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You’ve just learned how to say what you do in Italian; now it’s time to learn how to say what you are doing. Here is what you need to know at an A1\A2 level:

1. WHAT IS THE GERUNDIO PRESENTE?
2. HOW TO FORM THE GERUNDIO PRESENTE?
3. IRREGULAR GERUND
4. STARE + GERUNDIO: ITALIAN PRESENT CONTINUOUS
5. THE USES OF GERUNDIO PRESENTE

1 WHAT IS THE GERUNDIO PRESENTE?

Gerundio presente is a so-called non-finte verbs.This means that it has no subject and does not change according to person or number. In Italian it ends with -ando (ARE verbs) and -endo (ERE and IRE verbs)

parlARE → parlANDO (gerund)

scrivERE → scrivENDO (gerund)

dormIRE → dormENDO (gerund)

The gerundio presente has two main functions at an A1\A2 level:

STARE+ GERUNDIO Sto mangiando una pizza I’m eating a pizza (right now)

SIMULTANEOUS ACTION Studia ascoltando la musica He studies while listening to music

2 HOW TO FORM THE GERUNDIO PRESENTE?

To form the gerundio presente, you need to drop the infinitive ending and add the gerund endings. These are the pattern you apply to all regular verbs.

ARE verbs → ANDO (gerund ending)

mangiARE → mangiANDO guardARE → guardANDO lavorARE → lavorANDO

ERE verbs → ENDO (gerund ending)

scrivERE → scrivENDO leggERE →leggENDO vedERE → vedENDO

IRE verbs → ENDO (gerund ending)

dormIRE → dormENDO partIRE → partENDO capIRE →capENDO

3 IRREGULAR GERUND

A small group of verbs form the gerund from a different stem. These are the verbs you need to memorise at a A1\A2 level.

INFINITIVE	GERUND	MEANING
fare	faCendo	doing
dire	diCendo	saying\ telling
tradurre	traduCendo	translating
bere	beVendo	drinking
condurre	conduCendo	leading\driving
porre	poNeno	placing

4 STARE + GERUNDIO: ITALIAN PRESENT CONTINUOUS

A frequent use of gerundio is the structure STARE + GERUND. This is comparable to the English present continuous (I’m eating – she is driving…). This construction describes an action that is happening right now.

To use this structure, you need the verb STARE conjugated in present tense and the gerund word. Below is a table of examples.

PRONOUN	STARE present tense	EXAMPLE	MEANING
io	STO	STO lavorando	I’m working
tu	STAI	STAI leggendo	you are reading
leilui	STA	STA dormendo	she\he is sleeping
noi	STIAMO	STIAMO mangiando	we are eating
voi	STATE	STATE guardando	you (al) are watching
loro	STANNO	STANNO parlando	they are speaking

The verb STARE is conjugated the gerund stays the same.

5 THE USES OF GERUNDIO PRESENTE

Beyond stare+gerund, gerundio has other functions, is used in dependent clauses (B1\B2) and many more contexts. Today we’re breaking down its uses at an A1\A2 level.

Here are the basic uses of gerundio:

• ACTIONS IN PROGRESS Sto studiando italiano → I’m studying Italian

• HOW SOMETHING IS DONE Risponde sorridendo → She\he replies with a smile\smiling

• SIMULTANEOUS ACTIONS Impara guardando film → He\she learns by watching films

• EXPRESSING MANNER: In English, this is expressed with ” while … -ing ”, ” by …-ing ” or simply ” -ing ”. Entra sorridendo → She\he comes in smiling Ha risposto urlando → He\she answered by shouting Mi ha salutato agitando la mano → He\she greeted me by waving his hand

EXERCISES: Fill the gaps with the right gerundio form or structure. Write the answers in the comment section I’ll correct them as soon as possible.

1 Cosa ____(fare-tu) in questo momento? (right now)

2 I ragazzi ____(giocare) in giardino adesso (right now)

3 Legge ____(bere) un caffè (simultaneous)

4 _____(essere) stanca, è andata a dormire

5 Impari bene _____(ascoltare) e _____(ripetere)

6 Noi ____(guardare) un film (right now)

7 Mi ha risposto ____(sorridere)

8 Lei _____(scrivere) l’e-mail in questo momento (right now)

Hello! Welcome to Italian learners! Let’s talk about adjectives. This is a vast topic, here is the explanation for A1\A2 level, other, more specific articles are coming soon!
In Italian, there are three main groups of adjectives: qualifying adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, and possessive adjectives. Today, we’re focusing on QUALIFYING ADJECTIVES, and these are the main points:

1. WHAT ARE ITALIAN ADJECTIVES?
2. ITALIAN ADJECTIVES: GENDER AND NUMBER AGREEMENT
3. FULL AGREEMENT TABLE, ITALIAN ADJECTIVE ENDINGS: -O vs -E
4. ITALIAN ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT: BEFORE OR AFTER THE NOUN?
5. BELLO & BUONO BEFORE THE NOUN (IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES)
6. ESSENTIAL A2 ADJECTIVE VOCABULARY

1 WHAT ARE ITALIAN ADJECTIVES?

Italian adjectives are words that stand near a noun; they specify something about the noun (location, quality, possession).

In Italian, almost all the adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to. There is agreement between adjectives, nouns, and articles.

Un arrostO buonO → A good roast → masculine singular

UnA tortA buonA → A good cake→ feminine singular

Degli arrostI buonI → Some good roasts → masculine plural

Delle tortE buonE → Some good cakes → feminine plural

2 ITALIAN ADJECTIVES: GENDER AND NUMBER AGREEMENT

An Italian adjective always agrees in gender and number with the it modifies, if the noun changes, the adjective changes too.

