ITALIAN NOUNS

MASCULINE FEMININE

banco (school desk) cartella (book bag)

libro (book) lavagna (chalkboard)

nonno (grandfather) nonna (grandmother)

ragazzo (boy) ragazza (girl)

specchio (mirror) scuola (school)

zaino (backpack) materia (subject)

zio (uncle) zia (aunt)

Most Italian nouns end in a vowel—those that end in a consonant are of foreign origin—and all nouns have a gender, even those that refer to a qualities, ideas, and things. Usually, Italian singular masculine nouns end in -o, while feminine nouns end in -a. There are exceptions, of course (see table below).

ITALIAN NOUNS ENDING IN -E

MASCULINE FEMININE

giornale (newspaper) frase (sentence)

mare (sea) nave (ship)

nome (name) notte (night)

pane (bread) classe (class)

ponte (bridge) canzone (song)

All nouns ending in -amma are masculine, while all nouns ending in -zione are feminine. Almost all nouns ending in -ore, -ere, -ame, -ale, -ile, and a consonant + -one are masculine: il pittore, il cameriere, lo sciame, l'animale, il porcile, il bastone.

Double consonant examples:

Italian English

babbo dad

fetta slice

evviva hurrah

bistecca beefsteak

mamma mama

albicocca apricot

bello beautiful

filetto filet

Italian English

anno year

assai a lot

basso short

ragazzo boy

ferro iron

pennello paint brush

espresso espresso coffee

tavolozza palette

spaghetti spaghetti

cavalletto easel

Most Italian words end in a vowel.

Diphthongs (i dittonghi) are two vowels fused to emit a single sound. A diphthong is formed when an unstressed i or u combines with another vowel (a, e, o) or when the two vowels combine with each other, in which case either the i or u may remain unstressed. In diphthongs, unstressed i and u become semivowels approximating in sound the English consonants y and w, respectively.

Diphthong examples:

Italian English

ieri yesterday

buono good

fiore flower

chiuso closed

invidia envy

più more

Tripthongs also exist. These are sequences of three vowels with a single sound, usually a diphthong followed by an unstressed i.

Italian English

tuoi yours

miei mine

buoi oxen

pigliai I took

Italian has numerous words that contain sequences of vowels. The following words are not triphthongs (which are infrequent), but sequences of a vowel and a diphthong.

Italian English

noia boredom

febbraio February

baia bay

fioraio florist

Each of the words below has a sequence of two diphthongs:

Italian English

ghiaia gravel

muoio I die

acquaio sink

gioiello jewel

AdjectivesA. Complete the following with the correct form of the indicated adjective.

1. La pizza è ________________. (caldo) 2. La madre di Lorenza è ________________. (generoso) 3. I fiori sono ________________. (rosso) 4. La torta è ________________. (buono) 5. Il gatto è ________________. (nero) 6. Carla è ________________. (magro) 7. I bambini sono ________________. (cattivo) 8. Voi siete ________________. (timido) 9. L'appartamento è ________________. (moderno) 10. Le case non sono ________________. (nuovo)

AnswersAdjectivesA. Complete the following with the correct form of the indicated adjective.

1. La pizza è calda. (The pizza is hot.) 2. La madre di Lorenza è generosa. (Lorenza's mother is generous.) 3. I fiori sono rossi. (The flowers are red.) 4. La torta è buona. (The cake is delicious.) 5. Il gatto è nero. (The cat is black.) 6. Carla è magra. (Carla is thin.) 7. I bambini sono cattivi. (The infants are bad.) 8. Voi siete timidi. (You are timid.) 9. L'appartamento è moderno. (The apartment is modern.)

10. Le case non sono nuove. (The houses are new.)

Italian Syllabication

Italian words are divided into syllables as follows:

A single consonant goes with the following vowel.

Italian English

ca–sa house

po–si–ti–vo positive

Double consonants are divided.

Italian English

bab–bo dad

ros–so red

bel–lo beautiful

at–to act

Two consonants, the first of which is l, m, n, or r, are divided.

Italian English

al–ber–go hotel

con–ten–to contented

am–pio ample

for–tu–na fortune

Otherwise, a combination of two consonants belongs to the following syllable.

Italian English

ba–sta enough

fi–glio son

pa–dre father

ba–gno bath

so–pra above

sa–cro sacred

The first of three consonants, except s, goes with the preceding syllable.

Italian English

sem–pre always

fel–tro felt

mem–bro member

men–tre while

BUT

Italian English

fi–ne–stra window

pe–sche peaches

mi–ne–stra soup

mo–stro monster

Diphthongs and triphthongs are never divided.

Italian English

nuo–vo new

mie–le honey

per–fi–dia spite

uo–mo man

mai never

lin–gua language

suoi his

pi–gliai I took

Diphthongs may occur in stressed or unstressed syllables. However, when a diphthong is broken by stress (the vowel i or u directly bears the stress), then the two vowels break into separate syllables.

