French & Italian Comparative Tutorial II: Learn Two Languages Simultaneously
 


Adjectives: Gender & Number

Adjectives are placed after the noun they describe in French and Italian, though there are a few common adjectives that are placed before the noun (adjectives of beauty, age, goodness and size). They also must agree in gender and number with the noun. Most of the rules for changing gender and number in both languages are the same for adjectives as they are for nouns.

 

Gender
In French, add -e to the masculine adjective to form the feminine. If the masculine adjective already ends in -e, then add nothing (the masculine and feminine forms are the same). There are several other rules for forming feminine adjectives in French: -x changes to -se, -il, -el, and -eil change to -ille, -elle, and -eille, -et changes to -ète, -en and -on change to -enne and -onne, -er changes to -ère, -f changes to -ve, -c changes to -che, -g changes to -gue, -eur changes to -euse if adjective is derived from verb, -eur changes to -rice if adjective is not same as verb, -eur changes to -eure with adjectives of comparison. Three common adjectives are irregular, and generally precede the noun: beau - belle (beautiful); nouveau - nouvelle (new); vieux - vieille (old). These three adjectives also have an alternate form that is used before masculine adjectives that begin with a vowel: bel, nouvel, vieil.

In Italian, masculine adjectives change -o to -a for the feminine. Adjectives that end in -e can be masculine or feminine.

 

Number
In French, add -s to a singular adjective to form the plural, unless it already ends in -s, -x, or -z (adjectives ending in these letters are the same in the singular and plural).

In Italian, singular masculine adjectives change -o to -i and singular feminine adjectives change -a to -e to form the plural. Adjectives ending in -e (regardless of gender) change to -i for the plural. Same as for nouns, adjectives ending in -ca, -go, -ca, and -ga add an -h before the plural ending. Adjectives that end with -io can either change to -ii in the plural (if the i of -io is stressed), or to -i (if the i of -io is not stressed).

In both languages, when an adjective describes more than one noun of different genders, the adjective will be masculine plural. Mes amis et mes amies sont tous italiens. / I miei amici e le mie amiche sono tutti italiani. My male friends and my female friends are all Italian. However, in Italian, the adjective can also agree with the noun that is closest to it.

nice gentil / gentille gentile ugly laid/e brutto/a
mean méchant/e meschino/a open ouvert/e aperto/a
great / large grand/e grande closed fermé/e chiuso/a
small petit/e piccolo/a wide large largo/a
long long/ue lungo/a narrow étroit/e stretto/a
short (length) court/e corto/a hot chaud/e caldo/a
tall grand/e alto/a cold froid/e freddo/a
short (height) petit/e basso/a dirty sale sporco/a
new nouveau / nouvelle nuovo/a clean propre pulito/a
young jeune giovane quiet tranquille zitto/a
old vieux / vieille vecchio/a loud bruyant/e rumoroso/a
first premier / première primo/a thin maigre magro/a
next prochain/e prossimo/a big / fat gros / grosse grasso/a
last dernier / dernière ultimo/a empty vide vuoto/a
same même stesso/a full plein/e pieno/a
different différent/e differente slow lent/e lento/a
good bon / bonne buono/a fast vide veloce
bad mauvais/e cattivo/a happy content/e felice
beautiful beau / belle bello/a sad triste triste

Remember for adjectives, you add -e to form the feminine in French; while in Italian, you change -o to -a.


Verbs: Come, Go

 
Present Tense
 
Past Tense
 
Future Tense
venir / venire - to come viens vengo   venais venivo   viendrai verrò
viens vieni   venais venivi   viendras verrai
vient viene   venait veniva   viendra verrà
venons veniamo   venions venivamo   viendrons verremo
venez venite   veniez venivate   viendrez verrete
viennent vengono   venaient venivano   viendront verranno
                 
aller / andare - to go vais vado   allais andavo   irai andrò
vas vai   allais andavi   iras andrai
va va   allait andava   ira andrà
allons andiamo   allions andavamo   irons andremo
allez andate   alliez andavate   irez andrete
vont vanno   allaient andavono   iront andranno

Aller and andare can both be used to indicate the future, as does go in English: to be going to + infinitive. In French, aller is followed directly by the infinitive, but in Italian, the preposition a is placed between andare and the infinitive.

Je vais partir. / Vado a partire. I'm going to leave.


Asking Questions

Yes / No Questions

The easiest way to form yes/no questions in both languages is to add n'est-ce pas to the end of French statements and non è vero to the end of Italian statements. These phrases are similar to the tags that English adds to the end of questions, and therefore there are several translations into English.