There are two main groups of adjectives :

• Adjectives ending with -O ( four changes)
• Adjectives ending with -E (two changes)

Adjectives ending with -O (four changes):

Most Italian adjectives, in their dictionary form (masculine singular), end in -O. These adjectives have four distinct endings – one for each combination of gender and number.

GENDER & NUMBER	ADJECTIVE ENDING (four)	EXAMPLES
MASCULINE SINGULAR	altO	ragazzO altO
MASCULINE PLURAL	altI	ragazzI altI
FEMININE SINGULAR	altA	ragazzA altA
FEMININE PLURAL	altE	ragazE altE

Here are more adjectives ending with -O:

ADJECTIVE M. SING. M. PL. F. SING. F. PL. Beautifull bellO bellI bellA bellE Tired stancO stanchI stancA stanchE Red rossO rossI rossA rossE New nuovO nuovI nuovA nuovE Free liberO liberI liberA liberE Short bassO bassI bassA bassE

Adjectives ending with -E (two changes):

A group of Italian adjectives end with -E in their dictionary form. This means that they change only according to the number. You only need TWO forms.

GENDER AND NUMBER	FORM	EXAMPLE
MASCULINE SINGULAR	grandE	il ragazzo grandE
MASCULINE PLURAL	grandE	la ragazza grandE
FEMININE SINGULAR	grandI	i ragazzi grandI
FEMININE PLURAL	randI	le ragazze grandI

More adjectives ending with -E:

ADJECTIVE SINGULAR( Masc. & Fem.) PLURAL(Masc. & Fem.) Happy felicE felicI Sad tristE tristI Big grandE grandI Interesting interessantE interessantI Young giovanE giovanI Strong fortE fortI Difficult difficilE difficilI Easy facilE facilI

3 FULL AGREEMENT TABLE, ITALIAN ADJECTIVE ENDINGS: -O vs -E

Here is the agreement table for both groups side by side.

4 ITALIAN ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT: BEFORE OR AFTER THE NOUN?

Most Italian adjectives come after the noun, especially those regarding colours, nationalities, shapes, and technical or scientific descriptions.

Una macchina rossa → A red car Un uomo italiano → An Italian man Una borsa grande → A big bag I ragazzi simpatici → The friendly boys

5 BELLO & BUONO BEFORE THE NOUN (IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES)

Bello and Buono have special forms when they are placed before a noun. BUONO follows the rules of Italian indefinite articles. BELLO follows the rules of Italian definite articles.

BUONO

BUON before most of masculine singular nouns Un BUON uomo Un BUON ragazzo

BUONO before masculine singular nouns beginning with: -ps,-gn, -pn, -s+consonant, -x, -y, -z.

-PS Un buono psicologo -GN Un buono gnomo -PN Un buono pneumatico -S+consonant Un buono studente -X Un buono xilofono -Y Un buono yogurt -Z Un buono zio

BUON’ before feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel Buon’amica Buon’arancia

BUONA before feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant Buona scarpa Buona borsa

BUONE before feminine plural nouns Buone arancie Buone scarpe

BUONI before masculine plural nouns Buoni psicologi Buoni ragazzi

BELLO

BEL before most of masculine singular nouns Bel ragazzo Bel cane

BELLO before masculine singular nouns beginning with: -ps,-gn, -pn, -s+consonant, -x, -y, -z

-PS Bello psicologo -GN Bello gnomo -PN Bello pneumatico -S+consonant Bello studente -X Bello xilofono -Y Bello yogurt -Z Bello zio

BELLA before feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant Bella scarpa Bella borsa

BELLE before feminine plural nouns Bellle arancie Belle scarpe

BEI before most of masculine plural nouns Bei ragazzi Bei cani

BEGLI before masculine plural nouns beginning with: -ps,-gn, -pn, -s+consonant, -x, -y, -z

-PS Begli psicologi -GN Begli gnomi -PN Begli pneumatici -S+consonant Begli studenti -X Begli xilofoni -Y Begli yogurt -Z Begli zii

BELL’ before masculine and feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel Bell’amica Bell’amico

6 ESSENTIAL A2 ADJECTIVE VOCABULARY

Personality and character

Simpatico – friendly Antipatico – unfriendly Gentile – kind Timido – shy Coraggioso – brave Intelligente – intelligent Onesto – honest Pigro – lazy

Physical appearance

Alto – tall Basso – short Magro – thin Grasso – fat Giovane – young Vecchio – old Biondo – blonde Bruno – dark haired Forte – strong

Feelings and states

Felice – happy Triste – sad Arrabbiato – angry Stanco – tired Contento – pleased Preoccupato – worried Nervoso – nervous Annoiato – bored Sorpreso – surprised

Describing things and places

Bello – beautiful Brutto – ugly Buono – good Cattivo – bad Freddo – cold Facile – easy Difficile – difficult Interessante – interesting

EXERCISES Here are 10 sentences. Fill the gaps with the correct form of the adjectives given in brackets. Write the answers in the comment section.

