Italian I Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar
If you're interested in buying books to supplement your Italian studies, I've recommended some books from Amazon. Also check out the Foreign Service Institute Italian FAST Course that I am converting to HTML. Click on the play button to listen to the mp3s through Yahoo Media Player without having to download them, or right click and choose Save As... to save them to your computer. Thanks to Corrado for the recordings!
1. Basic Phrases / Frasi semplici 
| Buon giorno bwon zhor-no Hello / Good morning/afternoon |
Buona sera bwoh-nah seh-rah Good evening |
Buona notte bwoh-nah noht-teh Good night |
| Ciao chow Hi / Hello / Bye (informal) |
Arrivederci ah-ree-vuh-dehr-chee Goodbye |
ArrivederLa ah-ree-vuh-dehr-lah Goodbye (formal) |
| A più tardi ah pyoo tar-dee See you later |
A presto / A dopo ah press-toh / ah doh-poh See you soon |
A domani ah doh-mahn-ee See you tomorrow |
| Per favore / Per piacere pehr fah-voh-reh / pehr pee-ah-cheh-reh Please |
Grazie (mille) graht-zee-eh (mee-leh) Thank you (very much) |
Prego preh-goh You're Welcome |
| Mi dispiace mee dee-spyah-cheh Sorry |
Scusi / Scusa skoo-zee / skoo-zah Excuse me (formal / informal) |
Andiamo! on-dee-ah-mo Let's go! |
| Come sta? / Come stai? koh-meh stah / koh-meh sty How are you? (formal / informal) |
Sto bene. stoh beh-neh I am fine / well. |
Non c'è male. nohn cheh mah-leh Not bad. |
| Abbastanza bene. ah-bah-stahn-tsah beh-neh Pretty good. |
Così così. koh-zee koh-zee So so. |
Sì / No see / noh Yes / No |
| Come si chiama? koh-meh see kee-ah-mah What's your name? (formal) |
Come ti chiami? koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee What's your name? (informal) |
Mi chiamo... mee kee-ah-mo My name is... |
| Piacere / Molto lieto. pee-ah-cheh-reh / mohl-toh lee-eh-toh Pleased / Nice to meet you. |
Signore, Signora, Signorina seen-yoh-reh, seen-yoh-rah, seen-yoh-reen-ah Mister, Misses, Miss |
|
| Di dov'è? dee doh-veh Where are you from? (formal) |
Di dove sei? dee doh-veh seh-ee Where are you from? (informal) |
Sono di... soh-noh dee I am from... |
| Quanti anni ha? kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah How old are you? (formal) |
Quanti anni hai? kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah-ee How old are you? (informal) |
Ho venti anni. oh vehn-tee ahn-nee I am 20 years old. |
| Parla italiano? par-lah ee-tahl-ee-ah-no Do you speak Italian? (formal) |
Parli inglese? par-lee een-gleh-zeh Do you speak English? (informal) |
Parlo italiano. / Non parlo inglese. par-lo ee-tahl-ee-ah-no / non par-lo een-gleh-zeh I speak Italian. / I don't speak English. |
| Capisce? / Capisci? kah-pee-sheh / kah-pee-shee Do you understand? (formal / informal) |
[Non] capisco. [non] kah-pees-koh I [don't] understand. |
Non so. / Lo so. non soh / low soh I don't know. / I know. |
| Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi? pwoh ah-yoo-tar-mee / pwoh-ee ah-yoo-tar-mee Can you help me? (formal / informal) |
Certamente / D'accordo. cher-tah-mehn-teh / dah-kohr-doh Sure / OK. |
Come? koh-meh? What? / Pardon me? |
| Desidera? / Desideri? deh-zee-deh-rah / deh-zee-deh-ree May I help you? (formal / informal) |
Come si dice "house" in italiano? koh-meh see dee-cheh "house" een ee-tah-lee-ah-noh How do you say "house" in Italian? |
|
| Dov'è / Dove sono...? doh-veh / doh-veh soh-noh Where is / Where are... ? |
Ecco / Eccoli... eh-koh / eh-koh-lee Here is / Here are... |
C'è / Ci sono... cheh / chee soh-noh There is / There are... |
| Cosa c'è? koh-zah cheh What's the matter? / What's wrong? |
Non importa. / Di niente. / Di nulla. nohn eem-por-tah / dee nee-ehn-teh / dee noo-lah It doesn't matter. |