Tu es étudiante, n'est-ce pas ? / Sei studentessa, non è vero? You're a student, aren't you?

You can also change the word order to form yes/no questions. In French, you invert the subject and verb and write them together with a hypen. If the verb ends in a vowel, you must add -t- between the verb and subject for ease of pronunciation. And if there is a subject other than the subject pronoun, you leave the subject at the beginning and invert the subject pronoun and verb. In Italian, you simply add a question mark to the end of the sentence and raise the intonation of your voice. Or if there is a subject, you can move it to the end of the sentence.

Parlez-vous allemand ? / Parlate tedesco? Do you speak German?
Le garçon a-t-il faim ? / Ha fame, il ragazzo? Is the boy hungry?

Another way to form yes/no questions in French involves adding est-ce que before the statement: Est-ce que vous parlez allemand ? You can also simply add a question mark and raise the intonation of your voice to form questions in French, but this is informal and not advised in writing: Vous parlez allemand ?

Interrogative Questions

For questions that begin with wh- words or phrases in English, you use question word + inversion of subject and verb in French and simply the question word + verb in Italian. You can also use question word + est-ce que + subject + verb in French if you do not want to use inversion. A third, and informal, way of forming wh- questions in French is to use the question word + subject + verb (no est-ce que and no inversion).

Quelle heure est-il ? / Che ore sono? What time is it?


Negatives

In French, ne and pas are placed around the verb to make the phrase negative. (In everyday spoken French, ne is often dropped, but it must always be written). In Italian, non is placed before the verb.

Il n'est pas triste. / Non è triste. He is not sad.
Tu n'es pas parti ? / Non è partito? You haven't left?
Je ne joue pas au foot. / Non gioco a calcio. I don't play soccer.

Other negatives use two words in both languages. Ne or non is placed before the verb, and the other word is placed after. Unlike English, it is possible to use two negative words in a sentence.

English French Italian
never ne...jamais non...mai
no longer, no more ne...plus non...più
nothing ne...rien non...niente
nobody ne...personne non...nessuno
neither...nor ne...ni...ni non...nè...nè

Work & School

English French Italian English French Italian
actor l'acteur l'attore lawyer l'avocat l'avvocato
actress l'actrice l'attrice mechanic le mécanicien il meccanico
author l'écrivain l'autore musician le musicien il/ la musicista
baker le boulanger il fornaio nurse l'infirmière l'infermiera
bookseller le libraire il libraio optician l'opticien l'ottico
businessman le commerçant il commerciante painter le peintre il pittore
butcher le boucher il macellaio pharmacist le chimiste il chimico
clerk le vendeur il commesso photographer le photographe il fotografo
cook le cuisinier il cuoco policeman l'agent de police la guardia
customer le client il cliente postman le facteur il portalettere
dentist le dentiste il dentista priest le curé il prete
doctor le médecin / docteur il medico / dottore publisher l'éditeur l'editore
employee l'employé l'impiegato shoemaker le cordonnier il calzolaio
engineer l'ingénieur l'ingegnere singer le chanteur il cantante
fisherman le pêcheur il pescatore soldier le soldat il soldato
gardener le jardinier il giardiniere student l'étudiant lo studente
hairdresser le coiffeur il parrucchiere surgeon le chirurgien il chirurgo
jeweler le bijoutier il gioielliere teacher l'instituteur il maestro
journalist le journaliste il giornalista typist le dactylographe il dattilografo
judge le juge il giudice workman l'ouvrier l'operaio

English French Italian English French Italian
accounting le comptabilité la ragioneria history l'histoire (f) la storia
architecture l'architecture l'architettura law le droit la giurisprudenza
art l'art l'arte (f) linguistics le linguistique la linguistica
astronomy l'astronomie l'astronomia literature la littérature le lettere
biology la biologie la biologia mathematics les mathématiques la matematica
business les commerces il commercio medicine la médecine la medicina
chemistry la chimie la chimica music la musique la musica
computer science l'informatique l'informatica philosophy la philosophie la filosofia
earth science la science de la terra la scienza della terra physical education l'éducation physique l'educazione fisica
economics l'économie l'economia physics la physique la fisica
engineering l'ingénieur l'ingegneria political science la science politique le scienze politiche
foreign languages les langues étrangères la lingua straniera psychology la pyschologie la psicologia
geography la géographie la geografia science la science la scienza
geometry la géométrie la geometria sociology la sociologie la sociologia

In the French school system, foreign languages is referred to as les langues vivantes (living languages).