1 Maria è molto ____(simpatico)

2 Ho due fratelli ____(alto)

3 È una storia ____(interessante)

4 I bambini sono ____(stanco)

5 Abitiamo in una casa ____(grande)

6 Ho mangiato una ____(buono) pizza

7 Sono ____(bello) notizie

8 Marco e Luca sembrano ____(felice)

9 È un ____(bello) libro

10 Le studentesse sono ____ e ____(intelligente\serio)

You’ve learned the basic rules to make a sentence, now you need to understand how to link each part of a sentence in order to make it ”make sense”. The key to building a correct sentence is using the correct preposition. In this article, you’ll find an overview of prepositions and their main uses. Many other articles will be written about this extensive topic. When it comes to prepositions, these are the main questions:

1. WHAT ARE ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS?
2. THE 10 SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS (HOW TO USE EACH SIMPLE PREPOSITION?)
3. ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS (CHART) AND WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

1 WHAT ARE ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS?

Italian prepositions are short words that give meaning to a sentence; they explicate the relationship of place, cause, possession, purpose and many more between the parts of a sentence.There are different kinds of prepositions :

• Simple prepositions
• Articulated prepositions
• Preposizioni improprie ( you’ll learn them at B2 level or above)

2 THE 10 SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS (HOW TO USE EACH SIMPLE PREPOSITION?)

The simple prepositions are in 10 in total: DI, A, DA, IN, CON, SU, PER, TRA and FRA. (-Tra and -Fra are interchangeable in meaning). Below is a table of Italian simple prepositions and their meanings.

ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS	THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH
DI	of – from – about – ‘S(possession)
A	to – at – in
DA	from – by – since – for (time)
IN	in – to – by
CON	with
SU	on – about – over – approximately
PER	for – through – because of
TRA\FRA	between – among – in(future time)

How to use each simple preposition:

-DI (of -from -about-‘S)

DI expresses possession, origin, composition, and the topic of conversations.

• POSSESSION \ BELONGING: Il telefono DIGiulia Giulia’s phone

• ORIGIN (used with city names and the verb ESSERE): Sono DIMilano I’m from Milan

• COMPOSITION: Una borsa DI pelle A leather bag

• TOPIC OF CONVERSATIONS: Parliamo DIpolitica We talk about politics

-A (to – at – in)

A is used for destinations (with cities), locations (with cities), and indirect objects. It’s always used before the word CASA.

• DESTINATION \ MOVEMENT (with city names) Vado A Napoli I’m going to Naples

• LOCATION(with cities) Abito A Roma I live in Rome

• INDIRECT OBJECTS Do il libro A Marco I give the book to Marco

• BEFORE ”CASA” : Domani andiamo A casa Tomorrow we’re going home

-DA (from – by – since – for [time])

DA is used for origin, the time span, the agent in passive constructions, and introduces where you are going when the destination is a person.

• FROM(used with the verb VENIRE): Io vengo DA Genova I come from Genoa

• THE TIME SPAN: Studio italiano DA un anno → I’ve been studying for a year Sta dormendo DA ieri → He’s been sleeping since yesterday

• PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS: Il dipinto è fatto DA Caravaggio The painting is made by Caravaggio

-IN (in – to – by)

IN is used with countries, regions , continents , some transport means, and the time within which an action is performed.

• COUNTRIES Vivo IN Spagna I live in Spain

• REGIONS: Loro vanno IN Sardegna They go to Sardinia

• CONTINENTS: Laura vive IN Europa Laura lives in Europe

• TRANSPORTS: Viaggio IN treno I travel by train

• THE TIME WITHIN WHICH AN ACTION IS PERFORMED: Arrivo IN cinque minuti I’ll arrive in five minutes

-CON(with)

CON expresses accompaniment, and means.

• ACCOMPANIMENT: Esco CON i miei amici I go out with my friends

• MEANS: Risolvo le equazioni CON la calcolatrice I solve the equations with the calculator

-SU(on – about – over – approximately)

• ON: Il gatto è SUL divano The cat is on the sofa

• ABOUT: Il libro SULLA storia di Roma The book about the history of Rome

• APPROXIMATELY: Costa SUI venti euro It costs about twenty euros

• OVER: L’aereo vola SULLA tua testa The plane flies over your head.

-PER(for – through – because of)

• FOR: Questo è PER te This is for you

• THROUGH: Passo PER Palermo prima di arrivare a casa ” I pass through Palermo before arriving home ”

• ”BECAUSE OF” : Piange PER la gioia She cries for joy (because of joy).

-TRA\FRA(between – among – IN:future time)

• BETWEEN: Il bar è TRA la farmacia e la banca The bar is between the pharmacy and the bank

• AMONG: Sono FRA amici I’m among friends

• IN future time: Torno FRA un’ora I’ll be back in an hour

3 ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS (CHART) AND WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

In Italian, five out of ten prepositions (DI, A, DA, IN, SU) can join with the definite articles (refresh them before you go forward). When a simple preposition joins a definite article, it becomes an ARTICULATED PREPOSITION. Below is an ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS CHART:

PREPOSITION	ARTICLE il	ARTICLE lo	ARTICLE la	ARTICLEi	ARTICLE gli	ARTICLE le	ARTICLE l’
di	del	dello	della	dei	degli	delle	dell’
a	al	allo	alla	ai	agli	alle	all’
da	dal	dallo	dalla	dai	dagli	dalle	dall’
in	nel	nello	nella	nei	negli	nelle	nell’
su	sul	sullo	sulla	sui	sugli	sulle	sull’

WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

We use articulated prepositions before common nouns that require the article. WE DO NOT USE articulated prepositions before pronouns and proper nouns.

