1. DIPLOMA IN ITALIAN
Strutture linguistiche
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

2. Strutture linguistiche
Structures encountered in Unità 1:
• Subject Pronouns
• Indefinite article
• Present tense of essere
• Present tense of –are verbs
• Chiamarsi
• Negative sentence
• Adjectives
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

3. PRONOMI PERSONALI
SOGGETTO
Subject pronouns
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

4. Subject Pronouns
Singolare Plurale
 In Italian the verb 1 io noi
ending always
identifies the subject.
For that reason, 2 tu voi
subject pronouns are
usually not expressed.
3 lui/lei/Lei loro
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

5. Written Style
Singolare Plurale
 In formal writing egli is
used instead of lui and 3 egli (person) essi
essi/esse instead of (maschile)
loro. esse
(femminile)
 In everyday
conversation, however,
these forms are rarely
used.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

6. Subject pronouns are
expressed when:
o the subject is not clear: Sono a Roma →
Io sono a Roma. Loro sono a Roma.
o we wish to put more emphasis on the
subject:
Io sono italiano, ma lui è spagnolo.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

7. Formal
 To address somebody formally, we use Lei and the
third person singular of the verb:
Lei è irlandese?
Scusi, Lei è il dottor Rossi?
o Lei should always be written with capital L, even inside
a sentence.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

8. ARTICOLO
INDETERMINATIVO
Indefinite article
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

9. Forms and use
 The Italian indefinite article
corresponds to the English a/an.
 It is used only with singular nouns.
 It has four forms:
Masculine: un / uno
Feminine: una / un’
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

10. Which form?
 MASCULINE
before nouns starting with
un ragazzo, un albero
UN consonant, vowel
uno stereo, uno zaino,
UNO s + consonant, z, ps, gn. uno psicologo, uno gnomo
 FEMININE
before nouns starting with
UNA consonant una ragazza
UN’ vowel un’isola
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

11. ESSERE
To be
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

12. ESSERE
io sono
 Essere is an
irregular verb. tu sei
 This is the present lui/lei/Lei è
tense.
noi siamo
voi siete
loro sono
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

13. Some expressions with essere:
 Essere di + name of a city - to be
from (sono di Roma)
 Di dove sei? -where are you from?
(informal)
 Di dove è Lei? - where
are you from (formal)?
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

14. VERBI (1)
Verbs ending in -are
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

15. Italian verb endings
 The infinitive of all Italian regular verbs ends in –
are, -ere or –ire.
 When you look up a verb in the dictionary you
will find the infinitive (corresponding to to work,
to study, etc.). The present tense of regular
verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending
(-are, -ere or –ire) and adding the appropriate
endings to the remaining stem. The ending is
different for each person.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

16. Verbs in –are: ABITARE (to
live)
 abitare is a regular io abit-o
verb.
tu abit-i
 To form the present
tense of abitare and lui/lei/Lei abit-a
all regular verbs in
–are, just drop ARE noi abit-iamo
and add the endings
shown in the table: voi abit-ate
loro abit-ano
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

17. CHIAMARSI
 chiamarsi is a regular mi chiam-o
reflexive verb.
 The reflexive pronoun ti chiam-i
must always precede the
verb. si chiam-a
 To form the present tense
of chiamarsi (and all ci chiam-iamo
regular reflexive verbs in
–arsi), just drop ARSI and vi chiam-ate
add the endings shown in
the table: si chiam-ano
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

18. LA FRASE NEGATIVA
Negative sentence
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

19. Non
 Italian negative sentences are formed
by simply adding non before the verb:
Non siamo italiani.
Non abito a Milano.
 In negative answers we use No:
- Sei spagnolo?
- No. / No, non sono spagnolo
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

20. AGGETTIVI
Adjectives
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

21. Endings
 Adjectives can end in –o (i.e., if you look up the
adjective SLOW in the dictionary, you will find the Italian LENTO .
This adjective ends in –o) or in –e (i.e., if you look up the
adjective FAST in the dictionary, you will find the Italian VELOCE.
This adjective ends in –e).
 Italian adjectives agree in gender
(masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural)
with the noun they refer to.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

22. Adjectives in -o
Adjectives ending in –o have four possible forms:
 Masculine singular: -o
 Masculine plural: -i
 Feminine singular: -a
 Feminine plural: -e
 Esempio: NUOVO (new)
 M: libro nuovo – libri nuovi
cellulare nuovo – cellulari nuovi
 F: casa nuova – case nuove
 canzone nuova – canzoni nuove
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

23. Adjectives in -e
Adjectives ending in –e have only two forms:
 Singular (masculine/feminine): -e
 Plural (masculine/feminine): -i
 Esempio: INTERESSANTE
 M: libro interessante – ibri interessanti
 F: rivista interessante – riviste interessanti
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

24. Position
 Unlike English, in Italian adjectives
usually come after the noun they refer
to.
 Colours and nationalities ALWAYS
come after the noun they refer to.
 Esempio: vino rosso, mela verde, ragazzo irlandese, donna
italiana.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

25. Nationalities (1)
The following nationalities end in –o and therefore have four
possible forms:
 americano
 arabo
 australiano
 austriaco
 europeo
 italiano
 polacco
 spagnolo
 tedesco (masc. plur: tedeschi – fem plur: tedesche)
 ecc .
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin

26. Nationalities (2)
The following nationalities end in –e and therefore have
only two possible forms (-e for the singular and –i for
the plural):
 canadese
 danese
 francese
 inglese,
 irlandese
 portoghese
 svedese
 ecc.
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin