Italian Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-02-2023

As you're studying Italian, either on your own or in a course, keep this Cheat Sheet handy for a quick reference on articles, personal pronouns, tenses, and more.

Article / Updated 05-18-2023

Learning numbers and counting in Italian isn't complicated. In fact, the Italians follow many of the same patterns that we do in English. There are a few differences, but it's when it comes to numbers and counting in Italian, it's really just a question of memorizing. In Italian, as in English, there is a unique number from 0 – 16. After that they add the next number to the tens, making one word. So, 17, is the word for 10 followed by the word for 7 and so on. Numbers 1 to 19 in Italian uno 1 due 2 tre 3 quattro 4 cinque 5 sei 6 sette 7 otto 8 nove 9 dieci 10 undici 11 dodici 12 tredici 13 quattordici 14 quindici 15 sedici 16 diciassette 17 diciotto 18 diciannove 19 For the numbers in the twenties, thirties, forties, and so on, just add the number to the tens, with the exception of when you add a 1 or an 8. For these two numbers, drop the final "–i." For example, venti (20), ventuno (21), ventidue (22), venticinque (25), ventotto (28). See? It's not ventiuno or ventiotto. Numbers 20 to 99 in Italian venti 20 ventuno 21 ventidue 22 trenta 30 trentuno 31 quaranta 40 quarantuno 41 cinquanta 50 sessanta 60 settanta 70 ottanta 80 novanta 90 When you add the tre, the -e takes an accent: ventitrè. Larger numbers in Italian follow the same formula. Numbers 100 and higher in Italian 100 cento 101 centuno 102 centodue 150 centocinquanta 1,000 mille 2,000 duemila In Italian, large numbers are said in the same order that we use for English. For example, 1916 would be 1916 (millenovecentosedici) (literally: one thousand, nine hundred, and sixteen). The following phrases can help you when talking about numbers. Quanti anni hai? (How old are you?) Ho ventitrè anni. (I'm 23 years old.) Quanto viene? (How much does it come to?) Sei euro sessanta. (6 euros and 60 cents.) Quanto è per una camerasingola? (How much is it for a single room?) Centoventi euro. (120 Euros)

Article / Updated 03-15-2023

By mastering the basics of conversation in Italian, you put yourself and the person you're talking to at ease. Everyone should learn essential Italian conversational words and phrases before traveling to Italy. These words and expressions are sure to come up in most everyday conversations. Courteous phrases Being polite is just as important in Italy as anywhere else in this world. The following words and phrases cover most of the pleasantries required for polite conversation. After all, learning to say the expressions of common courtesy in Italian before traveling is just good manners. sì (yes) no (no) per favore; per piacere; per cortesia (please) Grazie (Thank you) Molte grazie (Thank you very much.) Prego! (You're welcome!) Si figuri! (It's nothing.) Mi scusi. (Excuse me.) prego (by all means) Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you please repeat.) Personal pronouns Once you've mastered the common pleasantries, the next important thing to learn is how to refer to people. The most common way is by using personal pronouns. In Italian, the pronouns (you and they) are complicated by gender and formality. You'll use slightly different variations of these words depending to whom you are referring and how well you know them. Io (I) lui (he) lei (she) noi (we) tu (you [singular]) lei (you [singular/formal]) voi (you (plural/informal]) loro (you (plural/formal]) loro (they) Use the informal tu (singular you) and voi (plural you) for friends, relatives, younger people, and people you know well. Use the formal lei (singular you) when speaking to people you don't know well; in situations such as in stores, restaurants, hotels, or pharmacies); and with professors, older people, and your friends' parents. The formal loro (plural you) is rarely used and is gradually being replaced by the informal voi when addressing a group of people. References to people When meeting people in Italy, be sure to use the appropriate formal title. Italians tend to use titles whenever possible. Use the Lei form when using any of the following titles. A man would be called Signore, which is the same as Mr. or Sir. An older or married woman is called Signora and a young lady is called Signorina. It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary term for referring to people based on their age, gender, or relationship to you. uomo (a man) donna (a woman) ragazzo (a boy) ragazza (a girl) bambino [M]; bambina [F] (a child) padre (a father) madre (a mother) figlio [M]; figlia [F] (child) fratello (a brother) sorella (a sister) marito (a husband) moglie (a wife) amico [M]; amica [F] (a friend) In Italian, there are four words to cover the English indefinite articles a and an. For masculine words, you would use uno if the word begins with a z or an s and a consonant and you would use un for the rest. For feminine words, you should use 'un for words beginning with a vowel and una for words beginning with a consonant. Phrases for travelers There are some Italian phrases that are particularly helpful to international travelers. Below are several phrases may come in handy during your stay in Italy. Mi scusi. (Excuse me. [Formal]) Non parlo bene l'italiano. (I don't speak Italian well.) Parla inglese? (Do you speak English? [Formal]) Parlo inglese. (I speak English.) Mi sono perso. [M]; Mi sono persa. [F] (I'm lost.) Sto cercando il mio albergo. (I'm looking for my hotel.) Sì, lo so. (Yes, I know.) Non lo so. (I don't know.) Non so dove sia. (I don't know where it is.) Non capisco. (I don't understand.) Capisco, grazie. (I understand, thanks.) Può ripetere, per cortesia? (Can you repeat, please? [Formal]) È bello. (It's beautiful.) È bellissimo. (It's very beautiful.) Vado a casa. (I'm going home.) Domani visitiamo Venezia. (We'll visit Venice tomorrow.) Due cappuccini, per favore. (Two cappuccinos, please.) Non lo so. (I don't know.) Non posso. (I can't.) Non potevo. (I couldn't.) Non lo faccio. (I won't do it.) Non dimenticare! (Don't forget!) Lei non mangia la carne. (She doesn't eat meat.) Non siamo americani. (We aren't American.) Il caffè non è buono. (The coffee isn't good.) Non è caro! (It's not expensive!) It's possible to use more than one negative in a sentence. For example, you may say Non capisce niente (He/she doesn't understand anything). Generally, you may just put non in front of your verb to negate your sentence, such as m'ama non m'ama (he/she loves me, he/she loves me not). Common places and locations It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary for some of the common places or locations that you might need or want while traveling in Italy. banca (bank) città (city) il consolato Americano (American consulate) il ristorante (restaurant) in campagna (in the country) in città (in the city) in montagna (in the mountains) l'albergo (hotel) l'ospedale (hospital) la casa (house) la polizia (police) la stazione dei treni (train station) metropolitana (subway) museo (museum) negozio (store) paese (country) spiaggia (beach) stato (state) ufficio (office)

