Do you know how to say "hello" in Italian? And what about "Good Morning" in Italian? Well, maybe you already know "Ciao" and " Buongiorno " but there are so many other ways to greet someone in Italian. In today's article, we'll cover formal and informal Italian greetings. Are you ready? In today’s article, we will be talking about some of the most common greetings we use in Italian. We will cover greetings you can use when you meet someone and also some useful words you can use to be nice when leaving a place! Let’s get started! 1. Ciao Well, I am sure you know this greeting already. It’s very common and it’s very popular around the world. Correct me If I am wrong, but I think “Ciao” is also used in English, to say goodbye , right? Ciao means two things: hi and bye . So you can use it both when you meet someone but also when you’re leaving. Remember that ciao is informal, so you can use it with your friends, family, or in general, people you know well. However, if you’re talking to someone you don’t know that is older than you, or is in a higher position (at work, at university) compared to you, then it’s better not to use ciao ! Fun fact : did you know that ciao comes from an old venetian greeting ( s-ciao ) that used to mean “I am your slave”? 2. Buongiorno Maybe you know this one already! Before we get to the meaning of this word, don’t forget to pronounce every single letter when you’re saying buongiorno . You can check out the pronunciation in my YouTube video about this topic . Buongiorno simply means good morning . It can be used formally or informally and it’s used... well, in the morning! Let’s say you walk into an Italian bar (= coffee place ) in the morning to get your caffè (= espresso ) and cornetto (= croissant ) and say: Buongiorno! We usually tend to use buongiorno until lunchtime (so usually 1 PM ), then we would switch to buon pomeriggio ( good afternoon ) or buonasera (good evening) 3. Buona giornata All right, let’s say you walked into the bar, got your coffee, and now you’re leaving. You want to wish the barista, who’s prepared for you that amazing espresso, a nice day! How would we do that? Well, it’s very simple: buona giornata! And yes, buona giornata simply means “Have a good day” . Notice that here we are using the word giornata and not giorno . This is because giorno refers to the whole day (24 hours), that’s why when we say buongiorno we are actually wishing that person a good beginning of the day. Giornata refers to the period of light, or eventually that period of the day where activities take place. That’s why when we say buona giornata , we’re wishing that person a good day, in terms of what they are going to do during that day! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 4. Buonasera Buonasera (or buona sera ) means good evening . It’s both formal and informal (even though it’s mostly used in formal settings) and it is used in the evening, of course. Many students ask me what’s considered evening in Italy! Well, that is a very good question and it depends! Yes, it depends on the season and the region. As a rule of thumb, buonasera should be used after 5 PM, but would you honestly say buonasera when you are sunbathing on a beach in Puglia at 5 PM in August? I mean, in the summer, I tend to start saying buonasera as late as 8 PM! So again, it really depends! Look at the sun? Is it still up in the sky? Then go for buon pomeriggio (= good afternoon!) 5. Buona serata Well, this doesn’t need much explanation as it is the evening version of buona giornata . Yes, buona serata simply means have a good evening ! 6. Buonanotte This is very important to remember! Buonanotte means goodnight, and it's used when you are actually going to bed. This is because the word notte ( night ) refers to that period of the day when we actually sleep. This is why we can't use buonanotte to wish someone to have a good night, but we need to use buona serata instead! 7. Salve Have you ever heard this one? Salve is actually the same as ciao . It means hi when you’re meeting someone and bye when you’re leaving. However, salve is a little bit more formal than ciao . Technically, salve is considered informal. But, since we are not learning what’s written in textbooks but what people actually say, I have to tell you that salve is becoming more and more formal. People, especially younger generations, tend to use salve to be formal. I personally use salve mostly when I enter a store, a bakery, or bar. Places where I don’t want to be super formal, but not even as informal as ciao ! 