Grammar

You'll never sound like an Italian native if you persist in repeating linguistic "dead giveaways"—that is, grammatical mistakes, habits, or tics that always identifies a native English speaker regardless of how competent that person is in Italian.

Determined to finally speak Italian fluently, the author heads to Rome and is shocked at how little she knows. A trip to the supermarket introduces her to rapid-fire two-word exchanges instead of familiar classroom dialogs.

There are many types of Italian friends, for example: amici del cuore (close friends), amici fraterni (fraternal friends), and amici d'infanzia (childhood friends). One type of Italian friend to beware of, though, is the falso amico.

Gent.li Sig.ri! Dealing with bureaucracy in your own country is challenging enough, so imagine the difficulty of writing a letter in Italian to request a copy of vital documents, contact long-lost relatives in Italy, or reserve a hotel room.

How to count in Italian from one to one hundred. Includes a discussion of Italian cardinal numbers from 1 - 100, and links to workbook exercises.

How to count in Italian from one hundred and greater. Includes a discussion of Italian cardinal numbers 100 and greater, and links to workbook exercises.

Overhearing conversations, the author understands more than she should. Why was that Italian woman greeting her lover good evening at nine o'clock in the morning. And why hadn't he known she was in Rome?

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Ever hear someone use that expression to indicate multiple unspecified people? In Italian, the analogous phrase is: ogni Tizio, Caio, e Sempronio.

Avoiding, then confronting, and finally mastering numbers, Bonnie orders theater tickets over the phone. Will she have seats close to the stage, or will she be need binoculars to see the performance?

Learning to order coffee correctly, the author finally fits in, but not before conquering double consonants.

Usually one of the first Italian language lessons that beginners study is Italian subject pronouns. Too often, though, there's a whole subset of Italian subject pronouns that's given scant attention.

Italian quotation marks (le virgolette) are sometimes treated as an afterthought in the classroom and in textbooks, but to English-speaking natives reading Italian newspapers, magazines, or books, it's fairly obvious that there are differences in both the symbols themselves and how they are used.

Emboldened by her language successes and shocked by her shaggy reflection in the salon window, Bonnie decides to brave a haircut. Will the hairdresser slip clients in front of her? Will she sit wet-headed forever?

Enjoying her last night in Rome, Bonnie receives a compliment and makes a promise to return to Italy. Only next time maybe she'll stay a long, long time and finally become fluent.

There are ways to speak Italian quickly, and there are tips and tricks they don't teach in Italian language school. Conversely, there are methods and approaches that will slow down your progress and only prove frustrating and demotivating. You might have the best intentions, but here are ten sure-fire ways how not to learn Italian.

Who is Carlo? Where is the train station? What time is it? Why do Italians talk with their hands? How do you make gnocchi? This How-To will help you ask all the right questions!

As if learning a new language weren't difficult enough, romance languages such as Italian have separate forms of address in formal versus informal situations. This quick How-To will help you choose the correct form.

Suffixes for Italian nouns (including proper names) and adjectives can take on various shades of meaning by adding different suffixes. This How-To will help you expand your vocabulary and creatively describe nouns and adjectives.

In early Italian, the use of various forms of the definite article was somewhat different than today. The form lo was more frequent than in modern Italian, and it was also used in many cases in which il was subsequently called for.

Shopping for lotion in her no-tourist neighborhood, Bonnie discovers the dangers of full-immersion. She becomes immersed in Italian, but not in the way her Italian teachers had in mind.

In Italian, the apostrophe (apostrofo) is generally used to indicate the dropping of the final vowel before the word that follows it.

In Italian the article (articolo) is a variable part of speech that precedes the noun and agrees with it in gender and number.

Italian conjunctions (congiunzioni) are invariable words that combine two or more words in a sentence or two or more clauses in a phrase.

A list of Italian conjunctions, from a meno che to tuttavia.

Italian coordinating conjunctions (congiunzioni coordinative) combine two elements of the same period or two independent clauses together.

Italian Subordinating Conjunctions

Multipurpose conjunctions (congiunzioni polivalenti) are those conjunctions that may have different meanings. In Italian, the conjunctions che, come, mentre, perché, quando, and se may have more than one grammatical function and thus can be used in different ways.

In Italian, the definite article (articolo determinativo) is placed before the noun to indicate a precise, quantifiable object or person.

In Italian, the indefinite article (articolo indeterminativo) is placed before the noun to indicate a generic, uncountable object or person.

In Italian, the partitive article (articolo partitivo) is used to indicate imprecise or approximate quantities.

