Tag Archives: Conversational Italian

Chicken in Marsala Wine Italian Style

One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine

One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine 

A delicious and easy to make family dinner. Try it tonight!

Try One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine for YOUR Dinner Tonight! 

The recipe title, “One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine” sounds rich… and it is! But it is also so easy to make! I am told that for many years in Italy, only relatively wealthy families had ovens (in the day of my great grandparents). As a result, many wonderful Italian meals were developed that could be made entirely on the stove top. This actually fits perfectly with the lifestyle we live today.

In this chicken in Marsala wine recipe, a whole cut chicken is cooked in one large skillet along with the wine and few other ingredients until a silky gravy forms. This hearty and fulfilling dish can be made during the week or served when friends are over on the weekend. Hearty, crusty Italian bread makes a perfect accompaniment. Add a salad or vegetable side dish (contorno) if you like.

So get out the largest skillet you have, and try our chicken in Marsala wine dish for your family tonight. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed! —Kathryn Occhipinti

Recipe is listed below.  Check out my  latest Instagram video from Conversationalitalilan.french and watch me make the dish if you like!

 


One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine 

Ingredients

1 frying chicken, cut into 2 breasts, 2 thighs/legs, 2 wings
(any chicken with breasts and thighs of similar size)
up to 1/4 cup olive oil, as needed
1 small onion, minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 strips guanciale (bacon from cheek of pig) or
2 strips prosciutto, chopped
3/4 cup Marsala wine
8 oz. cremini mushrooms
1 (15 oz.) can chopped tomatoes or
canned or fresh cherry tomatoes
2 sprigs of Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped coarsely

Method

Rinse the frying chicken inside and out, pat dry, and cut into pieces. Reserve the back for chicken soup to be made at a later date!

Sprinkle chicken lightly with salt and pepper.

Use a large, shallow pot, Dutch oven, or skillet to cook all ingredients over medium high heat as follows:

Pour olive oil into your pot or skillet to coat the entire bottom of the pot with a thin layer of oil, using  about 1/4 cup of olive oil. Heat oil over medium high heat (do not let the oil smoke or flavor will be lost).

Add chicken to the pan skin side down, keeping each piece separate from the other and cook without moving the chicken for a few minutes, until the skin has browned and some of the fat from under the skin has been rendered.

Turn chicken pieces once and cook about 5 minutes more.

Remove chicken pieces to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm.

Pour out excess oil/fat from the skillet. Add fresh olive oil if necessary to coat the bottom lightly again.

Into the skillet, add the chopped onion, crushed garlic clove, and guanciale or prosciutto. Cook until the onion has softened.

Add Marsala wine and turn the heat up to high briefly to boil off alcohol while scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release chicken bits that will help flavor the sauce. Lower heat and continue to boil off alcohol until about 50% of the Marsala wine remains in the pot.

Put the chicken back into the skillet and add tomatoes (with the juices in the can), mushrooms, and parsley. Add enough water, so the chicken and vegetables are almost completely covered.

Chicken in Marsala Wine
Browned chicken with vegetables and Marsala wine on the stove top

Cover the skillet and cook on medium high heat until the chicken is cooked through, adding more water as needed, about 15 to 30 minutes (this will depend on how cooked the chicken was initially, of course).

Chicken in Marsala Wine Italian style
Italian chicken in Marsala wine with tomatoes added, cooking on the stove top

If the sauce is too watery at the end of cooking time, remove the lid and boil off some liquid gently. The sauce should be fairly thick.*

Taste, and adjust salt and pepper before serving.

Place the chicken pieces on a large platter or on individual plates. Pour on the sauce and serve with rustic Italian bread.

Italian Chicken in Marsala Tomato Sauce
Italian chicken Marsala served with a side of bread

*This method is a fricassee of chicken (a method of cooking meat in which it is cut up, sautéed and braised, and served with its sauce), so the sauce will be a little fatty. If you want to decrease the amount of fat, the same method can be followed with skinless, bone-in chicken cooked for a shorter time initially.

Kathryn Occhipinti


Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
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More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
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Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

One-Pot Italian Chicken in Marsala Wine

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone 

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog                          Everything you need to know
to talk over the phone about your Italian beach vacation… in Italian!

 

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone 

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you talk about what you did on your Italian beach vacation using the past tense correctly—over the phone?   

Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult than it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on!

This series will focus on the situations that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on the type of sentence structure and vocabulary we all need to remember to be more fluent when we speak Italian!

To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, we must know how to use the present and the past tense easily; in this segment, we will focus on the pronomial verb esserci and the past tense in Italian. We will discuss how to use the helping verbs avere and essere with the passato prossimo past tense, the trapassato past tense, the verb passare in the past tense, and the past progressive tense. At the end will be an introduction to the future tense as well!

If you need to refresh your memory on when to use the passato prossimo form of the past tense versus when to use the imperfetto, please visit the third blog post in this series, Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

 

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone 

In the “Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a commonly used topic of conversation. Then, we will review the Italian grammar that is necessary to talk about the particular topic in detail. And finally, the same material will be presented in Italian and English, with blanks for the reader to fill in with descriptions from his or her own life or to practice verb conjugation! Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!

Enjoy the fourth topic in this series, “Speak Italian: Italian Vacation Revisited by Phone”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

This material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian language instructor Simona Giuggioli.

 


Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone 

In the dialogue to follow,  we listen in on a conversation between an Italian mother and her daughter after the two have been separated for a few weeks. It turns out that the daughter has been enjoying a vacation on the beaches of Sicily. While reading their conversation, try  to pick out the past tense verbs and notice which helping verb—avere or essere—is used for each.

And… by the way, the southern coast of Sicily has beautiful beaches and really is a destination for windsurfing!

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited
by Phone

Una mattina, mentre Francesca stava preparando la prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due hanno sentito lo squillo del cellulare.

One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.

 

Carlo ha detto, “Rispondo io” e si è diretto verso al soggiorno. Ha preso il cellulare dal tavolino e ha risposto.

Carl said, “I’ll get it (I’ll answer it),” and headed over to the living room. He took the cell phone from the end table and answered (it).

 

“Pronto,” ha detto lui. “Chi è? Chi parla?” E dopo: “Anna! Come stai? Ti passo mamma.”

“Hello,” he said. “Who is it? Who’s calling (lit. speaking)?” And after, “Anna! How are you? I’ll get (pass the phone to) mom for you.”

 

Era Anna, la figlia di Francesca, che era appena tornata dalla vacanza in Sicilia!

It was Anna, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!

 

Francesca aveva ricevuto qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non si erano parlate a telefono per tre settimane.

Frances had received some texts from Anna on the cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.

 

“Quanto tempo è passato!” ha detto Francesca ad Anna, dopo che Carlo le ha passato il cellulare. “Sono molto contenta di sentirti!”

“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”

 

“Mamma! Sono solo tre settimane!” ha detto Anna a Francesca.

“Mom! (Up until now it) is only three weeks!”(English: has been only) said Anna to Frances.

 

“Lo so. Dimmi! Dove sei? Perché non sei tornata a casa? Sei ancora alla stazione? Passerò a prenderti prima del lavoro.”

“I know. Tell me! Where are you? Why haven’t you come home? Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”

 

“Stai calma, mamma!” ha detto Anna. “Siamo arrivate a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ho passato la notte a casa di Giulia.”

“Calm down, mom!” Anna said. “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”

 

Anna ha continuato a parlare: “Verrò ad Avezzano in treno e sarò alla stazione alle quattordici. Chi può venire a prendermi alla stazione, tu or Carlo?”

Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzano by train and will be at the station at 2 p.m.  Who can come to pick me up at the station, you or Carl?”

 

“Questo pomeriggio sarà in ufficio, ma Carlo può portarti a casa in macchina sua.”

“This afternoon I will be at the office, but Carl can take you home in his car.”

 

“Ci sarò,” ha detto Carlo, che ha sentito la conversazione. “Non preoccuparti!”

“I will be there,” said Carl, who had heard the conversation. “Don’t worry!”

 

“È papà?” ha chiesto Anna. “Non c’è?”

“And dad?” asked Anna. “Is he (not) there?”

 

“No. Non c’è a casa questa settimana. È dovuto andare a Milano.”

“No. He’s not at home this week. He had to go to Milan.”

 

“Dimmi un po’ della tua vacanza. C’era bel tempo? Era bella la spiaggia in Sicilia? E come era l’appartamento della famiglia di Giulia?”

“Tell me a little bit about your vacation. Was the weather nice? Was the beach nice in Sicily? And how was Julia’s family’s apartment?”

 

“C’era molto sole, naturalmente! Eravamo in Sicilia! La spiaggia era molto bella. Mi piace molto la zona di Ragusa, lo sai. Ti ho mandato molte foto via SMS. Non le hai ricevute?”

“It was very sunny, naturally! We were in Sicily! The beach was very beautiful. I love the area around Ragusa, you know. I texted a lot of photos to you. Didn’t you receive them?”

 

“Si, le ho ricivute. Ma che hai fatto per tutti quei giorni sulla spiaggia?”

“Yes, I received them. But what did you do for all those days on the beach?”

 

“Ho preso il sole. Mi sono rilassata molto. Ho nuotato con Giulia e qualche amica che abbiamo incontrato là.”

“I sunbathed. I relaxed a lot. I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.”

 

“Li conosco, questi amici?”

“Do I know these friends?”

 

“Ne conosci solamento uno. Ricordi Giovanni che ho incontrato all’università di Roma?”

“You know only one of them. Do you remember John whom I met at college in Rome?”

 

“No. Non me lo recordo affatto.”

“No. I really don’t remember him.”

 

“È un tipo corto ma magro… con i capelli neri. In ogni caso, l’ho incontrato per caso sulla spiaggia. C’erano tre ragazzi vicino a me. Ma Giovanni è passato davanti a me e l’ho riconosciuto.”

“He is the short type but thin… with black hair. In any case, I met him by chance on the beach. There were three guys near me. But John passed by in front of me and I recognized him.”

 

“L’ho riconosciuto subito, perché lui mi piaceva molto quando eravamo a scuola insieme.”

“I recognized him right away, because I really liked him when we were at school together.”

 

“Veramente? Non mi hai mai parlato di lui prima.”

“Really? You never talked to me about him before.”

 

“Allora, ci siamo passati i numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto d’ora in poi.”  

“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”

 

“Va bene! Qual cos’altro è successo?”

“Very well!  What else happened?”

 

“Ho anche camminato molto sulla spiaggia e qualche volta ho corso un po’ sul lungomare dietro dell’appartamento. Una mattina sono corsa al porto di Ragusa per incontrari i miei amici.”

“I also walked a lot on the beach, and several times I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”

 

“Che hai fatto al porto?”

“What did you do at the port?”

 

“Vicino al porto c’è la spiaggia pubblica. Abbiamo fatto windsurf.”

“Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”

 

“Meraviglioso! Lo so che ti piace molto fare windsurf.”

“Great! I know that you really like windsurfing.”

 

“E uno dei nostri amici ha una barca. Alcune sere siamo restati in barca fino alle nove di sera e abbiamo visti il tramonto sul mare.”

“And one of our friends has a boat. Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m. and watched the sunset from the sea.”

 

“Molto bello!”

“Very nice!”

 

“Un altra sera io e Giulia siamo andate al ristorante a Scicli. Giovanni e un ragazzo che si chiama Paolo ci hanno portato lì. Il ristorante era sottoterra, in una grotta, con le candele accesse sulle tavole. Era molto romantico.”

“Another night Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli. John and a guy called Paul took us there. The restaurant was underground, in a grotto, with candles on the tables. It was very romantic.”

 

“Dopo siamo andati a ballare in un piccolo discoteca vicino. Abbiamo ballato fino alle due di mattina. È stato molto divertente!”

“Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”

 

“Mi sembra di si!”

“It seems like it was!”

 

“C’è altro della storia di Giovanni e me. Ma ora ho appena finito un caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa. Ci parliamo più tardi.”

“There’s more to the story about John and me. But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out. We’ll talk more later.”

 

“Va bene. Ma ci vediamo presto!”

“OK. But we will see each other soon!”

 

“Si, mamma! La storia dell’estate è finita ma un altra storia sta per comminciare!”

“Yes, Mom! The summertime story is over, but another story is about to begin!”

 


 

Speak Italian: Grammar You Will Need to Know to Speak on the Phone…

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Use the Pronomial Verb Esserci

The verb esserci means “to be there,” or “to be around.” Notice that the adverb “ci,” which takes on the meaning of “there,” is an integral part of this verb.

Anyone who has been speaking Italian for even a short time has probably heard the expressions “c’è” for “there is” and “ci sono” for “there are.” These phrases are mentioned in Chapter 6 of our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers. Now we know the infinitive verb that the above expressions originate from!

There are many, many expressions that use esserci. Below is a list of the most common expressions. “Ci sarò” for “I will be there!” comes up often in conversation. “Sarò là,” or “Sara lì,” are two equivalent phrases that may be heard today that use the verb essere instead of esserci.

A common idiomatic expression that answers the question of personal well-being, “Come stai?” is “Non c’è male,” with the meaning, “Not so bad.”

Many negative expressions use esserci as well.

Finally, esserci is used in the many idiomatic expressions about the weather. A few common weather expressions are listed below.

 

c’è there is
C’è una cosa…
C’è una cosa…?
There is something…
Is there something?
Non c’è problema. There is no problem.
Non c’è dubbio. There’s no doubt.
Non c’è bisogno. There’s no need.
Non c’è più. There is no more.
Non c’è internet. The Internet doesn’t work. There’s no Internet there/here.
Non c’è WIFI. There is no WiFi.
Non c’è male. Not so bad.
Non c’è verso di… There’s no way to…/It’s not possible to…
Non c’è da farsi illusioni… It’s no wonder that…
   
ci sono there are
Ci sono tanti turisti a Firenze. There are many tourists in Florence.
Ce ne sono tanti./Ce ne sono un miliardo. There are many (of them)./There are a billion (of them). (Any number greater than 1 can be used.)
Non ci sono con la testa. I am not thinking straight; I am exhausted.
   
c’era there was
C’era una volta. Once upon a time.
Una volta c’era… In the past there was…/Once there was…
   
c’erano there were
C’erano tanti turisti a Firenze. There were many tourists in Florence.
Ce n’erano tanti. / Ce n’erano un miliardo. There were many (of them)./There were a billion (of them). (Any number greater than 1 can be used.)
   
Ci sarò. I will be there.
Chi c’è con te? Who is there with you?
Tu avresti dovuto esserci. You should have been there.
Lei/lui avrebbe dovuto esserci. He/she should have been there.
   
Deve esserci una… festa. There must be a… party there.
   
Pronto. Chi è? Chi parla? Hello? Who is it? (telephone greeting uses essere)
C’è al telefono la signora Massa. Mrs. Massa is on the phone.
Non c’è (lui)? He/she is not around./He’s not there/here.
Non c’è (nessuno)? Is anybody around?/Is anybody there?
(Nobody is around/there/here?)
Non ci sono per nessuno per la prossima ora. (lit.) I’m not here for anyone for the next hour. (idiomatic: pretend I’m not here; don’t bother me; leave me alone)
   
C’è il sole. There is sun./It is sunny.
C’è bel tempo./Fa bel tempo. There is nice weather./It is nice out.
C’è brutto tempo./Fa brutto tempo. It is bad weather./It is bad out.
C’era sole. There was sun./It was sunny.
C’era bel tempo./Faceva bel tempo. There was nice weather./It was nice out.
C’era brutto tempo./Faceva brutto tempo. It was bad weather./It was bad out.

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo 
Verbs That Take Essere

 

Here is a list of the most common action verbs that take essere when forming the passato prossimo form of the past tense in Italian. Most of these verbs describe the act of going from one place to another, although not all of them do. We will break them down into their respective groups in the next sections and then give examples from our dialogue.

The infinitive form is in the first column, and the corresponding past participle is listed in the third column; the irregular past participles are given in red. Remember that when essere is the helping verb, the endings of the past participles will change to reflect the gender and number of the subject. The various endings are given in parentheses.

It should be noted again that all reflexive verbs, and the verb piacere, take essere.

 

Infinitive                                                           Past Participle

accadere to happen accaduto        (a)(i,e) happened
andare to go andato            (a)(i,e) went
arrivare to arrive arrivato           (a)(i,e) arrived
cadere to fall caduto            (a)(i,e) fell
cambiare to change cambiato        (a)(i,e) changed
cominciare to begin cominciato     (a)(i,e) began
correre# to run corso              (a)(i,e) ran
crescere to grow cresciuto         (a)(i,e) grown
diventare to become diventato        (a)(i,e) became
entrare to enter entrato           (a)(i,e) entered
finire+ to finish finito               (a)(i,e) finished
iniziare+ to begin iniziato           (a)(i,e) began
morire to die morto             (a)(i,e) dead
nascere to be born nato                (a)(i,e) born
partire to leave partito            (a)(i,e) left
passare* to pass through/put through passato           (a)(i,e) passed through; passed

put through

piacere to be pleasing to piaciuto          (a)(i,e) pleased
restare to remain restato            (a)(i,e) remained
rimanere to remain rimasto           (a)(i,e) remained
ritornare to return ritornato         (a)(i,e) returned
salire* to go up salito              (a)(i,e) went up
scendere* to do down sceso              (a)(i,e) went down
stare to stay/(to be) stato               (a)(i,e) stayed/been
succedere to happen successo         (a)(i,e) happened
uscire to go out uscito             (a)(i,e) went out
tornare to return tornato           (a)(i,e) returned
venire to come venuto            (a)(i,e) came

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Action Verbs of Direction

ALWAYS Take Essere

Let’s break down the long list of action verbs that take essere into separate categories to make them easier to remember.

The most important rule governing these verbs is that they describe movement from one place to another specific place. The action has a beginning and a specific end point. Some obvious verbs in the category, like andare (to go) and venire (to come), are listed in the following table.

Restare and rimanere have been included in this list under the theory that one has come from one place and arrived at another place where he or she will “remain” for a bit.

 

Infinitive                                                                  Past Participle

andare to go andato            (a)(i,e) went
arrivare to arrive arrivato           (a)(i,e) arrived
cadere to fall caduto            (a)(i,e) fell
entrare to enter entrato           (a)(i,e) entered
partire to leave partito            (a)(i,e) left
restare to remain restato            (a)(i,e) remained
rimanere to remain rimasto           (a)(i,e) remained
ritornare to return ritornato         (a)(i,e) returned
uscire to go out uscito             (a)(i,e) went out
tornare to return tornato           (a)(i,e) returned
venire to come venuto            (a)(i,e) came

 

Un altra sera io e Giulia siamo andate al ristorante a Scicli.”
“Another night, Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli.”

“Perché non sei tornata a casa?”
“Why haven’t you come home?”

“Siamo arrivate a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ho passato la notte a casa di Giulia.”
“We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”

“Alcune sere siamo restati in barca fino alle nove di sera e abbiamo visti il tramonto sul mare.”
“Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m., and we watched the sunset from the sea.”

 


Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Action Verbs of Being/Living

ALWAYS Take Essere

 

If we think of the verbs that describe “living” as taking us from birth to death; that is, from our beginning to our end point as human beings, it makes sense that essere is needed as the helping verb. Other commonly used verbs that describe how we all change in life, ingrassare, dimagrire, and invecchiare, have also been included.

As part of this way of thinking, we have included the verbs cambiare and diventare in this list as well. Because something or someone will change from one thing into another, there is a beginning and end point implied in these verbs as well. For a similar reason, accadere and succedere are included—the endpoint of a change is that something has happened. Below is a list of these verbs.

 

Infinitive                                                          Past Participle

accadere to happen accaduto        (a)(i,e) happened
cambiare to change cambiato        (a)(i.e) changed
crescere to grow cresciuto         (a)(i,e) grown
dimagrire to lose weight/to become or make one look thin dimagrito        (a)(i,e) lost weight/became or made one look thin
diventare to become diventato        (a)(i,e) became
ingrassare to gain weight/to become or make one look fat ingrassato       (a)(i,e) gained weight/became or made one look fat
invecchiare to age/get old/to become or appear older

to mature

invecchiato     (a)(i,e) to have aged

to have gotten old

to have become or appear older

to mature

morire to die morto             (a)(i,e) dead
nascere to be born nato                (a)(i,e) born
stare to stay/(to be) stato               (a)(i,e) stayed/been
succedere to happen successo         (a)(i,e) happened

 

“Che succede?”/“Che sta succedendo?”
What is happening?”

“Che cosa è successo?”/“Che è successo?”/“Cosa è successo?”
“What happened?”

“Cosa stava succedendo quando siete arrivate alla spiaggia.”
“What was happening when we arrived at the beach?”

“Cosa altro è successo?”
“What else happened?”

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Non-Directional Action Verbs

ALWAYS Take Avere

 

Camminare and ballare are two verbs of movement that take the helping verb avere, rather than essere.

I’ve always thought this a bit curious, although one could say that dancing is movement without any set direction; spinning and turning are common, of course, and there is no set beginning or end to a dance, except in a performance.

Why does camminare take avere, and not essere? Maybe because it is sometimes used with the meaning of “to stroll,” which implies a leisurely walk without any set direction? Or maybe that is just the way it is, and there is no real explanation!

 

Infinitive                                                                    Past Participle

camminare to walk/to proceed/to function camminato walked/proceeded/functioned
ballare to dance ballato danced
passeggiare to stroll/to walk passseggiato strolled/walked
nuotare to swim nuotato swam
sciare to ski sciato skiied
pattinare (sul ghiaccio) to ice skate pattinato (sul ghiaccio) ice skated
pattinare (a rotelle) to roller skate pattinato (a rotelle) roller skated
fare windsurf to windsurf fatto windsurf windsurfed

 

“Ho nuotato con Giulia e qualche amica che abbiamo incontrato là.”
I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.

 

“Ho anche camminato molto sulla spiaggia…”
“I also walked a lot on the beach…”

 

“Vicino al porto c’è la spiaggia pubblica. Abbiamo fatto windsurf.”
“Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”

 

“Dopo siamo andati a ballare in una piccola discoteca vicino. Abbiamo ballato fino alle due di mattina.”
“Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Action Verb Correre

Takes Either Essere or Avere

 

Correre will take essere if one is running toward a destination. If one is running without a destination, correre will take avere.

“Lui è corso a casa sua.” for “He ran to his house.” vs. “Lui ha corso.” for “He ran.”

Infinitive                                   Past Participle

correre to run corso              (a)(i,e) ran

 

…e qualche volta ho corso un po’ sul lungomare dietro l’appartamento. Una mattina sono corsa al porto di Ragusa per incontrare i miei amici.”

