Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Speak Italian: Everything you need to know to introduce yourself… in Italian!

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

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

This series will focus on the situations that come have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian instructors and friends. The “Speak Italian” blog series willfocus 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  the grammar of complex sentences, prepositions, topic-related grammar, and present and past tense verbs!

Speak Italian: All About… Me!

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 first topic in this series, “Speak Italian: All About…Me!”
—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 instructor Simona Giuggioli.

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Speak Italian: All About… Me!

Here is a short description of my origins, family, and work. Note some names/places have been changed to protect privacy. The essay is meant to be an example piece for others, rather than a complete biography.

While reading my history, think about yourself and what you would like other people to know about you. 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: All About… Me!

Mi chiamo Caterina Occhipinti.

Io sono italo-americana.

Sono (una) madre e (una) scrittrice.

1. Dove sono nata e ho vissuto.*
   Where was born and have lived:

La mia famiglia viene dall’Italia.  Sono venuti in America nel 1916.My family is from (lit. comes from) Italy.  They came to America in 1916.

Vengo dalgli Stati Uniti. Abito in America.  Sono di Brooklyn.I am from the United States.  I live in America.  I am from Brooklyn.

Sono nata a Brooklyn, a Long Island, vicino a New York City. Ora, abito a Chicago.I was born in Brooklyn, on Long Island, near to New York City.  Now, I live in Chicago.

Ho anche vissuto* a Boston, in California, e in Florida.I have also lived in Boston, in California, and in Florida.

*In the past, “ho vissuto”was commonly used in Italy and can still be heard today to describe where one has lived.  It is now felt by some Italian linguists that the helping verb  essere should be used to express this idea – in other words, that  “sono vissuto(a)”is more correct.  However, please  keep in mind that language is a “living thing” and often the line between right and wrong depends mostly on what people actually say every day.  Even among linguists which form to use is controversial!

2. La mia educazione:
   My education:

Mi sono trasferita da New York a Boston per l’università.I moved from New York to Boston for college.

Ero una studentessa all’Università di Boston.I was a student at Boston University.

Ho frequentato l’Università di Boston per un programma speciale per gli studenti di medicina.I went to Boston University for a special program for medical students.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in “medical science” ed inglese dall’Università di Boston.I received a degree in “medical science” and in English from Boston University.

Ho frequentato la scuola di medicina all’Univeristà di Boston per due anni ed anche a Mount Sinai a New York.I went to medical school at Boston University for two years and also at Mount Sinai in New York.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in medicina dal Mount Sinai a New York nel 1987.I received a degree in medicine from Mount Sinai in New York in 1987.

3. I miei figli:
   My children:

Sono la madre di due figli, Maria e Giovanni.I am the mother of two children, Mary and John.

Maria ha diciannove anni e Giovanni ha quattordici anni.Mary is 19 years old and John is 14 years old.

Maria studia affari all’università di Urbana in Illinois e Giovanni studia alla scuola superiore a Peoria in Illinois.Mary studies business at the University of Urbana in Illinois and John studies at middle school in Peoria in Illinois.

4. Il mio lavoro—instruttrice e scrittrice:
   My work – instructor and writer

Sono un’istruttrice d’italiano.I am an Italian language instructor.

Ero l’insegnante d’italiano per l’Italian-American Society of Peoria (la Società Italo-Americana di Peoria). Ed ora insegno anche l’italiano nella zona di Chicago.I was the Italian teacher for the Italian-American Society of Peoria.  And now I also teach Italian in the Chicago area.

Insegno l’italiano agli americani che vogliono viaggiare in Italia. Offro lezioni di gruppo e lezioni private.I teach the Italian language to Americans that want to travel to Italy.  I offer group lessons and private lessons.

Ho scritto un libro che si chiama Conversational Italian for Travelers. Questo libro è un libro di testo e ha quattrocentosessantasei pagine!
I have written a book called  Conversational Italian for Travelers.  This book is a textbook and has 466 pages!

Ho anche scritto un libro di esercizi, intitolato  Audio Dialogue Practice Book. Gli esercizi sono per gli studenti principanti (Vol. 1) ed anche per gli studenti intermedi (Vol 2).
I have also written a book of exercises entitled   Audio Dialogue Practice Book. The exercises are for beginning students (Vol. 1) and also for intermediate students (Volume 2).

