ITALIAN GRAMMAR Nouns Noun (nome) is a person, place, or thing. Nouns have endings that change depending on the gender and number. Ending Masculine Feminine Singular Plural -o -> i un ann -o due anni -i -a -> i un problem -e due problem -i -e -> i un mes –e due mes -i -a -> -e una ragazz –a due ragazz –e -e -> -i una vit –e due vit –i –à -> –à la citt -à le citt -à - ù -> - ù la virt -ù le virt -ù –ca - > -che la ami -ca le ami -che - ga -> -ghe la rig -a le ri -ghe Articles In Italian, as well as all the other Romance languages (French, Spanish, etc), all nouns have a gender and a number associated with them. The article indicates gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun. Indefinite/definite Begins with Masculine Feminine Indefinite Definite Singular Plural consonant un libro il libro i libri vowel un uomo l’ uomo gli uomi s+ consonant, ps, pn, z, x, y or gn uno stato lo stato gli stati lo psicologo gli psicologi uno zio lo zio gli zii una ragaza la ragaza le ragaze una sedia la sedia le sedie un’insalata l’insalata le insalate un’ora l’ora le ore consonant vowel uno psicologo Articles partitives Begins with Singular Plural consonant del latte dei libri vowel dell’olio degli uomi s + consonant, ps, pn, z, x, y or gn dello zucchero degli amici consonant della marmellata delle ragaze vowel dell’acqua delle insalate Masculine Feminine Partitif They are used before nouns that are not countable like sugar, milk etc. (Compra della carne) They are used to indicate a part of a totality (little of) or an undetermined quantity of something (some) (Mangia della fruta (=un po’ di frutta)) When used in plural form they serve the role of articles idefinites (Ho mangio dei panini (=alcuni panini) It is NOT used innegative phrases Adjectives Descriptive adjectives An adjective is a ‘describing’ word that tells you more about a person or thing,for example, blue, big, good. Singular Masculine Plural Feminine Masculine Feminine famos -o famos -a famos -i famos -e lung -o lung -a lung -ghi lung -ghe simpatic -o simpatic -a simpatic -i simpatic -he interesant -e interesant -e interesant -i interesant -i They are put AFTER the noun you’re describing una casa bianca a white house Interrogative adjectives An interrogative adjective is a question word such as which, what or how much that is used when asking about a noun, for example: Which colour?; What size?; How much sugar? Adjective WHAT che + singular Che giorno è oggi? What day is it today a che + singular A che ora ti alzi? What time do you get up? cosa? Cosa vuoi? What do you want? che cosa? Che cosa fanno? What are they doing? quale + singular Quale tipo vuoi? Which kind do you want? che + plural Che gusti preferisci? Which flavours do you like best? qual +words starts with wovel Qual è la tua camera? Which is your room? quali + plural Quali programmi hai? What plans have you got? WHICH ONE quale Quale vuoi? Which one would you like? WHICH ONES quali Quali sono i migliori? Which ones are the best? WHERE dove? Dove abiti? Where do you live? HOW come? Come si fa? How do you do it? WHEN quando? Quando parti? When are you leaving? WHY perché? Perché non vieni? Why don’t you come? WHO chi? Chi è? Who is it? HOW MUCH quanto (alone) Quanto costa? How much does it cost? quanto + masculine Quanto tempo hai? How much time have you got? quanto + feminine Quanta stoffa ti serve? How much material do you need? quanti + masculine Quanti giorni? How many days? quante + feminine Quante notti? How many nights? WHICH/WHAT HOW MANY Possessive adjectives A possessive adjective is a word such as my, your, his that is used with a noun to show who it belongs to. Singular Plural Meaning Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine il mio la mia i miei le mie my il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue your (familiar) il suo la sua i suoi le sue his, her, your (polite) il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre our il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre your il loro la loro i loro le loro their You usually put the definite article (il, la, i, le) in front of the possessive adjective. You can also use the indefinite article in front of the possessive adjective in examples like una mia amica – „ a friend of mine” To say my mother, your