Archive for 'Grammar'
Il Futuro Anteriore – The Future Perfect Posted by Bridgette on May 14, 2021
Ciao! Last week we talked about il futuro semplice and this week I’d like to discuss il futuro anteriore, or the future perfect in English. Take this example of the future perfect in English: In three years, I will have succeeded in learning Italian. Come possiamo dire questa frase in Italiano? How can we say this…
Looking forward to il futuro (semplice) Posted by Bridgette on May 7, 2021
Ciao, di nuovo! We are all looking forward to il futuro so I thought today we would discuss how to form the future tense in italiano. In English we add an auxiliary verb to form the future: ‘will’. In Italian the endings simply change, similarly to other tenses. To make the future tense, follow these steps…
Cos’è lo schwa? Posted by Bridgette on Oct 9, 2020
Ciao di nuovo! Cos’è lo schwa? What is the ‘schwa’? If you’re not a linguist, you probably have never heard or seen it. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as follows; an unstressed mid-central vowel (such as the usual sound of the first and last vowels of the English word America). This sound is represented by the symbol…
Italian Superlatives Posted by Bridgette on Oct 3, 2020
Ciao a tutti! Last week we talked comparatives, and this week I want to talk about superlativi, superlatives! There are two types of superlatives: relative and absolute. Relative superlatives are comments about superlative qualities in relation to something else. For example, my sister is the youngest of the family, or Rome is the most beautiful…
Italian Comparatives Posted by Bridgette on Sep 25, 2020
Ciao a tutti! Un po’ di grammatica italiana oggi, i comparativi in italiano! There are two types of comparatives: comparativi di uguaglianza (equality) and comparativi di disuguaglianza (inequality). Let’s take a closer look at both: Comparativi di uguaglianza This type of comparative is used when comparing two things with similar qualities. In English, some examples would be…
Indirect and Direct Object Pronouns Posted by Bridgette on Jun 28, 2020
Oh, pronouns! Last week we saw them in certain expressions. This week, let’s take a look at indirect and direct object pronouns in more detail. Learning these little important tidbits in any language always seems to be a bit of a pain, and in Italian it’s no different. But without them we would sound repetitive…
Italian Passato Remoto Posted by Bridgette on Jun 13, 2020
Ciao a tutti! Last week when you read the story La lepre e la tartaruga, you may have noticed a different verb tense, the passato remoto, the remote past. The passato remoto is typically a narrative past tense that is used to recount historical events or actions in the distant (remote) past. It is also commonly used in…