reflexive verb needs a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject and sits before the conjugated verb.

How reflexives work

To conjugate a reflexive verb, put the matching pronoun in front and conjugate the verb as normal. The pronouns are mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si. Here is alzarsi (to get up).

Pronoun	Reflexive form	English
io	mi alzo	I get up
tu	ti alzi	you get up
lui / lei	si alza	he / she gets up
noi	ci alziamo	we get up
voi	vi alzate	you all get up
loro	si alzano	they get up

The verb itself follows the ordinary present-tense rules; only the pronoun in front is new. So Mi alzo alle sette means I get up at seven, and Si alzano tardi means they get up late.

Common routine verbs

These reflexive verbs cover most of a normal day. Learn them with the -si ending, then conjugate as above.

Italian	English	Italian	English
svegliarsi	to wake up	alzarsi	to get up
lavarsi	to wash	vestirsi	to get dressed
farsi la doccia	to take a shower	riposarsi	to rest
divertirsi	to have fun	addormentarsi	to fall asleep

Not every routine verb is reflexive. Fare colazione (to have breakfast) and andare a letto (to go to bed) describe daily actions without a reflexive pronoun, so keep them plain.

Sequencing your day

Link your actions with time words: prima (first), poi (then), dopo (afterward), la mattina (in the morning), il pomeriggio (in the afternoon), and la sera (in the evening). Here is a short routine that puts it together.

• La mattina mi sveglio alle sette. (In the morning I wake up at seven.)
• Poi mi alzo e mi faccio la doccia. (Then I get up and take a shower.)
• Dopo, mi vesto e faccio colazione. (Afterward, I get dressed and have breakfast.)
• La sera mi riposo e mi addormento presto. (In the evening I rest and fall asleep early.)

Attaching the pronoun to an infinitive

When a reflexive verb follows another verb, such as a modal, the pronoun can either move to the front or attach to the end of the infinitive, which then loses its final e. Both of these mean I have to get up early: Mi devo alzare presto and Devo alzarmi presto. You will meet the modal verbs in the next module, so for now just notice that the pronoun has two possible homes and both are correct.

Reflexive for each other

The plural pronouns ci, vi, and si can also mean each other, describing something two or more people do together. So ci vediamo means we see each other, a very common way to say see you soon, and si amano means they love each other. In the same way ci scriviamo is we write to each other. The verb looks exactly like an ordinary reflexive, and the context tells you whether the action is done to oneself or to one another.

A short dialogue: a morning routine

Two roommates compare their mornings.

• Bea: A che ora ti svegli? (What time do you wake up?)
• Dan: Mi sveglio alle sei e mi alzo subito. (I wake up at six and get up right away.)
• Bea: Io mi alzo tardi e non faccio colazione. (I get up late and do not have breakfast.)
• Dan: E la sera? (And in the evening?)
• Bea: Mi riposo e mi addormento a mezzanotte. (I rest and fall asleep at midnight.)

Common misconceptions

• The reflexive pronoun comes after the verb. With a conjugated verb it comes before: Mi alzo, not alzo mi.
• chiamarsi is a strange one-off. It is a normal reflexive; it means to call oneself, which is how Italian says to be named.
• Every routine verb is reflexive. No. fare colazione and andare a letto are not reflexive.
• si has only one meaning. si covers himself, herself, and themselves, and it also expresses each other.

Recap

• Reflexive verbs describe actions done to oneself and end in -si, as in alzarsi and lavarsi.
• The reflexive pronouns are mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si, and they sit before the conjugated verb.
• The verb itself follows normal present-tense rules; only the pronoun is added.
• Sequence a routine with prima, poi, dopo, la mattina, il pomeriggio, and la sera.
• After a modal, the pronoun may move to the front or attach to the infinitive.

Sources

1. "Reflexive verb." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Verbi riflessivi." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "alzarsi." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "chiamarsi." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian conjugation." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Food is one of the most rewarding topics for a new speaker, because you can use it the same day. It also opens a window onto Italian culture, where meals are social and the daily bar is a hub. Note right away that an Italian bar is a cafe: it serves coffee, pastries, and snacks all day, not only alcohol. Let us build a small menu, learn the polite way to order, and pick up a few customs.

Key idea: The most useful ordering word is vorrei, meaning I would like. It is polite, simple, and works everywhere.

Meals and food

The meals of the day are la colazione (breakfast), il pranzo (lunch), la cena (dinner), and a spuntino (snack). Here is a starter menu of food and drink.

Italian	English	Italian	English
il pane	bread	l'acqua	water
la pasta	pasta	il caffè	coffee
la pizza	pizza	il vino	wine
il formaggio	cheese	il latte	milk
la carne	meat	la frutta	fruit
il pesce	fish	il gelato	ice cream

Ordering politely

To order, lead with vorrei (I would like) or prendo (I will have), then the item and per favore. So you might say Vorrei un caffè, per favore (I would like a coffee, please) or Prendo una pizza margherita (I will have a margherita pizza). To ask for the bill, say Il conto, per favore (The bill, please). If you want it hot, remember that a hot tea is un tè caldo, because caldo means hot.

At the bar

A few habits are worth knowing. When you order un caffè, you get an espresso; if you want a longer drink you ask for a caffè lungo or an americano. A cappuccino is a morning drink, and many Italians find it odd after a meal. In many bars you pay first at the register, the cassa, then take the receipt to the counter. Standing at the counter, al banco, is usually cheaper than sitting at a table, al tavolo.

From farm to table

Italian cooking prizes fresh, local, seasonal ingredients, and much of the produce comes straight from a fattoria, a farm, not a factory. This is a useful false friend to fix now: fattoria is a farm, while an English factory is a fabbrica. Regional specialties are a point of pride, so the pasta, cheese, and bread you meet in one town may differ from the next, and asking about a local dish is always welcome.

The courses of a meal

A traditional Italian meal comes in courses. It may open with an antipasto (starter), then a primo (first course of pasta, rice, or soup), a secondo (main course of meat or fish) with a contorno (vegetable side), and end with a dolce (dessert) and coffee. You do not have to order every course; a primo and a contorno make a fine light meal, and that is completely normal.

To ask for a quantity, use un po' di (a little), un bicchiere di (a glass of), or una bottiglia di (a bottle of), as in un bicchiere di vino and una bottiglia d'acqua. Water comes two ways, so a waiter may ask naturale o frizzante? (still or sparkling?). To say you are done, Basta cosi, grazie (That is enough, thank you) is polite and clear.

A short dialogue: at the restaurant

A waiter takes a simple order.

• Cameriere: Buonasera. Cosa desidera? (Good evening. What would you like?)
• Cliente: Vorrei la pasta e un'insalata, per favore. (I would like the pasta and a salad, please.)
• Cameriere: E da bere? (And to drink?)
• Cliente: Un'acqua e un bicchiere di vino rosso. (A water and a glass of red wine.)
• Cliente: Alla fine: Il conto, per favore. (At the end: The bill, please.)

Common misconceptions

• An Italian bar serves only alcohol. No. A bar is a cafe for coffee, pastries, and snacks throughout the day.
• fattoria means factory. It is a false friend. fattoria is a farm; a factory is a fabbrica.
• un caffè is a large filter coffee. It is an espresso; for a longer coffee ask for a caffè lungo or an americano.
• vorrei is a whole new tense to master now. For ordering it is a fixed, polite form; just use it as I would like.

Recap

• The meals are la colazione, il pranzo, and la cena, plus a spuntino for a snack.
• Order with vorrei or prendo, add per favore, and ask for the bill with Il conto, per favore.
• An Italian bar is a cafe; un caffè means an espresso.
• Standing al banco is usually cheaper than sitting al tavolo.
• fattoria means farm, a false friend, while a factory is a fabbrica.

Sources

1. "Italian cuisine." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "caffè." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
3. "pizza." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "fattoria." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Dizionario di italiano." Corriere della Sera, dizionari.corriere.it.

The big picture

Prepositions are small linking words that connect the parts of a sentence, and four of them do most of the work in Italian: a, in, di, and da. Each has its own core jobs, and once you know them you can say where you are, where you are going, and where things belong. Italian adds one twist: these prepositions often merge with the definite article into a single word, which we will learn as a simple table.

Key idea: Use a with cities and in with countries. Vado a Roma but Vado in Italia, and this pairing is worth memorizing early.

The four core prepositions

Each preposition has a handful of common uses. Learn these anchors and the rest will follow.

