cs strutturelinguistiche u1
TRANSCRIPT
DIPLOMA IN ITALIAN
Strutture linguistiche U1
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Strutture linguistiche
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Structures encountered in Unità 1: • Subject Pronouns • Indefinite article • Present tense of essere • Present tense of –are verbs • Chiamarsi • Adjectives
PRONOMI PERSONALI SOGGETTO
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Subject pronouns
Subject Pronouns
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
In Italian the verb ending always identifies the subject. For that reason, subject pronouns are usually not expressed.
Singolare Plurale
1 io noi
2 tu voi
3 lui/lei/Lei loro
Written Style
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
In formal writing egli is used instead of lui and essi/esse instead of loro.
In everyday conversation, however, these forms are rarely used.
Singolare Plurale
3 egli (person) essi (maschile)
esse (femminile)
Subject pronouns are expressed when:
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
o the subject is not clear: Sono a Roma → Io sono a Roma. Loro sono a Roma.
o we wish to put more emphasis on the subject:
Io sono italiano, ma lui è spagnolo.
Formal
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
To address somebody formally, we use Lei and the third person singular of the verb:
Lei è irlandese?
Scusi, Lei è il dottor Rossi?
o Lei should always be written with capital L, even inside a sentence.
ARTICOLO INDETERMINATIVO
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Indefinite article
Forms and use
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
The Italian indefinite article corresponds to the English a/an.
It is used only with singular nouns.
It has four forms: Masculine: un / uno Feminine: una / un’
Which form?
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
MASCULINE
FEMININE
un ragazzo, un albero uno stereo, uno zaino, uno psicologo, uno gnomo
una ragazza un’isola
before nouns starting with
UN consonant, vowel UNO s + consonant, z, ps, gn.
before nouns starting with
UNA consonant
UN’ vowel
ESSERE
To be
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
ESSERE
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Essere is an irregular verb.
This is the present tense.
io sono
tu sei
lui/lei/Lei è
noi siamo
voi siete
loro sono
Some expressions with essere:
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Essere di + name of a city from (sono di Roma)
- to be
Di dove sei? -where are you from? (informal)
Di dove è Lei? - where are you from (formal)?
VERBI (1)
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Verbs ending in -are
Italian verb endings
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
The infinitive of all Italian regular verbs ends in – are, -ere or –ire.
When you look up a verb in the dictionary you will find the infinitive (corresponding to to work, to study, etc.). The present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending (-are, -ere or –ire) and adding the appropriate endings to the remaining stem. The ending is different for each person.
Verbs in –are: ABITARE (to live)
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
abitare is a regular verb.
To form the present tense of abitare and all regular verbs in –are, just drop ARE and add the endings shown in the table:
io abit-o
tu abit-i
lui/lei/Lei abit-a
noi abit-iamo
voi abit-ate
loro abit-ano
CHIAMARSI
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
chiamarsi is a regular reflexive verb.
The reflexive pronoun must always precede the verb.
To form the present tense of chiamarsi (and all regular reflexive verbs in –arsi), just drop ARSI and add the endings shown in the table:
mi chiam-o
ti chiam-i
si chiam-a
ci chiam-iamo
vi chiam-ate
si chiam-ano
AGGETTIVI
Adjectives
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Endings
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Adjectives can end in –o (i.e., if you look up the adjective SLOW in the dictionary, you will find the Italian LENTO .
This adjective ends in –o) or in –e (i.e., if you look up the adjective FAST in the dictionary, you will find the Italian VELOCE. This adjective ends in –e).
Italian adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural)
with the noun they refer to.
Adjectives in -o
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Adjectives ending in –o have four possible forms: Masculine singular: -o Masculine plural: -i Feminine singular: -a Feminine plural: -e
Esempio: NUOVO (new) M: libro nuovo – libri nuovi
cellulare nuovo – cellulari nuovi
F:
casa nuova – case nuove canzone nuova – canzoni nuove
Adjectives in -e
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Adjectives ending in –e have only two forms: Singular (masculine/feminine): -e Plural (masculine/feminine): -i
Esempio: INTERESSANTE M: libro interessante – ibri interessanti F: rivista interessante – riviste interessanti
Position
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
Unlike English, in Italian adjectives usually come after the noun they refer to.
Colours and nationalities ALWAYS come after the noun they refer to.
Esempio: vino rosso, mela verde, ragazzo irlandese, donna italiana.
Nationalities (1)
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
The following nationalities end in –o and therefore have four possible forms:
americano arabo australiano austriaco europeo italiano polacco spagnolo tedesco (masc. plur: tedeschi – fem plur: tedesche) ecc .
Nationalities (2)
Dr Laura Incalcaterra McLoughlin
The following nationalities end in –e and therefore have only two possible forms (-e for the singular and –i for the plural):
canadese danese francese inglese, irlandese portoghese svedese ecc.