Many words that are capitalized in English are not capitalized in Italian. These include: the days of the week, the months of the year, proper adjectives, a few proper nouns, and titles such as Mr., Mrs., and Miss.

In Italian, degree of comparison adjectives (gradi dell'aggettivo) are used to compare people, places, or things.

Italian demonstrative adjectives (aggettivi dimostrativi) indicates the closeness or distance in space or time, of beings or objects with respect to the speaker or listener, or both.

Italian demonstrative pronouns (pronomi dimostrativi) indicate the position relative to the speaker, listener, or both.

Italian indefinite pronouns (pronomi indefiniti) refer in general (rather than specific) terms to persons, places, or things without specifying the noun that they replace.

Interrogative pronouns (pronomi interrogativi) are used to introduce a question. They are: chi?, che?, che cosa?, quale?, and quanto?

In Italian, personal pronouns (pronomi personali) are pronouns used as substitutes for proper or common nouns. There are three forms in the singular and three forms in the plural.

Understanding Italian reflexive pronouns (pronomi riflessivi), including usage and examples. Includes workbook exercises on Italian reflexive pronouns with answer key.

In Italian, relative pronouns (pronomi relativi), in addition to substituting for a noun, relate two propositions.

Italian indefinite adjectives (aggettivi interrogativi) signify undefined or non-specific persons or things. Some of the terms are only adjectives, while others may also be used as pronouns.

Italian numerical adjectives (aggettivi numerali) are used to count and can represent a quantity, a position in an order, fractions, distributions, a multiplied quantity, or items in a collection.

In Italian, the possessive adjective (aggettivo possessivo) expresses the relationship between a person and an object or the relationship between two people.

Researchers recently studied Italian and British college students and found that the Italians read and process information faster, even when reading words from other languages.

The most effective way to learn Italian is to start studying! Whether it's reading an Italian textbook, taking a language course at a university or in Italy, completing workbook exercises, listening to a tape or CD, or conversing with a native Italian speaker, any method is appropriate.

That's the theme chosen for the eighth annual Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo (Italian Language in the World Week), which will take place from October 20th to the 26th in Italy.

That's the theme chosen for the second annual Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo. The initiative, inaugurated with much success in 2001 both in Italy and abroad, renews the commitment of Italian institutions to the promotion and diffusion of the Italian language and culture.

Sometimes an Italian noun can be modified to express a particular quality without using a qualifying adjective. These nouns are created by taking the root of the noun and adding a suffix. Italian nouns formed this way are called i nomi alterati (altered, or modified, nouns).

All nouns in Italian have a gender; that is, they are either masculine or feminine. They also have changes in their vowel endings to indicate number.

The Italian ordinal numbers correspond to English first, second, third, fourth, and so on. Italian ordinal numbers show the place in a sequence or in a numbered series.

For many Italian language speakers—even for those whom Italian is their madrelingua—the phrase parti del discorso might seem foreign. English speakers know the concept as "parts of speech," but it's probably a term vaguely remembered from grade school grammar. By tradition, grammarians recognize nine parts of speech in Italian.

In Italian, a preposition (preposizione) is an invariable part of speech that links words and phrases. It specifies a reciprocal relationship and the syntactical function of the word, phrase or sentence that follows it.

In Italian, the preposition a expresses the meaning of "direction" and has a wide range of uses.

The Italian preposition da.

In Italian, the preposition di expresses the meaning of "belonging to someone or something." This ownership can translate into a wide variety of specificity, and indicate origin or provenance, kinship, material, quality, and comparisons.

In Italian, the preposition in expresses the sense of sharing a place, either in time or space, and can also indicate an encounter with someone or something.

Italy has declared war on officialese, vowing to simplify the way the state communicates with its citizens. A project called Chiaro! aims to rid the language used in bureaucratic texts of complex clauses and confusing terms.

In the Italian language la d eufonica is an euphonic phenomenon, in both spoken and written Italian, in which the letter d is appended to the words a (to, at, in), e (and), and o (or) when the following word begins with a vowel.

If you've decided to learn Italian again after years of inactivity, think of it like restarting a workout program to get back into shape. Review the fundamentals first to reactivate your linguistic muscles, and commit to practicing Italian as often as possible to increase your word power.

Ignoring her embarrassing first attempts, the author seizes the chance to talk to her neighbors, and in the process learns everything she ever wanted to know about the weather in Rome.

Bonnie Smetts first fell in love with Italian when she decided to take a few classes before visiting a friend who’d moved to Umbria. Five years later, she’s studied all the grammar, read stacks of classics, and participated in myriad conversation groups. Read all about one woman’s twelve-part adventure in fluency.

