Last Update: Sunday, April 6, 2008

Italian II Tutorial

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21. To Do or Make

Che cosa fa? What do you do (as a profession)?
Che facoltà fa? What's your major?
Faccio architettura. I'm studying/majoring in architecture.

Idomatic expressions used with fare:
fare una domanda - to ask a question
fare un viaggio - to take a trip
fare un bagno - to take a bath
fare una passeggiata - to take a walk
fare attenzione - to pay attention
fare un piacere - to do a favor
fare una conferenza - to give a lecture
fare (profession) - to be a (profession)

22. Work and School

23. Prepositions

24. Prepositional Contractions

Note:  The only contractions for con that are still used nowadays are col and coi.  But even these contractions are optional.

Usually no article is used with in before words denoting rooms in a house or buildings in a city.

Di is also used when showing possession. Italian does not have the -'s construction that English uses, so you must say that whatever is possessed is of the person.
Questo cane è di Marco. This dog is Marco's. / This is Marco's dog. (Literally: This dog is of Marco.)

25. Countries and Nationalities

Notes:  If the adjective is referring to a language, it will always be the masculine form. If the adjective is referring to a woman instead of a man, then the adjectives ending in -o change to end in -a. The adjectives ending in -e do not change for gender. Also, the adjective americano usually refers to someone living anywhere in the American continent, but many people do use it to mean a person from the United States, instead of statunitense.

When talking about your country of origin, it is more common in Italian to use the adjective of nationality. So, for example, instead of saying She is from Denmark, you would say She is Danish.

26. To and From Places

27. To Come and to Go

To make a verb negative, add non before it:  Non vengo a scuola in macchina.  I don't come to school by car.

If andare is followed by another infinitive, then a must be used before the infinitive. Vado a mangiare adesso. I'm going to eat now.

Other verbs conjugated in the same pattern as venire are:
avvenire - to happen, to occur
convenire - to convene
divenire - to become
provenire - to come from, to proceed
sovvenire - to help
svenire - to faint

Tenere (to keep) verbs are conjugated very similarly to venire too, except the voi form ends in -ete instead of -ite:
appartenere - to belong
contenere - to contain
intrattenere - to entertain
mantenere - to maintain
ottenere - to obtain
ritenere - to retain
sostenere - to sustain, to support
trattenere - to withhold, to detain

28. Conjugating Regular Verbs

To conjugate regular verbs, take off the last three letters (-are, -ere, or -ire) and add these endings to the stem:

The present tense and the preposition da may be used to describe an action which began in the past and is still continuing in the present.  The present perfect tense is used in English to convey this same concept.

Da quanto tempo Lei studia l'italiano?  How long have you been studying Italian?
Studio l'italiano da due anni.  I've been studying Italian for two years.

Proprio can be used to emphazie something and it translates as really or just.

Ho proprio sonno. I'm really sleepy.
Arrivo dalla banca proprio adesso. I just now got back from the bank.

29. Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs express actions performed by the subject on the subject.  These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, but a reflexive pronoun precedes the verb form.  This pronoun always agrees with the subject.  In the infinitive form, reflexive verbs have -si attached to them with the final e dropped.  Lavare is to wash, therefore lavarsi is to wash oneself.  (Note that some verbs are reflexive in Italian, but not in English.)

Io mi lavo. I wash myself.
Noi ci alziamo presto.  We get up early.
Si sveglia alle sette. She wakes up at seven.

The plural reflexive pronouns (ci, vi, si) can also be used with non-reflexive verbs to indicate a reciprocal action.  These verbs are called reciprocal verbs and are expressed by the words each other in English.

to embrace	abbracciarsi	to run into	incontrarsi
to help	aiutarsi	to fall in love with	innamorarsi
to kiss	baciarsi	to greet	salutarsi
to understand	capirsi	to write to	scriversi
to meet	conoscersi	to phone	telefonarsi
to exchange gifts	farsi regali	to see	vedersi
to look at	guardarsi

Ci scriviamo ogni settimana.  We write to each other every week.
Vi vedete spesso?  Do you see each other often?

30. Irregularities in Regular Verbs

Verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h before the -i and -iamo endings to keep the hard sound.  Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare do not repeat the i in front of the -i ending.

