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History of Italian language

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  Italian flag

The history of the Italian language is quite complex but the modern standard of the language was largely shaped by relatively recent events. The earliest surviving texts which can definitely be called Italian (as opposed to its predecessor Vulgar Latin) are legal formulae from the region of Benevento dating from 960-963.

During the 14th century the Tuscan dialect began to predominate, because of the central position of Tuscany in Italy, and because of the aggressive commerce of its most important city, Florence. In fact, Florentine culture produced the three literary artists who best summarized Italian thought and feeling of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance: Petrarca, Boccaccio and, specially, Dante Alighieri. Dante was the one who mixed southern Italian languages, especially Sicilian, with his native Tuscan ("supposed" to be derived from Etruscan and Oscan) in his epic poems known collectively as the Commedia, to which Giovanni Boccaccio later affixed the title Divina.

The "question of the language", an attempt to establish linguistic norms and codify the language, engrossed writers of all persuasions. Grammarians during the 15th and the 16th centuries attempted to confer upon the pronunciation, syntax, and vocabulary of 14th-century Tuscan the status of a central and classical Italian speech. Eventually this classicism, which might have made Italian another dead language, was widened to include the organic changes inevitable in a living tongue.

In the dictionaries and publications of the Accademia della Crusca, founded in 1583, which was accepted by Italians as authoritative in Italian linguistic matters, compromises between classical purism and living Tuscan usage were successfully effected. The most important literary event of the 16th century did not actually take place in Florence. In 1525 the Venetian Pietro Bembo (1470-1547) set out his proposals (Prose della volgar lingua - 1525) for a standardized language and style: Petrarca and Boccaccio were his models and thus became the modern classics. Therefore, the language of Italian literature is modeled on that spoken in Florence in the 15th century.

In fact, the first edition of an official Italian vocabulary, published in 1612 by the Accademia della Crusca, was built on the basis of the following Florentine works: “Divina Commedia” by Dante, “Decameron” by Bocaccio and “Canzionere” by Petrarca. Today, Toscano is still considered the "cleanest" of all Italian dialects as it is the most similar to the original or classical Latin.

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  Tuscan Landscape

However, It was not until the 19th century that the language spoken by educated Tuscans spread to become the language of a new nation. The unification of Italy in 1861 had a profound impact not only on the political scene but also resulted in a significant social, economical, and cultural transformation. With mandatory schooling, the literacy rate increased, and many speakers abandoned their native dialect in favor of the national language.

Statistics of the Italian language

• Its family is: Indo-European » Italic » Romance » Italian.

• Is the fifth most taught non-native language, after English, French, Spanish and German.

• Spoken by about 60-65 million people, primarily in Italy.

• Is regulated by “Accademia della Crusca”.

• Italian is ranked 19th on the “List of Languages by number of native speakers.” (in a near tie with Turkish and Urdu).

• Mostly spoken in Italy, but also in communities in Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Australia, Luxembourg and some places in Africa.

• It is not uncommon for Italian-speakers to also speak a dialect particular to the region where they live.

Italian is the official language of Italiy and is spoken by about 70 million people, primarily in this country.

It's the official language of San Marino as well, and one of the official languages of Switzerland, spoken mainly in Ticino and Grigioni cantons. It is also the second official language in Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta.[1] It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania.

Italian is most closely related to the other two Italo-Dalmatian languages, Sicilian and the extinct Dalmatian. The three are part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European.

• Classification Linguistically speaking, the Italian language is a member of the Italo-Dalmatian group of languages, which is part of the Italo-Western grouping of the Romance languages, which are a subgroup of the Italic branch of Indo-European... • Geographic distribution Italian is an official language of Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, Slovenia, Vatican City and in some areas of Istria in Slovenia and Croatia with an Italian minority. It is also widely known and taught in Monaco and Malta. It is also widely spoken in Corsica and Nice (for both were former Italian possessions before being handed over to France), and Albania... • Official status Italian is the official language of Italy, San Marino and an official language in the Ticino and Grigioni cantons or regions of Switzerland... • Dialects Dialects of Italian are regional varieties (Tuscan, Central Italian) which are closely related to Standard Italian, while the terms Dialects of Italy is suggested for those idioms, such as Neapolitan, Sicilian, and Gallo-Italian languages which show considerable differences in grammar, syntax and vocabulary.

