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Basic Italian Course for the Virtual Student

Lesson 1

SHORT ACHIEVABLE GOALS

  1. The Articles
  2. List of Adjectives
  3. The Verb venire
  4. The Verb fare
  5. The Verb andare
  6. Prepositions
  7. Possessive Pronouns

Note: This was written by an Italian, and quickly edited by an American English speaker. There is still some strange English in places. Much of it is noted. If you find anything else strange, please tell me, so that we can make this better for everyone!
Thanks!

Articles

There are six different forms of the definitive article (the), and three forms of the indefinite article (a, an).

Indefinite Article

  • a, an = un, uno (masculine)
  • una (feminine)

    • "uno" is used before words starting with "z" or "s" (if the "s" is followed by a consonant).

    un albero
    a tree
    una casa
    a house
    un uccello
    a bird
    un animale
    an animal
    un pesce
    a fish
    uno sbaglio
    a mistake
    un errore
    an error, a mistake
    una cosa
    a thing

    Indefinite Article

  • the =
  • il, lo (masculine singular)
  • la (feminine singular)
  • i, gli (masculine plural)
  • le (feminine plural)

    • "lo" and "gli" are used before words starting with a vowel, and also before words starting with "z" or "s" (if the "s" is followed by a consonant).

    il mare, i mari
    the sea, the seas
    il fiore, i fiori
    the flower, the flowers
    il bene, i beni
    the good, the goods
    il buono, i buoni
    the good (people)
    il male, i mali
    the evil, the bad things
    la vita, le vite
    the life, the lives
    la morte, le morti
    the death, the deaths
    la chiave, le chiavi
    the key, the keys
    lo zio, gli zii
    the uncle, the uncles
    la zia, le zie
    the aunt, the aunts
    la verita', le verita'
    the truth, the truths
    la liberta', le liberta'
    the liberty, the liberties
    lo studente, gli studenti
    the student, the students
    lo scrittore, gli scrittori
    the writer, the writers
    lo stupido, gli stupidi
    the stupid, the stupids
    il malvagio, i malvagi
    the evil (people)

    L'apostrofo

    The articles "lo", "la" and "le" lose their vowel before singular words starting with a vowel. This loss is replaced by a mark called "apostrofo".

    l'albero, gli alberi
    the tree(s)
    l'amore, gli amori
    the love(s)
    l'amico, gli Amici
    the friend(s)
    l'ombra, le ombre
    the shadow(s)
    l' alba, le albe
    the dawn(s)
    l'onore, gli onori
    the honor(s)
    l'elefante, gli elefanti
    the elephant(s)
    l'amante, gli amanti
    the lover(s)
    l'incidente, gli incidenti
    the incident(s)
    l'albergo, gli alberghi
    the hotel(s)
    l'auto(mobile), le auto(mobili)
    the car(s)

    The same thing happens to "una":

    un'amante
    a lover (woman)
    un amante
    a lover (man)

    Adjectives

  • bello = masculine, singular
  • bella = feminine, singular
  • belli = masculine, plural
  • belle = feminine, plural
    • brutto
    ugly
    buono
    good
    cattivo
    bad
    vero
    true
    falso
    untrue, false, fake
    amaro
    bitter
    dolce
    sweet
    largo
    wide
    stretto
    narrow
    grande
    big
    piccolo
    small, little
    grasso
    fat
    magro
    thin
    grosso
    big (things or animals), fat (person)
    furbo
    cunning, sly
    ingenuo
    naive
    intelligente
    bright, intelligent
    ottuso
    dull, narrow minded
    semplici, otto
    simpleminded
    profondo
    deep, profound
    colto
    educated (knowledge)
    educato
    educated (behavior)
    acuto
    acute, deep
    simpatico
    somebody you have a liking for, inclination - or just looks nice
    antipatico
    the opposite of simpatico
    serio
    serious
    morto
    dead
    vivo
    living
    duro
    hard (not in the sense of difficult)
    morbido
    soft
    leggero
    light, slight
    medio
    middle
    estremo
    extreme
    lento
    slow
    giusto
    right
    ingiusto
    not right
    corretto
    correct, fair
    scorretto
    incorrect

    Adjectives like "dolce" or "intelligente" have only one singular form (for both masculine and feminine), and one plural. The plural ends in "i": dolci, intelligenti.

    Other adjectives like these:

    pesante
    heavy, boring
    soffice
    soft (of food or something you like to touch)
    sufficiente
    enough
    insufficiente
    not enough
    amabile
    lovable, lovely
    terribile
    terrible
    orribile
    horrible
    eccellente
    excellent
    gradevole
    pleasant
    piacevole
    pleasant
    sgradevole
    unpleasant
    spiacevole
    unpleasant
    giovane
    young
    condivisibile
    agreeble

    The verb "to come" - Il verbo "venire"

    Io vengo
    I come
    Tu vieni
    You come
    Lui / Lei viene
    He / she comes
    Noi veniamo
    We come
    Voi venite
    You come
    Loro vengono
    They come

    Da dove vieni? Where are you (coming) from?

    da
    from
    dove
    where

    "Da" also means "by", if you are talking about being by somebody's house or shop. (not being by a town or a place in general)

    Vieni qui!
    Come here!
    Vai via!
    Go away!
    Vengo subito!
    I'm coming right now!
    Vengo da lontano.
    I'm coming from far away.
    Vengono domain.
    They're coming tomorrow.
    Veniamo dopodomani.
    We are coming the day after tomorrow.
    Venite oggi pomeriggio.
    Come this afternoon. (today)

    The verb "to do" - Il verbo "fare"

    Io faccio
    I do / make
    Tu fai
    You do / make
    Lui / Lei fa
    He / she does / makes
    Noi facciamo
    We do /make
    Voi fate
    You do / make
    Loro fanno
    They do / make

    what (in questions) - che cosa (or just cosa or just che)

    Che fai stasera?
    What are you doing tonight? (asked to one person)
    Cosa fate stasera?
    What are you doing tonight? (asked to more than one person.)
    Stasera non faccio nulla/niente.
    Tonight I'm doing nothing.
    Che fa lei domani?
    What's she doing tomorrow?