Non m'importa. nohn meem-por-tah I don't care. |
| Non ti preoccupare. nohn tee preh-ohk-koo-pah-reh Don't worry. (informal) |
Ho dimenticato. oh dee-men-tee-kah-toh I forgot. |
Devo andare adesso. deh-voh ahn-dah-reh ah-des-soh I have to go now. |
| Ho fame. / Ho sete. oh fah-meh / oh seh-teh I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty. |
Ho freddo. / Ho caldo. oh freh-doh / oh kal-doh I'm cold. / I'm hot. |
Mi annoio. mee ahn-noh-ee-oh I'm bored. |
| Salute! sah-loo-teh Bless you! |
Congratulazioni! kohn-grah-tsoo-lah-tsee-oh-nee Congratulations! |
Benvenuti! behn-veh-noo-tee Welcome! |
| Buona fortuna! bwoh-nah for-too-nah Good luck! |
Tocca a me! / Tocca a te! tohk-kah ah meh / tohk-kah ah teh It's my turn! / It's your turn! (informal) |
Ti amo. tee ah-moh I love you. (informal) |
| È pazzo! / Sei pazzo! eh pats-soh / seh-ee pats-soh You're crazy! (formal / informal) |
Sta zitto! / Stai zitto! stah tseet-toh / sty tseet-toh Be quiet / Shut up! (formal / informal) |
Va bene! vah beh-neh OK! |
Notice that Italian has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Italian (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person.
Also, the words pazzo and zitto refer to men. If you are talking to a woman, use pazza and zitta. If you are talking to more than one person (all men, or a group of men and women), use pazzi and zitti. If you are talking to more than one person (all women), use pazze and zitte.
2. Pronunciation / la pronuncia
Italian is a very phonetic language, so pronunciation should
be easy. Most words are pronounced exactly like they are spelled.
There are only seven pure vowels, but several diphthongs and triphthongs.
The English samples given are not pronounced exactly as in Italian because English vowels tend to be diphthongized (there's an extra yuh or wuh after the actual vowel). Make sure to only say the pure vowel and not the diphthong when pronouncing Italian.
Italian Vowels |
English Pronunciation |
|
| [i] | vita | ee as in meet |
| [e] | vedi | ay as in bait |
| [ɛ] | era | eh as in bet |
| [a] | cane | ah as in father |
| [u] | uva | oo as in boot |
| [o] | sole | oh as in boat |
| [ɔ] | modo | aw as in law |
Semi-Vowels |
||
| [w] | quando, uomo | wuh as in won |
| [j] | piano, ieri, piove | yuh as in yes |
In spelling, the letter e is used to represent both [e]
and [ɛ];
while the letter o is used to represent both [o] and [ɔ].
If the vowel is stressed, then the pronunciation is always closed [e]
and [o]. If the vowel is not stressed, it is always open [ɛ]
and [ɔ].
This can change according to regional dialects in Italy, of course, but
this is the standard rule. Italian semi-vowels are always written ua,
ue, uo, ui for [w] and ia, ie, io, iu for [j].
If another vowel precedes u or i, then it is a diphthong: ai,
ei, oi, au, eu. The combination iu + another vowel creates a
triphthong.
Italian consonant + vowel combinations
| c + a, o, u, he, hi | k | amica, amico, amiche | ah-mee-kah, ah-mee-koh, ah-mee-keh |
| c + ia, io, iu, e, i | ch | bacio, celebre, cinema | bah-cho, cheh-leh-breh, chee-neh-mah |
| g + a, o, u, he, hi | g | gara, gusto, spaghetti | gah-rah, goo-stoh, spah-geh-tee |
| g + ia, io, iu, e, i | dj | Giotto, gelato, magico | djoh-toh, djeh-lah-toh, mah-djee-koh |
| sc + a, o, u, he, hi | sk | scala, scuola, scheda | skah-lah, skoo-oh-la, skeh-dah |
| sc + ia, io, iu, e, i | sh | sciarpa, sciupato, scemo | shar-pah, shoo-pah-toh, sheh-moh |
The consonant h is always silent. Double
consonants must be pronounced individually: il nonno
(eel nohn-noh) is pronounced differently from il nono
(eel noh-noh).
Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable in Italian. If stress falls on the last syllable, the vowel is written with an accent mark (la città). However, it is also possible for the stress to fall on the third-to-last syllable (America, telefono) and even the fourth-to-last syllable (telefonano) in third person plural verb conjugations.
| a | ah | q | koo |
| b | bee | r | ehr-reh |
| c | chee | s | ehs-seh |
| d | dee | t | teh |
| e | eh | u | oo |
| f | eff-eh | v | voo |
| g | zhee | z | dzeh-tah |
| h | ahk-kah | ||
| i | ee | Foreign Letters | |
| l | ehl-eh | j | ee loon-gah |
| m | ehm-eh | k | kahp-pah |
| n | ehn-eh | w | dohp-pyah voo |
| o | oh | x | eeks |
| p | pee | y | ee greh-kah (or) eep-see-lohn |
4. Articles & Demonstratives / Articoli e dimostrativi
All nouns in Italian have a gender (masculine or feminine) and the articles must agree with the gender. Masculine words generally end in -o and feminine words generally end in -a. Words that end in -e may be either, so you will just have to memorize the gender. Keep in mind that articles are used before nouns or before an adjective + a noun.
Masculine |
Feminine |
|||||
| il | eel | sing., before consonants | la | lah | sing., before consonants | |
| lo | low | sing., before z, gn, ps, or s + cons. | ||||
| l' | l | sing., before vowels | l' | l | sing., before vowels | |
| i | ee | plural, before consonants | le | leh | plural, before consonants and vowels | |
| gli | lyee | plural, before vowels, z, gn, or s + cons. | ||||
Masculine |
Feminine |
|||||
| A, An | un | oon | before consonant or vowel | una | oon-ah | before consonants |
| uno | oon-oh | before z, gn, ps, or s + consonant | un' | oon | before vowels | |
| Some | dei | day | before consonants | delle | dell-eh | before vowels and consonants |
| degli | deh-lyee | before vowels, z, gn, or s + cons. | ||||
| This and these | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| This | These | ||
| Masc. | questo | questi | before a consonant |
| quest' | questi | before a vowel | |
| Fem. | questa | queste | before a consonant |
| quest' | queste | before a vowel | |
That and those |
|||
| That | Those | ||
| Masc. | quel | quei | before a consonant |
| quell' | quegli | before a vowel | |
| quello | quegli | before z, gn, or s + consonant | |
| Fem. | quella | quelle | before a consonant |
| quell' | quelle | before a vowel | |
If you use that and those
as a subject, use these four forms: quello for masculine singular,
quella for feminine singular, quelli for masculine plural,
and quelle for feminine plural.
5. Subject Pronouns / pronomi personali
| io | ee-oh | I | noi | noy | we |
| tu | too | you (informal singular) | voi | voy | you (informal plural) |
| lui, lei | lwee/lay | he, she | loro | loh-roh | they |
| Lei | lay | you (formal singular) | Loro | loh-roh | you (formal plural) |
The Lei form is generally
used for you (singular), instead of tu, unless you're referring to kids
or animals. Loro can also mean you, but only in very polite situations.
If you need to specify an inanimate object as "it" you can use esso
(masculine noun) and essa (feminine noun), but since
subject pronouns are not commonly used in Italian, these words are somewhat
rare.