…and several times, I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning, I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Action Verbs of Starting/Finishing
Take Either Essere or Avere

 

The following two verbs, cominciare and iniziare, which both mean “to begin,” and finire, which means “to finish,” can use either essere or avere as their helping verb with the passato prossimo past tense.

Which helping verb to use? This will depend on the situation. In linguistic terms, these verbs are considered transitive and intransitive.* But who can remember this?

Use this trick to help you to remember whether to use avere or essere. When the subject is a person or group of people that has started or finished something, and the “something” is mentioned after the verb (as a direct object), use avere. Otherwise, use essere.

 

So, “Io ho finito il libro,” “Tu hai finito il libro,” and “Lei/lui ha finito il libro,” means I, you, he/she has finished the book. 

 But “Il film è finito” means “The film is finished.”

Notice that in the last example, the verb itself completes the sentence and refers back to the subject.* ++

 

 

Infinitive                                                                          Past Participle

cominciare to start cominciato     (a)(i,e) began
finire+ to finish finito               (a)(i,e) finished
iniziare+ to begin iniziato           (a)(i,e) began

 

“Ma ora ho appena finito un caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa.”
”But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out.”

 

“La storia dell’estate è finita ma un altra storia sta per comminciare!”
“The summertime story is over, but another story is about to begin!”

 

*Finire is categorized as transitive in all of the examples except the last, and it is considered intransitive in the last example, but don’t worry about these terms!

  ++Not to complicate things too much but... One can say, “Io sono finito,” or “Lei è finita,” but unfortunately, the meaning will be that this person’s life has finished or something important in his or her life has “finished them” “for good.”

 


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Passato Prossimo
Action Verbs of Going Up/Down
Take Either Essere or Avere

Some verbs of movement that involve going up or down, such as scendere, salire, or saltare, take avere when used with a direct object (a thing or place that follows the verb), as in the following examples:

“Io ho sceso le scale.”
“I went down the stairs.”/“I have gone down the stairs.”

“Io ho salito le scale.” 
“I went up the stairs.”/“I have gone up the stairs.”

“Oggi ho saltato il pranzo.”
“Today I skipped lunch.”/“Today I have skipped lunch.”

 

 Otherwise, if these verbs are followed by a preposition, they use essere:

Lui è sceso dall’autobus.
He has gotten off the bus.

Lui è salito sull’autobus.
He has gotten on the bus.

La ragazza è saltata in aria dalla gioa.
The girl jumped in the air for joy.

Notice that in the last examples, the verb itself completes the sentence and refers back to the subject.*

 

Infinitive                                                                  Past Participle    

salire* to go up salito  (a)(i,e) went up
saltare to jump
to hop, to skip, and to go out/off (electronics)
saltato  (a)(i,e) jumped, hopped, skipped, went out/off

(electronics)

scendere* to do down sceso  (a)(i,e) went down

 

*Scendere, salire, and saltare are categorized as transitive in the first list of examples, and they are categorized as intransitive in the second, but don’t worry about these terms!


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

The Many Uses for the Verb Passare

The verb passare means “to pass,” as in “to pass through,” “pass by,” “to pass time,” or “to spend time.” This simple verb is used in many ways in English and Italian!

lasciar passare (time) let (something) pass
  allow (something) to pass
lasciar passare (ignore) let (something) go by
passare alla storia to go down in history
   
passare una telephonata pass the telephone call over to someone
passare una serata insieme to spend a night together
passare un ordine… to send instructions (to somebody) to do (something)
passare la palla to pass the responsibility over (to someone) (lit. to pass the ball)
passare per la testa (something) comes to mind/to one’s mind/in one’s mind
   
passare a prendere (qualcuno) (pass by and) pick (someone) up
passare a far visita pass by to see (somebody)
  drop in to see (somebody)
passare a trovare (qualcuno) pass by to visit (somebody)
  pop in to see (somebody)
passare in ufficio to drop by the office
passare un attimo da casa to drop by one’s house for a bit
passare col rosso go through a red light

 

  1. Passare is used in the important everyday expression “passare a prendere,” which means “to pick up.” Venire is used with prendere as well, with a slightly different meaning.

Sei ancora alla stazione? Passerò a prenderti prima del lavoro.”
“Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”

 

“Può venire alla stazione a prendermi?”
“Can you (polite) come to the station and get me?”

 

  1. We can “pass” something to someone else, such as the telephone or cell phone (il telefono, il cellulare, il telefonino) or the telephone call (la telefonata). If speaking Italian in the past tense, we must use avere as our helping verb.

“Quanto tempo è passato!” ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlo le ha passato il cellulare.
“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone.

 

  1. If we are doing something “to pass the time,” we must use avere as our past tense helping verb.

“Siamo arrivate a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ho passato la notte a casa di Giulia.”
“We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”

 

  1. Time can “pass by” all by itself, so we must use essere as our past tense helping verb.

“Quanto tempo è passato!” ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlo le ha passato
il cellulare.
“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”

 

  1. If a person “passes by/passes through,” we must use essere as our past tense helping verb.

Ma Giovanni è passato davanti a me e l’ho riconosciuto.”
“But John passed by in front of me, and I recognized him.”

 

  1. Finally, the reflexive verb passarsi is used to mean “to exchange” something between people and is interchangeable with scambiarsi. Both verbs take essere in the past tense, of course, because they are reflexive!

“Allora, ci siamo passati i numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto d’ora in poi.”
“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”

 


Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Past Tense – Past Progressive Tense
Verbs That Take Stare

Occasionally, we may want to emphasize that a particular action is going on at the exact same time as the conversation that is taking place. In this case, we would use the present progressive tense, or “-ing” tense, as we do so often in English.

In Italian, this tense is expressed with the verb stare and the gerund of the action verb. This is easier than it may seem at first because the gerunds are almost all regular for all three conjugations. Also, the second and third conjugations are identical!

To form the gerund, just drop the –are, –ere, or –ire infinitive ending and add the following endings:

Forming the Gerund

Verbs that end in are stem + ando
Verbs that end in –ere or –ire stem + endo

 

Conjugate stare to reflect the speaker, add the gerund, and you have made the present progressive tense of the verb!

For the past tense progressive form, simply conjugate stare in the imperfetto past tense and follow with the gerund. Luckily, stare is regular in the imperfetto form!

Here are all the forms of the present progressive and past progressive tenses using the verb preparare. Notice that the accent falls on the second to last syllable of the gerund, which is underlined.

Stare preparare – to be preparing

 

io sto stavo preparando I am/was                                       preparing
tu stai stavi preparando you (familiar) are/were         preparing
Lei

lei/lui

sta stava preparando you (polite) are/were             preparing

she/he is/was                            preparing

         
noi stiamo stavamo preparando we are/were                              preparing
voi state stavate preparando you all are/were                      preparing
loro stanno stavano preparando they are/were                           preparing

 

“Una mattina, mentre Francescca stava preparando la prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due hanno sentito lo squillo del cellulare.”

“One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.”

 


Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

 Past Tense – Trapassato Prossimo

When talking about something in the past, we may at times refer to another event that has taken place even further in the past. In this case, the verb form used is the trapassato prossimo. So there is another Italian past tense to learn! But don’t despair! The use and verb structure is the same as for the passato prossimo!

Hint for use:  Whenever we say “had” in English, use the trapassato prossimo in Italian.

To form the compound verb for the trapassato prossimo, instead of using present tense avere or essere for the helping verb, simply substitute the imperfetto past tense form of these verbs. Then add the past participle. That’s all there is to it! Here are some examples from our dialogue:

 

“Era Anna, la figlia di Francesca, che era appena tornata dalla vacanza in Sicilia!”
“It was Ann, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!”

 

“Francesca aveva ricevuto qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non si erano parlate a telefono per tre settimane.”
“Frances had received some texts from Anna on the (her) cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.”

 


Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Prepositions for Riding in/Getting in/Getting out of Vehicles

When one is riding in a train or another vehicle, the simple use of the preposition “in” will suffice for English and Italian. Travelers sometimes describe going or coming somewhere “by” train in English, but the preposition in Italian will not deviate from the usual “in.”

 

Anna ha continuato a parlare: “Verrò ad Avezzano in treno e sarò alla stazione alle quatordici.”

Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzano by train and will be at the station at 2 p.m.

 

However, Italian prepositions will change for cars versus other forms of transportation when one describes the act of getting in the vehicle. The same prepositions will be used for getting out of any vehicle, however.

 

To follow are some examples. Notice how the prepositions su (on) and da (from/out of) are combined with the different forms of the (il, l’, or la). 

 

Salgo* in macchina. I get into the car.
Salgo su I get on/I board/I go aboard…

 

“Salgo… sullautobus, sul treno, sulla barca, sulla motocicletta, sulla bicicletta, sullaereo.”

“I get onto… the bus, the train, the motorcycle, the bicycle, the airplane.”

 

Scendo dal I go down/I get down/I get off or out of…
Scendo dalla macchina. I get out of the car.

 

“Scendo… dallautobus, dal treno, dalla barca, dalla motocicletta, dalla bicicletta, dallaereo.”

“I get off… the bus, the train, the motorcycle, the bicycle, the airplane.”

 

Some common familiar command forms used to address family or friends riding with you:

Sali in macchina! Get into the car! (fam. command)
Scendi dalla macchina! Get out of the car! (fam. command)

 

 


Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone 

How well do you know how to use the Italian passato prossimo and past tense? Do you remember when to use the imperfetto past tense? And the  verb esserci? Fill in the blanks for the verbs in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, then check your work with the dialogue in the first section. If you like, write a story about an Italian beach vacation of your own!

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited
by Phone

 

Una mattina, mentre Francescca ________________________ la prima colazione per se stessa e suo figlio che si chiama Carlo, i due ___________________ lo squillo del cellulare.

One morning, while Frances was preparing breakfast for herself and her son Carl, they heard the cell phone ring.

 

 

Carlo ________, “Rispondo io, “e ____________” verso al soggiorno.  _________________________ il cellulare dal tavolino e ___________________________.

Carl said, “I’ll get it (I’ll answer it),” and headed over to the living room. He took the cell phone from the end table and answered (it).

 

 

“Pronto,” ___________. “Chi è? Chi parla?” E dopo: “Anna! Come stai? _____________.”

“Hello,” he said. “Who is it? Who’s calling (lit. speaking)?” And after, “Anna! How are you? I’ll get (pass the phone to) mom for you.”

 

 

____Anna, la figlia di Francesca, che __________________ dalla vacanza in Sicilia!

It was Anna, Frances’s daughter, who had just returned from vacation in Sicily!

 

 

Francesca ______________ qualche messaggio da Anna sul cellulare, ma non __________________ a telefono per tre settimane.

Frances had received some texts from Anna on the cell phone, but they had not spoken to each other on the phone for three weeks.

 

 

“Quanto tempo ________________________________!” ha detto Maria ad Anna, dopo che Carlo _____________________ il cellulare. “Sono molto contenta di sentirti!”

“How much time has gone by!” Frances said to Anna, after Carl gave (passed) her the cell phone. “I am so happy to hear from you!”

 

 

“Mamma! Sono solo tre settimane!” ___________________________ Anna a Francesca.

“Mom! (Up until now it) is only three weeks!”(English: has been only) said Anna to Frances.

 

 

“Lo so. Dimmi! Dove sei? Perché non ______________ a casa? Sei ancora alla stazione?  ______________________ prima del lavoro.”

“I know. Tell me! Where are you? Why haven’t you come home? Are you still at the station? I will pick you up before work.”

“Stai calma, mamma!” _____________________ Anna. “___________________ a Roma ieri sera ma era molto tardi, cosi ________________________ la notte a casa di Giulia.”

“Calm down, mom!” Anna said. “We arrived at Rome last night, but it was very late, so I stayed at Julia’s house for the night.”

 

Anna _________________________________: “Verrò ad Avezzano in treno e sarò alla stazione alle quattordici. Chi _________________________________________ alla stazione, tu or Carlo?”

Anna continued (to talk): “I will come to Avezzano by train and will be at the station at 2 p.m. Who can come to pick me up at the station, you or Carl?”

 

“Questo pomeriggio sarà in ufficio, ma Carlo ________________________________ a casa in macchina sua.”

“This afternoon I will be at the office, but Carl can take you home in his car.”

 

 

“________________,” ____________________ Carlo, che __________________ la conversazione. “Non preoccuparti!”

“I will be there,” said Carl, who had heard the conversation. “Don’t worry!”

 

“È papà?” _________________________ Anna. “Non _____________?”

“And dad?” asked Anna. “Is he (not) there?”

 

“No. Non ______________ a casa questa settimana. _________________________ a Milano.”

“No. He’s not at home this week. He had to go to Milan.”

 

 

“Dimmi un po’ della tua vacanza. _____________ bel tempo? _____________ bella la spiaggia in Sicilia? E come ______________ l’appartamento della famiglia di Giulia?”

“Tell me a little bit about your vacation. Was the weather nice? Was the beach nice in Sicily? And how was Julia’s family’s apartment?”

 

 

“______________ molto sole, naturalmente! _______________________ in Sicilia! La spiaggia _________________molto bella. Mi piace molto la zona di Ragusa, lo sai. _______________ molte foto via SMS. Non ____________________________?”

“It was very sunny, naturally! We were in Sicily! The beach was very beautiful. I love the area around Ragusa, you know. I texted a lot of photos to you. Didn’t you receive them?”

 

 

“Si, le ho ricivute. Ma che hai fatto per tutti quei giorni sulla spiaggia?”

“Yes, _____________________. But what ___________________ for all those days on the beach?”

 

 

“_________________________ il sole. _____________________________ molto. _________________ con Giulia e qualche amica che _________________________________ là.”

“I relaxed a lot. I swam with Julia and some friends that we met there.”

 

 

“Li conosco, questi amici?”

“Do I know these friends?”

 

 

“Ne conosci solamento uno. Ricordi Giovanni che ________________________ all’università di Roma?”

“You know only one of them. Do you remember John whom I met at college in Rome?”

 

 

“No. Non me lo recordo affatto.”

“No. I really don’t remember him.”

 

 

“È un tipo corto ma magro… con i capelli neri. In ogni caso, ___________________________ per caso sulla spiaggia.  ________________________________ tre ragazzi vicino a me. Ma Giovanni _________________________ davanti a me e  _________________________________.”

“He is the short type but thin… with black hair. In any case, I met him by chance on the beach. There were three guys near me. But John passed by in front of me, and I recognized him.”

 

 

“_____________________________ subito, perché lui ___________________________ quando ______________________________ a scuola insieme.”

“I recognized him right away, because I really liked him when we were at school together.”

 

“Veramente? Non _________________________ di lui prima.”

“Really? You never talked to me about him before.”

 

 

“Allora, _________________________ i numeri di telefono e resteremo in contatto
d’ora in poi.” 

“Anyway, we exchanged telephone numbers and will remain in contact from now on.”

 

 

“Va bene! Qual cos’altro è successo?”
“Very well! What else happened?”

 

 

“_________________________________ molto sulla spiaggia e qualche volta ___________________ un po’ sul lungomare dietro dell’appartamento. Una mattina ___________________ al porto di Ragusa per incontrari i miei amici.”

“I also walked a lot on the beach, and several times I ran a bit along the boardwalk in back of the apartment. One morning, I ran to the port of Ragusa to meet my friends.”

 

 

“Che hai fatto al porto?”

“What did you do at the port?”

 

 

“Vicino al porto _____________________ la spiaggia pubblica.  _________________________ windsurf.”

“Near the port is the public beach. We went windsurfing.”

 

 

“Meraviglioso! Lo so che ti piace molto fare windsurf.”

“Great! I know that you really like windsurfing.”

 

 

“E uno dei nostri amici ha una barca. Alcune sere _____________________________ in barca fino alle nove di sera e ______________________________ il tramonto sul mare.”

“And one of our friends has a boat. Some nights we stayed in the boat until 9 p.m. and watched the sunset from the sea.”

 

 

“Molto bello!”

“Very nice!”

 

“Un altra sera io e Giulia ________________________________ al ristorante a Scicli. Giovanni e un ragazzo che si chiama Paolo __________________________ lì. Il ristorante ________________ sottoterra, in una grotta, con le candele accesse sulle tavole. ______________ molto romantico.”

“Another night, Julia and I went to a restaurant in Scicli. John and a guy called Paul took us there. The restaurant was underground, in a grotto, with candles on the tables. It was very romantic.”

 

 

“Dopo __________________________ in un piccolo discoteca vicino. _______________________ fino alle due di mattina. ____________________ molto divertente!”

“Afterward, we went to dance in a small club nearby. We danced until 2 a.m. It was a lot of fun!”

 

“Mi sembra di si!”

“It seems like it was!”

 

 

“_______________________ altro della storia di Giovanni e me. Ma ora _____________________ un caffè e devo preparmi per uscire di casa. Ci parliamo più tardi.”

“There’s more to the story about John and me. But now I have just finished a cup of coffee, and I have to get ready to go out. We’ll talk more later.”


Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
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Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

Speak Italian: Italian Beach Vacation Revisited by Phone

Italian dialogue about shopping - at the Galleria Mall in Milan!

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog               Use our Italian practice tips to go shopping in Italy! Listen to our Italian dialogue about two cousins in an Italian shop!

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language.  Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to communicate in Italian fluently? Are you familiar with the vocabulary to use when shopping in Italy?

Our Italian Practice blog Shopping in Italy includes an audio dialogue recorded with native Italian speakers! In our Italian Subjunctive Mood Dialogues,  we have been introduced to the story of Caterina and Francesca, two Italian cousins who are living in different cities and trying to reconnect . In the dialogue for this blog, Caterina visits Francesca in Rome, and they go shopping to buy Caterina some new clothes.

Click on the “PLAY” button below and listen to the Italian dialogue from our Conversational Italian for Travelers  text book, “Chapter 10 – Shopping in Milan,” right on this blog. Read along on the printed page that follows the dialogue button. Afterward, click on the website link www.LearnTravelItalian.com and interact with the same recorded audio on our website. Listen to individual lines over and over again—as many times as needed!

After the dialogue, we will present information about how to use Italian reflexive verbs to refer to dressing oneself and trying on clothes. We will also describe how to use questo and quello to point out to the shopkeeper which of those wonderful Italian items will make the perfect souvenir to remember a trip to Italy!

This material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com


Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

Italian Dialogue: Chapter 10: Shopping in Milan

 

Francesca Caterina, abbiamo

molto da fare oggi.

Kathy, (we) have

a lot to do today.

  È giovedì, e il giovedì

io vado a fare la spesa.

(It) is Thursday, and on Thursdays

I go to do the grocery shopping.

  E poi, la mia amica Anna

ci invita a prendere un caffé

in un bar.

And then my friend Ann

invites us to (take) have coffee

in a bar.

  Ti piace fare la spesa? (Do) you like to do the grocery shopping?

(lit. Is it pleasing to you…?)

Caterina Si, mi piace fare la spesa

al supermercato.

 

Yes, I like to do the grocery shopping at the supermarket.

 

  Ma, mi piace di più

andare a comprare vestiti.

But, I like more

to go to buy clothes.

(lit. It is pleasing to me more…)

  Ho bisogno di

un vestito nuovo e

vorrei comprare anche

qualcosa per mia sorella

in America.

(I) need

a new dress and

also (I) would like to buy

something for my sister

in America.

 
Francesca Molto bene.

Andiamo a fare shopping!

Very well.

Let’s go shopping (for clothes)!

  Ci sono molti bei negozi a Milano. There are many nice shops in

Milan.

 
Francesca (Dopo un po’…

Francesca e Caterina entrano

in un negozio di vestiti e

incontrano la commessa Laura.)

(After awhile…

Frances and Kathy enter

a dress shop and

meet the salesgirl

Laura.)

 

 

Laura

(a Caterina):

Buon giorno.

Posso aiutarla?

Good day.

May (I) help you?

(polite greeting to a customer)

 
Caterina Cerco un vestito da sera,

carino ma elegante.

(I) am look(ing) for an evening dress,

cute, but elegant.

Mi piace molto ballare.

Avete vestiti neri?

I like dancing very much.

(lit. Dancing to me is pleasing…)

(Do) you all have black dresses?

(plural (voi) form of “you” used to address salespeople politely)

Laura Certamente.

Che taglia porta?

Certainly.

What size (do) you take?

(polite question)

 
Caterina Porto la (taglia) quarantasei. (I) take (the) size 46 (Italian).
Laura Questo vestito è alla moda. This dress is in style.
 
Caterina Francesca, ti piace? Frances, (do) you like (it)?

(lit. Is it pleasing to you…?)

Francesca Si, ma anche questo (vestito) e bello.  Provali tutti e due. Yes, but also this (dress)

is nice. Try them both on.

Caterina

(a Laura):

Avete taglie più grande? (Do) you all have larger sizes?

(plural (voi) form of “you” used to address salespeople politely)

  Mia sorella porta la (taglia) quarantotto. My sister takes (the) size

48 (Italian).

 
Laura Si, questo, o forse quel vestito. Yes, this, or maybe that dress.
 

 

Francesca Caterina, ti piace questa gonna per tua sorella? Kathy, (do) you like this

skirt for your sister?

(lit. Is this skirt pleasing to you…?)

 
Caterina È bella, ma

a mia sorella non piace

il colore marrone.

(It) is nice, but

my sister doesn’t like

the color brown.

(lit. To my sister, the color brown

is not pleasing…)

 
Francesca E quella (gonna)? And that one (skirt)?
 
Caterina Oh, quella (gonna) è perfetta.

Le piace di più il rosso del marrone.

Oh, that (skirt) is perfect.

She likes red more than

brown.

(lit. To her, red is more pleasing than brown.)

  La prendo! I’ll take it!
 
Caterina

(a Laura):

Dov’è posso trovare

il camerino?

Where can (I) find

the fitting room?

 
Laura Eccolo. Here it is.
 
Francesca (Dopo pochi minuti…) (After a few minutes…)
     
Caterina Allora, Francesca.

Mi metto il vestito.

Now, Frances.

I put on (myself) the dress.

  Che pensi?

Mi sta bene?

What (do you) think?

(Does it) look good on me?

(lit. Does it stay well on me?)

 
Francesca Ti sta benissimo!

Ma com’è l’altro?

(It) looks wonderful on you!

But how (about) the other?

 

 

Caterina L’altro non mi va bene.

È troppo stretto.

The other did not fit me well.

(idiomatic expression)

(It) is too tight.

 
Laura

(a Caterina):

Desidera altro? (Do) (you) want anything else?
 
Caterina No, mi piacciono questi (vestiti). No, I like these (clothes).

(lit. These clothes are pleasing to me.)

  Quanto costano questo vestito e questa gonna? How much is (costs) this dress and this skirt?
 