father, her husband, his wife and so on, use the possessive adjective without the definite article. ex. mia madre – „my mother”. This applies to all family members in the singular, except for the words mamma (meaning mum) and babbo and papà (both meaning dad). If you describe a family member with an adjective, for example my dear wife, her younger sister, you DO use the definite article with the possessive. ex. il mio caro marito – „my dear husband” You DO use the definite article with the possessive adjective when you’re referring to family members in the plural. ex. i suoi fratelli – „his brothers” Demonstrative adjectives Demonstrative Adjectives (Aggettivi Dimostrativi) point out the position of specific people or things in time and space. They modify the noun to express the relation between the speaker and the person or thing mentioned. Masculine Feminine Meaning THIS, THESE Singular QUESTO QUEST’ QUESTA Ho letto QUESTO libro quest’anno I read THIS book THIS year Plural QUESTI QUESTE Ricorderò sempre QUESTI giorni. I will always remember THESE days. THAT, THOSE Singular QUELLO QUEL QUELL’ QUELLA QUELL’ QUELLO studente QUELL’albero QUELL’amica THAT student THAT tree THAT friend Plural QUELLI QUEI QUEGLI QUELLE QUEI vestiti QUELLE ragazze THAT clothes THOSE girls Indefinite adjectives Indefinite adjectives give a very generic or indefinite information about the noun they refer to. Here is a chart of the most used: Adjective Sn. EACH OGNI NESSUN NESSUNO NO, ANY, NOT ANY Notes ogni donna each woman ogni uomo each man nessun bambino none of the children nessuno studente no student nessuna ragazza no girl qualche donna some women qualche uomo some men qualunque donna any woman NESSUNA SOME, A FEW QUALCHE QUALUNQUE invariable for masc. and fem. when placed before the verb it does not use "non": nessun bambino ha mangiato After the verb it requires "non": non ha mangiato nessun bambino it is invariable for masculine and feminine. It requires the object or subject to whom it refers to be in the singular form anything, whatever ANY, EITHER, WHICHEVER (I don’t care) WHICHEVER, WHATEVER Pl. qualunque giornale any newspaper qualsiasi ragazza whichever/any girl qualsiasi giornale whichever newspaper alcuni libri a few/some books alcune mele a few, some apples non c'è alcun bisogno che tu venga there's no need for you to come altro libro other book ALTRA altra mela other apple ALTRE posso farle vedere altre cose I can show you some other things ALTRI altri alberi other trees UN ALTRO un altra giorno another day UN ALTR’A un altr’a mela another apple certa gente some/certain people QUALSIASI ALCUNI SOME, A FEW ALCUNE Sg NOT ANY Sg & Pl ALCUN ALCUNO ALCUNA ALTRO OTHER, DIFFERENT ANOTHER CERTAIN, A CERTAIN CERTO -A/ -I/ -E SEVERAL, VARIOUS DIVERSO -A /-I /-E diverse persone various people MANY MOLTO -A /-I /-E molte persone many people QUITE A LOT OF, SEVERAL PARECCHIO -A /-CHI /CHIE parecchia gente plenty of people POCO -A /-CHI /CHE poca gente few people LITTLE, FEW A LOT OF, MUCH, MANY TANTO -A /-I /-E tanta gente so many people TOO MUCH, TOO MANY TROPPO -A /-I /-E troppa gente too many people ALL TUTTO -A /-I /-E tutte le persone all the people implying choice – one of the only in negative sentences VARIOUS, SEVERAL QUITE A FEW VARIO -A /-RI /-RIE Pronouns Personal pronouns are little words that replace persons or things: he, she, they, it, me, her etc. Personal pronouns can play the role of subjects or be in a different role. Subject pronouns Subject Pronouns are often omitted, since the verb form indicates the subject. Singular Meaning Plural Meaning io I noi we tu you (familiar singular) voi you Lei You (polite singular) Loro You polite plural lui he loro they lei she esso/essa it essi/esse them In Italian the verb ending usually makes it clear who the subject is, so generally no pronoun is necessary. You do not use a subject pronoun in Italian to translate it at the beginning of a sentence. Fa caldo. It’s hot. Sono le tre. It’s three o’clock. Che cos’è? – È una sorpresa. What is it? – It’s a surprise. When you do use subject pronouns, it is for one of the following special reasons: o for emphasis Tu cosa dici? What do you think? Pago io. I’ll pay. Ci pensiamo noi. We’ll see to it. o For contrast or clarity Io ci vado, tu fai