BENVENUTI–GRAMMATICA
Welcome to our tips for learning Italian grammar.
This content is being prepared with the invaluable contributions of Ida Pettener of Florida Atlantic University.
Italian Alphabet/ l’alfabeto italiano. Pronunciation
- Pronunciation of ‘c’
- Pronunciation of ‘g’
- Accents
- The sound ‘gn’
- The sound ‘gl’
- Pronouncing double consonants
Greetings and Introductions/ Saluti e presentazioni
- Basic greetings/ i saluti (formal and informal)
- Introductions/ le presentazioni
Nouns/ Nomi
- Gender (masculine, feminine)
- Singular and plural nouns/ i sostantivo singolare
Articles/ Articoli
- Indefinite article (singular and plural)/ l’articoli indeterminativo/ Articoli determinativi/ singolari e plurali)
- Definite article (singular)/ l’articolo determinativo singolare
Pronouns/ i pronomi
- Subject pronouns/ i pronomi soggetto
Aggettivi/ Adjectives
- Adjectives with four endings and adjectives with two endings
- Agreement in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun that is modified
- Position of adjectives: Adjectives following the noun they modify; adjectives preceding the noun
- Common adjectives with their opposites
- Adjectives ending in -ca, -gd and -go in the singular taking the endings -che, -ghe and -ghi in the plural
- Colors as adjectives modifying the noun: singular (masculine and feminine forms); plural (masculine and feminine forms)
- Possessive adjectives (aggettivi possessivi); possessive adjectives with names of relatives
Verbi/ Verbs
- The irregular verb ‘essere’ (to be)/ Il verbo ‘essere’
- C’è and ci sono
- The irregular verb ‘avere’ (to have)/ il verbo ‘avere’/ Idiomatic expressions with ‘avere’/ le expressioni idiomatiche con avere
- Verbs: Simple Present tense/ il presente indicativo dei verbi
- Use of the present tense
- Verbs with infinitives ending in -care and -gare
- Irregular verbs in -are/ verbi irregolari in -are
- Use of the verb ‘dare’ (to give) in idiomatic expressions
- Use of the verb ‘stare’ (to stay) in idiomatic expressions
- Forming a question/ formazione delle domande
- Interrogative expressions/ espressioni interrogative
- Verbs of the 2nd conjugation that end in -ere (verbi in -ere). Present tense
- Irregular verbs in -ere/ verbi irregolari in -ere (dovere, potere, volere)
- Verbs ending in -gere and -scere
- Verbs of the 3rd conjugation that end in -ire (verbi in -ire). Present tense
- Verbs in -ire that add the sound -isc before the endings of all persons except for ‘noi’ and ‘voi’
- Irregular verbs in -ire/ verbi irregolari in -ire (dire, uscire, venire)
- The verbs ‘conoscere’ (to be acquainted with) and ‘sapere’ (to know)/ i verbi conoscere e sapere
- Past tense/ passato prossimo with regular -are, -ere and -ire verbs
- Passato prossimo with time expressions
- Past tense/ passator prossimo with irregular past participles
- Intransitive verbs taking the auxiliary’essere’ in the passato prossimo. Agreement of the past participle in gender and number with the subject of the verb
- Intransitive verbs taking ‘avere’ in passato prossimo
- Imperfect tense/ Imperfetto
- The use of the ‘imperfetto’ versus ‘passato prossimo’
- Pluperfect tense/ Trapassato prossimo
Avverbi/ Avverbi
- Common adverbs commonly used in the present; alcuni avverbi comunemente usati al presente
Prepositions and Prepositions with Articles/ Preposizioni articolate
- Simple prepositions/ le preposizioni semplici
- Prepositions with expressions of time
- Preposition ‘a’ used with cities, towns and villages
- Preposition ‘in’ used with nations, regions and islands
- Use of the definite article with countries, regions and islands
- Prepositions ‘a’ and ‘in’ used with common places
Expressions/ Espressioni
- Negative expressions (and their opposites) for things
- Negative expressions (and their opposites) for people
- More negative expressions and their opposites
More Grammar Tips
- Di dove/ di dov’è
- Days of the week/ giorni della settimana
- Months of the year/ i mesi dell’anno
- Cardinal Numbers/ i numeri
- Ordinal Numbers/ numeri ordinali
- Date/ la date
- Seasons/ Stagioni
- Telling time
