Learn Italian - Lesson One
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Lesson One - Italian Present Tense, Plural, Articles, Italian Numbers, Alphabet
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Text: Mi chiamo Paulo, ho 26 anni, vivo negli Stati Uniti, a Washington D.C, io parlo l’inglese è imparo l’italiano da un mese perché mi piacerebbe visitare l’Italia un giorno di questi. |
Read the text and see if you can understand anything, try not to look at the translation below the first time.
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Translation: My name is Paulo, I’m 26 years old, I live in the USA, in Washington D.C, I speak English, and I’ve been learning Italian for a month, because I would like to visit Italy one of these days. |
Italian Verbs
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Italian Present Tense |
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Regular verbs |
Irregular verbs |
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Pronouns |
Parlare (to speak) |
Credere (to believe) |
Partire (to leave) |
Finire (to finish) |
Essere (to be) |
Avere (to have) |
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I You He/She We You They |
Io Tu Lui/ lei Noi Voi Loro |
Parlo Parli Parla Parliamo Parlate Parlano |
Credo Credi Crede Crediamo Credete Credono |
Parto Parti Parte Partiamo Partite Partono |
Finisco Finisci Finisce Finiamo Finite Finiscono |
Sono Sei È Siamo Siete Sono |
Ho Hai Ha Abbiamo Avete Hanno |
The table above shows all types of Italian verbs in the present tense, verbs ending with (~are, ~ere, ~ire, ~ire type two) plus irregular verbs.
The blue font at the end of the verbs shows the endings that similar verbs may take, so it’s all about manipulating the endings…
But when it comes to irregular verbs they should be memorized by heart, since they don’t follow a logic rule.
Note that irregular verbs are used very often, that’s why you have to focus on them. Also note that the pronouns are optional to use, since you can understand the subject with the way a verb is conjugated, so for example: I speak can be either: io parlo, or simply “parlo”.
Note that “Lei” can mean (she or you formal). Italian books usually use “Egli/Ella” for “He/She” and “Essi/Esse” for “They”.
Italian Singular to Plural (Nouns & Adjectives)
Italian nouns and adjectives are different than the English ones, The Italian noun and adjective take 4 forms, usually nouns & adjectives take “o” at the end of the singular masculine, and “a” for singular feminine, for plural masculine “i”, plural feminine take “e”.
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Italian Singular to Plural |
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Singular masculine |
Singular feminine |
Plural masculine |
Plural feminine |
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Small Child/ Children |
Piccolo Bambino |
Piccola Bambina |
Piccoli Bambini |
Piccole Bambine |
However, it’s not always the case, some nouns and adjectives ending with “e” for example only change to their plural, the feminine or masculine doesn’t matter to them.
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Italian Singular to Plural |
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Singular masculine |
Singular feminine |
Plural masculine |
Plural feminine |
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Big Restaurant Night |
Grande Ristorante -- |
Grande -- Notte |
Grandi Ristoranti -- |
Grandi -- Notti |
Other exceptions are:
Nouns and adjectives ending in ~co/~ca and ~go/~ga are spelt ~chi/~che and ~ghi/~ghe in the plural; these modifications are made simply to maintain the same sound in the plural as well as the singular.
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Singular masculine |
Singular feminine |
Plural masculine |
Plural feminine |
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White Rich Mushroom Lines |
Bianco Ricco Fungo |
Bianca Ricca -- Riga |
Bianchi Ricchi Funghi |
Bianche Ricche -- Righe |
The Definite Articles
In Italian, the English “the” is expressed in a more specific way.
