Ciao

I will be in roma soon and want to learn the language of love, the beautiful language, italian. Will be in monteverde nuovo where ever that may be and would like to get a group together to meet at my large apartment for lesson exchange, english to italian and italian to english. Anyone out there, interested? Please no time wasters or druggies.

Italian is an interesting language. There are a lot of ways on learning the dialect like enrolling in Italian language school, watching video lessons or one on one tutorial.

Make flash card!!!!!!!!!!! These are key words. After this it's all down hill except for the verbs but I've got something to really help with the verbs. You're going to be all right. You're on your way to really learning Italian. Da vero!

Lived in Italy 2 years. These are the words that keeping coming up over and over again.

There are several classes of adverbs in Italian:

Adverbs of quality or manner:

bene- well,
meglio- better,(MEL-yo)
peggio- worse (PEG-gee-0h)
male- badly,
anche- also (ON-kay
cosi- as, like
pure- also, too,
insieme- together
come- as, like
invano- vain


Adverbs of time:

Cuando?- When?
sempre- always,
mai- never,
oggi- today,
domani- tomorrow,
ieri- yesterday,
adesso- now, ora-now,
allora- then, poi-then,
dopo- after,
prima(di)- before,
ancora- still,yet, non ancora-not yet
spesso(frequentemente)- often,
stasera- tonight,
presto- early,soon,
tardi- late,
a tempo- on time,
gia- already,
subito & immediatamente- immediately,
di quando in quando- from time to time,
di solito- usually,
fa-ago, tre giorni fa- 3 days ago,
fino a- until,
frattanto- meanwhile,
raramente- rarely,seldom,
recentemente- recently,
ultimo- last,
una volta- once,
ancora- again
non ancora- not again
non spesso- not often

Adverbs of Place:

Dove?-Where?,
lontano-far,
vicino-near,
dietro-behind,
davanti-in front of,
avanti-forward,
indietro-backward,
dentro-inside,
fuori-outside,
qua,qui-here,
li,la-there
giu-down (jew)
laggiu-down there (lah-jew)
lassu-up there (lah-sue)
accanto a-beside
sopra-above
sotto-below
tra,fra-between
via-away (vada via!-get out of here!)
attraverso- through
intorno,attorno - around
da nessuna parte - nowhere
da qualche parte - somewhere
dappertutto- everywhere
a destra - to the right
a sinistra to the left

Adverbs of quantity:

Quanto?- How much?
molto-much
troppo-too much
poco-little
tanto-so much
abbastanza-enough
quasi-almost
piu-more
meno-less
circa-nearly, about
soltanto, solo, solamente-only
assai-much
piuttosto- rather Piuttosto caro. - Rather expensive.
probabilmente- probably
piu o meno- more or less
veramente- indeed, really
purtroppo- unfortunately

Le Domande - Questions

Come?- How
Quanto? How much
Quanti? Quante? How many?
Come mai?- How come?
Che? What?
Che cosa? What?
Quale? Which?
Chi?(key) Who?
Perche? Why?
Perche -because
Che tipo di...? What kind of...?
Dove? Where
Dove ci vediamo? Where shall we meet?

Aggettivi importante

buono- good
buffo- funny
caldo- hot
fredo- cold
caro- costly
cattivo- bad
celibe- single male
aperto- open
chniuso- closed
corto- short
debole- weak
forte- strong
difficile- difficult
facile- easy
gentile- nice
giovane- young
grande- big
piccolo- little
grasso- fat
magro- skinny
innocente
lento- slow
libero- free, availiable
malato- sick
meschio- mean
morbido- soft
nubile- single female
nuovo- new
occupato- busy
pesante- heavy
piacevole- pleasant
piccante- spicy hot
pieno- full
pigro- lazy
primo - first
profondo- deep
sbagliato- mistaken
scuro- dark
secco- dry
sordo- deaf
sporco- dirty
pulito- clean
umido- humid
vecchio- old
vivace- active
vuoto- empty
zitto- quiet

Prepositions - Don't forget to make flash cards!!!

a- to, at
da- from, by, sometimes at
di- of sometimes from, about
in- in into sometimes by, on
su- on sometimes upon
con- with
per- for, through sometimes in order to + verb

Ho... I am... (literally have)
fame- hungry
freddo- cold
caldo- hot
paura- afraid
sete- thirst
sonno- sleepy
vergogna- ashamed

