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Write your Autobiography in Italian |
GRAMMAR MASCHILE E FEMMINILE (Masculine and Feminine) In Italian, NOUNS are either Masculine of Feminine. Typically, nouns ending with -O are masculine, while nouns ending with -A are feminine. UOMO ("man" ) is a MASCULINE
noun ARTICLES and ADJECTIVES must agree with the gender (masculine or feminine) of the NOUN they are associated with. UOMO ITALIANO UN ("a") is the masculine
form of the indefinite article
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| Exercise: Using the
dialogue as example, choose the right form
(Masculine/Feminine) of the article and the adjective
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Pronunciation
The Alphabet, Spelling and Phonetic conventions. To spell a word, particularly on the telephone, Italians refer to the names of cities. To spell the word "CASA" (house) they will say: "COMO, ANCONA, SIENA, ANCONA." The list of cities is not fixed. Thus, instead of "COMO," one could as well use "CATANIA," "CAPRI" or any other well known location. Below you will find the alphabet spelled the Italian way. |
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WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER LETTERS?
Italian
normally is written with only 21 letters.
The remaining letters (JKWXY) are used
almost exclusively for foreign
words.
And here is how they are pronounced....
| J = i lunga |
| K = kappa |
| W = doppia vu |
| X = ics |
| Y = i greca |
ITALIAN PHONETIC CONVENTIONS
Unlike
English, Italian is written according to fixes phonetic
conventions.
This means that the various sounds are written always (well,
almost always) in the same way.
Learn
a few rules and you will be able to read and pronounce any text
accurately.
| GRUPPO GL- | Translate | |
GLI |
figli, conigli, magli, gigli, giacigli | |
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GLIA |
foglia, figlia, famiglia, bottiglia, aglianico, voglia | |
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GLIE |
foglie, paglierino, bottiglie, cogliere, canaglie | |
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GLIO |
padiglione, faraglioni, orgoglio, foglio, cartiglio, aglio |
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Remember
the distinction between Maschile and Femminile.
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IO PARLO..... (I speak)
Say
which languages you speak. Don't forget to include
Italian. |
DI CHE NAZIONALITA' E'?
(What nationality is he/she)
Check the pulldown menus for the answers
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| Sigismondo Freud | Ferenc Liszt | Marie Curie | James Joyce | Il conte Dracula |
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| Pablo Picasso | La "Divina" (the Goddess) |
Regina Elisabetta | Madama Butterfly | Napoleone Bonaparte |
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| Edson Arantes do Nascimento O' Rey |
Vincent Van Gogh | Celine Dion | Guglielmo Crollalanza | Carlo Marx |
I COLORI
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| la bandiera ungherese e' bianca rossa e verde |
la bandiera romena e' blu, gialla e rossa |
la bandiera olandese e' nera, rossa e gialla |
la bandiera
irlandese e' verde, bianca e arancione |
DI CHE COLORE E' LA BANDIERA ITALIANA? |
| rosso | blu |
| rosa | azzurro |
PAROLE NUOVE ("New words")
 bambino |
 bambina |
 ragazza |
 ragazzo |
 donna |
 uomo |
| Boy | Woman | Man |
| Child (F) | Child (M) | Girl |
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A
reminder
UN
UOMO
ITALIANO UN
("a") is the masculine form of
the indefinite article ITALIANO / ITALIANA are respectively the masculine and the feminine form of the adjective. |
Aggettivi e il loro
contrario.... (adjectives and their opposites...)
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Bello,
bella (handsome, beautiful) |
Brutto,
brutta (ugly) |
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Simpatico,
simpatica (pleasant, appealing) |
antipatico,
antipatica (obnoxious, unpleasant) |
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Buono, buona (kind, good) |
Cattivo,
cattiva (mean, nasty) |
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Alto, alta (tall, high) |
Basso bassa,
piccolo piccola (short, low) |
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Magro, magra (skinny) |
Grasso, grassa (overweight) |
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Giovane (young) |
Vecchio,
vecchia Polite form : anziano, anziana (old person, senior) |
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COME SI DICE (how do you say?) |
| You can insert either the masculine of feminine form UGLY PLEASANT MEAN TALL OVERWEIGHT YOUNG |
| Un ragazzo simpatico | Una ragazza italiana |
| Una bambina buona | Un uomo famoso |
| Un bambino cattivo | Una donna americana |
I SALUTI (Greetings)
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Buongiorno (Good day) |
Buonasera (Good evening) |
Buonanotte (Good night) |
Ciao (Hi, bye) |
Arrivederci (See you later) |
Addio (Farewell, goodbye) |
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| Buongiorno |
Formal
greetings used during
day time when approaching. |
| Buonasera |
Formal
greeting used in the
late afternoon and evening hours. Both when you approach
someone and when you are leaving. |
| Buonanotte |
Formal and informal,
used when leaving only at the end of
the evening. |
| Ciao |
Informal,
used at all times
among relatives and friends or with children, both when
meeting and leaving. |
| Arrivederci |
Formal and informal,
used upon leaving. |
| Addio |
Formal and informal.
Melodramatic, used upon leaving. |
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Cultural note The type of greeting reflects the social hierarchy among people. A child will use "buongiorno-buonasera" with an adult, while the adult will use "ciao" with the children. Two adults, unless in friendly terms, will use the formal address at all times. A high school student will use the formal address with the teacher, while the teacher is allowed to use the informal address. |
These
conventions go beyond the greeting rituals.
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They also determine the
GRAMMAR
and SYNTAX: The INFORMAL mode requires the use of the second person "TU" ("YOU" singular in English) with the corresponding form of the verb (ex. "essere" = <sei>). The FORMAL mode requires the third person singular in the feminine "LEI" (literally "SHE" in English) with the corresponding form of the verb (ex. "essere" = <e'>). |
| INFORMAL | FORMAL | |
| To a man: | "Tu sei italiano?" | "Lei e' italiano?" |
| To a woman: | "Tu sei italiana?" | "Lei e' italiana?" |
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Why would you
have to use "LEI," a feminine pronoun, to
address a male? HERE IS HOW IT CAME TO BE Even in English the highest form of formality is the third person. Think of a question posed to, say, Queen Elizabeth. It would sound like:
In Italian the vestiges of that construction are still present: the underlying reference of the formal address is "SUA ECCELLENZA" (Your Excellency) as in the example: "SUA ECCELLENZA E' ITALIANO?" ("Is Your Excellency Italian?") Since ECCELLENZA is a feminine noun, the corresponding personal pronoun is LEI. Thus the outcome:
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ACTIVITY
Look up WIKIPEDIA to learn about the origin of the word CIAO |