Here are some examples of articulated prepositions in use:

La borsa è sul tavolo vicino alla finestra The bag is on the table next to the window

Usciamo alle sette dal cinema We’re leaving the cinema at seven

Parla degli amici di sua sorella He talks about his sister’s friends

Abito nel centro storico di Bologna I live in the historic center of Bologna

EXERCISE: Find the correct preposition and write the answers in the comment section. I’ll correct them as soon as possible.

1 Abito __ Roma → I live in Rome

2 Lei studia __ Italia → She studies in Italy

3 Vengo __ casa adesso → I’m coming home now

4 Vado___(a+il) supermercato → I go to the supermarket

5 Vanno ___(a+lo) stadio domenica → They go to the stadium Sunday

6 Studio italiano __ sei mesi → I’ve been studying Italian for six month

7 Ho un regalo __ te → I have a present for you

8 Il gatto dorme ___(su+il) letto

In this article you’ll find an overview of the Italian past conditional, how is formed, and its uses. Below are the main points about it, but other articles are yet to come.

1. WHAT IS CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?
2. WHEN DO WE USE CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?
3. HOW TO FORM CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?
4. CONDIZIONALE PASSATO WITH AVERE
5. CONDIZIONALE PASSATO WITH ESSERE & THE PAST PARTICIPLE ACCORDANCE

1 WHAT IS CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?

Condizionale passato is a verb tense used to talk about something that would have, could have or should have happened in the past.

Avrei voluto studiare medicina. I wish I COULD HAVE studied medicine.

Se avessi saputo, sarei venuto prima. If I had known, I WOULD HAVE come sooner.

Avresti dovuto svegliarti prima. You SHOULD HAVE woken up earlier.

2 WHEN DO WE USE CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?

You use the Italian past conditional in the following cases:

HYPOTHETICAL PAST: Con più studio, avrei superato l’esame. With more study, I would have passed the exam.

REGRETS AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: Avrei dovuto telefonarle prima. I should have called her earlier.

UNFULFILLED WISHES AND DESIRES: Avrei voluto visitare il Giappone. I would have liked to visit Japan.

EXPRESSING THE ”FUTURE IN THE PAST” **in this case, the WOULD construction is used. Ha detto che sarebbe tornato presto. He said he would come back soon.

UNVERIFIED PAST INFORMATION: Secondo i media, il ladro sarebbe fuggito all’estero. According to the media, the thief allegedly fled abroad

POLITE PAST REPROACH OR SOFT CRITICISM: Avresti potuto dirmelo prima! You could have told me earlier!

3 HOW TO FORM CONDIZIONALE PASSATO?

The past conditional is made of two elements: the CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE of the auxiliary(ESSERE or AVERE) plus the PAST PARTICIPLE of the MAIN VERB.

PRONOUN	AUXILIARY CONDITIONAL	PAST PARTICIPLE	MEANING
io	AVREI	mangiato	I would have eaten
tu	AVRESTI	mangiato	you would have eaten
lei\lui	AVREBBE	mangiato	she\he would have eaten
noi	AVREMMO	mangiato	we would have eaten
voi	AVRESTE	mangiato	you(all) would have eaten
loro	AVREBBERO	mangiato	they would have eaten

4 CONDIZIONALE PASSATO CON AVERE

All the TRANSITIVE VERBS take the auxiliary AVERE. Transitive verbs are the ones that can take a direct object.

5 CONDIZIONALE PASSATO WITH ESSERE & THE PAST PARTICIPLE ACCORDANCE

Verbs of motion, change of state, reflexive verbs and INTRANSITIVE VERBS use the condizionale presente of ESSERE as the auxiliary. When essere is the auxiliary, the past participle must be accorded in gender and number to the subject.

EXERCISE conjugate correctly the verbs in the brackets and write the answers in the comment section.

1 Milena _____(venire) alla festa, ma era malata. Milena would have come to the party, but she was sick.

2 Le ragazze _____(partire) prima, ma il treno era in ritardo. The girls would have left earlier, but the train was late.

3 _____(tu-dovere) dirmelo subito! You should have told me right away!

4 Ha detto che _____(lei-arrivare) entro le cinque. She said she would arrive by five.

5 Noi non _____(fare) mai una cosa simile. We would never have done such a thing.

If you’re trying to sound more native while speaking Italian then you need to learn the Italian conditional. Italian conditional is used for several purposes : to sound polite, to make a hypothesis, and to form hypothetical sentences. Italian conditional exists in two forms: present conditional and past conditional. Today we’re diving in PRESENT CONDITIONAL. Below are the main points:

1. WHAT IS CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE ?(would,could,should)
2. WHEN DO WE USE CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE?
3. HOW TO FORM THE PRESENT CONDITIONAL? (endings cheat sheet)
4. IRREGULAR VERBS IN CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE
5. SPELLING CHANGES IN CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE: -care\-gare -ciare\-giare
6. CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE VS PRESENT TENSE

1 WHAT IS CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE? (would, could,should)

The condizionale presente is a tense used to describe actions or states that would happen, should happen or could happen – under certain conditions, hypothetical scenarios or as a softened manner of asking asking or stating something.

Vorrei un caffè per favore I WOULD like a coffee please

Potresti aiutarmi? COULD you help me?

Dovresti studiare di più You SHOULD study more

2 WHEN DO WE USE CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE ?

The presente condizionale covers several communicative purposes that are frequent in conversations and writings. Here are the cases where condizionale presente is used:

POLITE REQUESTS Potreste portarmi il menu? Could you bring me the menu?

