Italian grammar
The main rules of Italian, each on one short page with tables and examples you can listen to. Use it to look something up, or read it alongside the course: every chapter links to the pages it uses.
Start here: sounds and spelling
Beginner (A1)
- Adjectives: agreement and positionHow Italian adjectives change to match the noun, and where to put them in the sentence.
- Articles: il, lo, la, l', i, gli, le and un, uno, una, un'Which word for “the” and “a” to use in Italian, and how the first letter of the next word decides it.
- Essere and avere: to be and to haveThe two most important Italian verbs: their present forms, what they're used for, and useful phrases like c'è and ho fame.
- Italian numbers: from 0 to a millionCount in Italian from zero to a million, say years and ordinals, and use numbers for prices, phone numbers, the time and dates.
- Nouns: masculine, feminine and pluralHow to tell if an Italian noun is masculine or feminine, and how to make it plural.
- Piacere: how to say you like somethingSaying what you like in Italian with mi piace and mi piacciono, and asking others what they like.
- Possessives: mio, tuo, suo…How to say my, your, his, her, our and their in Italian, and when to use the article with them.
- Prepositions with articles: del, al, nel, sul…How di, a, da, in and su join with the article to make one word, such as al, nel and dalla.
- Present tense: regular verbsHow to form the present tense of regular -are, -ere and -ire verbs, and when to use it.
- Questions and negationHow to ask yes/no questions, use question words like dove and quando, and say “not” with non.
- Subject pronouns: io, tu, lui, lei, Lei…The Italian words for I, you, he, she, we and they, when to leave them out, and when to say tu or Lei.
Elementary (A2)
- Ci and neTwo small but very common Italian words: ci, which often means “there”, and ne, which means “of it” or “of them”.
- Comparisons: più, meno, come and -issimoHow to say bigger, less expensive, as big as, better and the best in Italian, and how to say “very” with -issimo.
- Object pronouns: lo, la, li, le, gli…Direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le) and indirect ones (gli, le, Le): their forms, where they go and how they work in the past.
- Reflexive verbs: mi chiamo, mi alzoVerbs like chiamarsi and alzarsi that use mi, ti, si: their forms, daily-routine verbs and the past.
- The futuro semplice: willHow to form the future tense in Italian, the common irregular stems, and when Italians use the future or the present.
- The imperative: giving instructionsHow to tell someone what to do in Italian with tu, Lei, noi and voi, how to say “don't”, and where pronouns go.
- The imperfetto: describing the pastHow to form the imperfetto, when to use it for descriptions and habits, and how it works together with the passato prossimo.
- The passato prossimo: talking about the pastHow to form the passato prossimo with avere or essere, the most common irregular participles, and agreement.
Intermediate (B1)
- If-clauses: se + present, se + congiuntivo imperfettoHow to say “if” in Italian: real conditions with the present, imaginary ones with the congiuntivo imperfetto, and a first look at the hypothetical past.
- Relative pronouns: che, cui, il quale, quello cheHow to link sentences in Italian with che and cui, when to use il quale, and how to say “what” with quello che.
- The conditional: would and would haveHow to form the condizionale presente and passato, their irregular stems, and when to use them: wishes, advice, polite requests and the future in the past.
- The congiuntivo: the Italian subjunctiveHow to form the congiuntivo presente, passato and imperfetto, the common irregular forms, and when Italians use it.
- The passive and si: è stato fatto, si diceHow to say what is or was done in Italian: the passive with essere and venire, the impersonal si and the si passivante.
- The trapassato prossimo: had doneHow to form the trapassato prossimo, when to use it in a story, and how it works when you report what someone said.
Upper intermediate (B2)
- Connectors: tuttavia, eppure, sebbene, pertantoThe words that link ideas in Italian arguments and formal writing, what they mean, their register, and which ones need the congiuntivo.
- Pronominal verbs: farcela, andarsene, prenderselaCommon Italian verbs with fixed pronouns, like farcela, andarsene and prendersela: what they mean and how they change in each tense.
- Reported speech: il discorso indirettoHow to report statements, questions and requests in Italian, which tenses change after a past verb, and which time and place words change.
- The gerundio and participle phrasesHow to use the Italian gerund and the past participle on their own to replace a whole clause, especially in formal writing.
- The passato remoto: the narrative pastHow to recognise and form the passato remoto, its common irregular verbs, and where Italians use it in writing and in speech.
- The sequence of tenses: la concordanza dei tempiHow to choose the right tense in the second half of a sentence: the congiuntivo presente, passato, imperfetto and trapassato, and the future in the past.
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