In this text you can find basic information about Italian grammar. Read it before starting the course, it can be useful to revise and better understand new explanation.

Nouns and articles

The Italian noun has two genders, feminine and masculine, and two numbers, singular and plural. Italian nouns are generally preceded by the article, which can be definite or indefinite.

Do you remember the following nouns?

l'amico - the friend (male)
l'aeroporto - the airport
la casa - the house
il giornale - the newspaper
il libro - the book
il letto - the bed
la macchina - the car
la penna - the pen
la stazione - the station
lo studente - the student

Verbs

Verbs to be (essere) and to have (avere) are useful to introduce someone:

Ciao, io sono Paolo e lei è Anna. Tu chi sei?
Hi, I’m Paolo and she is Anna. Who are you?
Noi siamo italiani, e voi?
We are Italian, and you?

Io ho 20 anni. Quanti anni hai?
I’m 20 years old. How old are you?
Io ho un amico italiano.
I’ve got an Italian friend.

Italian verbs are traditionally divided into three conjugations according to the ending of the infinitive form, namely -are, -ere, -ire. Some Italian verbs are irregular, so they follow their own conjugation. Have a look at these basic sentences in the present tense:

Anna e Alex arrivano in Italia - Anna and Alex arrive in Italy
Lorenzo aspetta Anna e Alex - Lorenzo waits for Anna and Alex
Anna scrive le parole nuove - Anna writes down the new words