Italian grammar - Definition and Overview

Italian grammar is the study of grammar in the Italian language.

Nouns (i nomi)

Nouns in Italian have gender (masculine or feminine, but no neuter), and number (singular or plural). The gender and number is always shown by the leading article (definite or indefinite), and usually by the final vowel.

In most cases:

• Masculine singular in -o, plural in -i
  • il ragazzo / i ragazzi (the boy / the boys)
• Feminine singular in -a, plural in -e
  • la ragazza / le ragazze (the girl / the girls)

but:

• Masculine singular in -e, plural in -i
  • il cane / i cani (the dog / the dogs)
• Feminine singular in -e, plural in -i
  • la parete / le pareti (the wall / the walls)

Irregular Nouns (i nomi irregolari)

Irregular noun patterns:

• Masculine singular in -a, plural in -i (problema/problemi problem(s))
• Masculine singular in -é, plural in -é (caff&eacute coffee(s))
• Feminine singular in -à, plural in -à (citt&agrave city/cities)
• Feminine singular in -o, plural in -o (...except la mano, le mani, hand(s))

Certain body parts are masculine in the singular but feminine in the plural:

• ginocchio (m)/ginocchia (f) (knee/knees)
• sopracciglio (m)/sopracciglia (f) (eyebrow/eyebrows)

And occasional individual exceptions when a word has been abbreviated but keeps its original gender, for example:

• la foto (= la fotografia, the photograph)
• la moto (= la motocicletta, the motorcycle)

Lastly, the soft/hard nature of italian c and g leads to a few spelling/pronunciation rules in certain cases:

• Words in -cio and -gio form plurals in -ci and -gi (to preserve pronunciation).
• Words in -co and -go:
  • Form plurals in -ci and -gi if the final letter before the prefix is a vowel: l'amico, gli amici
  • Generally form plurals in -chi and -ghi if the final letter before the prefix is a consonant: il fungo, i funghi
• Words in -cia and -gia:
  • Form plurals in -cie and -gie if the final letter before the prefix is a vowel: la camicia, le camicie
  • Form plurals in -ce and -ge if the final letter before the prefix is a consonant: la frangia, le frange
• Words in -cie are invariable in the plural, with the exception of: la superficie, le superfici.

Articles (gli articoli)

The Definite Article (the)

• Masculine singular: il (lo before an impure consonant sound, l' before a vowel)
• Masculine plural: i (gli before a vowel or impure consonant sound)
• Feminine singular: la (l' before a vowel)
• Feminine plural: le

Impure consonant sounds are z, gn, pn, ps, or s+consonant (sp, st, etc). See also Italian sounds.

The Indefinite Article (a)

• Masculine: un (uno before an impure consonant sound)
• Feminine: una (un' before a vowel)

Pronouns (i pronomi)

Declension

• Nominative: io, tu/Lei, lui (egli, esso), lei (ella, essa), noi, voi, loro (essi), loro (esse)
• Accusative: mi, ti/La, lo, la, ci, vi, li, le
• Dative: mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, loro
• Prepositional: me, te, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro

Notes:

• egli/ella are fading, esso/essa/essi/esse are rare neuter forms
• 2nd person Nom. is tu for informal, Lei for formal since 1940s. lei (third person singular) and Lei (second person singular formal) are pronounced the same but written as shown. Formal Lei/La take third-person conjugations.
• Accusative mi, ti, ci, and vi become me, te, ce, and ve when emphasized
• Accusative lo and la contract to l' before a vowel or h
• Dative mi, ti, ci, and vi become me, te, ce, and ve when emphasized or when preceding an accusative pronoun
• Gli combines with lo, la, li, and le to form glielo, gliela, glieli, and gliele (see Articulated Prepositions below)

(Compare German Sie.)

Adjectives (gli aggettivi)

Adjectives, like nouns, have two genders and two numbers.

In general, for adjectives:

• Masculine in -o, plural in -i
• Masculine in -e, plural in -i
• Feminine in -a, plural in -e
• Feminine in -e, plural in -i

Possessive adjectives

• Masc. sing.: mio, tuo, suo, nostro, vostro, loro
• Fem. sing.: mia, tua, sua, nostra, vostra, loro
• Masc. pl.: miei, tuoi, suoi, nostri, vostri, loro
• Fem. pl.: mie, tue, sue, nostre, vostre, loro

In most cases the possessive adjective must be used with the definite article:

• Ho perso la mia penna. (I've lost my pen.)
• Mi piace il mio lavoro. (I like my job.)
• Hanno rubato la mia automobile! (They've stolen my car!)

The only exception is when the possessive refers to a family member:

• Sara è mia sorella (Sarah is my sister.)
• Questa penna è di mia zia. (This pen is my aunt's.)

Tenses (i tempi)

• Simple tenses (examples in first person)

• Compound tenses

• Special forms

Notes

¹Present continuous in Italian is similar to that in English but not as frequently used. Italian usually uses the simple present instead, except when emphasizing the ongoing nature of the action.

²The preterite is becoming obsolete in spoken Italian. It is still used in Southern Italy but becoming less common there too. It is however very common in literature, even modern literature.

³The Trapassato Prossimo (Recent Pluperfect) and the Trapassato Remoto (Remote Pluperfect) are separate tenses in Italian though not in English.

Verbs (i verbi)

Italian verb infinitives have one of three endings, either -are, -ere, or -ire. Most Italian verbs are regular.

Some regular -ire verbs conjugate normally, and some conjugate according to the -isco pattern. There is no way to tell other than to memorize which are which.

Compound tense auxiliary verbs

In Italian, compound tenses are formed with an auxiliary verb (either essere "to be" or avere "to have"). Most verbs use avere as their auxiliary verb. The exceptions are commonly used verbs of motion, (and other intransitives), all reflexive verbs and verbs in the passive voice.

