Basics 1

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)

TIP: It should be noted that there are a few infinitive verbs out there that end in –urre (i.e. produrre, ridurre, tradurre). Use the ‘Verb Conjugator’ in the footer of the page to see how they are conjugated.

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

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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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