Laura Sono cinquantadue euro per il vestito e ventitre euro per la gonna. (They are) 52 euros for the dress and 23 euros for the skirt.
 
Caterina Non c’è male. That’s not too bad.
 
Laura Ecco la cassa.

Come vuole pagare?

Here is the cashier’s counter.

How (do) (you) want to pay?

 
Caterina Posso pagare con un assegno? Can (I) pay with a check?
 
Laura Mi dispiace.

Non accettiamo assegni.

I’m sorry.

(We) don’t accept checks.

  Accettiamo la carta di credito o il bancomat. (We) accept (a) credit card or (a) debit card.
 
Caterina Va bene.  Pago in contanti. Very well. (I will) pay in cash.
  Mi può dare la ricevuta, per favore? Can you give me the receipt, please?
 
Laura Ma, certo!  Grazie mille! But certainly! Thank you very much!

 


 

 


Italian Dialogue Practice: What You Will Need to Know…

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

For Italian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…
Expressions That Describe Shopping

Many important expressions describe the act of shopping in Italian. Notice from the tables below how the phrases differ depending on the type of shopping to be done. Examples follow.

Grocery Shopping 

fare la spesa to do the grocery shopping

to do some grocery shopping

General Shopping

fare spese to do the shopping (clothes, shoes, or other personal items)
fare compere to do the shopping (any purchase) (la compera = purchase)
fare acquisti to do the shopping (any purchase) (l’acquisto = purchase)
fare shopping to do the shopping

 

We have seen in the dialogue for this chapter that although Americans use the simple phrase “go shopping” for any shopping that they do, Italians often “go to do the shopping,” with the expression “andare a fare la spesa.” This interesting expression refers only to grocery shopping. A phrase denoting the location of the shopping, such as “al supermercato” (“at the supermarket”) can be used to complete the sentence. In most cases, both speakers know the place to obtain groceries, so the actual place is omitted.

If one is going to shop for non-grocery items, several phrases can be used. “Fare spese” is similar to the phrase we have just learned for grocery shopping, but it instead means “to go shopping for clothes, shoes, or other personal items,” usually in the piazza or shopping district in town known to the speakers. Two phrases can be used for shopping in general, for any purchase: “fare compere” and “fare acquisti.” A very popular phrase in Italy today that can be used for any type of shopping is simply “fare shopping!”

Otherwise, to shop for a specific item, use “andare a comprare” and mention what you are going to buy; for instance, complete this phrase with the word vestiti for clothes, like Caterina did in our dialogue.

 

Faccio la spesa. (I) do the (grocery) shopping.
Vado a fare la spesa. (I) go to do the (grocery) shopping.
Vado a comprare… (I) go to buy… (any item).
Faccio shopping. (I) go (lit. do/make) shopping (general).
Faccio shopping di vestiti. (I) go (lit. do/make) shopping for clothes.
Faccio compere. (I) go (lit. do/make) shopping (general).
Faccio acquisti. (I) make purchases (usually for non-grocery items).
Mi può mostrare… Could you (pol.) show me…
Mi fa vedere… Could you (pol.) show me…
Posso? May I?
Che taglia porta? What size do you (pol.) wear?
Porto la taglia…/Porto la… (I) take the size…/(I) take the (size)…
Qual’è la taglia italiana per What is the Italian size for
la taglia dieci americana?  (the) size 10 American?
alla moda/di moda in style
di marca designer/brand name
Mi provo…/Ti provi (I) try on (myself)…/(You fam.) try on (yourself)…
Mi metto…/Ti metti… (I) put on (myself)…/(You fam.) put on (yourself)…
Mi metto… (I) am trying on (myself)…/(I) am going to try on (myself)…
Mi sta bene. (It) looks good (lit. stays well) on me.
Ti sta bene. (It) looks good (lit. stays well) on you.
Mi va bene. (It) fits me well.
La/Lo prendo! I’ll take it! (fem./masc. direct object)
Le/Li prendo! I’ll take them! (fem./masc. plural direct object)


Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

 For Itlaian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…
Reflexive Verbs of Dressing Oneself

Italian uses the reflexive verb mettersi (to put on oneself) to convey the ideas of “I put on the dress,” “I put on my dress,” and “I put my dress on.” The reflexive pronoun mi (myself) is placed before the conjugated form of mettersi, as usual, and the article of clothing to be put on is then placed after the verb. The subject pronoun is omitted.

So when Caterina goes to try on her dress in our dialogue, she says, “Mi metto il vestito.” Just remember the simple phrase “mi metto,” and replace vestito with the article of clothing of your choice to describe your own action! To describe action in the tu (you) form, use “ti metti.”

 

(Io) Mi metto il vestito. I put on the dress./I put the dress on./I put on my dress.
(Tu) Ti metti l’anello. You put on the ring.

Also, remember that stare is used to describe how someone feels? Well, to tell someone “It looks good on you!” follow this simple method: Conjugate stare into the third person, or “it” form, sta, then place an indirect object pronoun before the verb.

This is easier than it sounds, because for routine conversational use of the io and tu forms, Italian words we already know—mi and ti—are again used. (Mi means both me and to me, and ti means both you and to you; the same Italian words are used for both direct and indirect object pronouns for the io and tu forms.)

 So when Francesca told Caterina in our dialogue, “Ti sta bene,” she was saying, literally, “To you, it stays well,” with the meaning, “It looks good on you.” 

To ask someone if an article of clothing you are wearing looks good, use, “Mi sta bene?” If clothing looks really wonderful on someone, reply, “Ti sta benissimo!”

Mi sta bene? Does it (article of clothing) look good on me?
Ti sta bene. It looks good on you.
Ti sta benissimo! It looks wonderful on you!

Finally, the expression “va bene” that we have come to know so well by now is also used to describe how an article of clothing fits on a person. If it fits well, say, “Va bene.” If not, use “Non va bene,” as Caterina does in our dialogue to describe a dress that did not fit her properly.


Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

 For Italian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…

How to Describe Wearing Clothes
 with the Verbs Portare, Mettersi, and Vestire

In order to say I am wearing…”  or I take the size…”  the verb portare, which is not reflexive, is usually used in the present tense. You no doubt remember that portare is commonly used to mean to bring”  or to carry.” 

Porto il mio vestito preferito. I am wearing my favorite dress.
Porto la (taglia) quarantotto. I take size 48.

Portare can also be used to say I wore”  in the past tense. But perhaps because portare is used so commonly with its other meaning of to bring”  in the past tense, to describe what they wore, most Italians prefer to revert to mettersi and use its past participle messo. Here is how it works:

(Io) Mi sono messo una gonna. I wore a skirt.
Ho portato una gonna. I wore a skirt.

Another way to describe how someone was dressed, is to use the past tense verb “essere vestito(a,i,e).”  This verb can be used to make generalizations, as well as to refer to a specific article of clothing.  When being specific, the preposition “con” is used in these phrases, as in the examples below.

Era vestito con un abito grigio. He was dressed in a suit.
Era vestita con una gonna blu. She was dressed in a blue skirt.
Eravamo vestiti tutto in rosso per la festa. We were dressed all in red for the party.

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

For Italian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…

How to Describe Wearing Clothes
 with the Verb Indossare

The verb indossare also means “to wear” and “to put on.”  This verb can is used in exactly the same way as portare or mettersi.  To the Italian ear, the verb indossare is said to have a more elegant sound than portare or mettersi, and perhaps this is why indossare is more common in written Italian than in conversation.

Just like the other two verbs that have the same meaning, indossare must always be followed by the article of clothing that the person is wearing.

Caterina indossa un abito rosso. Kathryn is wearing a red dress.
La signora indossava un cappotto molto elegantamente. The lady was wearing a very elegant coat.

******************************

Finally, when something fits perfectly on you or another, to really fit into Italian society, use the idiomatic expression calzare a pennello.”  Calzature refers to shoes, or “footwear,” so this Italian saying is the equivalent of  the English saying, It fits you like a glove” or It fits you to a T.”

Mi calza a pennello! It fits me perfectly!
Ti calza a pennello! It fits you perfectly!
Lo/la calza a pennello! It fits him/her perfectly!

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

 For Italian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…
Questa and Quella

The feminine demonstrative adjectives questa (this) and quella (that) have endings that follow our usual gender rules. Both have the usual –a ending for the feminine singular that changes to an –e ending in the plural, to make queste (these) and quelle (those).

It should be noted that if the singular feminine noun modified begins with a vowel, the usual –a ending of questa or quella can be dropped. The adjective and noun are then combined with an apostrophe to make conversation flow more smoothly.

Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule for when to drop the –a ending and when to keep it. As usual, listening to the language as it is spoken by a native is the best and most natural way to pick up these phrases. Here are a few examples:

Questa – This (Feminine)
Singular to Plural 

questa casa this house goes to these houses queste case
questa amica this girlfriend goes to these girlfriends queste amiche
quest’altra* this other goes to these other queste altre

 

 Quella – This (Feminine)
Singular to Plural 

quella casa that house goes to those houses quelle case
quella amica that girlfriend goes to those girlfriends quelle amiche
quell’altra* that other goes to those other quelle altre

*In these last phrases, questo and quello are not followed by a noun, and so they are technically pronouns rather than adjectives… don’t worry about these different labels now, though.

 


Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

 For Italian Dialogue You Will Need to Know…
Questo and Quello

The masculine demonstrative adjective questo (this) uses the usual –o ending for the masculine singular, which changes to an –i ending for the masculine plural and becomes questi (these).

Notice that if the singular masculine noun to be modified begins with a vowel, the usual –o ending of questo will be dropped and the words combined with an apostrophe to make conversation flow more smoothly.

Questo – This (Masculine)
Singular to Plural 

questo giorno this day goes to these days questi giorni
quest’amico this friend (male) goes to these friends (male) questi amici

 

 Quello – This (Masculine)
Singular to Plural 

The masculine demonstrative adjective quello (that) does not follow our usual gender rules but instead follows the rules for the masculine definite article “the” when it precedes a noun.

The word quello itself follows the rule for the definite article lo and is only used before the singular form of Italian masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, z, ps, gn, or pn. This is similar to another adjective that ends in -lo, bello.

Quel (that) is used to modify all singular masculine nouns that begin with a consonant, except for those noted in the last paragraph.

An apostrophe and an additional letter –l are added, to make quell’ (that) for singular masculine nouns that begin with a vowel.

For the plural masculine forms of quello, the usual –i ending is used for plural masculine nouns that begin with a consonant, to make quei (those).

The word quegli (those) is used for plural masculine nouns that begin with s + consonant, z, ps, gn, or pn, and all vowels…

This is not as complicated as it seems, because again, we are following the same rules as for the masculine definite article. The summary table is below:

 

 Quello – This (Masculine)
Singular to Plural 

quel giorno that day goes to those days quei giorni
quell’amico that friend goes to those friends quegli amici
quello zio that uncle goes to those uncles quegli zii

The above material is adapted from “Chapter 10 – Shopping in Milan” of the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook, © 2012 by Kathryn Occhipinti, courtesy of Stella Lucente, LLC. 


Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

Italian Dialogue Practice: Shopping in Italy

That’s Italian Minestrone Soup for Your Family

That’s Italian Minestrone Soup for Your Family

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog Minestrone Soup — A hearty and warming dish for the fall season or any time.

That’s Italian Minestrone Soup!
Calling Italian Moms, Dads, and Kids Everywhere! 

Minestrone soup is common in Italy. So common, in fact, that the word “minestrone” is synonymous with “zuppa” or “soup.” When one mentions minestrone, what comes to mind is a bean and pasta soup, usually flavored with a bit of tomato. The beauty of this soup is that, aside from these three basic ingredients, almost any vegetable can be added. So minestrone soup can be made again and again and still add variety to your dinner table!

Below is my family’s basic method for minestrone soup. The final soup is vegetarian, but the broth does use leftover meat bones and is a testament to how Italians traditionally use every bit of food they have at home. Ditto for the fresh parsley stalks. Why throw them away when they make a wonderful flavoring for soup broth?

White beans (cannellini) are the most common bean to add to the homemade broth, but other types of beans can be substituted, such as pinto beans or kidney beans (but not black beans). Dried beans work best, but for shorter cooking times, canned beans can be used. Canned chickpeas are a nice addition. Any miniature pasta variety will work. In a pinch, spaghetti can be cut into smaller pieces and added.

If you have a bit of leftover cooked potato, green beans, zucchini, or another vegetable, add it to your minestrone soup at the end of the cooking time. A bit of leftover pork chop, chicken, or beef from the night before? Meat can be added as well. You will be following a long Italian tradition of not wasting food and at the same time turning bits of leftovers into something delicious!

Try our method to make minestrone soup and continue a wonderful Italian tradition for your own family.  —Kathryn Occhipinti


That’s Italian Minestrone Soup for Your Family

Zuppa di Minestrone
Minestrone soup, ready to serve

Ingredients

For the Meat Broth
(Day 1)
 About 16 cups of water
4 pork chop bones (leftover/cooked)
1 chicken back (leftover/cooked)
or any other combination of leftover bones
with small amounts of meat clinging to them

2 carrots, each cut into 3–4 pieces
1 stalk of celery, cut into 3–4 pieces
1 onion, skin removed, cut into 4 pieces
1 parsnip cut into 4 pieces (optional)
1 clove garlic, skin removed
bundle of fresh parsley stems

For the Soup
(Day 2)
1 lb. dried cannellini beans
or other Italian white beans, pinto beans, kidney beans
2 carrots, peeled and chopped finely*
1 stalk celery, chopped finely*
1 onion, chopped finely*
1 can (28 ounces) chopped tomatoes
1/4–1/2 cup fresh green beans, cut into quarters
1/4 cup dried parsley or 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1–2 cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/2 cup Ditali Rigati 59 pasta (Granoro brand)
or minature pasta of choice

*See below for note about how to chop soup vegetables.

Make the Meat Broth (Day 1)

Fill a large stock pot with about 16 cups of water and set it on the stove. You may need a little more or less depending on the number of meat bones you have to make the broth. The amount of water should easily cover the bones and vegetables.

Add the leftover, precooked bones. (This soup can also be made with bones that have not been cooked, of course, but the precooked bones will add a little bit of flavor from the herbs and seasonings already used for the first cooking.)

Add all of the vegetables to the soup pot—carrots, celery, onion, clove of garlic. Note that these vegetables will be cooked until they have released all their flavor and will be removed before making the final soup, so there is no need to peel and chop them finely. Just wash, chop coarsely, and add to the soup pot.

Tie a bunch of parsley stalks together with food string and add them to the soup pot.

Turn the heat up to high and cover the pot to get it to boil. When the water comes to a boil, remove the lid and lower the heat to medium. Keep the water at a low boil and let the bones and vegetables cook slowly for 3–5 hours.

Skim any surface froth that may develop during cooking with a large spoon, but do not stir, or the broth will get cloudy.

Add additional water if necessary and continue cooking until the broth has the desired flavor and has reduced to about 8 cups.

When the broth is done, the meat should be falling off the bone and the vegetables very mushy.

Turn off the heat and let cool. Remove larger pieces of bone and vegetables with a straining ladle to leave the broth in the pot.

Pour the broth through a colander with fine holes to remove any particulate matter, then store it in a large plastic container in the refrigerator overnight.

If using dried beans, sort the beans in a bowl and remove any stones or beans that have not dried properly. Rinse and then place the beans into a non-reactive (plastic or glass) bowl overnight in cold water (about twice the amount of water as beans). Change the water once if you can.

Make the Soup (Day 2)

The next day, remove the broth from the refrigerator. Skim off the fat that will have floated to the top and hardened overnight and discard.

Place the skimmed broth into a large pot, about twice the size as the amount of liquid you have remaining. Add about 4 cups of additional water, becausse the broth will cook down again on the stove top.

Add the dried beans that have been soaked overnight. Cook about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until the beans have softened and started to fall apart.

Note that the beans that dissolve will give the soup flavor and thickness, and about half the added beans will dissolve by the end of the total cooking time. The amount of cooking time to get the beans to soften to this point will mostly depend on how old your beans are (older will take longer) and how long you have presoaked them.

When the beans have softened and started to fall apart, you can add your chopped vegetables—carrot, celery, onion, green beans.

Add the can of chopped tomatoes, including the liquid and the dried or chopped parsley.

Cook about 15–20 minutes on medium heat to soften the vegetables.

Add the canned garbanzo beans and any other cooked beans or vegetables at this point. Add optional fresh parsley.

Continue to cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Bring the soup to a boil and then add pasta and cook al dente (a little firm) according to package directions. If not serving the soup right away, undercook it a bit, because pasta will absorb water as it sits in the soup.

Serve in a large soup bowl garnished with fresh parsley.

Refrigerate leftovers to eat later in the week, if there are any!

*How to Chop Soup Vegetables
Carrots: Cut lengthwise to half, and then lengthwise again to get quarters. Line them up side by side and then cut crosswise from the tips to the base of the carrot to get small, even pieces that look like quarters of a circle.
Celery: Cut lengthwise through each celery stalk as many times as needed to give pieces the same thickness as the carrot pieces. (You will need more lengthwise cuts at the thicker part of the celery near the base.) Then cut crosswise from the tip to the base to get small, rectangular  pieces of celery about the same size as the carrot pieces.
Onion: Halve the onion lengthwise. Turn each flat side of the onion half down onto the board. Cut through lengthwise, from one side to the other, following the vein in the onion. Then cut through crosswise to make pieces the same size as the other vegetables. 

—Adapted from a cooking class given for the Italian-American Society of Peoria, by Kathryn Occhipinti

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

That’s Italian Minestrone Soup for Your Family

Italian Book Sale

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation 

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog               Planning your Italian vacation?

Use our Italian subjunctive mood practice tips to write your own Italian email!
Revisit the Italian subjunctive mood!

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to communicate in Italian fluently? Are you comfortable using email to make plans with your family and friends? Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood and Italian reflexive verbs correctly when making plans?

For our second Italian practice email, we will continue with the story of Caterina and Francesca,  two Italian cousins who are living in different cities and trying to reconnect. First, we will present a review of how to describe visiting someone using the verb trovare. Then we will present information about Italian reflexive verbs of emotion and of self-action, and the different meanings of verbs with reflexive and non-reflexive forms. We will also discuss use of Italian prepositions regarding the different places we go in our daily lives and regarding time. Finally, we will describe how to use Italian verbs as nouns.

                                                           ***************************

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation 

A note about the Italian subjunctive mood: to express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood  is difficult for English speakers, because we only rarely use this tense in English, and it’s something that I am always working on! This is the second blog post in the “Italian Practice” series that focuses on how to use the Italian subjunctive mood, or “il congiuntivo,” when writing an email to your family.

To review how to express one’s feelings using the subjunctive mood and how to conjugate the subjunctive mood in the present tense, see our Speak Italian Subjunctive series.

Enjoy the second blog post in this series, “Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Family Vacation.”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

Some of this material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian instructor Simona Giuggioli.


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Email: Planning Your Italian Vacation 

How many phrases that use the subjunctive mood can you pick out of the following emails? Hint: these phrases usually include the word “che.” Look for the underlined phrases for help! Notice that the future tense does NOT have a subjunctive mood! Also, look for reflexive verbs of emotion and self-action and special phrases of visiting that have been italicized for easier comprehension.

Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you try to speak Italian and try out the subjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!

Italian  Subjunctive Mood Practice Email:
Planning Your Italian Vacation
An Email to Francesca

Cara cugina Francesca,
Dear Cousin Frances,

Leggere la tua ultima email mi rende* molto contenta!
Reading your last email makes me very happy!

Sono molto contenta che tu e i tuoi figli possiate venire a trovarmi in Abruzzo.
I am very happy that you and your children can come to visit me in Abruzzo.

Mi dispiace che tuo marito non possa venire con voi.
I am sorry that your husband cannot come with you all.

Di solito, ti prendi cura di lui molto bene ogni giorno!
Usually, you take care of him very well every day!

Ed ora, dobbiamo fare il programma!
And now, we must make up the itinerary!

Spero che tu possa arrivare la domenica prima di Ferragosto.
I hope that you can arrive the Sunday before the Ferragosto holiday.

Per prima cosa, io vorrei portarti a trovare i nostri zii.
First, I want to take you to visit our aunt and uncle.

Sono anziani e io dovrei andare a trovarli ogni domenica.
They are elderly and I should go to visit them every Sunday.

Dopo che andiamo in chiesa di mattina, dobbiamo andare a casa loro.
After we go to church in the morning, we should go to their house.

Sono sicura che nostra zia preparerà una buona cena per noi.
I am sure that our aunt will make a wonderful dinner for us.

Lunedì, vorrei andare in montagna a fare un picnic.
On Monday, I would like to go to the mountains to have a picnic.

Per me, restare in montagne dovrebbe essere molto bello con l’aria fresca e gli alberi verdi.
For me, a stay in the mountains would be very beautiful with the fresh air and the green trees.

Dovremmo avere una buona giornata, no?
We should have a good day, no?

Possiamo prendere un buon apertivo come un Aperol Spritz e chiacchierare un po.’
We can have a nice apertif like an Aperol Spritz and chat a bit.

I ragazzi saranno anche molto contenti di giocare insieme fuori.
The kids will also be very happy to play together outdoors.

Mi piacerebbe molto restare in montagna due or tre giorni.
I would really like to stay in the mountains for two or three days.

Possiamo restare all’Albergo Grande vicino a Capistrello per due o tre giorni.
We could stay at the Albergo Grande Hotel near Capistrello for two or three days.

Tu ricordi che il padrone è anche mio cugino.
You remember that the owner is also my cousin.

Prima che tu ritorni, dobbiamo fare la spesa.
Before you return, we could go grocery shopping.

Puoi comprare il cibo tipico del nostro paese.
You can buy food typical of our town.

Puoi dirmi la verità—il pane a Roma non è buono come il nostro in Abruzzo!
You can tell me the truth—the bread in Rome is not good like ours in Abruzzo!

Pensaci.  Fammi sapere che pensi di questo programma!
Let me know what you think of this itinerary!

Non vedo l’ora di vederti!
I can’t wait to see you! (idiomatic expression)

Abbracci e baci,
Hugs and kisses,

Caterina
Kathy

*From the verb rendere,  which can mean “to render,” or “to make,” as in “to become.”


 

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Email:
Planning Your Italian Vacation
A Reply Email to Caterina

Cara cugina Caterina,
Dear Cousin Kathy,

Mi sembra che il tuo programma sarà meraviglioso!
It seems (to me) that your schedule will be marvelous!

Sarei molto contenta di restare in montagna con te!
I would be very happy to stay in the mountains with you!