    Remember: you can leave out the pronoun when it is the subject of the sentence, because it is clear by the ending of the verb which pronoun is implicated. But if you want to stress the person you are talking about, you have to use the "lui" & "lei" pronouns. (if you want to mean "it's just that person...") You cannot say "it" as a subject - leave it out.

    Fa freddo.
    It's cold.
    Fa caldo.
    It's hot / warm.
    Fa piacere.
    It's a pleasent thing.
    Fa schifo.
    It's very bad. (strong language)
    Fa male.
    It hurts., It's bad for your health.
    Fa bene.
    It's good for your health.
    Che fa!
    no matter!
    Faccio un caffe'?
    Should I make coffee?
    La sera (io) faccio sempre una doccia.
    In the evening I always take a shower.
    Giovanni e Maria fanno l'amore.
    John and Mary make love.
    Quando fa piu' caldo?
    When is it hotter?
    L'estate. (d'estate)
    In the summer.
    Quando fa piu' freddo?
    When is it colder?
    L'inverno. (d'inverno)
    In the winter.
    Perche' fai lo scemo?
    Why are you a fool?
    Facciamo una partita di calcio?
    Should we play soccer?
    Fai il bravo! (la brava)
    Behave well! m (f) (only said to kids)
    Lui non fa mai nulla di buono.
    He never does anything good.

    Remember: The words that mean "never" or "nothing" or "nobody" have to be used together with "not" ("non") in the negative sentences.

    The verb "to go" - Il verbo "andare"

    Io vado
    I go
    Tu vai
    You go (singular)
    Lui / lei va
    He / She goes
    Noi andiamo
    We go
    Voi andate
    You go (plural)
    Loro vanno
    They go

    Examples:

    Dove vai?
    Where are you going?
    Vado a Brindisi.
    I'm going to Brindisi.
    Come va?
    How are you?

    "come" means "how", but just when "how" is alone: It cannot be used to say "how much" or how long" and so on). You can answer just: "male" or "bene" or "cosi' cosi'"

    Giorgio va bene a scuola.
    George is doing well at school.
    Mio padre va ogni anno in Inghilterra.
    My father goes to England every year.
    Mia madre va ogni domenica in chiesa.
    My mother goes to church every Sunday.
    Mio fratello va ogni sabato a pescare.
    My brother goes fishing every Saturday.
    Mia sorella va ogni giorno da un'amica.
    My sister goes to her girlfriend's every day.
    Could this be translated better???????? ???????? ???????? ????????
    Mio nonno va dal barbiere ogni giovedi'
    My grandfather goes to the barbershop every Thursday.
    Why is there an apostrophe on the end????? ???????? ???????? ????????
    Mia nonna va al mercato di venerdi'.
    My grandmother goes to the market every Friday.
    Why is there an apostrophe on the end????? ???????? ???????? ????????
    Mio cugino va ogni giorno al teatro/cinema.
    My cousin goes to the theater every day.

    Prepositions

    To go to:

    (to go) to the sea
    al mare
    (to go) to the beach
    alla spiaggia

    To be at:

    at work
    al lavoro
    at the theater
    al cinema
    at the gym
    in palestra
    at home
    a casa
    at the market
    al mercato
    a friend's (house)
    da un'amico
    the baker
    da forno
    the butcher
    dal macellaio
    the greengrocer
    dal fruttivendolo
    the tailor
    dal sarto
    the bakery
    al forno
    the cemetery
    al cimitero

    To be doing something:

    swimming
    a nuotare
    sleeping
    a dormire
    playing
    a giocare
    eating
    a mangiare
    drinking
    a bere

    To be in (a country):

    in France
    in Francia
    in Germany
    in Germania
    in Spain
    in Spagna
    in China
    in Cina
    in Japan
    in Giappone
    in Russia
    in Russia
    in Greece
    in Grecia
    in Mexico
    in Messico
    in India
    in India
    in Africa
    in Africa
    in Portugal
    in Portogallo
    in Netherlands
    in Olanda
    L'auto va piano
    The car goes slowly.
    L'aereo va veloce
    The plane goes fast.

    Possessive Pronouns

    The possessive pronouns have to be in relation to the name of the person or thing which is owned, not to the name of the owner. For example, you could never say "her father" or "his mother". You have to say always "his father", even if you're talking about a woman's father.

      singular plural
    my mio / mia miei / mie
    your tuo / tua tuoi / tue
    his / hers / its suo / sua suoi / sue
    our nostro nostri / nostre
    your vostro vostri / vostre
    their loro loro

    There can be an article before the following pronouns ("the" or "a"), but never if you're talking about relatives. (it would be nonsense to say "the my father" or "a father of mine"; nevertheless you may say sometimes "a brother of mine").

    Un mio amico.
    A friend of mine. (the friend is male)
    Una mia amica.
    A friend of mine. (the friend is female)
    I miei vicini.
    My neighbors.
    Suo fratello.
    His/Her/Its brother.
    Sua sorella.
    His/Her/Its sister.
    Il mio cane.
    My dog.
    Il nostro gatto.
    Our cat.
    La loro auto.
    Their car.

     

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