Speak Italian like a nativewhen you use theItalian verb “Prendere”!
In this blog,“Use ‘Prendere’ to Speak Italian Like a Native, “we will focus on how and when to use the Italian verbprendere during daily conversation. This is the second topic in a new series, and I will try to post an in-depth analysis of a different Italian verb every few months.
The heart of any language is its verbs. Too often, language teachers focus on verb conjugation drills and provide a few example sentences, assuming that the student then has the tools he or she needs to communicate. Although many Italian verbs have similar meanings to those in English, and it is sometimes easy to transition between English and Italian during conversation, other times the use of an Italian verb will vary from its English counterpart. I believe that to speak fluently in any language it is important to have an in-depth understanding ofhow each verb is usedin real life situations.
In which situation will one verb commonly be chosen over another? How will the point one is making change depending on the verb chosen? How will the meaning of the chosen verb change with use of the reflexive counterpart of the verb? This information must be studied and understood so it can be easily accessible when it comes time to have a conversation. Since this information is not commonly found in text books, I have decided to make it the focus of a blog series.
“Prendere,”the Italian verb that means“to take”and is one of those verbs that is important to “take seriously” if one wants to use it correctly.
Enjoy the second topic in this series:Use “Prendere” to Speak Italian Like a Native.
—Kathryn Occhipinti
Special thanks to Italian instructor Maria Vanessa Colapinto.
Parts of this blog have been reposted fromItalian Phrases We Use EVERY Day! – “The Many Uses of the Italian Verb “Prendere”fromConversational Italian!a blog by the same author.
Speak Italian Like a Native:
Italian VerbPrendere
Prendere most commonly means“to take,”butcan also be translated as“to bring,”“to pick up,” “to get,”or“to buy/acquire.”
The past participlepresocan also be used to describe liking someone or something a lot. This use stretches the meaning ofprenderea bit, but there is a similar expression in English — being“taken with”someone — that also expresses the same idea.
In its reflexive form,prendersiis used to convey how a person can “catch/come down with”an illness.
When you are able to visit Italy, useprenderewhen ordering food in a restaurant to really sound like a native!
Prendereis also commonly used by Italians in reference to earning money, taking medicine, or being “overtaken” by an emotional or physical condition.
Finally, the Italian expressions for “to tease” and “to sunbathe” useprendere.As you can see, this verb is used in many ways in Italian!
The present tense, familiar imperative (command) tense, and future tenses ofprenderehave a regular conjugation, and are used frequently in daily conversation.
Prendereis also commonly used in the past tense in order to describe what we“took,” “brought,” “picked up,” “got,”or“caught.”
To describe a one-time event that occurred in the past withprendere,we will most often use the helping verbavere(to have)with the irregular past participlepreso.For conversation, we will focus on theioandtuforms.We can begin a statement with theioform, such as,“Ho preso…”for“I took…”We can ask questions with thetuform by simply stating,“Hai preso…?”
In the expressions that describe the subject “liking,” or “being taken with” a person or a thing,essere(to be)is used as verb that links the subject with the past participlepreso.
The passato prossimofor the reflexive verbprendersineeds the helping verbessere,as do all reflexive Italian verbs. Remember to leave out the subject pronouniowhen you want to say,“Mi sono preso un raffredore ieri.”(I caught a cold yesterday.)And, of course, when usingessereas the helping verb withprendere,remember our usual rule for past participles: if you are female, or your subject is a group of people, make sure to change the past participlepresotopresa, presi,orprese!
Examples follow below for the many ways to use the Italian verbprendere:
1. Useprendereto describe the act of “taking,” “bringing” or “picking up” something
In order to direct someone to take something and put it in a different place, useprendere.This includes when the object is on the ground or resting on another object, and you must literally “pick it up” from that place.
When directing someone to take something in Italian, it is important to use the command form ofprendere,which has the same“i”ending as thetuform in the present tense. (To use the familiar command form, just use the present tense subjunctive mood ending. The familiar command form will not be used in our examples, but more information can be found atItalian Subjunctive (Part 7): Italian Subjunctive Commands).
Remember that for events in the recent future, Italians use the present tense. To emphasize that something will happen for sure in the recent future or well into the future, use the future tense.
Notice that in the past tense we must useavereas the helping verb with the irregular past participlepresoto describe what we“took,” “brought,”or“picked up.”
“Prendi quella roba che nessuno vuole e mettilalì!”
“Take that stuff that no one wants and put it there!”
“Prendi il vino a tavola per cena!” (Porta il vino a tavola.)
“Take/Bring the wine to the table for dinner!”
“Quando faccio la spesa domani, prendo la tua macchina. Non voglio camminare con troppi bagagli pesanti.
“When I go grocery shopping tomorrow, I (will take) your car. I don’t want to walk with so many heavy bags.
Prenderò tante cose da portare alla famiglia quando viaggerò in America tra cinque anni.
I will take many things to bring to the family when I travel to America in 5 years.
“Prendi il piatto che tu hai lasciato cadere per terra!
“Pick up the plate that you let drop on the floor!”
“Prendo tutta la spazzatura nella tua stanza e la butto via domani.”
” I will pick up all the garbage in your room and throw it out tomorrow.”
“Hai preso il vino da portare alla nonna per la cena?”
“Did you take the wine to bring to grandma for dinner ieri?”
“Si, ho preso una buona bottiglia di vino specialmente per la nonna ieri sera.”
“Yes, I took/brought a nice bottle of wine especially for grandma last night.”
2. Useprendereto describe “picking up” someone
Useprenderewith the verbpassarewhen you want to“pass by”and“pick someone up.”As we’ve already seen in our blog aboutpassare,these two verbs arecombined to make the important every day expression“passare a prendere,”which means “to pick (someone) up.”The reference now-a-days is usually to driving in a car, but the same expression could be used when taking someone on a walk.
In the examples given below, the pronounstiandmiare given in red to demonstrate that they are attached to the end ofprendere.
“Passerò/Passo a prendertialle otto.”
“I will (pass by and) pick you up at 8 AM.”
Grazie! Passa a prendermialle otto! Sto aspettando!
Thanks! Pick me up at eight. I (will be) waiting!
Side note: if you want to ask someone to “pick you up” from a particular place,venireis used withprendere:
“Può venire alla stazione a prendermi?”
“Can you (polite) come to the station and get me?”
3. Useprenderewhen describing what food you would like to order/eat
“Prendo un piatto di spaghetti per il primo piatto.”
“I will take (have) a plate of spaghetti for the first course.“
“Stammatina prendo un buon caffè prima di andare al lavoro.”
“This morning I will take (have) a good (cup of) coffee before going to work.”
“Dai, prendi l’ultima fetta di pane!”
“Come on, take the last slice of bread!”
“Che cosa vuole prendere per dolce, signore?”
“What would you like to have (take) for dessert, sir?”
4. Useprendereto describe the act of taking medicine
“Devo prendere una pillola ogni mattina per l’ipertenzione .”“I have to take one pill every morning for hypertension.”
5. Useprendereto describe buying, acquiring or earning something
“Ho preso un chilo di mele ieri dal fruttivendolo in piazza.”
“I bought a kilogram of apples yesterday from the fruit vendor in the piazza.”
Lui ha preso la casa per pochi soldi la settimana scorsa.
He aqcuired (bought) the house for very little money last week.
“Ho preso cinquanta euro al lavoro iera sera.”
“I earned 50 euros at work last night.”
Lui non ha preso molti soldi l’anno scorsa a vendere le scarpe.
He did not earn much money last year selling shoes.
6. Use the past participlepresowith these expressions to describe liking something or someone a lot.
The phrase“Sono preso da…”is similar to the phrase“Sono innamorato di…”and conveys the ideas of“I really like/I’m in love with…”
Other Italian expressions that describe the different ways we can like someone are:“Sono cotto di…”” I have a crush on…”and“Sono colpito da…”“I am impressed with..”
Notice that some of these phrases take the conjunctionda, while others use the conjunctiondi.
To form the past tense for these phrases, we must add the past participle ofessere, which isstato,and change the ending ofstatoto(a,i,e)as necessary to reflect the gender and number of the subject.
“Sono preso(a) da questo libro.”
“I like this book a lot.” (I am really taken with this book.)
“Sono preso(a) da te.”
“I like you a lot!” (“I am really taken by you!”)
“Sono stato(a) preso da questo libro.”
“I liked this book a lot.” (I was really taken with this book.)
“Sono stato(a) preso da te.”
“I liked you a lot!” (“I was really taken by you!”)
“Io e Anna siamo presi molto l’uno dall’altra.”
“Ann and I (we) like each other very much.”
Anna e Michele non sono presi molto l’uno dall’altra.
Ann and Michael (they) don’t like each other very much.
Side note: if you want to describe how someone or something has so enthralled or dazzled you, in effect “blinding you” literally or figuratively(abbiagliarsi)so that you make a mistake, use the expressionprendere un abbaglio.
“Ha preso un abbaglio.”
“I made a mistake.”
7. Useprendersito describe getting sick, as in “catching a cold,” or “coming down with” an illness
Remember the Italian use of reflexive verbs to indicate “to get” in English. If you would like to review this topic, check out our blog How to Say “To Get” in Italian.
“Mi sono preso un brutto raffredore improvvisamente.”
“I caught a bad cold all of a sudden.”
“Mi sono preso l’influenza ieri.”
“I came down with the flu yesterday.”
8. Useprendereto describe “being overtaken” by an emotion or sickness, andprenderselawhen offended/angered
“Sono stato preso(a) da un grand tristezza quando ho incontrato il mio amore perduto.”
“I was overtaken by a great sadness when I met my lost love again.“
Me la sono presa con te ieri sera durante la riunone!
I was offended by you last night during the meeting!
9. Two more common phrases that useprendere
Prendere in giro=to make fun of, to tease
Mio fratello maggiore mi prende sempre in giro.My big brother is always teasing me.Non mi prendere in giro!(negative command)Don’t make fun of me!
Prendere il sole=to sunbathe
Oggi prendo il sole sulla spiaggia per tutta la mattina.Today I will sunbathe on the beach all morning.
Remember how to usethe Italian verbprenderein conversation and I guaranteeyou will use this verb every day!
And remember to study ourConversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs”book if you want more real life examples of all the important Italian verbs you will need to know!Conversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Verbs” book to learn Italian.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of theConversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
How to talk aboutmovies and TV in Italian:Important Italian phrases and vocabulary you need to know when talking about the shows you watch with Italian friends and colleagues!
This blog series,“How to Talk About… in Italian”will focus on the topics that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian family, friends and colleagues. We willfocus on the important Italian phrases and Italian vocabulary we all need to know to become more fluent when we speak about everyday events in Italian!
The topic for this month —movies and TV — comes up frequently during daily conversation, both when making small talk with acquaintances and also when planning activities with family, friends, and co-workers. In the“How to Talk About Movies and TV in Italian”blog for this month, we will focus on common Italian phrases needed to describe the type of show you have watched, if liked it, and why . As usual, the focus will be on common Italian expressions that can be used to describe your own interests.
Enjoy the third topic in this “How to Talk About…” series,“How to Talk About Movies and TV in Italian.”—Kathryn Occhipinti
In Italian, a few simple sentences will suffice to say if we liked what we saw — or not. You may recall that Italians use the irregular verbpiacereto convey the idea that they like something.For a refresher on how this verb works, please refer to the beginning Italian blogs in my Conversational Italian! blog,“Piacere — How Italians Say, ‘I like it!” and “Piacere: How Italians Say, ‘I liked it!’
The most important thing to remember is that the conjugation ofpiacerewill have toagree with the number of thingsthat are being liked.
So, when speaking in the present tense, if one thing is liked, simply use the third person singular conjugationpiace.
If many things are liked in the present, use the plural third person, which ispiacciono.
For the past tense, we can use thepassato prossimo third person singular forms“è piacuto”and“è piaciuta”for the one-time event when weliked something.
If many things are liked, the third person plural forms“sono piaciuti”for the masculine plural (and mixed group plural) and“sono piaciute”for the feminine plural are used.
Then put the indirect object pronoun“mi”before the verb to make the simple sentence: “To me, this is/was pleasing!” Or, as we would say in English,“I like/liked this!”
To ask a friend if they like or liked something, put“ti“before the verb, for “Is/was this pleasing to you?” Or, as we would say in English,“Do/Did you like this?”
If, for some reason, we do NOT like what we have watched, just start your sentence with the word“non.”
What we might say about our favorite TV show or movie that we like:
Mi piace questo film.
I like this movie.
Mi è piaciuto questo film.
I liked this movie.
Mi piace molto questo film.
I really like this movie.
Mi è piaciuto molto questo film.
I really liked this movie.
Ti piace questo film?
Do you like this movie?
Ti è piaciuto questo film?
Did you like this movie?
What we might say about our favorite TV show or movie that we did NOT like:
Non mi piace questo film.
I don’t like this movie.
Non mi è piaciuto questo film.
I didn’t like this movie.
Mi piace molto questo film.
I really don’t like this movie.
Mi è piaciuto molto questo film.
I really didn’t like this movie.
Ti piace questo film?
Don’t you like this movie?
Ti è piaciuto questo film?
Didn’t you like this movie?
Using common expressions to say we like a TV show or movie…
Of course, there are many common expressions in Italian that go beyond the simple: ” I like it” or “I didn’t like it.” Just like in English, we might say, “It was cool,” or “It was out of this world,” It seems like new expressions are invented almost every day for how we feel about things! So, it should come as no surprise that Italians also have invented colloquial expressions that express feelings that go deeper than simply liking. Here are a few you might want to try to surprise your Italian friends.
If you want to ask your friend if it is worth your time to watch a certain movie, you can use the phrases,” Vale la pena?”for“Is it worth it?”“Voleva la pena il film?”means,“Was the film worth it?”
In the table beloware some answers to this question that you might hear from a native Italian if they liked the film you are talking about:
Mi piace un sacco!
I like it a lot! (lit. a sack full)
Mi è piaciuto un sacco!
I liked it a lot!
È stato bello!
It was great!
È / È stato meraviglioso!
It is / was wonderful!
È / È stato stupendo!
It is / was amazing / cool!
È / È stato fantastico!
It is / was fantastic / cool!
È / È stato fico / figo!
It is / was cool!
È / È stato fichissimo / fighissimo!
It is / was the coolest!
È / È stato da paura!
It is / was cool!
È / È stato il meglio!
It is / was the best!
È il migliore film che io abbia mai visto.
It is the best film that I have ever seen.
How do I say, “TV show” and “movies” in Italian?
The programs we watch on a television set( il televisore)or on a screen(lo schermo)are referred to most commonly in both English and Italian as“TV.” The pronunciation, of course, is different in each language. In Italian, “TV” is pronounced as an Italian would pronounce the letters “t” and “v”, which sounds like “tee-vooh.” Notice from the table below that there is an Italian word for TV,“la televisione,”and therefore the abbreviation is feminine as well.
TV
La TV / La televisione
Cable TV
La TV via cavo
Satellite TV
La TV sattelitare
RAI-TV
Italian state television (Radio-Televisione Italiana)
Television set
Il televisore
TV or computer screen
Lo schermo
TV show
Un programma Un programma televisivo
TV series
Una serie TV Un telefilm
Episode
Una puntata
Situation Comedy
Una serie TV sitcom Una commedia
Comedy show
Un programma comico
To talk about a movie in Italian, we could refer to“la pellicola,”but this word is no longer in common use. Instead, Italians most often refer to a movie in general with the word“film.” Movies in general are either“i film,”with the borrowed English word preceded by the plural masculine definite article in Italian, or“il cinema,”a collective masculine noun.
The usual verbs for“to watch,”“guardare,”and“to see,”“vedere,”describe the act of watching a screen to see a TV show or movie.
Movie theater
Il cinema
Film studio
Lo studio cinematografico
Movie
Il film (La pellicola)
Movies
I film / Il cinema
to capture an image for a film
filmare / riprendere / girare
to be recorded
essere filmato
to watch a movie
guardare un film
to watch a movie
vedere un film
Using common expressions to say what we prefer…
The verbpreferiremeans“to prefer,”which is a regular -isc conjugated -ire verb.“I prefer,“is“Io preferisco…”To ask a question of someone else, say,“Tu preferisci…?”
If you want to say you prefer one movie genre over another, just use the adjectivepreferito.This also works for your favorite movie, TV show, color, etc. Just make sure to change the ending ofpreferito (a,i,e)to reflect what it is you are describing, whether masculine or feminine, singular or plural.
Here are examples from the dialogue below:
È il tipo di film che io preferisco.It’s the type of film that I prefer.
Non per me. Il mio film preferito è un buon giallo.Not for me. My favorite movie is a good mystery movie.
If you might want to say,“I liked (film) better than…”use the sentence construction:
“Mi piace…(film) più di + definite article…(film).
Mami piaceLa Vita è Bellapiù delCommissario Montalbano.I likeLa Vita è Bellamore thanDetective Montalbano.
Another way to make a comparison between films:“This film is much better than…”
“Questo film è molto meglio di + definite article…”
Questo film èmolto meglio delCommissario Montalbano, sono sicuro!This film is much better thanDetective Montalbano, I am sure.
Finally, to mention who has written or directed a movie, use the conjunction“di”to mean“by.”
Some common movie genres
Action
Film d’azione
Adventure story
Storia d’avventura
Costume drama (historical TV show with costumes)
Sceneggiato in costume
Costume drama (historical film with costumes)
Film in costume
Comedy
Film comico / commedia
Comedy drama
Commedia drammatica
Dark comedy
Commedia nera
High comedy
Commedia sofisticata / da intenditori
Low comedy (bawdy)
Commedia popolare
Slapstick comedy
Farsa / Pagliacciata*
Musical comedy
Commedia musicale
Romantic comedy
Commedia romantica
Documentary
Un documentario
Drama
Storia drammatica
Drama movie
Film drammatico / Dramma
Detective movie
Un poliziesco / Un giallo**
Film noir (thriller genre)
Film noir
Foreign Film
Film straniero
Horror
Film horror / Film dell’orrore
Mystery
Un giallo**
Science Fiction / Sci-fi
Film di fantascienza
Psychological thriller
Thriller psicologico
Thriller (suspense film)
Thriller / Giallo
Western
Film Western
*Reference to the opera “Pagliacci,” whose main character is a clown that performs slapstick humor with puppets.
**Mystery books and films are referred to by the color“giallo,”which is derived from the yellow cover all mystery books were given in the past.
Below is a simple dialogue between two friends, Maria and Anna, talking about their favorite movie and TV show. There are, of course, many variations. Think about your favorite movie and create your own!
Maria:
Ieri sera, ho guardato il film,La Vita è Bella,di Roberto Benigni.
*
Last night, I watched the movie, “Life is Beautiful,” by Roberto Benigni.
*
*
Anna:
Ne è valsa la pena?
*
Was it worth it?
*
*
Maria:
Si, vale la pena. Mi è piaciuto molto questo film!
*
Yes, it is worth it. I really liked this film!
*
*
Anna:
È una storia drammatica?
*
Is it a drama?
*
*
Maria:
Si, è una storia drammatica, ma la prima parte è anche un po’ comica.
*
Yes, it is a drama, but the first part is also a bit funny.
*
*
Anna:
Ah, una commedia drammatica.
*
I see, a comedy drama.
*
*
Maria:
È il tipo di film che io preferisco.
*
It’s the type of film that I prefer.
*
*
Anna:
Non per me. Il mio film preferito è un buon giallo.
*
Not for me. My favorite movie is a good mystery movie.
*
*
*
Commissario Montalbano è figo.
*
Detective Montalbano is cool.
*
*
Maria:
Boh. Ho visto molte puntate del Commissario Montalbano sul TV.
*
Well. I have seen many episodes of Detective Montalbano on TV.
*
*
*
Ma mi piaceLa Vita è Bellapiù delCommissario Montalbano.
I likeLa Vita è Bellamore thanDetective Montalbano.
Questo film è molto meglio delCommissario Montalbano, sono sicuro!
*
This film is much better thanDetective Montalbano, I am sure.
*
*
Anna:
Allora, devo guardareLa Vita è Bellaun giorno.
*
Well, then, I will have to watchLa Vita è Bellaone day.
Remember how to talk aboutmovies and TVin Italian and I guarantee you will use these Italian phrases every day!
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
How to talk aboutEmail in Italian:Important Italian phrases and vocabulary you need to know when sending and receiving emails to your Italian friends and colleagues!
This blog series,“How to Talk About… in Italian”will focus on the topics that have come up most frequently in my everyday conversations with Italian family, friends and colleagues. We willfocus on the important Italian phrases and Italian vocabulary we all need to know to become more fluent when we speak about everyday events in Italian!
