NOTES
(by DuoItalian)
PERSONAL SUBJECT PRONOUNS
In Italian there are (4) singular subject pronouns and (3) plural. Personal subject pronouns are usually dropped as the conjugation is usually enough to determine the grammatical person. They are used when some emphasis is needed or if the subject remains unclear.
| io | I |
| tu | you (singular) |
| lui / lei | he / she |
| noi | we |
| voi | you (plural) |
| loro | they |
DEFINITE ARTICLES
In English, the definite article has only one form, “the”. In Italian, it has different forms according to the gender, number, and first letter of the noun or adjective it precedes.
| il | the (masc.) |
| l' | the * |
| la | the (fem.) |
| lo | the ** |
INDEFINITE ARTICLES
The Italian indefinite article corresponds to the English “a/an” and is used with singular nouns.
| un | a (masc.) |
| un' | a * |
| una | a (fem.) |
| uno | a ** |
* used for all words beginning with a vowel.
** used for masculine words beginning with s + consonant, z, and (less often seen) gn, pn, ps, y.
INFINITIVE VERBS
The Italian infinitive (l’infinito) verb is simply a verb in its most basic form, without any changes to it. The infinitives of all regular verbs in Italian end in -are, -ere, or -ire and consist of one word (NOT two as in English):
- mangiare (to eat)
- vivere (to live)
- dormire (to sleep)
VERB CONJUGATIONS
Here are the present tense conjugation tables for the (3) infinitive verbs learned in this initial lesson, as they relate to the aforementioned personal subject pronouns.
| essere (to be) | ||
| io | sono | I am |
| tu | sei | you (sing.) are |
| lui/lei | è | he/she/it is |
| noi | siamo | we are |
| voi | siete | you (pl.) are |
| loro | sono | they are |
| mangiare (to eat) | ||
| io | mangio | I eat |
| tu | mangi | you (sing.) eat |
| lui/lei | mangia | he/she/it eats |
| noi | mangiamo | we eat |
| voi | mangiate | you (pl.) eat |
| loro | mangiano | they eat |
| bere (to drink) | ||
| io | bevo | I drink |
| tu | bevi | you (sing.) drink |
| lui/lei | beve | he/she/it drinks |
| noi | beviamo | we drink |
| voi | bevete | you (pl.) drink |
| loro | bevono | they drink |
VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
| il ragazzo | boy |
| l'uomo | man |
| la ragazza | girl |
| la donna | woman |
| la mela | apple |
| l'acqua | water |
| lo zucchero | sugar |
| il pane | bread |
| essere | to be |
| mangiare | to eat |
| bere | to drink |
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Grazie mille Donald! I am very happy that you are finding the site useful!
Here is a great site to check your translations: https://www.reverso.net/text-translation
Ciao Kevin,
Thanks again for the great website. It was my understanding that the indefinite article un’ is only used with feminine words that begin with a vowel, for example, un’arancia (an orange)? I.e., it is not used with masculine words that begin with a vowel, which would use un or uno, for example un libro (a book) or uno specchio (a mirror).