Let's Speak Italian!

scrivere = to write leggere = to read credere = to believe vedere = to see Then to conjugate these infinitives, you will drop the 'ere' and add the following endings: io = add 'o' tu = add 'i' Lei/lui/lei = add 'e' noi = add 'iamo' voi = add 'ete' loro = add 'ono' So to conjugate the verb 'scrivere': io scrivo tu scrivi Lei/lui/lei scrive noi scriviamo voi scrivete loro scrivono Noi leggiamo il discorso. = We read the speech. Io leggo il giornale. = I read the newspaper. Susana vede la casa. = Susana saw the house. Loro credono la lezione = They believed the lesson.

lettera = letter discorso = speech stanza = room lezione = lesson giornale = newspaper lingua = language, tongue ogni = every sempre = always oggi = today ieri = yesterday domani = tomorrow dopodomani = day after tomorrow per = for se = if

Lui mangia la pizza. = He eats the pizza. Noi mangiamo la pasta. = We eat the pasta. Loro mangiano gli spaghetti. = They eat the spaghetti. Io studio il libro. = I study the book. Lei studia l'italiano. = She studies Italian. Antonio ama Claudia. = Antonio loves Claudia. Gli amici giocano il calcio. = The friends play soccer. To ask a question in Italian, you just say the sentence with a questioning inflection at the end of the sentence. Tu parli l'italiano. = You speak Italian Tu parli l'italiano? = Do you speak Italian? Another short cut you can do in Italian, is you can drop the pronoun entirely because the verb changes for every pronoun. For example, you can say Io compro il pane. = I buy the bread Or you can drop the 'io' and just say Compro il pane. = I buy the bread. Because the word 'compro' is only used with 'io,' you can drop the 'io' and it is apparent that you mean 'I buy.'

parlare = to speak cantare = to sing mangiare = to eat studiare = to study giocare = to play pensare = to think comprare = to buy imparare = to learn amare = to love Then to conjugate the infinitive, you will drop the 'are' and add the following endings: io = add 'o' tu = add 'i' Lei/lui/lei = add 'a' noi = add 'iamo' voi = add 'ate' loro = add 'ano' So, for example, here is how to conjugate the verb 'cantare.' cantare = to sing io canto = I sing tu canti = you sing Lei/lui/lei canta = you/he/she sings noi cantiamo = we sing voi cantate = you sing loro cantano = they sing

The seven ways to say 'the' are il, lo, l', la, i, gli, and le. Now here are the rules for deciding which of these forms to use. il = will precede masculine singular nouns that begin with a consonant, except words beginning with ps, pn, gn, z and s followed by a consonant. il libro = the book il ragazzo = the boy lo = will precede masculine singular nouns that begin with ps, pn, gn, z and s followed by a consonant. lo specchio = the mirror lo studente = the student l' = will precede all masculine and feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel. l'amico = the friend l'acqua = the water la = will precede all feminine singular nouns beginning with a consonant. la donna = the woman la ragazza = the girl i = is the plural form of il. i libri = the books i ragazzi = the boys gli = is the plural form of lo and l' for masculine plural nouns. gli specchi = the mirrors gli amici = the friends le = is the plural form of both la and l' for feminine plural nouns. le donne = the women le acque = the waters

ragazzo = boy ragazza = girl bambino = baby uomo = man donna = woman cane = dog gatto = cat acqua = water specchio = mirror pasta = pasta pane = bread verdure = vegetables gnocchi = Italian dumplings zucchero = sugar insalata = salad spaghetti = spaghetti

When the time is after the hour, add the word 'e' and the appropriate number of minutes. To indicate the half hour, use the phrase 'e mezza.' To indicate the quarter of the hour, use the phrase 'e un quarto.' e = and e mezza = and half e un quarto = and a quarter E' l'una e venticinque = It's 1:25 Sono le tre e dieci = It's 3:10 E' l'una e mezza = It's 1:30 Sono le quattro e mezza = It's 4:30 E' l'una e un quarto = It's 1:15 Sono le dieci e un quarto = It's 10:15 When the time is before the hour, use the word 'meno' and the appropriate number of minutes. meno = minus E' l'una meno cinque = It's five 'til one or 12:55 Sono le otto meno venti = It's twenty 'til eight or 7:40 E' l'una meno un quarto = It's fifteen 'til one or 12:45 Sono le sette meno un quarto = It's fifteen 'til seven or 6:45

giorno = day settimana = week mese = month anno = year minuto = minute ora = hour fa = ago orologio = clock, watch mezzogiorno = noon mezzanotte = midnight Che ore sono? = What time is it? E' l'una = It's one o'clock Sono le due = It's two o'clock E' mezzogiorno = It's noon E' mezzonotte = It's midnight