Pronouncing of Italian vowels

Italian vowels (i vocali) are short, always pronounced very clearly, and are never drawn out. The "glide" with which English vowels frequently end should be avoided. It should be noted that a, i, u, are always pronounced the same way; e and o, on the other hand, have an open and a closed sound that may vary from one part of Italy to the other.

Also, when vowels are grouped together in a word, they are always pronounced separately.

The approximate English equivalents are as follows:

a-A

This letter denotes a single sound, whose pronunciation is always similar to an English a in cat, fact, black; an "o" in how, cloud, house, mouse. Also, It sounds like the word “a” in the English word ah! Examples: o Casa  » house. o Amore  » love. o Fama  » fame. o Pasta  » pasta, dough, pastry.

e-E

This vowel has two pronunciations: As an English “a” in hay, layer, may (this is popularly called a narrow "e" or closed "e") o Bere  » to drink. o e  » and. o Fede  » faith. o Me  » me. As an English "e" in send, met, tent, hen (this one is popularly called a wide "e" or open "e"). o Bene  » well. o Vento  » wind. o è  » is. o Festa  » party; holiday.

i-I

This vowel always sounds as an English y in yellow, troyan. A similar sound is that of English ee in fleet, seem, but the length of the Italian sound is shorter. Examples: o Invidiare  » to envy. o Bimbo  » child. o Libro  » book. o Vino  » wine.

o-O

This vowel has two pronunciations: Always as an English "o", in some cases with a "narrow" or "closed" sound as in blow, soul, row. Examples: o Dono  » gift. o Mondo  » world. o Nome  » name. o o  » or. Sometimes with a "wide" or "open" sound as in cloth, spot, dog. Examples:  Moda  » fashion.  No  » no.  Brodo  » broth.  Olio  » oil.

u-U

This vowel’s sound is similar to an English "u" in rule or "w" in win, rowing. But u is a vowel, while w is a consonant. Examples: o Fungo  » mushroom. o Luna  » moon. o Lungo  » long. o Uno  » one.

Pronouncing easy consonants

Italian has the same consonants that English does. You pronounce some of them the same way, but the rest have noteworthy differences.

Additionally, the modern Italian alphabet has less letters than the English one: J, K, W, X and Y do not occur in native terms. Nevertheless, these letters do appear in dictionaries, for archaic spellings, and for a few foreign and international terms officially adopted in Italian, as well.

The consonants b, f, m, n, v are pronounced as in English. The approximate English equivalents are as follows:

B

Always as an English b. Example:  Bene  » well.  Bambino  » Child

F

Always as an English f in fame, knife, flute, but never as in of. Example:  Fare  » To make  Famoso  » famous

H

is completely soundless; never as in house, hope, hammer; but as in heir, honest. H is written in some form of the verb avere to have, in few other Italian words, and mainly in foreign words and names. Examples:  Ho  » (I) have.  Hai  » (you) have.  Ha  » (he / she / it) has.  Hanno  » (they) have.  Ahi!  » (interj) ouch!.  Hotel  » hotel.

L

is sharper and more forward in the mouth than in English, similar to l in link. Examples:  Olio  » oil  Lingua  » language  Sale  » salt  Lungo  » long  Melone  » melon  Luna  » moon  Scuola  » school

M

Always as an English m. Examples:  Madre  » Mother  N Always as an English n. Examples:  No  » No  Nonna  » Grandmother

P

is as in English, but without the aspiration that sometimes accompanies this sound in English. Examples:  Pane  » bread  Patata  » potato  Pepe  » pepper  Papà  » dad  Popone  » melon  Ponte  » bridge

T

is approximately the same as in English, but no escaping of breath accompanies it in Italian. Examples:  Contento  » glad  Carta  » paper  Arte  » art  Matita  » pencil  Turista  » tourist  Antipasto  » appetizer  Telefono  » telephone  Testa  » head

V

Always as an English v. Examples:  Vino  » Wine.  Voglio  » (I) want.

