Italian in everyday situations · Grammar review

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Italian in everyday situations

Reviews practise both sides: wherever Lukas and Lena would say something differently, you do it once as each.

Essere e pronomi

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FormExampleMeaning
I am Lukas.
Are you Sofia?
Are you Mrs Rossi?
you (polite adult)
you (child / friend)

In Italian, means “to be”. In this module, you mainly need the singular forms: , and . They help you say who you are and ask who someone is.

Use for “I”, for “you” with a child or a friend, and for polite “you” with an adult you do not know well. In Valbosco, the learner speaks to Sofia with , but to the landlady and café staff with .

Italian often changes words for the learner’s sex. So an adult can say to a man, or to a woman. In the same way, you can say or when needed.

Remember that has an accent. It means “is”. Without the accent, means “and”.

Avere, non e c’è

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FormExampleMeaning
I am hungry.
Do you have my key?
Milo is hungry.
He is not mine.
There is a café here.

The verb means “to have”. In this module, useful forms are , , . You need them for things like and

A very simple question can be just a normal sentence with question intonation. So is literally “You have my key?” but it means “Do you have my key?”

To make a sentence negative, put before the verb: , , . This is the basic Italian negative pattern.

Use for “there is / there is” with one thing: Later you will learn plural , but now focus on singular .

Articoli e vorrei

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FormExampleMeaning
a coffee
a key
a female friend
the
I would like a tea.

Italian nouns have gender. You usually learn the noun together with its article: , , , . This helps you speak more naturally from the start.

Use with many masculine singular nouns: , . Use with feminine singular nouns: , . Before a feminine noun starting with a vowel, use : .

Definite articles mean “the”: , , . For example, is “the key” and is “the friend”.

A very useful polite chunk in cafes and shops is = “I would like...”. Treat it as a fixed expression for now: You do not need the full grammar yet.

Verbi in -are e volere

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FormExampleMeaning
I live here.
Chiara lives above the café.
Marco plays at night.
I want to sleep.
Can you play tomorrow?

Many common Italian verbs end in -are. In the present tense, you will often meet forms like , , , . These are very useful for simple daily actions.

You already saw = “to live” and = “to play”. For “I”, many verbs end in -o: . For “you” with , many forms look like “he/she”: . This is normal in polite Italian.

The verb means “to want”. A very useful pattern is + infinitive: , This is easy and natural at A1 level.

For simple requests, Italian often uses with or with : You can also use in cafes and shops.

Dove, mi chiamo e parole utili

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FormExampleMeaning
where
my name is Lena
my
from / in, at / in
we / they

To ask where something is, use : To ask where someone lives, use or with a child

means “my name is...”. It is one of the most useful first phrases in Italian. You can also hear with and with polite .

and mean “my”. Use with masculine nouns like and with feminine nouns like or .

Some basic prepositions in this module are , , . For example: , , . You also meet plural subject pronouns like and , even if you mostly speak in the singular at first.

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