Countries & Nationalities

English French Italian English French Italian
Africa l'Afrique (f) l'Africa Indonesia l'Indonésie (f) l'Indonesia
African africain/e africano/a Indonesian indonésien/ne indonesiano/a
Albania l'Albanie l'Albania Ireland l'Irlande (f) l'Irlanda
Albanian albanais/e albanese Irishman irlandais/e irlandese
America l'Amérique (f) l'America Israel l'Israël l'Israele
American américain/e americano/a Israeli israélien israeliano/a
Argentina l'Argentine (f) l'Argentina Italy l'Italie (f) l'Italia
Argentine argentin/e argentino/a Italian italien/ne italiano/a
Asia l'Asie (f) l'Asia Japan le Japon il Giappone
Asian asiatique asiatico/a Japanese japonais/e giapponese
Australia l'Australie (f) l'Australia Latvia la Lettonie la Lettonia
Australian australien/ne australiano/a Latvian letton/ne lettone
Austria l'Autriche (f) l'Austria Lithuania la Lituanie la Lituania
Austrian autrichien/ne austriaco/a Lithuanian lituanien/ne lituano/a
Belgian belge belga Luxembourger luxembourgeois/e lussemburghese
Belgium la Belgique il Belgio Luxembourg le Luxembourg il Lussemburgo
Bosnia la Bosnie la Bosnia Macedonia la Macédoine la Macedonia
Bosnian bosniaque bosniaco/a Macedonian macédonien/ne macedone
Brazil le Brésil il Brasile Malta Malte (f) Malta (f)
Brazilian brésilien/ne brasiliano/a Maltese maltais/e maltese
British brittanique britannico/a Netherlands les Pays Bas i Paesi Bassi
Bulgaria la Bulgarie la Bulgaria Dutch néerlandais/e olandese
Bulgarian bulgare bulgaro/a New Zealand la Nouvelle-Zélande la Nuova Zelanda
Canada le Canada il Canada New Zealander néo-zélandais/e neozelandese
Canadian canadien/ne canadese Norway la Norvège la Norvegia
China la Chine la Cina Norwegian norvégien/ne norvegese
Chinese chinois/e cinese Poland la Pologne la Polonia
Croatia la Croatie la Croazia Polish polonais/e polacco/a
Croatian croate croato/a Portuguese portugais/e portoghese
Czech tchèque ceco/a Portugal le Portugal il Portogallo
Czech Republic la République Tchèque la Repubblica Ceca Romanian roumain/e romeno/a
Danish danois/e danese Romania la Roumanie la Romania
Denmark le Danemark la Danimarca Russia la Russie la Russia
Egypt l'Egypte (f) l'Egitto Russian russe russo/a
Egyptian égyptien/e egiziano/a Scotland l'Ecosse la Scozia
England l'Angleterre (f) l'Inghilterra Scottish écossais/e scozzese
English anglais/e inglese Serbia la Serbie la Serbia
Estonia l'Estonie l'Estonia Serbian serbe serbo/a
Estonian estonien/ne estone Slovakia la Slovaquie la Slovacchia
Europe l'Europe (f) l'Europa Slovak slovaque slovacco/a
European européen/ne europeo/a Slovenia la Slovénie la Slovenia
Finland la Finlande la Finlandia Slovene slovène sloveno/a
Finnish finnois/e finlandese Spain l'Espagne (f) la Spagna
France la France la Francia Spanish espagnol/e spagnolo/a
French français/e francese Swedish suédois/e svedese
German allemand/e tedesco/a Sweden la Suède la Svezia
Germany l'Allemagne (f) la Germania Switzerland la Suisse la Svizzera
Great Britain la Grande-Bretagne la Gran Bretagna Swiss suisse svizzero/a
Greece la Grèce la Grecia Turkey la Turquie la Turchia
Greek grec/grecque greco/a Turk turc/turcque turco/a
Hungarian hongrois/e ungherese Ukrainian ukrainien/ne ucraino/a
Hungary la Hongrie l'Ungheria Ukraine l'Ukraine l'Ucraina
Iceland l'Islande l'Islanda United Kingdom la Royaume-Uni il Regno Unito
Icelandic islandais/e islandese United States les Etats-Unis gli Stati Uniti
India l'Inde l'India Wales le Pays-de-Galles Galles
Indian indien/ne indiano/a Welsh gallois/e gallese

The article is not used with Malta in either language.


