Each example below has three parts: the original text, a literal gloss describing how every word works, and a natural translation. The glosses use a few shorthand labels so they stay short. Don't worry about memorising them — this is a reference you can come back to. Person and number · 1sg / 2sg / 3sg — first / second / third person singular (I, you, he/she/it) · 1pl / 2pl / 3pl — first / second / third person plural (we, you-all, they) Gender and case · m / f / n — masculine / feminine / neuter · sg / pl — singular / plural · m.sg — combined: masculine singular (and similarly f.pl, n.sg, etc.) · NOM / ACC / GEN / DAT / INS / LOC — grammatical cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative/instrumental/locative) — which role the word plays in the sentence Tense and aspect · PRES — present · PRET — preterite (a finished past event) · IMPF — imperfect (an ongoing or habitual past situation) · FUT — future · PERF — perfect (an action completed with present relevance) · PROG — progressive (action in progress, e.g. am eating) · COND — conditional (would…) Mood · IND — indicative (regular statement) · SUBJ — subjunctive (uncertainty, wishes, doubts) · IMP — imperative (commands) · INF — infinitive (dictionary form: to go, to eat) Other · REFL — reflexive (action on oneself: myself, yourself) · PERS — personal a (Spanish only — marks a human direct object) · HON — honorific (extra-polite form, common in Japanese/Korean) · TOP / SUB / OBJ — topic / subject / object markers (Japanese, Korean) · CL — classifier (Chinese, Japanese, Korean — a counter word for nouns) · NEG — negation
Italian follows a Subject-Verb-Object order, much like English, but the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the verb ending already shows the person. This is called 'pro-drop'. Subject pronouns (io, tu, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro) are only used for emphasis, contrast, or to avoid ambiguity. Word order is also more flexible than English: you can move elements for emphasis or topic, especially in speech. Adjectives normally follow the noun, and adverbs typically come after the verb. Direct and indirect object pronouns, however, are placed BEFORE the conjugated verb, not after it.
Italian articles agree with the noun in gender and number. Definite ('the'): masculine 'il' (il libro), 'lo' before z, s+consonant, gn, ps, x, y (lo zaino, lo studente), 'l'' before any vowel (l'amico); plural 'i' (i libri) and 'gli' for the lo/l' set (gli studenti, gli amici). Feminine 'la' (la casa), 'l'' before a vowel (l'amica); plural 'le' (le case, le amiche). Indefinite ('a/an'): masculine 'un' (un libro), 'uno' before z/s+consonant etc. (uno studente); feminine 'una' (una casa), 'un'' before a vowel (un'amica).
Subject: io, tu, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro (usually omitted). Direct object (whom/what): mi, ti, lo/la, ci, vi, li/le; they precede the conjugated verb. Indirect object (to whom): mi, ti, gli (to him), le (to her), ci, vi, gli/loro (to them). Reflexive: mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si, used when the subject and object are the same person. Stressed pronouns (after prepositions or for emphasis): me, te, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro. With infinitives and gerunds, object pronouns attach to the end (vederlo = 'to see him').
Every Italian noun is masculine or feminine. Typical endings: -o is usually masculine (libro), -a is usually feminine (casa), -e can be either (fiore m, chiave f) and must be memorized. Adjectives MUST agree with their noun in gender and number. Adjectives ending in -o have four forms: -o, -a, -i, -e (rosso/rossa/rossi/rosse). Adjectives ending in -e have only two forms: -e (singular) and -i (plural), used for both genders (grande/grandi). Most descriptive adjectives follow the noun (una casa grande). A few common ones (buono, bello, grande, piccolo) often precede it.
Italian verbs belong to three groups by infinitive ending: -are (parlare 'to speak'), -ere (prendere 'to take'), -ire (dormire 'to sleep'; some, like capire, insert -isc-: capisco). Conjugation removes the ending and adds person endings for io, tu, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro. Four essential irregular verbs: essere ('to be': sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono), avere ('to have': ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno), andare ('to go': vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno), fare ('to do/make': faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno). These four are used constantly and in many idioms.