come vuoi. I’m going, you do what you like. Aprilo tu, io non ci riesco. You open it, I can’t. o after anche (meaning too) and neanche (meaning neither) Vengo anch’io. I’m coming too. Prendi un gelato anche tu? Are you going to have an ice cream too? Non so perché. – Neanch’io. I don’t know why. – Neither do I. Object pronouns Object Pronouns are either direct or indirect, and cannot stand alone without a verb. The direct object receives the action of the verb directly while the indirect object is indirectly affected by it. Direct object pronouns A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns. Singular Meaning Plural Meaning mi me ci us ti you vi you La You (polite singular) Li You polite plural (masc) Le You polite plural (fem.) lo him, it li them (masc.) la her, it le them (masc.) These pronouns are used as follows: They stand immediately before the verb or the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses In the negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun The object pronoun is attached to the end of an infinitive. Note that the final –e of the infinitive is dropped. The Object pronouns are attached to ecco to express here I am, here you are, here he is, and so on. The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l'. Examples Meaning Li ho invitati a cena I have invited them to diner L’ho vedura ieri I saw her yesterday Ci hanno guardati e ci hanno seguiti They watched us and followed us Non la mangia He doesn’t it E importante mangiarla ogni giorno It is important to eat it every day Volevo comprarla I wanted to buy it Indirect object pronouns While direct object pronouns answer the question what? or whom? Indirect object pronouns answer the question to whom? or for whom? Singular Meaning Plural Meaning mi (to/for) me ci (to/for) us ti (to/for) you vi (to/for) you Le (to/for) You (polite singular) Loro (to/for) You (polite singular) gli (to/for) him, it loro (to/for) them le (to/for) her, it These pronouns are used as follows: They are put before the verb Indirect pronouns are also generally used with verbs to do with communicating with people. You use indirect object pronouns when you are using verbs such as piacere, importare, and interessare to talk about what people like, care about or are interested in Examples Meaning Le ho detto la verità. I told her the truth Gli ho dato la cartina. I gave him the map. Le scriverò. I’ll write to her Gli piace l’Italia. He likes Italy E importante mangiarla ogni giorno It is important to eat it every day Volevo comprarla I wanted to buy it Stressed object pronouns You use stressed pronouns for special emphasis. They generally go after the verb. Singular Meaning Plural Meaning me / a me me / to me noi / a noi us / to us te / a te you / to you voi / a voi you / to you Lei / a Lei You / to You Loro / a Loro You / to You lui / a lui him / to him loro / a loro them / to them lei / a lei her / to her These pronouns are used as follows: when you want to emphasize that you mean a particular person and not somebody else, and for contrast after a preposition after di when you’re comparing one person with another Stressed object pronouns are nearly all the same as subject pronouns. You use them for emphasis, after prepositions and in comparisons. You generally put stressed object pronouns after the verb. You use the same words for direct and indirect objects, but add a before them for indirect objects. Examples Meaning Amo solo te I love only you Invito lui a la festa, ma lei no I’m inviting him to the party but not her Vengo con te I’ll come with you Sono arrivati dopo di te They arrived after you Two pronouns together When you use two pronouns together the indirect object comes first. Some indirect objects change when used before a direct object. mi becomes me Me li dai? Will you give it to me? ti becomes te È mia, non te la do. It’s mine, I’m not going to give it to you. ci becomes ce Ce l’hanno promesso. They promised it to us. vi becomes ve Ve lo mando domani. I’ll send it to you tomorrow. When you want to use gli (meaning to him or to them) and le (meaning to her) with lo, la, li or le, you add an –e to gli and join it to lo, la, and so forth. Carlo? Glielo dirò domani. Carlo? I’ll tell him tomorrow. GLI/LE + LI -> GLIELI Glieli hai promessi. You