Preposition	Core uses	Example
a	to or at a city, at a place	Abito a Milano. (I live in Milan.)
in	to or in a country, region, many places	Vado in Italia. (I am going to Italy.)
di	of, and origin from a city	Sono di Napoli. (I am from Naples.)
da	from, or at someone's place	Vado dal medico. (I am going to the doctor.)

Two more details help. Use di to show possession, as in il libro di Marco (Marco's book), and use da for motion from a place, as in Vengo da Roma (I come from Rome). Note that on foot is the fixed phrase a piedi, while by car is in macchina.

Articulated prepositions

When a, di, da, in, and su meet a definite article, they fuse into one word called an articulated preposition. The pattern is regular, so you only learn it once.

	il	la	l'	i	le
a	al	alla	all'	ai	alle
di	del	della	dell'	dei	delle
da	dal	dalla	dall'	dai	dalle
in	nel	nella	nell'	nei	nelle

So a plus il stazione idea becomes alla stazione (at the station), di plus il ragazzo becomes del ragazzo (of the boy), and in plus il centro becomes nel centro (in the center). The masculine lo forms give allo, dello, dallo, nello, and sullo. This merging is not optional; it is simply how Italian is written and spoken.

Words for directions

To find your way, you need a short list of direction words and some places in town.

Italian	English	Italian	English
a destra	on the right	a sinistra	on the left
sempre dritto	straight ahead	l'angolo	the corner
il semaforo	traffic light	la piazza	square
vicino	near	lontano	far

Useful places include la stazione (station), la banca, il museo, la farmacia (pharmacy), l'ospedale (hospital), and la posta (post office). Remember the false friend from earlier: la libreria is a bookshop, while a library is la biblioteca.

Asking the way

Open politely with Scusi (excuse me), then ask Dov'è la stazione? (Where is the station?) or Come si arriva al museo? (How do you get to the museum?). A typical answer strings together the direction words: Vada sempre dritto e poi a destra (Go straight ahead and then right). If you do not catch it, ask Puo ripetere, per favore? (Can you repeat, please?). These are set phrases you can memorize whole and reuse anywhere.

Two more prepositions

Two prepositions stay simple because they usually do not merge with the article. Con means with, as in con Marco (with Marco) and con il latte (with milk). Per means for or through, as in per te (for you) and parto per Roma (I am leaving for Rome). The preposition su (on) does merge, giving sul tavolo (on the table). With a, in, di, da, con, per, and su, you can place almost anything in space and time.

A short dialogue: finding the way

A traveler stops a passerby near the center.

• Turista: Scusi, dov'è la stazione? (Excuse me, where is the station?)
• Signore: Vada sempre dritto, poi a sinistra al semaforo. (Go straight ahead, then left at the traffic light.)
• Turista: E lontano? (Is it far?)
• Signore: No, e vicino, cinque minuti a piedi. (No, it is near, five minutes on foot.)
• Turista: Grazie mille! (Thank you very much!)

Common misconceptions

• a and in are interchangeable. No. Use a with cities and in with countries: a Roma but in Italia.
• di only means of. It also marks origin from a city and possession: Sono di Bari, il libro di Anna.
• Prepositions never join the article. They often do: a plus il is al, in plus il is nel, di plus il is del.
• On foot uses in, like by car. No. It is a piedi with a, while by car is in macchina.

Recap

• The core prepositions are a, in, di, and da, each with its own set of uses.
• Use a with cities and in with countries: a Firenze but in Francia.
• Prepositions merge with the article: al, della, dai, nel, sullo, and so on.
• Direction words include a destra, a sinistra, and sempre dritto.
• Ask the way with Scusi, dov'è ...? and remember libreria is a bookshop.

Sources

1. "Preposition and postposition." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Preposizioni." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "di." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "da." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

This lesson gives you two linked tools. The first is the partitive, the way Italian says some or any. The second is the passato prossimo, the everyday past tense that covers both I ate and I have eaten. It is a compound tense, built from a present-tense helper verb, either avere or essere, plus a past participle. Learn how to build it and you can finally talk about what you did.

Key idea: The passato prossimo uses a present-tense auxiliary. Ho mangiato is literally I have eaten, with ho in the present.

The partitive: some and any

To say some or any, Italian often uses di merged with the definite article, giving del, dello, della, dei, degli, and delle. So del pane is some bread, della carne is some meat, and dei libri is some books. You can also use un po' di (a little of) for uncountable things, as in un po' di zucchero (a little sugar), and alcuni or alcune for countable ones, as in alcune mele (some apples).