The topic for this month — email — is a written form of communication, but one that comes up frequently during daily conversation. In the“How to Talk About Email in Italian”blog for this month, we will focus on common Italian phrases needed to describe the different activities that are involved with “emailing.” As email is now the preferred method of communication around the world, it is important to be able to give one’s email address and talk about an email one has sent or received. This topic comes up between Italian friends in casual conversation and is now the preferred method of communication between business associates.
Although Italians have adopted the use of email readily, including the English email terms, it is also important to know the Italian approach and understanding of this concept if we want to communicate in Italian.
Enjoy the first topic in this “How to Talk About…” series,“How to Talk About Email in Italian.”—Kathryn Occhipinti
When talking about how an Italian views the concept of email, the first and most basic question to answer is, of course,
“How does one translate the word “email” into Italian?”
First we need to recognize that “email” is an English abbreviation for “electronic mail,” and this abbreviation is not easily translated into Italian.
The Collins English to Italian dictionary translation of emailis simple and makes sense for both Italian and English:la posta elettronica,which translates as,“the electronic mail.”
A singleemail messagewould beun messaggio di posta elettronica.
A person’s email addresswould bel’indirizzo di posta elettronica.
Unfortunately, although these official Italian phrases make perfect logical sense, they are a bit too long for common, every day use. Since Italians, in general, easily accept useful foreign words into their language, it is not surprising that a quick look at the online dictionary Wordreference.com yields multiple permutations of English and Italian to translate the word “email.”
It should be noted here that the word “email” remains feminine when translated into Italian in all its various forms, since“la posta”or“the mail”is feminine in Italian.
Here are the different ways we can talk about email according to the online dictionary Wordreference.com.
la posta elettronica, la e-mail, l’email
il messaggio di posta elettronica, il messaggio email
l’indirizzo di posta elettronica, l’indirizzo e-mail
It is apparent from the above phrases that Italians have, over time, shortened their correct but very long descriptive phrase la posta elettronica to the shorter phrase l’email. This combination of Italian and English makes grammatical sense in Italian because the original word for “mail” in Italian is feminine and also because the Italian language generally eliminates the last vowel of the definite articlelaif the noun that comes after it begins with a vowel.L’emailis commonly seen in written form on websites.
But, althoughl’emailis correct grammatically, most Italians simply say “la mail.”
The difference in the official written form and the spoken form of the Italian word for “email” may originate from the difference in pronunciation between the English and the Italian letter “e.” In English, the letter “e” can be pronounced with a long “ee” sound, as in “week” or short “eh” sound, as in “bed.” But there is no long “ee” sound associated with the Italian letter “e,” and this may lead to confusion for an Italian when attempting to say the word “email” with the correct English pronunciation. So, it is simpler in spoken Italian just to leave off the “e” in email, and say “mail.”
In the same way, note that a single email can be referred to in Italian as both the grammatically correct “un’email”and “una mail.”
Below is a summary of the Italian phrases to describe email in Italian. The most common conversational Italian ways to say “email” are listed in the first column in bold letters.
la mail l’email
la posta elettronica
email in general
una mail / la mail un’email
un messaggio di posta elettronica
a single email
l’indirizzo mail l’indirizzo e-mail
l’indirizzo di posta elettronica
the email address
Now let’s talk about what to say if an Italian asks for your email address and you would like to reply in Italian.
The question:“Qual’è l’indirizzo mail?”is used for the English,“What is your email address?”
It will be important in this situation to know that the English word“at”used for the symbol@is referred to with the visually descriptive Italian term “chiocciola,”which literally means “little snail.” And the “dot” in the English“dot”com is called a “period” in Italian, with the word“punto.”
Italian email addresses often end in “it,” for Italy, and the abbreviation is usually pronounced as an Italian word. For email addresses that end in “com,” com is usually pronounced as a word, similar to English but with an Italian accent, of course!
The letters “it” and “com” may also be spelled out, using the Italian name for each letter. For the ending “it,” the Italian letters are pronounced “ee tee.” For the ending “com” the Italian letters are pronounced “chee oh èmme.”
Below is a sample email address that uses the name of this blog as a person’s first and last name, first written, then as it would be pronounced by an English speaker and an Italian speaker:
LearnItalian@aol.com
Learn Italian“at”aol“dot”com
Learn Italian“chiocciola”aol“punto”com
Finally, how do we talk about sending and receiving an email?
Two verbs are commonly used to describe the acts of sending and receiving an email. The Italian verbmandare is probably the most common way to describe the act ofsendingan email, although the verbsinviareorspedire,older terms for “snail mail,” can also be used.
The verbmandarejust means“to send,”though, and Italian will follow this verb with the clarification“via mail.” As noted above, other variations might include“via email”or“via la posta elettronica. “
When an Italian has received a message, he or she can use the verbricevere,which means“to receive.” This event would, of course be in the past tense, as for example,“Ho ricevuto una mail.”“I have received an email.”
Remember that if you have received an email“about”something, the English word “about” is often expressed in Italian with the preposition“su.” The prepositionsuis then combined with the Italian definite article (il, la, lo, l’, i le, gli) before the noun that describes what the email will be about. The different combined forms are:sul, sulla, sulo, sull‘, sui, sulle, sugli. More detailed information about combining prepositions is found in theConversational Italian for Travelersbook “Just the Grammar.”
“Hai ricevuto una mail sulla prossima riunione?”translates as:“Have you received an email about the next meeting?”
Interestingly, if one person hears the notification sound that an email has “arrived” at another’s device, he or she may call out,“È arrivata una mail,” meaning, “An email has arrived.” Remember to use the feminine form of the past participle forarrivare,which is “arrivata“for the email that has just arrived! In the same way, an English speaker would notify someone with the line:“You have a message.”
When one needs to check their email, the Italian verbcontrollare,which can meanto check, to control,orto verify,comes into play. One friend might say to another:“Controlla la tua mail!”for“Check your email!”Or, you may be advised:“Controlla la mail in arrivo!”for“Check the email that is coming to you!”
In this section, we will focus on the vocabulary one might encounter when talking about the particulars of how an email is set up: the subject line, inbox, spam box, etc.
From our example list below, you will notice that some English email terms have been adopted into Italian and given Italian masculine or feminine endings. For other technical terms, the English word itself is used, but is categorized in Italian as either masculine or feminine and assigned an Italian definite article to go with the chosen gender. For instance, when referring to“spam,”the Italians use“lo spam”or“uno spam”because the Italian gender is male and because the wordspambegins with s+consonant. (See ourConversational Italian for Travelers “Just the Grammar”book if you need to review Italian definite articles.)
Adopted foreign words always remain with their native singular ending in Italian, but the Italian definite article changes if it is necessary to represent the plural form of the foreign word. So if one wants to refer to the manyspam emailshe or she has been receiving, they can use“gli spam.”
Once one is familiar with the Italian terms used for an email account, it becomes important to know how to respond to emails in Italian and also how to give instructions for basic actions that can be performed when emailing a friend or a colleague.
For example phrases that can be used to initiate and sign off on an email communication, please refer to our previous blog: Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Emailing Italian Families. In this previous blog , we discuss Italian email conventions in use today, including when to use familiar and formal greetings. We also talk about different titles an individual may hold and how they are abbreviated when writing an Italian email.
Once you understand how to introduce yourself in an email, and know some appropriate phrases for closing an email, you can focus on some terms that are commonly used in the email itself! Below is a list of terms and some example sentences. How many more can you think of? Find an Italian “email pen pal” and try them out!
subject
l’oggetto
to attach
allegare
attachment
l’allegato (dell’email)
to copy
copiare
copy
la copia
blind copy
la copia nascosta
to forward email
inoltrare
to reply
rispondere
reply
la risposta
L’oggetto di questa mail è confidenziale.The subject of this email is confidential.
Il documento è allegato.The form is attached.
Ho allegato il documento. Fai una copia per la riunione. I attached the form. Make a copy for the meeting.
Per favore, mandi una copia nascosta al direttore.Please send a blind copy to the director.
Please send me the attachment by tomorrow morning.Per favore, mi mandi l’allegato per domani mattina.
Lascia che ti inoltri questa mail.Let me forward this email to you.
La mail è stata inoltrare a Lei ieri.The email was forwarded to you yesterday.
Ho inoltrato la mail a lui ieri.I sent the email to him yesterday.
Per favore, mi mandi la sua risposta per domani.Please send me your response by tomorrow.
Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Important Phrases (with Restaurant Vocabulary and Idiomatic Expressions) is YOUR traveling companion in Italy! All the Italian phrases you need to know to enjoy your trip to Italy are right here and fit right into your pocket or purse.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language.Meraviglioso!
But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently?Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood when you are speaking in the past tense? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! This is the third blog in the“Speak Italian” series that willfocus on how to conjugate and use theimperfettosubjunctive mood,or“il congiuntivo”for speaking in thepast tense.
Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using theimperfettosubjunctive moodwhile speaking in thepast tense.In this segment, we will discuss when the helping verbsdovere, potereandvoleretake the subjunctive mood.
We will also repeat the Italian conjugation of the imperfetto subjunctiveform for theregular and irregular -are,-ere, and-ire verbs and then presentthe conjugation of the modal, or helping, verbs dovere,potere,andvolere. Finally, we will revisit thetrapassatosubjunctive mood from our previous blog on Italian hypothetical phrases. Example sentences will follow!
In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about theimperfetto Italian subjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”), we will first present phrases that take the Italian subjunctive mood.
Then, we will review how to conjugate theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
Finally, we will present common phrases from daily life that take theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out theimperfettosubjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!
Enjoy the third blog in this series,“Imperfetto Subjunctive for Past Tense (Part 3): Speak Italian!” —Kathryn Occhipinti
Once Again… Italian Phrases That Take the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to expressbeliefs, thoughts,orhopes with the verbscredere, pensare,andsperare.
The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.
Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.
We have already learned to use theimperfettosubjunctive mood with the conditional tense in ourblogs about Italian hypothetical phrases! Now, as stated before, we will focus on the use of theimperfettosubjunctive mood after introductory phrases that are in thepast tense.
In this blog, we will discuss phrases that express feelings (any emotion, fear, or surprise) in Group 9 and describe the situations in the past in which they are used to introduce theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
We will also now discuss Group 10, in which we list individual words that refer to the purpose or timing of an action that, when in the past, must be followed by theimperfettosubjunctive mood. These words are part of “adverbial clauses” that modify verbs. As such, they are often used in the phrase that completes a sentence, but can also be found at the beginning of a sentence. Many of these words are easy to recognize since they end in-che.
Finally, Groups 11 and 12 are individual adjectives or pronouns that can introduce another clause and when describing the past must be followed by theimperfetto subjective mood.
At the end of the list, we will also include the topic of a series of blogs onItalian hypothetical phrases, to complete our discussion of specific words or phrases that can be used to introduce the subjunctive mood.
Groups 1-9: “Noun Clauses”
Group 10: “Adverbial Clauses”
Groups 11 and 12: “Adjective/Pronoun Clauses”
Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe),pensare (to think),andsperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern:[verb+ di+ infinitive verb] to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb+che+ subjunctive verb].*
Impersonal constructions that begin with,“It is…”such as,“È possibile che…”
Phrases that express a doubt, such as,“I don’t know…”or“Non so che…”
Phrases that express suspicion, such as,” I suspect that…”or“Sospetto che…”
Phrases that express uncertainty, such as,“It seems to me…”or“Mi sembra che…”and” To wonder if…” or “Chiedersi se… “
Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunctionche,such as,“Basta che…” “It is enough that,”or“Si dice che…” “They say that…
Phrases that use the verbsvolere, desiderare, chiedere, esigere when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed byche.
Phrases that use the verbspiacereanddispiacerewhen the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed byche.
Phrases that express feelings (any emotion, fear, surprise) and use the pattern:[avere, essere, oraugurarsiverb + di+ infinitive verb]. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [avere, essere,oraugurarsi verb +che+ subjunctive verb].
Sentences that begin with words that end in –ché,or complex conjunctions that end with che:affinché, perché (so as, so that, in order that), purché (as long as, provided that, only if)**, a meno che, senza che (unless), può darsi che (it may be possible that, possibly, maybe), prima che (before that). Also the many words that mean although/even though,one of which ends in-che: benché (alsosebenne, malgrado, nonostante).***
Sentences that begin with adjectives or pronouns that include the idea of anyin a description of a person, place or thing: qualsiasi, qualunque (any), chiunque (whoever), dovunque (anywhere).
Sentences that begin with adjectives or pronouns that include the idea ofnothingoronly in a description of a person, place, or thing:niente che, nulla che (nothing that), nessuno che (nobody that), l’unico, il solo, a che (the only one that).
Hypothetical Phrases: Phrases that begin withse (if)in certain situations. Phrases that begin with come se (as if),magari (if only)andammesso che (assuming that).
As usual, there are summary tables in the next section that shows how to use these phrases. The present tense is in the left columns. Theimperfettopast tense has been chosen for the right columns, although in some situations, thepassatto prossimopast tense can be used as well. We will then present examples for the past tense.
Points to remember about the subjunctive mood:
In Italian,the introductory phrases that take the subjunctive mood (those that trigger doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling) usually end with a linking word,also known as a conjunction, which will be che. In this situation,chemeans that.The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.
We now see from Group 9 that some introductory words or phrases already have -chéorcheintegrated into the word itself. In these cases,cheis not repeated.
*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases forcredere, pensare,andsperare : di+ infinitive verb. Example:Penso di andare a Roma domani. = I think I will go to Rome tomorrow. (Use pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)
**solo sealso meansonly ifbut does NOT take the subjunctive mode.
***anche sealso meanseven though/ifbut does NOT take the subjunctive mode.
How to Express One’s Feelings with “Di” and “Che” and the Italian Subjunctive Mood – Present Tense
Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Di” in Italian
When expressing one’s feelings in Italian in the first person (ioconjugation), many common Italian expressions are followed bydi(of). In this case, whendiis followed by another verb,the verb in the second phrase will be inthe infinitive tense(if you remember, infinitive verbs end in-are, -ere, -ire, and translate as “to…”). Below are some examples of these phrases, along with example sentences, adapted fromChapter 7 of theConversational Italian for Travelerstextbook.
avere bisognodi
to have need of
Ho bisognodi… riposare.
*
*
avere pauradi
to be afraid/have fear of
Ho pauradi… guidare.
*
*
avere vogliadi
to feel like
Ho vogliadi… mangiare una pizza.
*
*
essere certodi
to be certain of
Sono certo(a)di… ricordare il tuo nome.
*
*
essere sicurodi
to be certain of
Sono sicuro(a)di… ricordare questo posto.
*
*
essere felicedi
to be happy to
Sono felicedi… incontrare mio cugino oggi.
*
*
essere fortunatodi
to be lucky to
Sono fortunato(a)di… mangiare questa cena.
*
*
essere liberodi
to be free to
Sono libero(a)di… viaggiare.
*
*
essere stancodi
to be tired of
Sono stanco(a)di… lavorare.
*
*
temeredi…
to be afraid of
Temodi… essere in ritardo.
*
*
augurarsidi…
to wish/to hope (of)
Mi augurodi… fare una buona vacanza.
How to Express One’s Feelings with “Di” and “Che” and the Italian Subjunctive Mood – Past Tense
Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Che” and the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Some of the expressions listed in the following table are most commonly used with the same subject for the second phrase. As noted in our previous discussions, these phrases will be followed with“di”and an infinitive verb. They are reprinted here to correspond with the previous table, followed by an asterisk and an explanation in parentheses.
For most of the expressions of feeling that we have been talking about, though, it is possible to express a feeling that the speaker(io)has regardinganother person or people. In this case, then,these expressions must be followedbyche, andthe subjunctive mood should be used for the verb in the second phrase.
The above rule for usingche + subjunctiveapplies whether the introductory phrase is in the present tense or the past tense.However, if the introductory verb is in the past tense, theimperfetto subjunctiveform is the form to follow!
In our example table, we will illustrate this by following the Italian phrases in which the subjects can be different with...che tu,which we know means…that you,although of course, this rule follows no matter which subject pronoun we use.
Phrases Used to Express Feelings with “Che” and the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mode
Present Tense Subjunctive Phrase Group 8
Past Tense Subjunctive Phrase Group 8
Ho bisogno…che tu
I need…that you*
*(This expression is not commonly used in Italian to tell another person what needs to be done;vogliocheis used instead.)
Avevo bisogno…che tu
I needed…that you*
*(This expression is not commonly used in Italian to tell another person what needs to be done; volevocheis used instead.)
Ho paura…che tu
I am afraid…that you
Avevo paura… che tu
I was afraid…that you
Ho vogliadi…*
I feel like… * *(always used with the same subject +diin both phrases)
Avevo voglia…*
I felt like…*
*(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)
Non sono certo(a)… che tu
I am not certain… that you
Non ero certo…che tu
I was not certain…that you
Non sono sicuro(a)… che tu
I am not certain… that you
Non ero sicuro…che tu
I was not certain…that you
Sono felice…che tu
I am happy…that you
Ero felice…che tu
I was happy…that you
Sono fortunato(a)…che tu
I am happy…that you
Ero fortunato(a)…che tu
I was fortunate…that you
Sono libero(a)di…*
I am free… * *(always used with the same subject +diin both phrases)
Ero libero(a)… *
I was free… * *(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)
Sono stanco(a)di…
I am tired…*
*(always used with the same subject +diin both phrases)
Ero stanco(a)… *
I was tired…*
*(always used with the same subject +di in both phrases)
Temo…che tu
I am afraid… that you
Temevo…che tu
I was afraid…that you
Mi auguro…che tu
I hope…that you
Mi auguravo… che tu
I hoped…that you
Idiomatic Use of the Italian Subjunctive Mood
The final group of words in the table below take the subjunctive mood when used to start a sentence. These conjunctions, adjectives, and pronouns imply that a second phrase is necessary to complete the sentence.
The above rule for usingche + subjunctiveapplies whether the introductory phrase is in the present tense or the past tense.However, if the introductory verb is the past tense, theimperfetto subjunctiveform is the form to follow!
Only the most commonly used have been given in the table. For a more complete list, see the list in the first section of this blog.
Phrases Used to Introduce the Subjunctive Mood—Idiomatic
Present Tense Subjunctive Phrase Groups 9, 10, 11
Prima che
Before that (Prima cheis used to mean“before that” and followed by the subjunctive when the subject in the first phrase is different from the subject in the second phrase; usePrima di + infinitive verb when the subject of both phrases is the same.)
Benché, Sebbene
Although, Even though, If
Può darsi che
It may be possible that, Possibly, Maybe
Affinché
So as, So that, In order that
Perché
So that(Perchéis only used in the subjunctive mood when it means“so that.” Other meanings ofperchéinclude“why”and“because,”and in these cases, the subjunctive mood is not used.)
Purché
As long as, Provided that, Only if
Finally, our usual reminder:
DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!
Forse =Perhaps
Per me= For me
Secondo me= According to me
The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!
And, two more phrases we can now add that DO NOT take the subjunctive mood:
How to Conjugate the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood for -are, -ere, and -ire Verbs
Luckily, there are only a few irregular stem forms to learn for the imperfetto subjunctive mood, making it an easier tense to learn than the present, future, and conditional tenses.
Also, the imperfetto subjunctive mood endings are always regular and will be the same for all three conjugations!
To change any regular infinitive verb into theimperfettosubjunctive mood, first drop the final-re, from our infinitive-are, -ere,and-ireverbs to create the stem.
This will create stems that end in the letters –a for the –are verbs, -e for the –ere verbs, and–i for the –ire verbs. Then add the endings given in the first table below to the stem that has been created. Examples for each verb type are given in the second table below.*
The wordche is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms typically are used withthe conjunction che. Also, use the subject pronoun in your sentence afterchefor clarity, since the endings for the singular forms are all the same!
Practice the subjunctive verbs out loud by sayingche, the subject pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!
Subjunctive Mood – Imperfetto Endings
io
ssi
tu
ssi
Lei/lei/lui
sse
noi
ssimo
voi
ste
loro
ssero
The following table will put together our stems with our imperfetto subjunctive mood endings. A few notes about this:
When pronouncing the imperfetto subjunctive mood verbs, the stress will always be on the syllable that begins with the last two letters of the stem and will incorporate one –s letter from the ending. (Remember the rule for Italian double consonants: one consonant will go with the syllable before and the second with the syllable after, in effect also stressing the double consonant itself.) The stressed syllables are underlined in our example table below.
Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood – Example Verb Conjugations
Abitare(to live)
(lived/were living)
Vedere(to see)
(saw/had seen)
Finire(to finish)
(finished/were finishing)
(che)io
abitassi
vedessi
finissi
(che)tu
abitassi
vedessi
finissi
(che)Lei/lei/lui
abitasse
vedesse
finisse
(che)noi
abitassimo
vedessimo
finissimo
(che)voi
abitaste
vedeste
finiste
(che)loro
abitassero
vedessero
finissero
How to Conjugate the Italian Subjunctive Mood Imperfetto Tense for the Modal Verbs
Here are the Italianimperfettosubjunctive forms for the modal verbs. If you remember, modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are also called “helping verbs.” These verbs are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. As you no doubt recall, these three helping verbs give additional information about the main verb in the phrase. In the subjunctive mood,volerecan also be translated as“to need.”
Dovere – to have to/must – Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
(che)io
dovessi
I had to
(che)tu
dovessi
you (familiar) had to
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
dovesse
you (polite) had to she/he had to
(che)noi
dovessimo
we had to
(che)voi
doveste
you all had to
(che)loro
dovessero
they had to
Potere –to be able (to)/can – Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
che)io
potessi
I was able to/could
(che)tu
potessi
you (familiar) were able to/could
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
potesse
you (polite) were able to/could
she/he was able to/could
(che)noi
potessimo
we were able to/could
(che)voi
poteste
you all were able to/could
(che)loro
potessero
they were able to/could
Volere – to want/ to need – Imperfetto Subjunctive mode
(che)io
volessi
I wanted/needed
(che)tu
volessi
you (familiar) wanted/needed
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
volesse
you (polite) wanted/needed
she/he wanted/needed
(che)noi
volessimo
we wanted/needed
(che)voi
voleste
you all wanted/needed
(che)loro
volessero
they wanted/needed
The Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Commonly Used Regular and Irregular Verbs
A review from the second blog in this series:
Luckily, most verbs are regular in the imperfetto subjunctive mood. So, there are many, many more regular than irregular verbs! Below are some commonly used regular verbs, some of which are irregular in the present tense and most other tenses! Practice saying them out loud and listen to how each conjugated verb sounds.
Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood Conjugations – Commonly Used Regular Verbs
Andare(to go)
(went/were going)
Sapere (to know)(knew/had known)
Venire(to come)
(came/had come)
Vivere(to live)
(lived/were living)
io
andassi
sapessi
venissi
vivessi
tu
andassi
sapessi
venissi
vivessi
Lei/lei/lui
andasse
sapesse
venisse
vivesse
noi
andassimo
sapessimo
venissimo
vivessimo
voi
andaste
sapeste
veniste
viveste
loro
andassero
sapessero
venissero
vivessero
The Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Commonly Used Irregular Verbs
There are a few important irregular verbs to know in the imperfetto subjunctive mood. You will find them in the tables below. Practice saying them out loud and listen to how each conjugated verb sounds.
Fare – to do/make – Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
io
facessi
I did/ made
tu
facessi
you (familiar) did/made
Leilei/lui
facesse
you (polite) did/madeshe/he did/made
noi
facessimo
we did/made
voi
faceste
you all did/made
loro
facessero
they did/made
Dare – to give – Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
io
dessi
I gave
tu
dessi
you (familiar) gave
Leilei/lui
desse
you (polite) gaveshe/he gave
noi
dessimo
we gave
voi
deste
you all gave
loro
dessero
they gave
Dire – to say/tell – Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
io
dicessi
I said/told
tu
dicessi
you (familiar) said/told
Leilei/lui
dicesse
you (polite) said/toldshe/he said/told
noi
dicessimo
we said/told
voi
diceste
you all said/told
loro
dicessero
they said/told
How to Conjugate Italian Verbs “Essere,” “Avere,” and “Stare” in the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
A review from the first blog in this series:
In the tables below are theimperfettosubjunctive forms for the Italian auxiliary verbsavere, stare,andessere,which are often used in the subjunctive mood in written and spoken Italian. These are important verbs to commit to memory!
You will notice thataverehas a regular conjugation in theimperfettosubjunctive mood, whereas essere andstarehave an irregular conjugation.
Avere—to have—Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
(che)io
avessi
I had
(che)tu
avessi
you (familiar) had
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
avesse
you (polite) had
she/he had
(che)noi
avessimo
we had
(che)voi
aveste
you all had
(che)loro
avessero
they had
Essere—to be—Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
(che)io
fossi
I were
(che)tu
fossi
you (familiar) were
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
fosse
you (polite) were
she/he were
(che)noi
fossimo
we were
(che)voi
foste
you all were
(che)loro
fossero
they were
Stare—to stay/be—Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
(che)io
stessi
I stayed/were
(che)tu
stessi
you (familiar) stayed/were
(che)Lei
(che)lei/lui
stesse
you (polite) stayed/were
she/he stayed/were
(che)noi
stessimo
we stayed/were
(che)voi
steste
you all stayed/were
(che)loro
stessero
they stayed/were
The “Trapassato” Subjunctive Mood
“Essere” or “Avere” + Past Participle
To form thetrapassatosubjunctive mood to describe an event that started and was completed in the past, simply use eitheressereoraverein theimperfettoconjugation, and add the past participle of the verb.
In English, any event that started and was completed in the past simply needs “had” inserted in front of the past participle! This is a bit easier than Italian, but with a little practice, you will get used to the Italian in no time!
Below are thetrapassatosubjunctive mood conjugations for the auxiliary verbsavereandessere, using the past participles for two Italian verbs that are commonly used in this tense –fareandandare.
Remember that action verbs of direction, reflexive verbs, other verbs of growing and changing, andpiacereall takeessereas a helping verb when making these compound verbs. All other verbs takeavere. If you need a review of the use of helping verbs for the Italian past tense, please refer to our blog Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
You will notice thataverehas a regular conjugation in theimperfettosubjunctive mood, whereas essere has an irregular conjugation. The past participle forfare (fatto)is irregular, but that ofandare(andato)is regular. If you need a refresher on how to form past participles, please refer to our blog Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
In hypothetical clauses, because the trapassatosubjunctive mood is introduced byse,(se)is included in the subject pronoun column as a reminder. When conjugating these verbs, say“se”before the subject pronoun and each verb form to reinforce this way of thinking!
Avere (to have) + Fare (to do/make) — Trapassato Subjunctive Mood
Example Phrases Using the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood in the Past Tense
To follow are some examples of how the Italian subjunctive mood in the past tense might be used in conversation during daily life.
Notice that English sentence structure differs from Italian in most of these sentences. We can make a similar sentence in English as in Italian, but it would be considered an “awkward” sentence.
The biggest difference is that we English speakers do not use the subjunctive form, whether or not the subject in the two phrases is the same or different. Also, we often leave out the word “that” from our sentences that contain two phrases. But, the Italian word for “that,”“che,” is not an option when linking two Italian phrases – except if the introductory word itself ends in-che.
For the translations, the Italian sentence structure is given first for some examples to help us to think in Italian. The correct English is in bold.
We will use the example introductory phrases from earlier in this section. How many more combinations can you think of?
Ho voluto che tu cucinassi una cena speciale per la festa ieri sera.
I wanted that you cooka special dinner for the party tonight. =
I wanted you to cook a special dinner for the party last night.
*
Ieri sera, ho avuto paurache lui guidassi troppo veloce.
Last night, I was afraidthathe drove too fast. =
Last night, I was afraid,since he drovetoo fast.
Non ero certoche Lei ricordasse quello giorno.
I was not certainthat you remembered that day.
Non ero sicuroche noiricordassimo il posto corretto.
I was not surethat we rememberedthe right place.
Sono stato feliceche voi abbiate incontrato mio cugino oggi.
I was happythat you all have metmy cousin today.=
I was happy you all metmy cousin today.
Sono stata fortunata che voi abbiate mangiato con me ieri sera per il mio compleanno.
I was luckythatyou all ate with me last night for my birthday.=
I was luckyyou all ate with me last night for my birthday.
Temavo che loro non fosseropersone perbene.
I was afraidthat they were notgood people.
*
Mi auguravo che loro facesserouna buona vacanza.
I was hoping that they hada good vacation. =
I was hoping they had a good vacation.
The Italian Subjunctive Mood: Examples for Idiomatic Phrases and Modal Verbs
Here are some examples for the introductory phrases “before that” and “after that,” which, as we have discussed in the earlier section, should take theimperfettosubjunctive mood when the reference is to the past.
These phrases seem to be most useful in situations in which we talk about plans peoplewould have liked toorhad made for themselves or others, and therefore helping verbs many times also come into play.
Lei ha dovuto prepare molto bene i tuoi documenti primache tu dovessi andareal lavoro.
She had to prepare your documents very well before (that) you had to come to work. =
She had to prepare your documents very well before you had to go to work.
*
Primache mio figlio potesse andaredove ha voluto, io sono dovuto venire a casa.
Before(that) my son could gowhere he wanted to, I had to go home. =
Before my son could go where he wanted to, I had to come home.
*
Primache noi dovessimo partire perRoma, è stato buono che avete riposato un po’ in campagna.
Before (that) we had to leavefor Rome, it was good that you all rested a little bit in the country. =
Before we had to leave for Rome, it was good that you all rested a little bit in the country.
*
Prima chevoi poteste andare a trovare* i vostri parenti in America, tuo padre ha dovuto guadagnare un sacco di soldi.**
Before(that) you all could visityour relatives in America, your father had to make a lot of money. =
Before you all could visit your relatives in America, your father had to make a lot of money.
*
Il mio assistente ha dovuto portarli al riunione primache loro possano mangiarela cena.
My assistant had to bring them to the meeting before(that) they could eatdinner. =
My assistant had to bring them to the meeting before they could eatdinner.
*andare a trovareis an idiomatic expression that means“to go to visit (someone).”Visitareis used when going to visit a place.
** un sacco di soldiis an idiomatic expression that means“a lot of money.”
The Italian Subjunctive Mood: Examples for Idiomatic Phrases
The final group of words that take the subjunctive mood on an idiomatic basis imply that a second phrase is necessary to complete the sentence. These are essential phrases to remember if we want to express complex thoughts in Italian. Here are some examples. How many more can you think of?
Benchéio volessi andarein Italia, non è stato possibile l’anno scorso.
AlthoughI wanted to goto Italy, it was not possible last year.
*
Sebbenelui volesse andareall’università, non ha ricevuto voti abastanza buoni al liceo.
Althoughhe wanted to goto college, he did not get good enough grades in high school.
*
Sebbenenoi volessimo viaggiare, abbiamo dovuto lavorare nel’ristorante di famiglia per molti anni.
Thoughwe wanted to travel, we had to work in the family restaurant for many years.
*
Perchéla crostatafosse fatto buona, hai dovuto usare le fragole fresche.
So thatthe pie was madewell, she had to use fresh strawberries. =
She had to use fresh strawberries so thatthe pie was madewell.
*
Sono venuto alla festa, purché(lui non ci fosse.
I agreed to come to the party, provided thathe was not (going to be) there. =
I agreed to come to the party, provided thathe was notgoing to be there.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood Past Tense (Part 3): Speak Italian!
Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language.Meraviglioso!
But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently?Can you use the imperfetto subjunctive mood when you are speaking in the past tense? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! This is the second blog in the“Speak Italian” series that willfocus on how to conjugate and use theimperfettosubjunctive mood,or“il congiuntivo”for speaking in thepast tense.
Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using theimperfettosubjunctive moodwhile speaking in thepast tense.In this segment, we will discuss whenvolere,desiderare,piacere, anddispiacere take the subjunctive mood.
We will also learntheconjugation of the imperfetto subjunctive mood for the -are,-ere,and-ire verbsand the commonly used irregular verbsandare,dare, dire, fare,sapere,andvenire.Example sentences will follow!
In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about the imperfetto subjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”), we will first present phrases in the past tense that take theimpefettosubjunctive mood.
Then, we will review how to conjugate theimperfetto subjunctive mood.
Finally, we will present common phrases from daily life that take theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out theimperfettosubjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!
Enjoy the 2nd blog in this series,“Imperfetto Subjunctive for Past Tense (Part 2): Speak Italian!” —Kathryn Occhipinti
Once Again… Italian Phrases That Take the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to expressbeliefs, thoughts,orhopes with the verbscredere, pensare,andsperare.
The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.
Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.
We have already learned to use theimperfettosubjunctive mood with the conditional tense in ourblogs about Italian hypothetical phrases! Now, as stated before, we will focus on the use of theimperfettosubjunctive mood after introductory phrases that are in thepast tense.
To follow in this blog is an explanation of several more phrases that can be used to introduce theimperfettosubjunctive mood, which we have added into our original list as Group 7 and Group 8.
Groups 1-8: “Noun Clauses”
Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe),pensare (to think),andsperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern:[verb+ di+ infinitive verb] to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb+che+ subjunctive verb].*
Impersonal constructions that begin with,“It is…”such as,“È possibile che…”
Phrases that express a doubt, such as,“I don’t know…”or“Non so che…”
Phrases that express suspicion, such as,” I suspect that…”or“Sospetto che…”
Phrases that express uncertainty, such as,“It seems to me…”or“Mi sembra che…”and” To wonder if…” or “Chiedersi se… “
Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunctionche,such as,“Basta che…” “It is enough that,”or“Si dice che…” “They say that…
Phrases that use the verbsvolere, desiderare, chiedere, esigere when the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed byche.
Phrases that use the verbspiacereanddispiacerewhen the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the clause that follows. In this situation, these verbs will be followed byche.
As usual, there is a summary table in the next section that shows how to use these phrases. The present and present conditional tense is in the left columns, with the passatto prossimo and theimperfettopast tenses in the right columns. We will then present examples for the past tense.
Points to remember about the subjunctive mood:
In Italian,the introductory phrases that take the subjunctive mood (those that trigger doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling) usually end with a linking word,also known as a conjunction, which will be che. In this situation,chemeans that.The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.
*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases forcredere, pensare,andsperare : di+ infinitive verb. Example:Penso di andare a Roma domani. = I think I will go to Rome tomorrow. (Use pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)
How to Use the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood withVolere and Desiderare
When expressing one’s desire in Italian in the first person (ioconjugation),voglio/vorreianddesideroare used in similar situations to meanI wantandI would like. In this case,these helping verbs are followed directly by another verbthat is inthe infinitive tense(if you remember, infinitive verbs end in-are, -ere, -ireand translate as“to…”). Of course, these verbs can also be followed by a noun, the “object of our desire”!
Voglio imparare l’italiano.I want to learn Italian.
Vorrei viaggiare in Italia. I would like to travel to Italy.
Desidero andare al cinema. I want to go to the movies.
But when these same verbs—voglio/vorreianddesidero—are used to express a desire for something that the speaker in the first person(io)wantsanother personto do, thenthese helping verbs must be followed byche,and thenthe subjunctive mood should be used for the verb in the next phrase.
In the same way, I can ask that someone do something using the verbchiedere or insist that they do it with the verbesigere. But just asking someone else or even insisting does not mean that it will be done (as those of us who have children know). So, in these cases as well, the verbschiedere andesigere will be followed by the conjunctioncheand the next phrase will use a verb in the subjunctive form.
The above rule for usingche + subjunctiveapplies whether the introductory phrase is in the present tense or the past tense.* However, if the introductory verb is in the past tense, theimperfetto subjunctiveform is the form to follow!
*Be careful withchiedere andesigere,though, when using thepassato prossimopast tense, since their past participles are irregular. Forchiedere,the past participle ischiestoand foresigere,the past participle isesatto.
Esattois, of course, also used as an adjective, meaning “exact” or “precise” as well as an interjection with the meaning of “Exactly!”
How to Use the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood withPiacere and Dispiacere
The verb forms mipiace,mi piacerrebbeandmi dispiace,mi dispiaccerebbefollow the same rule given for the verbs in Group 6 we just discussed: when the verb that follows these introductory phrases refers to the speaker (ioform), then a verb in the infinitive form follows directly. When the verb that follows refers to someone else,cheis used as a link to a verb in the subjunctive mood in the second clause.
The above rule for usingche + subjunctiveapplies whether the introductory phrase is in the present tense or the past tense.However, if if the introductory verb is in the past tense, theimperfetto subjunctiveform is the form to follow!
In our example table that follows, we will illustrate the use ofchefollowed by a different speaker from the introductory phrase with...che tu. This conjunction means …that you. Of course, we can replacetuwith any of the other subject pronouns, and then the phrases would be:….che Lei, che lei, che lui, che noi, che voi,or che loro.
Phrases Used to Introduce the Subjunctive Mood with Volere, Desiderare, Piacere, Dispiacere
Present Tense & Conditional Tense Subjunctive Phrases Groups 6 and 7
Past Tense & Past Conditional Tense Subjunctive Phrases Groups 6 and 7
*
*
Voglio…che tu
I want…that you
*
Volevo…che tu Ho voluto…che tu
I wanted…that you
Vorrei…che tu
I would like… that you
*
Volevo…che tu Ho voluto…che tu
I wanted…that you
Desidero…che tu Chiedo... che tu Esigo…che tu
I want…that you I ask…that you I insist... that you
*
Desideravo… che tu Chiedevo… che tu Esigevo… che tu Ho desiderato…che tu Ho chiesto…che tu Ho esatto…che tu
I wanted…that you I asked... that you I insisted…that you
Mi piace…che tu
I like…that you
*
Mi piaceva…che tu Mi sono piaciuto(a)… che tu
I liked…that you
Mi dispiace…che tu
I am sorry…that you
*
Mi dispiaceva…che tu Mi sono dispiaciuto(a)…che tu
I was sorry…that you
Mi piacerebbe… che tu
I would like… that you
*
Mi sarebbe piaciuto(a)…che tu
I would have liked… that you
Mi dispiacerebbe… che tu
I don’t mind… that you
*
Mi sarebbe dispiaciuto(a)… che tu
I didn’t mind… that you
Finally, a word of caution:
DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!
Forse =Perhaps
Per me =For me
Secondo me= According to me
The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!
How to Conjugate the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood for -are, -ere, and -ire Verbs
Luckily, there are only a few irregular stem forms to learn for the imperfetto subjunctive mood, making it an easier tense to learn than the present, future, and conditional tenses.
Also, the imperfetto subjunctive mood endings are always regular and will be the same for all three conjugations!
To change any regular infinitive verb into theimperfettosubjunctive mood, first drop the final-re, from our infinitive-are, -ere,and-ireverbs to create the stem.
This will create stems that end in the letters –a for the –are verbs, -e for the –ere verbs, and–i for the –ire verbs. Then add the endings given in the first table below to the stem that has been created. Examples for each verb type are given in the second table below.*
The wordche is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms typically are used withthe conjunction che. Also, use the subject pronoun in your sentence afterchefor clarity, since the endings for the singular forms are all the same!
Practice the subjunctive verbs out loud by sayingche, the subject pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!
Subjunctive Mood – Imperfetto Endings
io
ssi
tu
ssi
Lei/lei/lui
sse
noi
ssimo
voi
ste
loro
ssero
The following table will put together our stems with our imperfetto subjunctive mood endings. A few notes about this:
When pronouncing the imperfetto subjunctive mood verbs, the stress will always be on the syllable that begins with the last two letters of the stem and will incorporate one –s letter from the ending. (Remember the rule for Italian double consonants: one consonant will go with the syllable before and the second with the syllable after, in effect also stressing the double consonant itself.) The stressed syllables are underlined in our example table below.
Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood – Example Verb Conjugations
Abitare(to live)
(lived/were living)
Vedere(to see)
(saw/had seen)
Finire(to finish)
(finished/were finishing)
(che)io
abitassi
vedessi
finissi
(che)tu
abitassi
vedessi
finissi
(che)Lei/lei/lui
abitasse
vedesse
finisse
(che)noi
abitassimo
vedessimo
finissimo
(che)voi
abitaste
vedeste
finiste
(che)loro
abitassero
vedessero
finissero
The Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Commonly Used Regular Verbs
Luckily, most verbs are regular in the imperfetto subjunctive mood. So, there are many, many more regular than irregular verbs!
Below are some commonly used regular verbs, some of which are irregular in the present tense and most other tenses! Practice saying them out loud and listen to how each conjugated verb sounds.
Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood Conjugations – Commonly Used Regular Verbs
Andare(to go)
(went/were going)
Sapere (to know)(knew/had known)
Venire(to come)
(came/had come)
Vivere(to live)
(lived/were living)
io
andassi
sapessi
venissi
vivessi
tu
andassi
sapessi
venissi
vivessi
Lei/lei/lui
andasse
sapesse
venisse
vivesse
noi
andassimo
sapessimo
venissimo
vivessimo
voi
andaste
sapeste
veniste
viveste
loro
andassero
sapessero
venissero
vivessero
The Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Commonly Used Irregular Verbs
There are a few important irregular verbs to know in the imperfetto subjunctive mood. You will find them in the tables below. Practice saying them out loud and listen to how each conjugated verb sounds.