Gli studenti principanti dovrebbero usare Vol. 1 e gli studenti intermedi dovrebbero usare Vol. 2 dell’ Audio Dialogue Practice Book.
The beginning students should use Vol. 1 and the intermediate students should use Vol.2 of the ’Audio Dialogue Practice Books.

Dal mio libro di testo, ho scritto tre brevi libri, si chiamano Just the Grammar , Just the Verbs , e Just the Important Phrases.
From my textbook, I have written three short books called  Just the Grammar , Just the Verbs , e Just the Important Phrases.

5. Il mio lavoro—medico:
   My work – physician:

Sono (un) medico. Sono (una) radiologa.I am a physician.  I am a radiologist.

Mi occupo di medicina.  Mi occupo di radiologia.My work is medicine.  My work is radiology.

Faccio medicina.  Faccio radiologia.I practice medicine.  I practice radiology.

Inoltre io leggo/interpreto gli esami di MRI (risonanza magnetica) per una società che si trova in California. La società in California mi manda gli esami di MRI da interpretare via computer.Furthermore, I read/interpret MRI exams for a company from California.  The company in California sends me the MRI exams for interpretation on my computer.

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Speak Italian: Grammar You Will Need to Know…

Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Make Complex Sentences with “and” and “at” in Italian

(1) The English word “and”is the letter “e”in Italian.

When speaking in Italian, and linking one phrase to another using e, if the first word of the second phrase begins with the letter eas well, add the letter dto the Italian “and”to make “ed.”

(2) This rule is also used for the Italian word “a,”which means “to.”

If the word that follows the Italian aalso begins with the letter a, add the letter dto the Italian word for “to”make “ad.”

(3) It is optional to use this rule if the Italian words eor acome before Italian words that begin with other vowels (i.e., vowels that are not identical to the Italian words for “and”or “to”).

That said, the letter dis commonly added to  eor abefore words that begin with any vowel in the next phrase.

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Grammar Rules for Anche, Sempre, and Inoltre

1. Use of anche (also)and sempre (always):

(1) Present tense: ancheand sempre follow the verb.

(2) Past tense imperfetto: ancheand sempre follow the imperfettoverb.

(3) Past tense passato prossimo: ancheand sempre can follow the compound verb of the passato prossimo.

Example: Ho detto anche che la ragazza era bella.

(4) Option with the passato prossimoor any other compound verb tense:

ancheand sempre can go between avere/essereand the past participle.

Example: Ho anche detto che la ragazza era bella.

(5) Ancheand semprebelong before a person’s name if you are starting a sentence with their name or a pronoun (she = lei, he = lui).

Example: Anche Franco viene al cinema stasera.

2. Use of inoltre(also, furthermore, moreover):

When starting a sentence, begin with inoltrefor emphasis.

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Grammar Rules for the Prepositions a (to) and in (in) Regarding  Cities, Regions/States, Islands, and Countries

When Americans travel, we travel to a place: to Italy, to Rome, to the northeast. Italians travel directly in (in)a country, region, or large island, but to (a)a city, town, or small island. (In Italian, the word for inis the same as in English… in!) For instance, one may live in America, but a Chicago. By convention, the definite article (the) (il, la, gli,or  l’)is used to refer to countries, except when talking about traveling directly into them!

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to Describe where You Are from

There are two ways to ask/tell where someone is from in Italian:

di + dove + essere

from + where + to be

Da + dove + venire

from + where + to come

In Italian, when the verb to be (essere)is used, the idea of fromis expressed with di, as in, “From where are you?” In proper English, of course, we would say, “Where are you from?” The answer in Italian will also use di and will usually be followed by the town of one’s birth. Notice that the subject pronoun io (I)is usually left out of the answer, as it is understood from the ending of the verb.

Di dov’è Lei?	Where are you (pol.) from?
Di dove sei?	Where are you (fam.) from?
Sono di Chicago.	(I) am from Chicago.

The action verb venireis usually used in conversation when someone is visiting or has moved to a new place. When replying to a question that uses this phrase, use the ioform of venire, which is vengoand dafor from, followed by a city, town, region/state, or country. Also, remember that when speaking of a region, state, or country, the definite article (il, lo, la, l’, gli)must be used. The preposition dais then combined with the definite article to make dal, dallo, dall’, dalla, or dagli, which means  “from the.” For now, don’t worry about these rules. Just look up and remember the correct way to say where you are living in case you are asked!