WISHES AND DESIRES Vorrei vivere in Italia I would lilke to live in Italy

HYPOTETICAL STATEMENTS Se avessi tempo studierei di più If I had time I would study more

SUGGESTIONS AND ADVISES Dovresti parlare con lei You should speak with her

REPORTED OR UNVERIFIED INFORMATION Secondo i giornali sarebbe colpevole According to the newspapers he would be guilty

OPINIONS AND PREFERENCES Preferirei un tavolo fuori per favore se possibile I would prefer a table outside if possible

3 HOW TO FORM CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE? (ending cheat sheet)

The present conditional is built up by dropping the -ARE, -ERE, – IRE, and adding the conditional endings.

PARLARE	SCRIVERE	DORMIRE
io parlEREI	io scrivEREI	io dormIREI
tu parlERESTI	tu scrivERESTI	tu dormIRESTI
lei\lui parlEREBBE	lei\lui scrivEREBBE	lei\lui dormIREBBE
noi parlEREMMO	noi scrivEREMMO	noi dormIREMMO
voi parparlERESTE	voi scrirESTE	voi dormirESTE
loro parlEREBBERO	loro svrivEREBBERO	loro mangEREBBERO

NO -ISC in the condizionale. As with the futuro semplice and the imperfetto, -isc verbs like finire, capire, preferire do not add -isc in the condizionale.

4 IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE

The irregular verbs in condizionale presente are the same as in the future tense. At the level B1, here are the most important irregular verbs you must remember:

ESSERE	AVERE	DOVERE	POTERE	VOLERE
io sarei	io avrei	io dovrei	io potrei	io vorrei
tu saresti	tu avresti	tu dovresti	tu potresti	tu vorresti
lei\lui sarebbe	lei\lui avrebbe	lei\lui dovrebbe	lei\lui potrebbe	lei\lui vorrebbe
noi saremmo	noi avremmo	noi dovremmo	noi potremmo	noi vorremmo
voi sareste	voi avreste	voi dovreste	voi potreste	voi vorreste
loro sarebbero	loro avrebbero	loro dovrebbero	loro potrebbero	loro vorrebbero

There are other irregular verbs that have the irregularity in their stem, below is a list of them.

andare →andr… vedere →vedr… tenere→terr… venire→verr… sapere→sapr… rimanere→rimarr

You must add these endings ( -EI, -ESTI, -EBBE, -ESTE, -EBBERO) to the irregular roots.

5 SPELLING CHANGES IN CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE: -care\-gare -ciare\-giare

-CARE \-GARE verbs add the H to preserve the hard sound cerCARE io cercHerei tu cercHeresti lei\lui cercHerebbe noi cercHeremmo voi cercHereste loro cercHerebbero

-CIARE \-GIARE verbs drop the I before the conditional endings

6 CONDIZIONALE PRESENTE VS PRESENT TENSE

The condizionalepresente differs from the simple present tense in terms of social perception. The same statement can sound rude if you use the present tense. Present tense : direct, can sound brusque sometimes Condizionale presente: soft\ polite

Vorrei un caffè, perfavore (soft) → I would like coffee, please Voglio un caffè(direct\brusque)→ I want a coffee

Potrebbe aprire la finestra? (soft)→ Could you open the window? Apre la finestra? (too direct) →Do you open the indow?

Dovresti riposare un po’ (soft)→ You should rest a little Devi riposare (too direct) →You must rest

EXERCISES : conjugate the verbs in condizionale presente and write the answers in the comment section.

1 _____(io-volere) un tavolo vicino alla finestra, perfavore I would like a table near the window, please

2 _____(tu-potere) aiutarmi con questo esercizio? Could you help me with this exercise?

3 Con più soldi _____(noi-viaggiare) ogni anno With more money we would travel every year

4 In quel ristorante loro _____(mangiare) benissimo In that restaurant they would eat very well

5 _____(tu-dovere) dormire di più, hai un aspetto stanco You should sleep more, you look tired

6 Secondo il giornale, il ministro _____(essere) pronto a dimettersi According to the press, the minister would be ready to resign

GOOD PRACTICE: Imagine being in Italy, enjoying your holiday, create a scenario: you’re making requests, you express wishes, you give advices. Write down 5 sentences you would use to express yourself in this imaginary context. Repeat the exercise more than one time to memorise the structure of presente condizionale.

Once you’re able to talk about the present and the past, it’s time to make room for plans, predictions, promises, and uncertainties. Let’s use the future simple!

Futuro semplice (simple future tense) is a simple tense made of a single word conjugated by using suffixes. The futuro semplice translates three different English structures depending on the context. Here are some examples:

L’anno prossimo andremo in Italia ”Next year we will go to Italy”

Penso che avrà circa trent’anni ”I think he must be about thirty years old”

Domani vado a Roma ”Tomorrow I’m going to Rome”

What do we need to know when it comes to futuro semplice?Here are the main points:

1. When do we use futuro semplice?
2. How to form futuro semplice?
3. Irregular verbs in future simple
4. Spelling changes

WHEN DO WE USE FUTURO SEMPLICE?

The Italian simple future is used in these cases :

FUTURE PLANS AND INTENTIONS Quest’estate viaggerò in Sicilia ”This summer I will travel to Sicily”

PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE FUTURE Domani pioverà tutto il giorno ”Tomorrow it will rain all day”

PROMISES AND COMMITMENTS Ti prometto che studierò di più ”I promise I will study more”

TO MAKE ASSUMPTIONS Quanti anni avrà?Forse trenta ”How old might he be?Maybe thirty

AFTER conjunctions such as: SE, QUANDO, and APPENA Quando arriverai, chiamerai ”When you arrive, you will call” Se finirò di lavorare presto, andrò al mare ”If I finish to work soon, I’ll go to the beach” Appena Maria uscirà, andrò a casa ”As soon as Maria comes out, I will go home”

HOW TO FORM FUTURO SEMPLICE?