Difficult consonants

Some consonants have two pronunciations, depending on the letter (generally a vowel) that is before that consonant.

c-C

This consonant has two pronunciations: When "c" is followed by "a", "o", "u" or any consonant you pronounce it as in the English word Cat. It sounds like the English k. Example: o Casa  » house. o Credere v to think, believe. o Con  » with. o Colesseo  » Colosseum. o Capo  » head. o Cupido  » Cupid. o Cane  » dog. o Camera  » camera. o Caffè  » coffee. When "c" is followed by "e" or "i" you pronounce it as you do the first and last sound in the English word Church, or like the English sound ch in chest. Examples: o Cena  » supper. o Voce  » voice. o Cibo  » food. o Concerto  » concert. o Aceto  » vinegar. o Cinema  » cinema o Cipolla  » onion.

d-D

This consonant is somewhat more explosive than in English, with the tongue near the tip of the upper teeth but with no aspiration. Examples: o Di  » of. o Dove  » where. o Due  » two. o Denaro  » money. o Dodici  » twelve. o Donna  » woman. o Lunedì  » Monday. o Moda  » fashion. o Undici  » eleven.

g-G

This consonant has two pronunciations: When g is followed by "a", "o", "u", or any consonant, you pronounce it as you pronounce the g in the English word "good", or like "go". Examples: o Albergo  » hotel. o Gamba  » leg. o Gusto  » taste. o Fungo  » mushroom. o Gonna  » skirt. o Gomma  » eraser. o Lungo  » long. o Guanti  » gloves. o Guidare  » to drive. o Lingua  » tongue. When g is followed by "e" or "i", you pronounce it as you do the first sound in the English word job or like the "g" in gem. Examples:  Gelato  » ice cream.  Angelo  » angel.  Pagina  » page.  Gente  » people.  Gesso  » chalk.  Gentile  » kind.  Gita  » outing.  Gennaio  » January.

Stress & accent marks

Stress is the audible accent that you put on a syllable as you speak it. One syllable always gets more stress than all the others. Although there is no strict rule, in most Italian words the accent or stress falls on the penultimate syllable. But for this rule there are too many exceptions.

In Italian, only vowels have accents. All vowels at the end of a word can have this accent (`), but only the “e” can have both (`) and (´). The difference lies only in the pronunciation. That is, è is pronounced very open, as in “hell”, whereas é is more closed, as in “gourmet”. Here are some examples: • Caffè ("kahf-feh")  » coffee • Città ("cheet-tah")  » city • Lunedì ("loo-neh-dee")  » Monday • Perché ("pehr-keh")  » why; because • Però ("peh-roh")  » but • Università ("oo-nee-vehr-see-tah")  » university • Virtù ("veer-too")  » virtue Is very unusual for Italian words to be spelt with accented letters, with very few exceptions discussed further in this page.

In ordinary spelling accented vowels are allowed, but very seldom used. Only in two cases accented vowels are commonly used:  Words whose last syllable carries the accent: There are many words of this kind in Italian (nouns, verb inflections, adverbs, etc.), and some are frequently used. An accent is compulsory in this case, otherwise the stress would not be heard. Furthermore, in some cases the same word spelt without an accent even has a different meaning (see further down). A few words with a similar spelling, but whose last syllable is not stressed, are shown on the right:  Perché  » why, because  Sarà  » it will be (Sara  » Sarah, a name)  Perciò  » therefore  Papà  » dad (Papa  » pope)  Però  » but, however (Pero  » pear-tree)  Farò  » I'll do (Faro  » light-house)  Più  » more, plus Also several compounds of che (pronounced "ke", meaning which, that) are spelt with an accent:  Perché  » why, because  Poiché  » because  Benché  » despite  Giacché  » since  Sicché  » so, therefore etc.  Words that have a different meaning depending on the position of the accent: A few words have a different meaning when different syllables carry the accent. Note that the stress is in the underlined syllable:  àncora "ahnkohrah"  » anchor (noun)  ancòra "ahnkohrah"  » again, more (adverb)  règia "rehjah"  » royal (adjective)  regìa "rehjyhah"  » direction of a movie or a play (noun)  capitàno "kahpytahnoh"  » captain (noun)  càpitano "kahpytahnoh"  » they happen, they occur (verb)  làvati "lahvahtih"  » wash yourself  lavàti "lahvahtih"  » masculine plural of washed In this case, accents are not mandatory; in most cases they are not used, therefore the correct pronunciation of the word is understood only by the context of the phrase: for instance, considering the third couple of sample words, in sentences such as "sometimes strange things happen" or "he is the captain of the ship", neither of the two words could be mistaken with the other.

