Italian I Tutorial: Basic Phrases, Vocabulary and Grammar Thanks to Corrado for the recordings! If you'd like to download the Italian tutorials mp3s , use the DownThemAll add-on for Firefox to download all the mp3s at once instead of right-clicking on each link If you're interested in buying books to supplement your Italian studies, I've recommended some books from Amazon and Yabla Italian offers authentic language through videos with subtitles and translations into English Also check out the Foreign Service Institute Italian FAST Course that I am converting to HTML, and realia collected in Italy showing the authentic use of Italian For multilingual learners, there is a French & Italian tutorial available as well as Romance Vocabulary lists and Romance verb conjugations Basic Phrases / Frasi semplici If you'd like to study these phrases (and their pronunciations) individually, please go to Basic Italian Phrases Buon giorno bwon zhor-no Hello / Good morning/afternoon Buona sera bwoh-nah seh-rah Good evening Buona notte bwoh-nah noht-teh Good night Ciao chow Hi / Hello / Bye (informal) Arrivederci ah-ree-vuh-dehr-chee Goodbye ArrivederLa ah-ree-vuh-dehr-lah Goodbye (formal) A più tardi A presto / A dopo A domani ah pyoo tar-dee See you later ah press-toh / ah doh-poh See you soon ah doh-mahn-ee See you tomorrow Per favore / Per piacere pehr fah-voh-reh / pehr pee-ah-cheh-reh Please Grazie (mille) graht-zee-eh (mee-leh) Thank you (very much) Prego preh-goh You're Welcome Mi dispiace mee dee-spyah-cheh Sorry Scusi / Scusa skoo-zee / skoo-zah Excuse me (formal / informal) Andiamo! on-dee-ah-mo Let's go! Come sta? / Come stai? koh-meh stah / koh-meh sty How are you? (formal / informal) Sto bene stoh beh-neh I am fine / well Non c'è male nohn cheh mah-leh Not bad Abbastanza bene ah-bah-stahn-tsah beh-neh Pretty good Così così koh-zee koh-zee So so Sì / No see / noh Yes / No Come si chiama? koh-meh see kee-ah-mah What's your name? (formal) Come ti chiami? koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee What's your name? (informal) Mi chiamo mee kee-ah-mo My name is Piacere / Molto lieto pee-ah-cheh-reh / mohl-toh lee-eh-toh Pleased / Nice to meet you Signore, Signora, Signorina seen-yoh-reh, seen-yoh-rah, seen-yoh-reen-ah Mister, Misses, Miss Di dov'è? dee doh-veh Where are you from? (formal) Di dove sei? dee doh-veh seh-ee Where are you from? (informal) Sono di soh-noh dee I am from Quanti anni ha? Quanti anni hai? Ho venti anni kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah How old are you? (formal) kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah-ee How old are you? (informal) oh vehn-tee ahn-nee I am 20 years old Parla italiano? par-lah ee-tahl-ee-ah-no Do you speak Italian? (formal) Parli inglese? par-lee een-gleh-zeh Do you speak English? (informal) Parlo italiano / Non parlo inglese par-lo ee-tahl-ee-ah-no / non parloeen-gleh-zeh I speak Italian / I don't speak English Capisce? / Capisci? kah-pee-sheh / kah-pee-shee Do you understand? (formal / informal) [Non] capisco [non] kah-pees-koh I [don't] understand Non so / Lo so non soh / low soh I don't know / I know Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi? pwoh ah-yoo-tar-mee / pwoh-ee ah-yoo-tar-mee Can you help me? (formal / informal) Certamente / D'accordo cher-tah-mehn-teh / dah-kohr-doh Sure / OK Come? koh-meh? What? / Pardon me? Desidera? / Desideri? deh-zee-deh-rah / deh-zee-deh-ree May I help you? (formal / informal) Come si dice "house" in italiano? koh-meh see dee-cheh "house" een ee-tah-lee-ah-noh How you say "house" in Italian? Dov'è / Dove sono ? doh-veh / doh-veh soh-noh Where is / Where are ? Ecco / Eccoli eh-koh / eh-koh-lee Here is / Here are C'è / Ci sono cheh / chee soh-noh There is / There are Cosa c'è? koh-zah cheh What's the matter? / What's wrong? Non importa / Di niente / Di nulla nohn eem-por-tah / dee nee-ehn-teh / dee noo-lah It doesn't matter Non m'importa nohn meem-por-tah I don't care Non ti preoccupare nohn tee preh-ohk-koo-pah-reh Don't worry (informal) Ho dimenticato oh dee-men-tee-kah-toh I forgot Devo andare adesso deh-voh ahn-dah-reh ah-des-soh I have to go now Ho fame / Ho sete oh fah-meh / oh seh-teh I'm hungry / I'm thirsty Ho freddo / Ho caldo oh freh-doh / oh kal-doh I'm cold / I'm hot Mi annoio mee ahn-noh-ee-oh I'm bored Salute! sah-loo-teh Bless you! Congratulazioni! kohn-grah-tsoo-lah-tsee-oh-nee Congratulations! Benvenuti! behn-veh-noo-tee Welcome! Buona fortuna! bwoh-nah for-too-nah Good luck! Tocca a me! / Tocca a te! tohk-kah ah meh / tohk-kah ah teh It's my turn! / It's your turn! (informal) Ti amo tee ah-moh I love you (informal) È pazzo! / Sei pazzo! eh pats-soh / seh-ee pats-soh You're crazy! (formal / informal) Sta zitto! / Stai zitto! stah tseet-toh / sty tseet-toh Be quiet / Shut up! (formal / informal) Va bene! vah beh-neh OK! Notice that Italian has informal and formal ways of saying things This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Italian (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person Also, the words pazzo and zitto refer to men If you are talking to a woman, use pazza and zitta If you are talking to more than one person (all men, or a group of men and women), use pazzi and zitti If you are talking to more than one person (all women), use pazze and zitte Pronunciation / la pronuncia Italian is a very phonetic language, so pronunciation should be easy Most words are pronounced exactly like they are spelled There are only seven pure vowels, but several diphthongs and triphthongs The English samples given are not pronounced exactly as in Italian because English vowels tend to be diphthongized (there's an extra yuh or wuh after the actual vowel) Make sure to only say the pure vowel and not the diphthong when pronouncing Italian Italian Vowels English Pronunciation [i] vita ee as in meet [e] vedi ay as in bait [ɛ] era eh as in bet [a] cane ah as in father [u] uva oo as in boot [o] sole oh as in boat [ɔ] modo aw as in law Semi-Vowels [w] quando, uomo wuh as in won [j] piano, ieri, piove yuh as in yes In spelling, the letter e is used to represent both [e] and [ɛ]; while the letter o is used to represent both [o] and [ ɔ] If the vowel is stressed, then the pronunciation is always closed [e] and [o] If the vowel is not stressed, it is always open [ɛ] and [ɔ] This can change according to regional dialects in Italy, of course, but this is the standard rule Italian semi-vowels are always written ua, ue, uo, ui for [w] and ia, ie, io, iu for [j] If another vowel precedes u or i, then it is a diphthong: ai, ei, oi, au, eu The combination iu + another vowel creates a triphthong Italian consonant + vowel combinations c + a, o, u, he, hi k amica, amico, amiche ah-mee-kah, ah-mee-koh, ah-mee-keh c + ia, io, iu, e, i ch bacio, celebre, cinema bah-cho, cheh-leh-breh, chee-neh-mah g + a, o, u, he, hi g gara, gusto, spaghetti gah-rah, goo-stoh, spah-geh-tee g + ia, io, iu, e, i dj Giotto, gelato, magico djoh-toh, djeh-lah-toh, mah-djee-koh sc + a, o, u, he, hi sk scala, scuola, scheda skah-lah, skoo-oh-la, skeh-dah sc + ia, io, iu, e, i sh sciarpa, sciupato, scemo shar-pah, shoo-pah-toh, sheh-moh The consonant h is always silent Double consonants must be pronounced individually: il nonno (eel nohn-noh) is pronounced differently from il nono (eel noh-noh) Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable in Italian If stress falls on the last syllable, the vowel is written with an accent mark (la città) However, it is also possible for the stress to fall on the third-to-last syllable (A merica, telefono) and even the fourth-to-last syllable (te lefonano) in third person plural verb conjugations