Italian Grammar Rules Flashcards
What do verbi riflessivi indicate?
They indicate that the subject acts on himself or herself.
What are the reflexive pronouns used with reflexive verbs?
mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si
How do you make a reflexive verb negative?
Add “non” prior to the reflexive pronoun and its verb.
To express possession (my, your (informal), your (formal), and his/her, use these expressions…
These are called Gli Aggettivi Possessivi: my, your, his/her, its, our, and their.
Masculine Feminine Singular Plural Singular Plural il mio i miei la mia le mie il tuo i tuoi la tua le tue il Suo i Suoi la Sua le Sue il suo i suoi la sua le sue il nostro i nostri la nostra le nostre il vostro i vostri la vostra le vostre il LorO i LorO la LorO le LorO i loro i loro la loro le loro
List (the articles used for “the”) the Definite Articles.
Singular Plural
Masculine il , l’, lo i , gli
Feminine la , l’ le
When do you use the definite article, “il” ?
Before any singular masculine noun except those that begin with a vowel, an “s + consonant”, or a “z”.
When do you use the definite article, “l’” ?
Before any singular masculine or feminine noun that begins with a vowel.
When do you use the definite article, “lo” ?
Before any singular masculine noun beginning with an “s + consonant” or a “z”.
When do you use the definite article, “la” ?
Before any singular feminine noun except those that begin with a vowel. (This includes singular feminine nouns that begin with “s + consonant” and “z”).
When do you use the definite article, “i” ?
Before any plural masculine noun except those that begin with a vowel, an “s + consonant”, or a “z”.
Generally, what gender are nouns that end in -ore?
Maschile
un attore
uno scrittore
When do you use the definite article, “gli” ?
Before any plural masculine noun that begins with a vowel, an “s + consonant”, or a “z”.
What are the proper endings for nouns, i nomi, and their endings according to gender and number?
Il genere dei nomi…
Singular Plural
Maschile -o -i
-e -i
Femminile -a -e
-e -i
Generally, what gender are nouns that end in -rice?
Femminile
un’attrice
una scrittrice
Generally, what gender are nouns that end in -ione?
Femminile
una lezione una conversazione
una professione
List (the articles used for a, an or the number one when used with a noun) the Indefinite Articles.
(always) Singular
Masculine un, uno
Feminine una, un’
When do you use the Indefinite Article, “un”?
For all masculine nouns that begin with a consonant or a vowel (excluding those that begin with an “s + consonant” or a “z.”
When do you use the Indefinite Article, “uno”?
With masculine nouns that begin with an “s + consonant” or a “z.”
When do you use the Indefinite Article, “una”?
For all feminine nouns except those that begin with a vowel. It IS used for feminine nouns that begin with an “s + consonant” or a “z.”
When do you use the Indefinite Article, “un’”?
Only for feminine nouns that begin with a vowel. You drop the “a” from “una” and continue with the vowel of the noun.
List the prepositional phrase contractions for “a” (at, to) and “the” (definite article) used with nouns.
a + il = al
+ lo = allo
+ la = alla
+ l’ = all’
List the prepositional phrase contractions for “di” (of) and “the” (definite article) used with nouns.
di + il = del
+ lo = dello
+ la = della
+ l’ = dell’
By adding an “h” when changing a noun that ends with -ca or -ga and most nouns ending in -go from singular to plural, what happens?
The word retains the hard guttural sound in the plural.
una biblioteca due biblioteche
un’amica due amiche
un albergo due alberghi
What do you do when a noun ends in -io and you need to make it plural?
You never use two “i”’s in a row. Drop the second one.
un edificio due edifici
uno stadio due stadi
When don’t you change the ending of a noun to make it plural?
When it ends in a consonant or an accented vowel or the noun itself is abbreviated.
un computer due computer un campus due campus un'università due università una foto due foto un cinema due cinema
How do you treat quanto, molto, poco and troppo when using them as adjectives and adverbs?
When using as an adjective, they agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify.
When using as an adverb, they are invariable as they modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Adjective Ending Chart
Singolare Plurale
Adjectives ending in -o
Maschile -o -i
Femminile -a -e
Adjectives ending in -e
Both -e -i
What do you do when an adjective modifies two or more nouns of different genders, or a plural noun that refers to both genders?
The masculine plural form of the adjective is always used.
Mario e Luisa sono biondi.
Gli studenti sono seri.
Adjectives that end in -ca, -ga, and -go must follow the nouns the modify. In what way does this happen?
Change them by adding an “h” so they become -che, -ghe, and -ghi to keep the hard guttural sound.