Il Nome - Nouns

il gatto- cat
il cane- dog
la carne- meat
il pane- bread
il topo- rat
il libro- book
la porta- door
la casa- house
la montangna- mountain
il albero- tree
la finestra- window
il finestrino- car or train window
il genitore- parent
la parente- relative (f.)
il parente- relative (m.)
la valigia- suitcase
la pioggia- rain
il sindaco- mayor
la spiaggia- beach
il denaro, il soldi- money
la lingua- language, tongue
il paese- country, small town
il postino- mailman
la posta- mail
la camera- room or bedroom also la camera di letto

First thing I learned in Italy after ciao. Come si chiama? COE-may-see-key-AH-mah? What's your name? Mi chiamo... My name is...
Scusi. Perdoni Excuse me
Mi scusi Excuse me
Mi dispiace. I'm sorry.
Oh mio Dio! Oh my God! You can use the word God with no problem.
Ti amo. I love you.
Andiamo a mangiare. Let's go eat.
Scusi il retardo. Excuse me being late.
E vero. It's true. E vero? Is it true?
Non e vero. It's not true. Non e vero? Isn't it true?
Fa freddo. Non e vero? It's cold.
Lei non e qui da molto tempo, non e vero? You haven't been here long, have you?

If you are going to Roma, the best way is to just listen always to people speak...learn to ask simple questions and ALWAYS try to speak it. Even if you are shy and unsure...just do it. you would be suprised how much your brain will hang onto it. I promise you will learn!!!!

What a great list! This is a jumpstart for anyone beginning Italian or needing to brush up on the language. Grazie!!

Hey Patrizia

my name is Laura and i'm new here...

i live in monteverde nuovo too.. and i'd like teach italian to you and learn english from you...

Hope we meet early...

Laura

Grazie Martha.
Went to Perugia, Umbria this past summer, rented an apartment and stayed there for over a month going to school to brush up on my Italian. Have taught Spanish for over 30 years and am now on my 3rd year of teaching Italian to adults.

Got these cool Italian audio libri(books on tapeCD) this past summer while in Perugia. Got about 10 of them. They are the best way among many ways to learn Italian.

Buon giorno
bwon zhor-no
Hello / Good morning/afternoon
Buona sera
bwoh-nah seh-rah
Good evening Buona notte
bwoh-nah noht-teh
Good night
Ciao
chow
Hi / Hello / Bye (informal) Arrivederci
ah-ree-vuh-dehr-chee
Goodbye ArrivederLa
ah-ree-vuh-dehr-lah
Goodbye (formal)
A più tardi
ah pyoo tar-dee
See you later A presto
ah press-toh
See you soon A domani
ah doh-mahn-ee
See you tomorrow
Per favore / Per piacere
pehr fah-voh-reh / pehr pee-ah-cheh-reh
Please Grazie (mille)
graht-zee-eh (mee-leh)
Thank you (very much) Prego
preh-goh
You're Welcome
Mi dispiace
mee dee-spyah-cheh
Sorry Scusi / Scusa
skoo-zee / skoo-zah
Excuse me (formal / informal) Andiamo!
on-dee-ah-mo
Let's go!
Come sta? / Come stai?
koh-meh stah / koh-meh sty
How are you? (formal / informal) Sto bene.
stoh beh-neh
I am fine / well. Non c'è male.
nohn cheh mah-leh
Not bad.
Abbastanza bene.
ah-bah-stahn-tsah beh-neh
Pretty good. Così così.
koh-zee koh-zee
So so. Sì / No
see / noh
Yes / No
Come si chiama?
koh-meh see kee-ah-mah
What's your name? (formal) Come ti chiami?
koh-meh tee kee-ah-mee
What's your name? (informal) Mi chiamo...
mee kee-ah-mo
My name is...
Piacere / Molto lieto.
pee-ah-cheh-reh / mohl-toh lee-eh-toh
Pleased / Nice to meet you. Signore, Signora, Signorina
seen-yoh-reh, seen-yoh-rah, seen-yoh-reen-ah
Mister, Misses, Miss
Di dov'è?
dee doh-veh
Where are you from? (formal) Di dove sei?
dee doh-veh seh-ee
Where are you from? (informal) Sono di...
soh-noh dee
I am from...
Quanti anni ha?
kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah
How old are you? (formal) Quanti anni hai?
kwahn-tee ahn-nee ah-ee
How old are you? (informal) Ho ______ anni.
oh ______ ahn-nee
I am _____ years old.
Parla italiano?
par-lah ee-tahl-ee-ah-no
Do you speak Italian? (formal) Parli inglese?
par-lee een-gleh-zeh
Do you speak English? (informal) [Non] parlo...
[non] par-lo
I [don't] speak...
Capisce? / Capisci?
kah-pee-sheh / kah-pee-shee
Do you understand? (formal / informal) [Non] capisco.
[non] kah-pees-koh
I [don't] understand. Non so. / Lo so.
non soh / low soh
I don't know. / I know.
Può aiutarmi? / Puoi aiutarmi?
pwoh ah-yoo-tar-mee / pwoh-ee ah-yoo-tar-mee
Can you help me? (formal / informal) Certamente / D'accordo.
cher-tah-mehn-teh / dah-kohr-doh
Sure / OK. Come?
koh-meh?
What? / Pardon me?
Desidera? / Desideri?
deh-zee-deh-rah / deh-zee-deh-ree
May I help you? (formal / informal) Come si dice ____ in italiano?
koh-meh see dee-cheh ____ een ee-tah-lee-ah-noh
How do you say ____ in Italian?
Dov'è / Dove sono...?
doh-veh / doh-veh soh-noh
Where is / Where are... ? Ecco...
eh-koh
Here is / Here are... C'è / Ci sono...
cheh / chee soh-noh
There is / There are...
Cosa c'è?
koh-zah cheh
What's the matter? / What's wrong? Non importa. / Di niente.
nohn eem-por-tah / dee nee-ehn-teh
It doesn't matter. Non m'importa.
nohn meem-por-tah
I don't care.
Non ti preoccupare.
nohn tee preh-ohk-koo-pah-reh
Don't worry. (informal) Ho dimenticato.
oh dee-men-tee-kah-toh
I forgot. Devo andare adesso.
deh-voh ahn-dah-reh ah-des-soh
I have to go now.
Ho fame. / Ho sete.
oh fah-meh / oh seh-teh
I'm hungry. / I'm thirsty. Ho freddo. / Ho caldo.
oh freh-doh / oh kal-doh
I'm cold. / I'm hot. Mi annoio.
mee ahn-noh-ee-oh
I'm bored.
Salute!
sah-loo-teh
Bless you! Congratulazioni!
kohn-grah-tsoo-lah-tsee-oh-nee
Congratulations! Benvenuti!
behn-veh-noo-tee
Welcome!
Buona fortuna!
bwoh-nah for-too-nah
Good luck! Tocca a me! / Tocca a te!
tohk-kah ah meh / tohk-kah ah teh
It's my turn! / It's your turn! (informal) Ti amo.
tee ah-moh
I love you. (informal)
È pazzo! / Sei pazzo!
eh pats-soh / seh-ee pats-soh
You're crazy! (formal / informal) Sta zitto! / Stai zitto!
stah tseet-toh / sty tseet-toh
Be quiet / Shut up! (formal / informal) Va bene!
vah beh-neh
OK!


Notice that Italian has informal and formal ways of saying things. This is because there is more than one meaning to "you" in Italian (as well as in many other languages.) The informal you is used when talking to close friends, relatives, animals or children. The formal you is used when talking to someone you just met, do not know well, or someone for whom you would like to show respect (a professor, for example.) There is also a plural you, used when speaking to more than one person.

Also, the words pazzo and zitto refer to men. If you are talking to a woman, use pazza and zitta. If you are talking to more than one person (all men, or a group of men and women), use pazzi and zitti. If you are talking to more than one person (all women), use pazze and zitte.


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2. Pronunciation

Italian is a very phonetic language, so pronunciation should be easy. Most words are pronounced exactly like they are spelled. There are only seven vowels, but several dipthongs and triphthongs. Italian Vowels English Pronunciation
[i] vita ee as in meet
[e] vedi ay as in bait
[ɛ] era eh as in bet
[a] kane ah as in father
[u] uva oo as in boot
[o] sole oh as in boat
[ɔ] modo aw as in law
Semi-Vowels
[w] quando, uomo wuh as in won
[j] piano, ieri, piove yuh as in yes


In spelling, the letter e is used to represent both [e] and [ɛ]; while the letter o is used to represent both [o] and [ɔ]. If the vowel is stressed, then the pronunciation is always closed [e] and [o]. If the vowel is not stressed, it is always open [ɛ] and [ɔ]. This can change according to regional dialects in Italy, of course, but this is the standard rule. Italian semi-vowels are always written ua, ue, uo, ui for [w] and ia, ie, io, iu for [j]. If another vowel precedes u or i, then it is a diphthong: ai, ei, oi, au, eu. The combination iu + another vowel creates a triphthong.