Da dove viene?/Da dove vieni?	Where do you come from? (pol.)/(fam.)
Vengo dall’America.	(I) come from America./I am from America.
Vengo dagli Stati Uniti.	(I) come from the United States.
Vengo dall’Illinois.	(I) come from Illinois.
Vengo dalla California.	(I) come from California.
Vengo dal New Jersey.	(I) come from New Jersey.
Vengo da Chicago.	(I) come from Chicago.

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Your Nationality

To explain where we are from, we must use adjectives that identify our country of origin. For men, adjectives of nationality end in –oand change to an –iin the plural, and for women, these same adjectives end in –aand change to –ein the plural. So, a man from Italy is italiano, but a woman is italiana.

Adjectives of nationality that have only one form for both men and women usually end in –ese.

What to do if the adjective describing nationality ends in an –e? Well, use the same –eending for both men and women, and for the plural, change the letter –eto an –i.

Adjectives of nationality always follow the noun and are not capitalized. Or you can just state your nationality directly after the verb sono to make the sentence “I am…”

Da dove viene?/Da dove vieni?	Where do you come from? (pol.)/(fam.)
Vengo dall’America.	(I) come from America./I am from America.
Vengo dagli Stati Uniti.	(I) come from the United States.
Sono americano(a).	(I) am American.

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

How to State Your Age in Italian

Perhaps the most commonly asked question of someone is how old they are. In English, we say, “How old are you?”using the verb to be, as a statement of fact. But Italians look at this question as the number of years accumulated during a lifetime (and maybe the wisdom accumulated during these years?), so they use the verb to have, avere. The question in Italian is, “Quanti anni hai?”or literally, “How many years do you have?” This is not really an idiomatic expression, but just another way of looking at things.

After this question is asked of you, the response will also use the verb avere, and you will respond:

There are a couple of rules that are necessary to make conversation flow more easily in Italian:

1. The tens (20, 30, 40, etc.) drop their last vowel before the word anni . In this case, the expression would be:

Io ho vent’anni.	I have 20 years.
Io ho trent’anni.	I have 30 years.
Io ho quarant’anni.	I have 40 years.

2. All numbers that end in uno (21, 31, 41, etc.) drop the final –o before a noun that starts with a vowel . So, if you are 21, 31, or 41 years old, your reply would be as follows:

Io ho ventun’anni.	I have 21 years.
Io ho trentun’anni.	I have 31 years.
Io ho quarantun’anni.	I have 41 years.

No need to remember all these rules—just look up and commit to memory your age and the ages of your immediate family members for now!

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Present Tense Verbs

Endings for Regular –are, –ere, –ire, and –ire (isco)* Verbs

Drop the – are, -ere,and -ireendings from the Italian infinitive verb and add the endings below for the present tense.  Reflexive verbs drop their – arsi, ersi,and -irsiendings and then are conjugated in the same way. Always add the corresponding reflexive pronoun before each conjugated form of a reflexive verb.

Infinitive Present	Reflexive Pronouns	–are	–ere	–ire	ire (isco) *capire *finire *preferire
io	mi	o	o	o	isc o
tu	ti	i	i	i	isc i
Lei/lei/lui	si	a	e	e	isc e
noi	ci	iamo	iamo	iamo	iamo
voi	vi	ate	ete	ite	ite
loro	si	ano	ono	ono	isc ono

*Common –ire (isco)verbs are listed—there are many others!

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Present Tense Verbs

Conjugated Forms of Auxiliary Verbs Essere and Avere

Auxiliary Verbs	Essere (to be)		Avere (to have)
io	sono	I am	ho	I have
tu	sei	you (fam.) are	hai	you (fam.) have
Lei/lei/lui	è	you (pol.) are he is/she is	ha	you (pol.) have he has/she has
noi	siamo	we are	abbiamo	we have
voi	siete	you all are	avete	you all have
loro	sono	they are	hanno	they have

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Past Tense: Passato Prossimo

Auxiliary Verbs	Essere (to be)	Essere Passato Prossimo	Avere (to have)	Avere Passato Prossimo
io	sono	+ stato(a)	ho	+ avuto
tu	sei	+ stato(a)	hai	+ avuto
Lei/lei/lui	è	+ stato(a)	ha	+ avuto
noi	siamo	+ stati(e)	abbiamo	+ avuto
voi	siete	+ stati(e)	avete	+ avuto
loro	sono	+ stati(e)	hanno	+ avuto