Sono stanco = I am tired (male) Sono stanca = I am tired (female) Ho fame = I am hungry Non lo so = I don't know Sei pronto? = Are you ready? (male) Sei pronta? = Are you ready? (female) Sono pronto = I am ready (male) Sono pronta = I am ready (female) colazione = breakfast pranzo = lunch cena = dinner, supper mattina = morning pomeriggio = afternoon sera = evening notte = night

camera = bedroom mensa = cafeteria libreria = bookstore bagno = bathroom a = to, at si' = yes no = no dove = where dov'e' = where is quando = when adesso = now cibo = food ma = but grazie = thank you prego = you're welcome forse = maybe, perhaps pronto = ready, but it's also what you say when you answer the telephone instead of saying 'hello.'  

ance = anza importance = importanza ence = enza intelligence = intelligenza ant = ante important = importante ent = ente student = studente ible = bile possible = possibile ist = ista dentist = dentista ly = mente generally = generalmente sion = sione mission = missione tion = zione station = stazione ty = ta' society = societa' Nouns ending in 'o' are generally masculine: amico = friend (male) libro = book Nouns ending in 'a' are generally feminine: amica = friend (female) casa = house Nouns ending in 'e' can be both and simply must be memorized: ristorante (m) = restaurant pane (m) = bread classe (f) = class notte (f) = night Words ending with a consonant are usually foreign words, and are usually masculine: bar, autobus, film, sport Change the 'o' to an 'i' to make it plural: amico = friend, amici = friends Change the 'a' to an 'e' to make it plural: chiesa = church, chiese = churches Change the 'ca' to a 'che' to make it plural: banca = bank, banche = banks Change the 'e' to an 'i' to make it plural: stud

20 = venti (we've already learned this one, but I thought I'd throw it in again.) 30 = trenta 40 = quaranta 50 = cinquanta 60 = sessanta 70 = settanta 80 = ottanta 90 = novanta 100 = cento 21 = ventuno (drop the vowel before the uno) 22 = ventidue 23 = ventitre' 24 = ventiquattro 25 = venticinque 26 = ventisei 27 = ventisette 28 = ventotto (drop the vowel before the otto) 29 = ventinove 30 = trenta 31 = trentuno 32 = trentadue 33 = trentatre' 34 = trentaquattro 35 = trentacinque 36 = trentasei 37 = trentasette 38 = trentotto 39 = trentanove 40 = quaranta 41 = quarantuno 42 = quarantadue 43 = quarantatre' 44 = quarantaquattro 45 = quarantacinque 46 = quarantasei 47 = quarantasette 48 = quarantotto 49 = quarantanove 50 = cinquanta 51 = cinquantuno 52 = cinquantadue 53 = cinquantatre' 54 = cinquantaquattro 55 = cinquantacinque 56 = cinquantasei 57 = cinquantasette 58 = cinquantotto 59 = cinquantanove 60 = sessanta 61 = sessantuno 62 = sessantadue 63 = sessantatre' 64 = sessantaquattro 65 = sessantacinque 66 = se

Ascoltate = Listen Leggete = Read Ripetete = Repeat Rispondete = Answer Scrivete = Write Aprite i libri = Open your books Chiudete i libri = Close your books Fate l'esercizio = Do the exercise Capite? = Do you understand? Ancora una volta! = One more time! Attenzione! = Be careful! or Pay attention! Giusto! = Correct! Benissimo! = Very good! Sbagliato! = Wrong! Tutti insieme! = All together! Va bene = OK Capisco = I understand Non capisco = I don't understand Come? = What? or How? or Say that again? Come si dice...? = How do you say...? Come si pronuncia...? = How do you pronounce...? Come si scrive...? = How do you spell...? Cosa vuol dire...? = What does...mean? Ripeta, per favore = Please repeat The Italians only really use 21 letters, but sometimes they do use the other 5 if the word is a non-Italian word containing one of those letters. The 5 letters that are not a part of the Italian alphabet are J, K, W, X, and Y. A = a B = bi C = ci D = di E = e F = effe G = gi H = acca I = i L = elle M = emme N = enn