Alphabet / l'alfabeto a ah q koo b bee r ehr-reh c chee s ehs-seh d dee t teh e eh u oo f eff-eh v voo g zhee z dzeh-tah h ahk-kah i ee Foreign Letters l ehl-eh j ee loon-gah m ehm-eh k kahp-pah n ehn-eh w dohp-pyah voo o oh x eeks p pee y ee greh-kah (or) eep-see-lohn Articles & Demonstratives / Articoli e dimostrativi All nouns in Italian have a gender (masculine or feminine) and the articles must agree with the gender Masculine words generally end in -o and feminine words generally end in -a Words that end in -e may be either, so you will just have to memorize the gender Keep in mind that articles are used before nouns or before an adjective + a noun Definite Article - The Masculine il eel sing., before consonants lo low sing., before z, gn, ps, or s + cons l' l i gli Feminine la lah sing., before consonants sing., before vowels l' l sing., before vowels ee plural, before consonants le leh plural, before consonants and vowels lyee plural, before vowels, z, gn, or s + cons Indefinite Articles - A, an, some Masculine Feminine A, An Some un oon before consonant or vowel una oon-ah before consonants uno oon-oh before z, gn, ps, or s + consonant un' oon before vowels dei day before consonants delle dell-eh before vowels and consonants degli deh-lyee before vowels, z, gn, or s + cons Demonstratives - This, that, these, and those This and these Masc Fem This These questo questi before a consonant quest' questi before a vowel questa queste before a consonant quest' queste before a vowel That and those Masc That Those quel quei before a consonant Fem quell' quegli before a vowel quello quegli before z, gn, or s + consonant quella quelle before a consonant quell' quelle before a vowel If you use that and those as a subject, use these four forms: quello for masculine singular, quella for feminine singular, quelli for masculine plural, and quelle for feminine plural Subject Pronouns / pronomi personali io ee-oh I noi noy we tu too you (informal singular) voi voy you (informal plural) lui, lei lwee/lay he, she loro loh-roh they Lei lay you (formal singular) Loro loh-roh you (formal plural) The Lei form is generally used for you (singular), instead of tu, unless you're referring to kids or animals Loro can also mean you, but only in very polite to be, stay stare star- to put, place porre porr- to give dare dar- to come venire verr- to make fare far- to translate tradurre tradurr- to go andare andr- to hold tenere terr- to fall cadere cadr- to draw, pull trarre trarr- to have to, must dovere dovr- to explain spiegare spiegher- to be able to, can potere potr- to pay pagare pagher- to know (facts) sapere sapr- to look for cercare cercher- to see vedere vedr- to forget dimenticare dimenticher- to live (be alive) vivere vivr- to eat mangiare manger- to want volere vorr- to begin cominciare comincer- → The future tense is commonly used after quando (when), appena (as soon as), dopo che (after), and se (if) even though the present tense is often used in English In addition to expressing the future, this tense in Italian can also express probability; but in English, the words probably, canor must are used Non vedo Maria da molto tempo Dove sarà? I haven't seen Maria in a long time Where could she be? Sarà ammalata o in vacanza She must be sick or on vacation → Notice that Italian uses the future tense after se in hypothetical statements, whereas in English the present tense is used Se domani farà bel tempo, andrò alla spiaggia If the weather is good tomorrow, I'll go to the beach → The future perfect (futuro composto) is formed with the future of avere or essere plus a past participle The translation in English is will have + past participle It must be used when there are two actions in the future that not happen at the same time Alle sei, avremo già mangiato By six, we will have eaten already Farà