6. To Be & to Have / Essere & avere
| I am | sono | soh-noh | we are | siamo | see-ah-moh |
| you are | sei | say | you are | siete | see-eh-teh |
| he/she/it is | è | eh | they are | sono | soh-noh |
You do not have to use the subject pronouns as the different conjugations imply the subject, but they are included in the recordings.
| I was | ero | we were | eravamo | I will be | sarò | we will be | saremo |
| you were | eri | you were | eravate | you will be | sarai | you will be | sarete |
| he/she was | era | they were | erano | he/she will be | sarà | they will be | saranno |
| I have | ho | oh | We have | abbiamo | ahb-bee-ah-mo |
| you have | hai | eye | you have | avete | ah-veh-teh |
| he/she has | ha | ah | they have | hanno | ahn-noh |
| I had | avevo | we had | avevamo | I will have | avrò | we will have | avremo |
| you had | avevi | you had | avevate | you will have | avrai | you will have | avrete |
| he/she had | aveva | they had | avevano | he/she will have | avrà | they will have | avranno |
Avere is used with many idioms and expressions that normally use the
verb "to be" in English:
avere fame - to be hungry
avere sete - to be thirsty
avere caldo - to be warm
avere freddo - to be cold
avere fretta - to be in a hurry
avere paura (di) - to be afraid (of)
avere ragione - to be right
avere torto - to be wrong
avere sonno - to be sleepy
avere bisogno di - to need
avere voglia di - to want, to feel like
avere 20 anni - to be 20 years old
When avere is followed by a word beginning with a consonant, the final -e is often dropped: aver caldo, aver fretta, aver ragione, etc.
7. Useful Words / parole utile
Flashcards also include subject pronouns.
| and | e | eh | always | sempre | sehm-preh |
| or | o | oh | often | spesso | speh-soh |
| but | ma | mah | sometimes | qualche volta | kwal-keh vohl-tah |
| not | non | nohn | usually | usualmente | oo-zoo-al-mehn-teh |
| while | mentre | mehn-treh | especially | specialmente | speh-chee-al-mehn-teh |
| if | se | seh | except | eccetto | eh-cheh-toh |
| because | perché | pehr-kay | book | il libro | lee-broh |
| very, a lot | molto | mohl-toh | pencil | la matita | mah-tee-tah |
| also, too | anche | ahn-keh | pen | la penna | pehn-nah |
| although | benché | behn-keh | paper | la carta | kar-tah |
| now | adesso, ora | ah-deh-so, oh-rah | dog | il cane | kah-neh |
| perhaps, maybe | forse | for-seh | cat | il gatto | gah-toh |
| then | allora, poi | ahl-loh-rah, poy | friend (fem) | l'amica | ah-mee-kah |
| there is | c'è | cheh | friend (masc) | l'amico | ah-mee-koh |
| there are | ci sono | chee soh-noh | woman | la donna | dohn-nah |
| there was | c'era | che-rah | man | l'uomo | woh-moh |
| there were | c'erano | che-rah-no | girl | la ragazza | rah-gat-sah |
| here is | ecco | ehk-koh | boy | il ragazzo | rah-gat-soh |
C'è can also mean is here, as in Nek's famous song: Laura non c'è - Laura's not here.
| Who | Chi | kee |
| Whose | Di chi | dee kee |
| What | Che cosa | keh koh-sah |
| Why | Perché | pehr-keh |
| When | Quando | kwahn-doh |
| Where | Dove | doh-veh |
| How | Come | koh-meh |
| How much | Quanto | kwahn-toh |
| Which | Quale | kwah-leh |
When dove, come, and quale are followed by è (is), dove and come contract to dov'è and com'è; and quale drops its e to become qual è.