Example Phrases Using the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood with the Past Tense
To follow are some examples of how the Italian subjunctive mood in the past tense might be used in conversation during daily life.
Notice that English sentence structure differs from Italian in most of these sentences. We can make a similar sentence in English as in Italian, but it would be considered an “awkward” sentence.
The biggest difference is that we English speakers do not use the subjunctive form, whether or not the subject in the two phrases is the same or different. Also, we often leave out the word “that” from our sentences that contain two phrases. But, as mentioned previously, the Italian word for “that,”“che,” is not an option when linking two Italian phrases!
For the translations, the Italian sentence structure is given first in italics to help us to think in Italian. The correct English is in bold.
We will use the example introductory phrases and verbs from earlier in this section. Some sentences will work with both theimperfettoandpassato prossimointroductory phrases if we add a time frame. In these cases, thepassatto prossimois given in blue.
You can see from our first example that use of the past subjunctive in the opening phrase really does allow one to make complex sentences. The first example has been completed to express a complex situation. Have fun expanding the sentences we have given. How many more combinations can you think of?
Volevo che tu tornassi presto. Ho voluto chetu tornassipresto ieri sera perché dovevo parlarti di una cosa importante.
I wanted that you returned early. = I wanted you to have returned early. I wanted you to have returned early last night because I had to talk to you about something important.
Volevo che lui vendessila macchina vecchia. Ho voluto chelui vendesse la macchina vecchia l’anno scorso.
I wanted that he sold the old car (last year). = I wanted him to have sold the old car (last year).
Desideravo che lei andassevia. Ho desiderato chelei andassevia ieri sera.
I wanted that she went away (last night). = I wanted her to have gone away (last night).
Desideravo che Lei facesseuna bella torta per la festa. Ho desiderato cheLei facesseuna bella torta per la festa ieri.
I wanted that you made a nice cake for the party (yesterday). = I wanted you to have made a nice cake for the party (yesterday).
Mi piaceva che tu venissi a Roma ogni giorno.
I liked (It was pleasing to me) that you came to Rome every day. = I liked (that fact that) you came to Rome every day.
Mi dispiaceva che lui non sapesse questa informazione.
I am sorry (It made me sorry) that he doesn’t knowthis information. = I am sorry he doesn’t know this information.
Volevo che noi tornassimo presto. Ho voluto chenoi tornassimopresto ieri sera.
I wanted that we returned early (last night). = I wanted us to have returned early (last night).
Volevo che noi vendessimo la macchina vecchia. Ho voluto chenoi vendessimola macchina vecchia l’anno scorso.
I wanted that we sold the old car (last year). = I wanted us to have sold the old car (last year).
Desideravo che voi andaste via. Ho desiderato chevoi andastevia ieri sera.
I wanted that you all went away (last night). = I wanted you all to have gone away (last night).
Desideroche voi faceste una bella torta per la festa. Ho dovuto chevoi faceste una bella torta per la festa ieri.
I wanted that you all made a nice cake for the party (yesterday). = I wanted you all to have made a nice cake for the party (yesterday).
Mi piaceva che voiveniste a Roma ogni giorno.
I liked (It was pleasing to me)that you all came to Rome every day. = I liked (that fact that) you all came to Rome every day.
Mi dispiaceche voinon sapestequesta informazione.
I am sorry (It made me sorry) that you all don’t knowthis information. = I am sorry you all don’t know this information.
Volevo che loro tornassero presto. Ho voluto chenoi tornassero presto ieri sera.
I wanted that they returned early (last night). = I wanted them to have returned early (last night).
Volevo che loro vendessero la macchina vecchia. Ho voluto cheloro vendessero la macchina vecchia l’anno scorso.
I wanted that they sold the old car (last year). = I wanted them to have sold the old car (last year).
Desideravo che loro andassero via. Ho desiderato cheloro andasserovia ieri sera.
I wanted that they went away (last night). = I wanted them to have gone away (last night).
Desideroche loro facessero e una bella torta per la festa. Ho dovuto che loro facessero una bella torta per la festa ieri.
I wanted that they made a nice cake for the party (yesterday). = I wanted them to have made a nice cake for the party (yesterday).
Mi piaceva che loro venissero a Roma ogni giorno.
I liked (It was pleasing to me) that they came to Rome every day. = I liked (that fact that) they came to Rome every day.
Mi dispiaceche loro non sapessero questa informazione.
I am sorry (It made me sorry) that they don’t knowthis information. = I am sorry they don’t know this information.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Imperfetto Subjunctive for Past Tense (Part 2): Speak Italian!
Can you speak Italian? By now, many of you have passed the beginning stages of learning to speak Italian and can read and comprehend quite a bit of the Italian language.Meraviglioso!
But have you tried to take the next step to speak Italian fluently?Can you use the imperfetto subjunctive mood when you are speaking in the past tense? To express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, as we only rarely use this tense in English, and this is something that I am always working on! The next three blogs in the“Speak Italian” series willfocus on how to conjugate and use theimperfettoItalian subjunctive mood,or“il congiuntivo”for speaking in thepast tense.
Let’s take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian by using theimperfettosubjunctive moodwhile speaking in thepast tense. In this segment, we will discuss the phrasesthat take the subjunctive mood when in the past tense and how to conjugate the imperfetto subjunctive mood for avere, essereandstare. Example sentences will follow!
In each blog in the “Speak Italian” series about the imperfetto subjunctive mood(“il congiuntivo”), we will first present phrases in the past tense that take theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
Then, we will review how to conjugate theimperfetto subjunctive mood.
Finally, we will present common phrases from daily life that take the Italian subjunctive mood.
Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian and try out theimperfettosubjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!
Enjoy the first blog in this series,“Imperfetto Subjunctive for Past Tense (Part 1): Speak Italian!” —Kathryn Occhipinti
Introducing… Italian Phrases That Take the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Italian has a subjunctive mood that is used to expressbeliefs, thoughts,orhopes with the verbscredere, pensare,andsperare.
The subjunctive mood is also said to “open up” a conversation to discussion about a particular topic by expressing doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling.
Certain phrases are commonly used to start a sentence in order to introduce the subjunctive mood, and these initial phrases will be in the indicative tense (the “usual” present or past tense). These initial phrases imply uncertainty and trigger the subjunctive mood in the phrase to follow.
We have already learned to use theimperfettosubjunctive mood with the conditional tense in ourblogs about Italian hypothetical phrases! Now, as stated before, we will focus on the use of theimperfettosubjunctive mood after introductory phrases that are in thepast tense.
These groups are listed below:
Groups 1-6: “Noun Clauses”
Phrases that use the verbs credere (to believe),pensare (to think),andsperare (to hope). These verbs use the pattern:[verb+ di+ infinitive verb] to describe the beliefs, thoughts, or hopes that one has. When the subject in the introductory phrase is not the same as the subject in the subjunctive clause that follows, the pattern changes to: [verb+che+ subjunctive verb].*
Impersonal constructions that begin with,“It is…”such as,“È possibile che…”
Phrases that express a doubt, such as,“I don’t know…”or“Non so che…”
Phrases that express suspicion, such as,” I suspect that…”or“Sospetto che…”
Phrases that express uncertainty, such as,“It seems to me…”or“Mi sembra che…”and” To wonder if…” or “Chiedersi se… “
Impersonal verbs followed by the conjunctionche,such as,“Basta che…” “It is enough that,”or“Si dice che…” “They say that…
*When the speaker in the introductory phrase will carry out the action in the phrase to follow, Italian will use the following construction to link the phrases forcredere, pensare,andsperare : di+ infinitive verb. Example:Penso di andare a Roma domani. = I think I will go to Rome tomorrow. (Use pensare a when thinking ABOUT something or someone.)
Points to remember about the subjunctive mood:
In Italian,the introductory phrases that take the subjunctive mood (those that trigger doubt, uncertainty, desire, or a feeling) usually end with a linking word,also known as a conjunction, which will be che. In this situation,chemeans that.The clause that follows our introductory phrase will then describe what the uncertainty is about.
Note that the simple present or past tenses can also be used after the introductory phrases listed below, rather than the subjunctive mood, if you are speaking about a fact or something you believe to be true. This use will make perfect sense to the Italian listener, even when the subjective mood is otherwise commonly used.
Italian Phrases That Take the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
To follow is a (long) list of phrases that can be used to introduce the subjunctive mood, with examples from thepassato prossimopast tense in the first two columns and theimperfettopast tense in the last two columns.
Basic translations are given in our tables, but remember that theimperfettopast tense can also be translated as “was… ing.” Therefore,“Speravo che” means,“I hoped,”and“I was hoping.” In the last section, we will then present examples for the past tense.
Passato Prossimo Past Subjunctive Phrase Groups 1 and 2
Imperfetto Past Subjunctive Phrase Groups 1 and 2
Ho creduto che
I believed that
Credevo che
I believed that
Ho pensato che
I thought that
Pensavo che
I thought that
Ho sperato che
I hoped that
Speravo che
I hoped that
È stato possibile che
It was possible that
Era possibile che
It was possible that
È stato probablile che
It was probable that
Era probabile che
It was probable that
È stato bene che
It was fine/good that
Era bene che
It was fine/good that
Sarebbe stato bene che
It would have been good that
È stato giusto che
It was right that
Era giusto che
It was right that
È stato meglio che
It was better that
Era meglio che
It was better that
È stato incredible che
It was incredible that
Era incredibile che
It was incredible that
È stato un peccato che
It was a shame that
Era un peccato che
It was a shame that
È stata una vergogna che
It was a disgrace that
Era una vergogna che
It was a disgrace that
È stato normale che
It was normal that
Era normale che
It was normal that
Passato Prossimo Past Subjunctive Phrase Groups 3, 4, and 5
Imperfetto Past Subjunctive Phrase Groups 3, 4, and 5
Non ho saputo che
I didn’t know that
Non sapevo che
I didn’t know that
Non ho saputo dove
I did’t know where
Non sapevo dove
I didn’t know where
Non sono stato sicuro che
I wasn’t sure that
Non ero sicuro che
I wasn’t sure that
Non ho avuto idea che
I had no idea that
Non avevo idea che
I had no idea that
Non vedevo l’ora che…
I couldn’t wait that
Non c’è stato nulla che
There was nothing that
Non c’era nulla che
There was nothing that
Mi è parso* che
It seems to me
Mi pareva che
It seemed to me
Mi è sembrato* che
It seems to me
Mi sembrava che
It seemed to me
(Può darsi che only used in present tense)
(Perhaps)
Ho avuto l’impressione che
I had the impression that
Avevo l’impresione che
I had the impression that
Ho supposto che
I supposed that
Supponevo che
I supposed that
Ho immaginato che
I imagined that
Immaginavo che
I imagined that
Ho sospettato che
I suspected that
Sospettavo che
I suspected that
Ho dubitato che
I doubted that
Dubitavo che
I doubted that
Sono stato(a) convinto che
I was convinced that
Ero convinto che
I was convinced that
(A meno cheonly used in present tense)
(Unless)
Ho convenuto che
It was best that
Conveniva che
It was best that
È bastato(a) che
It was enough that
Bastava che
It was enough that
(Malgrado cheonly used in present tense)
(In spite of that)
Si è detto che
It was said that = One says/said that
Si diceva che
It was said that
Hanno detto che
They said that
Dicevano che
They said that
C’èstatobisognato che
It was necessary that = There was a need for that
Bisognava che
It was necessary that
*Use the phrases“Mi era parso che”and“Mi era sembrato che” when the phrase that follows will refer to another speaker’s actions. Do NOT change the ending of parsoorsembrato. In this case,parsoandsembratorefer to “it” in the phrase, “It seems to me that…” and so are invariable.
However, when saying, “It seems to me…” followed by an adjective that describes how the speaker himself feels about something, the last letter of parsoandsembratomust match in gender and numberwhat is being described.
So, to describe how a beautiful girl seemed to me, I would say: Mi era parsa bella. – or –Mi era sembrata bella. = She seemed beautiful to me.
************************************************
Finally, a word of caution:
DO NOT USE THE SUBJUNCTIVE WITH THE FOLLOWING THREE PHRASES!
Forse =Perhaps
Per me= For me
Secondo me= According to me
The above may seem like exceptions to the rule, but perhaps… because these phrases already express doubt or your personal opinion… in the Italian way of thinking, it would be redundant to use these phrases along with the subjunctive!
How to Conjugate Italian Verbs “Essere,” “Avere,” and “Stare” in the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
Listed in the table below are theimperfettosubjunctive forms for the Italian auxiliary verbsavere, stare,andessere,which are often used with the conditional and past tenses in written and spoken Italian.
In our last two blogs, we showed how to use theimperfettosubjunctive tense with conditional verbs when we need to make hypothetical phrases in Italian. We saw that in these cases, the conjunction“se”for“if”introduces the dependent clause with theimperfettosubjunctive verb.
In this blog, we will focus on the use of theimperfettosubjunctive with the Italian past tense. In these cases, the conjunctionchewill introduce the dependent clause with the imperfettosubjunctive verb.
In our conjugation tables,che is included in parentheses in the subject pronoun column as a reminder that these verb forms are often introduced withthe conjunction che. Also, make sure to include the subject pronoun in your sentence afterchefor clarity, since the singular forms are identical.
Practice theimperfettosubjunctive verbs out loud by sayingche , the subject pronoun and then the correct verb form that follows!
Example Phrases Using “Stare” in the Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood with the Past Tense
To follow are some examples of when the Italian subjunctive mood in the past tense might be used in conversation during daily life.
Notice that English uses the simple past tense to express the same idea, but we use our verbs a bit differently to make the subjunctive. In stead of saying “I was,” we use “I were.” Or, alternatively, “were + infinitive form or gerund. ”
English examples: “If I were to go…” or “If I were going…” Also, “had + past participle,” such as, “If I had seen…”
In ourfirst blog about the subjunctive mood, we presented example sentences usingstare (to stay/to be). We mentioned in our first blog thatstarein the present subjunctive comes up very commonly in email greetings; especially if there has not been recent communication, it is customary to mention a hope that all is well with friends and family. We will present the same examples using a reference to the past to include in conversation.
With these particular phrases in which we talk about “hoping,” in most cases, theimperfettoform of the past tense will be used. However, if we “hope” for just one instant in time, with that time frame mentioned in the sentence, we can use thepassato prossimo,which is given in the same column in blue text.
Past Tense Phrase
Past Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Tu sei stato bene.
You were well.
Speravo che tu stessi bene. Ieri, ho speratoche tu stessibene.
I hoped (was hoping) that you (familiar)were well. Yesterday, I had hopedthat you (familiar) werewell.
Lei è stata bene.
She was well.
Speravo che leistesse bene. Ieri, ho speratoche lei stessebene.
I hoped (was hoping) that she was well . Yesterday, I had hopedthat she waswell.
Lui è stato bene.
He was well.
Speravo che luistessebene. Ieri, ho speratoche lui stessebene ieri.
I hoped (was hoping) that he was well (yesterday). Yesterday, I had hopedthat he waswell.
La famiglia è stata bene.
The family was well.
Speravo che la tua famiglia* stesse bene. L’anno scorso, ho speratoche la tua famiglia stessebene.
I hoped (was hoping) that the family* was well. Last year, I had hoped that the family was well.
Tutti sono stati bene.
Everybody was fine.
Speravo che tutti stessero bene. L’anno scorso, ho speratoche tutti stesserobene.
I hoped (was hoping)that everybody was well. Last year, I had hoped that everybody was fine.
*Famiglia = familyand is a collective noun that takes the third person singular.
Example Phrases Using “Avere” in the Past Tense Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
As we noted inour first blog about the Italian subjunctive,we often close an email with a hope as well—for a nice weekend, for instance, or that we will see the person we have contacted sometime soon.
In a similar way, if we have been separated from someone for some amount of time, when we email or meet that person again, we may include a hope that time spent has gone well in the past. In this case, the phrases we most commonly use will need to useavere (to have) in theimperfettosubjunctive mood.
Again, the examples presented below are from our first blog on this topic. An example of how one might use the same phrase in the past tense is given in theimperfettoform – the most likely form to be used in these examples.
Present Tense Phrase
Past Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Buona settimana!
Have a good week!
Speravo che tuavessiuna buona settimana.
I hoped (was hoping) that you had a good week!
Buon fine settimana!
Have a good weekend!
Speravo che tu avessi un buon fine settimana.
I hoped (was hoping) that you had a good weekend!
Buona giornata.
Buona serata.
Have a good day.
Have a good evening.
Speravo che tu avessi una buona giornata/buona serata.
I hoped (was hoping) that you had a good day/evening.
Example Phrases Using “Essere” in the Past Tense Imperfetto Subjunctive Mood
As we discussed inour first blog on the subjunctive,the verbessere (to be)is commonly used when describing someone’s characteristics to someone else. But what if we are not sure that someone possesses a certain characteristic, or we would like someone to possess a characteristic we fear they may not have?
These thoughts, of course, can take place in the past as easily as in the present. When speaking about the past tense, we must use the imperfetto subjunctive mood in our sentence! Here are a few examples. How many more can you think of?
Present or Past Tense Phrase
Present Tense Subjunctive Phrase
Lei era bella.
She was beautiful.
Mi sembrava che lei fosse bella. Dieci anni fa, mi sono sembratoche lei fossebella.
It seemed to me that she was beautiful = She seemed beautiful to me.Ten years ago, it seemed to methat she was beautiful.
L’insegnante era simpatico.
The teacher was nice.
Speravo che l’insegnante fosse simpatico.
I hoped (was hoping)that the teacher was nice.
Dioèin cielo.
God is in heaven.
Credevo che Dio fosse in cielo. Quando aveva dieci anni, ho credutoche Dio fossein cielo.
I believed that God was in heaven. When I was ten years old, I believed that God was in heaven.
L’attriceerabrava in quel film.
The actress was great in that film.
Pensavo che l’attrice fosse brava in quel film.
I thought that the actress was great in that film.
Lui erafortunato.
He was fortunate.
Credevo che lui fosse fortunato. L’anno scorso, ho creduto che lui fosse fortunato.
I believedthat he was fortunate. Last year, I believed that he was fortunate.
Lei eracontenta.
She was happy.
Mi pareva che lei fosse contenta. Il mese scorsa, mi parevo che lei fosse contenta.
It seemed to me that she was happy = She seemed happy to me. Last month, it seemed to methat she was happy.
Loro erano bravi cantanti.
They were wonderful singers.
Può darsiche lorofosserobravi cantanti quando erano giovani.
Perhapsthey were wonderful singers when they were young.
Let’s see how this works in the past tense, in a situation when one might have “wondered if…” something might have happened.
“Mi chiedevo…”literally means,“I asked myself,”which translates into“I wondered.” At first glance, it may seem likechiedersishould fall into the category of improbable hypothetical phrases – especially when this verb is followed byse, such as in the phrase “I wondered if…” But, as we’ve learned in previous blogs, instead,chiedersifollows the same rules as our verbs of uncertainty in Rule 4.
Therefore, whenchiedersiis used in the past tense, the phrase that follows will take theimperfettosubjunctive and the trapassatosubjunctive forms.
Here are our previous examples for when one is wondering in the past tense about something that may have happened in either the present or the past.
Mi chiedevose lui fosse un attore bravo in quel film. I wonderedif he isa great actor in that film.
Mi chiedevose lui fosse statoun attore bravo in quel film. I wondered if he wasa great actor in that film.
Now that we are speaking in Italian in the past tense, we may want to use some of these expressions to refer to recent or more remote past events.
Notice from the list below thatieri(yesterday/last)is used to refer to specific times during the day. Ieriis invariable (the ending does not change). The ending forscorso(last)is gender specific (the ending changes to reflect the gender of the noun it describes).
stamattina
this morning
ieri
yesterday
l’altro ieri
the day before yesterday
ieri mattina
yesterday morning
ieri pomeriggio
yesterday afternoon
ieri sera
yesterday evening
ieri notte
last night
scorso(a)
last
l’anno scorso
last year
il mese scorso
last month
la settimana scorsa
last week
lunedì scorso
last Monday
martedì scorso
last Tuesday
mercoledì scorso
last Wednesday
giovedì scorso
last Thursday
venerdì scorso
last Friday
sabato scorso
last Saturday
domenica scorsa
last Sunday
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Italian Subjunctive Past Tense (Part 1): Speak Italian!