Article / Updated 02-09-2023

Whether you're on a short visit to an Italian-speaking country or you're planning to take up residence in Italy itself, knowing how to order food in Italian is essential. Eating out can be a lot of fun, especially if you know some basic vocabulary. The Italian bar is really what Americans would call a café. There you can get breakfast (coffee and a pastry), snacks, sandwiches, and salty snacks to accompany your before-dinner drink. assegno (ahs-seh-nyoh) [m] (check) pagare (pah-gah-reh) (to pay) soldi (sohl-dee) [m/pl] (money) In Italian-speaking countries, as in most of the rest of the world, there are three meals a day: colazione (koh-lah-tsee-oh-neh) [f] (breakfast), pranzo (prahn-tsoh) [m] (lunch), and cena (cheh-nah) [f] (dinner). The following phrases might help you when you're eating at a restaurant. Vorrei prenotare. (I’d like to make a reservation.) Per che ora? (For what time?) Per quante persone? (For how many people?) No, non abbiamo prenotato. (No, we don’t have a reservation.) Ci porti il conto, per favore. [Formal] (Bring us the check, please.) Here are some food items you can order: antipasti (ahn-tee-pahs-tee) [m] (appetizers) carne (kahr-neh) [f] (meat) cioccolata (choh-koh-lah-tah) [f] (chocolate) formaggio (fohr-mahj-joh) [m] (cheese) fragola (frah-goh-lah) [f] (strawberry) frutta (froot-tah) [f] (fruit) gelato (jeh-lah-toh) [m] (ice cream) insalata (een-sah-lah-tah) [f] (salad) pane (pah-neh) [m] (bread) pesce (peh-cheh) [m] (fish) riso (ree-zoh) [m] (rice) sale (sah-leh) [m] (salt) verdura (vehr-doo-reh) [f] (vegetables) The following phrases can help you place your drink order. Un caffè, per favore. (A coffee, please.) Un bicchiere di latte caldo (A glass of warm milk) Una cioccolata calda (A hot chocolate) Tre birre (Three beers) Un bicchiere di acqua minerale (A glass of mineral water) Liscia o gassata? (Flat or carbonated?) Un panino, per favore. (I’ll have a sandwich, please.) Lo scontrino, per favore. (Receipt, please.) Due cappuccini, per favore. (Two cappuccinos, please.) Here are some drink items you can order acqua (ahk-koo-ah) [f] (water) vino (vee-noh) [m] (wine) bere (beh-reh) (to drink) birra (beer-rah) [f] (beer) caffè (kahf-feh) [m] (coffee) latte (laht-teh) [m] (milk) You might want to use the following adjectives to when giving your cameriere/cameriera (waiter/waitress) your food or drink order: calda/o (kahl-dah/doh) [f/m] (warm; hot) fredda/o (frehd-dah/doh) [f] (cold) dolce (dohl-cheh) [m/f] (sweet) grande (grahn-deh) [m/f] (big; tall; large) piccola/o (peek-koh-lah/loh) [f/m] (small; short) Italians don’t drink cappuccino after breakfast time.