The past participle

To build the passato prossimo you need the past participle. For regular verbs it is easy: each conjugation has its own ending.

Infinitive type	Participle ending	Example	English
-are	-ato	parlare to parlato	spoken
-ere	-uto	credere to creduto	believed
-ire	-ito	dormire to dormito	slept

Many common verbs have irregular participles that you simply memorize: fatto (fare), detto (dire), preso (prendere), letto (leggere), scritto (scrivere), visto (vedere), aperto (aprire), and stato (essere and stare, which share it).

Passato prossimo with avere

Most verbs form the passato prossimo with avere plus the participle. With avere, the participle normally does not change. Here is mangiare (to eat).

Pronoun	Form	English
io	ho mangiato	I ate, I have eaten
tu	hai mangiato	you ate
lui / lei	ha mangiato	he / she ate
noi	abbiamo mangiato	we ate
voi	avete mangiato	you all ate
loro	hanno mangiato	they ate

Passato prossimo with essere

A group of verbs uses essere instead, above all verbs of motion and change of state, such as andare, venire, arrivare, partire, uscire, entrare, tornare, nascere, and morire. With essere the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number, exactly like an adjective.

Subject	Form	English
Marco	è andato	Marco went
Maria	è andata	Maria went
i ragazzi	sono andati	the boys went
le ragazze	sono andate	the girls went

Reflexive verbs also take essere, and their participle agrees too: Mi sono alzato for a man and Mi sono alzata for a woman both mean I got up. A short memory aid: if the verb shows going, coming, staying, being born, or dying, reach for essere.

Choosing the auxiliary

So how do you decide? Most verbs, especially those with a direct object, use avere: Ho letto un libro (I read a book), Abbiamo visto un film (We saw a film). Verbs of motion or change of state and all reflexives use essere, with agreement: Siamo usciti (We went out), Lei è partita (She left). Dictionaries mark which auxiliary a verb takes, so learn it together with the verb.

The past in the negative and with time words

To make the passato prossimo negative, put non before the auxiliary: Non ho mangiato (I did not eat) and Non siamo usciti (We did not go out). Common time markers pin the action to a moment: ieri (yesterday), ieri sera (last night), la settimana scorsa (last week), and un'ora fa (an hour ago). So you can say Ieri ho letto un libro (Yesterday I read a book) or Un'ora fa sono arrivato (I arrived an hour ago), placing the event clearly in the past.

A short dialogue: yesterday

Two friends compare their day.

• Nina: Cosa hai fatto ieri? (What did you do yesterday?)
• Leo: Ho studiato e ho letto un libro. E tu? (I studied and read a book. And you?)
• Nina: Sono andata al cinema con Lia. (I went to the cinema with Lia.)
• Leo: Siete tornate tardi? (Did you get back late?)
• Nina: Si, siamo tornate a mezzanotte. (Yes, we got back at midnight.)

Common misconceptions

• The passato prossimo uses a past-tense helper. No. The auxiliary avere or essere is in the present: ho mangiato, sono andato.
• The participle never changes. With essere it agrees with the subject: è andata, sono andati.
• Every verb uses avere. Verbs of motion and change, and all reflexives, use essere.
• Some is just di. The partitive is di merged with the article: del pane, della carne, dei libri.

Recap

• The partitive some or any is di plus the article: del, della, dei, degli, delle.
• Regular participles end in -ato, -uto, and -ito; many common verbs are irregular, like fatto and preso.
• The passato prossimo is a present-tense avere or essere plus a past participle.
• With avere the participle usually stays fixed; with essere it agrees with the subject.
• Verbs of motion or change of state and all reflexives take essere.

Sources

1. "Present perfect." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Passato prossimo." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "Partitive." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Partitivo." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Three verbs let you say what you can, must, and want to do. They are called modal verbs: potere (to be able, can), dovere (to have to, must), and volere (to want). All three are irregular, and all three are followed by another verb in the infinitive. Master them and your sentences suddenly become far more expressive, because you can talk about ability, obligation, and desire.

Key idea: A modal verb is followed by an infinitive. Devo studiare, Posso entrare, Voglio mangiare: the second verb stays in its base form.

Conjugating the three modals

Learn these irregular forms by heart, since you will use them constantly.