promised them to her. GLI/LE + LE -> GLIELE Gliele ha spedite. He sent them to them. GLI/LE + LO -> GLIELO GLI/LE + LA -> GLIELA After orders and the infinitive form, the two pronouns are written as one word and follow the verb. Possessive pronouns In English the possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs. You use them instead of a possessive adjective followed by a noun. For example, instead of saying My bag is the blue one, you say Mine’s the blue one. Singular Plural Meaning Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine il mio la mia i miei le mie mine il tuo la tua i tuoi le tue yours (familiar) il suo la sua i suoi le sue his, hers, yours (polite) il nostro la nostra i nostri le nostre ours il vostro la vostra i vostri le vostre yours il loro la loro i loro le loro theirs Ne and Ci Ne and ci are two extremely useful pronouns which have no single equivalent Ne ne is a pronoun with several meanings: It means some, and can be used without a noun, just like English ex. ne vuoi? - would you like some ? when talking about amounts and quantities ex. Ne ho preso la metà. – I’ve taken half (of it) Quanti ne vuole? – How many (of them) do you want? Ne also means about it/them, of it/them, with it/them, and so on, when used with Italian adjectives or verbs which are followed by di (ex. contento di, aver paura di, scrivere di) Ne è molto contenta. – She’s very happy about it Ne hai paura? - Are you afraid of it? With adjectives and verbs followed by di, ne can be used to refer to nouns that have already been mentioned. Hai bisogno della chiave? No, non ne ho più bisogno. – Do you need the key? No, I don’t know it any more Ne usually comes before the verb, except when the verb is an order or the infinitive (the –re form of the verb). When it comes after the verb the final –e of the infinitive is dropped. Volevo parlarne – I wanted to talk about it Ci ci is a pronoun with several meanings: Ci is used with certain verbs to mean it or about it. non ci credo per niente – I don’t believe it at all non ci capisco niente – I can’t understand it all Ci is often used with Italian verbs which are followed by a, for example: Like ne, ci usually comes before the verb, except when the verb is an order, the infinitive (the –re form of the verb) or the –ing form. Demonstrative pronouns These are the demonstrative pronouns in Italian. The demonstrative pronoun must agree with the noun it is replacing Masculine Feminine Meaning Singular QUESTO QUESTA THIS, THIS ONE Questa è camera mia. Questo è mio marito. Plural QUESTI QUESTE THESE, THESE ONES Questi sono i miei fratelli. Quali scarpe ti metti? – Queste. Singular QUELLO QUELLA THAT, THAT ONE Qual è la sua borsa? – Quella. Plural QUELLI QUELLE THOSE, THOSE ONES Quelli quanto costano? Reflexive pronouns Singular Meaning Plural Meaning mi myself ci ourselves ti yourself vi yourselves si Yourself si Yourselves si herself si themselves si himself, itself Verbs Essere/Stare Pronoun essere stare Meaning: to be (io) sono sto I am (tu) sei stai you are (lui/lei) (Lei) è sta he/she/it is you are (noi) siamo stiamo we are (voi) siete state you are (loro) sono stanno they are Present Tense The present tenses are the verb forms that are used to talk about what is true at the moment, what generally happens and what is happening now; for example, I’m a student; I travel to college by train; The phone’s ringing. Pronoun mangi -ARE cred -ERE part -IRE (io) mangi -O cred -O part -O (tu) mangi -I cred -I part -I (lui/lei) (Lei) mangi -A cred -E part -E (noi) mangi -AMO credi -AMO parti -AMO (voi) mangi -ATE cred -ETE part -ITE (loro) mangi -ANO cred -ONO part -ONO Present Perfect (Passato Prossimo) In English the perfect tense is used to talk about what has or hasn’t happened, for example We’ve won, I haven’t touched it. In spoken Italian the perfect tense is used to talk about the past. In Italian there are two ways of making the perfect tense: the present tense of AVERE (meaning to have) followed by a PAST PARTICIPLE the present tense of ESSERE (meaning to be), followed by a PAST PARTICIPLE. Past Participle The past participle of verbs ending with "are", "ere", "ire" is formed by adding "ato", "ito", "uto" to the stems of the infinitive. 