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Italian Definite Articles |
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Masculine Singular à Plural |
Feminine Singular à Plural |
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il à i [il bambino (the child) à i bambini (the children] lo à gli (used only before word starting with sc/sp/st/gn/z) [lo stato (the state) à gli stati (the states)] l’ à gli [used only before vowels l’uomo (the man) à gli uomini (men)] |
la à le [la donna (the woman) à le donne (women)] l’ à le [used only before vowels, l’isola (the island) à le isole (the islands)] |
The Indefinite Articles
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Italian Indefinite Articles |
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Masculine Singular |
Feminine Singular |
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Un (a book = un libro) Uno (used only before word starting with sc/sp/st/gn/z) example: (a student = uno studente) |
Una (a woman = una donna) Un’ (used only before feminine nouns with a vowel, instead for masculine nouns with a vowel it’s used Un) example: (a friend = un’amica) Feminine (a friend = un amico) Masculine (a plane = un aereo) Masculine |
As you know, the indefinite article doesn’t have plural in English, but in Italian there is a close way to express it, in English it is expressed by “some”
A book à books (no article) or some books. Un libro à libri or dei libri (you will learn later how to use the form “del”)
Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers
Italian Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers are simple and easy to learn:
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Italian Numbers |
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Cardinal Numbers |
Ordinal Numbers |
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1 = Uno |
11 = Undici |
21 = Ventuno |
87 = Ottantasette |
1st = Primo |
For ordinal numbers after 10 you only need to delete the last vowel and add~esimo. 11th = Undicesimo 12th = Dodicesimo 20th = Ventesimo
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2 = Due |
12 = Dodici |
22 = Ventidue |
98 = Novantotto |
2nd = Secondo |
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3 = Tre |
13 = Tredici |
23 = Ventitre |
100 = Cento |
3rd = Terzo |
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4 = Quattro |
14 = Quattordici |
30 = Trenta |
1000 = Mille |
4th = Quarto |
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5 = Cinque |
15 = Quindici |
31 = Trentuno |
2006 = Duemilasei |
5th = Quinto |
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6 = Sei |
16 = Sedici |
32 = Trentadue |
A number ending with a vowel + a number starting with a vowel = 1st one loses it’s vowel example: ventuno 21 |
6th = Sesto |
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7 = Sette |
17 = Diciassette |
43 = Quarantatre |
7th = Settimo |
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8 = Otto |
18 = Diciotto |
54 = Cinquantaquattro |
8th = Ottavo |
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9 = Nove |
19 = Diciannove |
65 = Sessantacinque |
9th = Nono |
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10 = Dieci |
20 = Venti |
76 = Settantasei |
10th = Decimo |
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Telling the Time in Italian
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Time in Italian |
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Che ore sono? (what time is it?) |
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01:00 = È l’una |
10:45 = Sono le undici meno un quarto |
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02:00 = Sono le due |
12:00 = Sono le dodici |
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03:05 = Sono le tre e cinque |
È mezzogiorno = It’s midday |
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04:10 = Sono le quattro e dieci |
È mezzanotte = It’s midnight |
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05:15 = Sono le cinque e un quarto |
Note that all time expressions start with sono, except one and twelve o’clock, they both start with è. |
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06:20 = Sono le sei e venti |
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07:30 = Sono le sette e mezza/trenta |
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Writing training: write the same text I wrote about myself at the beginning of this page, but this time it should be about you.
Speaking training: try to read the text you just wrote about yourself out loud, if you find any difficulty, take a look at the Italian alphabet table.
The Italian Alphabet
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Italian Alphabet |
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Aa as in the word “ask” and never as in the word “able” |
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Bb same as in English |
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Cc like “tsh” before “i” or “e”, otherwise like "k” in Creole. |
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Dd same as in English |
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Ee as in “elevated” |
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Ff same as in English |
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Gg like the "dg", before “i” or “e”, otherwise like the "g" in "Good". |
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Hh silent most of the time. |
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Ii as in the word “ink” never as in the word “island” |
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Jj as in “Job”, or the “s” of “pleasure”. |
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Kk same as in English |
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Ll same as in English |
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Mm same as in English |
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Nn same as in English |
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Oo same as in English “Old”. |
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Pp same as in English |
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Qq same as in English |
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Rr Spanish “r” |
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Ss between vowels as “z”, and as “s” otherwise. |
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Tt same as in English not as sharp. |
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Uu as in the “ultra”, never as in the word “up” or “university” |
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Vv same as in English |
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Ww as in English, sometimes as “v” |
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Xx same as in English |
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Yy same as in English although rare. |
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Zz as in “ts”, or “dz”. |
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cc as “tshee” before “i” and “e”, or as “kee” elsewhere. |
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ch like “k” as in “kid”. |
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gg as in “dgee” before “I” and “e”, or as the “gee” in “geese”. |
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gh like “g” in “God” |
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gli as in “gli” |
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gn like “n” in “news” |
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qu like “kw” in “quest” |
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sc like “sh” before “i” and “e”, or like “k” elsewhere. |
Note that J- K- W- X- Y appear mainly in foreign loan words.