Dopo avere letto la tua email mi sono resa conto che mi mancano molto le montagne dell’Abruzzo.
After having read your email, I realized that I really miss the Abruzzo mountains.

Dopo, andiamo a fare la spesa insieme a Capistrello e così posso portare del buon pane a Roma quando torno!
Afterward, let’s go grocery shopping together in Capistrello, so I can bring some good bread to Rome when I return!

Ho anche una buona idea—
I also have a great idea—

Forse tu puoi venire a trovarmi a Roma e possiamo fare shopping di vestiti.
Perhaps you can come to visit me in Rome, and we can go shopping for clothes.

Lo sai ci sono molti bei negozi di moda a Roma!
You know there are many wonderful, fashionable shops in Rome!

Qualche volta mi annoio di vivere a Roma senza te.
Sometimes I get bored living in Rome without you.

Ma, non mi sono arrabiata con mio marito due anni fa quando ci siamo trasferiti a Roma.
But I didn’t get mad with my husband two years ago when we moved to Rome.

Mi piacerebbe molto andare a trovare i nostri zii in Abruzzo.
I would really like to go to see our aunt and uncle in Abruzzo.

Mi ricordo di avere cenato molto bene a casa di zia Rosa!
I remember having eaten very well at Aunt Rose’s house!

Sarà molto divertente!
It will be very entertaining!

Ci vediamo presto!
See you soon! (Literally “We will see each other soon!”)

Francesca
Frances

 


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Email: What You Will Need to Know…

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
Phrases That Describe Visiting People

Let’s quickly review how to use the verbs trovare and venire to describe visiting someone, which we covered in detail in our last Italian practice blog post, “Emailing Italian Families.” We will also describe how to use the verb portare when bringing someone to visit others. Examples will come from the emails in this blog post. Did you notice these italicized phrases as you were reading?

 Trovare means “to find” something.

  • When trovare is combined with the verb andare in the phrase “andare a trovare,” the meaning changes into “to go to visit” someone.

Sono anziani e io dovrei andare a trovarli ogni domenica.

Mi piacerebbe molto andare a trovare i nostri zii in Abruzzo.

  • Similarly, when trovare is combined with the verb venire  in the phrase “venire a trovare,” the meaning changes into “to come to visit” someone.

Vorrei che tu venga a trovarmi in Abruzzo quest’estate.

Sono molto contenta che tu e i tuoi figli possiate venire a trovarmi in Abruzzo.

Forse tu puoi venire a trovarmi a Roma e possiamo fare shopping di vestiti.

  • Also, when trovare is combined with the verb portare in the phrase, “portare a trovare,” the meaning changes into “to bring (someone) to visit” someone.

Per prima cosa, io vorrei portarti a trovare i nostri zii.


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
Reflexive Verbs of Emotion

Italian reflexive verbs can be tricky for the English speaker because in many situations, reflexive verbs are used in Italian but not in English. In these cases, we must learn to think in Italian! If we think in Italian, using reflexive verbs to refer to changing emotions that one is feeling at the moment does makes sense.

We have already talked about the most common reflexive verbs in the second blog post in the Speak Italian! series, Speak Italian: All About… What I Am Doing! This blog post describes activities of daily living, which are the most common activities that use the Italian reflexive verbs.

Other activities that involve the changing of one’s emotions during the course of daily life are also reflexive, as in the current blog post, when one cousin talks to the other about her feelings about Rome and taking care of her children. Remember that verbs that translate as “to get” in English are reflexive in Italian!

So, if I “get”/ “am getting” angry, bored, embarrassed, offended, or worried, the verbs used to describe this happening within myself will be reflexive in Italian: arrabbiarsi, annoiarsi, imbarrazzarsi, offendersi, and preoccuparsi. 

Verbs of  “forgetting” and “remembering” that use the word “about” after the infinitive form in English are also reflexive in Italian.  These verbs are followed by the preposition di: dimenticarsi di, scordarsi di (colloquial expression), ricordarsi di.  

The following list includes the above verbs, and “a few” more!

 

accorgersi di/che to notice or realize (about self/someone or something else)
annoiarsi to get bored
arrabiarsi to get angry/mad
aspettarsi to expect/ to anticipate
confondersi to get confused
concentrarsi to concentrate (on something)
dimenticarsi di to forget about (something)
distrarsi to be distracted
focalizzarsi to focus (on something)
imbarrazzarsi to get embarrassed
interessarsi a to take an interest in/ to show an interest in
interessarsi di to take care of/ to be in charge of
offendersi to get offended
preoccuparsi to get worried/worry
rendersi conto di/che to realize (about self/someone or something else)
ricordarsi di to remember to do
sbronzarsi to get drunk
scordarsi di to forget about (something)(colloquial expression)
scusarsi to excuse oneself
seccarsi to get annoyed
sentirsi to feel
sorprendersi to get surprised
spaventarsi to get scared
ubriacarsi to get drunk
vergognarsi to be ashamed

*************************

Notice that the Italian verb that describes getting bored, annoiarsi, sounds very much like the English word “annoyed.” However, don’t get confused (confondersi)! The Italian verb that means “to get annoyed” is seccarsi. And of course, the verb for to feel in Italian is reflexive—sentirsi, not to be confused with the non-reflexive verb that means to hearsentire.

Here is how this works. When I want to talk about these emotions as they are happening to me, I must use the reflexive pronoun mi for myself. If I want to talk about emotions that I know are happening to someone else, then I must use the correct corresponding reflexive pronoun/verb conjugation (ti, si, ci, vi, si). Remember to leave out the subject pronoun (io, tu, Lei/lei/lui, noi, voi, loro) unless it is necessary for clarification.

All this is easier than it sounds once you give it a try!

Mi arrabio.
I am/am getting angry.

Ti annoi?*
Are you getting bored?

Lei si imbarrazza!
She is getting embarrassed!

Lui si imbarrazza!
He is getting embarrassed!

Ci offendiamo!
We are getting offended!

Vi confondete!
You all are getting confused!

Loro si seccano.
They are getting annoyed.

*The tu and noi forms of arrabiarsi and annoiarsi are irregular and have only one “i” at the ending: tu arrabi e tu annoi.

*************************

You Will Need to Know…
How to Use the Past Tense with Reflexive Verbs 

Distrarsi is often used in the past tense, as below. In this case, remember to change the “o” ending of the masculine past participle distratto to an “a” ending to make the feminine past participle distratta if needed.

Mi sono distratto(a).
I got distracted.

Non ho ascoltato il professore perché mi sono distratto(a).
I didn’t hear the professor because I got distracted.

 

Two other reflexive verbs in our list that are commonly used in the past tense are those of forgetting and remembering: dimenticarsi di and scordarsi di (to forget about something)* and ricordarsi/ricordarsi di (to remember something/to remember to do something).

Mi sono dimenticato(a) di andare alla posta centrale stamattina.
I forgot to go to the post office this morning.

Non mi sono mai scordato(a) di te.
I have never forgotten you.

Mi sono ricordato(a) il nostro aniversario di matrimonio quest’anno!
I remembered our anniversary this year!

Mi sono ricordato(a) di portare il vino per cena stasera.
I remembered to bring the wine for dinner stastera.

*The verb scordare means to make an instrument go out of tune. There is some controversy about the use of scordarsi with the meaning of “to forget,” and in effect giving it the same meaning as dimenticarsi; some linguists consider only dimenticarsi correct Italian. That said, to some Italians scordarsi means to forget something in your heart and dimenticarsi to forget something in your mind (i.e. without involving emotion).  In actual, everyday use, most Italians probably consider the two interchangeable.


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
How to Say, I realized… or I noticed”*

Lastly, we present examples that use the phrases “rendersi conto di/che,” which means “to realize” and “accorgersi di/che,” which can mean both “to realize” and “to notice.” Accorgersi di/che is most often used when something is recognized, but not necessarily understood.

To realize is rendered in Italian with the reflexive verb phrase  rendersi conto.  In order to say, “I realize,” we must conjugate the verb rendersi, which has a regular -ere conjugation in the present tense, and then add the word conto to finish the phrase.  So, “I realize…” is  “Io mi rendo conto…” But, of course, we always leave out the Italian subject pronoun, so the phrase that Italians use is conversation is just, “Mi rendo conto…”  

To complete the sentence, just add what you realize in the phrase that follows! The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.

  • Link what you realize about yourself with the Italian conjugation “di” before adding an infinitive verb.  Note: you don’t always have to use “di” in this case if you are talking about yourself.  But if you do chose to use “di,” the verb in the next phrase must be in the infinitive form.

—-or—-

  • Link what you realize about yourself, someone or something else with the Italian conjugation“che”before adding a verb conjugated in the appropriate tense. Remember, if the subject is different in the original phrase and the phrase that follows, you MUST use “che” to link the two phrases.

In English, both “di” and “che” are translated as “that.”

Below are example sentences to show how this all works.  These example sentences are true for me.  To think of more examples, and try to describe what you realize about yourself!

Mi rendo conto di avere un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that I have an hour to make dinner.

Mi rendo conto che ho un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that I have an hour to prepare dinner.

Mi rendo conto che hai un’ora per preparare la cena.
I realize that you have an hour to prepare dinner.

 

Mi rendo conto che desidero sempre imparare di più sulla lingua italiana.
I realize that I will always want to learn more about the Italian language.

 

********************

Now, let’s say that we recognize something without really understanding what it is about, or what is going on – that is, we notice something.  In this case, we can use the reflexive verb accorgersi.  This verb also has a regular -ere conjugation and will be followed by either di or che,  for the same reasons as we have just described above.  To say, “I notice that,” then, use the phrase, “Mi accorgo di/che…” 

Again, an example from my life, taking from a time when I was when talking a good friend of mine about a certain movie.  Try to think of some examples from your own life!

Mi accorgo che ti piace molto questo film.  Vuoi andare a vederlo con me?
I notice that you really like this film. Do you want to go to see it with me?

 

********************

How to say, “I realize,” or “I notice,” seems simple enough!  But wait… we most commonly use the past tense to talk about something that we have realized or have noticed.  This, of course, involves conjugating our two verbs in the past tense!

We will use the passato prossimo forms of these verbs for the one time events of realizing or noticing something, which you will remember is formed for reflexive verbs with essere + the past participle. (If you need a general refresher on how to form the passato prossimo, please refer to our book Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Verbs ).

  • The past participle for rendersi is the irregular verb reso, and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using the passato prossimo.
  • The past participle for accorgersi is the irregular verb accorto, and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using the passato prossimo.

 

  • So, when I want to talk about what I have realized, I can say, “Mi sono resa conto di/che…” Similarly, a male would say, “Mi sono reso conto di/che…”
  • And, when I want to mention what I have noticed, I can say, “Mi sono accorta di/che…” Similarly, a male would say, “Mi sono accorto di/che…”

To complete the sentence, just add what you have realized in the phrase that follows!  The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.

Below is a table to summarize these phrases of realizing and noticing. I’ve made the verbs in the phrase green to differentiate them from the other words in the phrase.  Most Italians use these verb  phrases so frequently, though, that they say them quickly, and the words usually run together in real-time conversation.   Listen carefully for these phrases and then try to use them yourself!

Mi rendo conto di/che… I realize that…
Mi sono reso conto di/che… I realized that… (male speaker)
Mi sono resa conto di/che… I realized that… (female speaker)
Mi accorgo di/che… I notice that…
Mi sono accorto di/che… I noticed that… (male speaker)
Mi sono accorta di/che… I noticed that… (female speaker)

 

We  had fun in our Conversational Italian! group  “discussing” what we all realized  during the year 2017 for our talking point this January.  Below are some example sentences that I’ve made up thinking back to New Year’s Eve of 2018.  (Notice that as a female I have to use resa and accorta.)  How many more examples can you think of?

Ieri sera, a Capodanno, mi sono resa conto di essere molto fortunata.
Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.

Ieri sera, a Capodanno, mi sono resa conto che sono molto fortunata.
Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.

Mi sono resa conto di avere amici molto cari.
I realized that I have many dear friends.

Mi sono resa conto che ho molti cari amici.
I realized that I have many dear friends.

Mi sono resa conto di avere imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.
I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.

Mi sono resa conto che ho imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.
I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.

Mi sono accorta che era molto freddo a Capodanno.
I noticed that it was very cold on New Year’s Eve.

*The past section is a reprint from the blog: Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day! What I realized… from ConversationalItalian.wordpress.org, to be published on February 7, 2018.

 


 

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
Reflexive Verbs of Self-Action

Italian reflexive verbs can be tricky for the English speaker because in many situations, reflexive verbs are used in Italian but not in English. In these cases, we must learn to think in Italian! If we think in Italian, using reflexive verbs to refer to the things we are doing at the moment makes sense.

We have already talked about the most common reflexive verbs in the second blog post in the Speak Italian! series, Speak Italian: All About… What I Am Doing! This blog post describes activities of daily living, which are the most common activities that use the Italian reflexive verbs.

Other activities that involve actions relating to the self are reflexive in Italian. They refer to what a person (oneself) is doing. Here is a short list:

divertirsi to  enjoy oneself/to have fun
divertirsi a to enjoy… / to play with
incontrarsi to meet (planned)
informarsi di/su to ask/inquire about something
nascondersi to hide
occuparsi di to work at a job or a task
perdersi to get/be lost
prepararsi (a) to get ready (to)
provarsi to try on clothes
rilassarsi to relax
riposarsi to rest
sbrigarsi to hurry up
sedersi* to sit down
smarrirsi to get/be lost

*Sedersi has an irregular conjugation.  

*************************

You Will Need to Know…
How to Say You are Having Fun
“Divertirsi, Divertente,  Divertimento”

One of the most important verbs listed in the last section is divertirsi, which is the verb that Italians use to say that they are enjoying themselves or having fun. There is a lot of fun to be had in Italy, so it is worthwhile to learn how to use this verb, as well as the adverb divertente and the noun divertimento.

To tell someone, “Have a good time!”  use the phrase, “Buon divertimento!” To use the verb divertirsi and the adverb divertente see below:

Mi diverto! I am enjoying myself/having fun!
Mi diverto a guardare la TV (televisione). I enjoy watching TV.
Mi sono divertito(a)! I had fun!/I had a good time!
Mi sono proprio divertito(a)! I really had fun/a good time!
   
È divertente! It is fun/entertaining/enjoyable.
È divertente parlare italiano. It is fun to speak Italian.
Era divertente! It was fun/entertaining/enjoyable/a good time.
Era proprio divertente!  It was really a lot of fun/entertaining/enjoyable/a good time!

 


 

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation 

You Will Need to Know…
“Prendersi Cura di…” and “Occuparsi di…”
Reflexive Phrase of Taking Care

When one person is taking care of another person (or living thing), the reflexive phrase “prendersi cura di…” is used in Italian. The reason that this concept is reflexive in Italian may be that the caring originates within an individual person (myself, for instance), although the action of caring/taking care of is directed at another person. The easiest way to remember this concept is by examples (see below).

The preposition “di” at the end of this phrase must be combined with the definite article (il,la,lo, l’, i, gli, le) if one is not referring to a family member.  Also, remember that the subject pronoun is usually left out of the sentence, except for clarification.

Mi prendo cura di mio figlio.
I take care of my son.

Ti prendi cura di tuo nipote?
Do you take care of your nephew?

Lei si prende cura della classe quando l’insegnante non c’è.
She takes care of the class when the teacher is away.

Lui si prende cura della sua famiglia.
He takes care of his family.

Ci prendiamo cura degli ospiti.
We take care of the guests.

Vi prendete cura degli animali nella fattoria.
You all take care of the animals on the farm.

Loro si prendono cura dei loro nipoti.
They take care of their grandchildren.

********************

When a person is taking care of something, the reflexive phrase “occuparsi di…” is used in Italian. The reason that this concept is reflexive in Italian may be that the caring originates within an individual person (myself, for instance), although the action of caring/taking care of something is directed at something. Often this involves someone’s occupation, but it could also involve just one task.

Me ne occupo io.
I will take care of this.

Te ne occupi tu.
You will take care of this

Ti vuoi occupare di questo?/ Te ne vuoi occupare?
Do you want to take care of this?

Lui si occupa del ristorante della sua famiglia.
He takes care of his family’s restaurant.

Da decembre mi occuperò di trovare un nuovo impiegato.
From December I will take care/have the task of finding a new worker.

 

 


 

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation 

You Will Need to Know…
Different Meanings of Verbs
with Regular and Reflexive Forms


Many Italian verbs have regular and reflexive forms. If the action is directed back toward the speaker, use the reflexive form. For the verbs ricordare and ricordarsi, in most situations, either form may be used. When speaking of something one needs to remember to do, use ricordare di, as we learned in the last chapter, or ricordarsi di.

Note also that the meaning of a verb may change with use of its reflexive form. Chiamare, for instance, means to call someone, as in to make a call on the telephone or to call out to someone. But chiamarsi means to call oneself by nameSentire refers to the senses, and can mean to hear, to feel (as in to touch something) and also to smell.  But the reflexive verb sentirsi has the very different meaning of to feel an emotion.

aspettare to wait/wait for aspettarsi to expect/anticipate
chiamare to call chiamarsi to call onself/to name
fermare to stop an object fermarsi to stop oneself
incontrare to meet by chance incontrarsi planned meeting
informare to inform/to educate informarsi di/su to ask/to inquire
lavare to wash lavarsi to wash oneself
mettere to put/place mettersi to put on clothing
occupare to be occupied occuparsi di to work at a job or a task
essere occupato con… to be busy with (something)
preparare to get something ready prepararsi to get oneself ready
provare to try/practice/rehearse provarsi to try on clothes
ricordare* to remember ricordarsi to remember something
ricordare di to remember to do… ricordarsi di to remember to do…
sentire to hear/to feel (sense of touch)
to smell
sentirsi to feel (emotions)
spostare to move spostarsi to move oneself


*
Incidentally, Romagnol dialect (from the Emiliano-Romangnolo region) for “I remember,” is “amarcord,” which is also the name of a famous Italian comedic film from the 1970s by the director Federico Fellini.  

 


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
Italian Prepositions “a” and “in” for Places

In English, we go “to” a place or we are “in or “at” a place.  In Italian, two prepositions are used to express both where we are going and where we are“A” and “in” both can mean “to, in, and at.”

Note that in English, the preposition “to” is used to describe the motion of going somewhere, but once a person has arrived where they are going, the prepositions “in” or “at” are used.* So the English preposition changes based on whether one is going to or is in a place.

In Italian, the motion of going to or being in a place does not change preposition use.  The preposition is selected depending on the noun that the preposition modifies.

The Italian prepositions are then often (but not always) linked with the Italian definite article (il, la, l’, lo, i, le, gli).

Try as I may, I cannot find a reason for the difference in Italian preposition use for each individual place, although in some cases the Italian use of prepositions seems to mirror British English, rather than American English (the British go “in hospital,” as do the Italians).  I guess we have simplified things here in America, across the ocean from the land of our mother tongue!

So therefore, these Italian preposition/noun combinations just need to be memorized. Just link them to the actual place one is going to or one is in and this combination will not change!

See the table below:*

Do you want to go… Are you… Vuoi andare…

Sei…

home? at home? a casa?
to a restaurant? at/in the restaurant? al ristorante?
to a (coffee) bar? at/in the (coffee) bar? al bar?
to a cafe? at/in the cafe? al café?
to the museum? at the museum? al museo?
to the movies? at the movies? al cinema?
to the concert? at the concert? al concerto?
to the show (performance)? at the show? allo spettacolo?
to the show (exhibit)? at the exhibit? alla mostra?
 
to a hospital? at the hospital? in ospidale?
to a pizzeria? at/in the pizzeria? in pizzeria?
to the piazza? at/in the piazza? in piazza?
to church? at/in church? in chiesa?
to the beach? at the beach? in spiaggia?
to the sea? at the seaside? al mare?
to the mountains? in the mountains? in montagna?
to the country? in the country? in campagna?

 

*You will notice from this list that the use of the English prepositions “in” and “at” is also a bit idiomatic.  To my mind, and I am sure this can be debated, when someone is surrounded by 4 walls or are in some way completely surrounded, they are “in” a place. 

An English speaker is always “at home.” If a person has just arrived, or is standing outside the door of a new place, they are “at” this place.  If one then wants to emphasize that they have settled down into this new place, i.e. have a table at a restaurant, the preposition “in” then comes into play. 

Also, if  a person is  involved in what is happening at a particular place, they are “in” it; a viewer is “at” a show, but a performer is “in” the show.  And, of course, we all stand “in”‘ line before the show or another event begins!

These explanations may be a bit more complicated than needed, though, and I am sure these prepositions are thought of as interchangeable in many situations by English speakers.


Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
Italian Preposition “di” for Time of Day

Sometimes it is necessary to emphasize the time of day in Italian, as in morning, afternoon, evening, or night. This is simple in Italian! Just combine the preposition “di” with the time of day: di mattina, di pomeriggio, di sera, or di notte.

Dopo che andiamo in chiesa di mattina, dobbiamo andare a casa loro.
After we go to church in the morning, we should go to their house.

Here are some examples where the time of day is added after stating the numerical time for clarity or for emphasis. (Notice that the Italian language uses a comma rather than a colon to separate the hours from the minutes.) 

1,00 (AM)                    È l’una di mattina.              

1,00 (PM)                    È l’una di pomeriggio.                

 6,00 (PM)                 Sono le sei di sera.          

10,00 (PM)               Sono le dieci di notte.             


 

Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice:
Planning Your Italian Vacation

You Will Need to Know…
How to Use the Italian Infinitive Verb
as a Noun

Every now and then, one needs to use a verb as a noun. In this situation, for the English language, we use the gerund, or “-ing” form, of our verb. For instance, take the sentence, “Reading is fun.” The very first word is the “-ing” form of the verb “to read,” but in this case, the verb is actually the subject of the sentence and is doing the work of a noun!

In the Italian language, the infinitive form of the verb is used when a verb takes the place of a noun. For the present tense, only the infinitive form of the verb is needed. For the past tense, the helping verb will be in the infinitive form before the past participle.

In the email example in this blog post, this occurs in three sentences, which are reprinted below.

Leggere la tua ultima email mi rende molto contenta!
Reading your last email makes me very happy!

Dopo avere letto la tua email mi sono resa conto che mi mancano molto le montagne dell’Abruzzo.
After having read your email, I realized that I really miss the Abruzzo mountains.

Mi ricordo di avere cenato molto bene a casa di zia Rosa!
I remember having eaten very well at Aunt Rose’s house!

-Some of this material is adapted from Conversational Italian for Travelers,  © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC.                 


Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

 Italian Subjunctive Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation

Pasticceria and Bar, Venice

Italian Barista Asks, “Cappuccino, Anyone?”

