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.

ioI
tuyou (singular)
lui / leihe / she
noiwe
voiyou (plural)
lorothey

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.

ilthe (masc.)
l'the *
lathe (fem.)
lothe **

INDEFINITE ARTICLES
The Italian indefinite article corresponds to the English “a/an” and is used with singular nouns.

una (masc.)
un'a *
unaa (fem.)
unoa **

* 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)
iosonoI am
tuseiyou (sing.) are
lui/leièhe/she/it is
noisiamowe are
voisieteyou (pl.) are
lorosonothey are
mangiare (to eat)
iomangioI eat
tumangiyou (sing.) eat
lui/leimangiahe/she/it eats
noimangiamowe eat
voimangiateyou (pl.) eat
loromangianothey eat
bere (to drink)
iobevoI drink
tubeviyou (sing.) drink
lui/leibevehe/she/it drinks
noibeviamowe drink
voibeveteyou (pl.) drink
lorobevonothey drink


VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
il ragazzoboy
l'uomoman
la ragazzagirl
la donnawoman
la melaapple
l'acquawater
lo zuccherosugar
il panebread
essere to be
mangiare to eat
bere to drink

 

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