What comes to mind when you hear the word romance? Champagne and chocolates, candle-lit dinners, soft music, and Valentine's Day. Not many people will think Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese. So what are Romance languages and why is Italian part of this group?

Thinking she has figured out how to shop in the outdoor market, the author ends up with a surprise. When Bonnie discovers that she's actually bought ground meat and buns, she makes hamburgers—not what she expected to be eating in Italy.

Struggling to understand Italian as spoken in Rome, Bonnie makes mistakes and learns a new language. Little did she know that the Roman dialect chews up familiar words and spits out new ones.

Even though Dante isn't alive today to answer email about Italian grammar, usage, and style, there are practical alternatives that can be every bit as authoritative and offer realtime assistance to master the Italian language.

Usage of the formal and informal Italian subject pronouns tu, voi, Lei, and Loro.

Historical background on the courteous form of address in Italian.

Feeling more confident in her Italian, Bonnie is embarrassed by mistaking Spanish for Italian. Down in the Roman catacombs, she discovers that she's joined a Spanish-speaking tour group and can't decide which language to respond in.

Take a class in Italian language, and you'll review definite articles, direct object pronouns, and prepositions. But at a certain point, you'll want to learn some shortcuts and quick pointers that will supercharge your lessons.

We live in an era of E–ZPass highway lanes, instant messaging, and microwave pizza. Even language instructors promise that you can learn Italian in just one weekend! In the spirit of these hyperactive times, then, here are ten great ways to speak Italian quickly and effectively while divertendoti.

The secret to learning Italian? Practice, practice, practice. Any method is appropriate, whether it's reading an Italian textbook, taking a language course at a university or local language school, or conversing with a native Italian speaker.

What was already a comprehensive approach to learning la bella lingua has now become an even more exhaustive resource with new and exciting features that will enrich your Italian language learning experience and motivate you in unimaginable ways.

If you want to learn Italian, forget your native tongue. If you want to achieve competency in Italian, you must think like an Italian—and that means getting rid of the helpers that are really hindrances and standing on your own two (linguistic) feet.

There are Italian language learning materials for all levels of proficiency. Here is a list of recommended study materials such as grammar books, vocabulary phrase books, CDs, and tapes to help you improve your language skills.

There are a number of Italian texts, both classic and contemporary, that are must-reads for anyone interested in the history, culture, and language of Italy. Whether it's a trip to hell and back, a year's worth of love poems, or ribald, coarse humor during the plague, there's a tale for everyone.

Do you want to learn Italian, or do you want to spend your time coming up with excuses for why you can't learn Italian? Like other self-improvement activities you can convince yourself with a multitude of excuses why you can't pronounce Italian words or conjugate Italian verbs, or you can use that time and energy to learn Italian.

Adjectives in Italian: form, agreement, and position.

Italian personal pronouns, which replace nouns, are used in a variety of instances. Examples of Italian personal pronouns (pronomi personali) include io, tu, egli, and ella in the singular, and noi, voi, essi, and esse in the plural.

No matter what your motivation--the opportunity to work overseas, cultural exchange in a land steeped in history and culture, researching your genealogy, or studying other topics such as Italian literature or art history--you can discover new worlds when learning Italian.

Wanting a social life, Bonnie struggles to master her cell phone and text messaging in Italian. It seems as if SMS is the new way of writing and communicating in Italian.

E-commerce site featuring packs of photocopy masters suitable for use by school, college, and university students. The four grammar and homework packs cover all areas of Italian grammar and include exercises, puzzles, and activities.

Advanced guide to grammar, usage, and style in Italian.

Online grammatical lessons arranged by level, part of the Italian Language Update School Service.

How to write a letter in Italian. Includes labeled examples of personal, professional, and business correspondance as well as instructions on how to address an envelope, common abbreviations, and a comprehensive list of phrases and sayings for many occasions. [in Italian]

Detailed style guide to the rules and regulations for writing a formal paper or tesi di laurea in Italian, including formatting bibliography entries and citations. [in Italian]

Articles on linguistics, grammar tips, a list of online dictionaries, and other resources. For Italian language learners, those interested in Italian linguistics, translators, and interpreters. [in Italian and English]

There is no secret, no Rosetta Stone, no silver bullet, when it comes to learning the Italian language. You have to listen and repeat ad nauseum.

Italian Interjections

The Italian preposition con expresses the meaning.

The Italian preposition su expresses the meaning.