1st Conjugation 2ndConjugation 3rd Conjugation Infitive Participe Infinitive Participe Infinitive Participe mangi -ARE mangi -ATO cred – ERE cred – UTO part – IRE part - ITO Several verbs have an irregular past participle: 1st Conjugation 2ndConjugation 3rd Conjugation dare -> dato given bere -> bevuto drunk aprire -> aperto opened fare -> fatto done, made cadere -> caduto fell dire -> detto said, told stare -> stato been chiedere -> chiesto asked morire -> morto dead chiudere -> chiuso closed offrire -> offerto offered decidere -> deciso decided salire -> salito climbed dipingere -> dipinto painted essere -> stato been leggere -> letto read mettere -> messo put nascere -> nato born perdere -> perso lost prendere -> preso taken rimanere -> rimasto remained rispondere -> risposto answered scegliere -> scelto chosen scrivere -> scritto written spendere -> speso spent vedere -> visto/veduto seen venire -> venuto come Transitive verbs Transitive verbs may be followed by an object to complete their meaning: "leggo la lettera" (I read the letter) I read what? I read the letter. The "passato prossimo" of transitive verbs is formed with "AVERE" (present indicative) + the past participle of the verb. Pronoun mangi -ARE legg -ERE apr -IRE (io) ho mangiato ho letto ho aperto (tu) hai mangiato hai letto hai aperto (lui/lei) (Lei) ha mangiato ha letto ha aperto (noi) abbiamo mangiato abbiamo letto abbiamo aperto (voi) avete mangiato avete letto avete aperto (loro) hanno mangiato hanno letto hanno aperto The past participle does not agree with the subject when the perfect tense is made with avere, except when certain object pronouns come in front of the verb Examples Meaning lo – him Hai visto Marco? – Sì, l’ho visto. Have you seen Marco? – Yes, I’ve seen him. lo/la - it È un bel film, l’hai visto? It’s a good film, have you seen it? la - her Hai visto Lucia? – Non l’ho vista. Have you seen Lucia? – No, I haven’t seen her. them – li I fiammiferi? Non li ho presi. The matches? I haven’t taken them. them - le Le fragole? Le ho mangiate tutte. The strawberries? I’ve eaten them all. Intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs don't need an object to complete their meaning. The "passato prossimo" of most intransitive verbs is formed with "ESSERE" (present indicative) + the past participle of the verb (if you are not sure whether a verb requires "essere" or "avere" check the dictionary.) With "essere", the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb. Pronoun and -ARE nasc -ERE ven-IRE (io) sono andato/a sono nato/a sono venuto/a (tu) sei andato/a sei nato/a sei venuto/a (lui/lei) (Lei) è andato/a è nato/a è venuto/a (noi) siamo andati/e siamo nati/e siamo venuti/e (voi) siete andati/e siete nati/e siete venuti/e (loro) sono andati/e sono nati/e sono venuti/e "dormire"(to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho viaggiato, ho vissuto...") verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the auxiliary "essere" verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere" reflexive verbs require the verb "essere" the verb "piacere" requires the auxiliary "essere" Impersonal When the subject of a sentence is generic and not specified (people, one, they...) the Italian language uses the impersonal construction. It is formed with si plus the third singular person of the verb Examples Meaning In Italia si cena alle otto in Italy people have dinner at 8 non si fuma no smoking here Si deve studiare per ottenere la laurea one has to study to obtain one's degree When the verb is reflexive the particle ci precedes si: Examples Meaning Per andare ad una festa ci si veste bene to go to a party, people get well dressed Quando il treno ritarda ci si innervosisce when the train is late, one becomes nervous If an adjective follows the verb, the adjective is in the plural masculine form: Examples Meaning Quando si è stanchi, ci si sente nervosi when one is tired, one feels nervous A tavola si mangia seduti at the table, one eats sitting There is a costruction which is similar to the impersonal construction but is slightly different; it is called "passive si" construction. The "passive si" construction requires the third singular or plural person of the verb according to the number of the object Sentence type Italian English Sg. Pl. ACTIVE la gente mangia pizza