Italian articles

In Italian, as well as all the other Romance languages (French, Spanish, etc), all nouns have a gender and a number associated with them. The article indicates gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) of the noun.

"il"-"lo"

are the definite article that corresponds to masculine nouns. Examples: • il professore  » the teacher. • il telefono  » the phone. • il vecchio zio  » the old uncle.

“la”

is the definite article that corresponds to feminine nouns. Examples: • la casa  » the house. • la tavola  » the table. • la finestra  » the window. When using nouns, you must make sure that you use the correct gender and number when using an identifier. The identifiers are il, lo, la, i, gli, le, un, uno and una. Il, lo and la are singular definite articles, which means you are talking about a specific thing. Examples: • La sedia  » the chair (you are talking about a specific chair) • Il telefono è verde  » The telephone is green. • La parete è brutta  » The wall is ugly. The use of these identifiers is identical to the way you would say it in English - if you want to say "a table", use una, and if you want to say "the table", use la.

"i" and "gli"

are the plural of "il" and "lo", and "le" is the plural of "la". You use these plural definite articles when you are talking about several specific members of a group. There are no plural forms of uno and una, and to translate "some" when used in sentences, one must use indeterminate pronouns. Examples • Le stanze sono grandi  » The rooms are big. • Delle sedie sono in cucina  » Some chairs are in the kitchen. • Gli stessi ragazzi  » the same boys • Dei tavoli  » some tables.

Italian nouns

Noun (nome) is a person, place, or thing. Nouns have endings that change depending on the gender and number. So, the ending of an Italian noun reveals its gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural).

Singular Plural

MASC. il piatto bianco (the white plate) il cane grande (the large dog) i piatti bianchi (the white plates) i cani grandi (the large dogs)

FEM. la pizza calda (hot pizza) la carne tenera (tender meat) le pizze calde (hot pizzas) le carni tenere (tender meats)

Nouns often are accompanied by a masculine or feminine definite article (In english: "The"): il, lo, la (singular); i, gli, le (plural). Indefinite articles (Like the English a, an, some) - un, una (singular). However, As in English, there's no indefinite articles for plural nouns.

Noun Gender

In English, a vast majority of nouns are neutre (masculine and feminine are only used for human beings or for animals), while articles and adjectives have no gender at all. In Italian instead, nouns, adjectives and articles too are either masculine or feminine, but never neutre.

Noun Number

For nouns, the number (whether the word is singular or plural) works exactly as in English: the singular form is used when referring to one subject and the plural form when referring to two or more. But in Italian also adjectives and articles are number-sensitive, whereas in English only the noun changes; while in Italian also the article and the adjective would be turned in plural form.

Italian pronouns

Personal pronouns are little words that replace persons or things: he, she, they, it, me, her etc. Personal pronouns can play the role of subjects or be in a different role. For instance, in the sentence "I eat a food", "I" is a subject, but in the sentence "That lion wants to eat me", "me" is the object.

Other pronouns (not personal) also replace nouns, with a more specific usage. For instance, this can replace a noun, with a meaning similar to it (or he/she), e.g. in the sentence this is good for you.

The types of object pronouns

  » Italian subject pronouns  
  » Italian object pronouns  
  » Italian possessive pronuns  
  » Italian relative pronouns

Subject Pronouns: Subject Pronouns are often omitted, since the verb form indicates the subject: o Ho freddo  » I'm cold

Since the endings of conjugated verb forms indicate person and number, subject pronouns may be omitted in Italian except when necessary: (1) for clarity, (2) when modified by anche (also), or (3) when emphasis or contrast is desired. Examples: o Io ho freddo  » I, for my part, am cold o Lui detesta il film  » He hates the movie o Vorrebbe Lei venire con me?  » Would you like to come with me?

