Simple Italian

By Philippe Delannoy

The Simple Italian Grammar book gives a solid introduction to the Italian language. It introduces the basic concepts of Italian, giving clear and concise explanations of how the language works. Plenty of examples examples are provided to illustrate each explanation.
Lessons are divided into several sections. Each section presents a particular grammar point related to the lesson's theme. Exercises are given along the way to help you practice right from the start. Answers to the exercises are readily available; just follow the link provided on the exercise page.
At the end of each lesson, a Reading Practice allows you to further improve your comprehension of Italian. The Reading Practice is followed by a Vocabulary section.
A full menu lets you access any grammar point in any lesson quickly and easily. Abundant navigation links are also provided throughout the book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Philippe Delannoy
• Release date: Oct 11, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370560660

Philippe Delannoy

Philippe Delannoy has taught French in the state of Alabama for 17 years, from grammar school to university level. He has also taught Spanish for three years. Philippe hails from the French-speaking area of Belgium. He has been a resident of Alabama since 1981. He studied at the University of Alabama and graduated with a Ph.D. in Romance Languages. Philippe is the author of several books in French, Spanish, and Italian.

Book preview

Simple Italian

with Vocabulary and Exercises

by

Philippe Delannoy, Ph.D.

and

Gabriella Marconi-Merriman, M.A.

ISBN 978-1-3705606-6-0

© 2017 Philippe Delannoy

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

INTRODUCTION

LESSONS

GRAZIE !

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Lezione 1

Singular Nouns and Articles

1.1 - Gender

1.2 - Singular Definite Articles

1.3 - Singular Indefinite Articles

1.4 - The Conjunction e

1.5 - The Expressions è and c'è

1.6 - The Forms of Singular Articles

1.7 - Reading Practice 1

1.8 - Vocabulary 1

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Lezione 2

Plural Nouns and Articles

2.1 - Numbers and Arithmetic

2.2 - Plural Nouns

2.3 - Plural Definite Articles

2.4 - Plural Indefinite Articles

2.5 - Reading Practice 2

2.6 - Vocabulary 2

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Lezione 3

Avere and the Partitive

3.1 - Avere and Subject Pronouns

3.2 - Expressions with Avere

3.3 - The Partitive

3.4 - Reading Practice 3

3.5 - Vocabulary 3

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Lezione 4

Adjectives and Essere

4.1 - The Italian Adjective

4.2 - Colors as Adjectives

4.3 - Poco and Molto

4.4 - The Verb Essere

4.5 - Questions with Essere

4.6 - Reading Practice 4

4.7 - Vocabulary 4

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Lezione 5

Time

5.1 - Numbers from 21 to 100

5.2 - Days and Months

5.3 - Dates

5.4 - Telling Time

5.5 - Useful Expressions

5.6 - Reading Practice 5

5.7 - Vocabulary 5

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Lezione 6

Possessive Adjectives

6.1 - Masculine Singular Forms

6.2 - Masculine Plural Forms

6.3 - Feminine Singular Forms

6.4 - Feminine Plural Forms

6.5 - Reading Practice 6

6.6 - Vocabulary 6

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Lezione 7

The Family

7.1 - Family Portrait

7.2 - Singular Family Possessive

7.3 - Plural Family Possessive

7.4 - Reading Practice 7

7.5 - Vocabulary 7

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Lezione 8

Regular -ARE Verbs

8.1 - Conjugation

8.2 - Some Regular -are Verbs

8.3 - Questions with Regular -are Verbs

8.4 - Reading Practice 8

8.5 - Vocabulary 8

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Lezione 9

Reflexive Verbs in -ARE

9.1 - Definition

9.2 - The Verb Lavarsi

9.3 - Common Reflexive Verbs in -are

9.4 - Reading Practice 9

9.5 - Vocabulary 9

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Lezione 10

The Verb ANDARE

10.1 - Conjugation

10.2 - Andare a....

10.3 - Andare in....

10.4 - Andare and the Days

10.5 - Reading Practice 10

10.6 - Vocabulary 10

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INTRODUCTION  ⇒

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⇐  TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Simple Italian book is to provide you with a simple, but solid foundation of Italian grammar.

Each lesson (lezione) is divided into sections, and each new section begins on a new page. When you reach the end of a section, simply go to the next page to start reading the next section.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

The Lessons link in the Table of contents will take you to the Lessons menu. From there, you can quickly access any section of a lesson by selecting that section's link under the lesson title.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

VOCABULARY

The last section of a lesson lists all the new vocabulary for that lesson. A lesson's vocabulary list can be accessed through the Vocabulary link of that lesson in the Lessons menu. Links to a lesson's vocabulary are also provided in the lesson's last two sections.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

LINKS

There are links at the bottom of each section to facilitate navigation throughout the book.