in questo ristorante people eat pizza in this restaurant PASSIVE la pizza è cotta bene in questo ristorante pizza is well cooked in this restaurant SI PASSIVANTE in questo ristorante si mangia la pizza in this restaurant one eats pizza ACTIVE la gente mangia pesce e patatine in questo ristorante people eat fish and chips in this restaurant PASSIVE il pesce e le patatine sono preparati molto bene in questo ristorante fish and chips are prepared very well in this restaurant SI PASSIVANTE in questo ristorante si mangiano pesce e patatine in this restaurant one eats fish and chip Prepositions + il + lo + la + l’ +i + gli + le a al allo alla all’ ai agli alle di del dello della dell’ dei degli delle da dal dallo dalla dall’ dai dagli dalle in nel nello nella nell’ nei negli nelle su sul sullo sulla sull’ sui sugli sulle A / IN A names of the cities names of small states / islands with cardinal points with verbs when they are followed by another action Idioms IN vado A Venezia vivo A Palermo vivo AD Amburgo vado A San Marino vado A Ibiza names of countries names of regions/ big islands vivo IN Italia vivo NEGLI Stati Uniti Vivo IN Lombardia Vivo IN Sicilia A Sud names of the streets or squares vivo A Londra, IN Oxford Street continuare A cominiciare A with the names of shops/places ending in -IA vado IN farmacia vado IN pizzeria A messa A scuola A lavoro A teatro A piedi A letto A pranzo A colazione A lezione AL bar AL ristorante AL cinema AL mare Idioms IN chiesa IN campagna IN montagna IN spiaggia IN macchina IN bici IN piscina IN bagno IN ufficio IN centro IN citta IN discoteca IN vacanca AL lago ALL‘universita Various Prepositions WHERE + place A alla porta at the door al sole in the sun all’ombra in the shade Lugi è a casa Luigi is at home IN È nel cassetto It’s in the drawer WHERE to go + place defined/limited A alla radio on the radio Andiamo al cinema? Shall we go to the cinema? WHERE to go + place not defined/general or place that is a part of another place IN È andato in ufficio He’s gone to the office Vado in montagna I’m going to the mountains WHERE + country IN Vive in Canada He lives in Canada AWAY (distance) A a tre chilometri da qui three kilometers away from here WHEN A alle cinque at five o’clock a tempo on time a che ora? at what time? di domenica on Sundays di notte at night d’estate in summer di mattina in the morning DI WHEN (born in month) A Sono nata a maggio I was born in May HOW A a piedi on foot a mano by hand una torta al cioccolato a chocolate cake Sono uscita a fare due passi I went out for a little walk il nome del ristorante the name of the restaurant è di Marco it belongs to Marco PURPOSE BELONGING A + VERB DI MADE OF STH DI un fim de Fellini a Felini film CONTAINS DI un bicchiere di vino a glass of wine OWNERSHIP DI la casa dei miei amici my friends’ house AS ADJECTIVE DI il tavolo della cucina the kitchen table THAN (comparison) DI È più alto di me He’s taller than me SOME + noun DI + definite article C’era della gente che aspettava There were some people waiting verb as noun DI + VERB Ho paura di volare I’m afraid of flying FROM DA Viene da Roma He comes from Rome gett off/out fall off/out DA Chiara è scesa dal treno Chiara got off the train GO + the shop/place ANDARE + DA Vado dal dentista I’m going to the dentist TO BE in the shop/place ESSERE+ DA Sono da Anna. I’m at Anna’s house. HOW LONG DA Vivo qui da un anno. I’ve been living here for a year. SINCE DA da allora since then things to do HAVE + TO DO DA C’è molto da fare. There’s lots to do. something is used for NOUN + DA + NOUN un nuovo paio di scarpe da corsa a new pair of running shoes to describe sb/sth DA una ragazza dagli occhi azzurri a girl with blue eyes AS DA Da bambino avevo paura del buio As a child I was afraid of the dark INTO IN L’ha gettato in acqua He threw it into the water. ON SU Il tuo telefonino è sul pavimento Your mobile phone is on the floor ABOUT SU un libro sugli animali. a book about animals SU È sulla trentina She’s about thirty FOR PER Questo è per te This is for you DESTINATION PER il volo per Londra the flight to London BEFORE/UNTIL PRIMA DI prima di me before me NEAR VICINO A vicino a casa close to home AFTER DOPO Ci vediamo dopo le vacanze See you after the holidays Loro sono arrivati dopo di noi They