Italian Barista Asks,
“Cappuccino, Anyone?”

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog  Follow Caterina and read about Italian girlfriends meeting at an Italian bar for cappuccino in the Conversational Italian for Travelers series of books!

The Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook begins each chapter with a dialogue from a story about the character Caterina, an American girl who travels to Italy to visit her relatives. As the story continues from one chapter to the next, we learn Italian, and about Italy, in an engaging way through Caterina’s experiences.

The Italian Bar, Espresso, and Cappuccino 

After Caterina settles into the routine of daily life with her family in Italy, her sister-in-law, Francesca, invites Caterina to have coffee and lunch with an Italian girlfriend. The women meet at an Italian café, also known as a bar, and order espresso coffee and sandwiches. They also meet someone special, so feel free to listen in on their Italian conversation  at our website www.LearnTravelItalian.com and learn some Italian phrases of endearment for that special someone in your life!

The Cultural Note below, adapted from the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook, talks a bit about the history of espresso and cappuccino and how each drink and its variations are made. Read on and then order your own favorite Italian coffee drink—here or in Italy!
—Kathryn Occhipinti


 

The Italian Bar

Florian Bar in Venice
The Florian Bar, established in 1720, in the evening at Piazza San Marco, Venice

Italian-style coffee, or caffè, has become so popular in America today that confronting the list of coffees available in an Italian bar may not be as intimidating as it once was. The list of specialty coffees offered by a coffee bar is usually displayed on a large sign behind the counter, opposite where one stands to place an order.

Most Italians pay at the counter and drink their coffee standing up at the counter as well, often fairly quickly, before proceeding on to their next appointment. Space is at a premium all over Italy, and most coffee bars have only a few small tables. So, for the luxury of a seat, the price for the same coffee is slightly higher. But although the fee is higher, I’ve always felt that for visitors, it is nice to sit down at a table with a friend, have a waiter take your order, and have coffee and any pastries or sandwiches brought to you. Then relax and enjoy while watching the world go by!

Piazza San Marco Florian Bar
Guests of the Florian Bar enjoying the evening atmosphere at the Piazza San Marco, Venice

If you want an Italian coffee, keep in mind the general “rule” that most Italians follow: cappuccino in the mornings, usually before 10–11 a.m., and espresso later in the day. This “rule” may have come from the  many well-meaning Italian mothers and their idea that milk is bad for digestion, although I don’t think anyone really knows how it started.

To support this theory, consider that those of us raised by Italian-American mothers (like myself) were often told that milk does not “go with” Italian food—that is, a tomato sauce–based meal, of course. Eat tomato sauce and drink milk and maybe, just maybe, the milk will curdle in your stomach! End result: indigestion. Not what an Italian cook wants for her family after hours spent making a special meal! In our house, soda for the children was a once- or twice-weekly event—with Italian dinners only! (If you want, leave a comment and let me know the “tradition in your Italian household. I’d love to hear!)

Of course, if you like your coffee the American way, order a caffè americano any time! Read on for a few fun facts about Italian coffee drinks and what to expect to receive when you order an espresso- or cappuccino-type drink in Italy.


 From the Italian Bar: True Espresso Drinks

In Italian bars, all coffee drinks are made by the specially trained barista (this title is used for men and women). Espresso means fast or quick and refers to the method of brewing the coffee.

The classic espresso takes 7 grams of fresh, finely ground dark-roasted coffee beans, filtered under high pressure by an industrial espresso maker, with just the right amount of hot water to fill an espresso cup halfway to the top. There will be a layer of crema (foam) on the top as the result of the high pressure those large, gleaming stainless steel coffee shop machines can generate to make the coffee. For more information about how the modern-day commercial espresso machine came about and the components of these industrial espresso makers, click on this link from the Smithsonian magazine and this espresso equipment link.

Espresso Maker by Saeco
Saeco brand chrome espresso maker, shown with 2 cups of espresso

 

Add sugar or, for a caffè corretto, a shot of brandy or one of the other liquors always found on the shelves of coffee bars. For a caffè lungo, extra water is added to fill the espresso cup to the top. For a ristretto, less water is used for the same amount of coffee grounds, to one quarter of the cup.

*********************

The popular stovetop espresso maker that is part of every Italian household—and I mean every household—here and in Italy is shaped like an octagon. Don’t expect to get a real crema in this case, because this coffee pot does not operate under the high pressure of the industrial espresso makers, but this classic espresso pot is an easy, inexpensive, and convenient way to brew your everyday espresso.

All stovetop espresso makers require very finely ground espresso beans packed firmly in place into a metal coffee filter that fits into the center of the pot. Freshly ground beans are, of course, best.

Put water in the bottom half of the stovetop espresso pot, insert the filter with its coffee grounds, twist on the top, and heat over medium-high heat. The water in the bottom compartment will boil, and the steam will move upward through the coffee grounds in the filter to re-condense as coffee in the top compartment.

Below is a picture of my favorite home espresso set that I picked up in Rome at one of its famous coffee bars, Cafè Sant’Eustachio. (Leave a comment if you can find the orange cat waiting for his morning coffee in the background on this lovely fall day!)

Espresso pot and espresso cups
Sant’Eustachio coffee pot and espresso cups from Rome

 


 

 From the Italian Bar—Cappuccino, Anyone?

The Italian cappuccino drink that we know today is a fairly recent development of the 20th century, although historians have found coffee drinks with a similar name that date back to 18th century Austria.

Cappuccino coffee is said to be named after the Italian Franciscan order of Capuchin monks, presumably because the combination of the dark brown color of the coffee and the milk froth (schiuma) that tops the drink is reminiscent of the white-faced monks in their habit with the distinctive dark brown hood.

This short explanation begs the question, “How did the Italian Capuchin monks get their name?” In Italian, the word “cappuccio” means “hood.” Adding the diminutive “ino” ending for the coffee drink changes the meaning of the word into “little hood.” This may sound like a lot of trouble to go to just to name a coffee drink, although one should remember the Italian tradition of nicknaming people and food based on catchy associations that then become a part of Italian tradition.

The now classic Italian cappuccino calls for three equal parts espresso coffee, milk, and milk froth, and is served in a large coffee cup. The milk froth is traditionally made by steaming low-fat milk with the wand attachment on the espresso machine.

Cappuccino
Cappuccino from Toni Patisserie, Chicago

Gently stir in some sugar if you like, then sprinkle the froth with a bit of cocoa powder, cinnamon, or nutmeg.

For a smaller coffee drink with milk later in the day, foam can be added to an espresso for a speckled drink called caffè macchiato that is served in an espresso cup.

Above all, enjoy your cappuccino drink as a delicious start to your morning!

-Adapted from Conversational Italian for Travelers,  “Cultural Note – Italian Coffees,” by Kathryn Occhipinti


Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

Italian Barista Asks, “Cappuccino, Anyone?”

Book Display for Conversational Italian

Italian Subjunctive (Part 3): Speak Italian!

Italian Subjunctive (Part 3): Speak Italian!

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog               The Italian subjunctive mood is easy to conjugate, but tricky to use!

 

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood in the correct situations? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! The blogs in the “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on how to conjugate and use the Italian subjunctive mood, or “il congiuntivo.”

Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using the subjunctive mood. In this segment, we will discuss how to express one’s needs in Italian and learn about other important introductory phrases and individual words that take the Italian subjunctive mood

We will repeat the Italian conjugation of the subjunctive mood for the regular -are, -ere, and -ire verbs and then present the conjugation of the modal, or helping, verbs dovere, potere, and volere.

A review of the Italian subjunctive mood conjugations for the auxiliary verbs and for commonly used irregular verbs will complete this blog. Example sentences will follow!

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about the  Italian subjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”),  we will first present phrases that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Then,  we will review how to conjugate the Italian subjunctive mood.

Finally, we will present common phrases used in daily life that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out the subjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!

Enjoy the third blog in this series, “Italian Subjunctive (Part 3): Speak Italian!”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

Some of this material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian instructors Simona Giuggioli and Maria Vanessa Colapinto.

 


Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 3)

Once Again… Phrases That Take the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to express beliefs, thoughts, or hopes with the verbs credere, pensare, and sperare.

The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.

Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). The subjunctive mood is also used with the conditional tense, but this will be the topic of later blogs. These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.

In our first blog about the Italian subjunctive mood, we learned that these initial phrases fall into several groups. We discussed Groups 1  through Group 6.

In our second blog about the Italian subjunctive mood, we discussed Groups 8 and 9.

These groups are again listed  below for review.

In this blog, we will discuss phrases that express feelings (any emotion, fear, or surprise) in Group 9 and describe the situations in which they are used to  introduce the subjunctive mood.

We will also now discuss Group 10, in which we list individual words that refer to the purpose or timing of an action that must be followed by the subjunctive mood. These words are part of “adverbial clauses” that modify verbs. As such, they are often used in the phrase that completes a sentence, but can also be found at the beginning of a sentence. Many of these words are easy to recognize since they end in -che.

Finally, Groups 11 and 12 are individual adjectives or pronouns that can introduce another clause and must be followed by the subjective mood, which we will discuss in blogs to follow.

Hypothetical Phrases are mentioned at the end of our list, to complete our discussion of specific words or phrases that can be used to introduce the subjunctive mood.

Groups 1-9: “Noun Clauses”

Group 10: “Adverbial Clauses”

Groups 11 and 12: “Adjective/Pronoun Clauses”

      1. Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe), pensare (to think), and sperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern: [verb  di + infinitive verb to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb + che + subjunctive verb].*
      2. Impersonal constructions that begin with, “It is…” such as, “È possibile che…”
      3. Phrases that express a doubt, such as, “I don’t know…” or “Non so che…”
      4. Phrases that express suspicion, such as, ” I suspect that…” or “Sospetto che…”
      5. Phrases that express uncertainty, such as, “It seems to me…” or “Mi sembra che…” and  ” To wonder if…” or  “Chiedersi se… “
      6. Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunction che, such as, “Basta che…” “It is enough that,” or “Si dice che…” “They say that…
      7. Phrases that use the verbs volere, desiderare, chiedere, esigere  when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed by che.
      8. Phrases that use the verbs piacere and dispiacere when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed by che.
      9. Phrases that express feelings (any emotion, fear, surprise) and use the pattern: [avere, essere, or augurarsi verb  +  di + infinitive verb].  When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [avere, essere, or augurarsi verb + che + subjunctive verb].
      10. Sentences that begin with words that end in –ché, or complex conjunctions that end with che:  affinché, perché (so as, so that, in order that), purché (as long as, provided that, only if)**, a meno che, senza che (unless), può darsi che (it may be possible that, possibly, maybe), prima che (before that).  Also the many words that mean although/even though, one of which ends in -che: benché  (also sebenne, malgrado, nonostante).***
      11. Sentences that begin with adjectives or pronouns that include the idea of any in a description of a person, place or thing:  qualsiasi, qualunque (any), chiunque (whoever), dovunque (anywhere).
      12. Sentences that begin with adjectives or pronouns that include the idea of nothing or only  in a description of a person, place, or thing: niente che, nulla che (nothing that), nessuno che (nobody that), l’unico, il solo, a che (the only one that).

Hypothetical Phrases:  Phrases that begin with se (if) in certain situations. Phrases that begin with come se (as if)magari (if only), and ammesso che (assuming that).

As usual, there is a summary table at the end of each descriptive section that shows how to use these  additional groups that take the subjunctive mood in Italian. The present tense phrases are in the first two columns and the past tense phrases in the last two columns.  Notice that the imperfetto form of the past tense is given in our table for brevity, but the passato prossimo form of the past tense can also be used, depending on the situation.  Use of the past tense forms will be the topic of later blogs.

Points to remember about the subjunctive mood:

In Italian, the introductory phrases that take the subjunctive mood (those that trigger doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling)  usually end with a linking word, also known as a conjunction, which will be che.  In this situation, che means that.  The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.

We now see from Group 9 that some words or phrases already have -ché or che integrated into the word itself. In these cases, che is not repeated.  The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.

*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases for credere, pensare, and sperare :  di + infinitive verb. Example: Penso di andare a Roma domani.  =  I think I will go to Rome tomorrow. (Use  pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)

**solo se also means only if but does NOT take the subjunctive mode.

*** anche se also means even though/if but does NOT take the subjunctive mode.

 


 

Expressing One’s Feelings with “Di” and “Che” and the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Di” in Italian

When expressing one’s feelings in Italian in the first person (io conjugation), many common Italian expressions are followed by di (of). In this case, when di is followed by another verb, the verb in the second phrase will be in the infinitive tense (if you remember, infinitive verbs end in -are, -ere, -ire, and translate as “to…”). Below are some examples of these phrases, along with example sentences, adapted from Chapter 7 of the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook.

 

avere bisogno di to have need of Ho bisogno di… riposare.
 
avere paura di to be afraid/have fear of Ho paura di… guidare.
 
avere voglia di to feel like Ho voglia di… mangiare una pizza.
 
essere certo di to be certain of Sono certo(a) di… ricordare il tuo nome.
 
essere sicuro di to be certain of Sono sicuro(a) di… ricordare questo posto.
 
essere felice di to be happy to Sono felice di… incontrare mio cugino oggi.
 
essere fortunato di to be lucky to Sono fortunato(a) di… mangiare questa cena.
 
essere libero di to be free to Sono libero(a) di… viaggiare.
 
essere stanco di to be tired of Sono stanco(a) di… lavorare.
 
temere di… to be afraid of Temo di… essere in ritardo.
 
augurarsi di… to wish/to hope (of) Mi auguro di… fare una buona vacanza.

 


How to Use the Phrase “Avere bisogno di…” in Italian

Before we go on to discuss more complex uses of the phrases in the table above, here is a brief description of how to use the very popular phrase, “ho bisogno di…” which means, “I need…”   Any beginning student of Italian no doubt has come across this phrase many times in general conversation and has already used it to express what he/she wants.

While I was learning how to use the subjunctive mood properly, I took the opportunity to learn how to use “ho bisogno di” properly as well.  After many question and answer sessions with native Italian speakers, here is what I’ve found out about the different uses of this phrase in English and Italian.

First, use of the phrase “ho bisogno di” is limited to describing a need one has for a person, a thing (something) or a physical need.  Remember to conjugate the verb avere used in this phrase (“ho” is the io form of avere) if someone else besides you needs something.  Also, leave out the word “di,” which means “of” in this phrase when it is at the end of the sentence.

The phrases “Mi serve…” and “Mi servono…” can also mean, “I need…” The conjugation is like that of piacere.  (See below)

If a person needs to do something, but it is also necessary that he does it – he has to do it – then the verb dovere is used.   See some examples in the table below:

avere bisogno di to have need of…  
   
…a person Ho bisogno di… te.
   
…a thing/ something Ho bisogno di… una macchina nuova.
  Ho bisogno di… prendere una vacanza.
   
…a physical need Ho bisogno di… riposarmi.
   
Mi serve… I need… (one thing) Mi serve 1 millione di euro.
Mi servono…  I need… (many things)  Mi servono tante cose.
   
dovere for what you have to do

(and need to do)

Devo cucinare il pranzo ogni sera.

When we come to more complex sentences, and the subject  wants to express what he/she wants another person to do, the phrase “ho bisogno di” is not used.  In other words, if I want someone to do something, I must use the verb voglio, with the subjunctive, as in, “Voglio che tu…”  This was an important point for me to learn, as in English I am constantly asking my children or family to do things by saying, “I need you to…”

For instance, take the sentence, “I need you to take care of the cats when I am on vacation.”  I am not sure if this phrase “I need you to…” is used commonly in other parts of  America, but it has become a habitual use in the Northeast and Midwest.  The Italian translation would be, “Voglio che tu ti prenda cura dei gatti quando io sono in vacanza.”  So, to use the phrase “ho bisogno di” we must really learn how to think in Italian!

Enjoy some more examples for how to use our phrases to express a need or want in Italian, and then create your own!

Ho bisogno di un grande abbraccio! I need a big hug!
Abbracci e baci sono due cose di cui  ho bisogno! Hugs and kisses are two things that I need!
Non mi serve niente. I don’t need anything.
Non mi serve nient’altro. I don’t need anything else.
Mi serve di più caffè. I need more coffee.
Devo andare al mercato. I need to/have to go to the (outdoor) market.

Non abbiamo  bisogno di giorni migliori,

ma di persone che rendono migliori i nostri giorni!

We don’t need to have better days,

instead, people who make our days better!


 

Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Che” and the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Some of the expressions listed in the following table are most commonly used with the same subject for the second phrase. As noted in our previous discussions, these phrases will be followed with “di” and an infinitive verb. They are reprinted here to correspond with the previous table, followed by an asterisk and an explanation in parentheses.

For most of the expressions of feeling that we have been talking about, though, it is possible to express a feeling that the speaker (io) has regarding another person or people. In this case, then, these expressions must be followed by che, and the subjunctive mood should be used for the verb in the second phrase.

In our example table, we will illustrate this by following the Italian phrases in which the subjects can be different with ...che tu, which we know means …that you, although of course, this rule follows no matter which subject pronoun we use.

 

Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Che” and the Italian Subjunctive Mode

Present Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Group 8
    Past Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Group 8
 
Ho bisogno… che tu I need… that you*

*(This expression is not commonly used in Italian to tell another person what needs to be done; voglio che is used instead.)

Avevo bisogno… che tu I needed… that you*

*(This expression is
not commonly used
in Italian to tell
another person what
needs to be done;
volevo che is used
instead.)

       
Ho paura… che tu I am afraid… that you Avevo paura…  che tu I was afraid… that you
       
Ho voglia di… * I feel like… *
*(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)
Avevo voglia… * I felt like…*

*(always used with
the same subject + di
in both phrases)

 

       
Non sono certo(a)…
che tu
I am not certain…
that you
Non ero certo… che tu I was not certain… that you
       
Non sono sicuro(a)…
che tu
I am not certain…
that you
Non ero sicuro… che tu I was not certain… that you
       
Sono felice… che tu I am happy… that you Ero felice… che tu I was happy… that you
       
Sono fortunato(a)… che tu I am happy… that you Ero fortunato(a)… che tu I was fortunate… that you
       
Sono libero(a) di… *

 

I am free… *
*(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)
Ero libero(a)… * I was free… *
*(always used with
the same subject +di
in both phrases)
       
Sono stanco(a) di…

 

I am tired…*

*(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)

Ero stanco(a)… che tu I was tired…*

*(always used with
the same subject +di
in both phrases)

       
Temo… che tu I am afraid…
that you
Temevo… che tu I was afraid… that you
       
Mi auguro… che tu I hope… that you Mi auguravo… che tu I hoped… that you

 

 


Adverbial Clauses

Use of the Italian Subjunctive Mood

The final group of words we will discuss in this blog are called “adverbial clauses” and are given in the table. These words take the subjunctive mood when used to start a sentence, and use of these adverbial clauses implies that a second phrase is necessary to complete the sentence.

Only the most commonly used have been given in the table.  For a more complete list, see the list in the first section of this blog.

 

Phrases Used to Introduce the Subjunctive Mood — Adverbial Clauses

 

Present Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Groups 9, 10, 11
 
Prima che Before that  ( Prima che is used to mean “before that” and followed by the subjunctive mood when the subject in the first phrase is different from the subject in the second phrase; use Prima di + infinitive when the subject of both phrases is the same.)
Benché, Sebbene Although, Even though, If
Può darsi che It may be possible that, Possibly, Maybe
Affinché So as, So that, In order that
Perché So that (Perché is only used in the subjunctive mood when it means “so that.” Other meanings of perché include “why” and “because” and in these cases, the subjunctive mood is not used.)
Purché As long as, Provided that, Only if

 

Finally, our usual reminder:

DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!

Forse = Perhaps       

Per me = For me

Secondo me = According to me

The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!

And, two more  phrases we can now add that DO NOT take the subjunctive mood:

Solo se = Only if

Anche se = Even though/if

 


Speak Italian: The Present Tense Subjunctive Mood (Part 3)

How to Conjugate the Italian Subjunctive Mood Present Tense for -are, -ere, and -ire Verbs

A review from the second blog in this series:

To change any regular Italian infinitive verb into the present subjunctive mood, first drop the final -are, -ere, or -ire to create the stem. Then add the endings given in the first table below to the stem that has been created. Examples for each verb type are given in the second table below.*

The word che is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms typically are introduced with  the conjunction che. Also, use the subject pronoun in your sentence after che for clarity, since the endings for the singular forms are all the same!

Practice the subjunctive verbs out loud by saying che, the subject pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!

Subjunctive Mood – Present Tense
Subject Pronoun -are ending -ere ending -ire ending
io i a a
tu i a a
Lei/lei/lui i a a
       
noi iamo iamo iamo
voi iate iate iate
loro ino ano ano
  Tornare

(to return)

Vendere

(to sell)

Partire

(to leave)

(che)  io torni venda parta
(che) tu torni venda parta
(che) Lei/lei/lui torni venda parta
       
(che) noi torniamo vendiamo partiamo
(che) voi torniate vendiate partiate
(che) loro tornino vendano partano

*(The stressed syllable for the example verbs has been underlined in the table above.)

  1. When pronouncing the subjunctive verbs, the stress will fall in the same place as in the conjugated verb forms for the present tense. This will be in the beginning of the verb (first or second syllable) for the io, tu, Lei/lei, lui, and loro forms, and one syllable to the right (second or third syllable) for the noi and voi forms.
  2. Notice that all of the singular subjunctive endings (io, tu, Lei/lei lui) are the same for each infinitive form of the verb.
  3. Also, all the endings for the -ere and -ire verbs are identical in the first person!
  4. The noi and voi forms are the same for all infinitive verb forms as well.
  5. The noi form is identical to the present tense!

 


How to Conjugate the Italian Subjunctive Mood Present Tense for the Modal Verbs

Here are the  Italian present subjunctive forms for the modal verbs. If you remember, modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are also called “helping verbs.” These verbs are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. As you no doubt recall, these three helping verbs give additional information about the main verb in the phrase. In the subjunctive mood, volere can also be translated as “to need.”

 

 Dovere – to have to/must – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io debba I have to/must
(che) tu debba you (familiar) have to/must
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

debba you (polite) have to/must
she/he has to/must
     
(che) noi dobbiamo we have to/must
(che) voi dobbiate you all have to/must
(che) loro debbano they have to/must

 

  

Potere – to be able (to)/can – Present Subjunctive Mood

che) io possa I am able to/can
(che) tu possa you (familiar) are able to/can
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

possa you (polite) are able to/can

she/he is able to/can

     
(che) noi possiamo we are able to/can
(che) voi possiate you all are able to/can
(che) loro possano they are able to/can

 

 

 Volere – to want/ to need – Present Subjunctive mode

(che) io voglia I want/need
(che) tu voglia you (familiar) want/need
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

voglia you (polite) want/need

she/he wants/needs

     
(che) noi vogliamo we want/need
(che) voi vogliate you all want/need
(che) loro vogliano they want/need

The Subjunctive Mood – Irregular Present Tense
Commonly Used Verbs

A review from the second blog in this series:

Here are the irregular  Italian present subjunctive forms for six commonly used  verbs in Italian.  It may be useful to commit these forms to memory, as these verbs are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. Notice that the translation is the simple present tense in English.