Italian English

mi–o mine

tu–o yours

spi–a spy

ma–ni–a mania

rin–vi–o postponement

Italian English

te–ra–pi–a therapy

al–le–gri–a joy

far–ma–ci–a pharmacy

Italian Pronunciation

Stress / Accento TonicoUsually, Italian words are stressed on the next–to–the–last syllable.

amico friend

foglia leaf

Milano Milan

nipote nephew

padre father

parlare to speak

signorina Miss

studiare to study

telefonare to telephone

uomo man

When the final –e is dropped from a word, as happens with some masculine titles when they are directly followed by a proper name, the position of the stress remains unchanged.

dottore doctor

dottor Nardi Doctor Nardi

professore professor

professor Pace professor Pace

When words are stressed on the last vowel, they always have a written accent over that vowel.

cioè namely

città city

perchè because

però however

tassì taxi

università university

venerdì Friday

virtù virtue

It is useful to remember that open e and o occur only in stressed syllables.

automobile automobile

medico physician

nobile noble

telefono telephone

Note: The written accent is used with a few monosyllables in order to distinguish them from others that have the same spelling but a different meaning.

dà gives

da from

è is

e and

là there

la the; it; her

né nor

ne some

sé himself, herself

se if

sì yes

si oneself

Italian Capitalization

CapitalizationMany words that are capitalized in English are not capitalized in Italian. These include: the days of the week, the months of the year, proper adjectives, a few proper nouns, and titles such as Mr., Mrs., and Miss.

Arriva domenica. He is arriving on Sunday.Il signor Neri è italiano. Mr. Neri is Italian.Gli americani sono industriosi. Americans are industrious.

ApostropheThe apostrophe (l'apostrofo) is generally used to indicate the dropping of the final vowel before the word that follows it.

l’amico instead of lo amico (the friend)l’automobile instead of la automobile (the automobile)un’università instead of una università (a university)d’Italia instead of di Italia (of Italy)dov’è instead of dove è (where is)

Italian Punctuation Marks

Punctuation Marks / Segni d’Interpunzione

, la virgola

. il punto

; il punto e virgola

: due punti

... i puntini di sospensione

! il punto esclamativo

? il punto interrogativo

– il trattino

— la lineetta

«» le virgolette

() le parentesi tonde

[] le parentesi quadre

* l'asterisco

á l’accento acuto

à l’accento grave

’ l’apostrofo

/ la sbarretta

1. Ti penso sempre - I always think of you.

2. Mi manchi - I miss you. 3. Come sei bella - How beautiful you are. 4. Voglio vederti stasera - I want to see you tonight. 5. Tu sei una stella...la mia stella - You are a star...my star. 6. Cara mia, ti voglio bene - My darling, I love you.

Italian Days of the Week, Months, Seasons

SeasonsThe names of seasons (i stagioni) are not capitalized in Italian.

la primavera—Springl’estate—Summerl’autunno—Autumnl’inverno—Winter

MonthsThe names of the months (i mesi) are not capitalized in Italian.

gennaio—Januaryfebbraio—Februarymarzo—Marchaprile—Aprilmaggio—Maygiugno—Juneluglio—Julyagosto—Augustsettembre—Septemberottobre—Octobernovembre—Novemberdicembre—December

Che mese è? (In che mese siamo?) What month is it? (What month are we in?)È settembre. (Siamo in settembre.) It’s September.

Days of the WeekThe days of the week (i giorni della settimana) are not capitalized in Italian. The week begins with Monday.

lunedì—Mondaymartedì—Tuesdaymercoledì—Wednesdaygiovedì—Thursdayvenerdì—Fridaysabato—Saturdaydomenica—Sunday

Che giorno è... (What day is...)oggi (today)domani (tomorrow)Che giorno è oggi? (What day is it today?)Oggi è giovedì. (Today is Thursday.)Domani è venerdì. (Tomorrow is Friday.)

amare'amare' is the model of the regular verbs that end in '-are'.

infinito:gerundio:

amareamando

traduzione inglese

participio presente:participio passato:

amanteamato

indicativo  presente imperfetto passato remoto futuro semplice

iotu

lui, lei, Lei, eglinoivoi

loro, Loro, essi

amoamiamaamiamoamateamano

amavoamaviamavaamavamoamavateamavano

amaiamastiamòamammoamasteamarono

ameròameraiameràameremoamereteameranno

tempi composti  passato prossimo trapassato prossimo trapassato remoto futuro anteriore

iotu

lui, lei, Lei, eglinoivoi

loro, Loro, essi

ho amatohai amatoha amato

abbiamo amatoavete amato

hanno amato

avevo amatoavevi amato

aveva amatoavevamo amato

avevate amatoavevano amato

ebbi amatoavesti amatoebbe amato

avemmo amatoaveste amatoebbero amato

avrò amatoavrai amatoavrà amato

avremo amatoavrete amato

avranno amato

congiuntivo  presente imperfetto passato trapassato

iotu

lui, lei, Lei, eglinoivoi

loro, Loro, essi

amiamiamiamiamoamiateamino

amassiamassiamasseamassimoamasteamassero

abbia amatoabbia amatoabbia amato

abbiamo amatoabbiate amato

abbiano amato

avessi amatoavessi amato

avesse amatoavessimo amato

aveste amatoavessero amato

condizionale  presente   passato  

iotu

lui, lei, Lei, eglinoivoi

loro, Loro, essi

amereiamerestiamerebbeameremmoameresteamerebbero

 

avrei amatoavresti amato

avrebbe amatoavremmo amato

avreste amatoavrebbero amato

imperativo  presente      

(tu)(lui, lei, Lei, egli)

(noi)(voi)

(loro, Loro, essi)

-amaamiamiamoamateamino

*Blue letters in conjugations are irregular forms. (example)*Red letters in conjugations are defective forms, meaning that they do not follow the conjugation model.