The Most Wondrous Deconstruction of the Italian Language That You Ever Saw

Salve!

This mini-guide is to help you understand how Italian grammar works overall.

It’s not extensive into each tense, but it does give you an idea of how you would express yourself in different ways and which tense to use to do so.

I don’t go over the basics like how to conjugate verbs, what it means if a verb is regular or irregular, or pronunciation here.

If you’re looking for those, you’ll find them all here: The Mini Road Map for the Absolute Beginner in Italian

Below you’ll see an example sentence of what you would want to express and then the topic of grammar below it.

Buon divertimento

1

The apple is red. How to describe something

•La mela è rossa. - The apple is red.

Notice that this sentence structure is the same as in English.

--> Subject (la mela) + verb (è) + adjective (rossa).

Also since “la mela” is a feminine noun and singular, the adjective (rosso) matches its ending and becomes feminine and singular with (rossa).

•Lui è un uomo intelligente. - He is a smart guy.

Notice here that there is a slight shift in structure.

--> Subject (lui) + verb (è) + indefinite article (un) + noun (uomo) + adjective (intelligente)

Just like in the first example, since “uomo” is a masculine noun and singular, the adjective (intelligente)

2

matches it and becomes masculine and singular.

Compare that to the English sentence structure where the adjective would go before the noun.

Literally they’re saying here “He is a man intelligent.”

This is common in Italian although there are adjectives that have exceptions and will go before the noun.

Just can’t wait to find out what those adjectives are? Go here: How to Make Your Verbs, Adjectives, and Objects Agree in Italian

3

My husband, your sister, my carHow to talk about what someone owns or all about

possession

•Ogni tanto mio marito è maleducato. - Sometimes my husband is rude.

--> mio + marito = my husband

•Pensi che tua sorella vada all’università a Parigi? - Do you think that your sister is going to university in Paris?

--> tua + sorella = your sister

•La mia macchina è rotta. - My car is broken.

--> la + mia + macchina = my car

4

Give it to him.How to talk about indirect object pronouns

•Parlo a Lucia. –> Le parlo.

I’m talking to Lucia. --> I’m talking to her.

•Offriamo un caffé ad Alessandro. –> Gli offriamo un caffé.

We are offering a caffé to Alessandro. --> We are offering a caffé to him.

• - Quando rispondi a Lucia? - When will you respond to Lucia?

- Le rispondo domani. - I will respond to her tomorrow.

Soak up more grammar goodness here: The Grand Difference Between Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns (& Yes. You have to know them)

5

“Are you inviting Alessandro?” “Yes I am inviting Alessandro.”

How to avoid repetition with direct object pronouns

• - Inviti Alessandro? - Are you inviting Alessandro?

- Sì, lo invito. - Yes. I’m inviting him.

•Prendo le fragole dal frigo –> Le prendo dal frigo.

I’m taking the strawberries from the fridge. --> I’m taking them from the fridge.

•Dovremmo chiamare Leonardo? (Should we call Leonardo?)

- Sì, dovremmo chiamarlo. (Yes, we should call him.)

Soak up more grammar goodness here: The Grand Difference Between Direct & Indirect Object Pronouns (& Yes. You have to know them)

6

I’m (right now) singing a song by Mina.How to talk about something that’s happening in the

moment

There are a handful of ways to talk about what’s happening in the present, and one of the most precise ones is the gerund that’s used to talk about what’s happening right now in this exact moment.

•Sto cantando una canzone di Mina. – I’m singing a song by Mina (in this moment).•Stai mangiando un cannolo. – You are eating a cannoli (in this moment).•Sta uscendo. – He/she is going out (in this moment).

See more gerund tense action here: The Present Tense Gerund in Italian (or how Italians express the -ing tense)

If you are just talking about something less specific, then you would use the present indicative tense. For the most part you’ll use the present indicative tense.

•Oggi vado al supermercato a comprare delle uova ed il burro. Cosa ti serve? - Today I’m going to the supermarket to buy eggs and butter. What do you need?

7

•Stasera rimango a casa, perché sono troppo stanca. - Tonight I’m staying at home because I’m too tired.

Want to bask in all that is the present tense? Read this: The Present Indicative Tense in Italian

When do you use the gerund tense and when do you use the present indicative tense?