Article / Updated 02-09-2023

Business contacts with people in other countries continues to increase in importance. Because modern technology supports the quick exchange of information over vast distances, you may have to talk to foreign business partners — or even travel to their countries. If you happen to have business contacts with Italian companies, knowing some basic Italian business vocabulary may be useful. Because English is the language of business, however, Italian has adopted many English computer and software terms. Italian has at least three words for "company" — la compagnia (lah kohm-pah-nyee-ah), la ditta (lah deet-tah) (which also means "the firm"), and la società (lah soh-cheh-tah). These words are virtually interchangeable. L'ufficio (loof-fee-choh) is Italian for "office," but people often use stanza (stahn-tsah) (room) to refer to their personal office. The following sentences give you a taste of the phrases you hear in uffici (oof-fee-chee) (offices) everywhere: La mia scrivania è troppo piccola. (lah mee-ah skree-vah-nee-ah eh trohp-poh peek-koh-lah) (My desk is too small.) È una grande società? (eh oo-nah grahn-deh soh-cheh-tah) (Is it a big company?) Non proprio, diciamo media. (nohn proh-pree-oh dee-chah-moh meh-dee-ah) (Not really, let's say medium-sized.) Lavora per una piccola agenzia. (lah-voh-rah pehr oo-nah peek-koh-lah ah-jehn-tsee-ah) (He works for a small agency.) Amo il mio lavoro. (ah-moh eel mee-oh lah-voh-roh) (I like my job.) To learn a language, you have to work, too. Here's the conjugation of the verb lavorare (lah-voh-rah-reh) (to work). Conjugation Pronunciation io lavoro ee-oh lah-voh-roh tu lavori too lah-voh-ree lui/lei lavora loo-ee/lay lah-voh-rah noi lavoriamo noh-ee lah-voh-ree-ah-moh voi lavorate voh-ee lah-voh-rah-teh loro lavorano loh-roh lah-voh-rah-noh S.p.A. is the Italian abbreviation for Società per Azioni (soh-cheh-tah pehr ah-tsee-oh-nee) (joint-stock company), whereas a S.A.S., Società in Accomandita Semplice (soh-cheh-tah een ahk-koh-mahn-dee-tah sehm-plee-cheh) is a limited partnership. Another type of company is an S.r.l. (Società a responsabilità limitata) (soh-cheh-tah ah rehs-pohn-sah-bee-lee-tah lee-mee-tah-tah) (public limited company, also know as a p.l.c.).

Article / Updated 12-14-2022

Of the 14 verb tenses in Italian, four are compound. A compound verb tense means that more than one verb is involved: You form them with a helping verb (essere, to be, or avere, to have), which is conjugated, and the past participle of another verb (mangiato, eaten; stato, was; dormito, slept). You translate Italian compound tenses according to the tense of the helping verb. Form the present perfect tense in Italian To form the present perfect tense in Italian, conjugate essere or avere in the present indicative tense and add a past participle. Notice that when you use essere, the ending of the past participle changes to show number and gender (singular, plural, masculine, feminine) of the subject. Essere (present tense) + past participle = present perfect Tu sei + venuto = You came (venuto is masculine and singular) Loro sono + venuti = They came (venuti is masculine and plural) Avere (present tense) + past participle = present perfect Riccardo ha + trovato = Riccardo found, has found Form the pluperfect tense in Italian To form the pluperfect tense in Italian, conjugate essere or avere in the imperfect indicative tense and add a past participle. Essere (imperfect) + past participle = pluperfect Laura era + arrivata = Laura had arrived Avere (imperfect) + past participle = pluperfect Voi avevate + mangiato = You all ate Form the future past tense in Italian To form what is called the future past tense in Italian: Conjugate essere or avere in the future indicative tense and add a past participle. Essere (future) + past participle = future past Noi saremo + partiti = We will have left Avere (future) + past participle = future past Gli studenti avranno + letto = The students will have read Form the conditional past tense in Italian To form the conditional past tense in Italian: Conjugate essere or avere in the conditional mood and add a past participle. Essere (conditional) + past particple = conditional past Io sarei + andato = I would have gone Avere (conditional) + past participle = conditional past Io avrei + cercato = I would have looked for