| 0 | zero | dzeh-roh |
| 1 | uno | oo-noh |
| 2 | due | doo-eh |
| 3 | tre | treh |
| 4 | quattro | kwaht-troh |
| 5 | cinque | cheen-kweh |
| 6 | sei | say |
| 7 | sette | seht-teh |
| 8 | otto | aw-toh |
| 9 | nove | naw-vay |
| 10 | dieci | dee-ay-chee |
| 11 | undici | oon-dee-chee |
| 12 | dodici | doh-dee-chee |
| 13 | tredici | treh-dee-chee |
| 14 | quattordici | kwaht-tohr-dee-chee |
| 15 | quindici | kween-dee-chee |
| 16 | sedici | seh-dee-chee |
| 17 | diciassette | dee-chahs-seht-teh |
| 18 | diciotto | dee-choht-toh |
| 19 | diciannove | dee-chahn-noh-veh |
| 20 | venti | vehn-tee |
| 21 | ventuno | vehn-too-noh |
| 22 | ventidue | vehn-tee-doo-eh |
| 23 | ventitrè | vehn-tee-treh |
| 30 | trenta | trehn-tah |
| 40 | quaranta | kwah-rahn-tah |
| 50 | cinquanta | cheen-kwahn-tah |
| 60 | sessanta | sehs-sahn-tah |
| 70 | settanta | seht-tahn-tah |
| 80 | ottanta | oh-tahn-tah |
| 90 | novanta | noh-vahn-tah |
| 100 | cento | chehn-toh |
| 101 | centouno | chehn-toh-oo-noh |
| 110 | centodieci | chehn-toh-dee-ay-chee |
| 200 | duecento | doo-eh-chehn-toh |
| 1,000 | mille | mee-leh |
| 2,000 | duemila | doo-eh-mee-lah |
| million | un milione | mee-lee-oh-neh |
| billion | un miliardo | mee-lee-ar-doh |
If a number ends in -tre, you need
to add an accent: -trè. When
you have a word that ends in a vowel, like venti, and another
word that begins with a vowel, like
uno; the first word loses its vowel when putting the two words
together. Venti (20) and uno (1) make ventuno
(21). One exception is cento; it does not lose its vowel.
Cento (100) and uno (1) make centouno (101).
Notice that cento does not have a plural form,
but mille does (mila). And
be aware that Italian switches the use of commas and decimals.
Ordinal Numbers
| first | primo / prima |
| second | secondo / seconda |
| third | terzo / terza |
| fourth | quarto / quarta |
| fifth | quinto / quinta |
| sixth | sesto / sesta |
| seventh | settimo / settima |
| eighth | ottavo / ottava |
| ninth | nono / nona |
| tenth | decimo / decima |
| eleventh | undicesimo / undicesima |
| twentieth | ventesimo / ventesima |
| hundredth | centesimo / centesima |
From eleventh on, just drop the final vowel of the cardinal number and
add -esimo. For numbers like ventitrè, trentatrè,
add -esimo but do not drop the final e. Ordinal numbers are
adjectives and must agree with the nouns they modify; -o is the masculine
ending, -a is the feminine ending.
10. Days of the Week / Giorni della settimana
| Monday | lunedì | loo-neh-dee |
| Tuesday | martedì | mahr-teh-dee |
| Wednesday | mercoledì | mehr-koh-leh-dee |
| Thursday | giovedì | zhoh-veh-dee |
| Friday | venerdì | veh-nehr-dee |
| Saturday | sabato | sah-bah-toh |
| Sunday | domenica | doh-men-ee-kah |
| yesterday | ieri | yer-ee |
| day before yesterday | avantieri / l'altroieri (m) | ah-vahn-tyee-ree |
| last night | ieri sera | yer-ee seh-rah |
| today | oggi | ohd-jee |
| tomorrow | domani | doh-mahn-ee |
| day after tomorrow | dopodomani | doh-poh-doh-mahn-ee |
| day | il giorno | eel zhor-noh |
To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc.,
use il before lunedì through sabato, and la
before domenica.
11. Months of the Year / mesi dell'anno
| January | gennaio | jehn-nah-yoh |
| February | febbraio | fehb-brah-yoh |
| March | marzo | mar-tsoh |
| April | aprile | ah-pree-leh |
| May | maggio | mahd-joh |
| June | giugno | joo-nyoh |
| July | luglio | loo-lyoh |
| August | agosto | ah-goh-stoh |
| September | settembre | seht-tehm-breh |
| October | ottobre | oht-toh-breh |
| November | novembre | noh-vehm-breh |
| December | dicembre | dee-chem-breh |
| week | la settimana | lah sett-ee-mah-nah |
| month | il mese | eel meh-zeh |
| year | l'anno | lahn-noh |
Days and months are not capitalized.