Past Tense Passato Prossimo	Avere (to have)	–are past participle	–ere past participle	–ire past participle
io	ho	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
tu	hai	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
Lei/lei/lui	ha	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
noi	abbiamo	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
voi	avete	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito
loro	hanno	+ ato	+ uto	+ ito

Past Tense Passato Prossimo	Essere (to be)	–are past participle	–ere past participle	–ire past participle
io	sono	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)
tu	sei	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)
Lei/lei/lui	è	+ ato(a)	+ uto(a)	+ ito(a)
noi	siamo	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)
voi	siete	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)
loro	sono	+ ati(e)	+ uti(e)	+ iti(e)

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Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…

Past Tense: Imperfetto

Drop the – re ending from the Italian infinitive verb and add the endings below for the imperfettopast tense.  Reflexive verbs drop their – rsi,ending and then are conjugated in the same way. Remember to always add the corresponding reflexive pronoun before each conjugated form of a reflexive verb.

Verb Endings	Past Tense Imperfetto
io	vo
tu	vi
Lei/lei/lui	va
noi	vamo
voi	vate
loro	vano

The auxiliary verb avereis regular but essereis irregular in the imperfettopast tense.

Auxiliary Verb Avere	Past Tense Imperfetto (used to have)
io	avevo
tu	avevi
Lei/lei/lui	aveva
noi	avevamo
voi	avevate
loro	avevano

Auxiliary Verb Essere	Past Tense Imperfetto (used to be)
io	ero
tu	eri
Lei/lei/lui	era
noi	eravamo
voi	eravate
loro	erano

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Speak Italian: All About… YOU!

Everyone has a story to tell about themselves. What would you like others to know about you and your family? Fill in the blanks in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, using examples from your own life.

   Mi chiamo (name) ________________________________.

Io sono (nationality) _______________________________.

Sono (parent/occupation) __________________________.

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1. Dove sono nato(a) e ho vissuto:

La mia famiglia viene da(country of origin with definite article  l, ll’,or lla)

_____________________________________________________.

(Loro) Sono venuti in America nel(year family came to America) _________.

(Io)Sono di (town/city of birth) _____________________________________________________.

Vengo da (country of birth with definite article  l, ll’, gli or lla) _____________________________________________________.

Abito in (country where you live ) _____________________________________.

Sono nato(a) a (town/city of birth) ________________________________________________________________.

vicino a (nearest large city) _________________________________________.

Ora, vivo a (city currently living in )____________________________________.

Ho anche vissuto/Sono anche vissuto(a)** a (other town/city you have lived in )_____________________________________________. in (other state/region you have lived in) _____________________________________________.

** Choose the past tense form you feel most comfortable with, as which form to use is controversial, as mentioned in the first section of this blog.

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2. Il mio/La mia educazione:

Ho ricevuto un diploma dalla scuola superiore (name of high school) ________________________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto la mia certificazione di (name of trade) _______________________________________________.

Mi sono trasferito(a) da (town/city) a (town/city)
per (college/university/work, marriage, etc.)  ____________________________________________________________.

Ero uno studente/una studentessa all’Università di (town/city)  _______________________________________________________.

Ho frequentato l’Università di (town/city)

per (major) _______________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in (university degree)

dall’Università di (name of university/town/city) nel (year) _____________________________.

Ho frequentato la scuola di (higher education/professional school)_
al (university name)
per (number of years attended) anni
ed anche a (any other school attended) _______________________________________________________________.

Ho ricevuto una laurea in (profession)
dal (professional school)
nel (year) _______________________________.

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3. I miei figli:

Sono la madre/il padre di (number of children)_ figli: (names of children) :________________________________________________________

(Name of child) ha (age of child) _____ anni/mesi
(un anno/ un mese)
e (names and ages of additional children) 

_________________________________________________________________.

(Name of child in college)  studia (college major) _______________________________________.

all’università di (name of college) in (U.S. state/region) ______________________.

e (name of child in high school)
studia alla scuola superiore

a (city) in (U.S. state/region) ________________________________________________.

(Name of child in grammar school) studia alla scuola elementare.

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4. Il mio lavoro

Sono (job description/profession)* _____________________________________.

*Remember that the indefinite article (un, uno, una, un’) is optional when describing a profession/what it is that you do!

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5. Tell a little bit about what you have done and what you do in Italian!____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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   Available on  amazon.com  and  Learn Travel Italian.com

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! Facebookgroup  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: All About… Me!