Andare – to go – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io vada I go
(che) tu vada you (familiar) go
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

vada you (polite) go

she/he goes

     
(che) noi andiamo we go
(che) voi andiate you all go
(che) loro vadano they go

 

Dare – to give – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io dia I give
(che) tu dia you give
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

dia you give

she/he gives

     
(che) noi diamo we give
(che) voi diate you all give
(che) loro diano they give

 

Dire – to say/ to tell – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io dica I say/tell
(che) tu dica you (familiar) say/tell

 

(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

dica you (polite) say/tell

she/he says/tells

     
(che) noi diciamo we say/tell
(che) voi diciate you all say/tell
(che) loro dicano they say/tell
 

Fare – to do/ to make– Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io faccia I do/ make
(che) tu faccia you (familiar) do/make

 

(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

faccia you (polite) do/make

she/he does/makes

     
(che) noi facciamo we do/make
(che) voi facciate you all do/make
(che) loro facciano they do/make

 

Sapere – to know (facts) – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io sappia I know
(che) tu sappia you (familiar) know
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

sappia you (polite) know

she/he knows

     
(che) noi sappiamo we know
(che) voi sappiate you all know
(che) loro sappiano they know

 

Venire – to come –  Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io venga I come
(che) tu venga you (familiar) come
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

venga you (polite) come

she/he comes

     
(che) noi veniamo we come
(che) voi veniate you all come
(che) loro vengano they come

How to Conjugate Italian Verbs “Essere,” “Avere,” and “Stare” in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

A review from the first blog in this series:

In the tables below are the subjunctive forms for the Italian auxiliary verbs avere, stare, and essere, which are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. These are important verbs to commit to memory!

 

Avere – to have – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io abbia I have
(che) tu abbia you (familiar) have
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

abbia you (polite) have

she/he has

     
(che) noi abbiamo we have
(che) voi abbiate you all have
(che) loro abbiano they have

 

Essere – to be – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io sia I am
(che) tu sia you (familiar) are
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

sia you (polite) are

he/he is

     
(che) noi siamo we are
(che) voi siate you all are
(che) loro siano they are

 

Stare – to stay (to be) – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io stia I stay (am)
(che) tu stia you (familiar) stay (are)
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

stia you (polite) stay (are)

she/he stays (is)

     
(che) noi stiamo we stay (are)
(che) voi stiate you all stay (are)
(che) loro stiano they stay (are)


Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 3)

Example Phrases Using the Present Tense
Italian Subjunctive Mood

To follow are some examples of how the Italian subjunctive mood in the present tense might be used in conversation during daily life. (In later blog posts in this series, we will cover examples of how to use the subjunctive when the introductory phrase is in the conditional or past tense.)

Notice that English sentence structure differs from Italian in most of these sentences.  We can make a similar sentence in English as in Italian, but it would be considered an “awkward” sentence.

The biggest difference is that we English speakers do not use the subjunctive form, whether or not the subject in the two phrases is the same or different.  Also, we often leave out the word “that” from our sentences that contain two phrases. But, the Italian word for “that,” “che,”  is not an option when linking two Italian phrases – except if the introductory word itself ends in -che.

For the translations, the Italian sentence structure is given first for some examples to help us to think in Italian. The correct English is in bold.

We will use the example introductory phrases  from earlier in this section. How many more combinations can you think of?

Voglio che tu cucini una cena speciale per la festa stasera. I want that you cook a special dinner for the party tonight. =

I want you to cook a special dinner for the party tonight.

 
Ho paura che lui  guidi  troppo veloce. I am afraid he drives too fast.
   
Non sono certo che Lei ricordi questo giorno. I amnot certain that you (will) remember this day.

 

Non sono sicuro che noi ricordiamo questo posto speciale. I am not sure that we (will) remember this special  place.
   
Sono felice che voi incontriate  mio cugino oggi. I am happy (that) you all (are going) to meet my cousin today.
Sono fortunato che voi mangiate con me questa sera per il mio compleanno. I am lucky that you all are eating with me tonight for my birthday.

 

Temo che loro non siano persone perbene. I am afraid that they are not good people.
 
Mi auguro che loro facciano una buona vacanza. I hope that they have a good vacation.

 


 

The Italian Subjunctive Mood: Examples for Modal Verbs

Here are some examples for the introductory phrases “before that” and “after that,” which, as we have discussed in the earlier section, should take the subjunctive mood. These phrases seem to be most useful in situations in which we talk about plans people would like to or have to make for themselves or others, and therefore helping verbs many times also come into play.

Lei deve prepare molto bene i tuoi documenti prima che tu debba andare al lavoro. She must prepare your papers very well before (that) you have to go to work. =

She has to prepare your papers very well before you have to go to work.

 
Prima che mio figlio possa andare dove vuole, io devo venire a casa. Before (that) my son can go where he wants, I have to come home. =

Before my son can go where he wants, I have to come home.

 
Prima che noi dobbiamo partire per Roma, dovete riposare un po’ in campagna. Before (that) we have to leave for Rome, you all must rest a little bit in the country. =

Before we have to leave for Rome, you all must rest a little bit in the country.

 
Prima che voi possiate andare a trovare* i vostri parenti in America, tuo padre deve guardagnare un sacco di soldi.** Before (that) you all can visit your relatives in America, your father must make a lot of money. =

Before you all can visit your relatives in America, your father must make a lot of money.

 
Il mio assistente deve portarli alla riunione prima che loro possano mangiare la cena. My assistant must take them to the meeting before (that) they can eat dinner. =

My assistant must take them to the meeting before they can eat dinner.

* andare a trovare is an idiomatic expression that means “to go to visit (someone).” Visitare is used when going to visit a place.

** un sacco di soldi is an idiomatic expression that means “a lot of money.”

 


The  Italian Subjunctive Mood: Examples for Adverbial Clauses

The final group of words that take the subjunctive mood on an idiomatic basis imply that a second phrase is necessary to complete the sentence. These are essential phrases to remember if we want to express complex thoughts in Italian. Here are some examples. How many more can you think of?

Benché io voglia andare in Italia, non è possibile ora. Although I want to go to Italy, it is not possible now.
 
Sebbene lui voglia andare all’università,  non ha ricevuto voti abastanza buoni al liceo. Although he wants to go to college, he did not get good enough grades in high school.
 
Sebbene noi vogliamo vivere bene, invece dobbiamo lavorare nel ristorante della famiglia per molti anni. Though we want to live well, we must work in the family restaurant for many years.
 
Perché la crostata sia fatta bene, si deve avere le fragle fresche. So that the pie is made well, one must have fresh strawberries. =

You  must have fresh strawberries so that the pie is made properly.

 
Vengo alla festa, purché lui non ci sia. I will come to the party, provided that he will not be there.

-Some of this material is adapted from Conversational Italian for Travelers, Chapter 7, “Idiomatic Expressions – Avere and Essere + di + Infinitive” © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC.


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Italian Subjunctive (Part 3) : Speak Italian!

Conversational Italian for Travelers Speak Italian!

Italian Subjunctive (Part 2): Speak Italian!

Italian Subjunctive (Part 2): Speak Italian!

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog            The Italian subjunctive mood is easy to conjugate, but tricky to use!

 

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood in the correct situations? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! The blogs in the “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on how to conjugate and use the Italian subjunctive mood, or “il congiuntivo.”

Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using the subjunctive mood. In this segment, we will discuss when volere, desiderare, piacere, and dispiacere take the subjunctive mood. We will also learn the conjugation of the present tense subjunctive mood for the -are, -ere, and -ire verbs and the commonly used irregular verbs andare, dare, dire, fare, sapere, and venire. Example sentences will follow!

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about the  Italian subjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”),  we will first present phrases that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Then,  we will review how to conjugate the Italian subjunctive mood.

Finally, we will present common phrases used in daily life that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out the subjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!

Enjoy the second blog in this series, “Italian Subjunctive (Part 2): Speak Italian!”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

Some of this material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian instructors Simona Giuggioli and Maria Vanessa Colapinto.

 


Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 2)

Once Again… Phrases That Take the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to express beliefs, thoughts, or hopes with the verbs credere, pensare, and sperare.

The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.

Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). The subjunctive mood is also used with the conditional tense, but this will be the topic of later blogs. These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.

In our first blog about the Italian subjunctive mood, we learned that these initial phrases fall into several groups. We discussed Groups 1  through Group 6, which are given below for review.

To follow in this blog is an explanation of several more phrases that can be used to introduce the Italian subjunctive mood, which we have added into our original list as Group 7 and Group 8.

Groups 1-8: “Noun Clauses”

    1. Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe), pensare (to think), and sperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern: [verb  di + infinitive verb to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb + che + subjunctive verb].*
    2. Impersonal constructions that begin with, “It is…” such as, “È possibile che…”
    3. Phrases that express a doubt, such as, “I don’t know…” or “Non so che…”
    4. Phrases that express suspicion, such as, ” I suspect that…” or “Sospetto che…”
    5. Phrases that express uncertainty, such as, “It seems to me…” or “Mi sembra che…” and  ” To wonder if…” or  “Chiedersi se… “
    6. Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunction che, such as, “Basta che…” “It is enough that,” or “Si dice che…” “They say that…
    7. Phrases that use the verbs volere, desiderare, chiedere, esigere  when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed by che.
    8. Phrases that use the verbs piacere and dispiacere when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed by che.

As usual, there is a summary table at the end of the next section that shows how to use these phrases. The present tense and present conditional phrases are in the first two columns and the past tense phrases in the last two columns. Notice that the imperfetto form of the past tense is given in our table for brevity, but the passato prossimo form of the past tense can also be used, depending on the situation.  Use of the past tense forms will be the topic of later blogs.

Points to remember about the subjunctive mood:

In Italian, the introductory phrases that take the subjunctive mood (those that trigger doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling)  usually end with a linking word, also known as a conjunction, which will be che.  In this situation, che means that.  The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.

*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases for credere, pensare, and sperare :  di + infinitive verb. Example: Penso di andare a Roma domani.  =  I think I will go to Rome tomorrow.  (Use  pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)

 


How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood with
Volere and Desiderare

When expressing one’s desire in Italian in the first person (io conjugation), voglio/vorrei and desidero are used in similar situations to mean I want and I would like. In this case, these helping verbs are followed directly by another verb that is in the infinitive tense (if you remember, infinitive verbs end in -are, -ere, -ire and translate as “to…”).  Of course, these verbs can also be followed by a noun, the “object of our desire”!

Volere and desiderare are covered in detail in Chapter 4 of our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers, if you would like a review. Below are some simple examples:

Voglio imparare l’italiano.      I want to learn Italian.

Vorrei viaggiare in Italia.         I would like to travel to Italy.

Desidero andare al cinema.    I want to go to the movies.

But when these same verbs—voglio/vorrei and desidero—are used to express a desire for something that the speaker in the first person (io) wants another person to do, then these helping verbs must be followed by che, and then the subjunctive mood should be used for the verb in the next phrase.

In the same way, I can ask that someone do something using the verb chiedere  or insist that they do it with the verb esigere.  But just asking someone else or even insisting does not mean that it will be done (as those of us who have children know).  So, in these cases as well, the verbs chiedo and esigo (I want and I insist) will be followed by the conjunction che and the next phrase will use a verb in the subjunctive form.

In this blog, we will only discuss the present tense subjunctive mood used with voglio and desidero.

 


How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood with
Piacere and Dispiacere

The verb forms mi piace, mi piacerrebbe and mi dispiace, mi dispiaccerebbe follow the same rule given for the verbs in Group 6 we just discussed: when the verb that follows these introductory phrases refers to the speaker (io form), then a verb in the infinitive form follows directly.  When the verb that follows refers to someone else, che is used as a link to a verb in the subjunctive mood in the second clause.

In this blog, we will only discuss the present tense subjunctive mood used with mi piace and mi dispiace.

In our example table that follows, we will illustrate the use of che followed by a different speaker from the introductory phrase with ...che tu.  This conjunction  means …that you.  Of course, we can replace tu with any of the other subject pronouns, and then the phrases would be: ….che Lei, che lei, che lui, che noi, che voi, or che loro.

Phrases Used to Introduce the Subjunctive Mood  with Volere, Desiderare, Piacere, Dispiacere
Present Tense &
Conditional Tense
Subjunctive Phrases
Groups 6 and 7
    Past Tense &
Past Conditional Tense
Subjunctive Phrases
Groups 6 and 7
       
Voglio… che tu I want… that you Volevo… che tu I wanted… that you
Vorrei… che tu I would like…
that you
Volevo… che tu I wanted… that you
Desidero… che tu
Chiedo … che tu
Esigo… che tu
 

I want… that you
I ask… that you
i insist… that  you

 

Desideravo… che tu
Chiedevo… che tu
Esigevo… che tu
I wanted… that you
I asked… that you
I insisted… that you
Mi piace… che tu I like… that you Mi piaceva… che tu I liked… that you
Mi dispiace… che tu I am sorry… that you Mi dispiaceva… che tu I was sorry… that you
Mi piacerebbe…
che tu
I would like…
that you
Mi sarebbe piaciuto… che tu I would have liked…
that you
Mi dispiacerebbe…
che tu
I don’t mind…
that you
Mi sarebbe piaciuto… che tu I didn’t mind… that you

 

Finally, a word of caution:

DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!

Forse = Perhaps      

Per me = For me

Secondo me = According to me

 

The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!


Speak Italian: The Present Tense Subjunctive Mood (Part 2)

How to Conjugate the Italian Subjunctive Mood Present Tense for -are, -ere, and -ire Verbs

 

To change any regular infinitive verb into the present subjunctive mood, first drop the final -are, -ere, or -ire to create the stem. Then add the endings given in the first table below to the stem that has been created. Examples for each verb type are given in the second table below.*

The word che is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms typically are used with  the conjunction che. Also, use the subject pronoun in your sentence after che for clarity, since the endings for the singular forms are all the same!

Practice the subjunctive verbs out loud by saying che, the subject pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!

Subjunctive Mood – Present Tense

 

Subject Pronoun -are ending -ere ending -ire ending
io i a a
tu i a a
Lei/lei/lui i a a
       
noi iamo iamo iamo
voi iate iate iate
loro ino ano ano

 

  Tornare

(to return)

Vendere

(to sell)

Partire

(to leave)

(che)  io torni venda parta
(che) tu torni venda parta
(che) Lei/lei/lui torni venda parta
       
(che) noi torniamo vendiamo partiamo
(che) voi torniate vendiate partiate
(che) loro tornino vendano partano

*(The stressed syllable for the example verbs has been underlined in the table above.)

  1. When pronouncing the subjunctive verbs, the stress will fall in the same place as in the conjugated verb forms for the present tense. This will be in the beginning of the verb (first or second syllable) for the io, tu, Lei/lei, lui, and loro forms, and one syllable to the right (second or third syllable) for the noi and voi forms.
  2. Notice that all of the singular subjunctive endings (io, tu, Lei/lei lui) are the same for each infinitive form of the verb.
  3. Also, all the endings for the -ere and -ire verbs are identical in the first person!
  4. The noi and voi forms are the same for all infinitive verb forms as well.
  5. The noi form is identical to the present tense!

 


 

The Subjunctive Mood – Present Tense
Commonly Used Irregular Verbs

Here are the irregular present subjunctive forms for six commonly used  verbs in Italian.  It may be useful to commit these forms to memory, as these verbs are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. Notice that the translation is the simple present tense in English.

Andare – to go –  Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io vada I go
(che) tu vada you (familiar) go
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

vada you (polite) go

she/he goes

     
(che) noi andiamo we go
(che) voi andiate you all go
(che) loro vadano they go

 

 

Dare – to give – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io dia I give
(che) tu dia you give
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

dia you give

she/he gives

     
(che) noi diamo we give
(che) voi diate you all give
(che) loro diano they give

 

 

Dire – to say/ to tell – Subjunctive Mood

(che) io dica I say/tell
(che) tu dica you (familiar) say/tell

 

(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

dica you (polite) say/tell

she/he says/tells

     
(che) noi diciamo we say/tell
(che) voi diciate you all say/tell
(che) loro dicano they say/tell

 

 

Fare – to do/ to make– Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io faccia I do/ make
(che) tu faccia you (familiar) do/make

 

(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

faccia you (polite) do/make

she/he does/makes

     
(che) noi facciamo we do/make
(che) voi facciate you all do/make
(che) loro facciano they do/make

 

 

Sapere – to know (facts) –  Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io sappia I know
(che) tu sappia you (familiar) know
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

sappia you (polite) know

she/he knows

     
(che) noi sappiamo we know
(che) voi sappiate you all know
(che) loro sappiano they know

 

 

Venire – to come – Present Subjunctive Mood

(che) io venga I come
(che) tu venga you (familiar) come
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

venga you (polite) come

she/he comes

     
(che) noi veniamo we come
(che) voi veniate you all come
(che) loro vengano they come

 


 

 

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 2)

Example Phrases Using the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

To follow are some examples of how the Italian subjunctive mood in the present tense might be used in conversation during daily life. (In later blog posts in this series, we will cover examples of how to use the subjunctive when the introductory phrase is in the conditional or the past tense.)

Notice that English sentence structure differs from Italian in most of these sentences.  We can make a similar sentence in English as in Italian, but it would be considered an “awkward” sentence.

The biggest difference is that we English speakers do not use the subjunctive form, whether or not the subject in the two phrases is the same or different.  Also, we often leave out the word “that” from our sentences that contain two phrases. But, as mentioned previously, the Italian word for “that,” “che,” is not an option when linking two Italian phrases!

For the translations, the Italian sentence structure is given first in italics to help us to think in Italian. The correct English is in bold.

We will use the example introductory phrases and verbs from earlier in this section. You can see from our first example that use of the subjunctive in the opening phrase really does allow one to make complex sentences.  The first example has been completed to express a complex situation.  Have fun expanding the sentences we have given. How many more combinations can you think of?How many more combinations can you think of?

 

Voglio che tu torni presto perché ho una bella sorpresa per te. I want that you return soon because I have a wonderful surprise for you. =
I want you to return soon because I have a wonderful surprise for you.
   
Voglio che lui  venda la macchina vecchia. I want that he sells the old car. =
I want him to sell the old car.
   
Desidero che lei parta questa sera. I want that she leaves tonight. =
I want her to leave tonight.
   
Desidero che Lei faccia una bella torta per la festa. I want that you make a nice cake for the party. =
I want you to make a nice cake for the party.
   
Mi piace che tu vada a Roma ogni giorno. I like that you go to Rome every day. =
I like (that fact that) you to go to Rome every day.
   
Mi dispiace che lui non sappia questa informazione. I am sorry that he doesn’t know this information. =
I am sorry he doesn’t know this information.

 

 

Voglio che noi torniamo presto. I want that we return soon. =
I want us to return soon.
   
Voglio che noi vendiamo la macchina vecchia. I want that we sell the old car. =
I want us to sell the old car.
   
Desidero che voi partiate questa sera. I want that you all leave tonight. =
I want you all to leave tonight.
   
Desidero che voi facciate una bella torta per la festa. I want that you all make a nice cake for the party. =
I want you all to make a nice cake for the party.
   
Mi piace che voi  andiate a Roma ogni giorno. I like that you all go to Rome every day. =
I like (the fact that) you to go to Rome every day.
   
Mi dispiace che voi  non sappiate questa informazione. I am sorry that you all don’t know this information. =
I am sorry you all don’t know this information.

 

 

Voglio che loro tornino presto. I want that they return soon. =
I want them to return soon.
   
Voglio che loro  vendano la macchina vecchia. I want that they sell the old car. =
I want them to sell the old car.
   
Desidero che loro partano questa sera. I want that they leave tonight. =
I want them to leave tonight.
   
Desidero che loro facciano una bella torta per la festa. I want that they make a nice cake for the party. =
I want them to make a nice cake for the party.
   
Mi piace che loro vadano a Roma ogni giorno. I like that they go to Rome every day. =
I like them to go to Rome every day.
   
Mi dispiace che loro non sappiano questa informazione. I am sorry that they don’t know this information. =
I am sorry they don’t know this information.

 


Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.

   Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

 Italian Subjunctive (Part 2): Speak Italian!

Conversational Italian for Travelers Speak Italian!

Italian Subjunctive (Part 1): Speak Italian!

Italian Subjunctive (Part 1): Speak Italian!

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog               The Italian subjunctive mood is easy to conjugate, but tricky to use!

 

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood in the correct situations? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! The blogs in the “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on how to conjugate and use the Italian subjunctive mood, or “il congiuntivo.”

Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using the subjunctive mood. In this segment, we will discuss the phrases that take the subjunctive mood and the how to conjugate the subjunctive mood for avere, essere and stare in the present tense. Finally, we will learn about the verb chiedersi, which means “to wonder.” Example sentences will follow!

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood

In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about the  Italian subjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”),  we will first present phrases that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Then,  we will review how to conjugate the Italian subjunctive mood.

Finally, we will present common phrases used in daily life that take the Italian subjunctive mood.

Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out the subjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!

Enjoy the first blog in this series, “Italian Subjunctive (Part 1): Speak Italian!”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

Some of this material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian instructors Simona Giuggioli and Maria Vanessa Colapinto.


Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 1)

Introducing… Phrases That Take the Italian Subjunctive Mood

Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to express beliefs, thoughts, or hopes with the verbs credere, pensare, and sperare.

The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.

The subjunctive mood is also used to express an expectation regarding the subject of the main clause.

Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). The subjunctive mood is also used with the conditional tense, but this will be the topic of later blogs. These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.

These groups are listed below:

Groups 1-6: “Noun Clauses”

  1. Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe), pensare (to think), and sperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern: [verb  di + infinitive verb to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb + che + subjunctive verb].*
  2. Impersonal constructions that begin with, “It is…” such as, “È possibile che…”
  3. Phrases that express a doubt, such as, “I don’t know…” or “Non so che…”
  4. Phrases that express suspicion, such as, ” I suspect that…” or “Sospetto che…”
  5. Phrases that express uncertainty, such as, “It seems to me…” or “Mi sembra che…” and ” To wonder if…” or  “Chiedersi se… “
  6. Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunction che, such as, “Basta che…” “It is enough that,” or “Si dice che…” “They say that…

 

In Italian, the introductory phrases listed above are usually followed by a “linking word,” which in turn introduces the phrase that follows.  This “linking word” is also known as a conjunction, and is the word che.  In this situation, che means that.  The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.