To express the date, use È il (number) (month). May
5th would be È il 5 (or cinque) maggio. But
for the first of the month, use primo instead of 1 or uno. To express ago, as in two days ago, a month ago,
etc., just add fa afterwards. To express last, as in last
Wednesday, last week, etc., just add scorso (for masculine
words) or scorsa (for feminine words) afterwards.
una settimana fa - a week ago
la settimana scorsa - last week
un mese fa - a month ago
l'anno scorso - last year
| Summer | l'estate | leh-stah-teh |
| Fall | l'autunno | low-toon-noh |
| Spring | la primavera | lah pree-mah-veh-rah |
| Winter | l'inverno | leen-vehr-noh |
To say in the (season), just
use in. In estate is in the summer, in primavera
is in spring. D'estate and d'inverno can also be used instead of
in estate or in inverno.
| right | destra |
| left | sinistra |
| straight | diritto |
| North | nord | nohrd |
| South | sud | sood |
| East | est | est |
| West | ovest | oh-vest |
14. Colors & Shapes / Colori e forme
| white | bianco/a | square | il quadrato |
| yellow | giallo/a | circle | il cerchio |
| orange | arancione | triangle | il triangolo |
| pink | rosa | rectangle | il rettangolo |
| red | rosso/a | oval | l'ovale |
| light blue | azzurro/a | cube | il cubo |
| dark blue | blu | sphere | la sfera |
| green | verde | cylinder | il cilindro |
| brown | marrone | cone | il cono |
| grey | grigio/a | octagon | l'ottagono |
| black | nero/a | box | la scatola |
Colors are adjectives and must agree
with the nouns they modify; -o is the masculine ending, -a is the feminine
ending. For example, rosso is masculine and rossa is feminine.
Color words always go after the noun they describe:
una casa gialla - a yellow house
il cubo rosso - the red cube
To ask the color of something:
Di che colore è il cielo? What color is the sky?
Di che colore sono i tuoi occhi? What color are your eyes?
| What time is it? | Che ora è? / Che ore sono? | keh oh-rah eh / keh o-reh soh-noh |
| At what time? | A che ora? | ah keh oh-rah |
| It's 1:00 | È l'una | eh loo-nah |
| at 1:00 | all'una | ahl-loo-nah |
| (at) noon | (a) mezzogiorno | (ah) med-zoh-zhor-noh |
| (at) midnight | (a) mezzanotte | (ah) med-zah-noh-teh |
| 2:00 | Sono le due | soh-noh leh doo-eh |
| 3:10 | Sono le tre e dieci | soh-noh leh treh eh dee-ay-chee |
| 4:50 | Sono le cinque meno dieci | soh-noh leh cheen-kwah meh-noh dee-ay-chee |
| 8:15 | Sono le otto e un quarto | soh-noh leh awt-toh eh oon kwar-toh |
| 7:45 | Sono le otto meno un quarto | soh-noh leh aw-toh meh-noh un kwar-toh |
| 1:30 | È l'una e mezza | eh loo-nah eh med-zah |
| 6:30 | Sono le sei e mezzo | soh-noh leh say-ee eh med-zoh |
| sharp | in punto | een poon-toh |
| in the morning | di mattina | dee maht-teen-ah |
| in the afternoon | di pomeriggio | dee poh-mehr-ee-zhee-oh |
| in the evening | di sera | dee seh-rah |
| at night | di notte | dee noht-teh |
16. Weather / Il tempo atmosferico
| What's the weather today? | Che tempo fa oggi? |
| It's nice | Fa bel tempo / È bello |
| bad | Fa brutto tempo / È brutto |
| raining | Piove / Sta piovendo |
| thundering | Tuona |
| snowing | Nevica / Sta nevicando |
| hailing | Grandina / Sta grandinando |
| cold | Fa freddo |
| cool | Fa fresco |
| hot | Fa caldo |
| freezing | Fa un freddo gelido |
| foggy | C'è nebbia |
| sunny | C'è sole / È assolato |
| windy | C'è vento / È ventoso / Fa vento |
| cloudy | È nuvoloso |
| humid | È umido |
| muggy | È afoso |
| stormy | È burrascoso |
17. Family & Animals / Famiglia e Animali
| family | la famiglia | relatives | i parenti | dog | il cane |
| parents | i genitori | father-in-law | il suocero | cat | il gatto |