TheConversational Italian for Travelers textbook begins each chapter with a dialogue from a story about the character Caterina, an American girl who travels to Italy to visit her relatives. As the story continues from one chapter to the next, we learn Italian, and about Italy, in an engaging way through Caterina’s experiences.
Italian hosts are found throughout Italy, as a multitude of tourists from all countries of the world visit the bustling cities, ancient mountain towns and stunning seaside resorts that Italy is known for. And, Italian hospitality is well-known to those who visit Italy. Italian hosts in family restaurants or shops even invite guests in with the exclamation, “Benvenuti!” “Welcome all!”
In our story, Caterina is a guest at the house of her Italian cousin Pietro and his wife Francesca. She counts herself lucky to have family to visit in Italy, and her visit is in turn celebrated by her Italian hosts. A warm, “welcome-home” dinner is planned upon her arrival and she is able to relax and visit with her cousins, grandmother and nephew on the first night of her Italian vacation.
Feel free to listen in on Caterina and her relatives on the day of her arrival to her cousin Pietro’s house with our FREE audio dialogue from “Chapter 7 – A Family Reunion” on www.LearnTravelItalian.com.
The Cultural Note below, adapted from the textbook found on Amazon.com,Conversational Italian for Travelers, gives some general guidelines about the Italian one needs to know to talk about celebrations in Italy and address Italian hosts and their guests. —Kathryn Occhipinti
Italian Cultural Note: Italian Hosts and their Guests
Several Italian words are commonly used to refer to hosts and their guests that sound very much like their English counterparts. But, beware! Despite similar pronunciation, the meaning of these words in Italian is often different from the English definition. Here are short but important explanations to clarify these issues.
Let’s start with an Italian word we already know:l’hostess. In Chapter 1 of ourConversational Italian for Travelers textbook, we learned that this word meansstewardessand that a man working the same job is referred to aslo steward.
The wordl’hostessdoes not have any other meaning in Italian, other thanstewardess. So, other Italian words must be substituted for the English wordhostess(a woman who has invited others to a gathering or party or to stay in her home).
L’ospitecan be used to refer tothe hostessof a party in Italy. However,l’ospiteis also commonly used to refer tothe guest!
Several common phrases can be used to clarify the situation…
For ahostessorhostwho has invited people into their home, the titles“la padrona di casa”or“il padrone di casa”are used.
For a party given outside the home, you can use the phrase,“la persona che invita”to refer tobothafemaleormale host. It should be noted here that, althoughpersonais a feminine word in Italian, it refers to all human beings, male and female; the plural would bele persone,of course!
To refer to anorganizer/coordinatorof an event or party, use,“l’organizzatore/l’organizzatrice della festa.”
Below is a table that summarizes these points:
l’ospite
host, hostess guest
*
*
la padrona (di casa)
hostess (at her home)/homeowner, mistress
il padrone (di casa)
host (at his home)/homeowner, boss older meanings: ruler, master, lord (landowner)
*
*
la persona che invita
host or hostess (for event or party outside the home)
l’organizzatore
host/organizer/coordinator (for event or party outside the home)
*
*
l’organizzatrice
hostess/organizer/coordinator (for event or party outside the home)
Here are some phrases to that refer to the type of celebration you may be invited to while in Italy by your Italian friends. If you stay in Italy long enough, you are sure to run into a street fair or parade on a feast day, or a wedding or other holiday celebration. “Buon divertimento!”“Have a good time!”
la festa/le feste
holiday(s), celebration(s) party(ies)
*
*
la festa di compleanno
birthday party
la festivà
religious holiday
*
*
fare una festa
to have/make a party
festeggiare
to celebrate or have a celebration to observe a holiday
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
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? Have you ever wondered aboutifsomethinghad happenedin the pastwhat the consequencesmight have been?How would you express this idea in Italian? Well, we can express hypothetical, or “if” ideas, called hypothetical phrases, in several ways in Italian and often with the Italiansubjunctive mood that we have been focusing on in this series!
This is the fifth blog post in the “Speak Italian” series that focuses on how to use the Italian subjunctive mood, or“il congiuntivo,”and will include Italian hypothetical phrases.
To take that giant step from simple beginning sentences to more complex and fluid sentences in Italian, in this segment, we will discusshow to form Italian hypothetical phrases forprobable andimpossible “if” situationsin the pastin Italian.
We will learn how to conjugate theItalian trapassato subjunctive mood and how to form the Italian past conditionaltense. With these two tenses, we will be able to construct sentences that refer to the past usingItalian hypothetical phrases.
We will also introduce thepassato remotopast tense that is used to describe actions that began and were completed in the past when narrating a story. See the next blog in this series for more on thepassato remoto.
An example story will start our discussion. This story is about an Italian mother and daughter, Francesca and Maria, who are preparing a welcoming party for an Italian-American relative who is visiting the family for the first time. You may remember the characters from our recent Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice blog posts.
In the first three blog posts in the “Speak Italian” series about thesubjunctive mood (“il congiuntivo”), we have presented Italian phrases that take the Italian subjunctive mood in the present and past tenses.
In this blog post, we will focus on how to constructItalian hypothetical phrasesfor events that have occurredin the past, as well as the different Italian verb forms needed forprobable past and impossible past situations.
Read our “real-life”story for examples that can be used as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian. Then next time you are wondering about something that might have happened in the past, start a conversation and useItalian hypothetical phrases!
Enjoy the fith blog post in this series,“Italian Subjunctive Mood (Part 5): Italian Hypothetical Phrases – Italian Family Reunion! —Kathryn Occhipinti
When reading the story below, notice the use of theimperfettopast tense (for making general statements about the past) and thepassato remotopast tense (for describing actions that began and were completed in the past). Thepassato remotopast tense will be in italic, and more details will follow about this tense in the next blog.
For this blog, focus on the construction ofItalian hypothetical phrasesthat refer to events that have occurred in the past, which have been underlined for easy identification.
Italian Hypothetical Phrases in the Past: A Family Reunion
It was a lovely spring day in April in the mountains of Abruzzo. Frances and her daughter Mary met at Frances’ house in order to plan a party.
Era un bel giorno di aprile nelle montagne abruzzesi. Francesca e sua figlia, che si chiama Maria, si sono incontrate a casa di Francesca per organizzare una festa.
They wanted this party to be very special because Francesca’s cousin Rudy, who lives in America, was coming to Italy for the first time.
Loro volevano che questa festa fosse bellissima, perché il cugino di Francesca, Rudy, che abita in America, veniva a visitare l’Italia per la prima volta.
“Tell me again how Great Uncle Mark, cousin Rudy’s grandfather, saved our family in Italy,” Mary asked her mother.
“Raccontami ancora come il prozio Marco, il nonno del cugino Rudolfo, ha salvato la nostra famiglia in Italia,” Maria ha chiesto a sua madre.
Frances replied (to her) with the following story:
Francesca le ha risposto con la storia qui di seguito:
Great grandmother Mary had a brother, whose name was Mark.
La bisnonna Maria aveva un fratello, che si chiamava Marco.
Great Uncle Mark left Italy and went to live in America with his family in 1920.
Il prozio Marcolasciòl’Italia eandòa vivere in America con la sua famiglia nel 1920.
He had to leave Italy to find work, because after World War I there was no work in Italy.
Dovettelasciarel’Italia per trovare lavoro, perchè dopo la Prima Guerra Mondiale, non c’era lavoro in Italia.
Right after Uncle Mark had left Italy, great grandmother’s husband died, and she was left all alone to raise their three children.
Subito dopo che lo zio Marcolasciòl’Italia, il marito della bisnonnamorì, e lei era da sola a crescere i suoi tre figli.
In Italy in the early 1900’s, if a woman didn’t have a husband, usually she was not able to support her family.
In Italia negli anni del primo novecento,se una donna non aveva un marito,normalmente non poteva mantenere la famiglia.
At that time, if a woman wanted to work, she could be a teacher or a seamstress.
A quel tempo,se una donna voleva lavorare,poteva fare l’insegnante o la sarta.
Grandmother Mary was a teacher before she was married.
La bisnonna Maria era un’insegnante prima di sposarsi.
But with three children it was not possible for her to leave the house to work.
Ma con tre figli, non era possibile per lei uscire di casa per lavorare.
So, Uncle Mark worked in America and sent money to Italy.
E così, lo zio Marco lavorava in America e mandava i soldi in Italia.
If Uncle Mark had not sent money to Grandmother Mary, she and the children could have starved to death.
Se lo zio Marco non avesse mandatoi soldi alla bisnonna Maria,lei e i figli sarebbero potuti moriredi fame.
At the end of this story, Mary said, “And if Uncle Mark had not helped Grandmother Mary, you and I would not be here today!”
Alla fine della storia, Maria ha detto, “Ese lo zio Marco non avesse aiutatola bisnonna Maria,tu e io non saremmo quioggi!”
Probably not,” replied Frances. “But fortunately, Uncle Mark was a good person. And so is our cousin Rudy. Let’s organize a wonderful party!”
“Probabilmente no,” ha risposto Francesca. “Ma fortunatamente, lo zio Marco era una persona perbene. E anche nostro cugino Rudy è così. Organizziamo una festa meravigliosa!”
Thepassato remotoform of the Italian past tense is used in textbooks to describe historical events that took place centuries ago, and also in textbooks that describe art history. It has been used in our dialogue for this blog in order to tell our story. So, we will say a few words about thepassato remotohere.
Outside of scholarly works written in Italian, thepassato remotois still commonly found as a narrative tool in novels and other forms of fiction written today.
In fiction today, the author of a novel will often use thepassato remoto verb form for the voice of the narrator. Thepassato remotois said to be useful for the “detached” feeling it gives to Italian narration of descriptive passages that take place in the “remote past” of a character’s life. There is no equivalent form in English to express this “detached” feeling of the “remote” past.
The passato prossimoandimperfettoverb forms are the past tense forms usually used by the author of an Italian novel for his characters, which is said to give a “realistic” feeling to the dialogue.
In another blog, we will focus on thepassato remotopast tense and delve more deeply into its uses and conjugations. So, stay tuned for more on thepassato remotopast tense!
How to Make a Hypothetical “If” Phrase in Italian—and Refer to the Past “Periodo Ipotetico con ‘Se’ in Passato”
To express complex thoughts and feelings, human beings have developed “hypothetical phrases”—phrases that enable us to think or wonder about situations that could occur. For instance, how many times have we said, “If I had…”or “If I were…”?
Hypothetical phrases are composed using several different verb forms in English and Italian. For our first blog post on this topic, we talked about which Italian verb forms to use for the probable and improbable situations that are useful for every day conversation in the present.
To read our discussion on Italian hypothetical phrases that refer to the present, read our last blog, Italian Hypothetical Phrases of Love. We will now continue our discussion of Italian hypothetical phrases in this blog by describing how these phrases can be used to refer to the past.
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When we want to express the idea thatsomething may have happenedin the past in English, we most often start with a phrase that begins with the conjunction“if.”The conjunction “if” starts a dependent clause in which we will describe aconditionthat could have caused something else to happen. This dependent clause is then linked to a main clause that will describe theimpending resultorconsequencethat could have happened in the past.
This sentence structure is the same in Italian, and the hypothetical clause in Italian starts with the word“se.” A hypothetical phrase is called a“periodo ipotetico.”
We will now continue our discussion of the different types of hypothetical phrases by focusing on conditions in the past and their consequences in the past or present. This will give depth to our Italian conversations. In the cases that we will present, knowledge of English will be very helpful. Read the technical information, but then focus on the actual phrases and you will soon see how thinking in English and Italian for this subject is really very similar!
Speak Italian: Italian Hypothetical Phrases – PastYou Will Need to Know…
How to Make Italian Hypothetical PhrasesProbable Situations – Past
Probable hypothetical phrases that refer to the past describe situations that were likely to have happened in the past.
We can talk about these past situations as if we really knew they had happened by using the knowledge we have learned directly – from a particular individual or source in the present, or indirectly- by making assumptions gained from history.
In probable situations that took place in the past, the statedconditiongiven in the “if” clause is a condition that the subject likely experienced in the past and theconsequencethat will follow is a situation thatis thought to have almost certainly happened.
Examples usually given for a probable hypothetical phrase in the past often relate to historical situations that we know in general to be true, such as, “If you were one of the first settlers in America, your life was hard.” We all know that given the condition just described, the resulting situation must have happened to some extent!
The “if” phrase does not need to start the sentence, although it remains the dependent clause. Here is our example sentence again: “Your life was hardif you were one of the first settlers in America.”
To Summarize: Hypothetical Phrases for Probable Situations – Past
Italian Hypothetical Phrases—Probable Situations – Past
Theconditiondescribed in the “if” clause and the consequence that followed in the past were probable; both almost certainly did happen.
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How to Make Italian Hypothetical PhrasesProbable Situations – Past
If + Past Tense Verb > Past Tense Verb
Now read the following table, which describes the sentence structure and the verb forms to use when creating a hypothetical sentence for a probable situation that occurred in the past. This table compares how English and Italian approach this type of speech.
Italian Hypothetical Phrases: Probable Situations – Past
English
Italian
Condition(If)
If
Simple Past Tense
Se +
Passato Prossimo-or-
Imperfetto Past Tense
Consequence (Probable Result)
Simple Past Tense
Passato Prossimo-or-
Imperfetto Past Tense
From the table above, it is easy to see that English and Italian both express hypothetical, probable situations that could have occurred in the past in a very similar way!
In English and Italian, for our condition in the dependent clause, we start with the conjunction“if”(“se”in Italian) and then most often use the simple past tense. For Italian, then thepassato prossimoorimperfettopast tense may be used.
For the consequence in the main clause, the past tense will be again used for both English and Italian.
You may remember from our first blog on hypothetical phrases that no special tense is necessary for probable situations that occur in the present. We used only our usual indicative present and future tenses, given the certainty we have that these probable situations will occur. And it is the same with probable situations that have likely occurred in the past! No special tense is needed!
To follow are some examples of the probable hypothetical situation in the past from our dialogue, with our “if” condition and the consequence phrases underlined:
In Italy in the early 1900’s, if a woman didn’t have a husband, usually she was not able to support her family.In Italia negli anni del primo novecento,se una donna non aveva un marito,normalmente non poteva mantenere la famiglia.
At that time, if a woman wanted to work, she could be a teacher or a seamstress.A quel tempo,se una donna voleva lavorare,poteva fare l’insegnante o la sarta.
Speak Italian: Italian Hypothetical Phrases – PastYou Will Need to Know…
How to Make Italian Hypothetical Phrases Impossible Situations -Past
Impossible hypothetical phrases in the past describe situations that did not actually take place in the past.
These situations are called “impossible” because the condition given refers to a past event that could not have been acted upon in the past and is also not something one can act on in the present. Instead, these types of phrases are used in order to “wonder” out loud or “suppose” what could have happened in a particular situation if things had been different in the past from what we know to be true.
Stated another way: in impossible hypothetical situations of the past, since the statedconditiongiven in the “if” clause in the past and did not happen, it could not have been used to change the situation. But, we can still speculate on what the outcome might have been. Theconsequencethat might have followed can refer either to the past or to the present.
The often used phrase, “If I had known…” is a good example of an impossible hypothetical condition. Here, the condition as stated did not happen – the persondid notknow something at the time, which was in the past and is now over. This in turn makes the outcome, either in the past or the present, pure speculation.
With an impossible hypothetical situation, there may be a note of regret in the statement, as the individual describes how he/she would like things to have been different now that the past event has ended. Perhaps this individual might say, “If I had knownshe needed me,I would have beenat home.” Or, “If I had knownhe was sick,I would have brought him some medicine.”
Or, another example that describes how he/she sees that things could have been different now: If Ann and her ex-boyfriend Paul had gotten back together, she would not behappy now.*
The “if” phrase does not need to start the sentence, although it remains the dependent clause. Here is our first example sentence again: “I would have been at home if I had knownshe needed me.”
In fact, I always remember this type of Italian sentence with the following rule:If you start an Italian sentence with the present or past conditional tense, the subjunctive mood must followin the next phrase!
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*(Do you recognize this sentence from our last blog on hypothetical phrases? Here the speaker is making a supposition about the past – that in fact it was possible for Anna and her ex-boyfriend to get together, and then speculating about how Anna would feel about this today. Neither the condition nor the consequence have taken place, however. In the dialogue, we learn that Anna does not regret that she is no longer seeing her ex-boyfriend. She has a new boyfriend and is actually very happy.)
To Summarize: Impossible Situations – Past
Italian Hypothetical Phrases— Impossible Situations – Past
Theconditiondescribed in the “if” clause isimpossible as it did not happen and is a supposition about the past; therefore the condition cannot lead to the result in the consequencespeculated about, either in the past or the present.
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How to Make Italian Hypothetical PhrasesImpossible Situations – Past
If +TrapassatoSubjunctive> Past Conditional or Present Conditional Verb
Now read the following table, which describes the sentence structure and the verb forms to use when creating a hypothetical sentence for an impossible situation when we want to speculate about something that might have happened in the past. This table compares how English and Italian approach this type of speech.
The examples given use the first person“I”or“io”subject pronoun, as this is the most common form to use in conversation, but of course all subject pronouns and their respective verb conjugations are possible.
Italian Hypothetical Phrases: Impossible Situations – Past Consequence –Past
English
Italian
Condition (If:Supposition)
If +
Past Pluperfect (I had + past participle)
Se +
Trapassato Subjunctive (io avessi/fossi + past participle)
Consequence (Speculation)
Conditional + Present Perfect (I could, would, should +have + past participle)
Past Conditional (io avrei/sarei + past participle)
Italian Hypothetical Phrases: Impossible Situations – Past Consequence –Present
English
Italian
Condition (If: Supposition)
If +
Past Pluperfect (I had + past participle)
Se +
Trapasatto Subjunctive (io avessi/fossi + past participle)
Consequence (Speculation)
Present Conditional
Present Conditional
The table above shows that English and Italian speakers think alike, although this may not be so evident to the English speaker at first.
1.In English and Italian, for the condition that we are wondering about in the dependent clause, we start with the conjunction“if”(“se”in Italian), and then use the past tense form that indicates an event that was both started and competed in the past. These are thought of as “remote” events.
In English, a remote event that was started and completed in the past uses the helping verb “had,“(rather than have) prior to adding on the past participle. Who remembers this from English class? Chances are we English speakers do this naturally, but now that we are learning Italian, our English grammar surfaces again!
When we see the “had”+ verb in English,this should alert us that in Italian we must use thetraspassato subjunctive! (io avessi/io fossi + past participle)!
2. For both English and Italian, the main clause that describes the speculative consequence with reference to the past will use the past conditional; to refer to the present simply use the present conditional.
To form the past conditional In English, we use one of our helping verbs – could, should, would, and add the present perfect tense (actually a past tense):“have + past participle”).
To form the past conditional in Italian, we use theimperfetto subjunctiveforms of “to have” and “to be” (examples:ioavrei or io sarei)+ past participle.
Below are some examples of phrases that used impossible hypothetical situations from our dialogue, with our condition and consequence phrases underlined.
Se Anna e il suo ex-fidanzato Paolo si fossero riconciliati, lei non sarebbe felice ora. If Ann and her ex-boyfriend Paul had gotten back together, she would not behappy now.
If Uncle Mark had not sent money to Grandmother Mary, she and the children could have starved to death. Se lo zio Marco non avesse mandatoi soldi alla bisnonna Maria,lei e i figli sarebbero potuti moriredi fame.
At the end of this story, Mary said, “And if Uncle Mark had not helped Grandmother Mary, you and I would not be here today!”Alla fine della storia, Maria ha detto, “Ese lo zio Marco non avesse aiutatola bisnonna Maria,tu e io non saremmo quioggi!”
Speak Italian: Italian Hypothetical Phrases – PastYou Will Need to Know…
How to Make Italian Hypothetical Phrases in the Past Tense with “Come se”and“Magari”
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In our previous blog on Italian hypothetical phrases, Italian Subjunctive (Part 4): Italian Hypothetical Phrases of Love, we discussed the expressions,“Come se…”(as if) and “Magari“(If only, I wish). We mentioned that the phrases “come se” and “magari” fall into the realm of improbable hypothetical phrases in the present tense, and therefore always take theimperfettosubjunctive verb form.
We also mentioned that, In the past tense, the phrases “come se”and“magari” will be followed by thetrapassato subjunctiveverb form. If we think a little about what these phrases mean in the past tense – a wishful thinking about something in the past that therefore cannot be changed – we can see now that we are in the category of impossible hypothetical phrases.
In English, as in Italian, the above phrase and words will also take the subjunctive form in the past tense. Either the more recent or remote past tense form can be used in English, depending on the situation.