It and they referring to things are almost never used in Italian and need not be translated. Below you can see a table with subject pronouns: Persons Singular Plural ________________________________________ 1st. Person io » I noi » we 2nd. person familiar tu » you voi » you 2nd. person polite* Lei » you Loro » You 3rd. Person lui » him loro » them lei »her loro » them esso » it (m.) essi » them (m.) essa » it (f.) esse » them (f.)

In modern Italian he, she, and they are usually expressed by lui, lei, and loro, respectively. (Egli, ella, essi, and esse are used more in written Italian than in the spoken language. Essoand essa are seldom used.) Examples: o Tu ricevi una cartolina  » You receive a postcard o Io arrivo alle otto  » I arrive at 8 o Lui entra in aula  » He enters to the classroom o Sono felice  » We are happy

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between masculine/feminine and neutre. Neutre gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man; but this distinction does not cause any important change, because all other parts of the sentence (nouns, verb inflections, adjectives, etc.) do not have a neutre gender, which is simply handled by using either masculine or feminine. Object Pronouns: Object Pronouns are either direct or indirect, and cannot stand alone without a verb. The direct object receives the action of the verb directly while the indirect object is indirectly affected by it. • Direct Object Pronouns • Indirect Object Pronouns (*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized.

Italian prepositions

Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc.

Prepositions are those little words that mark places in space or time. When prepositions are used together with definite articles, the preposition and the article are sometimes condensed into a single word. When they are not followed (and bound) to articles, they are called "simple prepositions".

Simple prepositions: They are words that aren't followed by articles. Simple prepositions are: di (d’) » of a » to da » from, by, since in » in con » with tra, fra » between su » on per » for

Di

"Di" means "of", indicating possession, or "from" (to be from). Examples: o un bicchiere di vino  » a glass of wine o la città di Roma  » the city of Rome o il libro di Paolo  » Paul's book (literally: "the book of Paul") o la madre di Roberto  » Robert's mother o io sono di Roma  » I am from Rome o i due ragazzi sono di Berlino  » the two boys are from Berlin

A

"A" means "to" (indirect object and movement) or "in", indicating location (cities and places). When preposition "a" is followed by another word starting with a vowel, for mere phonetic reasons it changes to "ad". Examples: o regalo il libro a Stefania  » I give the book to Stephanie o venderò la bicicletta a Carlo  » I shall sell the bycicle to Charles o a destra  » to the right (note how in Italian the two directions have no article) o tornerò ad Amburgo  » I shall return to Hamburg o siamo a letto  » we are in bed o tu vivi a Roma  » you live in Rome

Da

"Da" means "since", "from" (to come from), "by" (passive) and it's used with location referring to people. Examples: o Vivo a Foggia da 16 anni  » I've lived in Foggia for 16 years o Vengo da Foggia  » I come from Foggia o Questo corso è stato fatto da Davide  » This course was made by Davide o Sono da Davide  » I'm at Davide's

In

"In" usually means "in". Examples: o Vivo in una bella città  » I live in a beautiful city. o ho dieci monete in tasca  » I have ten coins in my pocket o traverseremo il fiume in barca  » we will cross the river by boat

Con

"Con" means "with". Examples: o Sono con te  » I'm with you o ho comprato il libro con pochi soldi  » I bought the book with little money o il bambino era con un adulto  » the child was with an adult

Su

"Su" means "on(to)", "over". Examples: o I libri sono su un banco  » The books are on a desk. o l'aereo vola su Firenze  » The plane flies over Florence

Per

"Per" It can translate English for, to, by, or even as, according to the different use. Examples: o Questo regalo è per te  » This present is for Davide o Ho un biglietto per il teatro  » I have a ticket for the theatre o Il pacco è per la signora  » the parcel is for the lady

Tra-fra

"Tra" and "fra" mean "between" or "in" followed by a time expression. Examples: o Sono tra(fra) il tavolo e la sedia  » I'm between the table and the chair o Vengo a casa tra(fra) due minuti  » I'd come home in two minutes o l'autobus passerà fra(tra) due ore  » the bus will pass in two hours time o l'albero fra(tra) le due case è alto  » the tree between the two houses is tall

Italian verbs

A verb is a part of speech that usually denotes action (bring, read), occurrence (to decompose (itself), to glitter), or a state of being (exist, live, soak, stand).