You use the present indicative to express: actions that you do or an action that will happen in the near future, expressing facts, and talking about things that are certain

You use the gerund tense when talking about something that’s happening right in the moment

So what do you use to talk about everything else - like your opinions, emotions, thoughts, doubts, fears?

Pssssst. Scroll down!

8

I am glad that you made breakfast!How to talk about your opinions, thoughts, emotions,

doubts, and fears

The third way you can talk about what’s happening in the present is with something called the subjunctive mood (il congiuntivo).

This is the tense you use when talking about your opinions, thoughts, emotions, doubts and fears. A lot of stuff, right?

You’ll most often see certain verbs that trigger it like “pensare - to think”, “dubitare - to doubt”, etc., followed by “che”.

•Mi fa piacere che facciate colazione. - I am glad that you all made breakfast.•Penso che io debba comprare qualcosa qui.. - I think that I should buy something here.•Sono triste che tu non venga stasera. - I am sad that you are not going out tonight.

Want to wrap yourself up in the beauty of the subjunctive mood? Go right ahead: The Present Subjunctive Mood in Italian (or the mood that even Italians are confused about)

9

I wash myself.How to talk about the things you do to yourself

When you do actions that affect yourself, you tend to use the reflexive tense in Italian.

These verbs typically end in “si” like “lavarsi - to wash oneself”.

•Mi lavo. - I wash myself.•Bella e Edward si baciano. – Bella and Edward kiss each other.•Katniss si sente male. – Katniss feels sick. (The Hunger Games will do that to you).

To find out more about this mysterious tense, go here: Present Tense Reflexive Verbs in Italian (or the tense that’s all about you)

10

We’ve been living here for seven years.How to talk about something that happened in the past

There are lots of ways to talk about things that happened in the past, but the three most prominent ones are the imperfect tense (imperfetto), the past tense (passato prossimo), and the past reflexive tense.

IMPERFECT

This is the one you use when talking about actions that happened over and over again in the past. You also use it to describe emotions, weather, and the time in the past.

•Ci abitavamo da sette anni. - We have been living there for 7 years.

•Da bambina, leggevo tutti i giorni. - When I was a kid, I read everyday.

•Ero stanca. - I was tired.

•Mentre mangiava, Justin Bieber cantava. - While she was eating, Justin Bieber was singing.

11

Want to dive into the imperfect tense? Start here: The Imperfect Tense in Italian (or the tense that lets you sweetly reminisce on the old days)

PASSATO PROSSIMO

This is the one that you would use to describe things in the past that happened and are now over. As you can see with the example, you use the passato prossimo with the verb “nascere - to be born”

because it only happens once for one moment in time and doesn’t keep happening. (This is considering that philosophy is off the table.)

•Dove sei nata? – Where were you born? •Sono nata a Parigi. - I was born in Paris.

Want to show some loving to the passato prossimo? Go here: The Past Tense in Italian (Because even though we shouldn’t live in it we need to talk about it)

12

PAST REFLEXIVE TENSE

•Mi sono lavato/a. - I washed myself.

Notice here that you use “essere (sono)” to support the reflexive verb and that means that the past participle (lavato) needs to match in gender and number.

Since I’m just one girl, it ends in an -a.

•Ci siamo vestiti/e. - We dressed ourselves.

Notice here that the pronoun changes to to “ci” for “us”.The form of “essere” changes to reflect the “we” form (siamo). The past participle (vestito) changes to match in gender and number.

If it’s all men or a mix of men and women, it would end in an -i.

13

I will give it to you.How to talk about the future

•Te lo darò. - I will give it to you.•Partiranno per Milano dopo che Maria avrà finito la scuola. - They will leave for Milan after Maria

has finished school.•Frodo comincerà a camminare verso Mordor. - Frodo will start walking to Mordor.

To learn about all that is the future tense, dive in here: The Future Tense in Italian (or how to fall head over heels in love with the future)

14

If I was in your place, I would look for a job. How to talk about possibility

This is where the conditional tense comes in, and it’s such a useful one to master. It’s what I call the “would, could, should” tense.

• Io al tuo posto cercherei un lavoro. – If I was in your place, I would look for a job.