Some expressions to read and try to memorize
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Italian Expressions |
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A Happy New Year |
Buon Anno Nuovo |
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After you |
Dopo di lei |
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All right |
Va bene / Tutto bene |
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All the best! |
Tante buone cose! |
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And You? |
E tu? E lei? (polite) |
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Are you hungry/thirsty.? |
Ha/Hai/Avete fame/sete? |
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Are you sure? |
Sei sicuro/a? |
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At your service |
A sua disposizione |
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August 15 wish |
Buon Ferragosto |
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Be careful |
Attento/a/i/e or Stai/state attento/i |
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Be happy |
Sii felice (singolar) / Siate felici (plural) |
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Be my guest |
Faccia pure |
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Be strong |
Sii forte / Sia forte (polite) |
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Best wishes |
Tanti auguri |
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Big/ Small |
Grosso or Grande/ Piccolo |
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Bless you (after sneezing) |
Salute! |
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Bravo |
Bravo/a/i/e |
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Call back later. |
Richiami più tardi. |
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Can I have five kilos of potatoes. |
Posso avere cinque chili di patate? |
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Can I Help You? |
Posso aiutarti?/ Posso aiutarla (polite)? |
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Can I smoke here? |
Posso fumare qui? |
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Can You Help Me? |
Potresti aiutarmi?/ potrebbe aiutarmi? (polite) |
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Can You Say It Again? |
Potresti ripetere per favore?/ Potrebbe ripetere per favore? (polite) |
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Can You Speak Slowly? |
Puoi parlare lentamente? Potrebbe parlare lentamente? (polite) |
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Cheer up! |
Ànimo! |
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Cheers! |
Salute! |
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Cloudy |
È nuvoloso |
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Come in |
Venga dentro |
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Come on! |
Dai! / Su! |
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Come With Me! |
Vieni con me!/ Venga con me! (polite) |
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Congratulations! |
Congratulazioni!/ Felicitazioni |
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Damn it |
Dannazione |
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Dear Maria/Riccardo, (friendly) |
Cara/o Maria/Riccardo, ... |
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Dear Mr Giovanni, |
Caro signor Giovanni, |
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Did You Like It Here? |
Ti piace qui? |
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Did you sleep well? |
Ha/Hai/Avete dormito bene? |
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Do as you please. Be my guest |
Si accomodi, prego. E’ mio ospite |
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Do you like coffee? |
Le/Ti/Vi piace il caffè? |
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Do You Like It? |
Ti piace? |
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Do you mind my... smoking? |
Le spiace se... fumo? |
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Do you need help? |
Ha/Hai bisogno di aiuto? |
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Do You Speak (English/ Italian)? |
Parli (inglese/italiano)?/ Parla (inglese/italiano)? (polite) |
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Do your best |
Fai del tuo meglio |
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Does it bother you if ...? |
Disturbo se ...? |
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Doesn't matter |
Fa lo stesso / Non importa |
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Don't mention it |
Come non detto |
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Don't Worry! |
Non ti preoccupare! |
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Enjoy your vacation |
Buone vacanze |
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Enjoy! (For meals…) |
Buon appetito! |
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Enough! |
Basta! |
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