Category: Grammar reference

The subjunctive (congiuntivo) used mainly in two cases: after verbs expressing opinions, thoughts or feelings, such as pensare, credere, ritenere, aver la sensazione in the hypothetical period. Present Subjunctive Examples: Credo che stiano bene insieme. (I think that they are good together.) Suppongo che Marco sia uscito. (I suppose Marco’s gone out.) Spero che torni presto. (I hope you come back soon.) Penso che […]

The conditionals are formed by adding to the future root and has two tenses: 1) The Present Conditional (or Simple Conditional) is used: to express yourself politely Vorremmo parlare con il direttore di quest’albergo. (We would like to talk to the director of this hotel.) Per favore, potresti chiudere la finestra? (Could you close the window, please?) to express the possibility of carrying […]

There are three kinds of comparatives in Italian: Comparativo di maggioranza (Comparatives of majority) Comparativo di minoranza (Comparatives of minority) Comparativo di uguaglianza (Comparatives of equality) Comparatives of majority and minority: To make the comparative form we should place the adverbs “più” (for a comparative of majority) or “meno” (for a comparative of minority) before the adjective. We should then […]

With comparison we compare two terms (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs or adverbs). COMPARISON   COMPARATIVE OF MAJORITY più + 1° termine di paragone Mauro è più simpatico di Giulio. (Mauro is funnier than Giulio.) COMPARATIVE OF EQUALITY tanto o così + 1° termine di paragone Mi piace (tanto) il cinema quanto il teatro. (I like the cinema as much as the […]

Interrogative and exclamatory adverbs are used in interrogative and exclamative sentences to talk about: Places Dov’è Nadia? (Where’s Nadia?) Dove vuoi andare a mangiare? (Where do you want to go to eat?) Dove trovi le forze per studiare così tanto? (Where do you get the strength to study so much?) Da dove arriva il nuovo vicino? (Where is the new neighbour from?) Dove si […]

Sentential adverbs express a judgment: Affirmative with adverbs of affirmation: sì (yes) sicuro, sicuramente, di sicuro, certo, certamente, di certo (certainly, definitely) ovviamente (obviously) davvero, per davvero (really) esatto, esattamente, appunto (exactly) Hai fatto i compiti per domani? Sì! (Have you done your homework for tomorrow? Yes!) Sicuramente stasera andrò al cinema con gli amici. (I’m definitely going to the cinema this evening with my friends.) Vuoi venire con noi? Certamente, aspettatemi! (Do […]

The main adverbs of time in Italian are: Prima (before) → used to indicate an action which took place before another. Prima di andare a lavorare, faccio la spesa. (Before I go to work, I go shopping.) Dopo (after)→ used to indicate an action which took place before another. Dopo essere andato alla posta, sono passato in banca. (After going to the post office, […]

We use an adverb of quantity, also called adverb of intensity, to give more information about an adjective. For example we can say: C’e freddo. (It’s cold.) But if we add an adverb of quantity we give a clearer idea of the situation. So we can say: C’e abbastanza freddo. (It’s quite cold.) C’e molto freddo. (It’s very cold.) The […]

Lì, là, qui, qua, giù, su, laggiù, lassù, davanti, dietro, sopra, sotto, dentro, fuori, altrove, intorno, ci, vi , ecc. Some common adverbs of place are: qui, qua To indicate a place near to where the person is speaking. lì, là To indicate a place far away from where the person is speaking. Qui fa freddo e lì? Qua c’è caldo e […]

Possessive adjectives indicate ownership of something by someone. Italian Possessive Adjectives Masculine Feminine Mio, miei Tuo, tuoi Suo, suoi Nostro, nostri Vostro, vostri Loro Mia, mie Tua, tue Sua, sue Nostra, nostre Vostra, vostre Loro Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to, and they generally come after the article. E.g.: il mio libro (my […]