Italian Grammar Lessons: Definite and Indefinite articles

In this lesson you will learn about the use of articles in Italian.

Articles can be definite or indefinite, it depends if they refer to a known

object or not and they can help you identify the gender
(masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the nouns they refer
to, as they change depending on that.

DEFINITE ARTICLES

Use articles il (singular) and i (plural) for masculine nouns that start with a
consonant.

Examples: il libro / i libri (the book / the books)

il gatto / i gatti (the cat / the cats)

Words that begin with x, y, z and with the groups gn, pn, ps, s +
consonant need the articles lo (singular) and gli (plural)

Examples:

lo zio / gli zii (the uncle / the uncles)

lo gnomo / gli gnomi (the dwarf / the dwarfs)

lo psicologo / gli psicologi (the psychologist / the psychologists)

lo specchio, lo studente, gli spaghetti

For feminine nouns, use la (singular) and le (plural) for all the nouns
(without distinction with regard to the first letters.)

Examples:

la matita / le matite (the pencil / the pencils)

la casa / le case (the house / the houses)

For both the masculine and feminine gender, you need to be careful with
singular nouns which start with a vowel, as the article is elided and written
with an apostrophe: lo/la → l’

Examples:

masculine nouns: l’ errore / gli errori (the mistake / the mistakes)

feminie nouns: l’ aula / le aule (the classroom / the classrooms)

INDEFINITE ARTICLES

Unlike with definite articles, the indefinite article is only used with singular
nouns and so only changes according to the gender.

The article un is used with masculine nouns starting with a vowel or a

consonant

Examples:

un aereo (an airplane)

un treno (a train)

However, with words starting with x, y, z and the groups gn, pn, ps, sc you
have to use the article uno.

Examples:

uno zaino (a backpack)

uno scoiattolo (a squirrel)

The article una is used for feminine singular nouns starting with a
consonant.
Examples:

una palla (a ball)

una scena (a scene)

As before, the indefinite feminine form also needs to be elided when

followed by a word starting with a vowel: una → un’

Examples:

un’ isola (an island)

un’ automobile (a car)

Italian Grammar Lessons: Plurals

This lesson will show you how to create the plural form of Italian nouns.

It’s important to know the gender of the word (masculine or feminine) and
you can usually work this out by looking at the vowel it ends with.

To turn a singular word into a plural one, you usually only need to change
the final vowel, though there are of course plenty of exceptions!

Singular nouns ending in “-o” are usually masculine. To produce a plural

you need to change this ending to “-i“,

Examples:

il cavallo → i cavalli (the horse – the horses)

il tavolo → i tavoli (the table – the tables)

Nouns ending in “-a” are usually feminine. To create the plural form you
need to change the final vowel to “-e“.

Examples:

la carota → le carote (the carrot – the carrots)

la sedia → le sedie (the chair – the chairs)

But some nouns ending in “-a” are masculine, in which case the plural is “-
i“.

Examples:

il problema → i problemi (the problem – the problems)

il poeta → i poeti (the poet – the poets)

And similarly some nouns ending in “-o” are feminine and their plural is the
same as the singular form.

Examples:

la radio → le radio (the radio – the radios)

la foto → le foto (the photo – the photos)

Club member Ida writes: Words like ‘la radio’, ‘la foto’, ‘la moto’ or ‘la auto’
do not change in the plural because they are truncated versions of the
original words ‘la radiotelefonia’, ‘la fotografia’, ‘la motocicletta’ and
‘l’automobile’. Truncated words do not change in the plural.

Instead “la mano” which is a true feminine word that ends in “o” has the
regular plural “le mani” following the rules for forming the plural.
The plural form of singular nouns ending in “-ista” can be either “-i” (if
masculine) or “-e” (if feminine).

Examples:

l’artista → gli artisti / le artiste (the artist – the artists (m) / the artists (f))

il dentista → i dentisti / le dentiste (the dentist – the dentists)

Some nouns have just one form which works both for the singular and for
the plural. A good example is the various nouns which end with an
accented vowel.

Examples:

la città → le città (the city – the cities)

la virtù → le virtù (the virtue – the virtues)

il papà → i papà (the dad – the dads)

Nouns ending in consonants (which are often borrowed ‘foreign’ words)
also have identical singular and plural forms.

Examples:

il computer → i computer (the computer – the computers)

lo yogurt → gli yogurt (the yogurt – the yogurts)

There are some cases in which plural nouns have a different spelling.

Some masculine substantives ending in “-co” and “-go” form their plural
with “-chi” and “-ghi“.

Examples:

il tedesco → i tedeschi (the German – the Germans)

l’albergo → gli alberghi (the hotel – the hotels)

Others form the plural with “-ci” or “-gi“.

Examples:

l’amico → gli amici (the friend – the friends)

l’archeologo → gli archeologi (the archaeologist – the archaeologists).

Feminine nouns ending in “-ca” and “-ga” follow the same rule.