Italian consonant + vowel combinations

c + a, o, u, he, hi k amica, amico, amiche ah-mee-kah, ah-mee-koh, ah-mee-keh
c + ia, io, iu, e, i ch bacio, celebre, cinema bah-cho, cheh-leh-breh, chee-neh-mah
g + a, o, u, he, hi g gara, gusto, spaghetti gah-rah, goo-stoh, spah-geh-tee
g + ia, io, iu, e, i dj Giotto, gelato, magico djoh-toh, djeh-lah-toh, mah-djee-koh
sc + a, o, u, he, hi sk scala, scuola, scheda skah-lah, skoo-oh-la, skeh-dah
sc + ia, io, iu, e, i sh sciarpa, sciupato, scemo shar-pah, shoo-pah-toh, sheh-moh

The consonant h is always silent. Double consonants must be pronounced individually: il nonno (eel nohn-noh) is pronounced differently from il nono (eel noh-noh).

Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable in Italian. If stress falls on the last syllable, the vowel is written with an accent mark (la città). However, it is also possible for the stress to fall on the third-to-last syllable (America, telefono) and even the fourth-to-last syllable (telefonano) in third person plural verb conjugations.

7. Useful Words

and e eh always sempre sehm-preh
or o oh often spesso speh-soh
but ma mah sometimes qualche volta kwal-keh vohl-tah
not non nohn usually usualmente oo-zoo-al-mehn-teh
while mentre mehn-treh especially specialmente speh-chee-al-mehn-teh
if se seh except eccetto eh-cheh-toh
because perché pehr-kay book il libro lee-broh
very, a lot molto mohl-toh pencil la matita mah-tee-tah
also, too anche ahn-keh pen la penna pehn-nah
although benché behn-keh paper la carta kar-tah
now adesso, ora ah-deh-so, oh-rah dog il cane kah-neh
perhaps, maybe forse for-seh cat il gatto gah-toh
then allora, poi ahl-loh-rah, poy friend (fem) l'amica ah-mee-kah
there is c'è cheh friend (masc) l'amico ah-mee-koh
there are ci sono chee soh-noh woman la donna dohn-nah
there was c'era che-rah man l'uomo woh-moh
there were c'erano che-rah-no girl la ragazza rah-gat-sah
here is ecco ehk-koh boy il ragazzo rah-gat-soh



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8. Question Words


Who Chi kee
Whose Di chi dee kee
What Che cosa keh koh-sah
Why Perché pehr-keh
When Quando kwahn-doh
Where Dove doh-veh
How Come koh-meh
How much Quanto kwahn-toh
Which Quale kwah-leh

Note: When dove, come, and quale are followed by è (is), dove and come contract to dov'è and com'è; and quale drops its e to become qual è.



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9. Numbers / Ordinals


0 zero dzeh-roh
1 uno oo-noh
2 due doo-eh
3 tre treh
4 quattro kwaht-troh
5 cinque cheen-kweh
6 sei say
7 sette seht-teh
8 otto aw-toh
9 nove naw-vay
10 dieci dee-ay-chee
11 undici oon-dee-chee
12 dodici doh-dee-chee
13 tredici treh-dee-chee
14 quattordici kwaht-tohr-dee-chee
15 quindici kween-dee-chee
16 sedici seh-dee-chee
17 diciassette dee-chahs-seht-teh
18 diciotto dee-choht-toh
19 diciannove dee-chahn-noh-veh
20 venti vehn-tee
21 ventuno vehn-too-noh
22 ventidue vehn-tee-doo-eh
30 trenta trehn-tah
40 quaranta kwah-rahn-tah
50 cinquanta cheen-kwahn-tah
60 sessanta sehs-sahn-tah
70 settanta seht-tahn-tah
80 ottanta oh-tahn-tah
90 novanta noh-vahn-tah
100 cento chehn-toh

Note: When you have a word that ends in a vowel, like venti, and another word that begins with a vowel, like uno; the first word loses its vowel when putting the two words together. Venti (20) and uno (1) make ventuno (21). One exception is cento; it does not lose its vowel. Cento (100) and uno (1) make centouno (101). And be aware that Italian switches the use of commas and decimals.