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-01-2022

Of all the vocabulary needed to speak a language, nothing is nearly as valuable as verbs. Without them, your language is stagnant and incapable of showing action. To make the most of Italian verbs, you can add prefixes and suffixes or the occasional adverb or pronoun and expand your Italian vocabulary exponentially.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-24-2022

The Italian language is adapting to the rhythms of modern life with the introduction of new idioms and the construction of simpler, more concise sentences and paragraphs. The basic rules of the Italian language, however, stay the same. Despite the ongoing transformation of the language, these rules remain the foundation that stabilizes it. Here are a few Italian fundamentals that you don't want to miss if you want to communicate in Italian.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 01-19-2022

Planning a trip to Italy? Learn some basic Italian to make it more fulfilling. Get to know Italian greetings, question words, numbers, and the days of the week. Also, be sure to know how to ask for help in Italian so you're prepared for emergencies. And something very important: how to order food and drink!

Article / Updated 10-01-2021

When traveling in Italy, you'll find that the Italian words and phrases you use most frequently will be the common greetings. The words and phrases will quickly become second nature as you use them day in and day out with everyone you come across. Saying hello and goodbye As you'd expect, you should use a polite greeting when you run into someone you know or want to know. But it's important to use the correct greeting depending on who the person is. So, you would use a different word for greeting your friend than you would for greeting your boss or teacher. The most common ways to greet someone in Italian are: Ciao (hello; hi [Informal]) Ciao! is the most common way of saying hello and goodbye informally. You should never use it with someone like a boss or a teacher or anyone else with whom you're using Lei (the formal version of you). Salve! (Hi; Bye [Formal/Informal]) Che piacere vederti! (How nice it is to see you! [Informal]) Buongiorno! (Hello; Good morning; Goodbye [Formal]) Buona sera! (Hello; Good evening; Goodbye [Formal]) Use the longer Buon giorno and Buona sera in more formal situations, like when you enter a store. There are also many ways to say goodbye: Ciao! (Hi; Bye [Informal]) Salve! (Hi; Bye [Formal/Informal]) Ciao! Ciao! (Bye-bye!) Buon giorno! (Hello; Good morning; Goodbye [Formal]) Buona sera! (Hello; Good evening; Goodbye [Formal]) Buona notte! (Good night! [Formal/Informal]) Use Buona notte! only when its bedtime and when you're taking leave of people at night and you think that everyone is going to bed. Arrivederci! (Goodbye! [Informal]) Arrivederla! (Goodbye! [Formal]) A dopo! (See you later! [Formal/Informal]) A presto! (See you soon! [Formal/Informal]) A domani! (See you tomorrow! [Formal/Informal]) A fra poco. (See you in a bit.) Cheek kissing is another common type of greeting in Italy, as it is in most European countries. However, in Italy, cheek kissing is reserved for greeting people you know well and is less common among men. To avoid bumping noses, the rule is to kiss left cheek first and then the right. When you meet someone for the first time, handshakes are much more common. As you get to know the other person, you move more into cheek-kissing territory. Asking and replying to "How are you?" How are you? How's it going? How many times a day do we hear or say these brief greetings at the beginning of our conversations? So many times, in fact, that half the time, we don't even pay attention. These pleasantries are common in Italy as well. The most common ways to ask how someone is doing are: Come stai? (How are you? [Informal]) Come sta? (How are you? [Formal]) As you'd expect, when someone asks you how you're doing, there are many responses. Sto bene! (I'm well!) Molto bene, grazie. (Very well, thanks.) Abbastanza bene, grazie. (Pretty well, thanks.) Non c'è male. (Pretty well, thanks.) Sto bene grazie, e tu? (I'm well, thanks, and you? [Informal]) Sto bene, grazie, e Lei? (I'm well, thanks, and you? [Formal]) Non sto bene.; Sto male. (I'm not well.) Malissimo! (Not well at all!) Va bene. (Things are going well.) Va tutto bene. (Everything's going well.) Va benissimo! (Things are going great!) Va male. (Things aren't going well.) Così così. (So so.) Non mi posso lamentare. (I can't complain.) Benissimo! (Great!) How to address people Italians like titles and tend to use them whenever possible. When addressing someone without using his or her last name, use the entire title as it's listed here. But when you add the person's last name to the title, you drop the final -e in the title. Use the Lei form when using any of the following titles: Miss (Signorina) Mrs.; Madam (Signora) Mister; Sir (Signore) professore [M]; professoressa [F] (professor) ingegnere (engineer) dottore [M]; dottoressa [F] (doctor) In Italian, dottore is used if the person has a university degree even though it's not a medical degree.