Examples:

la tasca → le tasche (the pocket – the pockets)

l’alga → le alghe (the seaweed – the seaweeds)

Italian Grammar Lessons: There is/are – C’è / ci sono

This lesson is about the use of “c’è / ci sono“, which would translate into
English as ‘there is/are’.

The word “ci” is used as a pronoun referring to previously mentioned places

and things in order not to repeat them.

Examples:
Quando vai al supermercato? (When are you going to the supermarket?)
Ci vado domani (I will go there tomorrow)
Ci = al supermercato (at the supermarket)

“C’è” is the short form of “ci è”, while “ci sono” is the plural form and they
state the presence or existence of someone or something.

Examples:
C’è troppo zucchero nel mio caffè. (There is too much sugar in my coffee.)
Ci sono molti negozi a Milano. (There are a lot of shops in Milan.)
Ci sono molte ragioni per partire. (There are many reasons to leave.)
C’è qualcuno in cucina? (Is there someone in the kitchen?)

To express negation, you just need to put the particle NON before “c’è / ci
sono”.

Examples:
Non c’è nessuno in cucina. (There isn’t anyone in the kitchen.)
Non ci sono penne nell’astuccio. (There aren’t any pens in the pencil case.)
Italian Grammar Lessons: The Three Groups Of Regular Verbs

This lesson is about the three groups of Italian regular verbs.

All Italian regular verbs can be divided into three groups, as classified
according to the ending of their infinitive forms.

Verbs in the first group or first conjugation end in – are, such as abitare,
mangiare or lavare.

Abitare – to live
io abito
tu abiti
lui/lei/Lei abita
noi abitiamo
voi abitate
loro/Loro abitano

Verbs in the second group or second conjugation end in – ere, such as

perdere and correre.

Perdere – to lose
io perdo
tu perdi
lui/lei/Lei perde
noi perdiamo
voi perdete
loro/Loro perdono

Verbs in the third group or third conjugation end in – ire, such as dormire
and aprire. The main characteristic of the third group is that some verbs,
such as preferire, add the suffix –isc between the root and the declination.

Dormire – to sleep
io dormo
tu dormi
lui/lei/Lei dorme
noi dormiamo
voi dormite
loro/Loro dormono

Preferire – to prefer
io preferisco
tu preferisci
lui/lei/Lei preferisce
noi preferiamo
voi preferite
loro/Loro preferiscono

It’s important to learn the conjugations for these three groups as early as
you can!
Italian Grammar Lessons – Introduction to Italian Verbs

This lesson is about Italian verbs, and where to start!

I’m assuming here that you have little or no experience of learning foreign
languages. If that’s not the case, feel free to skip ahead!

Verbs have different forms for each “person”, for example in English the
verb “to be” conjugates “I am” “You are” “He is” and so on.

The infinitive in English is with “to” as in “To be, or not to be?”

The infinitive in Italian ends with “-are”, “-ere” or “-ire”, for example: “essere”
(to be). There’s no “to”, just the suffix at the end.

Verbs can be regular (follow a pattern) or irregular (deviate from the

pattern).

In English, present tense verbs are mostly regular. Foreign students

therefore find them easy to remember…

But when beginning Italian (and other foreign languages) you need to learn
how to conjugate quite a number of verb forms before being able to say or
understand even the simplest things. It’s quite hard at first, but easier later.

So, let’s begin. But first, just to be sure, what do we mean by “conjuage” a
verb?

Here’s an example in English:

“To Be”

I am, You are, He/She/It is, We are, You (this is the plural “you”) are,
They are

As you can see, the singular come first. “I” & “You” are called the first
person and the second person. The third person is the “He/She/It”.
Then the plural (We, You, They).

In Italian the verb “to be” is “Essere” and it looks like this:

io sono, tu sei, lui/lei/Lei è, noi siamo, voi siete, loro/Loro sono

You can see that there’s more variation than in English. Each of the 6
forms is different. For the third person singular (he/she/it) in Italian there’s
no it, just he/she.

But there is an extra form, which has a capital letter, “Lei”. Italians use it
when they’re being formal, no matter if the “third person” is male or female.
So, while your brother is a “lui” and your sister a “lei”, your male or female
teachers would both be “Lei”, at least if you want to be respectful.

It’s the same with the plural “loro” is “they”, “Loro” if being formal. More on
that in another lesson.

So, what do you need to learn about verbs in order to speak and
understand Italian?

1.) The prounouns:

io – tu – lui – lei – Lei – noi – voi – loro – Loro

2.) The present tense form for the three types of regular verbs, plus the
most frequent irregular verbs

Now there’s some good news and some bad news…

The Good News

Some things we say in English, you don’t usually need to bother with when
speaking Italian.

1. I am Daniel = Sono Daniel

Notice anything missing in the Italian version? You don’t need to use the
pronoun “io” in Italian (or any other pronoun) unless you want to emphasise
who you’re talking about. Why? Because in Italian the conjugation of the
verb makes it obvious you mean “io”.