Il mio amico inglese non aveva practicamente accento quando lui parlava in italiano,come se fosse stato un vero italiano! My British friend had virtually no accent when he spoke Italian, as if he (were/had been) a real Italian!
Mi ha mostrato le scarpe più costose che aveva,come se io fossi stata ricca! She showed me the most expensive shoes she had,as if I were rich!”
Magari, questofosse statopossibile! I wish/If only thishad beenpossible!
Speak Italian: Italian Hypothetical Phrases of LoveYou Will Need to Know…
How to Make Italian Hypothetical Phrases in the Past Tense with “Chiedersi”
Let’s see how this works in the past tense, in a situation when one might have “wondered if…” something might have happened.
“Mi chiedevo…”literally means,“I asked myself,”which translates into“I wondered.” At first glance, it may seem likechiedersishould fall into the category of improbable hypothetical phrases – especially when this verb is followed byse, such as in the phrase “I wondered if…” But, as we’ve learned in ourvery first blog about the Italian subjunctive mood,chiedersifollows the same pattern as the verbs in Rule 4.
We will learn in the next blog that these verbs, in the past tense, take theimperfettosubjunctive and the trapassatosubjunctive forms.
For now, here are some examples for when one is wondering in the past tense about something in the present and the past. And “stay tuned” to our later blog posts to learn how to use these tenses for all phrases that take the subjunctive mood in the past tense!
Mi chiedevose lui fosse un attore bravo in quel film. I wonderedif he isa great actor in that film.
Mi chiedevose lui fosse statoun attore bravo in quel film. I wondered if he wasa great actor in that film.
We have already learned in our last blog on this topic that themost commonly usedimprobable hypothetical phrasesbegin with the words,“If I were…”or“If I had…”
So in Italian, the two most important phrases of this type to remember are,“Se io fossi…”and“Se io avessi…”using theimperfettosubjunctive conjugations foressereandavere.
To form thetrapassatosubjunctive mood forimpossible hypothetical phrases in the past tense, we need only toadd the past participleto the initial phrases above!
So in Italian, the two most important phrases of this type to remember are,“Se io fossi stato…”and“Se io avessi avuto…”using thetraspassatosubjunctive conjugations foressereandavere.
In English, however, any event that started and was completed in the past simply needs “had” inserted in front of the past participle! This is a bit easier than Italian, but with a little practice, you will get used to the Italian in no time!
For examples using these verbs in Italian, please see the previous and following sections.
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Below are thetrapassatosubjunctive mood conjugations for the auxiliary verbsavereandessere, using the past participles for two Italian verbs that are commonly used in this tense –fareandandare.
Remember that action verbs of direction, reflexive verbs, other verbs of growing and changing, andpiacereall takeessereas a helping verb when making these compound verbs. All other verbs takeavere. If you need a review of the use of helping verbs for the Italian past tense, please refer to our blog Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
You will notice thataverehas a regular conjugation in theimperfettosubjunctive mood, whereas essere has an irregular conjugation. The past participle forfare (fatto)is irregular, but that ofandare(andato)is regular. If you need a refresher on how to form past participles, please refer to our blog Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
In hypothetical clauses, because the trapassatosubjunctive mood is introduced byse,(se)is included in the subject pronoun column as a reminder. When conjugating these verbs, say“se”before the subject pronoun and each verb form to reinforce this way of thinking!
Avere (to have) + Fare (to do/make) — Trapassato Subjunctive Mood
The conditional tense is used to make a polite request, as we learned way back in Chapter 4 of ourConversational Italian for Travelerstextbook, when we discussed how to use the wordvorrei, which means “I would like”or “I wish.” In the “Important Phrases” section of Chapter 16, we also learned how to use the wordvorremmo, which means,“we would like,”to place an order for the group at a table in a restaurant.
Notice that the meaning of a conditional verb is rendered in English with the combination of “would + infinitive verb.” The conditional tense, in summary, expresses a want or wish, an intention, a duty, or a preference.
The method used to form the stems for the Italian conditional tense is exactly the same as the method to form the Italian future tense. Also, the irregular stems for the conditional tense are identical to those for the future tense. The Italian conditional endings are always regular and will be the same for all three conjugations!
Please see Chapters 17 and 18 of the Conversational Italian for Travelerstextbook for a review of how to conjugate the conditional tense in Italian.
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Italian Subjunctive (Part 5) : Italian Hypothetical Phrases – Italian Family Reunion
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 youtalk about Italian movies?Or any movie, using Italian terms? Do you know the correct phrases to use to talk aboutlove and relationships in Italian?
Can you speak Italian the way you would speak in your native language, with complex and varied sentences? This is more difficult than it may seem at first, and it’s something that I am always working on!
This series will focus on the situations that 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 how to use essential grammar, such as how to use the words “che”and“qualche,” how to make phrases to describe beginnings and endings, how to formItalian directandindirect object pronouns,andhow to make command phrases.
If you need to refresh your memory about how to say, “I love you” in Italian, please visit the third blog post in this series,Speak Italian: A Story About… Love!
In the“Speak Italian” blog series, a short essay or dialogue in Italian will be presented about a common 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 or to practice verb conjugation! Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you must speak Italian in your next conversation!
Enjoy the fourth topic in this series,“Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love” —Kathryn Occhipinti
In the dialogue to follow, we listen in on a telephone call between two good Italian friends who are sharing thoughts about a famous Italian movie. The movie is about a love story that takes place during World War II. Common idiomatic expressions used when talking with a friend, vocabulary related to the movies, and phrases about love have been underlined.
Listening to foreign films is a wonderful way to learn another language. The movie described contains short sentences spoken in clear Italian and is a good place to start to build a vocabulary about relationships and love. Spoiler alert: The only real violence is at the very end of the movie, although the movie title isViolent Summer.
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love
Una sera, il telefono di Maria ha squillato. Era Francesca, la migliore amica di Maria. One evening, Maria’s telephone rang. It was Francesca, Maria’s best friend.
“Maria! Sono io! Come stai?Puoi parlare per un attimo?” “Maria! It’s me! How are you? Can you talk for a bit?”
“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?” “But of course, Maria. What happened?”
“Niente. Voglio solamentefare due chiacchere.” “Nothing. I just want us tochat for a bit.”
“Dimmi.” “Tell me!”
“Stasera ho vistoun bel filmche si chiama,Estate Violentadi Valerio Zurlini.” “Tonight I sawa wonderful moviecalledViolent Summer, by Valerio Zurlini.”
“Mamma mia! Chetitoloterribile! Ma, dove l’hai visto? Non ho mai sentito parlare diquestofilm.” “Wow! What a terriblename (title). But where did you see it? I’ve never heard aboutthisfilm.”
“A casa mia. Ho comprato il DVD su Amazon. Èun film del 1959, con Eleonora Rossi Drago e Jean-Louis Trintignant, due stelledel cinema europeo.” “At my house. I bought the DVD on Amazon. It isa movie from 1959, with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Jean-Louis Trintignant, two starsof European movies.”
“Non mi dire! Edi cosa parla questo film?” “You don’t say! Andwhat is this film about?”
E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto: And this is what Frances said:
“È un film molto importantenella storia del cinema italianoperchéè ambientatoalla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. “It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinemabecauseit takes placeat the end of the Second World War.
È un film molto lirico e appasisonato, perché èuna storia d’amore. It is a very lyrical and passionate film, because it isa love story.
La storiadei due personaggi principaliè cominciata quandoi due amantisi sono incontrati sulla spiaggia a Rimini. The storyof the two main charactersstarted whenthe two loversmet each other for the first time on the beach at Rimini.
La donna, che si chiamava Roberta, aveva i capelli biondi e una bellezza naturale, anche senza trucco. Lei aveva quasi trent’anni. The woman, called Roberta, had blond hair and a natural beauty, even without makeup. She was about thirty years old.
Suo marito, che era un capitano nell’esercito italiano, era appena morto. Roberta aveva una figlia di tre anni e viveva con la madre a Rimini, per scappare dalla guerra a Bologna. Her husband, who was a captain in the Italian army, had just died. She had a three-year-old daughter and lived with her mother at Rimini, in order to escape from the war in Bologna.
Robertaha incontrato un ragazzoche si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia. Robertamet a boy who was called Carl and who was much younger than her, during an air raid on the beach.
Il momento in cui Carlo ha visto Roberta,gli è piaciuta subito. Dopoil primo incontrosulla spiaggia, luiha perso la testaper lei. When Carl first saw Roberta,he liked her right away. Aftertheir first meetingon the beach, helost his headover her (English = fell head over heels for her/fell madly in love with her).
Cosi, Carlo ha incominciatoa fare la corte aRoberta. So, Carlstarted to courtRoberta. (English = Carl tried to get Roberta to be his girlfriend.)
Dopo un po’, i due hanno cominciato auscire insieme.Si sono vistiogni giorno. A Roberta piaceva moltoil suo rapportocon Carlo.Lo amava. After a while, the two of them startedto go out together.They saw each otherevery day. And Roberta really likedher relationshipwith Carl.She loved him.
Ma alla madre di Roberta non piacevail comportamento di Roberta, perchéera insiemeaun ragazzo molto più giovane di lei.Sua madre esigeva che Robertasmettesse di frequentareCarlo. But Roberta’s mother did not likeRoberta’s behavior, becauseshe was witha boy much younger than her. Her mother demanded that Robertastop seeingCarl.
Roberta non ascoltava la madre. Si era resa conto che solamente Carlo era l’uomo per lei. Roberta didn’t listen to her mother. She realized that Carl was the man for her.
A un certo punto,gli amantihanno provato a scappare a Bologna in treno. At a certain point,the loverstried to escape to Bologna on the train.
Ma è successa una cosa brutta che io non ti dirò perché spero chetu guaderai questo film.” But something bad happened that I will not tell you because I hope thatyou will watch this film.”
“Dai, dimmi!” “Come on, tell me!”
“Sfortunamentela loro storiasi è chiusain malo modo. Invece, speravo chela loro storiafosseterminatabene.Non ne voglio parlare.” “Unfortunately, their romanceended in a bad way. I wish thattheir storyhadendedin a good way instead.I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Capisco. La fine della storiafra Roberta e Carlo era molto triste. Non mi piace quando la fine di un film è cosi.” “I understand. The end of the relationshipbetween Roberta and Carlo was very sad. I don’t like when a film ends like this.”
“Ma gli attorihanno ricitato le loro partemolto bene in questo film. Se vuoi, ti lo do e puoi vedere per te stessa.” “But the actorsplayed their partsvery well in this film. If you want, I will give it to you, and you can see for yourself.”
“Grazie. Dammelo! Mi è piaciutol’ultimo DVD che mi hai dato il mese scorso. Parliamone dopo!” “Thank you. Give it to me!I really enjoyedthe last DVD that you gave me last month. We’ll talk about it later!”
“Si certamentevale la penaguardare questo fillm! Ed anche per capire l’Italia durante il dopoguerra.” “Yes, it is certainlyworth itto see (watch) this movie! And to understand Italy during the aftermath of the war.”
“Ci parliamo dopo etu dimmi che ne pensi!” “We’ll talk to each other later, andyou tell me what you think (about it)!”
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
Commands That Use “Fare”
We will now revisit the verbfare, which often comes up when someone needs to/must do something or requests that someone else do something. To ask for a favor politely, you could use the (by now, well-known) verbpuòwithfareto make the phrase,“Mi può farmi un favore?”for “Could you do me a favor?” More often, the same request is made between two people who know each other well using the familiar command form of this phrase: “Fammi un favore!”for “Do me a favor!Piacerealso works interchangeably withfavorein this expression, as in, “Fammi un piacere!”
Notice that, when attaching an object pronoun or reflexive pronoun to the familiar command verbfa, the first letter of the pronoun is doubled. This holds true for all indirect object pronouns exceptgli (mi, ti, le, ci, vi) and all direct object pronouns(mi,ti, lo, la, ci, andvi). Below are some commonly used expressions that combine the command form offarewith different pronouns.
Fammi un favore!
Do me a favor!
Fammi un piacere!
Do me a favor!
Fatti vedere!
Come and see me! (lit. Make yourself seen!)
Fatti sentire!
Call me! (lit. Make yourself heard!)
Fallo!
Do it!
Fammican also be used in an idiomatic way, with the meaning,“let me,”when followed by an infinitive verb, such as “Fammi vedere”for “Let me see”or “Fammi chiamare”for “Let me call.”
Fammi vedere…
Let me see…
Fammi chiamare…
Let me call…
Two additional important familiar commands with indirect direct object pronouns:
Dimmi!
Tell me!
Dammi!
Give me!
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
How to Say “Myself, Himself, Herself”
To emphasize that one has done something for “himself,” we can use the following phrases in Italian listed below.Stesso(a)is the singular form for “self,” andstesso(i) is the plural form. The usual rules for Italian masculine(o,i)and feminine(a,e)endings apply. Remember that the“i”ending applies to a group of all males and to both males and females.
me stesso(a)
myself
te stesso(a)
yourself
se stesso(a)
himself/herself
noi stessi(e)
ourselves
voi stessi(e)
yourselves
loro stessi(e)
themselves
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
How to Talk About Beginnings and What Comes Before
When the reference is about something that has happened “in the beginning,” we can use one of the following three phrases. These phrases can be placed at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
all’inizio
at the beginning
al principio
at the beginning
All’inizio del film, Roberta e Carlo si sono incontrati. Roberta e Carlo si sono incontrati al inizio del film. Roberta and Carlo meet each other at the beginning of the film.
When the reference to “beginning” is about the beginning of a career, the following phrase is appropriate:
l’esordio
the beginning
L’esorido della mia carriera era molto difficile. The beginning of my career was very difficult.
The wordprimomeansfirst and is one of the ordinal numbers (the ordinal numbers are first, second, third…). Remember that the endings of the ordinal numbers will change in Italian to reflect the gender and number of the noun modified. So when talking aboutthe first of several things, we can useprimoand change the ending to match the noun it follows, as below:
il primo
first
(la prima, i primi, le prime)
first
il primo piano
the first floor (one up from the ground floor in an Italian building)
il primo tempo il secondo tempo
the first part/the second part (phrases used in early Italian movie theaters when a movie would be shown with an intermission)
la prima volta
the first time (general phrase to refer to the time something happened)
la prima classe
the first class
la prima cosa
the first thing
Per prima cosa…
(For) the first thing… (useperto show intent)
La prima cosa è molto importante. The first thing is very important.
Per prima cosa di mattino, mi preparo un buon caffè.. First thing in the morning, I will make myself a good (cup of) coffee.
Here are some additional important expressions that useprimato denote important “firsts”:
a prima vista
at first sight/at a glance
a tutta prima
at first sight/on first impression
prima visione
first run of a movie or show (premiere)
prima puntata
first episode (TV series) (premiere)
prima serata
first night of a performance (show) (premiere)
prima squadra
first team (sports)
prima base
first base
prima pagina
first page/front page (newspaper, magazine)
opera prima
first work/debut of a novel or film
in prima battuta
as a first step
in prima istanza
in the first place, as a start
in prima persona
in first person (grammar)/personally
The feminine wordprimais also often used in phrases to denote the following ideas: earlier/early, previously, once, at one time. With regard to time,primameansbefore; with regard to space,prima meansin front ofandbefore (something). In these cases,primais part of an expression, and its feminine“a”ending may or may not agree with the noun in the phrase.
prima luce del giorno
daybreak/the first light of day
prima mattina
early morning/early in the morning
prima maniera
early style (reference to art)
prima o poi
sooner or later
ancora prima
even earlier/even before
della prima ora
from the very beginning/immediately
amici come prima
friends again (like before)
ancora prima
even before
il giorno prima
the day before, the previous day
mai visto prima
never seen before
non prima di
not before
prima d’ora
before now, beforehand
prima linea
front line (of battle)
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
How to Talk About Endings and What Comes Next, After, and Last
The wordprossimo(a,i,e)meansnextand is often used to refer to time.Prossimofollows the usual rules for adjectives and changes depending on the noun modified.
il giorno prossimo
the next day
la settimana prossima
the next week
l’anno prossimo
the next year
Dopomeansafter.Dopoalways ends in the masculine“o”—its ending will not change, no matter what noun it modifies.
domani
tomorrow
dopodomani
the day after tomorrow
la settimana dopo
the week after
l’anno dopo
the year after
Italians often refer to the years after World War II with the phrases below. In this case, there is no need to mention the exact name of the war(Seconda Guerra Mondiale), which most Italians still remember took place from 1939 to 1945.
dopo la guerra
after the war
il dopoguerra
the aftermath of the war
Scorso(a,i,e)meanslast. The ending of the adjectivescorsowill change to match the noun it is modifying in the sentence.
L’ultimomeansthe last (one)orfinal(one), andper ultimois the adverb that meanslastlyorfinally.Finalmentealso meansfinally.
Perhaps the most famous Italian phrase to use this word is“L’Ultima Cena,”or“The Last Supper,”from the Christian religion.
l’ultimo
the last
per ultimo
lastly, finally
per l’ultima volta
for the last time
non più da…
not since… (a long time has passed since…)
Liu è l’ultimo uomo che io sposerei. He is the last man that I would marry.
Lui è arrivato per ultimo./Finalmente, lui è arrivato! He arrived finally./Finally, he has arrived!
Ho visto Michele ieri per l’ultima volta. I saw Michael for the last time yesterday.
Non ho più visto Michele da molto tempo. I haven’t seen Michael since yesterday.
So,finally,finalmente, how do we say,“the end”in Italian? We use the wordfine, but depending on the situation, we must modifyfinewith a masculine or a feminine definite article—ilorla. Here is how it works:
il fine
the end – when the reference is to purpose
Il fine giustifica i mezzi.(Famous quote from Macchiavelli in his bookThe Prince) The end justifies the means.
Important exceptionto this rule: il fine settimana = the end of the week
la fine
the end – when the reference is to time of a relationship, movie, or book
Nonè la fine del mondo. It is not the end of the world.
È un film molto importantenella storia del cinema italianoperchéè ambientatoalla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinemabecauseit takes placeat the end of the Second World War.
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
Che Means “That” and “What” How to Use “Che” with Exclamations
The Italian word“che”has many, many uses as a conjunction to link one phrase to another in Italian and can never be omitted!
One of the most important meanings forcheis“that.”Remember how important the wordcheis when we are using the subjunctive to refer to what someone else wants/likes/thinks? See our previous blog posts about the subjunctive for more information on this use ofche.
Cheis also commonly used as an interrogative expression meaning “What?”“Che?” “Che cosa?”and“Cosa?”all mean“What?”in Italian and are used interchangeably.
Here are two examples from our dialogues:
“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?” “But of course, Maria. What happened?”
E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto: And this is what (that) Frances said:
By now, you have no doubt heard the exclamation “Che bello!”or“How beautiful!”from anyone who has seen the rolling hills of the Italian countryside or a famous work of Italian art or architecture.“Che brutto!”and “Che fortuna!”are also popular Italian exclamations. In short,che, when used in an exclamation of this type, takes on the meaning ofhow. Of course,“Com’è bello?”means“How beautiful is it?” because the wordcomeis themostoften used to meanhow.
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
When to Use “Che and “Chi” for “Who” and “Whom”
If we want to ask who has done something at the beginning of the sentence, we usually use the word“chi,”meaning“who.”Remember our common telephone greeting from our last blog post:
Pronto. Chi è? Chi parla?
Hello? Who is it?(telephone greeting usesessere)
But even more often, Italians useche to mean“who”or “whom.”If we want to refer to someone who has done somethingafter an introductory phrasein a sentence, we must useche! In this case, our multitasking wordchemeans “who”or“whom.”
Now let’s look at the many timescheis used with the meaning ofwhoorwhomin the dialogues from this blog post. Don’t forget this very important use for the simple wordche. And remember that although thechemay be omitted in English, it is always needed to link phrases in Italian!
La donna, che si chiamava Roberta, aveva i capelli biondi e una bellezza naturale, anche senza trucco. The woman, called Roberta, had blond hair and a natural beauty, even without makeup.
Suo marito, che era un capitano nell’esercito italiano, era appena morto. Her husband, who was a captain in the Italian army, had just died.
Roberta ha incontrato un ragazzo che si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia. Roberta met a boy (who was) called Carl who was much younger that her, during an air raid on the beach.
Carlo è un ragazzo che Roberta ha visto prima alla spiaggia. Carl is a boy whom Roberta first saw on the beach.
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
The Partitive: Some, Any, a Few Qualche and Alcune/Alcuni
When speaking of a part of a whole, or an undetermined number of things, in English, the idea is rendered with the wordssomeorany, as in“some of the”or“any of the.” In English, the translation with the partitive is always in the plural, which makes sense if you think of the partitive as the plural of the indefinite articlea(un, uno, una, orun’).