Depending on the language, a verb may vary in form according to many factors, possibly including its tense, aspect, mood and voice. It may also agree with the person, gender, and/or number of some of its arguments (what we usually call subject, object, etc.). Examples: o Vado in Italia con la mia famiglia  » I will go to Italy with my family. o Il biglietto costa 2200 dollari australiani  » The ticket costs 2200 australian dolars. o Faccio studiare i ragazzi  » I make the boys study. o Noi studiamo sempre  » We always study. o Vuole anche questo libro  » He wants that book, too. o Le fragole sono dolcissime  » Strawberries are very sweet. o Questa arancia è molto buona  » This orange is very good. o Lei parla piano piano  » She speaks very softly In Italian language, most verbs end in a common pattern, such as -are, -ere, and -ire. These are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugations respectively. This classification method is very similar to spanish conjugation, where the pattern is -ar, -er and -ir for the three conjugations. Here some Italian conjugation examples:

Italian conjugation examples

ARE Means ERE Means IRE Means IRE (*) Means ________________________________________ parlare to speak scrivere to write dormire to sleep finire to finish cantare to sing vedere to see partire to leave colpire to hit lavorare to work vendere to sell aprire to open costruire to build amare to love vivere to live servire to serve sparire to disappear

Verb features

The features of the verbs are: • The Person: (indicates the subject that does the action) The persons in Italian are io, tu, lui (masculine), lei (feminine), noi, voi, loro (masculine and feminine).

• The Manner: (indicates how the action happens) In Italian there are seven manners or moods with different forms and functions: indicativo (indicative), congiuntivo (subjunctive), condizionale (conditional),imperativo (imperative), infinito (infinitive), gerundio (gerund), participio (participle).

• The Time: (indicates when the action happens) In Italian there are many different times: all the seven manners of the verb have different times.The times can be simple (only one word) or compound (two or more words).

• The Form: (indicates the kind of action) In Italian the form can be active transitive, active intransitive, reflexive and passive. (*) There are few verbs of the -ire conjugation in Italian that have different suffix.

Italian Alphabet

A	B 	C 	D 	E 	F 	G 	H 

a bi ci di e effe gi acca

I J L M N O P lunga * kappa* elle emme enne o pi

Q R S T U V W X cu erre esse ti u vu doppia vu * ics*

Y Z greca * zeta

(*) These five letters don't occur in native terms and are found in foreign words.

Italian numbers

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 zero zero one uno two due three tre four quattro five cinque six sei seven sette

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 eight otto nine nove ten dieci eleven undici twelve dodici thirteen tredici fourteen quattordici fifteen quindici

________________________________________

16 17 18 19 20 sixteen sedici seventeen diciassette eighteen diciotto nineteen diciannove twenty venti

21 22 30 31 40 twenty-one ventuno twenty-two ventidue thirty trenta thirty-one trentuno forty quaranta

50 60 70 80 90

fifty cinquanta sixty sessanta seventy settanta eighty ottanta ninety novanta

________________________________________

100 101 200 300 one hundred cento one hundred and one centouno two hundred duecento three hundred trecento

1,000 2,000 1,000,000 2,000,000 one thousand mille two thousand due mille one million un milione two million due milione

Colours in Italian

	ENGLISH	ITALIAN

White Bianco/a

Yellow Giallo/a

Orange Arancione

Pink Rosa

Red Rosso/a

Light Blue Azzurro/a

Dark Blue Blu

Green Verde

Brown Marrone

Gray Grigio/a

Black Nero/a

Basic phrases

• Thank you. Grazie. • Thank you very much. Grazie tante. • You're welcome. Prego. • Please. Per favore. • Yes. Sì. • No. No. • Excuse me. Mi scusi. • Pardon me. Mi scusi. • I'm sorry. Mi dispiace. • I don't understand. Non capisco. • I don't speak Italian. Non parlo italiano. • I don't speak Italian very well. Non parlo molto bene italiano. • Do you speak English? Parla inglese? • Speak slowly, please. Parli piano, per favore. • Repeat, please. Ripeta, per favore. • What's your name? Come si chiama? • How are you? Come va? • Do you speak English? Parla inglese? • Where is the subway? Dov’è la metropolitana? • Is the tip included? Il servizio è incluso? • How much does that cost? (sg./pl.) Quanto costa/costano? • Is there a public phone here? C’è un telefono pubblico vicino? • Can I get on the internet? Posso collegarmi con internet? • Can you help me? Mi può aiutare? • Where is the bathroom? Dov’è la toilette?