2. Another good thing: Italian has various present tenses, but they don’t
seem to get used much. So if you know how to say “Vado” (I go), that’s
good also to mean “I’m going” or even “I will go” most of the time.

The Bad News

Learning to conjugate verbs in Italian is a pain. There are lots of them, and
it really will take a long time before you can use them and understand them
easily.

What to do now

In this course, we’ll give you verbs a few at a time, starting with the most
important ones, and the ones that demonstrate the regular patterns. But
you need to put the effort in to memorise them!

Irregular Verbs To Memorise

essere – to be
io sono, tu sei, lui/lei/Lei è, noi siamo, voi siete, loro/Loro sono

avere – to have
io ho, tu hai, lui/lei/Lei ha, noi abbiamo, voi avete, loro/Loro hanno

fare – to do
io faccio, tu fai, lui/lei/Lei fa, noi facciamo, voi fate, loro/Loro fanno

volere – to want
io voglio, tu vuoi, lui/lei/Lei vuole, noi vogliamo, voi volete, loro/Loro
vogliono,

Regular verbs to memorise

chiamarsi – be called
io mi chiamo, tu ti chiami, lui/lei/Lei si chiama, noi ci chiamiamo, voi vi
chiamate, loro/Loro si chiamano

parlare – to speak
io parlo, tu parli, lui/lei/Lei parla, noi parliamo, voi parlate, loro/Loro parlano

abitare – to live
io abito, tu abiti, lui/lei/Lei abita, noi abitiamo, voi abitate, loro/Loro abitano

lavorare – to work
io lavoro, tu lavori, lui/lei/Lei lavora, noi lavoriamo, voi lavorate, loro/Loro
lavorano

prendere – to take
io prendo, tu prendi, lui/lei/Lei prende, noi prendiamo, voi prendete,
loro/Loro prendono

preferire – to prefer
io preferisco, tu preferisci, lui/lei/Lei preferisce, noi preferiamo, voi
preferite, loro/Loro preferiscono

How to memorise verbs

If you have no better ideas as to how to memorise the verbs, just write
them on scraps of paper and then keep testing yourself with them until you
can do it. Or you could record yourself reading them, then listen to them
again and again.

But however you do it, come back to them again the day after, then again a
week or so later, to revise. That’ll help you keep them in your head.
Italian Grammar: “tu” and “Lei” forms

This lesson is about the informal and formal “tu” and “lei” forms in Italian
grammar, and also covers useful phrases for first meetings.

In Italian you use the second person form “tu” (you) when speaking to
someone you know or someone of your own age or younger, but the third
person form “lei” (he/she) when being formal.

In effect, you demonstrate formality when speaking to someone by using

“he/she” instead of “you” (“his/her” instead of “your”, and so on).

It’s a bit like in English if you were to say “If Sir would kindly refrain from
smoking his cigarettes in this public area..”.

So for example, in formal situations we’d say “Che lavoro fa?” (What job
does he/she do?) rather than “Che lavoro fai?” (What job do you do?).

Check out these informal / formal versions of conversations you might have
on first meeting someone.

INFORMAL: Ciao, come stai? [Hello, how are you?]

FORMAL: Buongiorno come sta? [Good morning, how are you?]
REPLY: Bene grazie [Fine thank you.]

INFORMAL: Come ti chiami? [What is your name?]

FORMAL: Lei come si chiama? [What is your name?]
REPLY: Mi chiamo … [My name is …] / Sono … [I am … ]

INFORMAL: E tu? [And you?]

FORMAL: E Lei? [And you?]
REPLY: Piacere. [A pleasure!]

INFORMAL: Di dove sei? [Where are you from?]

FORMAL: Di dove è? [Where are you from?]
REPLY: Sono …, di … [I’m (nationality), from (city)]
INFORMAL: Dove vivi? [Where do you live?]
FORMAL: Dove vive? [Where do you live?]

INFORMAL: Come si scrive il tuo cognome? [How do you spell your

surname?]
FORMAL: Come si scrive il suo cognome? [How do you spell your
surname?]

INFORMAL: Come si pronuncia il tuo cognome? [How do you pronounce

your surname?]
FORMAL: Come si pronuncia il suo cognome? [How do you pronounce
your surname?]

INFORMAL: Quanti anni hai? [How old are you?]

FORMAL: Quanti anni ha? [How old are you?]
REPLY: Ho … anni [I am … years old]

INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone

number?]
FORMAL: Qual è il suo numero di telefono? [What is your telephone
number?]

INFORMAL: Qual è il tuo indirizzo? [What is your address?]

FORMAL: Qual è il suo indirizzo? [What is your address?]

INFORMAL: Che lavoro fai? [What is your job?]

FORMAL: Che lavoro fa? [What is your job?]
REPLY: Sono … [I am … ]

INFORMAL: Ciao, alla prossima volta! [Bye, see you at the next time!]
FORMAL: Arrivederla, spero di vederla presto! [Bye, see you at the next
time!]
REPLY: A presto! [See you soon!]