Things are a little bit different in Italian, however, with two important Italian words that are often used to express the meaning ofsome, anyorafew, a certain amount: qualcheandalcuni/alcune.
Below are the rules of use for these two partitives, which are actually quite simple.
The wordqualche, which is invariable, isalwaysfollowed by a singular noun.
The wordsalcuneoralcuniarealwaysfollowed by a plural noun.
Qualcheandalcuni/alcuneare frequently used in everyday conversation to talk about a broad spectrum of situations and things. Time, for instance. Or groups of people. Qualcheandalcuni/alcuneare often used to start a sentence, but of course are also used in dependent phrases.
Forqualche:Just putqualchein front of the Italian singular noun for the segment of time or the people you are referring to. Never mind that in English, we would use the plural (and that this is the correct translation).
Foralcuni/alcune:Just putalcunioralcunein front of the Italian plural noun for the segment of time or the people you are referring to, matchingalcuniwith the male gender noun andalcunewith the female gender noun, of course.
Notice that in every situation below, the English translation will be the same, and always in the plural, no matter which partitive is chosen!
Qualche volta…
Sometimes…
Alcune volte…
Qualche giorno…
Some days…
Alcuni giorni…
qualche ora
some hours
alcune ore
qualche minuto
some minutes
alcuni minuti
qualche persona
some people
alcune persone
qualche amico
some friends (male or male/female group)
alcuni amici
qualche amica
some friends (female)
alcune amiche
Qualcheis used in some very common expressions wherealcuni/alcuneare not used. These expressions make general statements about things or places. Use the table below to see how these expressions work.
An exception to the rules we’ve mentioned occurs with the first expression, where the meaning is in the singular in Italian and the translation is singular in English. So by definition, the plural wordsalcuni/alcunecannot be used!
qualche cosa
something
qualche cosa
some things
alcune cose
qual cos’altro
something else
qualsiasi cosa
anything
*
da qualche parte
somewhere
******************************
When it comes to use ofqualcheandalcuni/alcune, it should be noted that…
Neitherqualchenoralcune/alcunican be used in every situation.Qualcheandalcune/alcunican be used to talk about portions of food or other things.
But if the noun being modified is made up of a quantity that is not easily divisible, such as a liquid like milk, water, or soup, or an indivisible mass, like a loaf of bread or a cake,qualcheandalcune/alcunicannot be used. Instead, the idea of “some” is rendered by “di + definite article” or “un po’ di.”
Speak Italian: You Will Need to Know…
Italian Pronouns Reflexive, Direct, Indirect, and Disjunctive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns
Direct Object Pronouns
Indirect Object Pronouns
mi
myself
mi
me
mi
to me
ti
yourself (fam.)
ti
you (fam.)
ti
to you (fam.)
si
yourself (pol.)
La (L’)
you (pol.)
Le
to you (pol.)
si
herself
la (l’)
her, it (fem.)
le
to her
si
himself
lo(l’)
him, it (masc.)
gli
to him
ci
ourselves
ci
us
ci
to us
vi
yourselves
vi
you all
vi
to you all
si
themselves
le
them (fem.)
gli
to them (fem.)
si
themselves
li
them (masc.)
gli
to them (masc.)
The reflexive, direct, and indirect object pronouns comebeforethe verb or are attached to the end of an infinitive verb after dropping the final infinitive –e.
Disjunctive Pronouns
with prepositions
me
me
a/con/perme
to/with/for me
te
you (fam.)
a/con/per te
to/with/for you (fam.)
Lei
you (pol.)
a/con/perLei
to/with/for you (pol.)
lei
her
a/con/per lei
to/with/for her
lui
him
a/con/per lui
to/with/for him
sè
itself, herself, himself
yourself
a/con/per sè
to/with/for itself, herself, himself
to/with/for yourself
noi
us
a/con/per noi
to/with/for us
voi
you all (fam.)
a/con/pervoi
to/with/for you all
loro
them
a/con/per loro
to/with/for them
sè
themselves
a/con/per sè
to/with/for themselves
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
Double Object Pronouns
The verbdare(to give)is commonly used in conversation while dining and asking for food and other items to be passed around the table. In this situation, it also becomes necessary to say not onlywhat itemwe are giving away, butto whomwe are giving the item. In effect, we are combining direct and indirect object pronouns in the same sentence!
The use of double object pronouns comes up frequently in many, many other situations as well.
When both object pronouns refer to the same verb, the word order in Italian and rules are as follows in the table below:
(1) The indirect object pronounsmi, ti, ci, andviwill change their–i to an–e when placed beforethe direct object pronounslo, la, li, le, andne, to becomeme, te, ce, andve(see Chapters 17 and 18 ofConversational Italian for Travelersfor how to usene).
(2)Gliwilladdaneand becomegliewhen placed beforethe direct objectslo, la, li, le, andne. The direct object will then be added directly toglie to makeglielo, gliela, glieli,andgliele.
Usegliefor men and women (to replacelefor women, as well asglifor men).
(3) When using a helping verb + infinitive verb combination, simply drop the–efrom the end of the infinitive verb, combine the objects in the usual order, andattach the combined objects to the end of the infinitive verb.
Let’s give this a try by changing some example sentences without pronouns into sentences with pronouns. We will list the English first, then the Italian, one step at a time, so that by the last example, both sentences will contain double object pronouns. Watch the placement of the pronouns, which stay after the verb in English, but take a positionbeforethe verb in Italian. To help you follow this process, the verbs will be ingreen, the direct object pronouns will be inbrown,and the indirect object pronouns will be inred.
Kathygivesthe butterto me.
Caterinadail burroa me.
Kathygivesmethe butter.
Caterinamidail burro.
Kathygivesitto me.
Rule (1)
Caterinameloda.
The waitergivesthe menuto Peter.
Il camerieredail menùa Pietro.
The waitergiveshimthe menu.
Il cameriereglidail menù.
The waitergivesitto him.
Rule (2)
Il cameriereglieloda.
The waitergivesthe menuto Kathy.
Il camerieredail menùa Caterina.
The waitergivesherthe menu.
Il cameriereledail menù.
The waitergivesitto her.
Rule (2)
Il cameriereglieloda.
(I)want to givemy breadto you.
Voglio dareil mio panea te.
(I)want to giveitto you.
Rule (3)
Vogliodartelo.
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love You Will Need to Know…
Direct Object Pronouns and the Passato Prossimo
Several rules must be followed when using the Italian direct object pronouns with thepassato prossimoform of the Italian past tense.
(1) The direct object pronoun is placedbeforethepassato prossimocompound verb.
*
(2) The third person singular direct object pronouns(lo, la, andLa)usually drop their vowel before the letterh, especially in conversation.
*
(3) The last vowel ofthe past participle must agreein gender and numberwith the objectthat it refers to when using the third person singular and plural.
Let’s see how this works if we want to shorten the answer to a commonly asked question: “Hai visto Pietro?”(“Have you seen Peter?”) We could answer,“L’ho visto,”for “I saw him,”following rules (1) and (2).
Hai vistoPietro?
Have (you) seenPeter?
Loho visto.
Rule (1)
I sawhim.
L’ho visto.
Rule (2)
I sawhim.
So far, so good. The words“L’ho”flow easily together and are spoken as one word, short and sweet. However, if we were looking for Caterina, we would need to alsochange the ending of the past participleof the verb to agree with the feminine direct object pronoun ending, which we have just dropped! So our phrase would instead be “L’ho vista,”for “I saw her.” We have to follow rules (1), (2), and (3) to make one short sentence!
Hai vistoCaterina?
Have (you) seenKathy?
Laho vista.
Rules (1) (3)
I sawher.
L’ho vista.
Rule (2)
I sawher.
And, finally, for the plural forms, when referring to two males or a male and a female, we need to use the direct objectliand the letterifor the past participle. If we should see two women, we would use the direct objectleand the letterefor the past participle. These examples below follow Rules (1) and (3).
How well do you remember phrases to use when chatting with a friend or talking about the movies or love? Fill in the blanks for the phrases in the Italian sentences in the exercise below, then check your work with the dialogue in the first section. If you like, write about an Italian love story of your own!
Speak Italian: About Italian Movies and Love
Una sera, il telefono di Maria ha squillato. Era Francesca, la migliore amica di Maria. One evening, Maria’s telephone rang. It was Francesca, Maria’s best friend.
“Maria! Sono io! Come stai??” “Maria! It’s me! How are you? Can you talk for a bit?”
“Ma, certo Maria. Che è successo?” “But of course, Maria. What happened?”
“Niente. Voglio solamente.” “Nothing. I just want us tochat for a bit.”
“!” “Tell me!”
“Stasera ho vistoche si chiama,Estate Violentadi Valerio Zurlini.” “Tonight I sawa wonderful moviecalledViolent Summer by Valerio Zurlini.”
“Mamma mia! Cheterribile! Ma, dove l’hai visto? questo.” “Wow! What a terriblename (title). But where did you see it? I’ve never heard aboutthisfilm.”
“A casa mia. Ho comprato il DVD su Amazon. È________________________________ 1959, con Eleonora Rossi Drago e Jean-Louis Trintignant, due stelle.” “At my house. I bought the DVD on Amazon. It isa movie from 1959, with Eleonora Rossi Drago and Jean-Louis Trintignant, two starsof European movies.”
“Non mi dire! E?” “You don’t say! Andwhat is this film about?”
E questo è quello che Francesca le ha detto: And this is what Frances said:
“È un film molto importanteperchéalla fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale. “It is a very important film in the history of Italian cinemabecauseit takes placeat the end of the Second World War.
È un film molto lirico e appasisonato, perché è. It is a very lyrical and passionate film, because it isa love story.
La storiaè cominciata quando _______________________________ per la prima volta sulla spiaggia a Rimini. The storyof the two main charactersstarted whenthe two loversmet each otherfor the first time on the beach at Rimini.
La donna, che si chiamava Roberta, aveva i capelli biondi e una bellezza naturale, anche senza trucco. Lei aveva quasi trent’anni. The woman, called Roberta, had blond hair and a natural beauty, even without makeup. She was about thirty years old.
Suo marito, che era un capitano nell’esercito italiano, era appena morto. Roberta aveva una figlia di tre anni e viveva con la madre a Rimini, per scappare dalla guerra a Bologna. Her husband, who was a captain in the Italian army, had just died. She had a three-year-old daughter and lived with her mother at Rimini, in order to escape from the war in Bologna.
Robertache si chiamava Carlo e che era molto più govane di lei, durante un’incursione aerea sulla spiaggia. Robertamet a boycalled Carl who was much younger than her, during an air raid on the beach.
Il momento in cui Carlo ha visto Roberta,. Doposulla spiaggia, luiper lei. When Carl first saw Roberta,he liked her right away. Aftertheir first meetingon the beach, helost his headover her (English = fell head over heels for her).
Cosi, Carlo ha incominciatoRoberta. So, Carlstarted to courtRoberta. (English = Carl tried to get Roberta to be his girlfriend.)
Dopo un po’, i due hanno cominciato auscire insieme.Si sono vistiogni giorno.A Roberta piaceva moltocon Carlo.. After a while, the two of them startedto go out together.They saw each otherevery day. And Roberta really likedher relationshipwith Carl.She loved him.
Ma alla madre di Roberta non piaceva, perchéun ragazzo molto più giovane di lei.Sua madre esigeva che RobertaCarlo. But Roberta’s mother did not likeRoberta’s behavior, becauseshe was witha boy much younger than her. Her mother demanded that Robertastop seeingCarl.
Roberta non ascoltava la madre. Si era resa conto che solamente Carlo era l’uomo per lei. Roberta didn’t listen to her mother. She realized that Carl was the man for her.
A un certo punto,hanno provato a scappare a Bologna in treno. At a certain point,the loverstried to escape to Bologna on the train.
Ma è successa una cosa brutta che io non ti dirò perché spero che tu guaderai questo film.” But something bad happened that I will not tell you because I hope that you will watch this film.”
“, dimmi!” “Come on, tell me!” “Sfortunamentein malo modo. Invece, speravo chefossebene.
.” “Unfortunately, their romanceendedin a bad way. I wish thattheir storyhadendedin a good way instead.I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Capisco. fra Roberta e Carlo era molto triste. Non mi piace quando la fine di un film è cosi.” “I understand. The end of the relationshipbetween Roberta and Carlo was very sad. I don’t like when a film ends like this.”
“Ma gli attorimolto bene in questo film. Se vuoi, ti lo do e puoi vedere per te stessa.” “But the actorsplayed their partsvery well in this film. If you want, I will give it to you and you can see for yourself.”
“Grazie. Dammelo! l’ultimo DVD che mi hai dato il mese scorso.Parliamone dopo!” “Thank you. Give it to me!I really enjoyedthe last DVD that you gave me last month. We’ll talk about it later!” “Si certamente è! Ed anche per capire l’Italia durante il dopoguerra.” “Yes, it is certainlyworth itto see (watch) this movie! And to understand Italy during the aftermath of the war.”
“Ci parliamo dopo e!” “We’ll talk to each other later andyou tell me what you think (about it)!”
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
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 communicate in Italian fluently?Are you comfortable using email to make plans with your family and friends? Can you use the Italian subjunctive mood and Italian reflexive verbs correctly when making plans?
For our second Italian practice email, we will continue with the story of Caterina and Francesca, two Italian cousins who are living in different cities and trying to reconnect. First, we will present a review of how to describe visiting someone using the verb trovare. Then we will present information aboutItalian reflexive verbs ofemotionand ofself-action, andthe different meanings of verbs with reflexive and non-reflexive forms. We will also discuss use ofItalian prepositionsregarding the different places we go in our daily lives and regarding time. Finally, we will describehow to use Italian verbs as nouns.
A note about the Italian subjunctive mood: to express complex feelings in Italian correctly, it is important to use the Italian subjunctive mood. Using the subjunctive mood is difficult for English speakers, because we only rarely use this tense in English, and it’s something that I am always working on! This is the second blog post in the “Italian Practice” series that focuses on how to use the Italian subjunctive mood, or“il congiuntivo,”when writing an email to your family.
To review how to express one’s feelings using thesubjunctive mood and how to conjugate the subjunctive mood in the present tense, see ourSpeak Italian Subjunctive series.
Enjoy the second blog post in this series, “Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Family Vacation.” —Kathryn Occhipinti
How many phrases that use the subjunctive mood can you pick out of the following emails? Hint: these phrases usually include the word“che.”Look for the underlined phrases for help! Notice that the future tense does NOT have a subjunctive mood! Also, look for reflexive verbs of emotion and self-action and special phrases of visiting that have been italicized for easier comprehension.
Remember these examples as “anchors” in your knowledge for when you try to speak Italian and try out the subjunctive mood in your next Italian conversation!
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Email: Planning Your Italian Vacation An Email to Francesca
Cara cugina Francesca,Dear Cousin Frances,
Leggere la tua ultima email mi rende* molto contenta! Reading your last email makes me very happy!
Sono molto contenta chetu e i tuoi figli possiatevenire a trovarmiin Abruzzo. I am very happy that you and your children can come to visit me in Abruzzo.
Mi dispiace chetuo marito non possa venire con voi. I am sorry that your husband cannot come with you all.
Di solito,ti prendi cura di luimolto bene ogni giorno!Usually, you take care of him very well every day!
Ed ora, dobbiamo fare il programma! And now, we must make up the itinerary!
Spero chetu possa arrivare la domenica prima di Ferragosto. I hope that you can arrive the Sunday before the Ferragosto holiday.
Per prima cosa, io vorreiportarti a trovare i nostri zii. First, I want to take you to visit our aunt and uncle.
Sono anziani e io dovreiandare a trovarliogni domenica. They are elderly and I should go to visit them every Sunday.
Dopo cheandiamo in chiesa di mattina, dobbiamo andare a casa loro. After we go to church in the morning, we should go to their house.
Sono sicura chenostra zia preparerà una buona cena per noi. I am sure that our aunt will make a wonderful dinner for us.
Lunedì, vorrei andare in montagna a fare un picnic. On Monday, I would like to go to the mountains to have a picnic.
Per me, restare in montagne dovrebbe essere molto bello con l’aria fresca e gli alberi verdi. For me, a stay in the mountains would be very beautiful with the fresh air and the green trees.
Dovremmo avere una buona giornata, no? We should have a good day, no?
Possiamo prendere un buon apertivo come un Aperol Spritz e chiacchierare un po.’ We can have a nice apertif like an Aperol Spritz and chat a bit.
I ragazzi saranno anche molto contenti di giocare insieme fuori. The kids will also be very happy to play together outdoors.
Mi piacerebbe molto restare in montagna due or tre giorni. I would really like to stay in the mountains for two or three days.
Possiamo restare all’Albergo Grande vicino a Capistrello per due o tre giorni. We could stay at the Albergo Grande Hotel near Capistrello for two or three days.
Tu ricordi che il padrone è anche mio cugino. You remember that the owner is also my cousin.
Prima chetu ritorni, dobbiamo fare la spesa. Before you return, we could go grocery shopping.
Puoi comprare il cibo tipico del nostro paese. You can buy food typical of our town.
Puoi dirmi la verità—il pane a Roma non è buono come il nostro in Abruzzo! You can tell me the truth—the bread in Rome is not good like ours in Abruzzo!
Pensaci. Fammi sapere che pensi di questo programma! Let me know what you think of this itinerary!
Non vedo l’ora di vederti! I can’t wait to see you! (idiomatic expression)
Abbracci e baci, Hugs and kisses,
Caterina Kathy
*From the verbrendere, which can mean“to render,”or“to make,”as in“to become.”
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Email: Planning Your Italian Vacation A Reply Email to Caterina
Cara cugina Caterina,Dear Cousin Kathy,
Mi sembra cheil tuo programma sarà meraviglioso! It seems (to me) that your schedule will be marvelous!
Sarei molto contenta di restare in montagna con te! I would be very happy to stay in the mountains with you!
Dopo avere letto la tua emailmi sono resa contoche mi mancano molto le montagne dell’Abruzzo. After having read your email, I realized that I really miss the Abruzzo mountains.
Dopo, andiamo a fare la spesa insieme a Capistrello e così posso portare del buon pane a Roma quando torno! Afterward, let’s go grocery shopping together in Capistrello, so I can bring some good bread to Rome when I return!
Ho anche una buona idea— I also have a great idea—
Forse tu puoivenire a trovarmia Roma e possiamo fare shopping di vestiti. Perhaps you can come to visit me in Rome, and we can go shopping for clothes.
Lo sai ci sono molti bei negozi di moda a Roma! You know there are many wonderful, fashionable shops in Rome!
Qualche voltami annoiodi vivere a Roma senza te. Sometimes I get bored living in Rome without you.
Ma, nonmi sono arrabiatacon mio marito due anni fa quandoci siamo trasferitia Roma. But I didn’t get mad with my husband two years ago when we moved to Rome.
Mi piacerebbe moltoandare a trovare i nostri ziiin Abruzzo. I would really like to go to see our aunt and uncle in Abruzzo.
Mi ricordodi avere cenato molto bene a casa di zia Rosa! I remember having eaten very well at Aunt Rose’s house!
Sarà molto divertente! It will be very entertaining!
Ci vediamo presto! See you soon! (Literally “We will see each other soon!”)
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Phrases That Describe Visiting People
Let’s quickly review how to use the verbstrovareandvenireto describevisiting someone, which we covered in detail in our last Italian practice blog post, “Emailing Italian Families.” We will also describe how to use the verbportare whenbringing someoneto visit others. Examples will come from the emails in this blog post. Did you notice these italicized phrases as you were reading?
Trovaremeans“to find”something.
Whentrovareis combined with the verbandarein the phrase“andare a trovare,”the meaning changes into “to go to visit”someone.
Sono anziani e io dovreiandare a trovarliogni domenica.
Mi piacerebbe moltoandare a trovare i nostri ziiin Abruzzo.
Similarly, whentrovare is combined with the verbvenire in the phrase“venire a trovare,”the meaning changes into “to come to visit”someone.
Vorrei che tuvenga a trovarmiin Abruzzo quest’estate.
Sono molto contenta chetu e i tuoi figli possiatevenire a trovarmiin Abruzzo.
Forse tu puoivenire a trovarmia Roma e possiamo fare shopping di vestiti.
Also, whentrovareis combined with the verbportarein the phrase,“portare a trovare,”the meaning changes into“to bring (someone) to visit”someone.
