Tag: Intermediate level – B1/B2

da + la = dalla We use this in the same cases as “da” when the noun which follows is feminine singular and starts with a consonant. Dalla casa, dalla scuola. (From home, from school.) da + le = DALLE We use this in the same cases as “dalla” when the noun which follows is feminine plural and starts with a consonant or […]

Preposizione semplice + l’articolo determinativo (preposition + definite article)   di + il = DEL We use this in the same cases as the prepositon “di” when the noun which follows is masculine singular and starts with a consonant. L’onda del mare. (The wave of the sea.) di + la = DELLA We use this in the same cases as the prepositon “di” […]

The following time expressions can be used when talking about actions which happened in the past: L’altro giorno (The other day, not clear exactly what day): we use a past tense. L’altro giorno ho incontrato Andrea al supermercato.   (The other day I met Andrea at the supermarket.) La settimana scorsa (Last week): we use a past tense. La settimana scorsa sono […]

The passive form is used to express an action suffered by the subject. verb essere + the participio passato of the chosen verb Il quadro fu dipinto da Monet. You can also use “venire” and “andare” as auxiliaries. La colazione viene servita ogni giorno. La tesi va consegnata alla segreteria. The conjugation is the same for the verbs in -are, -ere, -ire. Io sono amato. […]

Transitive 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 […]

The 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, […]

The 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 […]

When we express time before something else we can say prima che or prima di, which both mean before. prima che prima di ecc. When we talk about what happened at the same time as something else we can say nel momento in cui ( the moment in which), quando (when) or mentre (while). mentre nel momento in cui quando ecc. When we express time after something else we can say dopo or dopo che which both mean after. dopo che dopo […]

l fine indica: lo scopo o l’obiettivo di un’azione In italiano viene espresso con: per al fine di con l’ obiettivo di con lo scopo di allo scopo di ecc. Esempi: Sta imparando il cinese, per lavorare a Hong Kong. Allo scopo di fare bella figura, ha detto una bugia. Carlo sta studiando tantissimo, con l’obiettivo di prendere un bel voto all’esame.

We introduce the consequence of an action with the following expressions which mean that, so that or in order to: in modo che cosicché così…da ecc. Examples: Abbiamo ripassato così tanto da saperlo a memoria. (We went over it so often that we know it by heart.) Devi chiamarlo, in modo da chiarire la situazione. (You have to call him so that you can clear up […]

The cause is the reason for an action. In Italian we can use the following words or expressions to indicate cause, which in English mean, depending on the sentence, for, because of, due to the fact, since, given that or variations of these expressions: per a causa di per il fatto che poiché dato che ecc. We can also talk about the cause of something by using […]