Basic Italian
Welcome to our online Italian lessons! These basic lessons cover the most basic aspects of the Italian language and are meant for beginners to the language.
- Greetings & Introductions
- Definite Articles
- Indefinite Articles
- Gender of Nouns
- Vocabulary: Common Words
- Vocabulary: Calendar Terms
- Colors in Italian
- Numbers in Italian
- Subject Prounouns
- The Present Tense
- Vocabulary: Family
Greeting & Introductions
|
Hello. Hi. Hello. [use when answering the phone] Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Goodbye! [formal] Googdbye! [informal] See you later. How are you? [formal] How are you? [informal] Fine, thank you. Very well. What's your name? [formal] What's your name?[informal] My name is... Thank you. You're Welcome. |
Salve. Salut. Pronto. Buon giorno. Buon pomeriggio. Buona sera. Arrivederci! Ciao! A presto. Come sta? Come stai? Bene, grazie. Molto bene. Come si chiama? Come ti chiami? Mi chiamo... Grazie. Prego. |
Definite Articles
| The forms of the definite article in Italian |
|---|
| lo -
used before masculine nouns (in the singular form)
beginning with "z" or with "s" + a consonant l'- used before masculine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any vowel gli - used as the plural form for the above 2 examples il - used before masculine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any other consonant i- used as the plural form for "il" la - used before feminine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any consonant l'- used before feminine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any vowel le - used as the plural form for all feminine nouns |
Indefinite Articles
| The forms of the indefinite article in Italian |
|---|
| uno -
used before masculine nouns (in the singular form)
beginning with "z" or with "s" + a consonant un - used before masculine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with a vowel or any other consonant una - used before feminine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any consonant un' - used before feminine nouns (in the singular form) beginning with any vowel |
Gender of Nouns
|
|
Calendar Terms
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Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday January February March April May June July August September October November December spring summer autumn winter second minute hour day week month season year |
lunedì martedì mercoledì giovedì venerdì sabato domenica gennaio febbraio marzo aprile maggio giugno luglio agosto settembre ottobre novembre dicembre la primavera la estate l'autunno l'inverno il secondo il minuto l'ora il giorno; la giornata la settimana il mese la stagione l'anno; l'annata |
Colors in Italian
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black blue brown gold gray green orange pink purple red silver white yellow |
nero blu marrone; bruno dorato grigio verde arancione rosa porpora rosso argento bianco giallo |
Numbers in Italian
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0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1,000 |
zero uno due tre quattro cinque sei sette otto nove dieci undici dodici trodici quattordici quindici sedici diciassette diciotto diciannove venti ventuno ventidue ventitrè ventiquattro venticinque ventisei ventisette ventotto ventinove trenta trentuno trentadue trentatré quaranta cinquanta sessanta settanta ottanta novanta cento mille |
Subject Pronouns
Here are the Italian subject pronouns. Notice that there are two forms that are capitalized. These are formal forms of the subject pronouns. Use the informal forms only with your friends, family, etc. The second chart shows the English equivalents.
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | io | noi |
| 2nd-person | tu | voi |
| 3rd-person | lui, lei, Lei | loro, Loro |
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | me | we |
| 2nd-person | you (familiar) | you |
| 3rd-person | he, she, you (formal) | they, you (formal) |
The Present Tense
Formation
Regular verbs in the present tense fall into three groups depending on the ending of the verb. There are "are", "ere", and "ire" verbs. However, there are four different conjugations, because there are two different conjugations for the "ire" verbs. Make sure that when you learn a new "ire" verb you also learn which conjugation it uses.
The present tense is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem of the verb.
Group 1: -are Verbs
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | o | iamo |
| 2nd-person | i | ate |
| 3rd-person | a | ano |
Examples:
io parlo, tu parli, lui parla, noi parliamo, voi parlate, loro
parlano
Group 2: -ere Verbs
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | o | iamo |
| 2nd-person | i | ete |
| 3rd-person | e | ono |
Examples:
io credo, tu
credi, lui crede, noi
crediamo, voi
credete, loro
credono
Group 3: -ire Verbs (First Conjugation)
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | o | iamo |
| 2nd-person | i | ite |
| 3rd-person | e | ono |
Examples:
io dormo, tu dormi, lui
dorme, noi dormiamo, voi
dormite, loro dormono
Group 3: -ire Verbs (Second Conjugation)
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st-person | isco | iamo |
| 2nd-person | isci | ite |
| 3rd-person | isce | iscono |
Examples:
io finisco, tu finisci, lui
finisce, noi finiamo, voi
finite, loro finiscono
Usage
The present tense in Italian is used to refer to actions taking place in the present, continuous actions, habitual actions, as well as actions that will occur in the near future.
The 3 English forms it is equivalent to are as follows:
1. I speak
2. I do speak
3. I am speaking
Family
|
father mother husband wife son daughter brother sister grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece cousin parent family |
il padre la madre il marito la moglie il figlio la figlia il fratello la sorella il nonno la nonna il nipote la nipote lo zio la zia il nipote la nipote il cugino il genitore la famiglia |
>>> Continue on to Part 2 of our Italian Lessons