The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is also essential to the agreement of the past participle.

The past participle

The past participle is used in Italian as both an adjective and to form many of the compound tenses of the language. The past participle conjugated with essere follows the usual adjective agreement rules.

For the intransitive essere verbs, the past participle always agrees with the subject: lui &egrave partito; lei è partita. This is also true for reflexive verbs, the impersonal si construction, and the passive voice, which also use essere.

The past participle when conjugated with avere never changes to agree with the subject.

Regular conjugations

Indicative mood (l'indicativo)

• Present
  • -are: -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ono
  • -ere: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono
  • -ire (partire): -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono
  • -ire (capire): -isco, -isci, -isce, -iamo, -ite, -iscono
• Imperfect
  • -are: -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano
  • -ere: -evo, -evi, -eva, -evamo, -evate, -evano
  • -ire: -ivo, -ivi, -iva, -ivamo, -ivate, -ivano
• Future
  • -are: -erò, -erai, -erà, -eremo, -erete, -eranno
  • -ere: -rò, -rai, -rà, -remo, -rete, -ranno
  • -ire: -irò, -irai, -irà, -iremo, -irete, -iranno
• Preterite
  • -are: -ai, -asti, -ò, -ammo, -aste, -arono
  • -ere: -ei (-etti), -esti, -é (-ette), -emmo, -este, -erono (-ettero)
  • -ire: -ii, -isti, -ì, -immo, -iste

Subjunctive mood (il congiuntivo)

• Present
  • -are: -i, -i, -i, -iamo, -iate, -ino
  • -ere: -a, -a, -a, -iamo, -iate, -ano
  • -ire (partire): -a, -a, -a, -iamo, -iate, -ano
  • -ire (capire): -isca, -isca, -isca, -iamo, -iate, -iscano
• Imperfect
  • -are: -assi, -assi, -asse, -assimo, -aste, -assero
  • -ere: -essi, -essi, -esse, -essimo, -este, -essero
  • -ire: -issi, -issi, -isse, -issimo, -iste, -issero

Conditional mood (il condizionale)

• Conditional
  • -are: -erei, -eresti, -erebbe, -eremmo, -ereste, -ebbero
  • -ere: -erei, -eresti, -erebbe, -eremmo, -ereste, -ebbero
  • -ire: -irei, -iresti, -irebbe, -iremmo, -ireste, -ebbero

Imperative mood (l'imperativo)

• -are: -a, -i, -iamo, -ate, -ino
• -ere: -i, -a, -iamo, -ete, -ano
• -ire (partire): -i, -a, -iamo, -ite, -ano
• -ire (capire): -isci, -isca, -iamo, -ite, -iscano

Non-finite forms

• Gerund: -ando, -endo, -endo
• Participle: -ato, -uto, -ito

Irregular verbs (i verbi irregolari)

Most Italian verbs are regular, but many of the most commonly used verbs are not. In particular, the auxiliary verbs essere and avere, and the common modal verbs potere (ability, to be able to), dovere (duty, to have to), stare (to stand, to be in a particular state), sapere (to know how to), and volere (to want to) are all irregular.

The 110 most-used irregular Italian verbs are conjugated here (http://turtiainen.dna.fi/cgi-bin/it/irreg.pl)

essere (to be, an auxiliary)

• Present: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono
  • Present subjunctive: sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano
• Imperfect: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate, erarano
  • Imperfect subjunctive: fossi, fossi, fosse, fossimo, foste, fossero
• Preterite: fui, fosti, fu, fummo, foste, furono
• Future: sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno
• Conditional: sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero

avere (to have, an auxiliary)

• Present: ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno
  • Present subjunctive: abbia, abbia, abbia, abbiamo, abbiate, abbiano
• Imperfect: avevo, avevi, aveva, avevamo, avevate, avevano
  • Imperfect subjunctive: avessi, avessi avuto, avesse avuto, avessimo avuto, aveste avuto, avessero avuto
• Preterite: ebbi, avesti, ebbe, avemmo, aveste, ebbero
• Future: avrò avrai, avrà, avremo, avrete, avranno
• Conditional: avrei, avresti, avrebbe, avremmo, avreste, avrebbero

potere (to be able to, a modal)

• Present: posso, puoi, può, possiamo, potete, possono
  • Present subjunctive: possa, possa, possa, possiamo, possate, possano
• Imperfect: potevo, potevi, poteva, potevamo, potevate, potevano
  • Imperfect subjunctive: potessi, potessi, potesse, potessimo, poteste, potessero
• Preterite: potei, potesti, poté, potemmo, poteste, poterono
• Future: potrò, potrai, potrà, potremo, potrete, potranno
• Conditional: potrei, potresti, potrebbe, potremmo, potreste, potrebbero

Sentences and word order

Italian is an SVO language, where Subject, Verb, and Object normally come in that order. The subject, if a pronoun, is usually omitted -- distinctive verb conjugations make it redundant. Subject pronouns are considered emphatic when used at all. Questions are formed by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence (in written form, a question mark). The question word (how, who, what, etc.) simply replaces the missing subject or object. Subject-verb inversion does not mark a question as in many European languages, it just emphasizes the subject.

Note how in the following examples the Italian word order remains relatively fixed while the English varies somewhat:

E.g.

In general, adjectives come after the noun they modify, adverbs after the verb. But: as with French, adjectives coming before the noun indicate essential quality of the noun. Demonstratives (e.g. questo this, quello that) come before the noun, and a few particular adjectives (e.g. bello) may be inflected like demonstratives and also placed before the noun.