Di dove sei (tu)? = Where are you from? (informal) Di dov'e' (Lei)? = Where are you from? (formal) Sono di...= I am from... Dov'e'...? = Where is...? Ecco... = Here is... And here are some famous cities and their Italian and English pronunciations. Roma = Rome Milano = Milan Venezia = Venice Firenze = Florence Napoli = Naples Italian Spelling = English Sound a = ah e = ay i = ee o = oh u = oo c (before e or i) = ch c (before other vowels) = k ch = k g (before e or i) = j g (before other vowels) = g (as in go) gh = g (as in go) gl = lli (as in million) gn = ny (as in canyon) h = always silent r = r (a single r should lightly rolled or trilled; a double rr is strongly rolled or trilled) s = s (but pronounced as a z when it comes between vowels) sc (before e or i) = sh sc (before other vowels) = sk sch = sk z (beginning of a word) = dz z (within a word) = ts zz = ts and sometimes dz io = I tu = you (informal) Lei = you (formal) lui = he lei = she noi = we voi = you (plural, formal and informal) loro = they The s

Ciao = Hi, bye Salve = Hello Buongiorno = Good morning, good day Buonasera = Good evening (Tanto) Piacere = (So) Nice to meet you Molto lieto/lieta = Very pleased to meet you Scusa = Excuse me (informal) Scusi = Excuse me (formal) Come ti chiami? = What is your name? (informal) Come si chiama? = What is your name? (formal) Mi chiamo... = My name is... E tu? = And you? (informal) E Lei? = And you? (formal) Come stai? = How are you? (informal) Come sta? = How are you? (formal) Come va? = How's it going? Sto bene = I'm fine Sto benone = I'm terrific Sto benissimo = I'm very well Sto molto bene = I'm very well Sto abbastanza bene = I'm quite well, or I'm well enough Sto cosi' cosi' = I'm so-so Sto male = I'm badly Non sto bene = I'm not well Non c'e' male = Not too bad Bene, grazie, e tu? = Fine, thank you, and you? (informal) Bene, grazie e Lei? = Fine, thank you, and you? (formal) Signore = Mr. Signora = Mrs. Signorina = Miss Avvocato = Lawyer Ingegnere = Engineer Professore = Masculine professor Professoressa

parlare = to speak io parlo = I speak tu parli = you speak (informal) Lei parla = you speak (formal) lui parla = he speaks lei parla = she speaks noi parliamo = we speak voi parlate = you speak (plural) loro parlano = they speak Inglese = English Francese = French Spagnolo = Spanish Tedesco = German Russo = Russian Giapponese = Japanese Italiano = Italian Parliamo Italiano = We speak Italian

libro = book penna = pen matita = pencil carta = paper quaderno = notebook or planner sedia = chair luce = light finestra = window scrivania = desk pagina = page porta = door

Change the 'o' to an 'i' to make it plural: amico = friend, amici = friends Change the 'a' to an 'e' to make it plural: chiesa = church, chiese = churches Change the 'ca' to a 'che' to make it plural: banca = bank, banche = banks Change the 'e' to an 'i' to make it plural: studente = student, studenti = students Most masculine words ending in 'io' you drop the 'o' to make it plural: negozio = store, negozi = stores Nouns ending with an accented vowel or a consonant do not change in the plural: caffe' = coffee shop, due caffe' = two coffee shops foto = photo, due foto = two photos

Nouns ending in 'o' are generally masculine: amico = friend (male) libro = book Nouns ending in 'a' are generally feminine: amica = friend (female) casa = house Nouns ending in 'e' can be both and simply must be memorized: ristorante (m) = restaurant pane (m) = bread classe (f) = class notte (f) = night Words ending with a consonant are usually foreign words, and are usually masculine: bar, autobus, film, sport

ance = anza importance = importanza ence = enza intelligence = intelligenza ant = ante important = importante ent = ente student = studente ible = bile possible = possibile ist = ista dentist = dentista ly = mente generally = generalmente sion = sione mission = missione tion = zione station = stazione ty = ta' society = societa'