arrived after us Resto fino a venerdì I’m staying until Friday Torno fra un’ora I’ll be back in an hour. DOPO DI (pronoun) UNTIL, AS FAR AS FINO A FRA IN, BETWEEN, AMONG Era seduto fra il padre e lo zio He was sitting between his father and his uncle FRA DI + pronoun Fra di noi Among us TRA tra poco soon IN A SHORT TIME, SOON FRA POCO Lo sapremo fra poco We’ll soon know. DURING DURANTE durante la notte during the night WITH/TO CON Ci andrò con lei I’ll go with her WITHOUT SENZA Esci senza cappotto? Are you going out without a coat? senza di lui without him Sono contro la caccia I’m against hunting. CONTRO DI + pronoun Non ho niente contro di lui I’ve got nothing against him DAVANTI A la casa davanti alla mia the house opposite mine dietro la porta behind the door Sono seduti dietro di me They’re sitting behind me Il gatto si è nascosto sotto il letto The cat hid under the bed sotto a te under you sopra l’armadio on top of the cupboard sopra di me on me Siediti accanto a me Sit next to me Correva verso l’uscita He was running towards the exit Arriverò verso le sette I’ll arrive around seven VERSO DI + pronoun Correvano verso di lui They were running towards him BECAUSE OF A CAUSA DI L’aeroporto è chiuso a causa della nebbia The airport is closed because of fog IN SPITE OF MALGRADO Malgrado tutto siamo ancora amici We’re still friends in spite of everything dentro il pacco in the box SENZA DI + pronoun AGAINST IN FRONT OF BEHIND CONTRO DIETRO DIETRO DI + pronoun UNDER/BELOW SOTTO SOTTO A + pronoun OVER/ABOVE/ON TOP OF SOPRA SOPRA DI + pronoun NEXT TO TOWARDS/ AROUND INSIDE / IN ACCANTO A VERSO DENTRO DENTRO DI + pronoun dentro di noi inside us FUORI fuori (di) casa outside home fuori di sé out of himself oltre il confine across the border oltre a voi besides you lungo il fiume along the river presso la scuola near the school PRESSO DI + pronoun presso di noi next to us SECONDO secondi di casi according to the cases secondo me in my opinion io e Giovanni Giovanni and I ED tu ed io you and me MA strano ma vero strange but true SO, RIGHT THEN ALLORA Allora andiamo? Then we go? ALSO, TOO, EVEN ANCHE Parla tedesco e anche francese She speaks German and also French due o tre volte two or three times OUTSIDE FUORI DI + pronoun BESIDES, MOREOVER OLTRE OLTRE A + pronoun ALONG BY ACCORDING TO LUNGO PRESSO Conjunctions Conjunctions AND, BUT, WHAT ABOUT BUT OR E O OR (alternatives) OPPURE Possiamo guardare la TV oppure ascoltare musica We can watch TV or listen to music BECAUSE PERCHÉ Non posso uscire perché ho molto da fare I can’t go out because I’ve got a lot to do WHY PERCHÉ Perché vai via? – Perché è tardi. Why are you going? – Because it’s late. THAT CHE Ha detto che farà tardi He said that he’ll be late Fammi sapere se c’è qualche problema Let me know if there are any problems DUNQUE Ha sbagliato lui, dunque è giusto che paghi It was his mistake, so it’s right he should pay QUINDI L’ho già visto, quindi non vado I’ve already seen it, so I’m not going Mi piace, però è troppo caro I like it – but it’s too expensive Ho pensato che fosse lui, ma invece no I thought it was him but it wasn’t. IF, WHETHER SO, WELL SO BUT, HOWEVER, THOUGH ACTUALLY SE però INVECE IN FACT ANZI Non mi dispiace, anzi sono contento I don’t mind, in fact I’m glad WHEN QUANDO Giocano fuori quando fa bel tempo They play outside when the weather’s nice WHILE MENTRE È successo mentre eri fuori It happened while you were out Ho fatto come hai detto tu I did as you told me o oggi o domani either today or tomorrow Non avevo né guanti né scarpon I didn’t have either gloves or boots SIA…CHE Verrano sia Luigi che suo fratello Both Luigi and his brother are coming NAMELY OSSIA Noi, ossia mia moglie e io We, that is, my wife and I INDEED INFATTI Maria non è puntuale. Infatti anche oggi è in ritardo. Maria is not punctual. In fact, even today he is late Vorrei venire, tuttavia non posso. I would like to come, however I cannot. Va'a dormire invece di guardare la partita. Go to sleep instead of watching the game. Durante le vacanze vado all'estero During the holidays I go abroad Non mi fermerò finché non avrò finito I won't stop until I'm done AS EITHER…OR NEITHER…NOR, EITHER..OR BOTH…AND HOWEVER INSTEAD OF DURING AS LONG AS COME O..O NÉ… NÉ TUTTAVIA INVECE DI DURANTE FINCHÉ