This time, we will use one set of suffixes for the majority of the verbs, with a few cases of spelling changes and irregular verbs.

pronouns	simple future suffixes
io\I	-Ò
tu\you	-AI
lei\lui(he-she)	-À
noi\we	-EMO
voi\you all	-ETE
loro\they	-ANNO

Regular ARE ending verbs undergo spelling changes. Here is the process:

ex. parlAre drop -the last letter : parlAr… -change the A into an E : parlER… (future stem) – add the future suffixes io parlErò tu parlErai lei\lui parlErà noi parlEremo voi parlErete loro parlEranno

IRREGULAR VERBS IN FUTURE SIMPLE

The futuro semplice irregular verbs are relatively limited. The irregularity is in the stem, the suffixes are the same. Here is a list of verbs with an irregular stem : andare→andR … volere→vorr … cadere→cadR … tenere→terr … dovere→dovR … fare→far … potere→potR … dare→dar … sapere→sapR … stare→star … vedere→vedR … venire→verr … rimanere→rimarr …

Also ESSERE and AVERE are irregular. Here is the full conjugation :

ESSERE	AVERE
io sarò	io avrò
tu sarai	tu avrai
lei\lui sarà	lei avrà
noi saremo	noi avremo
voi sarete	voi avrete
loro saranno	loro avranno

SPELLING CHANGES : -care, -gare, -ciare, -giare verbs

A limited number of -ARE erbs require a spelling adjustment. This is solely a matter of Italian spelling, not a true irregularity.

Verbs ending in -CARE and -GARE: take the -H before the future endings

CERCARE	PAGARE
io cercHerò	io pagHerò
tu cercHerai	tu pagHerai
lei\lui cercHerà	lei\lui pagHerà
noi cercHeramo	noi pagHeremo
voi cercHerete	voi agHerete
loro cercHeranno	loro pagHeranno

Verbs ending in -CIARE and -GIARE change the A to E in their future stem, and the I is dropped

COMINCIARE	MANGIARE
io comincErò	io mangErò
tu comincErai	tu mangErai
lei\lui comincErà	lei\lui mangErà
noi comincEremo	noi mangEremo
voi comincErete	voi mangErete
loro comincEranno	loro mangEranno

EXERCISES : conjugate the verbs in the future simple tense and fill the gaps. Write your answers in the comment section.

1 Domani (io) ____(parlare) con il mio professore ”Tomorrow I will speak with my teacher”

2 L’anno prossimo (noi)_____(andare) in Giappone ”Next year we will go to Japan”

3 Quando (tu)____(finire) il lavoro, chiamami ”When you finish work, call me”

4 Il corso ____(cominciare) tra due settimane ”The course will begin in two weeks”

5 Appena (loro) _____(arrivare) ti mando un messaggio ”As soon as they arrive, I’ll send you a message”

Here we are again with a new verb tense. If you have learned passato prossimo, there is one more tense you need before your Italian really starts to flow: the imperfetto. Almost all the verbs in the imperfetto are regular, but there are a few irregular ones too.

• What is imperfetto?

• When do we use imperfetto?

• How to form imperfetto?

• Irregular verbs in the imperfetto

WHAT IS IMPERFETTO?

Imperfetto is a tense that Italians use for descriptions, habits, and background stories that occurred in the past. It’s used to describe actions that were ongoing, habitual, or repeated in the past, without a clear beginning or end.

ex. Da bambino mangiavo la pizza ogni sabato. ” As a child, I used to eat pizza every Saturday ” PAST HABIT →imperfetto

ex. Quando sei arrivato, dormivo ” When you arrived, I was sleeping ” BACKGROUND ACTION → imperfetto

ex. L’appartamento era piccolo ma carino ” The apartment was small but nice ” DESCRIPTION → imperfetto

WHEN DO WE USE IMPERFETTO?

When you tell a story set in the past – describing the weather, the place, how people looked/felt, or what you used to do – you’ll probably use the imperfetto most of the time. The imperfetto is used in the following cases:

a. HABITS AND ROUTINES IN THE PAST Ogni mattina bevevo un caffè al bar ” Every morning I used to have a coffee at the bar”

b. DESCRIPTIONS OF PEOPLE, PLACES OR THINGS La casa era grande e luminosa ” The house was large and bright ”

c. ONGOING BACKGROUND ACTIONS Leggevo quando ha suonato il telefono ” I was reading when the phone rang ”

d. STATES OF MIND, FEELINGS AND CONDITIONS Avevo fame e mi sentivo stanco ” I was hungry, and I felt tired ”

HOW TO FORM IMPERFETTO?

To form the imperfetto, you need to find the stem (from the infinitive), then add the group-specific imperfetto endings.

ARE endings ex. parlARE the stem is parl… io parlAVO tu parlAVI lei\lui parlAVA noi parlAVAMO voi parlAVATE loro parlAVANO

ERE endings ex. scrivERE the stem is scriv… io scrivEVO tu scrivEVI lei\lui scrivEVA noi scrivEVAMO voi scrivEVATE loro scrivEVANO

IRE endings ex. dormIRE the stem is dorm… io dormIVO tu dormIVI lei\lui dormIVA noi dormIVAMO voi dormIVATE loro dormIVANO

IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE IMPERFETTO

Here are four irregular verbs you need to learn at A2\B1 level : essere, fare, dire and bere.