The present tense covers three English meanings: simple present ('I eat'), present continuous ('I am eating'), and near future ('I'm eating later'). Endings for regular verbs: -are: -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano (parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano). -ere: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono (prendo, prendi, prende, prendiamo, prendete, prendono). -ire: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono (dormo, dormi, dorme, dormiamo, dormite, dormono). For -isc- verbs: capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono. Time expressions like 'adesso' (now) or 'spesso' (often) signal which English meaning fits.
Italian has two main everyday past tenses. Passato prossimo (compound past) describes completed, specific actions: it uses 'avere' or 'essere' in the present + a past participle (-are -> -ato, -ere -> -uto, -ire -> -ito). Most verbs take 'avere'. Verbs of motion, change of state, and all reflexive verbs take 'essere'; with 'essere', the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (è andata, sono andati). Imperfetto describes ongoing, habitual, or descriptive past situations ('used to', 'was -ing'). Endings: -are -> -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano (similarly for -ere -> -evo, -ire -> -ivo).
The futuro semplice expresses future actions and predictions. It is also frequently used for probability or guessing in the present ('Sarà a casa' = 'He's probably at home'). Form: take the infinitive, drop the final -e, and add endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno. For -are verbs, the 'a' of the infinitive changes to 'e' (parlare -> parler-): parlerò, parlerai, parlerà, parleremo, parlerete, parleranno. Key irregulars use shortened stems: essere -> sar-, avere -> avr-, andare -> andr-, fare -> far-, dovere -> dovr-, potere -> potr-. In casual speech, the present tense often replaces the future for near events.
To negate a verb, simply place 'non' directly before it (and before any object pronouns). Italian uses double negation freely: when a negative word like 'mai' (never), 'niente/nulla' (nothing), 'nessuno' (no one), 'più' (no longer), 'ancora' (not yet) appears AFTER the verb, you still need 'non' before it. This is grammatically required, not a mistake. If the negative word comes BEFORE the verb (e.g., 'Nessuno parla'), then 'non' is omitted. Common patterns: non...mai, non...niente, non...nessuno, non...più, non...ancora.
Yes/no questions usually have the same word order as statements; you simply raise your voice at the end. Optionally, the subject can move to the end for emphasis ('Mangia la pasta Marco?'). Wh-questions begin with a question word followed by the verb: chi (who), che / che cosa / cosa (what), dove (where), quando (when), perché (why/because), come (how), quanto/quanta/quanti/quante (how much/many), quale/quali (which). After a preposition, the question word stays with the preposition: 'Con chi parli?' ('With whom are you talking?'). Note that 'perché' answers itself: 'Perché studio.' ('Because I study.').
Most nouns form the plural by changing the final vowel, not by adding -s. Masculine: -o -> -i (libro -> libri), -e -> -i (fiore -> fiori). Feminine: -a -> -e (casa -> case), -e -> -i (chiave -> chiavi). Nouns ending in an accented vowel (città, caffè) or in a consonant (bar, film) don't change: la città / le città, il bar / i bar. A few common irregulars: l'uomo -> gli uomini, la mano -> le mani (feminine despite -o), l'uovo -> le uova (changes gender in plural). Nouns ending in -co/-go and -ca/-ga usually keep the hard sound: amico -> amici (soft), but parco -> parchi (hard).
Reflexive verbs are verbs whose subject acts on itself. Their infinitive ends in -si (chiamarsi 'to call oneself / to be called', alzarsi 'to get up', lavarsi 'to wash oneself', svegliarsi 'to wake up'). They are conjugated like normal verbs but ALWAYS take a reflexive pronoun matching the subject: mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si. The pronoun goes before the conjugated verb. In compound tenses (passato prossimo), reflexive verbs ALWAYS use 'essere', and the past participle agrees with the subject. Many everyday actions involving the body or routine are reflexive in Italian even when English doesn't use 'myself'.
Italian doesn't say 'I like X' the way English does. Instead, 'piacere' literally means 'to be pleasing TO someone', so the structure inverts: the thing liked becomes the subject, and the person who likes it becomes an indirect object. Use 'piace' (singular) if the thing liked is singular or an infinitive, and 'piacciono' (plural) if the thing liked is plural. The indirect object pronouns are mi, ti, gli (to him), le (to her), ci, vi, gli (to them). For emphasis or with names, use 'a' + person: 'A Marco piace la pizza.' The same pattern applies to many similar verbs: mancare (to miss), servire (to need), bastare (to be enough).