Most adjectives follow the noun they modify. Name some exceptions:
bello/a giovane bravo/a grande brutto/a nuovo/a buono/a piccolo/a caro/a vecchio/a cattivo/a vero/a
Which adjectives always precede the noun they modify?
altro/a molto/a poco/a questo/a quanto/a stesso/a troppo/a
What is the plural form of the indefinite article un, uno, una? Hint: these express indefinite quantities (as opposed to one or a specific number). Equivalent to “some,” “a few,” or “any”.
dei, degli, and delle
Singolare Plurale Maschile un vestito dei vestiti un impermeabile degli impereabili uno zaino degli zaini
Femminile una cravatta delle cravatte
un’amica delle amiche
When is dei used?
only with masculine plural nouns that begin with a consonant
When is degli used?
with masculine plural nouns that begin with a vowel, the letter “z”, or the letter “s + a consonant”.
When is delle used?
with feminine plural nouns that begin with a consonant or with a vowel.
List the conversion made for for bello (beautiful) and quello (that) that combines them with the definite article for “the”.
Singular Plural
Masculine
quel, quell’, quello quei, quegli
bel, bell’, bello bei, begli
Feminine
quella, quell’ quelle
bella, bell’ belle
When are “quel” and “bel” used before nouns?
before singular masculine nouns that begin with a consonant, except those that begin with an “s + consonant” or a “z”.
When are quell’ and bell’ used?
before any singular masculine noun that begins with a vowel.
When are “quello” and “bello” used?
Before any singular masculine nouns that begin with an “s + consonant” and with a “z”.
When are “quella” and “bella” used?
before any singular feminine nouns that begin with a consonant.
When are “quell’” and “bell’” used?
Before any singular feminine nouns that begin with a vowel.
When are “quei” and “bei” used?
before any plural masculine noun that begins with a consonant, except those that begin with an “s + consonant” or a “z”.
When are “quegli” and “begli” used?
Before any plural masculine nouns that begin with a vowel, an “s + consonant,” or a “z”.
When are “quelle” and “belle” used?
before any plural feminine noun, (including those that begin with a vowel).
How do you express “never” in Italian?
Place “non” in front of the verb and “mai” after the verb: Non mi sveglio mai presto. I never wake up early.
Direct Object Pronouns
(answer the question: whom? or what?
Singular Plural
him/it them (m.)
her/it them (f.)
i pronomi di oggetto diretto
Singolare Plurale lo li (m.) la le (f.)
Simple prepositions (to indicate location)
at, to, in in
with for, in order to
of on, over, above
from, by between, among
Le preposizioni semplici
a in
con per
di su
da tra(fra)
of
di
from, by
da
for, in order to
per
on, over, above
su
between, among
tra (fra)
a with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
a = at, to, in
A with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
al , allo , all’ , alla , ai , agli , alle
da with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
da = from, by
da with with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
dal , dallo , dall’ , dalla , dai , dagli , dalle
di with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
di = of
di with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
di –> de = del , dello , dell’ , della , dei , degli , delle
in with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
in = in
in with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
in –> ne = nel , nello , nell’ , nella , nei , negli , nelle
Su with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
Su = on, over, above
Su with il, lo, l’, la, i, gli, le
sul , sullo , sull’ , sulla , sui , sugli , sulle
What is a transitive verb?
A verb that can take a direct object.
How do you form the present perfect (passato prossimo) of transitive verbs?
Use the present tense of “avere” + the past participle of the verb being used.
ho + comprato abbiamo comprato
hai comprato avete comprato
ha comprato hanno comprato
How do you form the past participle of regular verbs?
Drop the -are, -ere, or -ire ending.
Add -ato, -uto, or -ito respectively.
What is an intransitive verb?
A verb that cannot take a direct object.
pg. 188
L’ accordo del participio passato con i pronomi di oggetto diretto.
How do you form the passato prossimo of reflexive verbs and most intransitive verbs?
Use the present tense of the verb “essere” + the past participle.
When asking a question (ie, using an interrogative word), where do you place the subject in the sentence?
At the end of the sentence.
What place in the interrogative sentence do prepositions such as a, con, di, and per receive?
A, con, da, di, and per always precede interrogative words.
Where do you place the negative expressions ancora, mai, and piu, and other time expressions when using them with the passato prossimo?
Place them between the auxiliary verb (essere or avere).
Hai già finito i compiti?
No. Non li ho ancora finit.
When can you drop non when using negative expressions?
When the negative expression, such as nessuno, precede the verb.
Nessuno faceva sport.
How do you use nessuno as an adjective? What does it express?
It expresses not…any. Nessuno precedes a singular noun and follows the pattern of un, uno, una, un’.
Non pratico nessuno sport.
Non conosciamo nessun giocatore di calcio.
nobody, no one, not…anyone
non…nessuno
nothing, not…anything
non…niente (nulla)
not even; neither
non…neanche (neppure, nemmeno)
neither…nor
non…né…né
never
non… mai
not yet
non… ancora
not anymore, no more, no longer
non… più
How do you form avverbi from adjectives?
add -mente to the feminine form of the adjective.
What if an adjective ends in -e and you want to make an adverb out of it?
add -mente directly to the adjective without dropping the -e ending.
How do you form the adverb when the adjective ends in -le or -re?
-mente is added after dropping the final -e.
