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The Italian Present Tense - Regular Verbs

In this video you will learn the rules to correctly conjugate the Present Tense in Italian. We will focus on the rules for the regular verbs.

You can also download here the full lesson with the exercises!

When do you use this verb tense? You use it to talk about actions that:

  • are happening now: "Oggi piove" (it's raining today --- today = now)
  • a fact: "Io lavoro in banca." (I work in a bank --- fact)
  • a habit: "Io gioco a calcio." (I play soccer --- habit) 

You can distinguish verbs by dividing them into 3 groups based on how the infinitive of the verb ends.

To conjugate the verbs you need to remove the last three letters of the infinitive and add the correct ending:

GROUP 1 - Verbs that end with -ARE

ARE: like the verbs lavorare (to work) / studiare (to study) / giocare (to play)

Lavorare (to work)

  • io lavoro
  • tu lavori
  • lui / lei lavora
  • noi lavoriamo
  • voi lavorate
  • loro lavorano

There is a little exception with the verbs that end with -CARE and -GARE

These verbs will need an H...

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20 Italian Sentences that Every Beginner Should Know

Start learning Italian with these 20 easy and useful sentences that every beginner should know!

You can hear the pronunciation and find out the translation of the list of sentences here below by watching this super short but helpful video! 

 

  1. Come Stai?
  2. Sto bene!
  3. Grazie!
  4. Prego!
  5. Come ti Chiami?… Mi chiamo…
  6. Cosa stai facendo?
  7. Niente!
  8. Hai capito? Sì ho capito… No… non ho capito.
  9. Scusa, non ho capito! Puoi ripetere?
  10. Ho fame… andiamo a mangiare un boccone?
  11. Ho sete… vado a bere un bicchiere d’acqua
  12. Ho sonno… vado a dormire
  13. Sono stanco
  14. Qual è il tuo numero di telefono?
  15. Posso aiutarti?
  16. Perché?
  17. Dove?
  18. Mi scusi, dov’è il bagno?
  19. Quanto costa?
  20. Mi sono perso… dov’è la stazione del treno?

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free videos! 

Here is the link to my channel: Italian Language Hub 

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Italian Adjectives of Nationality

When you meet somebody one of the first questions that you might ask the person is “where are you from” especially if you are traveling abroad… this could be a question that others might also ask you!

So… How do you say it?

Di dove sei? - where are you from?

Usually you will not simply answer by saying the country or the city where you are from but you will use the nationality.

Here are some examples.

  • Di dove sei? (where are you from?)
  • Sono italiana. (I'm Italian).
  • Sono di Milano. (I'm from Milan).
  • E’ americana, di New York. (She is American, from New York).

Da dove vieni? - where do you come from?

  • Vengo da Parigi. (I come from Paris).

Now let’s look at the different options for nationality.

Keep in mind that the usual rules for gender and number apply BUT in this case we do have some exceptions. If you need to review the rules on gender and number you can check out my previous video. Here are the direct links to my YouTube Channel:

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The Italian Definite Article

 

 

Ciao! In this lesson you will learn to correctly use the Italian Definitive article… what we call ARTICOLO DETERMINATIVO

The Definitive article in Italian is a little bit more complicated to that of English… so be aware that it might take a bit to fully understand it… the first thing that you need to keep in mind is that

We must be able to identify and choose the correct article based on gender and quantity. So understanding gender and number of nous is very important! If you need to review the video s on this topic please click in the links below:

The Gender of Italian Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns in Italian

When will you use the definite article?

You will use the definite article (Articolo determinativo) to identify specific objects or people that the person reading or listening is already aware of.

Here is a chart with the different forms of this article. You can download the full lesson and the chart by clicking here.

Download the chart and use...

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Italian Tongue Twisters

Tongue twisters (scioglilingua in Italian) are actually a good method to practice repeating different and new sounds. In this video I will show you 5 of them! Have fun and try to repeat them as fast as possible! Let me know how it goes!

Here is the transcription of the tongue twisters!

 

  1. Tre tigri contro tre tigri. Trentatré trentini entrarono a Trento tutti e trentatré trotterellando.
  2. Apelle figlio d’Apollo fece una palla di pelle di pollo e tutti i pesci vennero a galla per vedere la palla di pelle di pollo fatta da Apelle figlio di Apollo.
  3. Dietro il palazzo c’è un povero cane pazzo, date un pezzo di pane al povero pazzo cane.
  4. Li vuoi quei kiwi? E se non vuoi quei kiwi che kiwi vuoi?
  5. Al pozzo dei pazzi una pazza lavava le pezze. Andò un pazzo e buttò la pazza con tutte le pezze nel pozzo dei pazzi.
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30 Common Italian Adjectives

In this video we will look at a total of 30 adjectives.

I will read the adjectives for you and also but them inside of a sentence.