un viaggio dopo che avrà superato gli esami He will go on a trip after he will have passed his exams 54 Preceding Adjectives Only a few adjectives go before the noun, the rest are placed right after it Bello - beautiful, buono - good, grande - large, and brutto - ugly are the most common preceding adjectives, even though they don't have to go before the noun Bello and buono have alternate forms when they precede a noun Buono e Bello Singular Plural Before a: buoni z, s + consonant Masculine buono buon vowel or consonant Feminine buona buone buon' consonant vowel Masculine bello begli bell' bel z, s + consonant vowel bei consonant belle consonant Feminine bella bell' vowel If they go after the noun, then they can be formed in the usual way The above forms are only for when they go before the noun Be aware thatgrande can have alternate forms before nouns too Grande can become gran before masculine or feminine nouns beginning with a consonant Or it could contract to grand' before masculine or feminine nouns beginning with a vowel But you not have to use the alternate forms, whether or not you place the adjective before or after the noun 55 Adjectives: Feminine and Plural Masculine to Feminine and Singular to Plural Masc Fem -o -a -e -e Sing Plural -o, -e -i -a -e Some adjectives have two forms, others have four Francese (french) has two: francese and francesi Nuovo (new) has four: nuovo, nuova, nuovi, and nuove 56 More Adjectives easy facile unpleasant antipatico anxious ansioso difficult difficile good buono angry arrabbiato simple semplice bad cattivo stingy avaro complicated complicato big / large grande calm calmo interesting interessante small piccolo disappointed deluso boring noioso young giovane depressed depresso long lungo old vecchio entertaining divertente short (length) corto intelligent intelligente excited eccitato correct giusto stupid stupido enthusiastic entusiasto mistaken / wrong sbagliato elegant elegante generous generoso expensive / dear caro unfashionable inelegante kind gentile economical/cheap economico rich ricco nervous nervoso modern moderno poor povero good, able bravo old/ancient antico skinny / thin magro worried preoccupato open aperto fat grosso / grasso (un)satisfied (in)soddisfatto closed chiuso sincere sincero alone / lonely solo tall alto shy timido tired stanco short (height) basso strong forte stressed stressato narrow / tight stretto gentle / kind gentile (in)sensitive (in)sensibile wide / baggy largo generous generoso serious serio (un)happy (in)felice dark scuro / bruno lazy pigro sad triste blond biondo vivacious / bright vivace nice simpatico light (color) luminoso / chiaro sporty sportivo cheerful allegro light (weight) leggero classical classico (un)comfortable (in)comodo heavy / thick pesante ready / quick pronto Pronto also means hello when answering the telephone 57 adverbs Most adverbs are formed by adding -mente to the feminine singular form of the adjective Adjectives ending in -le or -re drop the final -e before adding -mente, if the l or r is preceded by a vowel Adjective (feminine form) Adverb recente comoda finale regolare recentemente comodamente finalmente regolarmente recently comfortably finally regularly Note that the adverbial form of buono (good) is bene (well), and cattivo (bad) is male (badly) The adverb sempre (always) usually follows the verb Anche (also, too) always precedes the noun, pronoun or infinitive to which it refers When it precedes io, it becomes anch' Noi studiamo sempre We always study Vuole anche questo libro He wants that book, too Anch'io devo studiare I have to study too 58 Sports & Instruments athletics l'atletica banjo il banjo badminton il volano bassoon il fagotto baseball il baseball bow l'arco basketball la pallacanestro cello il violoncello bowling il bowling clarinet il clarinetto boxing il