Note that the simple present or past tenses can also be used after the introductory phrases listed below, rather than the subjunctive mood, if you are speaking about a fact or something you believe to be true. This use will make perfect sense to the Italian listener, even when the subjective mood is otherwise commonly used.

To follow is a (long) list of phrases that can be used to introduce the subjunctive mood, with example from the present tense in the first two columns and the past tense in the last two columns. Notice that the imperfetto form of the past tense is given in our table for brevity, but the passato prossimo form of the past tense can also be used, depending on the situation.  Use of the past tense forms will be the topic of later blogs.

Phrases That Take the Subjunctive Mood

 

Present Tense
Subjunctive 
Phrase
Groups 1 and 2
    Past Tense
Subjunctive Phrase
Groups 1 and 2
 
Credo che I believe that Credevo che I believed that
Penso che I think that Pensavo che  I thought that
Spero che I hope that Speravo che I hoped that
         
È possibile che It is possible that Era possibile che It was possible that
È probablile che It is probable that Era probabile che It was probable that
       
È bene che It is fine/good that Era bene che It was fine/good that
Sarebbe bene che It would be good that Sarebbe stato bene che It would have been good that
È giusto che It is right that Era giusto che It was right that
È meglio  che It is better that Era meglio che It was better that
       
È incredible che It is incredible that Era incredibile che It was incredible that
È un peccato che It is a shame that Era un peccato che It was a shame that
È una vergogna che It is a disgrace that Era una vergogna che It was a disgrace that
È normale che It is normal that Era normale che It was normal that
       

 

Present Tense
Subjunctive 
Phrase
Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6
    Past Tense
Subjunctive Phrase
Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6
 
Non so che I don’t know that Non sapevo che I didn’t know that
Non so dove I don’t know where Non sapevo dove I didn’t know where
Non sono sicuro che I am not sure that Non ero sicuro che I wasn’t sure that
Non ho idea che I have no idea that Non avevo idea che I had no idea that
Non mi aspetto che I couldn’t wait that Non mi aspettavo che I couldn’t wait that
Non c’è nulla che There is nothing that Non c’era nulla che There was nothing that
       
Mi pare che It seems to me Mi pareva che It seemed to me
Mi sembra che It seems to me Mi sembrava che It seemed to me
Può darsi che Perhaps    
Ho l’impressione che I have the impression that Avevo l’impresione che I had the impression that
Suppongo che I suppose that Supponevo che I supposed that
Immagino che I imagine that Immaginavo che I imagined that
Sospetto che I suspect that Sospettavo che I suspected that
Dubito che I doubt that Dubitavo che I doubted that
Sono convinto che I am convinced that Ero convinto che I was convinced that
A meno che Unless    
Conviene che It is best that Conveniva che It was best that
Basta che It is enough that Bastava che It was enough that
Malgrado che In spite of that    
Si dice che It is said that Si diceva che It was said that
Dicono che They say that Dicevano che They said that
 Bisogna che  It’s necessary that  Bisognavo che  It was necessary that

*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases for credere, pensare, and sperare :  di + infinitive verb. Example: Penso di andare a Roma domani.  =  I think I will go to Rome tomorrow.  (Use  pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)

************************************************

Finally, a word of caution:

DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!

Forse = Perhaps

 Per me = For me

Secondo me = According to me

The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!


Speak Italian: The Present Tense Subjunctive Mood (Part 1)

How to Conjugate Italian Verbs “Essere,” “Avere,” and “Stare” in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

Here are the present tense subjunctive forms for the Italian auxiliary verbs avere and essere, and also the irregular verb stare, which are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian.  Che is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms are typically introduced with  the conjunction che.  Also,  make sure to include the subject pronoun in your sentence after che for clarity, since the singular forms are identical.

Practice the subjunctive verbs out loud by saying che , the subject  pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!

Avere – to have – Subjunctive Mood

(che) io abbia I have
(che) tu abbia you (familiar) have
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

abbia you (polite) have

she/he has

     
(che) noi abbiamo we have
(che) voi abbiate you all have
(che) loro abbiano they have

 

Essere – to be – Subjunctive Mood

(che) io sia I am
(che) tu sia you (familiar) are
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

sia you (polite) are

he/he is

     
(che) noi siamo we are
(che) voi siate you all are
(che) loro siano they are

 

Stare – to stay (to be) – Subjunctive Mood

(che) io stia I stay (am)
(che) tu stia you (familiar) stay (are)
(che) Lei

(che) lei/lui

stia you (polite) stay (are)

she/he stays (is)

     
(che) noi stiamo we stay (are)
(che) voi stiate you all stay (are)
(che) loro stiano they stay (are)

Speak Italian: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 1)

Example Phrases Using “Stare” in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

To follow are some examples of when the Italian subjunctive mood in the present tense might be used in conversation during daily life.  Notice that the English translation is the same for the present tense examples and the Italian subjunctive examples used in the sentences below.

We will start with sentences using stare (to stay/to be) in the subjunctive mood because this verb comes up very commonly in this modern life, when not a day seems to go by without an email being sent and received! The old formalities of opening and closing a letter have returned! After the greeting in an email, especially if there has not been recent communication, it is customary to mention a hope that all is well with friends and family. Here is a case for the subjunctive!

Present Tense
Phrase
Present Tense
Subjunctive Phrase
Tu stai bene. You (familiar) are well. Spero che tu stia bene. I hope that you (familiar) are well.
Lei sta bene. You (polite) are well.

She is well.

Spero che lei stia bene. I hope that you (polite) are well.

I hope that she is well.

Lui sta bene. He is well. Spero che lui stia bene. I hope that he is well.
La famiglia sta bene. The family is well. Spero che la tua famiglia* stia bene. I hope that the family* is well.
Tutti stanno bene. Everyone/body
is well.
Spero che tutti stiano bene.  I hope that everyone/everybody is well.

*Famiglia = family and is a collective noun and takes the third person singular.


Example Phrases Using “Avere” in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

We often close an email with a hope as well—for a nice weekend, for instance, or that we will see the person we have contacted sometime soon. In this case, the phrases we most commonly use will need to use avere (to have) in the subjunctive mood.

Present Tense
Phrase
Present Tense
Subjunctive Phrase
Buona settimana! Have a good week! Spero che tu abbia una buona settimana.

 

I hope that you have a good week!
Buon fine settimana! Have a good weekend! Spero che tu abbia un buon fine settimana.

 

I hope that you have a good weekend!
Buona giornata.

Buona serata.

Have a good day.

Have a good evening.

Spero che tu abbia una buona giornata/buona serata. I hope that you have a good day/evening.

 


Example Phrases Using “Essere” in the Present Tense Subjunctive Mood

The verb essere (to be) is commonly used when describing someone’s characteristics to someone else.  But what if we are not sure that someone possesses a certain characteristic, or we would like someone to possess a characteristic we fear they may not have? Then we must use the subjunctive mood in our sentence! Here are a few examples. How many more can you think of?

Present Tense
Phrase
Present Tense
Subjunctive Phrase
Lei è bella. She is beautiful. Mi sembra che lei sia bella. She seems beautiful to me.

(It seems to me that she is beautiful.)

L’insegnante è simpatico. The teacher is nice.  

Spero che l’insegnante sia simpatico.

 

I hope that the teacher is nice.
Dio è in cielo. God is in heaven.  

Credo che Dio sia in cielo.

 

I believe that God is in heaven.
L’attrice è brava in quel film. The actress is great in that film.  

Penso che l’attrice sia brava in quel film.

 

I think that the actress is great in that film.
Lui è fortunato. He is fortunate.  

Spero che lui sia fortunato.

 

I hope that he is fortunate.
Lei è contenta. She is happy.  

Mi pare che lei sia contenta.

 

She seems happy to me.

(It seems to me that she is happy.)

Loro sono bravi cantanti. They are wonderful singers.  

Può darsi che loro siano bravi cantanti.

 

Perhaps they are wonderful singers.
Lui è un bravo studente. He is a good student.  

Dubito che lui sia un bravo studente.

 

I doubt that he is a good student.
Lei è sposata. She is marrried. È probabile che lei sia sposata. She is probably married.

(It is probable that she is married.)

Loro sono ricchi. They are rich. È possibile che loro siano ricchi. It is possible that they are rich.

How to Use the Verb “To Wonder”
 “Chiedersi” 

********************

The verb chiedersi,  from Rule 4, is worthy of special mention.  Chiedersi is the verb Italians use to describe the idea of “wondering” if something might happen.

“Mi chiedo…” literally means, “I ask myself,” which translates into “I wonder.” This verb is often followed by the Italian word for “if” to make the sentence, “Mi chiedo se…” or,  “I wonder if…”  Given that this phrase ends in the word “if,” at first glance it may seem to fall into the category of  improbable hypothetical phrases, which need a special conjugation (to be discussed in blogs to follow). But, cheidersi  in its present tense form actually takes the present  subjunctive mood,  just as the other phrases in Rule 4 that we have learned about.

So, you already know how to use this verb and can easily wonder about things that might be!

Below is an example of how to use the verb chiedersi.  We will revisit  chiedersi  again as we continue to learn about the subjunctive mood in blogs to come!

Mi chiedo se lui sia un attore bravo in quel film.
I wonder if he is a great actor in that film.

 

 


Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.

   Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
 series of books and a teacher of Italian for travelers to Italy in the Peoria and Chicago area.
“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

Join my Conversational Italian! Facebook group and follow me on Twitter at StellaLucente@travelitalian1  and start to learn Italian today for FREE!
Conversational Italian! Facebook Group
Tweet @travelitalian1 for Stella Lucente Italian

YouTube videos to learn Italian are available from © Stella Lucente, LLC.
Learn Conversational Italian.

More information on and photographs of Italy can be found on Facebook Stella Lucente Italian and Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian.
Facebook Stella Lucente Italian

Pinterest Stella Lucente Italian

Visit learntravelitalian.com/download.html to purchase/download Conversational Italian for Travelers and find more interesting facts and helpful hints about getting around Italy! Learn how to buy train tickets online, how to make international and local telephone calls, and how to decipher Italian coffee names and restaurant menus, all while gaining the basic understanding of Italian that you will need to know to communicate easily and effectively while in Italy. —From the staff at Stella Lucente, LLC

Italian Subjunctive (Part 1): Speak Italian!

Conversational Italian for Travelers Speak Italian!

Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog                          Everything you need to know to talk about love… in Italian!

 

Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning how to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the language. Meraviglioso!

But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently? Can you talk about all the things that are nearest and dearest to your heart in Italian? Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult than it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on! This series will focus on the situations that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series will focus on the type of sentence structure and vocabulary we all need to remember to be more fluent when we speak Italian!

To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, we must know many things; in this segment, we will discuss how to use possessive adjectives in Italian, phrases for storytelling, reciprocal reflexive verbs, and the special ways to say we love and miss someone using the Italian verbs volere and mancare!

 

Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

In the “Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a commonly used topic of conversation. Then, we will review the Italian grammar that is necessary to talk about the particular topic in detail. And finally, the same material will be presented in Italian and English, with blanks for the reader to fill in with descriptions from his or her own life! Remember these examples about yourself as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!

Enjoy the third topic in this series, “Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!”
—Kathryn Occhipinti

This material is adapted from our textbook, Conversational Italian for Travelers © 2012 by Stella Lucente, LLC, found on www.learntravelitalian.com. Special thanks to Italian language instructor Simona Giuggioli.


Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

In every life,  we experience many types of love—country, family, and of course, one’s own true love. So it is important to learn the special Italian phrases to speak about what we love. I’ve adapted the story of one of my grandmothers, who emigrated from Italy in the 1920s, into a short essay about her struggles in Italy and in America, and the love that she was able to find in her life. Of course, this material has been adapted to be a learning tool, and this essay is not meant to be a complete biography.

While reading about my grandmother’s three great loves—her countries, her family, and her husband—think about yourself and what you truly love. Read the grammar section if you like. Then, use the blank spaces in the form that follows to fill in the Italian for your own life! 

Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!

When I was young, when I was about 7 years old, I asked my grandmother to tell me her story. And this is what she said to me:

Da bambina, quando avevo cerca sette anni, ho chiesto a mia nonna di raccontarmi la sua storia.

E questo è quello che mi ha detto:

 

My story is a story of many great loves. When I was young, I lived in Sicily, and I loved my town Ragusa very much. Ragusa is on top of a big mountain but is also near the sea. Every day I could see the sunrise and the sunset over the south of Sicily, and it was very beautiful! I loved Sicily very much!

La mia storia è una storia di tanti grandi amori. Quando ero giovane, ho vissuto in Sicilia e mi piaceva molto il mio paese che si chiama Ragusa. Ragusa è sopra una grande montagna ma  è anche vicino al mare. Ogni giorno potevo vedere l’alba e il tramonto sopra il sud della Sicilia ed era molto bello! Mi piaceva molto la Sicilia!

 

I had five brothers and sisters—two brothers and three sisters. I was the oldest in the family, and when I was 12 years old, I had to leave school. I had to help my mother take care of my sisters and my brothers. Before I went to bed, every night I said to my mother, “Do you love me?” And my mother replied, “I love you very much!”

Avevo cinque fratellidue fratelli e tre sorelle. Ero la più grande nella famiglia e quando avevo dodici anni ho dovuto lasciare la scuola. Ho dovuto aiutare mia mamma a prendersi cura delle mie sorelle e dei miei fratelli. Prima di andare a letto, ogni notte dicevo a mia mamma, “Mi vuoi bene?” E mia madre diceva, “Ti voglio molto bene!”

 

And at Ragusa, there was also a boy named Peter who was 2 years older than me. Peter grew up on the same street as my family. When he became older, Peter was tall and handsome, a good person, and was very nice to me. I loved him. I became his girlfriend, but in secret.

Ed a Ragusa c’era anche un ragazzo che si chiamava Pietro che aveva due anni più di me. Pietro è cresciuto nella stessa strada della mia famiglia. Da grande, Pietro è diventato alto e bello, bravo, ed era molto simpatico con me. L’amavo. Sono diventata la sua ragazza, ma in segreto.

 

Peter’s father, Paul, was also a good person and decided to make a better life for his family and go to America. In 1916, when Peter was 16 years old, Paul brought the family to America. There was a lot of work for Paul, who was a bricklayer and helped to build many buildings that are still well known in New York today. Peter’s father made a lot of money, and the family was very well off.

Il padre di Pietro, Paolo, era anche una persona perbene e ha deciso di migliorare la vita della sua famiglia e di andare in America. Nel millenovecentosedici, quando Pietro aveva sedici anni, Paolo ha portato la famiglia in America. C’era molto lavoro per Paolo, chi era un muratore e ha aiutato a costruire tanti palazzi ancora ben conosciuti a New York oggi. Il padre di Pietro ha fatto tanti soldi e la famiglia stava molto bene.

 

Peter also worked every day and learned his father’s trade. But Peter was not happy. He wrote me in many letters that New York was ugly. He missed his beautiful Sicily. He missed me! In Sicily, I missed Peter!

Anche Pietro lavorava ogni giorno e imparava il mestiere da suo padre. Ma, Pietro non era contento. Lui mi ha scritto in tante lettere che New York era brutta. A lui mancava la sua bella Sicilia. Anche, io gli mancavo! Mentre in Sicilia, mi mancava Pietro

 

This continued for many years.

Continuava cosi per tanti anni.

 

Finally, Peter wrote a letter to my father and asked him to take me to America to get married (marry me).

Finalmente, Pietro ha scritto una lettera a mio padre e l’ha chiesto di portarmi in America per sposarmi.

 

At first, my father had said, “Absolutely not!”

Al inizio, mio padre ha detto, “Assolutamente no!”

 

But I wanted to go to America and marry Peter. I loved Peter very much. Every day, I cried. I did not eat anything. My mother said to my father, “How sad Maria is! You must take her to America!”

Ma volevo andare in America e sposarmi con Pietro. L’amavo tanto. Ogni giorno, piangevo. Non mangiavo niente. Mia madre ha detto a mio padre, “Come triste è Maria! Devi portarla in America!”

 

And finally, he did it!

E finalmente, lui l’ho fatto!

 

Peter and I were married, and we had three children: two boys and one girl. We moved to a small town north of New York City, where there are mountains and it is very pretty.

Pietro ed io ci siamo sposati e abbiamo avuto tre figlidue figli maschi e una figla femmina. Abbiamo traslocati a un piccolo paese a nord di New York, dove ci sono le montagne ed è molto bello.

 

Today, I feel very fortunate and happy because I have my three great loves: my new country, my husband, and my family!

Oggi, mi sento molto fortunata e contena perché ho i miei tre grandi amori: il mio paese nuovo, mio marito, e la mia famiglia!

 


 

Speak Italian: Grammar You Will Need to Know…

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Use Italian Possessive Adjectives to Describe Things

  1. The definite article (il, la, i, or le) must be added before the possessive adjective when we describe the things that we possess. In this case, both the definite article and the possessive adjective will match the gender and number of the noun that is being modified. Remember, in Italian, we do not think about who is doing the possessing, but about what is being possessed!
Singular   Plural
il mio/la mia my i miei/le mie
il tuo/la tua your (familiar) singular i tuoi/le tue
il suo*/la sua* your (polite)* singular

his, her, its

i suoi*/le sue*

 

     
il nostro/la nostra our i nostri/le nostre

 

il vostro/la vostra your (familiar) plural i vostri/le vostre
il loro/la loro their i loro*/le loro*

*For “polite your,” simply capitalize, as in, “il Suo amico” or “la Sua amica.”

 

  1. It should be noted that the definite article can be omitted if the speaker wants to emphasize ownership of a particular thing when using the verb essere. If someone wants to stress his ownership of a car, for instance, he would simply say, “È mia” for “(It) is mine,” and omit the definite article la and the word macchina. In English, we use mine instead of my, ours instead of our, and yours instead of your after the verb “to be” in a similar way. This is called the stressed form of the possessive adjective.

 

  1. Also, the expression “a casa mia,” with the possessive adjective placed alone, after the noun, is idiomatic and means “at/to my house.” The other possessive forms can be used as well with this phrase, as in “a casa tua” (at your house) or “a casa sua” (at his/her house). And it can always be “colpa mia,” or “my fault.”                            

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Use Italian Possessive Adjectives with Family Members

  1. When speaking of only one family member, do not use the definite article!

        mio cugino = my cousin

  1. When speaking of more than one family member, the definite article must be used.

i miei cugini = my cousins

  1. If using an adjective to describe family members, the definite article must be used.

“Caterina è la mia cara cugina.” = “Kathy is my dear cousin.”

 

Singular and Plural Possessive Adjectives for Family

 

mio/mia my i miei/le mie
tuo/tua your (familiar) singular i tuoi/le tue
suo/sua your (polite) singular/his/her/its i suoi/le sue
     
nostro/nostra our i nostri/le nostre
vostro/vostra your (familiar) plural i vostri/le vostre
il loro/la loro their i loro/le loro

 

La Mia Famiglia Femminile/Female Members of My Family

 

mia madre my mother  
(la) mia mamma my mom  
mia sorella my sister(s) le mie sorelle
mia nonna my grandmother(s) le mie nonne
mia zia my aunt(s) le mie zie
mia figlia my daughter(s) le mie figlie
mia cugina my female cousin(s) le mie cugine

 

La Mia Famiglia Maschile/Male Members of My Family

 

mio padre my father  
(il) mio papà my dad  
mio fratello my brother(s) i miei fratelli
mio nonno my grandfather(s) i miei nonni
mio zio my uncle(s) i miei zii
mio figlio my son(s) i miei figli
mio cugino my cousin(s) i miei cugini

 

  1. Always use il mio fidanzato or la mia fidanzata for a boyfriend/fiancé or girlfriend/fiancée who are not yet part of the family! This also applies to la mia ex moglie and il mio ex marito, my ex-wife and my ex-husband.

 

  1. If a pet, or animale domestico, such as a cat or a dog, is a part of your family, use the definite article when referring to them. So, my cat or my dog would be il mio gato or il mio cane. The endings of the nouns that refer to animals do not need to be changed to match their gender. But, if it is important to emphasize that you have a male or a female animal, see below:

 

il gato il mio gato the cat my cat (any gender or a male cat)
il mio gato  il mio gato maschio the male cat my male cat
la mia gata la mia gata femmina the female cat my female cat

 

il cane il mio cane the dog my dog (any gender or a male dog)
il mio cane  il mio cane maschio the male dog my male dog
la mia cagna la mia cagna femmina the female dog my female dog

 

  1. When speaking in Italian of two family members or objects of the same gender and number, link them with the word “and,” which is “e” in Italian. The possessive pronoun does not need to be repeated. That said, the tendency in Italian is to repeat the possessive pronoun anyway.

The possessive pronoun must be used for each person/thing linked with the word “and” when the gender or number of the person/thing differs.

Note that in English, it is not necessary to repeat the word “my,” although “my” can be repeated to emphasize that one is speaking of two different types of groups.

mio fratello e cugino or mio fratello e mio cugino my brother and cousin
   
mio fratello e mia sorella my brother and sister
mio fratello e i miei cugini my brother and my cousins

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Talk about Siblings and Children

  1. When talking about siblings in Italian, the idea is expressed with the Italian plural word fratelli. This masculine plural noun refers to a group of all male siblings and to a group of both male and female siblings. Therefore, the number of brothers and sisters must be specified in the next sentence—and all endings changed into either masculine or feminine.

Remember to use un fratello for one male sibling and una sorella for one female sibling.

Ho due fratelli. I have two siblings (brothers and sisters or just brothers).
Ho un fratello e una sorella. I have one brother and one sister.

 

Remember to use fratelli for a group of brothers and sorelle for a group of sisters.

Ho cinque fratelli. I have five siblings (brothers and sisters or just brothers).
Ho due fratelli e tre sorelle. I have two brothers and three sisters.

 

  1. When talking about one’s own or someone else’s children in Italian, the idea is expressed with the Italian plural word figli (which otherwise means sons). This masculine word refers to a group of all male children and to a group of both male and female children. It then becomes necessary to use additional nouns to categorize the children as male or female in the next sentence, and all endings must be changed into either masculine or feminine.

Remember to use uno figlio maschio for one male child and una figlia femmina for one female child.

Ho due figli. I have two children./I have two boys and girls.
Ho un figlio maschio e una figlia femmina. I have one boy and one girl.

 

Remember to use figli maschi for a group of male children and figlie femmine for a group of female children.