Prepositions & Contractions

Prepositions are highly idiomatic in any language, so it is always better to learn them in common phrases. Nevertheless, here are the most common prepositions:

English French Italian
to, in, at à a
in, to en / dans in
on sur su
with avec con
without sans senza
for pour per
from, by de da
of de di
over / above au-dessus sopra
under / below au-dessous sotto
in front of devant di fronte a
behind derrière dietro
near près de vicino a
far loin de lontano a

In both languages, possession is shown by using de or di (of) rather than the - 's in English:

le chat de Luca / il gatto di Luca Luca's cat (or the cat of Luca)

In French à and de combine with the definite articles: à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des. Italian has several more contractions involving prepositions and articles:

il lo l' la i gli le
a al allo all' alla ai agli alle
da dal dallo dall' dalla dai dagli dalle
di del dello dell' della dei degli delle
in nel nello nell' nella nei negli nelle
su sul sullo sull' sulla sui sugli sulle
con col collo coll' colla coi cogli colle

Usually no article is used with in before words denoting rooms in a house or buildings in a city. The contractions with con are rarely used nowadays, but you will see them in older writings.


Verbs: Know

 
Present Tense
 
Past Tense
 
Future Tense
savoir / sapere - to know facts sais so   savais sapevo   saurai saprò
sais sai   savais sapevi   sauras saprai
sait sa   savait sapeva   saura saprà
savons sappiamo   savions sapevamo   saurons sapremo
savez sapete   saviez sapevate   saurez saprete
savent sanno   savaient sapevano   sauront sapranno
                 
connaître / conoscere - to know people, places;
to be acquainted with
connais conosco   connaissais conoscevo   connaîtrai conoscerò
connais conosci   connaissais conoscevi   connaîtras conoscerai
connaît conosce   connaissait conosceva   connaîtra conoscerà
connaissons conosciamo   connaissions conoscevamo   connaîtrons conosceremo
connaissez conoscete   connaissiez conoscevate   connaîtrez conoscerete
connaissent conoscono   connaissaient conoscevano   connaîtront conosceranno


Food & Meals

English French Italian English French Italian
bacon le bacon il lardo lunch le déjeuner il pranzo
beef le bœuf il manzo meal le repas il pasto
beer la bière la birra meat la viande la carne
beverage la boisson la bevanda milk le lait il latte
biscuit le biscuit il biscotto mustard la moutarde la mostarda
bread le pain il pane mutton le mouton la carne di montone
breakfast le petit déjeuner la colazione oil l'huile (f) l'olio
butter le beurre il burro omelet l'omelette (f) la frittata
cake la gâteau la torta pepper le poivre il pepe
candy le bonbon la caramella pie la tarte la torta
cheese le fromage il formaggio pork le porc il maiale
chicken le poulet il pollo rice le riz il riso
chocolate le chocolat il cioccolato roast le rôti l'arrosto
coffee le café il caffè roll le petit pain il panino
cookie le biscuit il biscotto salad la salade l'insalata
cottage cheese le fromage blanc la ricotta salami le salami il salame
cotton candy la barbe à papa lo zucchero filato salt le sel il sale
cream la crème la panna sauce la sauce la salsa
dessert le dessert la frutta sausage la saucisse la salsiccia
dinner le dîner la cena soup la soupe la minestra
egg l'œuf (m) l'uovo steak le bifteck la bistecca
fat la graisse il grasso stew la ragoût lo stufato
flour la farine la farina sugar le sucre lo zucchero
ham le jambon il prosciutto supper le souper la cena
hamburger le hamburger l'hamburger tea le thé il tè
honey le miel il miele toast le pain grillé il pane tostato
hot dog le hot-dog l'hot dog veal la veau la carne di vitello
ice la glace il ghiaccio vegetables le légume il legume
ice cream la glace il gelato vinegar le vinaigre l'aceto
jam la confiture la marmellata water l'eau l'acqua
juice le jus il succo wine le vin il vino
lollipop la sucette il leccalecca yogurt le yaourt lo yogurt


Verbs: Can, Want, Must

 
Present Tense
 
Past Tense
 
Future Tense
pouvoir / potere - to be able to, can peux posso   pouvais potevo   pourrai potrò
peux puoi   pouvais potevi   pourras potrai
peut può   pouvait poteva   pourra potrà
pouvons possiamo   pouvions potevamo   pourrons potremo
pouvez potete   pouviez potevate   pourrez potrete
peuvent possono   pouvaient potevano   pourront potranno
                 
vouloir / volere - to want veux voglio   voulais volevo   voudrai vorrò
veux vuoi   voulais volevi   voudras vorrai
veut vuole   voulait voleva   voudra vorrà
voulons vogliamo   voulions volevamo   voudrons vorremo
voulez volete   vouliez volevate   voudrez vorrete
veulent vogliono   voulaient volevano   voudront vorranno
                 
devoir / dovere - to have to, must dois devo   devais dovevo   devrai dovrò
dois devi   devais dovevi   devras dovrai
doit deve   devait doveva   devra dovrà
devons dobbiamo   devions dovevamo   devrons dovremo
devez dovete   deviez dovevate   devrez dovrete
doivent devono   devaient dovevano   devront dovranno