A link that is followed by a right-pointing arrow ( ⇒ ) indicates that the corresponding section comes right after the current section, i.e. you can also reach that section by simply going forward a page or two.

A link that is followed by a left-pointing arrow ( ⇐ ) indicates that the corresponding section comes right before the current section, i.e. you can also reach that section by simply going back a page or two.

Links that are preceded or followed by an arrow are there more to inform you about adjacent sections than for navigation.

Links without such arrows lead to sections that are not consecutive with the current section. For example, since all the translations for the reading sections are grouped at the end of the book, a translation section cannot be reached simply by going to the next page after the reading section. The translation link must be used to reach the corresponding translation. And, after you are done reading a translation, make sure to use the Reading Practice link provided at the bottom of the translation section if you wish to go back to the corresponding reading section.

Follow the same navigation procedure when following other arrowless links.

While the Translation and Vocabulary sections are readily available through their respective links, they are kept separate from the lesson's body so as not to interrupt the reading flow. If you decide not to consult these sections after the reading practice, you may simply go on to the next page to start the next lesson.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

EXERCISES

In each lesson you will find one or more exercise links. Select one of those links to start an exercise. The Answers and Return links are located both at the top and bottom of each exercise.  Select the Answers link to check your answers.  We recommend that you wait until you have written down all the answers before checking the Answers page.  The Return link at the bottom of each Answers page will bring you back to the Exercise page, while the Return links on the Exercise page will take you back to the corresponding lesson section.

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Buona fortuna !

Good luck !

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

LEZIONE 1  ⇒

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

⇐  LESSONS

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

TABLE OF CONTENTS

· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ·

Lezione 1 - Section 1

Gender

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In Italian, the gender of a word is either masculine or feminine.

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Il ragazzo (masculine)

- The boy.

- The young man.

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La ragazza (feminine)

- The girl.

- The young woman.

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Il bambino (masculine)

- The little boy.

- The (male) child.

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La bambina (feminine)

- The little girl.

- The (female) child.

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Il gatto (masculine)

- The (male) cat.

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La gatta (feminine)

- The (female) cat.

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Note: The masculine word gatto is often used to describe any cat, whether male or female. The word gatta is used only when pointing out a female cat.

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As a general rule, masculine singular words end with the letter -o (ragazzo - boy), while feminine singular words end with the letter -a (ragazza - girl).

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Some masculine and feminine words end with the letter -e.

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Il sole (masculine)

- The sun.

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La chiave (feminine)

- The key.

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SINGULAR DEFINITE ARTICLES  ⇒

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⇐  INTRODUCTION

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LESSONS

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Lezione 1 - Section 2

The Singular Definite Articles

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The words Il and La are definite articles. They both mean The.

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The definite article Il is placed before a masculine singular word, and the definite article La is placed before a feminine singular word.

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Il ragazzo (masculine)

- The boy.

- The young man.

--------

La ragazza (feminine)

- The girl.

- The young woman.

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Il is the masculine singular definite article, and La is the feminine singular definite article.

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Both the masculine and feminine singular definite articles are shortened to L’ before a word that begins with a vowel.

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L'amico (masculine)

- The (male) friend.

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L'amica (feminine)

- The (female) friend.

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SINGULAR INDEFINITE ARTICLES  ⇒

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⇐  GENDER

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LESSONS

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Lezione 1 - Section 3

The Singular Indefinite Articles

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The words Un and Una are indefinite articles. They both mean a.

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The indefinite article Un is placed before a masculine singular word, and the indefinite article Una is placed before a feminine singular word.

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Un ragazzo (masculine)

- A boy.

- A young man.

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Una ragazza (feminine)

- A girl.

- A young woman.

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Un is the masculine singular indefinite article, and Una is the feminine singular indefinite article.

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The feminine singular indefinite article is shortened to Un’ before a word that begins with a vowel.

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Un'amica (feminine)

- A (female) friend.

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The masculine singular indefinite article, however, remains the same.

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Un amico (masculine)

- A (male) friend.

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Note: The indefinite articles un and una also stand for one.

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Un ragazzo (masculine)

- One boy.

- One young man.

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Una ragazza (feminine)

- One girl.

- One young woman.

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THE CONJUNCTION E  ⇒

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⇐  SINGULAR DEFINITE ARTICLES

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LESSONS

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Lezione 1 - Section 4

The Conjunction E

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The Italian word E stands for the English word AND.

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Il gatto e la gatta.

-