ESSERE io ero tu eri lei\lui era noi eravamo voi eravate loro erano

FARE io facevo tu facevi lei\lui faceva noi facevamo voi facevate loro facevano

DIRE io dicevo tu dicevi lei\lui diceva noi dicevamo voi dicevate loro dicevano

BERE io bevevo tu bevevi lei\lui beveva noi bevevamo voi bevevate loro bevevano

EXERCISES: fill the gaps with the right conjugation in imperfetto tense, put the answers in the comment section

1 Da bambino io ____ (giocare) in giardino ogni pomeriggio

2 Quando ero bambino (io)____ (mangiare) sempre la pizza il venerdì sera

3 Mia nonna ____(abitare) in un piccolo paese di montagna

4 Da ragazzo, Marco ____(andare) in bicicletta ogni mattina

5 Lei non ____(capire)bene l’italiano quindi ____(studiare) molto

GOOD PRACTICE

The best way to master imperfetto is to use it. Write 10 sentences describing what your life was like ten years ago. Use imperfetto to set the scene: where you lived, what you did every day, what you liked.

If you are studying verbs and your level is approximately an A1 or A2 you need to master Italian Passato prossimo. Passato prossimo is used in everyday conversations and follows a clear structure. In this article you’ll understand it and use it.

• What is passato prossimo?

• The structure: auxiliary+past participle

• How to form past participle

• Passato prossimo with AVERE

• Passato prossimo with ESSERE

• Past participle accordance with ESSERE

WHAT IS PASSATO PROSSIMO?

Passato prossimo is a past tense used to describe actions that happened and where completed in the past.

It corresponds to two English structures depending on context:

EX. Ho mangiato una pizza

” I ate a pizza ” – ” I’ve eaten a pizza ”

Sono uscita

” I went out last ” – ” I have gone out ”

THE STRUCTURE AUXILIARY+PAST PARTICIPLE

Passato prossimo is a compound tense made of two words : the AUXILIARY (helping verb) conjugated in the present tense plus the PAST PARTICIPLE of the main verb.

The auxiliary verbs are essere(to be) or avere(to have) used in the present tense; which one you use depends on the main verb.We will cover this in detail in section 4 and 5.

HOW TO FORM PAST PARTICIPLE

The past participle(participio passato) is the second element of passato prossimo. For REGULAR VERBS forming it is simple: remove the infinitive ending and replace it with a fixed suffix.

• ARE verbs take -ATO(past participle suffix)

EX. parlARE becomes parlATO

mangARE becomes mangiATO

lavorARE becomes lavorATO

• ERE verbs take -UTO(past participle suffix)

EX. avERE becomes avUTO

credERE becomes credUTO

vendERE becomes vendUTO

• IRE verbs take -ITO(past participle suffix)

EX. dormIRE becomes dormITO

capIRE becomes capITO

finIRE becomes finITO

Irregular past participle – learn these first

Many common verbs have irregular past participles that do not follow the pattern above. The most important to memorise are : fare–FATTO, essere–STATO, dire–DETTO, scrivere–SCRITTO, leggere–LETTO, aprire–APERTO, vedere–VISTO, prendere–PRESO.

PASSATO PROSSIMO WITH AVERE

We use the auxiliary avere with TRANSITIVE VERBS. Transitive verbs are verbs that can take a direct object. Direct objects are fragments of the sentence that answer the question: What? or Who?

ex. Ho mangiato una pizza – ” I ate(what?) a pizza ” → auxiliary avere

ex. Ho visto Claudia – ” I saw(who?) Claudia ? ” → auxiliary avere

When you use avere as an auxiliary, the past participle remain always the same.

PASSATO PROSSIMO WITH ESSERE

The auxiliary essere is used with IN-TRANSITIVE verbs and reflexive verbs. Intransitive verbs are verbs that indicate: MOVEMENT, CHANGE OF STATE, IMMOBILITY.

ex. Voi siete venuti a scuola – ” You came to school ”- MOVEMENT→auxiliary essere

ex. Loro sono stati a casa – ” They stayed at home ” – IMMOBILITY → auxiliary essere

ex. Laura è cresciuta – ” Laura has grown up ” – CHANGE OF STATE →auxiliary essere

PAST PARTICIPLE ACCORDANCE WITH ESSERE

When you use the auxiliary essere, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject, just like an adjective. It has four possible forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, and feminine plural.

ex. Marco è arrivatO tardi – masculine singular → -O ” Marco arrived late ”

ex. Sofia è arrivatA tardi – feminine singular → -A ” Sofia arrived late ”

ex. I ragazzi sono arrivatI tardi – masculine plural → -I ” The boys arrived late”

ex. Le ragazze sono arrivatE tardi – feminine plural → -E ” The girls arrived late ”

EXERCISES

Try to complete the gaps and put the answers in the comments.

1 Ieri io ___(mangiare) la pasta

2 Marco ___(anare) a Firenze la settimana scorsa

3 Noi ___(vedere) quel film

4 Le ragazze ___(uscire) ieri sera

5 Tu ___(finire) i compiti ?

6 Loro ___(tornare) dall’Italia due giorni fa

GOOD PRACTICE

Think about 10 things you did yesterday and write them down. Practice makes perfect.

The first step to take if you’re learning Italian is mastering the simple present tense of REGULAR verbs. In Italian, every verb in its ”dictionary form” is called infinitive and ends in one of three ways: -ARE, -ERE, -IRE.