Ho cinque figli. I have five children./I have five boys and girls.
Ho due figli maschi e tre figlie femmine. I have two brothers and three sisters.

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

When to use “Che” to Connect Phrases in Italian

“Che” has many meanings in Italian,and is used in many ways.  This little word will come up often in spoken and written Italian.  The first and probably most important meaning that is found in most every dictionary, though, is the conjunctive “that.”  While in English, many times we leave out the word “that” when linking two phrases together to make a complex sentence, in Italian this word can almost never be omitted.

 A couple of important examples were underlined in are dialogue to make this point and are reprinted here.  Learning how and when to incorporate “che”  into an Italian sentence will take one a long way to becoming fluent in Italian, so listen closely for this word!

  1. To link the phrase “this is what” to a second phrase.

E questo è quello che mi ha detto:
And this is what (that) she said to me:

        2. To mention something or someone and then give its actual name.

Mi piaceva molto il mio paese che si chiama Ragusa.
( Italian: I loved my town very much that is called Ragusa.)
I loved my town Ragusa very much.


 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

When to use “Che” to Connect Phrases in Italian

“Che” has many meanings in Italian,and is used in many ways. Below are two more uses for the Italian word che, with two different meanings.

  1. Che is also commonly used as an interrogative expression meaning, “What?” “Che?” “Che cosa?” and “Cosa?” all mean “What?” in Italian, and are used interchangeably. Two of the most commonly spoken phrases where che is used this way are below:

 

Che succede? What’s happening?
Che è successo? What happened?

 

  1. And by now you have no doubt heard the exclamation, “Che bello!” which means, “How beautiful!” or “How wonderful!” from anyone who has seen the rolling hills of the Italian countryside or a famous work of Italian art or architecture.  Additional examples are listed below.  In short, che when used in an exclamation of this type takes on the meaning of how.  Of course, “Com’è bello?” means “How beautiful is it?” since the word come is the most often used to mean how in most other situations.
Che bello! How beautiful! How wonderful!
Che brutta (figura)! How ugly! How terrible!
Che fortuna! How lucky! What good fortune!

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Say “I Love You” in Italian

“Ti voglio bene” is an idiomatic expression in Italian, which translates roughly as, “I wish you well,” or better, “I care for you.”  It originates from the verb volersi, which takes on a different meaning than the verb volere.  The meaning of this verb is not easily translated into English, but is used often in Italy for many different situations.

“Ti voglio bene” is an old expression that is still used for platonic forms of caring and loving among family members and close friends in Italy today. The expression can be used between a boyfriend and a girlfriend and is also used between a husband and a wife. Watch some older Italian movies, and you will hear this expression often!

Mi voui bene? Do you care for/about me?
Ti voglio bene. I care for/about you.

 

The verb amare, which means “to love,” is reserved for romantic love—that one true love held between fiancée and fiancé, wife and husband.

Mi ami? Do you love me?
Ti amo. I love you.
Ti amo per sempre. I will always love you.

 

Finally, some phrases for when you have fallen out of love:

Non ti voglio più bene. I don’t like/care for you anymore.
Non ti amo più. I don’t love you anymore.

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Common Phrases to Begin a Story Paragraph

Da giovane… When I was young…
Da grande… When I grew up…
Quando ero più vecchio(a)… When I was older…

 

Nel 1928… In 1928…
C’era una volta…
Una volta c’era…
Once upon a time…
In the past there was… / Once there was…
Allora…
In those days…

 

 

Per prima cosa… For the first thing…
Dapprima… Initially…
Prima…/Poi… First…/Then…
Prima o poi… Sooner or later…

 

Fin dall’inizio… From the beginning…
Da ora in poi… From now on…
Da allora in poi… From then on…
From that moment on…

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Verbs That Take the Preposition “A”

 Some Italian verbs need to be followed by the Italian word “a,” which in this case means “to,” before the addition of an infinitive verb to make a complete sentence. This may seem a little redundant at first, because in English, a verb in its infinitive form already includes the word “to.” To the Italian speaker, though, it is natural to insert the word a after the verbs on the list that follows—the phrases just sound correct this way.

Two important phrases to remember that use this rule are “andare a trovare” (“to go to visit”) and “venire a trovare” (“to come to visit”), which are used when visiting a person. The noun visitare can be used when you want to speak about a place you are visiting.

Don’t memorize this list, but instead try to listen for the “a” when these phrases come up in conversation, and soon it will become natural for you, also, to say these phrases correctly.

aiutare to help Aiuto mia mamma a … cucinare la cena.
andare to go Vado a … trovare mio cugino Pietro in Italia.
cominciare to start Comincio a … cucinare la cena.
divertirsi to enjoy oneself Mi divertito a … suonare il violino.
imparare to learn Tutti imparano a … parlare italiano.
insegnare to teach Lei insegna a … parlare la lingua francese.
invitare to invite Lui l’invita a … mangiare al ristorante.
mandare to send Io mando Pietro a … prendere una pizza.
prepararsi to get ready Mi preparo a … viaggiare in Italia.
venire to come Caterina viene a … trovare i suoi cugini.

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Reciprocal Reflexive Verbs, Including Sposarsi

Reciprocal reflexive verbs are used in the special situation when two people perform the same action together; this will make both people the subject of the action. Therefore, the reciprocal reflexive verbs are conjugated in their plural form, using the plural subject and reflexive pronouns: (noi) ci, (voi) vi, or (loro) si. For conversation, the noi and loro forms will be the most important to remember. To express this type of situation in English, we simply add the phrase “each other,” after the verb.

Here is how this verb form works: for instance, everyone knows that “Ci vediamo” means “We (will) see each other.” So if the speaker is involved in the action with someone else—we are doing the action—use the noi verb conjugation and put ci in front of the verb.

Another common phrase is “Si abbracciano e si baciano,” which means “They hug and kiss each other.” If two people are being talked about—they are doing the action—use the loro verb conjugation and put si in front of the verb.

A quick word about sposarsi. It is one of those reflexive verbs that translates as “to get” married. We talked about these “to get” verbs in the last blog in this series. So if a person wants to say, “I want to get married” in Italian, this would be “(Io) voglio sposarmi.”

As we know, the subject pronouns are almost always omitted in conversation, and this applies to reciprocal reflexive verbs as well—hence the parentheses in the examples that follow!

 

Io e Francesca ci vogliamo bene. Frances and I care for each other very much.
(Noi) Ci sposiamo oggi. We (will) marry each other today.
(Noi) Ci scriviamo ogni giorno. We write each other every day.
(Noi) Ci vediamo al teatro. We (will) see each other at the theater.
(Noi) Ci vogliamo bene. We love each other very much.

 

Caterina e Zia Rosa si salutano. Kathy and Aunt Rose greet each other.
Michele e Francesca si volgiono bene. Michael and Frances care for each other very much.
(Loro) si vogliono bene. (They) care for each other very much.
(Loro) Si incontrano. They meet each other.
(Loro) Si telefonano ogni giorno. They telephone each other every day.

 

 Listed below are verbs that commonly use the reciprocal reflexive form:

 

abbracciarsi to hug each other
aiutarsi to help each other
amarsi to love each other
baciarsi to kiss each other
chiamarsi to call each other
conoscersi to get to know each other
fidanzarsi to become engaged
guardarsi to look at each other
incontrarsi to meet each other (planned meeting)
odiarsi to hate each other
parlarsi to speak to each other
salutarsi to greet each other
scriversi to write each other
sposarsi to marry each other
telefonarsi to call each other
trovarsi to meet each other
vedersi to see each other

 

 

 Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Passato Prossimo Verbs That Take Essere

Here is a list of the most common action verbs that take essere when forming the passato prossimo, which is the verb form used to describe going from one place to another or “passing through” life—growing/living/dying. The infinitive form is in the first column, and the corresponding past participle is listed in the third column; notice that some past participles will be regular and others irregular.

It should also be noted that all reflexive verbs, as well as piacere, take essere.

 

accadere to happen accaduto(a)(i,e) happened
andare to go andato(a)(i,e) went
arrivare to arrive arrivato(a)(i,e) arrived
cadere to fall caduto(a)(i,e) fell
cambiare to change cambiato(a)(i,e) changed
cominciare+ to begin cominciato(a)(i,e) began
diventare to become diventato(a)(i,e) became
entrare to enter entrato(a)(i,e) entered
finire+ to finish finito(a)(i,e) finished
iniziare+ to begin iniziato(a)(i,e) began
morire to die morto(a)(i,e) dead
nascere to be born nato(a)(i,e) born
partire to leave partito(a)(i,e) left
passare* to pass through passato(a)(i,e) past
piacere to be pleasing to piaciuto(a)(i,e) pleased
restare to remain restato(a)(i,e) remained
rompere to break rotto(a)(i,e) broken
salire* to go up salito(a)(i,e) went up
scendere* to do down sceso(a)(i,e) went down
succedere to happen successo(a)(i,e) happened
uscire to go out uscito(a)(i,e) went out
venire to come venuto(a)(i,e) came

 

+Some verbs, such as cominciare, finire, and iniziare, take avere except when the subject is a thing, rather than a person. So as we have learned in Chapter 11 of Conversational Italian for Travelers, “Io ho finito il libro,” “Tu hai finito il libro,” and “Lei/lui ha finito il libro,” but “Il film è finito,” for “The film is finished.” Notice that in the last example, the verb itself completes the sentence and refers back to the subject. (Finire is categorized as transitive in all of the examples except the last, when it is intransitive, but don’t worry about these terms!)

*Some verbs, such as passare, scendere, and salire take avere when used with a direct object, as in “Io ho sceso le scale” for “I have gone down the stairs.” Otherwise, they use essere: “Lui è sceso” for “He has gotten off.”               

Grammar Point: Reflexive Verbs with the Passato Prossimo

All reflexive verbs form the passato prossimo with essere. Simply put the reflexive pronoun before essere and follow essere with the past participle as usual. Remember to change the ending of the past participle to reflect the gender of the person doing the action. See the example below with divertirsi (to enjoy oneself). With all the good times a visitor to Italy can expect, divertirsi is an essential verb to know in several different tenses!

Notice that the translation in English uses the verb to have, while Italian uses to be. So remember to think in Italian in this case!

 

Essersi divertito/To Have Enjoyed Oneself
io mi sono divertito(a) I have enjoyed myself.

I enjoyed myself.

tu ti sei divertito(a) You (familiar) have enjoyed yourself.

You (familiar) enjoyed yourself.

Lei/lei/lui si è divertito(a) You (polite)/she/he have/has enjoyed herself/himself.

You (polite)/she/he enjoyed herself/himself.

       
noi ci siamo divertiti(e) We have enjoyed ourselves.

We enjoyed ourselves.

voi vi siete divertiti(e) You all have enjoyed yourselves.

You all enjoyed yourselves.

loro si sono divertiti(e) They have enjoyed themselves.

They enjoyed themselves.

 

Grammar Point: Modal Verbs with Essere and the Passato Prossimo

We have seen how to use the modal verbs dovere, potere, and volere if the passato prossimo is formed with avere. The sequence to use is the same with essere; essere is conjugated to reflect the speaker, the past participle of the modal verb is added, and then the infinitive of the verb finishes the verb phrase.

There is one catch, though. Remember that we must change the past participle of the verbs that follow essere to reflect the gender of the speaker. In this case, the past participle is formed from the modal verb, so the ending of the modal verb must change!

 

Pietro è voluto partire alle sei stasera.
Peter wanted to leave at 6 tonight.
 
Caterina è dovuta andare a fare la spesa ieri.
Kathy had to go grocery shopping yesterday.

 

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

When to Use the Passato Prossimo versus the Imperfetto

Here is a table to clarify the differences of the uses of the passato prossimo and the imperfetto past tense verb forms. Both will describe actions or events that have taken place in the past. The circumstances that surround each event determine the form to use. When narrating a story, use the imperfetto.

 

Passato Prossimo                                                                  Imperfetto                      
Past action that took place once. Past action that was habitual; done several times.
Stamattina ho telefonato a mia mamma.
This morning I called my mother.
Telefonavo a mia mamma ogni mattina.
I used to call my mother every day.
Past action that was performed a specific number of times. Past action that took place over an extended period of time.
Sono andata dal medico per tre giorni di fila.
I went to the doctor for 3 days in a row.
Andavo dal medico raramente quando ero giovane.
I went to the doctor rarely when I was young.
Past action that was performed within a definite time period. Past action that was performed within an indefinite time period, without a specific beginning and ending mentioned.
L’anno scorso è andato a scuola.
Last year he went to school.
Da giovane, andava volentieri a scuola.
When he was young, he used to go to school gladly.
Past states of being/having of a person or a thing in a specific time frame. Past states of being/having of a person or a thing
(essere or avere used alone).
Ieri ho avuto fame tutto il giorno.

Yesterday I had hunger all day long.
(English: I was hungry.)

Caterina è stata molto felice il giorno del suo compleanno.

Kathy was very happy on her birthday.

Io avevo fame.
I used to have/had hunger.
(English: I used to be/was hungry.)
Caterina era felice.
Kathy used to be/was happy.

 

 In a compound sentence that involves two actions performed in the past, the completed action (usually given second) uses the passato prossimo. In a compound sentence that involves two actions performed in the past, the setting, or the ongoing situation (usually given first), uses the imperfetto.

Mentre nostro figlio dormiva, abbiamo guidato per molte ore.

While our son was sleeping, we drove for many hours.

 

 

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Conjugate and Use Mancare

The verb mancare has many meanings: to miss/to lose/to lack/to be lacking/to omit/to failMancare is used to convey the idea of “to miss someone” very commonly in conversational Italian, so it is important to learn the conjugation and sentence structure for this verb.

To start off, you should know that the sentence structure used for mancare is the same as for the verb piacere (see the second blog in this series). In English, we say the subject of the sentence misses someone using the direct object (example: I miss John), whereas in Italian, this phrase is turned around and the subject is the person who is being missed.

The sentence structure in Italian can use the disjunctive pronoun.

example “I miss John”: John is missing to me= Giovanni manca a me.

But more often, the Italian sentence uses the indirect object pronoun placed before the verb.

example “I miss John”: (John) to me is missing. =  (Giovanni) Mi manca.

To make matters more confusing to the English speaker, the subject of the sentence—which can be somebody’s name, a subject pronoun, a place, or even an object—can be left out entirely as long as it is known from the context, as we see above.

But, in most cases the subject is then added to the end of the sentence for clarification.

example: “I miss John”: To me is missing John. = Mi manca Giovanni.

 

Think about this a bit and then read the present tense conjugation below. Notice that the tu and noi forms are irregular. These are marked with an asterisk.

Mancare/To Be Missing (To)

io manco I am missing (to…)
tu manchi* you (fam.) are missing (to…)
Lei

lei/lui

manca you (polite) are missing (to…)

she/he/it is missing (to…)

     
noi manchiamo* we are missing (to…)
voi mancate you all are missing (to…)
loro mancano they are missing (to…)

 

The past tense of mancare is regular in the passato prossimo and takes essere.  The passato prossimo form is often used.  Consider the phrase “I missed you!” This implies that a definite period of absence has passed, and now the individuals are able to finally talk about their feelings. This is the past tense form for mancare that is most commonly used during conversation.

See below for the passato prossimo conjugation of mancare:

sono sei, è, with mancato(a)
siamo, siete sono with mancati(e)

 

The imperfetto form of mancare is regular as well, and is used most often for narration, as in our example story. In this case, the reference is to a nonspecific amount of time that people missed each other in the past.

See below for the imperfetto conjugation of mancare:

mancavo, mancavi, mancava
mancavamo, mancavate, mancavano

 

The sentences below give some common examples of how to use the verb mancare, first in present tense and then in past tense, with the passato prossimo. For easier understanding, the subject pronouns are included in parentheses, but remember that they are most often left out of the sentence, unless needed for clarification.

(Tu) Mi manchi. You are missing to me. I miss you.
(Lei/Lui) Mi manca. She/he is missing to me. I miss her/him.

 

(Io) Ti manco? (Am I) missing to you? (Do you) miss me?
(Lei/Lui) Ti manca? (Is she/he) missing to you? (Do you) miss her/him?

 

(Io) Gli manco. I am missing to him. He misses me.
(Io) Le manco. I am missing to her. She misses me.
(Tu) Gli manchi. You are missing to him. He misses you.
(Tu) Le manchi. You are missing to her. She misses you.
Gli manca (Maria) . Maria is missing to him. He misses Maria.
 Le manca (Maria) . Maria is missing to her. She misses Maria.
Gli manca (Paolo). Paul is missing to him. He misses Paul.
Le manca (Paolo). Paul is missing to her. She misses Paul.

**********************************************************************************

(Tu) Mi sei mancato(a). You were missed to me. I missed you.
(Lei/Lui) Mi è mancato(a). She/he was missed to me. I missed her/him.

 

(Io) Ti sono mancto(a)? (Was I) missed to you? (Did you) miss me?
(Lei/Lui) Ti è mancato(a)? (Was she/he) missed to her/him? (Did you) miss her/him?

 

(Io) Gli sono mancato(a). I was missed to him. He missed me.
(Io) Le sono mancato(a). I was missed to her. She missed me.
(Tu) Gli sei mancato(a). You were missed to him. He missed you.
(Tu) Le sei mancato(a). You were missed to her. She missed you.
Gli è mancata (Maria) . Maria was missed to him. He missed Maria.
Le è mancata (Maria) . Maria was missed to her. She missed Maria.
Gli è mancato (Paolo). Paul was missed to him. He missed Paul.
Le è mancato (Paolo) . Paul was missed to her. She missed Paul.

 

 


 

Speak Italian: A Story about… YOUR Great Loves!

Everyone has a story to tell about themselves. What would you like others to know about what you find important in life? What are your great loves? Fill in the blanks in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, using examples from your own life.

Speak Italian: A Story about… Your Great Loves!

When I was young, when I was about 7 years old, I asked my grandmother to tell me her story. And this is what she said to me:

Da bambina, quando avevo ___________________ anni, ho chiesto                             di raccontarmi la sua storia.

E questo è quello che mi ha detto:

 

My story is a story of many great loves. When I was young, I lived in Sicily, and I loved my town of Ragusa very much. Ragusa is on top of a big mountain but is also near the sea. Every day I could see the sunrise and the sunset over the south of Sicily, and it was very beautiful! I loved Sicily very much!

La mia storia è una storia di________________________________________________________________.

Quando ero                                  , ho vissuto                                                   e mi piaceva molto il mio paese che si chiama      ______________________________________________________________________ È_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________.

 

 

 

Ogni giorno potevo vedere ____________________________________________________ed era molto bello! Mi piaceva molto___________________________________________________________________________________!

 

I had five brothers and sisters—two brothers and three sisters. I was the oldest in the family, and when I was 12 years old, I had to leave school. I had to help my mother take care of my sisters and my brothers. Before I went to bed, every night I said to my mother, “Do you love me?” And my mother replied, “I love you very much!”

Avevo __________________________fratelli—_____________________fratelli e ______________________sorelle. Ero ______________________________________________________nella famiglia e quando avevo dodici anni _____________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Ho dovuto aiutare ______________________________________________________________________________. Prima di andare a letto, ogni notte dicevo a mia mamma, “Mi vuoli bene?” E mia madre diceva, “Ti voglio molto bene!”

 

And at Ragusa, there was also a boy named Peter who was 2 years older than me. Peter grew up on the same street as my family. When he became older, Peter was tall and handsome, a good person, and was very nice to me. I loved him. I became his girlfriend, but in secret.

Ed a Ragusa c’era anche un ragazzo(a) che si chiamava ______________________________che aveva __________________anni più di me.  ___________________________è cresciuto nella stessa strada della mia famiglia.

Da grande, _________________è diventato(a)_______________________________________________________, ed era molto simpatico con me. L’amavo(a). Sono diventata(o) la sua ragazza(o), ma in segreto.

 

Peter’s father, Paul, was also a good person and decided to make a better life for his family and go to America. In 1916, when Peter was 16 years old, Paul brought the family to America. There was a lot of work for Paul, who was a bricklayer and helped to build many buildings that are still well known in New York today. Peter’s father made a lot of money, and the family was very well off.

Il padre di _______________, Paolo, era anche una persona per bene e ha deciso di migliorare la vita della sua famiglia e di andare in America. Nel _____________________________________________, quando ____________________________aveva __________________anni, Paolo ha portato la famiglia in America. C’era molto lavoro per Paolo, chi era _________________________________e ha aiutato a ____________________________________________________________________________________________________. Il padre di ___________________________ha fatto tanti soldi e la famiglia stava molto bene.

 

Peter also worked every day and learned his father’s trade. But Peter was not happy. He wrote me in many letters that New York was ugly. He missed his beautiful Sicily. He missed me! In Sicily, I missed Peter!

Anche _______________________lavorava ogni giorno e imparava il mestiere da suo padre. Ma, _________________________non era contento. Lui(Lei) mi ha scritto in tante lettere che _________________________era brutta. A lui(lei) mancava la sua bella Sicilia.

Anche, io gli(le) mancavoMentre in ________________________, mi mancava ____________________!

 

This continued for many years.

Continuava cosi per tanti anni.

 

Finally, Peter wrote a letter to my father and asked him to take me to America to get married (marry me).

Finalmente, _____________________ha scritto una lettera a __________________e
l’ha chiesto di portarmi in America per sposarmi.

 

At first, my father had said, “Absolutely not!”

Al inizio, ____________________________________________________________________________________________.

 

But I wanted to go to America and marry Peter. I loved Peter very much. Every day, I cried. I did not eat anything. My mother said to my father, “How sad Maria is! You must take her to America!”

Ma volevo andare in America e sposarmi con _______________________L’amavo tanto

Ogni giorno, ___________________________________________________________________________________.
Mia madre ha detto a mio padre, “Come triste è _____________________!

Devi portarla(lo) in America!”

 

And finally, he did it!

E finalmente, lui l’ho fatto!

 

Peter and I were married, and we had three children—two boys and one girl. We moved to a small town north of New York City, where there are mountains and it is very pretty.

_______________________ed io ci siamo sposati e abbiamo avuto _______________________figli____________________figli maschi e _______________figla femmina. Abbiamo traslocati a _______________________________________________, dove ci sono ____________________________________
ed è molto bello.

 

Today, I feel very fortunate and happy because I have my three great loves: my new country, my husband, and my family!

Oggi, mi sento molto fortunata e contena perché ho i miei tre grandi amori: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________.

-Kathryn Occhipinti

Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.

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Best Kathy Twitter Pic edited for blog

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the
Conversational Italian for Travelers
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“Everything you need to know to enjoy your visit to Italy!”

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Speak Italian – A Story About… Love!