Pronoun	potere (can)	dovere (must)	volere (want)
io	posso	devo	voglio
tu	puoi	devi	vuoi
lui / lei	può	deve	vuole
noi	possiamo	dobbiamo	vogliamo
voi	potete	dovete	volete
loro	possono	devono	vogliono

Modal plus infinitive

The structure is simple: conjugate the modal, then add the second verb in the infinitive. Look how it works across the three meanings.

• Posso entrare? (May I come in? Ability or permission.)
• Devo studiare stasera. (I have to study tonight. Obligation.)
• Vogliamo mangiare la pizza. (We want to eat pizza. Desire.)
• Non puoi parcheggiare qui. (You cannot park here. Permission denied.)
• Deve essere tardi. (It must be late. dovere can also show likelihood.)

Softening with vorrei

Saying voglio (I want) can sound blunt in a request. To be polite, Italians use vorrei (I would like), the conditional of volere that you met when ordering food. Compare Voglio un caffè (I want a coffee) with the gentler Vorrei un caffè (I would like a coffee). In the same way, potrei means I could and softens a question. For everyday courtesy, reach for vorrei rather than voglio.

Where the pronoun goes

When a modal is followed by a reflexive or object infinitive, the little pronoun has two possible homes, just as you saw with reflexives. It can move in front of the modal or attach to the infinitive, which drops its final e. Both of these mean I want to see it: Lo voglio vedere and Voglio vederlo. Likewise I have to get up early is Mi devo alzare presto or Devo alzarmi presto. Choose whichever feels easier; they are equally correct.

sapere: another kind of can

Italian has a second verb that English also translates as can: sapere, which means to know a fact and, with an infinitive, to know how to do something. So So nuotare means I can swim, in the sense of I know how, while Posso nuotare means I am allowed or able to swim right now. The forms are so, sai, sa, sappiamo, sapete, sanno. Use sapere for a learned skill and potere for permission or possibility.

The related verb conoscere means to know a person or place, as in Conosco Maria (I know Maria) and Conosci Roma? (Do you know Rome?). A quick contrast fixes the pair: So l'italiano means I know Italian as a skill, while Conosco un buon ristorante means I know a good restaurant. A fact or skill takes sapere; a person or place takes conoscere.

These two verbs round out your toolkit for ability and knowledge. With potere, dovere, volere, sapere, and conoscere, you can say what you can do, what you must do, what you want to do, what you know how to do, and who or what you know. Together they cover a great deal of everyday conversation, so it is worth practicing them in short sentences of your own.

A short dialogue: making plans

Two friends decide on the evening.

• Gaia: Vuoi uscire stasera? (Do you want to go out tonight?)
• Tino: Non posso, devo lavorare. (I cannot, I have to work.)
• Gaia: E domani? Possiamo andare al cinema. (And tomorrow? We can go to the cinema.)
• Tino: Si, voglio vedere il nuovo film. (Yes, I want to see the new film.)
• Gaia: Perfetto. Vorrei anche una pizza dopo. (Perfect. I would also like a pizza afterward.)

Common misconceptions

• A modal is followed by a conjugated verb. No. It is followed by an infinitive: Devo studiare, not Devo studio.
• voglio is rude, so avoid it. It is fine, but vorrei is softer for requests, so prefer it when asking for something.
• potere means only physical ability. It also covers permission and possibility, as in Posso entrare? and Puo darsi.
• dovere means only obligation. It can also show likelihood, as in Deve essere tardi (it must be late).

Recap

• The modals are potere (can), dovere (must), and volere (want), all irregular.
• A modal is always followed by an infinitive: Posso entrare, Devo studiare, Voglio mangiare.
• potere covers ability, permission, and possibility; dovere covers obligation and likelihood; volere covers desire.
• Use vorrei rather than voglio to make a polite request.
• With an object or reflexive infinitive, the pronoun may go before the modal or attach to the infinitive.

Sources

1. "Modal verb." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Verbi modali." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "potere." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
4. "volere." Wiktionary, en.wiktionary.org.
5. "Italian conjugation." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

Italian has a second past tense, the imperfetto, and it does a different job from the passato prossimo. Where the passato prossimo reports a finished, specific event, the imperfetto paints the background: what things were like, what used to happen, and what was going on. English often translates it as was doing or used to do. The good news is that the imperfetto is highly regular, so it is one of the easiest tenses to form.