Greetings

• Hello! Ciao!/Salve! • Good morning! Buon giorno! • Good day! Buon pomeriggio! • Good evening! Buona sera! • How are you? Come va? • Fine. Bene. • Very well. Molto bene. • So-so. Così così. • What's your name? Come si chiama? • My name is Signor Borghi. Mi chiamo (Signor) Borghi. • It's nice to meet you. Piacere (di conoscerla). • Goodbye. Arrivederla/ci. • See you soon. A presto! • Goodnight. Buona notte! • Where do you live? (sg./pl.) Dove abiti/abitate? • I live in Bologna. Abito a Bologna. • This is my friend. (m./f.) Ti presento il mio amico/la mia amica. • This is my boyfriend. Questo è il mio ragazzo. • This is my girlfriend. Questa è la mia ragazza. • This is my husband. Questo è (il) mio marito. • This is my wife. Questa è (la) mia moglie. • Please visit me! Vieni a trovarmi! • I had a wonderful time. (m./f.) Mi sono divertito/divertita.

Directions

• Where? Dove? • Excuse me, where is…? Mi scusi, dov’è...? • Where are the taxis? Dove sono i tassì? • Where is the bus? Dov’è l’autobus? • Where is the subway? Dov’è la metropolitana? • Where is the exit? Dov’è l’uscita? • Is it near? È vicino? • Is it far? È lontano? • Go straight ahead. Si va diritto. • Go that way. Si va in quella direzione. • Go back. Si va indietro. • Turn right. Si gira a destra. • Turn left. Si gira a sinistra. • Take me to this address, please. Mi porti a questo indirizzo, per favore. • What is the fare? Qual’è la tariffa? • Stop here, please. Fermi qui, per favore. • Does this bus go to Bergamo Street? Questo autobus va in Via Bergamo? • A map of the city, please. Una pianta della città, per favore. • A subway map, please. Una cartina della metropolitana, per favore.

Dining out

• Where is a good restaurant? Dove si mangia bene? • A table for two, please. Una tavola per due, per favore. • The menu, please. Il menu, per favore. • The wine list, please. La lista dei vini, per favore. • appetizers (gli) antipasti • main course i primi piatti • dessert i dolci • I would like something to drink. Vorrei qualcosa da bere. • A glass of water, please. Una bottiglia d’acqua, per favore. • A cup of tea, please. Una tazza di tè, per favore. • coffee with milk (un) caffè latte • beer una birra • Do you have vegetarian dishes? Avete dei piatti vegetariani? • That's all. Basta così. • The check, please. Il conto, per favore. • Is the tip included? Il servizio è incluso? • breakfast la prima colazione • lunch il pranzo • dinner la cena • Enjoy the meal! Buon appetito! • To your health! Salute!/Cin-cin! • It's delicious! È delizioso. • plate (il) piatto • fork (la) forchetta • knife (il) coltello • spoon (il) cucchiaio • napkin (il) tovagliolo • cup (la) tazza • glass (il) bicchiere • a bottle of wine una bottiglia di vino • ice cubes (il) ghiaccio • salt (il) sale • pepper (il) pepe • sugar (lo) zucchero • soup (la) zuppa, (la) minestra • salad (l’)insalata • bread (il) pane • butter (il) burro • noodles (la) pasta • rice (il) riso • cheese (il) formaggio • vegetables (la) verdure • chicken (il) pollo • pork (il) maiale • beef (la) carne • I like my steak rare. Preferisco la bistecca al sangue. • I like my steak medium. Preferisco la bistecca cotta al punto giusto. • I like my steak well done. Preferisco la bistecca ben cotta. • juice (il) succo di frutta • pie una crostata • ice cream (il) gelato • Another, please. Un altro, per favore. • More, please. Ancora un po’, per favore. • Pass the… please. Mi passi … • spicy piccante • sweet dolce • sour aspro