pugilato cymbals i cembali car racing l'automobilismo double bass il contrabbasso cycling il ciclismo drum il tamburo football il foot-ball americano English horn il corno inglese golf il golf flute il flauto gymnastics la ginnastica French horn il corno handball la pallamano gong il gong hockey l'hockey guitar la chitarra horse-riding l'equitazione harp l'arpa ice-skating il pattino maracas i maracas jogging il jogging oboe l'oboe rugby il rugby piccolo il piffero sailing la vela saxophone il sassofono skiing lo sci tambourine il tamburino soccer il calcio / il pallone triangle il triangolo surfing il surf trombone il trombone swimming il nuoto trumpet la tromba table tennis il ping-pong tuba la tuba tennis il tennis viola la viola volleyball la pallavolo violin il violino water skiing lo sci d'acqua wrestling la lotta xylophone lo xilofono 59 To Play Giocare-to play gioco joh-koh giochiamo joh-kee-ah-moh giochi joh-kee giocate joh-kah-teh gioca joh-kah giocano joh-kahn-oh Past participle: giocato Most sports use giocare a (sport) without the prepositional contractions to mean to play a sport Giocano a pallacanestro They play basketball Mi piace giocare a calcio I like to play soccer Che cosa fai nel tempo libero? What you in your free time? Di solito faccio sport Usually I play sports 60 Nature & Geography air l'aria (f) rain la pioggia archipelago l'arcipelago (m) rainbow l'arcobaleno (m) bank la riva river il fiume bay la baia rock lo scoglio barn la stalla root la radice beach la spiaggia rose la rosa branch il ramo sand la sabbia bridge il ponte sea il mare bud il bocciolo shadow l'ombra bush l'arbusto (m) sky il cielo cape il capo / il promontorio snow la neve cave la caverna soil il terreno city la città south il sud climate il clima spring (water) la sorgente cloud la nube / nuvola star la stella coast la costa stem il gambo comet la cometa storm il temporale constellation la costellazione strait lo stretto country il paese stream il ruscello country(side) la campagna street la strada current la corrente sun il sole daffodil il narciso sunflower il girasole daisy la margherita thaw il disgelo darkness l'oscurità (f) thunder il tuono desert il deserto tornado il turbine dew la rugiada tree l'albero dust la polvere trunk il tronco earth la terra tulip il tulipano east l'est (m) valley la valle farm la tenuta view la vista field il campo water l'acqua flower il fiore fresh water l'acqua dolce foam la schiuma salt water l'acqua salata fog la nebbia watering can l'annaffiatoio foliage il fogliame waterfall la cascata forest il bosco / la foresta wave l'onda (f) frost il gelo weather il tempo grass l'erba (f) west l'ovest (m) gulf il golfo wind il vento hail la grandine world il mondo hay il fieno high tide l'alta marea North Pole il Polo Nord hill la collina South Pole il Polo Sud ice il ghiaccio Northern Hemisphere l'emisfero settentrionale island I'isola (f) Soutern Hemisphere l'emisfero meridionale isthmus l'istmo (m) Arctic Circle il circolo polare artico jungle la giungla equator l'equatore (m) lake il lago Arctic Ocean l'Oceano Artico leaf la foglia Atlantic Ocean l'Oceano Atlantico light la luce Pacific Ocean l'Oceano Pacifico lightning il fulmine / lampo Indian Ocean l'Oceano Indiano lily il giglio Caribbean Sea il Mar dei Caraibi low tide la bassa marea Mediterranean Sea il Mar Mediterraneo meadow il prato North Sea il Mare del Nord moon la luna Red Sea il Mar Rosso mountain la montagna Black Sea il Mar Nero mountain range la catena montuosa mouth (river) l'imboccatura Mercury Mercurio mud il fango Venus Venere nature la natura Earth Terra north il nord Mars Marte peninsula la penisola Jupiter Giove plain il piano / la pianura Saturn Saturno planet il pianeta Uranus Uranio plant la pianta Neptune Nettuno pond lo stagno Pluto Plutone pot (for plants) il vaso da fiori