I suggest that you stop the video after each sentence and try to say it aloud or try to change it to make sure the meaning makes sense for you! 

Here is the list of the adjectives... look at the video for the translation!

1. Grande - piccolo

    • Mia sorella è più grande di me. Io sono la più piccola della famiglia.
    • Create a similar sentence with GRANDE and PICCOLO

2. Alto - basso

    • Io non sono alta… sono bassa!

3. Grasso - Magro

    • Mi piace mangiare cibo grasso…quindi non sono magra!

4. Sporco - Pulito

    • La mia casa è pulita, mi da fastidio vedere il pavimento sporco.

5. Veloce - Lento

    • Sono lenta a guidare, mentre mio marito va molto veloce!

6. Giovane - Anziano

    • Mi sento molto giovane… per me essere anziani vuol dire avere 90 anni!

7. Interessante - noioso

    • Per me é interessate...
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The Gender and Number of Italian Nouns

Italian nouns change according to gender and number and sometimes it is not easy to remember how to correctly write them out or pronounce them! 

In this video you will have some easy "basic" information on Italian nouns and their gender.

The general rule is that all the masculine names will end with an O

  • amico
  • libro
  • tavolo
  • telefono
  • video

and the femminine names will end with an A

  • amica
  • aula
  • bottiglia
  • porta
  • bocca

You can also have nouns that end with the vowel E.

In this case they can be either masculine or femminine:

For example:

  • pallone (M)
  • lezione (F)
  • canzone (F)
  • giornale (M)

You can also have nouns that end with a consonant and these are usually masculine:

  • Bar
  • Sport
  • Yacht
  • Yogurt

 Now.. let’s look at some exceptions:

you can have some masculine nouns that end with E but they can have a femminine version that ends either with an A or with ESSA

Example:

  • Il signore - la signora
  • lo studente - la studentessa

Some masculine names that end with -...

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Italian Idioms with Colors!

Learn all the fun Italian Idioms that have a color in them! They are quite used in everyday Italian and I find the funny! 

Here is a list of Italian Idioms... check out the video to understand their meaning in English! :)

  1. Ho passato la notte in bianco… non ho dormito!
  2. Ci hanno fatto vedere i sordi verdi…
  3. Avere il sangue blu
  4. Ho il conto il rosso… non ho più un soldo in banca.
  5. Ho una fame nera… non mangio da due giorni!
  6. E' una mosca bianca… solo lui riesce a studiare così tanto e avere una vita sociale!
  7. Ha il pollice verde… guarda che belle le sue orchidee!
  8. Che vita grigia che fa!… lavora tutto il giorno e non si gode mai niente!
  9. La cronaca nera al telegiornale ha parlato di un brutto omicidio.
  10. E' un giallo… chissà dove avrò messo le chiavi di casa?
  11. Il principe azzurro nelle fiabe è sempre alto e bello.
  12. E' la pecora nera del gruppo… si rifiuta sempre di fare le cose come gli...
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Learn Colors and all the Different Shades!

Let's talk about colors! I colori in Italiano!

You probably already know the basics but you might not know all the different shades that there are! In this video we will not only see the a list of colors that you most likely use daily but we will look at patterns and shades of color!

Let's start with the primary colors - I colori primari:

  • Il blu (blue)
  • Il rosso (red)
  • Il giallo (yellow)

The secondary colors are I colori secondari:

  • l’arancione (orange)
  • Il verde (green)
  • Ii viola (purple)

Then if you need to add shades you will need to use 

  • Il bianco
  • Il nero

and let's not forget the shade of shades ;) Il grigio (grey)

When you mix colors around you will have:

  • il rosa
  • il marrone
  • l’azzurro
  • Il verde chiaro
  • Il blu scuro
  • Il viola chiaro
  • Il marrone scuro

Pay attention to the articles. We use articles with colors when you are mentioning the color itself not an item of that specific color… So If I have a black t-shirt I can say:

Ho una maglietta...

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Learn Italian Basic Greeting... Ciao, Buongiorno and lots more!

CIAO is absolutely "THE GREETING" that everybody knows and uses especially when they think of Italian words.

If you come to my area... so near Milano...you will hear it like this “ueeeeh ciaoooo! We like to emphasize everything by adding UEEEEH in front of any word!

Ciao is the simple Hello / H and you use it in INFORMAL situations with friends and family or people that you know very well. It can be hello or goodbye

  • Ciao, ci vediamo domani!
  • Ciao a tutti!

Buongiorno! Good morning… you can actually use this throughout the whole day even if it’s not specifically morning… do not use it when you are sure it’s evening… in this case you can say BUONASERA.

Unlike Ciao you will use this in formal situations… for example with people that you do not know… when you enter a shop or when you greet your boss.

  • Buongiorno Sig.ra Paola! Come sta?
  • Buonasera Maria sto bene grazie!

In this case you use these when you greeting somebody so...

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