| mother | la madre | mother-in-law | la suocera | bird | l'uccello |
| father | il padre | son-in-law | il genero | mouse | il topo |
| son | il figlio | daughter-in-law | la nuora | rabbit | il coniglio |
| daughter | la figlia | brother-in-law | il cognato | horse | il cavallo |
| brother | il fratello | sister-in-law | la cognata | cow | la mucca |
| sister | la sorella | stepfather | il patrigno | donkey | l'asino |
| grandfather | il nonno | stepmother | la matrigna | goat | la capra |
| grandmother | la nonna | step/half brother | il fratellastro | sheep | la pecora |
| grandson/nephew | il nipote | step/half sister | la sorellastra | goose | l'oca |
| granddaughter/niece | la nipote | married | sposato | duck | l'anatra |
| uncle | lo zio | divorced | divorziato | pig | il maiale |
| aunt | la zia | separated | separato | hen | la gallina |
| cousin (m) | il cugino | single (man) | celibe | deer | il cervo |
| cousin (f) | la cugina | single (woman) | nubile | ||
| husband | il marito | bachelor | lo scapolo | ||
| wife | la moglie | widow | la vedova | ||
| man | l'uomo | widower | il vedovo | ||
| woman | la donna | godfather | il padrino | ||
| boy | il ragazzo | godmother | la madrina | ||
| girl | la ragazza | twins | i gemelli / le gemelle |
| conoscere-to know, be acquainted with | sapere-to know (facts) | ||
| conosco | conosciamo | so | sappiamo |
| conosci | conoscete | sai | sapete |
| conosce | conoscono | sa | sanno |
Conoscere is used when you know
people and places. It is conjugated regularly. Sapere
is used when you know facts. Sapere followed by an infinitive
means to know how. In addition, the object must be expressed in Italian when using sapere. You cannot simply say I know as in English, but rather I know it: Lo so.
Io conosco Mario. I know Mario.
Voi conoscete la Francia. You know (have visited) France.
Tu sai nuotare. You know how to swim.
Loro sanno cantare. They know how to sing.
If a word is masculine singular, change the last letter to an i. If a word is feminine singular, change the last letter to an e if it ends in a, or if it ends in e, change it to an i.
Singular to Plural Nouns
| Masculine | |
|---|---|
| -o | -i |
| -a | -i |
| -e | -i |
| Feminine | |
| -a | -e |
| -e | -i |
Words ending in -io can
either change the o to i, or just simply drop the o to form the plural.
When the -i of -io is stressed,
the plural is -ii; however, most words ending in -io
do not stress the -i, and so their plurals are formed by dropping the
o. Compare: lo zio - gli zii and il
figlio - i figli.
Some nouns ending in -co and -go may or may not insert an h before changing the o to i. There is no general rule for it. All nouns ending in -ca and -ga insert an h before changing the a to e. Nouns ending in an accented vowel do not change for the plural. (la città (city) becomes le città) There are some masculine nouns that end -a, and these nouns change the -a to -i in the plural: il programma, il poeta, il pianete, il pilota, il poema, il sistema. The plural of l'uomo (man) is gli uomini, while the plural of la mano (hand) is le mani.
| Masc. Sing. | Fem. Sing. | Masc. Pl. | Fem. Pl. | |
| my | il mio | la mia | i miei (myeh-ee) | le mie |
| your | il tuo | la tua | i tuoi (twoh-ee) | le tue |
| his/her | il suo | la sua | i suoi (swoh-ee) | le sue |
| our | il nostro | la nostra | i nostri | le nostre |
| your | il vostro | la vostra | i vostri | le vostre |
| their | il loro | la loro | i loro | le loro |
You may leave off the definite article before family relation words in the singular. All other
times, you must use them. Notice that loro does not change.