Want to master it? Start here: The Present Conditional Tense in Italian (or the tense that finally lets you express yourself in Italian)

15

If I were a giraffe, I would eat leaves. How to talk about possibility, part II

This is called the imperfect subjunctive mood. So like I mentioned with the subjunctive mood, you use it to express desires, wishes, opinions, thoughts, doubts, fears....but in the hypothetical sense.

•Se fossi una giraffa, mangerei le foglie. – If I were a giraffe, I would eat leaves.•Se avessero tempo, imparerebbero a ballare. – If they had time, they would learn to dance.•Magari fosse vero. – If only it were true.

Want to be enamored by this mood? Go here: The Imperfect Subjunctive Mood in Italian (or how to let go of reality and dream big in Italian)

16

Don’t go up!How to give commands

When giving commands, you use the imperative mood.

•Non salire! – Don’t go up!•Non mangiare! – Don’t eat!•Non leggere! – Don’t read!

If you were using an “-are” verb and talking to someone informally with a verb like “mangiare - to eat”, you would say:

•Mangia! - Eat!

With verbs that end in -ire, like partire (to leave), the conjugation looks like this:

•Lei –> Parta!•Loro –> Partano!

Savor the imperative mood here: The Imperative Mood in Italian (or how to be demanding and give advice in Italian)

17

How to talk about what you do or don’t like

The first one you would use for nouns that are singular, like one purse, Italy, or cake.

•Mi piace l’Italia. - I like Italy.

This one below is the one you would use for nouns that are plural, like strawberries, cakes, or shoes.

•Mi piacciono le fragole. - I like strawberries.•Ti piacciono le fragole? - Do you like strawberries?•Gli piacciono le fragole? - Does he like strawberries?•Le piacciono le fragole? - Does she like strawberries?•Ci piacciono le fragole. - We like strawberries.•Vi piacciono le fragole? - Do you all like strawberries?•A loro piacciono le fragole? - Do they like strawberries?

18

How to talk about what you do or don’t want

•Vorrei un caffé. - I would like an espresso. •Non vorrei andarci. - I would not like to go there.

“Vorrei - I would like” comes from the conditional tense.

19

I had already visited the Colosseum before she arrived in Rome.

How to talk about what you’ve already done

To form these kinds of sentences, you would use the trapassato prossimo.

•Prima che lei fosse arrivato, avevo già visitato il colosseo. - Before she arrived, I had already visited the Colosseum.

•Non volevo portare l’anello che il mio ex mi aveva regalato. - I didn’t want to wear the ring that my ex had given me.

You could also use it to talk about hypothetical situations.

•Se fossi andato/a a Roma il mese scorso, sarei stato/a triste, perché faceva brutto tempo. - If I had gone to Rome last month, I would have been sad because it was really bad weather.

20

How to talk about the distant (historical) past

To talk about the distant past (particularly with historical events), you would use the passato remoto.

•Parigi diventò la capitale della Francia nel 508 AD. – Paris became the capital of France in 508 AD.

•Yoko e John partirono per gli Stati Uniti nel 1971. – Yoko and John traveled to the United States in 1971.

Don’t just admire the passato remoto from a distance! Get to know it better here: The Passato Remoto Tense in Italian (or how to relax in the midst of grammatical

chaos)

21

There is also the trapassato remoto for sentences like the ones below.

•Coco Chanel arrivò non appena Captain Caput fu partito. – Coco Chanel came just as Captain Caput had left.

• Il mondo ascoltò i Beatles solo dopo che John Lennon ebbe cantato “All You Need is Love.” – The world heard the Beatles only after John Lennon had sung the song “All You Need is Love.”

Come on. You know you want to know more: The Trapassato Remoto Tense in Italian

22

About the AuthorMy name is Cher Hale, and I am the creator of the site The Iceberg Project.

I want to live in a world where people use each day as another adventure in their lives. A world where people develop friendships across borders and deepen their understanding and compassion for the human race.

I’m a total nerd (I adore Lord of the Rings and geek out over anything remotely related to magic) and an absolute lover of all foreign languages. My goal is to learn 25 languages in 25 years and to take the world along for the ride.

At the end of my life, I want to be known for being kind to everyone, for spreading smiles like wildfire, and for loving deeply.

Want to email me to say hi, offer some loving criticism or ask me to add some phrases? Do so at cher@cherhale.com.

23