Per prima cosa, io vorreiportarti a trovare i nostri zii.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Reflexive Verbs of Emotion
Italian reflexive verbs can be tricky for the English speaker because in many situations, reflexive verbs are used in Italian but not in English. In these cases, we must learn to think in Italian! If we think in Italian, using reflexive verbs to refer to changing emotions that one is feeling at the moment does makes sense.
We have already talked about the most common reflexive verbs in the second blog post in the Speak Italian! series,Speak Italian: All About… What I Am Doing! This blog post describes activities of daily living, which are the most common activities that use the Italian reflexive verbs.
Other activities that involve the changing of one’s emotions during the course of daily life are also reflexive, as in the current blog post, when one cousin talks to the other about her feelings about Rome and taking care of her children. Remember that verbs that translate as “to get” in English are reflexive in Italian!
So, if I “get”/ “am getting” angry, bored, embarrassed,offended, orworried, the verbs used to describe this happening within myself will be reflexive in Italian: arrabbiarsi, annoiarsi, imbarrazzarsi, offendersi, andpreoccuparsi.
Verbs of “forgetting” and “remembering” that use the word “about” after the infinitive form in English are also reflexive in Italian. These verbs are followed by the prepositiondi: dimenticarsi di, scordarsi di(colloquial expression), ricordarsi di.
The following list includes the above verbs, and “a few” more!
accorgersi di/che
to notice or realize (about self/someone or something else)
annoiarsi
to get bored
arrabiarsi
to get angry/mad
aspettarsi
to expect/ to anticipate
confondersi
to get confused
concentrarsi
to concentrate (on something)
dimenticarsi di
to forget about (something)
distrarsi
to be distracted
focalizzarsi
to focus (on something)
imbarrazzarsi
to get embarrassed
interessarsi a
to take an interest in/ to show an interest in
interessarsi di
to take care of/ to be in charge of
offendersi
to get offended
preoccuparsi
to get worried/worry
rendersi conto di/che
to realize (about self/someone or something else)
ricordarsi di
to remember to do
sbronzarsi
to get drunk
scordarsi di
to forget about (something)(colloquial expression)
scusarsi
to excuse oneself
seccarsi
to get annoyed
sentirsi
to feel
sorprendersi
to get surprised
spaventarsi
to get scared
ubriacarsi
to get drunk
vergognarsi
to be ashamed
*************************
Notice that the Italian verb that describes getting bored,annoiarsi, sounds very much like the English word “annoyed.” However, don’t getconfused(confondersi)!The Italian verb that means“to get annoyed”isseccarsi.And of course, the verb forto feelin Italian is reflexive—sentirsi, not to be confused with the non-reflexive verb that meansto hear—sentire.
Here is how this works. When I want to talk about these emotions as they are happening to me, I must use the reflexive pronounmiformyself. If I want to talk about emotions that I know are happening to someone else, then I must use the correct corresponding reflexive pronoun/verb conjugation (ti, si, ci, vi, si). Remember to leave out the subject pronoun (io, tu, Lei/lei/lui, noi, voi, loro) unless it is necessary for clarification.
All this is easier than it sounds once you give it a try!
Mi arrabio.I am/am getting angry.
Ti annoi?*Are you getting bored?
Lei si imbarrazza! She is getting embarrassed!
Lui si imbarrazza!He is getting embarrassed!
Ci offendiamo! We are getting offended!
Vi confondete! You all are getting confused!
Loro si seccano. They are getting annoyed.
*Thetuandnoiforms ofarrabiarsiandannoiarsiare irregular and have only one“i”at the ending:tu arrabi e tu annoi.
*************************
You Will Need to Know… How to Use the Past Tense with Reflexive Verbs
Distrarsiis often used in the past tense, as below. In this case, remember to change the“o”ending of the masculine past participledistrattoto an“a”ending to make the feminine past participledistrattaif needed.
Mi sono distratto(a). I got distracted.
Non ho ascoltato il professore perché mi sono distratto(a). I didn’t hear the professor because I got distracted.
Two other reflexive verbs in our list that are commonly used in the past tense are those of forgetting and remembering:dimenticarsidiandscordarsi di(to forget about something)*andricordarsi/ricordarsi di (to remember something/to remember to do something).
Mi sono dimenticato(a) di andare alla posta centrale stamattina.I forgot to go to the post office this morning.
Non mi sono mai scordato(a) di te.I have never forgotten you.
Mi sono ricordato(a) il nostro aniversario di matrimonio quest’anno! I remembered our anniversary this year!
Mi sono ricordato(a) di portare il vino per cena stasera.I remembered to bring the wine for dinner stastera.
*The verbscordare means to make an instrument go out of tune. There is some controversy about the use ofscordarsi with the meaning of “to forget,” and in effect giving it the same meaning as dimenticarsi; some linguists consider onlydimenticarsi correct Italian. That said, to some Italiansscordarsimeans to forget something in your heart anddimenticarsi to forget something in your mind (i.e. without involving emotion). In actual, everyday use, most Italians probably consider the two interchangeable.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… How to Say,“I realized…”or“I noticed”*
Lastly, we present examples that use the phrases“rendersi conto di/che,”which means“to realize”and“accorgersi di/che,”which can mean both“to realize”and“to notice.”Accorgersi di/cheis most often used when something is recognized, but not necessarily understood.
To realize is rendered in Italian with the reflexive verb phrase rendersi conto. In order to say,“I realize,”we must conjugate the verbrendersi,which has a regular-ereconjugation in the present tense, and then add the wordcontoto finish the phrase. So,“I realize…”is “Io mi rendo conto…”But, of course, we always leave out the Italian subject pronoun, so the phrase that Italians use is conversation is just,“Mi rendo conto…”
To complete the sentence, just add what you realize in the phrase that follows! The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.
Link what you realize aboutyourselfwith the Italian conjugation“di”before adding an infinitive verb. Note: you don’t always have to use “di” in this case if you are talking about yourself. But if you do chose to use“di,”the verb in the next phrase must be in the infinitive form.
—-or—-
Link what you realize aboutyourself, someone or something else with the Italian conjugation“che”before adding a verb conjugated in the appropriate tense. Remember, if the subject is different in the original phrase and the phrase that follows, you MUST use“che”to link the two phrases.
In English, both“di”and“che”are translated as“that.”
Below are example sentences to show how this all works. These example sentences are true for me. To think of more examples, and try to describe what you realize about yourself!
Mi rendo contodiavereun’ora per preparare la cena. I realize that I have an hour to make dinner.
Mi rendo contochehoun’ora per preparare la cena.I realize that I have an hour to prepare dinner.
Mi rendo contochehaiun’ora per preparare la cena.I realize that you have an hour to prepare dinner.
Mi rendo conto che desidero sempre imparare di più sulla lingua italiana.I realize that I will always want to learn more about the Italian language.
********************
Now, let’s say that we recognize something without really understanding what it is about, or what is going on – that is, wenotice something. In this case, we can use the reflexive verb accorgersi. This verb also has a regular-ereconjugation and will be followed by eitherdi orche, for the same reasons as we have just described above. To say,“I notice that,”then, use the phrase,“Mi accorgo di/che…”
Again, an example from my life, taking from a time when I was when talking a good friend of mine about a certain movie. Try to think of some examples from your own life!
Mi accorgo che ti piace molto questo film. Vuoi andare a vederlo con me?I notice that you really like this film. Do you want to go to see it with me?
********************
How to say,“I realize,”or“I notice,”seems simple enough! But wait… we most commonly use the past tense to talk about something that wehave realizedorhave noticed. This, of course, involves conjugating our two verbs in the past tense!
We will use thepassato prossimoforms of these verbs for the one time events of realizing or noticing something, which you will remember is formed for reflexive verbs withessere + the past participle. (If you need a general refresher on how to form the passato prossimo, please refer to our book Conversational Italian for Travelers Just the Verbs ).
The past participle forrendersiis the irregular verbreso,and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using thepassato prossimo.
The past participle foraccorgersiis the irregular verb accorto,and the ending will need to change to reflect the speaker when using thepassato prossimo.
So, when I want to talk about what I have realized, I can say,“Mi sono resa conto di/che…”Similarly, a male would say,“Mi sono reso conto di/che…”
And, when I want to mention what I have noticed, I can say,“Mi sono accorta di/che…”Similarly, a male would say,“Mi sono accorto di/che…”
To complete the sentence, just add what youhave realizedin the phrase that follows! The following phrase will most commonly be in the present or past tense, but of course, there are times when we may need to use the conditional or future tenses, depending on our realization.
Below is a table to summarize these phrases ofrealizingandnoticing. I’ve made the verbs in the phrase green to differentiate them from the other words in the phrase. Most Italians use these verb phrases so frequently, though, that they say them quickly, and the words usually run together in real-time conversation. Listen carefully for these phrases and then try to use them yourself!
Mi rendo contodi/che…
I realize that…
Mi sono reso contodi/che…
I realized that…(male speaker)
Mi sono resa contodi/che…
I realized that…(female speaker)
Mi accorgodi/che…
I notice that…
Mi sono accortodi/che…
I noticed that…(male speaker)
Mi sono accortadi/che…
I noticed that…(female speaker)
We had fun in our Conversational Italian! group “discussing” what we all realized during the year 2017 for our talking point this January. Below are some example sentences that I’ve made up thinking back to New Year’s Eve of 2018. (Notice that as a female I have to useresaandaccorta.) How many more examples can you think of?
Ieri sera, a Capodanno,mi sono resa conto di esseremolto fortunata. Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.
Ieri sera, a Capodanno,mi sono resa contochesonomolto fortunata.Last night, on New Year’s Eve, I realized that I am very lucky.
Mi sono resa contodiavereamici molto cari.I realized that I have many dear friends.
Mi sono resa contochehomolti cari amici.I realized that I have many dear friends.
Mi sono resa contodiavere imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.
Mi sono resa contocheho imparato tante cose importanti dalla mia famiglia.I realized that I have learned so many important things from my family.
Mi sono accortacheeramolto freddo a Capodanno.I noticed that it was very cold on New Year’s Eve.
*The past section is a reprint from the blog:Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day! What I realized…from ConversationalItalian.wordpress.org, to be published on February 7, 2018.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Reflexive Verbs of Self-Action
Italian reflexive verbs can be tricky for the English speaker because in many situations, reflexive verbs are used in Italian but not in English. In these cases, we must learn to think in Italian! If we think in Italian, using reflexive verbs to refer to the things we are doing at the moment makes sense.
We have already talked about the most common reflexive verbs in the second blog post in the Speak Italian! series, Speak Italian: All About… What I Am Doing! This blog post describes activities of daily living, which are the most common activities that use the Italian reflexive verbs.
Other activities that involve actions relating to the self are reflexive in Italian. They refer to what a person (oneself) is doing. Here is a short list:
divertirsi
to enjoy oneself/to have fun
divertirsi a
to enjoy… / to play with
incontrarsi
to meet (planned)
informarsi di/su
to ask/inquire about something
nascondersi
to hide
occuparsi di
to work at a job or a task
perdersi
to get/be lost
prepararsi (a)
to get ready (to)
provarsi
to try on clothes
rilassarsi
to relax
riposarsi
to rest
sbrigarsi
to hurry up
sedersi*
to sit down
smarrirsi
to get/be lost
*Sedersihas an irregular conjugation.
*************************
You Will Need to Know… How to Say You are Having Fun “Divertirsi, Divertente, Divertimento”
One of the most important verbs listed in the last section isdivertirsi, which is the verb that Italians use to say that they areenjoying themselvesorhaving fun. There is a lot of fun to be had in Italy, so it is worthwhile to learn how to use this verb, as well as the adverb divertenteand the noundivertimento.
To tell someone,“Have a good time!” use the phrase,“Buon divertimento!”To use the verbdivertirsiand the adverbdivertentesee below:
Mi diverto!
I am enjoying myself/having fun!
Mi diverto a guardare la TV (televisione).
I enjoy watching TV.
Mi sono divertito(a)!
I had fun!/I had a good time!
Mi sono proprio divertito(a)!
I really had fun/a good time!
È divertente!
It is fun/entertaining/enjoyable.
È divertente parlare italiano.
It is fun to speak Italian.
Era divertente!
It was fun/entertaining/enjoyable/a good time.
Era proprio divertente!
It was really a lot of fun/entertaining/enjoyable/a good time!
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… “Prendersi Cura di…” and “Occuparsi di…” Reflexive Phrase of Taking Care
When one person is taking care ofanother person (or living thing),the reflexive phrase“prendersi cura di…”is used in Italian. The reason that this concept is reflexive in Italian may be that the caring originates within an individual person (myself, for instance), although the action of caring/taking care of is directed atanother person.The easiest way to remember this concept is by examples (see below).
The preposition“di”at the end of this phrase must be combined with the definite article(il,la,lo, l’, i, gli, le)if one is not referring to a family member. Also, remember that the subject pronoun is usually left out of the sentence, except for clarification.
Mi prendo cura di mio figlio.I take care of my son.
Ti prendi cura di tuo nipote? Do you take care of your nephew?
Lei si prende cura della classe quando l’insegnante non c’è. She takes care of the class when the teacher is away.
Lui si prende cura della sua famiglia. He takes care of his family.
Ci prendiamo cura degli ospiti. We take care of the guests.
Vi prendete cura degli animali nella fattoria. You all take care of the animals on the farm.
Loro si prendono cura dei loro nipoti. They take care of their grandchildren.
********************
When a person is taking care ofsomething, the reflexive phrase“occuparsi di…”is used in Italian. The reason that this concept is reflexive in Italian may be that the caring originates within an individual person (myself, for instance), although the action of caring/taking care of something is directed atsomething.Often this involves someone’s occupation, but it could also involve just one task.
Me ne occupo io. I will take care of this.
Te ne occupi tu. You will take care of this
Ti vuoi occupare di questo?/ Te ne vuoi occupare? Do you want to take care of this?
Lui si occupa del ristorante della sua famiglia. He takes care of his family’s restaurant.
Da decembre mi occuperò di trovare un nuovo impiegato. From December I will take care/have the task of finding a new worker.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Different Meanings of Verbs with Regular and Reflexive Forms
Many Italian verbs have regular and reflexive forms. If the action is directed back toward the speaker, use the reflexive form. For the verbsricordareandricordarsi, in most situations, either form may be used. When speaking of something one needs to remember to do, usericordare di, as we learned in the last chapter, orricordarsi di.
Note also that the meaning of a verb may change with use of its reflexive form. Chiamare, for instance, meansto call someone, as in to make a call on the telephone or to call out to someone.Butchiamarsimeansto call oneself by name. Sentire refers to the senses, and can mean to hear, to feel (as in to touch something) and also to smell. But the reflexive verbsentirsihas the very different meaning ofto feel an emotion.
aspettare
to wait/wait for
aspettarsi
to expect/anticipate
chiamare
to call
chiamarsi
to call onself/to name
fermare
to stop an object
fermarsi
to stop oneself
incontrare
to meet by chance
incontrarsi
planned meeting
informare
to inform/to educate
informarsidi/su
to ask/to inquire
lavare
to wash
lavarsi
to wash oneself
mettere
to put/place
mettersi
to put on clothing
occupare
to be occupied
occuparsidi
to work at a job or a task
essere occupatocon…
to be busy with (something)
preparare
to get something ready
prepararsi
to get oneself ready
provare
to try/practice/rehearse
provarsi
to try on clothes
ricordare*
to remember
ricordarsi
to remember something
ricordaredi
to remember to do…
ricordarsidi
to remember to do…
sentire
to hear/to feel (sense of touch) to smell
sentirsi
to feel (emotions)
spostare
to move
spostarsi
to move oneself
*Incidentally, Romagnol dialect (from the Emiliano-Romangnolo region) for“I remember,”is“amarcord,”which is also the name of a famous Italian comedic film from the 1970s by the director Federico Fellini.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Italian Prepositions “a” and “in” for Places
In English, we go “to” a place or we are “in or “at” a place. In Italian, two prepositions are used to express bothwhere we are goingandwhere we are: “A” and“in” both can mean “to, in,andat.”
Note that in English, the preposition “to” is used to describe the motion ofgoing somewhere, but once a personhas arrived where they are going, the prepositions “in” or “at” are used.* So the English preposition changes based on whether one isgoing tooris ina place.
In Italian,the motionof going to or being in a placedoes not change preposition use. The preposition is selected depending on the noun that the preposition modifies.
The Italian prepositions are then often (but not always) linked with the Italian definite article (il, la, l’, lo, i, le, gli).
Try as I may, I cannot find a reason for the difference in Italian preposition use for each individual place, although in some cases the Italian use of prepositions seems to mirror British English, rather than American English (the British go “in hospital,” as do the Italians). I guess we have simplified things here in America, across the ocean from the land of our mother tongue!
So therefore, these Italian preposition/noun combinations just need to be memorized. Just link them to the actual place one is going to or one is in and this combination will not change!
See the table below:*
Do you want to go…
*
Are you…
*
Vuoi andare…
Sei…
*
*
home?
*
at home?
*
a casa?
*
to a restaurant?
*
at/in the restaurant?
*
al ristorante?
*
to a (coffee) bar?
*
at/in the (coffee) bar?
*
al bar?
*
to a cafe?
*
at/in the cafe?
*
al café?
*
to the museum?
*
at the museum?
*
al museo?
*
to the movies?
*
at the movies?
*
al cinema?
*
to the concert?
*
at the concert?
*
al concerto?
*
to the show (performance)?
*
at the show?
*
allo spettacolo?
*
to the show (exhibit)?
*
at the exhibit?
*
alla mostra?
*
*
*
*
*
*
to a hospital?
*
at the hospital?
*
in ospidale?
*
to a pizzeria?
*
at/in the pizzeria?
*
in pizzeria?
*
to the piazza?
*
at/in the piazza?
*
in piazza?
*
to church?
*
at/in church?
*
in chiesa?
*
to the beach?
*
at the beach?
*
in spiaggia?
*
to the sea?
*
at the seaside?
*
al mare?
*
to the mountains?
*
in the mountains?
*
in montagna?
*
to the country?
*
in the country?
*
in campagna?
*You will notice from this list that the use of the English prepositions “in” and “at” is also a bit idiomatic. To my mind, and I am sure this can be debated, when someone is surrounded by 4 walls or are in some way completely surrounded, they are “in” a place.
An English speaker is always “at home.” If a person has just arrived, or is standing outside the door of a new place, they are “at” this place. If one then wants to emphasize that they have settled down into this new place, i.e. have a table at a restaurant, the preposition “in” then comes into play.
Also, if a person is involved in what is happening at a particular place, they are “in” it; a viewer is “at” a show, but a performer is “in” the show. And, of course, we all stand “in”‘ line before the show or another event begins!
These explanations may be a bit more complicated than needed, though, and I am sure these prepositions are thought of as interchangeable in many situations by English speakers.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… Italian Preposition “di” for Time of Day
Sometimes it is necessary to emphasize the time of day in Italian, as inmorning, afternoon, evening, ornight. This is simple in Italian! Just combine the preposition“di”with the time of day: di mattina, di pomeriggio, di sera, ordi notte.
Dopo cheandiamo in chiesa di mattina, dobbiamo andare a casa loro. After we go to church in the morning, we should go to their house.
Here are some examples where the time of day is added after stating the numerical time for clarity or for emphasis. (Notice that the Italian language uses a comma rather than a colon to separate the hours from the minutes.)
1,00(AM) È l’una di mattina.
1,00(PM) È l’una di pomeriggio.
6,00(PM) Sono le sei di sera.
10,00(PM) Sono le dieci di notte.
Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
You Will Need to Know… How to Use the Italian Infinitive Verb as a Noun
Every now and then, one needs to use a verb as a noun. In this situation, for the English language, we use the gerund, or “-ing” form, of our verb. For instance, take the sentence, “Reading is fun.” The very first word is the “-ing” form of the verb “to read,” but in this case, the verb is actually the subject of the sentence and is doing the work of a noun!
In the Italian language, the infinitive form of the verb is used when a verb takes the place of a noun. For the present tense, only the infinitive form of the verb is needed. For the past tense, the helping verb will be in the infinitive form before the past participle.
In the email example in this blog post, this occurs in three sentences, which are reprinted below.
Leggerela tua ultima email mi rende molto contenta! Reading your last email makes me very happy!
Dopoavere lettola tua email mi sono resa conto che mi mancano molto le montagne dell’Abruzzo. After having read your email, I realized that I really miss the Abruzzo mountains.
Mi ricordo diavere cenatomolto bene a casa di zia Rosa! I remember having eaten very well at Aunt Rose’s house!
Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, is the author of the Conversational Italian for Travelersseries 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!”
Visitlearntravelitalian.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
Italian Subjunctive Practice: Planning Your Italian Vacation
Speak Italian like a nativewhen you use the Italian verb “Prendere”!
