Definite article: ‘the’
The first thing to know is that the Italian language uses definite articles a lot more than in English when speaking generally. For example, where we would say beautiful women, Italians would say le belle donne (the beautiful women) or il cibo italiano instead of italian food
Next we should remember that articles have [...]
Subject pronouns in English are I, you, he, she, it, we, you and they.
They are used before a verb to explain who is doing the action, eg I play, they play.
In italian this is already clear from the ending of the verb so often the subject pronoun is not specified.
Let’s use an example with the [...]
If you have found work and are coming to live in Italy, you’d better get used to being a straniero (foreigner)!
Italians split stranieri into two groups: comunitari (those coming from member states of the EU) and extra-comunitari.
First of all you will need un posto da vivere (somewhere to live). The most logical solution is to [...]
Prepositions are notoriously difficult to learn as they are one of the few elements of vocabulary that don’t have a straight translation from one language to another.
Don’t assume that because a preposition seems to have a similar equivalent in one situation that it will always be the same. Take the example of ‘in estate’ (in [...]
If you are planning on visiting Italy, you’ll probably want to go out for a nice meal at some point. Here is a great opportunity to practice your Italian!
If you choose a trattoria or ristorante you will probably be given a menù (pronounced ‘menoo’), but in some more rustic establishments you may have to sit [...]
In Italian, if you look in a grammar book, there are a lot of tenses to talk about the past.
Here we are going to look at the most important and most used - the passato prossimo (near past).
This tense can be used in most situations, whether recently or quite a long time ago.
An example using [...]
Although public transport in Italy is really very good (especially in the North), nothing compares with getting off the beaten track and discovering the ‘real’ Italy.
Unless you are planning on bringing your own car you will need to noleggiare un auto (rent a car). Most cities have plenty of choice, often situated near the aeroporto [...]
First of all we should take a look at our own language - English has many ways of expressing the future.
Some examples are I will do, I am doing or I am going to do.
Italian is a lot simpler.
Italians either use the present tense (to talk about the very near future) or the future tense [...]
To learn how to use adjectives in Italian, it’s important to not follow rules as they are in English.
First of all you should remember that adjectives nearly always follow the noun that they are describing, e.g. una casa vecchia (”a house old”) not una vecchia casa (an old house).
Secondly, adjectives have to ‘agree’ with the [...]
Today it’s never been easier to organise an inexpensive short break in Italy.
Budget airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet fly to a large number of beautiful Italian cities and with the internet you have access to a huge number of alberghi (hotels) or bed and breakfasts throughout the country.
If you are booking via the internet, [...]