Key idea: The passato prossimo is the foreground event; the imperfetto is the background scene. A story usually needs both.

Forming the imperfetto

To form the imperfetto, take the stem and add a very regular set of endings built around the letters v and the theme vowel. Here are the three model verbs.

Pronoun	parlare	credere	dormire
io	parlavo	credevo	dormivo
tu	parlavi	credevi	dormivi
lui / lei	parlava	credeva	dormiva
noi	parlavamo	credevamo	dormivamo
voi	parlavate	credevate	dormivate
loro	parlavano	credevano	dormivano

Notice how steady the pattern is: only the theme vowel changes, so you see -avo, -evo, and -ivo, then the same v endings throughout. There is almost no irregularity to memorize.

The few irregular verbs

Only a handful of verbs break the pattern, and the big one is essere: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano. A few others rebuild on an older stem: fare gives facevo, dire gives dicevo, and bere gives bevevo. After these, the endings are the same regular ones, so essere is really the only form you must learn as a separate list.

When to use the imperfetto

The imperfetto covers several related ideas about the past. Learn these four uses and you will choose it correctly most of the time.

Use	Example	English
habit	Da bambino giocavo a calcio.	As a child I used to play soccer.
description	Era una bella giornata.	It was a beautiful day.
time, age, weather	Avevo dieci anni.	I was ten years old.
ongoing action	Mentre leggevo, lui cucinava.	While I was reading, he was cooking.

Passato prossimo or imperfetto?

Here is the heart of the matter. Use the passato prossimo for a single, completed action that moves the story forward, and the imperfetto for the setting, the habit, or the action in progress. They often meet in one sentence, where the imperfetto sets the scene and the passato prossimo interrupts it: Leggevo quando è arrivato Marco (I was reading when Marco arrived). The reading was ongoing; the arrival was a single event.

Signal words

Certain words hint at each tense. Words like sempre (always), di solito (usually), ogni giorno (every day), spesso (often), and mentre (while) point to the imperfetto, because they suggest habit or an ongoing frame. Words like ieri (yesterday), una volta (once), all'improvviso (suddenly), and un giorno (one day) point to the passato prossimo, because they mark a specific moment. These signals are helpful clues, not absolute rules.

Describing the past scene

The imperfetto is the natural tense for painting a picture of the past. You use it to describe people, places, and feelings as they were: La casa era grande e c'era un giardino (The house was big and there was a garden), Mio nonno aveva i capelli bianchi (My grandfather had white hair), and Ero stanco e avevo fame (I was tired and hungry). Notice how essere, avere, and c'era (there was) all sit comfortably in the imperfetto, because they set an ongoing scene rather than report a single finished event.

A short dialogue: a childhood memory

Two friends talk about growing up.

• Vera: Dove abitavi da bambina? (Where did you live as a child?)
• Elio: Abitavo in campagna. Ogni estate andavo dai nonni. (I lived in the countryside. Every summer I went to my grandparents.)
• Vera: Che bello. E un giorno cosa e successo? (How nice. And one day what happened?)
• Elio: Un giorno ho visto un cavallo nel campo e ho avuto paura. (One day I saw a horse in the field and got scared.)
• Vera: Mentre eri li, faceva caldo? (While you were there, was it hot?)

Common misconceptions

• The imperfetto is just the English simple past. It means was doing or used to do, the background, not a single finished event.
• The two past tenses are interchangeable. They differ in aspect: the passato prossimo completes, the imperfetto describes or repeats.
• essere is regular in the imperfetto. It is the main irregular one: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano.
• Use the imperfetto for a one-time finished action. For a single completed event, use the passato prossimo instead.

Recap

• The imperfetto is highly regular, with -avo, -evo, and -ivo endings and the same v pattern throughout.
• The main irregular verb is essere: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erano.
• Use the imperfetto for habit, description, time and age, and actions in progress.
• Use the passato prossimo for single, completed events that move the story forward.
• They often combine: Leggevo quando è arrivato Marco.

Sources

1. "Imperfect." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Imperfetto." Treccani, La grammatica italiana, treccani.it.
3. "Italian conjugation." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Grammatical tense." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
5. "Italian grammar." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.

The big picture

You have built a real foundation in Italian, so this final lesson puts it in its home. Italian is the language of a country famous for its art, food, and history, and of a wider world of speakers beyond its borders. We will tour the regions and cities, meet a few customs, and then draw together everything you have learned. It is a fitting way to close the course and a map for where to go next.