This ending tells you a lot about how the verb will behave when you conjugate it, they represent the ”family” of the verb, and have a SET OF SUFFIXES that must be added to the stem of the infinitive verb. In Italian, the verb changes for every single pronoun; the verb ending IS the subject. Once you memorise the endings, you can understand a sentence without the subject.

HOW DOES CONJUGATION WORK?

The first thing you’re gonna do is REMOVE the infinitive suffix, FIND the STEM, then ADD a NEW ENDING that matches the subject.

In Italian, the ending of an infinitive verb tells you the set of suffixes you must use to conjugate it. There are three groups of infinitive verbs:

• -Those ending with -ARE

• -Those ending with -ERE

• -Those ending with -IRE

ARE verbs

EX. PARLARE (to speak)

1 remove the end of the word: PARL…

2 add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	parlo	I speak	ending: –O
tu	parli	you speak	ending: –I
lui\lei	parla	he\she speaks	ending: –A
noi	parliamo	we speak	ending: –IAMO
voi	parlate	you all speak	ending: –ATE
loro	parlano	they speak	ending: –ANO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -ARE.

ERE verbs

EX. SCRIVERE

1 Remove the end of the word: SCRIV…

2 Add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	scrivo	I write	ending: –O
tu	scrivi	you write	ending: –I
lui\lei	scrive	he\she writes	ending: –E
noi	scriviamo	we write	ending: –IAMO
voi	scrivete	you all write	ending: –ETE
loro	scrivono	they write	ending: –ONO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -ERE.

IRE verbs

EX. DORMIRE

1 Remove the end of the word: DORM…

2 Add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	dormo	I write	ending: –O
tu	dormi	you write	ending: –I
lui\lei	dorme	he\she writes	ending: –E
noi	dormiamo	we write	ending: –IAMO
voi	dormite	you all write	ending: –ITE
loro	dormono	they write	ending: –ONO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -IRE.

WHEN DO WE USE THE PRESENT TENSE?

”Presente indicativo” is a versatile and covers several situations at once:

ACTIONS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

Mangio una pizza – ”I’m eating a pizza”

HABITS AND ROUTINES

Studio ogni sera – ”I study every evening”

GENERAL TRUTHS AND FACTS

Il sole sorge a est – ”The sun rises in the east”

NEAR FUTURE PLANS

Domani parto per Roma – ”Tomorrow I leave for Rome”

The fastest way to internalise conjugation is to use verbs in real sentences, fill the gaps with the correct verb:

1 (io) ______ (lavorare) in un ristorante – I work in a restaurant

2 (tu) ______ (leggere) molto? – Do you read a lot?

3 Marco ______ (partire) domani – Marco leaves tomorrow

4 Voi ______ (mangiare) troppo – You all eat too much

5 Loro ______ (scrivere) una mail – They are writing an email

Italian articles are tiny words that stand before nouns and are accorded to them.In English we use only THE & A\AN but in Italian there are more articles to use, they must match the gender and the number of the nouns and a few of them must be placed before specific nouns beginning with certain letters.

There are two kinds of articles:

• DEFINITE ARTICLES (IL,LO,GLI,LA,LE,L’)

• INDEFINITE ARTICLES(UN,UNO,UNA,UN’)

DEFINITE ARTICLES ”The”

Definite articles are used to talk about something specific – something both you and the listener already know about. The use of definite articles depends on the gender, number and even the first letter of the noun that follows.

Here are the Italian definite articles: IL, LO, LA, I, GLI, LE & L’.

Definite articles in use:

IL is used before most masculine singular nouns.

IL ragazzo – IL libro – IL gatto

The boy – The book – The cat

LO is used for masculine singular nouns beginning with :

-ps LO psicologo (the psychologist)

-pn LO pneumatico (the tyre)

-gn LO gnomo (the gnome)

-z LO zio (the uncle)

-y LO yogurt (the yogurt)

-x LO xilofono (the xylophone)

– s+consonant LO studente (the student)

LA is used before feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant

L’ is used before feminine and masculine singular nouns beginning with a VOWEL.

I is used before most plural masculine nouns.

GLI is used before masculine plural nouns beginning with:

-ps GLI psicologi (the psychologists)

-pn GLI pneumatici (the tyres)

-gn GLI gnomi (the gnomes)

-z GLI zii (the uncles)

-y GLI yogurt (the yogurts)

-x Gli xilofoni (the xylophones)

– s+consonant GLI studenti (the students)

LE is used before plural feminine nouns

INDEFINITE ARTICLES ”a\an”

Indefinite articles are used when we mention something for the first time or when we talk about one of many. There are masculine and feminine indefinite articles. These are UN, UNO, UNA, and UN’.

UN is used before most masculine singular nouns.

UNO is used for masculine singular nouns beginning with :

-ps UNO psicologo (a psychologist)

-pn UNO pneumatico (a tyre)

-gn UNO gnomo (a gnome)

-z UNO zio (an uncle)

-y UNO yogurt (a yogurt)

-x UNO xilofono (a xylophone)

– s+consonant UNO studente (a student)

UNA is used before feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant.

UN’ is used ONLY before FEMININE singular nouns beginning with a VOWEL.

Now let’s see if it’s all sinking in! Write the correct article for these sentences.

1. ”I want a pizza” – Voglio ____ pizza (one pizza, not a specific one)
2. ”The cats are sleeping” – ____ gatti stanno dormendo
3. ”She has an umbrella” – Le ha ____ ombrello
4. ”The girls are in the park” – ____ ragazze sono al parco

Leave the answers in the comments. See you soon.