Ordinal Numbers first
second

third

fourth

fifth

sixth

seventh

eighth

ninth

tenth

eleventh

twentieth

hundredth
primo (a)
secondo (a)

terzo (a)

quarto (a)

quinto (a)

sesto (a)

settimo (a)

ottavo (a)

nono (a)

decimo (a)

undicesimo (a)

ventesimo (a)

centesimo (a)


From eleventh on, just drop the final vowel of the cardinal number and add -esimo. For numbers like ventitrè, trentatrè, add -esimo but do not drop the final e. Ordinal numbers are adjectives and must agree with the nouns they modify; -o is the masculine ending, -a is the feminine ending.



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10. Days of the Week


Monday lunedì loo-neh-dee
Tuesday martedì mahr-teh-dee
Wednesday mercoledì mehr-koh-leh-dee
Thursday giovedì zhoh-veh-dee
Friday venerdì veh-nehr-dee
Saturday sabato sah-bah-toh
Sunday domenica doh-men-ee-kah
yesterday ieri yer-ee
last night ieri sera yer-ee seh-rah
today oggi ohd-jee
tomorrow domani doh-mahn-ee
day il giorno eel zhor-noh

Note: To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc., use il before lunedì through sabato, and la before domenica.



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11. Months of the Year


January gennaio jehn-nah-yoh
February febbraio fehb-brah-yoh
March marzo mar-tsoh
April aprile ah-pree-leh
May maggio mahd-joh
June giugno joo-nyoh
July luglio loo-lyoh
August agosto ah-goh-stoh
September settembre seht-tehm-breh
October ottobre oht-toh-breh
November novembre noh-vehm-breh
December dicembre dee-chem-breh
week la settimana lah sett-ee-mah-nah
month il mese eel meh-zeh
year l'anno lahn-noh

Note: Days and months are not capitalized. To express the date, use È il (number) (month). May 5th would be È il 5 (or cinque) maggio. But for the first of the month, use primo instead of 1 or uno.

To express ago, as in two days ago, a month ago, etc., just add fa afterwards. To express last, as in last Wednesday, last week, etc., just add scorso (for masculine words) or scorsa (for feminine words) afterwards. Un mese fa means a month ago and l'anno scorso means last year.



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12. Seasons


Summer l'estate leh-stah-teh
Fall l'autunno low-toon-noh
Spring la primavera lah pree-mah-veh-rah
Winter l'inverno leen-vehr-noh

Note: To say in the (season), just use in. In estate is in the summer, in primavera is in spring. D'estate and d'inverno can also be used instead of in estate or in inverno.



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13. Directions


North nord nohrd
South sud sood
East est est
West ovest oh-vest



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14. Color


white bianco/a square il quadrato
yellow giallo/a circle il cerchio
orange arancione triangle il triangolo
pink rosa rectangle il rettangolo
red rosso/a oval l'ovale
light blue azzurro/a cube il cubo
dark blue blu sphere la sfera
green verde cylinder il cilindro
brown marrone cone il cono
grey grigio/a octagon l'ottagono
black nero/a box la scatola

Note: Colors are adjectives and must agree with the nouns they modify; -o is the masculine ending, -a is the feminine ending. For example, rosso is masculine and rossa is feminine. Color words always go after the noun they describe.



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15. Time


What time is it? Che ora è? / Che ore sono? keh oh-rah eh / keh o-reh soh-noh
At what time? A che ora? ah keh oh-rah
It's 1:00 È l'una eh loo-nah
at 1:00 all'una ahl-loo-nah
(at) noon (a) mezzogiornio (ah) med-zoh-zhor-noh
(at) midnight (a) mezzanotte (ah) med-zah-noh-teh
2:00 Sono le due soh-noh leh doo-eh
3:10 Sono le tre e dieci soh-noh leh treh eh dee-ay-chee
4:50 Sono le cinque meno dieci soh-noh leh cheen-kwah meh-noh dee-ay-chee
8:15 Sono le otto e un quarto soh-noh leh awt-toh eh oon kwar-toh
7:45 Sono le otto meno un quarto soh-noh leh aw-toh meh-noh un kwar-toh
1:30 È l'una e mezza eh loo-nah eh med-zah
6:30 Sono le sei e mezzo soh-noh leh say-ee eh med-zoh
sharp in punto een poon-toh
in the morning di mattina dee maht-teen-ah
in the afternoon del pomeriggio dell poh-mehr-ee-zhee-oh
in the evening di sera dee seh-rah
at night di notte dee noht-teh

Villa
Did you ever see this ?
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/italian/

If you send me Italian and English in excel I might considering pluggin in a bunch of phrases or maybe I should add a new page where people can write their own sentanc and hear the pronunciation