Fruits & Vegetables

English French Italian English French Italian
almond l'amande (f) la mandorla lentil la lentille la lenticchia
apple la pomme la mela lettuce la laitue la lattuga
apricot l'abricot (m) l'albicocca lime le citron vert la limetta
artichoke l'artichaut (m) il carciofo melon le melon il melone
asparagus l'asperge (f) l'asparago mint la menthe la menta
avocado l'avocat l'avocado mushroom le champignon il fungo
banana le banane la banana oats l'avoine (f) l'avena
barley l'orge (f) l'orzo olive l'olive (f) l'oliva
bean (broad) la fève la fava onion l'oignon (m) la cipolla
bean (kidney) le haricot il fagiolo orange l'orange (f) l'arancia
berry la baie la bacca parsley le persil il prezzemolo
broccoli le brocoli i broccoli pea le petit pois il pisello
cabbage le choux il cavolo peach la pêche la pesca
carrot la carotte la carota pear la poire la pera
cauliflower le chou-fleur il cavolfiore pepper le poivron il peperone
celery le céleri il sedano pine le pin il pino
cherry la cerise la ciliegia pineapple l'ananas (m) l'ananasso
chestnut la châtaigne, le marron la castagna plum la prune la susina
chives la ciboulette la cipollina potato la pomme de terre la patata
corn la maïs il granoturco pumpkin le potiron la zucca
cucumber le concombre il cetriolo radish le radis il ravanello
currant la groseille il ribes raspberry la framboise il lampone
cypress le cyprès il cipresso rice le riz il riso
date la datte il dattero rye le seigle la segale
eggplant l'aubergine (f) la melanzana sage la sauge la salvia
fig la figue il fico seed la graine il seme
fruit le fruit la frutta spinach les épinards (m) gli spinaci
garlic l'ail (m) l'aglio strawberry la fraise la fragola
grapefruit le pamplemousse il pompelmo tomato la tomate il pomodoro
grapes le raisin l'uva turnip le navet la rapa
hazelnut la noisette la nocciola vine la vigne la vite
herb l'herbe (f) l'erba walnut la noix la noce
horse-radish le raifort la barbaforte watermelon la pastèque l'anguria
leaf la feuille la foglia wheat le froment il frumento
lemon le citron il limone zucchini le courgette la zucchina

To specify the type of tree that a certain fruit grows on, just make the noun masculine and add -ier to the French fruit / change the last letter of the Italian fruit to -o (sometimes the fruit and the tree will be the same). la pomme / la mela - apple; le pommier / il melo - apple tree


There is, are : Il y a / C'e, ci sono

Il y a is the French expression for there is or are. C'è is Italian for there is, while ci sono means there are.

il y a une chaise / c'è una sedia there is a chair
il y a trois chats / ci sono tre gatti there are three cats

Il y a also means ago in French when it precedes a time period. In Italian, you add fa after the time period.

il y a un mois / un mese fa one month ago


Necessity: Il faut / Bisogna, Occorre, Ci vuole

To express necessity, such as must, have to, need (to), require, it's necessary to, etc. French uses il faut + verb or a noun (whether singular or plural). Italian has several more expressions: bisogna + verb; or occorre + verb; occorre + singular noun / occorrono + plural noun; or ci vuole + singular noun / ci vogliono + plural noun. The verbs will always be in the infinitive.

Il faut faire des courses. / Bisogna fare la spesa. You must / It's necessary to go grocery shopping.
Il faut acheter du pain. / Occorre comprare pane. You must buy bread.
Il faut du lait. / Occorre il latte. We need milk.
Il faut des biscuits. / Ci vogliono i biscotti. We need cookies.


Partitive

In French, you must always express some, especially when speaking about food, even though you do not have to do this in English. Partitives are formed by using de (of) + definite article: du, de l', de la and des in the positive; but in the negative, only de or d' are used. The partitive (contractions with di) is not required in Italian. You may use it in positive sentences, but never in negative sentences.

Est-ce que tu prends du vin ou de l'eau ? / Prendi (del) vino o (dell') acqua? Are you having (some) wine or (some) water?
J'ai acheté des livres intéressants. / Ho comprato (dei) libri interessanti.
I bought (some) interesting books.
Je n'ai pas passé de bonnes vacances. / Non ho passato buone vacanze. I didn't have a good vacation.


Go on to French & Italian III



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