Formal letters are used for matters of work and business. Often we don’t know who we are writing to. We could write to, for example: a public body a business department the manager of a company the head of a university department a freelance professional Because we don’t know the person, the language used is formal and we always use […]
Read moreInformal letters are sent to family, friends and people who we know quite well. Example of an informal letter: Place and date Cagliari, 20 dicembre 2007 Recipient Caro Stefano, Introduction Riesco a scriverti solo adesso perché sono stato molto impegnato sia per gli allenamenti di basket sia per la scuola. B O D Y Purpose Ora però non posso più […]
Read moreThe ending of Italian nouns depends on whether they are masculine or feminine and whether they are singular or plural. Nouns which end in -O, for example LIBRO, are generally masculine and in the plural form end in -I (LIBRI). Nouns which end in -A, for example CASA, are generally feminine and in the plural form end in -E (CASE). […]
Read moreItalian verbs have seven main forms: Infinito (Infinitive) Participio (Participle) Gerundio (Gerund) Indicativo (Indicative) Congiuntivo (Subjunctive) Condizionale (Conditional) Imperativo (Imperative) They are divided into 3 groups, depending on their ending: -are Mangiare (to eat) -ere Credere (to believe) -ire Offrire (to offer) Verbs can be used in the active, passive and reflexive forms. When the subject of the sentence is performing the action we use the active form: Luca lancia la palla. […]
Read moreExercise to test your knowledge of Italian comparative and superlative forms. Choose the correct option: See also: Comparative form in Italian There are three kinds of comparatives in Italian … Superlative form in Italian There are two kinds of superlative in Italian …
Read moreSono chiamati IRREGOLARI i verbi che non seguono totalmente o in parte il modello della coniugazione a cui appartengono. In italiano ci sono dei verbi che non usano le regole generali di trasformazione per la coniugazione. Sono irregolari: nel mutamento della vocale tematica: Esempi: Tenere Stare Presente Indicativo Imperfetto Congiuntivo io tengo tu tieni lui/lei/Lei tiene noi teniamo voi tenete loro/Loro tengono che io stessi […]
Read moreTransitive verbs (verbs with a direct object) have a passive form as well as an active form. In the passive form it subject is not who performed the action. Active form: Subject verb object Carla legge un libro Molte persone guardano la televisione Passive form: Subject verb who performed the action Il libro è letto da Carla La televisione è […]
Read moreReflexive verbs are used to express an action performed by the subject which is reflected on the subject itself. mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si + il verbo scelto Conjugation of the verb “lavarsi” Lavarsi Presente Indicativo Passato Prossimo io mi lavo tu ti lavi lui/lei/Lei si lava noi ci laviamo voi vi lavate loro/Loro si lavano io mi sono lavato tu ti sei lavato lui/lei/Lei si è lavato noi ci siamo […]
Read moreTest your knowledge of Subject Personal Pronouns with this free, online, interactive exercise.
Read morePersonal subject pronouns are used in place of nouns for people and things. Personal Pronouns Singular Plural Io Tu Egli / Ella / Lui / Lei Noi Voi Essi / Esse / Loro N.B. Egli, ella, essi and esse are very formal. In general conversation we use lui, lei and loro. Lei is used to address a person you do not know (male or female). […]
Read moreExercise to test your knowledge of Italian relative pronouns
Read moreThere are two kinds of superlative in Italian: Superlative relative Superlative absolute Superlativo relativo: Si usa per indicare il paragone tra due o più elementi. Il superlativo relativo di un aggettivo si forma premettendo l’articolo determinativo al comparativo di minoranza o maggioranza + (nome a cui si riferisce l’aggettivo). Il secondo termine è introdotto da di, che, tra. […]
Read moreThe past anterior tense, also called the preterite perfect tense, is used to talk about: an action which took place before an action in the past definite tense (passato remoto) To make the past anterior tense we use: The past definite form of the auxiliary verb essere or avere + The past participle of the main verb Examples: Dopo che ebbi cucinato, […]
Read moreThe trapassato prossimo tense is used to talk about: an action which had finished before another action took place in the past To make the trapassato prossimo we use: Imperfect indicative form of the auxiliary verbs essere or avere + The past participle of the main verb Examples: Marco aveva letto il giornale. (Marco had read the newspaper.) Ricordi quando eravamo […]
Read moreTest your knowledge of italian Direct and Indirect Pronouns with this interactive exercise.
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