Ciao! In this lesson you will expand your Italian vocabulary by learning words that describe containers and quantities. In this way the next time you come to Italian you can go food shopping and ask for things like:

“un etto di prosciutto, una fetta di torta , un quarto di vino!”

If you are curious to know more watch the video or read on! You can also download all this information for free by clicking on this link!

So first thing… how do you say shopping list? 

In Italian you would say: “La lista della spesa” 

Spesa is the Italian word for the shopping related to food. 

So if you say : “Vado a fare la spesa” you are saying that you are going food shopping. if on the other hand you are not buying food but other goods… you can say:

• “vado a fare acquisti” 
• “vado a fare compere” 
• “vado a fare shopping”

So you can have containers like:

• una bottiglia di...

In this video you will learn to use correctly PERCHE’. 

You can download the PDF of this lesson by clicking here!

Let’s immediately begin by saying it correctly! Make sure you are saying that accent on the last vowel… repeat it a few times with me:

• perché
• perché
• perché

Want to practice listening to this sound? I suggest you listen to the song by Rita Pavone! in her song "La partita di pallone" she says perché many many many times!

Listen to the song here!

I think that this little word is interesting especially because in English it actually has two translations and each translation has its own use!

I’m talking about the use of why and because. In English, why is used in questions, and because with answers. On the contrary, perché in Italian is used both in questions and answers.This is the reason why Italians usually make mistakes with why and because in English. 

Let’s look at some common ways of...

Very often Italian will use OK to say that they agree with something. Let’s say that the Italian language has stolen this English word and uses it very commonly in everyday Italian. But honestly there are other words in Italian that are used daily and I believe that all learners should know and use.

Click here to download the lesson in PDF format! 

Let’s look at some of them together. 

1. Va bene - is probably the most precise alternative and translation to the word OKAY. 

We will use it when we agree with something, we are giving consent we are giving the green light to go ahead with a request or something. It’s not too thrilling of a reply.

• Domani vieni al mercato con me? va bene! (Will you come to the market with me tomorrow? - ok)
• Andiamo a casa sono stanca va bene! (let's go home, I'm tired - ok)

Va bene is not like a super enthusiastic reply it's not like you're saying yay VA BENE let's say it's bland.

2. Vabbé / Va beh /...

If you are learning any kind of language one of the first things that you will learn are greetings. So you probably know already your ciao, buongiorno etc. but usually right after the greetings you tend to say something else… right? It’s almost automatic to say, hi, or hello and add a How are you? You probably say it without even thinking about it… or meaning it.. but honestly we all say it.

Download the lesson in PDF format here!

You are probably already using COME STAI to say HOW ARE YOU, but today I want to teach you some extra expressions that people might ask you or that you can use instead of COME STAI. These are super common and they are used on a daily basis. 

Come va? 

The first expression that can substitute Come stai is Come va? Literally this translates to how is it going. You might spot out the verb here which is VA. This is the irregular verb ANDARE. In this case the verb is very let’s say neutral because you it refers to things or...

Today I want to teach you to describe your hometown or we can say places in general by using Italian adjectives

 Download here the entire lesson in PDF!

Remember that the adjectives need to match gender and number! Some might be easy because you can use the rule O when it’s masculine and A when it’s feminine… but you can have exceptions!  

Adjectives:

NOIOSO - be super carful here! This is a false friend! Noioso means boring! Your brain might trick you here and want you to say Noisy… but be very careful! 

• è un posto noioso. 

  It’a a boring place… 

INTERESSANTE- interesting. 

• Il parco della mia città è interessante e pieno di fiori e piante 

 My city's park is interesting, it's full of flowers and plant.

CAOTICO - this one easily translates to chaotic. So think of a busy downtown with lots of shops and people moving around:

• E' una città caotica. (It's...

In this lesson I will teach you some common words that you can use to talk about the things you eat! So everything that deals with taste.

Download here this lesson in PDF format!

I think that the senses are very powerful and they can be a tool for us to link new vocabulary to feelings and memories. So we can use these nouns, verbs and adjectives to create a link that will allow for you to never forget their meaning and so use them correctly in your Italian language journey. 

Let’s start with SAPORE. Sapore means taste - IL SAPORE means the taste.

If you change one little letter you will have the verb SAPERE. The verb SAPERE means to know, and in this case you can use this verb to talk about flavor.

If I bite into a delicious piece of cake I might tell you: SA DI CIOCCOLATO, SA DI MANDORLA, SA DI PISTACCHIO. to talk about what I think the flavor of the cake is.

You have 4 main flavors that your tongue can usually “pick-up” easily. 

4 sapori: 4...

If you have been searching to learn about the most commonly used Italian question words, this video and article will answer your doubts. 

Let’s look at QUANDO / QUANTO / QUALE and PERCHE´

QUANDO (When)

It’s used as an adverb and it means WHEN. 

You do not need to make changes keep it as it is and insert it at the beginning of the question before the verb.

• Quando parti?
  – When are you leaving?
• Quando inizia la scuola?
  – When does school start?)
• Quando è il tuo compleanno
  – When is your birthday?

Want to download all this information for free in PDF format? Click here!

QUANTO (How many / How much)

It's an interrogative adjective and you will use it to provide information about quantity. Remember that like all adjective it will have to match gender and number to the noun that it is referring to!

Let’s look at some examples:

• QUANTO (masculine singular)
• QUANTA (feminine singular)
• QUANTI (masculine plural)
• QUANTE (feminine...

Let's review together the Italian Modal Verbs!

You download the PDF of the lesson and review on the go by clicking here!

VOLERE - to want to 

This modal verbs can be used alone or with an infinitive verb right after. 

Let’s look at some examples:

• "Voglio un caffè"
• "Voglio bere un caffè" : you are stressing the fact that you really really want to drink a coffee. It’s a strong desire for you. 

Both sentences are correct and both make it clear what you want to do. 

If you use VOLERE + an infinite you are stressing more your desire.

Here is another example (a heart felt wish)

• "Da grande voglio fare il pompiere" (When I grown up I want to be a firefighter). 

 In this case you are expressing a future project that you really hope to accomplish.

You can also use it in a question:

• "Vuoi mangiare una pizza stasera?" (do you want to eat a pizza tonight?) 

DOVERE - must / have to

This verbs expresses necessity...