31. Past Indefinite Tense (Passato Prossimo)

To form this compound tense (something happened, something has happened, or something did happen), conjugate avere or sometimes essere and add the past participle.  To form the past participle, add these endings to the appropriate stem of the infinitives:

Verbs that can take a direct object are generally conjugated with avere.  Verbs that do not take a direct object (generally verbs of movement) are conjugated with essere and their past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Avere uses avere as its auxiliary verb, while essere uses essere as its auxiliary verb.  Negative sentences with the past indefinite tense are formed by placing non in front of the auxiliary verb. Common adverbs of time are placed between avere/essere and the past participle.

Io ho visitato Roma.  I visited Rome.
Tu non hai visitato gli Stati Uniti.  You didn't visit the United States.
Abbiamo conosciuto due ragazze.  We met two girls.
Maria è andata in Italia.  Maria went to Italy.  (Note the agreement of the past participle with the subject.)
Ho sempre avuto paura dei cani. I've always been afraid of dogs.

In addition, some verbs take on a different meaning in the past indefinite tense. Conoscere means to meet and sapere means to find out (or to hear) when used in the past indefinite.

32. Irregular Past Participles

Note:  Ho avuto means I have, I have had, or I did have.

33. Essere Verbs

These verbs that are conjugated with essere must agree with the subject.  Irregular past participles are in parentheses.

Note: Sono andato can mean I went, I was going, or I did go.  Remember that -o is masculine and -a is feminine.  The -i ending indicates all males or males and females; whereas the -e ending indicates only females.

34. Food and Meals

35. Piacere and Servire

Piacere - to like and Servire - to need

piaccio	piacciamo	servo	serviamo
piaci	piacete	servi	servite
piace	piacciono	serve	servono

Piacere (a) literally means "to be pleasing," so to form a sentence you have to invert the word order. You must also use the prepositional contractions with a.

Maria piace a Giovanni.  John likes Mary. (Literally: Mary is pleasing to John)
Gli studenti piacciono ai professori.  The teachers like the students. (Literally:  The students are pleasing to the teachers).

The most common forms are the third person singular and plural when used with object pronouns. The object pronouns that are used with these two verbs are somewhat similar to the reflexive pronouns:

So to say I like something, use Mi piace if it is singular and Mi piacciono if it is plural. Piaciuto is the past participle and it is used with essere. However, it always agrees with the subject (what is liked) instead of the person.

Mi piace cucinare. I like to cook.
Mi piacciono i treni.  I like trains.
Mi è piaciuta la bistecca. I liked the steak.
Non mi sono piaciuti gli spaghetti. I didn't like the spaghetti.

Servire has the same construction as piacere.  It is also used primarily in the third person singular and plural forms and takes an indirect object.

Ti servono della frutta?  Do you need any fruit? (Literally:  By you is needed some fruit?)
Il pane serve a Marco.  Marco needs the bread.  (Literally:  The bread is needed by Marco.)

Mancare can be used in the same way as piacere and servire to mean to miss or to lack. If used in the regular way, it means to be missing or absent.

Mi manchi. I miss you.
Chi manca? Who is missing?

36. Fruits, Vegetables and Meats

37. To Take, Eat or Drink

Note:  You must express some in Italian even though we leave it out in English.  Use the proper di contractions from the top of the page.  Or you can use un po' di, which literally means a little bit.  Bere is only used to mean to drink when it is used in the general sense, as is mangiare - to eat.

38. Commands

Note:  To make a command negative, add non before the command.  Except for the singular familiar commands, when you use non and the infinitive.

39. More Negatives

Note:  The non goes before the verb and the second part goes after.  Non ho niente. I have nothing.  

40. Holiday Phrases

by Goffredo Mameli

Fratelli d'Italia, l'Italia s'è desta,
Dell'elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa.
Dov'è la Vittoria? Le porga la chioma,
Ché schiava di Roma Iddio la creò.

Stringiamci a coorte, siam pronti alla morte,
siam pronti alla morte, l'Italia chiamò. Sì!

Italian brothers, Italy has arisen,
Has put on the helmet of Scipio,
Where is victory?
Created by God
The slave of Rome,
She crowns you with glory.
Let us unite,
We are ready to die,
Italy calls.

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