Your Guide to Italian Grammar

Can you learn Italian by ear, using Duolingo, watching TV or listening to music... without ever opening a grammar handbook? Sorry, we don't think so. We believe that adults learners need to know the how's and why's. Italian is a heavily inflected language: nouns, articles and adjectives have a grammatical gender, verbs are conjugated in many moods and tenses, and parts of speech must agree with each other. It would take a long time to figure out all the rules by trial and error. A clear explanation and a few exercises will allow you to understand each concept more quickly and will make life much easier for you!

Topics:

1. Basic Topics: Nouns, Articles, Adjectives, Pronouns & Prepositions
2. Verb Conjugation: Verb Moods & Tenses
3. Master the Most Common Irregular Verbs
4. Let's Practise! Esercizi
5. Intermediate & Advanced Topics

How to study

• Set your learning goals and a learning schedule. If you have a busy life, just try and fit 10 or 15 minutes of Italian in your daily routine.
• Study each lesson thoroughly. Don’t rush into the next lesson, watch the videos multiple times, and review new grammar topics before moving on. Feel free to go back to previous lessons: watch, learn, consolidate.
• Put into practice! Passive learning is not enough. Most of our lessons include exercises to help you understand and remember what you just learned.
• Delve deeper. You can download the transcript of each video to review and repeat from just $1 a month. Upper-tier patrons get a special PDF with additional, more difficult exercises every week. Older videos have a free transcript.

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Basic Topics

Nouns, articles, adjectives, pronouns, and prepositions: master the parts of speech in Italian. We begin with the gender of nouns - in Italian all nouns are either masculine or feminine! - and we expand on the concept of agreement between nouns, articles and adjectives. We also tackle prepositions and pronouns, tricky topics that require special attention. Take your time and don't skip the exercises! Practice makes progress.

The Building Blocks of Italian - How to form a sentence	A1	Free Transcript	Special PDF
The Gender of Nouns - Masculine or feminine?	A1	Free Transcript	Special PDF
Articolo sì o articolo no? - When to use definite articles in Italian	A1	Transcript	Special PDF
Esercizi con gli articoli - Let's practise Italian definite articles	A1	Transcript	Special PDF
Italian Prepositions 1 - Le preposizioni semplici	A1	Free Transcript	Special PDF
Italian Prepositions 2 - Le preposizioni articolate	A1	Free Transcript	Special PDF
Esercizi con le preposizioni - Let's practise Italian prepositions	A1	Transcript	Special PDF
Italian Adjectives - Noun-adjective agreement	A1	Free Transcript	Special PDF
Interrogative Sentences - How to ask questions in Italian	A1	Free Transcript
I pronomi oggetto diretto 1 - Unstressed Direct Object Pronouns	A2	Transcript	Special PDF
I pronomi oggetto diretto 2 - Stressed Direct Object Pronouns	A2	Transcript	Special PDF
Esercizi con i pronomi - Let's Practise Italian Pronouns and the Particles CI & NE	A1-B1	Transcript	Special PDF
I pronomi oggetto indiretto - Indirect Object Pronouns	A2	Transcript	Special PDF

Verb Conjugation - Verb Moods & Tenses

Italian verbs convey a lot of information on when the action happens and on the subject that performs it; sometimes a different vowel at the end is enough to change mood, tense and person! If your first language has little or no inflection, like English or Chinese, you will have to understand the concept of verb conjugation first; then try to memorise conjugations by repeating whole sentences. Most of the following lessons include plenty of exercises to help you make sense of the various moods and tenses.

Master the Most Common Irregular Verbs

Like in English, many of the most common Italian verbs are irregular. Once you know the basics of verb conjugation, watch this series on Italian verbs, where we provide tips to remember irregular conjugations and we explain uses, synonyms and idiomatic expressions with plenty of examples.

When to use ANDARE, and when to use VENIRE? What is the difference between SAPERE and CONOSCERE? Why is coscienza spelled with an "i" and conoscenza without? Tra il DIRE e il FARE c'è di mezzo il mare, ed è tutto un ANDIRIVIENI! Let's learn all of this together.

Let's Practise! Esercizi!

The following videos include a mix of exercises on various topics, and will help you avoid the most common mistakes. You will also find exercises in most of our grammar lessons, and there are practice videos linked to some of the most important topics listed above. Practice is key! Forza!

More Intermediate Grammar Topics

Ready to take your Italian to the next level? Qui troverai pane per i tuoi denti. The particles CI and NE are considered a thorny topic, but they are widely used in everyday Italian and should be learned sooner rather than later. Then, if you are already familiar with the subjunctive and the conditional moods, you can tackle conditional sentences - il periodo ipotetico.

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