Key idea: Standard Italian grew from the Tuscan of Florence, the language of Dante, yet every region keeps its own accent, dishes, and often its own dialect.

Where Italian is spoken

Italian is the official language of Italy, and also of San Marino, Vatican City, and one of the four national languages of Switzerland, in the southern canton of Ticino. It is spoken by communities in Croatia and Slovenia and by large diaspora populations in the Americas. In all, roughly eighty-five million people speak Italian, so your new skills travel well beyond the peninsula.

Italy at a glance

Italy is a republic of twenty regions, shaped like a boot reaching into the Mediterranean. Here are a few basic facts.

Feature	Detail
Capital	Roma (Rome)
Currency	Euro
Regions	20, from the Alps to Sicily
Major cities	Roma, Milano, Napoli, Torino, Firenze

Regions and diversity

The twenty regions differ sharply. The industrial, fashionable North centers on Milano and Torino; the historic Center holds Roma and the Renaissance city of Firenze; and the sunny South, called il Mezzogiorno, runs from Napoli down to Sicilia. Alongside standard Italian, many regions keep their own languages, such as Sicilian, Venetian, Neapolitan, and Sardinian. These are not simply accents but rich local tongues, and hearing them is part of the pleasure of travel.

Three cities

A quick portrait shows how varied the country is.

City	Known for
Roma	the ancient capital, the Colosseo, and the Vatican
Firenze	the Renaissance, art, and the Tuscan language
Venezia	canals, bridges, and its famous carnival

A few customs

Daily life has its rhythms. Friends often greet with a light kiss on each cheek, and in the evening people enjoy la passeggiata, a relaxed stroll through the center. A full meal may run from an antipasto to a primo of pasta, a secondo of meat or fish with a contorno, and a dolce to finish. Coffee has its own etiquette, and food is a point of regional pride, so asking about a local specialty is always welcome.

Where to go next

Italian opens doors far beyond conversation. It is the language of opera, of much classical music, and of a long tradition in art, design, and food, so your studies connect to a vast culture. To keep improving, read simple news, listen to Italian songs, label the objects in your home with their articles, and speak aloud a little every day. Even a few minutes of daily practice keeps the vocabulary and grammar from this course alive and growing.

Bringing the course together

Look how far you have come. You can pronounce Italian, greet people, and choose tu or Lei. You give nouns their gender and article, make adjectives agree, and use possessives. You conjugate regular and irregular verbs, including essere, avere, and the modals, and you narrate the past with both the passato prossimo and the imperfetto. You count, tell the time, describe the weather, order food, and ask directions. With this toolkit and steady practice, you are ready to keep going. In bocca al lupo, an idiom that wishes you good luck.

A short dialogue: planning a trip

Two friends dream about visiting Italy.

• Ada: Quale citta vuoi visitare? (Which city do you want to visit?)
• Bo: Voglio andare a Firenze, perche amo l'arte. (I want to go to Florence, because I love art.)
• Ada: Io preferisco Napoli e la pizza. (I prefer Naples and the pizza.)
• Bo: Possiamo vedere tutte e due! (We can see both!)
• Ada: In bocca al lupo con l'italiano! (Good luck with your Italian!)

Common misconceptions

• Everyone in Italy speaks the same way. Standard Italian is shared, but regional languages and accents vary widely, from Sicilian to Venetian.
• Italy has always been one country. It unified only in 1861, so its regional identities run deep.
• San Marino and Vatican City are parts of Italy. They are independent states that happen to lie within the peninsula.
• peperoni are pepperoni sausage. They are bell peppers; the spicy sausage topping is an American invention with a different name.

Recap

• Italian is official in Italy, San Marino, Vatican City, and Swiss Ticino, with about eighty-five million speakers.
• Italy has twenty regions, from the northern cities to il Mezzogiorno in the south.
• Standard Italian grew from Tuscan, but regional languages like Sicilian and Venetian thrive alongside it.
• Customs include la passeggiata and a multi-course meal from antipasto to dolce.
• You now have the grammar and vocabulary to greet, describe, ask, and narrate in Italian.

Sources

1. "Italy." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
2. "Regions of Italy." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
3. "Languages of Italy." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
4. "Italian language." Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org.
5. "About Italian." Societa Dante Alighieri, dante.global.