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Italian I Tutorial

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1. Some Basic Phrases

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

Italian is a very phonetic language, so pronunciation should be easy.  Most words are pronounced exactly like they are spelled. There are only seven vowels, but several dipthongs and triphthongs.

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

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.

3.  Alphabet

4.  Definite and Indefinite Articles and Demonstratives

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.

Note:  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

Note:  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.

6. To Be and to Have

Note:  You do not have to use the subject pronouns as the different conjugations imply the subject.

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 (number) anni - to be (number) years old

7. Useful Words

8. Question Words

Note:  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.

9. Numbers / Ordinals

Note:  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).  And be aware that Italian switches the use of commas and decimals.

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

Note:  To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc., use il before lunedì through sabato, and la before domenica.

11. Months of the Year

Note:  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. Un mese fa means a month ago and l'anno scorso means last year.

12. Seasons

Note:  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.

13. Directions

14. Color

Note:  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.

15. Time

16. Weather

17. Family and Animals

18. To Know People and Facts

Note:  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.

19. Formation of Plural Nouns

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.

Note:  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.

20. Possessive Adjectives

Note:  You may leave off the il and la before family relation words in the singular.  All other times, you must use them.  Notice that loro does not change.

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