8. A dopo! Now, let’s talk about a way to say bye to your friends when you’re leaving. A dopo is a great way to do that in Italian. A dopo means later . You can just say a dopo or eventually also say ci vediamo dopo ( see you later ) or ci sentiamo dopo ( talk to you later ). P.S. If you use the expression a dopo , you are implying that you will see, talk, meet that person later, later that day! It’s not like the English "later", where "later" means in 5 minutes later or never again. A dopo in Italian actually means later that day ! So use it only when you know you’re going to meet, or call, that person later that day! 9. A presto! Not sure when you’re going to meet or talk to that person again? Or maybe you’re not sure you want to talk to that person ever again. Well, a presto is the best way to go! A presto, also used in combination with ci vediamo presto ( see you soon ) and ci sentiamo presto ( talk to you soon ) means soon . 10. Arrivederci Here we come to the last word of today: arrivederci . This word means goodbye , and I am sure you've heard it before since it's a very popular Italian word abroad as well. The only thing you need to remember about this word is that it's formal! I would never use arrivederci with my family and friends. Keep this in mind! Bonus : Baci sulla guancia 😘 What do we do when we meet someone? Do we hug, handshake? Nah, we kiss! We call it bacio sulla guancia , kiss on the cheek . We love it. Right to left, cheeks touch and we make a kiss sound with our mouth. Very common among women and men and women but it’s becoming more common also among men! I haven’t "cheeks kissed" someone in such a long time because of the health emergency we are living in and I miss it, but I am sure we’ll start kissing again soon. P.S. If you don’t want to go for the kiss right away, go for a handshake. Do not go for a hug . Hugs are a bit too much for Italians. You would give someone a hug if you really love them, or you’ve known them for a long time. A kiss is much more appropriate… yes, a kiss is much more appropriate. P.P.S. Kind of weird I know but that’s what Italians do! And you want to be a real ITALIANO right? Well, then check out my Italian Course For Beginners here . Ciao!

Learning vocabulary is not easy, but can be easier. Discover with me 4 killing tips to learn vocabulary in the fastest and most efficient way in Italian (and pretty much any other language!). You feel like you’re memorizing a lot of words but eventually forget them after a few days? Or maybe you feel like you’re learning a lot of words but don’t know how to use them. Or worse, you’re talking to someone, you want to use a word you studied but, suddenly, you forget. You are not alone. That happened to me when I was studying English because no one told me how to memorize vocabulary the right way. But guess what, it’s not happening now that I am studying Portuguese! That’s why I wanna help you learn and memorize vocabulary the right way. Let’s start with the first tip! 1. Practice every day This might sound like a piece of obvious advice , but practicing every single day is one of the most important things to do to memorize vocabulary. Look, our brains are not thought to remember everything, and they are not able to memorize things you’ve read one week ago. Unless you are a genius or have some kind of superpower I, and most people, don’t have. Our brains remember things based on repetition . We tend to remember things we’ve been exposed to multiple times. Think about a movie. How much do you remember about the movie you watched last night? Do you want my honest answer? None. I don’t even remember the name of the main character. Now, how much do you remember of Home Alone? Here we go. The more you are exposed to the words you’re trying to learn, the more you practice, the better! And by the way, when I say "practice every day", I don’t mean spending hours every day trying to memorize words. A few minutes a day will do, as long as your brain is exposed to the words you need to learn! P.S. Home Alone in Italian was translated as "Mamma, ho perso l’aereo" (Mom, I missed the flight). LOL. 2. Spaced repetition apps I love spaced repetition apps. No doubt! Spaced repetition apps are the best way to memorize vocabulary quickly and they are very effective. They are based on “spaced repetition”. I am not going to tell you in detail what “spaced repetition” is, but I will try to sum it up for you. First of all, I will need to explain to you what the forgetting curve is. Our brains forget, and the forgetting process can be visualized with what is called a "forgetting curve". The first time we come in contact with a word (or eventually any information) our brain processes it and over time, that information just gets lost until we totally forget it. However, there’s a way to make sure that information doesn’t get lost , or eventually doesn’t get lost that easily. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! This trick is called active calls . After we’ve been exposed to that information, we need to constantly remind our brain that information exists by actively calling it , ergo by repeating it. Let’s say that you learn the expression “essere in ritardo” (= to be late) today. You will probably start forgetting this expression in three days. However, if you remind your brain that “essere in ritardo” means “to be late” in two days, you will probably forget that expression 1 week after the first repetition. Then you repeat it again in 5 days. Now you will forget it in a month! You can learn more about spaced repetition here . This is just an example, but the more you repeat words and expressions the longer they will be retained in your memory until you fully master them. This problem is less relevant in younger people and, as you age, forgetting becomes easier because our brains become less flexible. And by the way, when I say “age”, I don’t mean you need to be 50 or older to struggle with word memorization. Learning English when I was 15 years old was much easier than learning Norwegian at 19 and Portuguese at 23. Trust me, spaced repetition will incredibly help you in memorizing words, and all of my students who used or are using spaced repetition apps improved their vocabulary (and their language skills in general) much faster than those who didn’t! Let’s talk about the tools now! There are many spaced repetition apps you can use. The one I like the most is Quizlet ( https://quizlet.com ) . Quizlet is a flashcards app you can use on your computer or download on your phone. They do offer paid plans, however, their free plan will do the job. You can search for pre-made sets of flashcards or create your own . I love this feature because it allows me to make flashcard sets specifically for my students’ needs. Plus, I use Quizlet with my online Italian course for beginners as I created a set of words for every unit. My students enrolled in the course love this feature as they are able to learn more vocabulary in the shortest amount of time or learn the words of a specific unit before they actually go over that unit. You can check out my online course here . Quizlet can work for literally anything that has to do with learning, but there are other apps specific for language learning. I am sure you’ve heard Duolingo ( https://www.duolingo.com ) or Memrise ( https://www.memrise.com ) . They are great apps and are fantastic to learn new languages. One downside is that you can’t really choose what to learn but have to follow their order of things, which I don’t love but it’s fine. P.S. These apps are great to memorize new words but they are not enough to learn a language. You also need to learn grammar , practice conversation , reading , and writing to really start speaking a language fluently . If you memorize a bunch of words or expressions but don’t have the grammar knowledge to put them together, you’ll never speak like an Italian. Maybe you will be able to communicate, but not speak. And they are two different things. 3. Learn a set of words at a time Please, do not attempt to learn 1000 words in a week . And don’t learn a bunch of random words all at once, especially when you are a beginner. You kind of want to follow a logical order in your vocabulary learning process, and make sure you master one group of words before moving on to the next one! This is the order of word sets that I usually recommend my beginner students to learn: Greetings (You can check out useful greetings here ) Basic questions (Come stai? How are you? Come va? How is going? Di dove sei? Where are you from? ) Replies to basic questions (Bene! I am good! Grazie! Thank you! Sono italiano! I am from Italy! ) Question words (Cosa, come, dove, quando, perché?) Numeri (yes, they are very important) Days of the week and months of the year This is a very short list, but it’s something you could start with if you are an absolute beginner! 4. Write words down and make sentences Let’s do something more old-fashioned here. Technology has revolutionized the way we learn, but writing new words on a piece of paper will remain my favorite thing to do. The wise Romans used to say: "Verba volant, scripta manent" This beautiful phrase means: "spoken words fly away, written ones remain". Writing your words down can tremendously help you memorize them. Why do I like writing words in my notebook and making sentences? Simple. I am a visual learner and writing my words down with a bunch of different colors makes me remember my words more effectively. Knowing that X word means Y word in my language is not enough to use the word correctly during conversations. You actually want to understand how that word is used. Sometimes, translating is not enough. It helps me make associations . If I know that “Sono in ritardo” means "I am late" but I am always super on time I could write a sentence such as “Non sono mai in ritardo” (I am never late). That way that expression relates more to me and I am able to contextualize it with my life and with my personal experiences. What do you think? Do you like these tips on learning new words? I actually love them and believe they are very effective. Let me know what you think and what you're planning to do to learn more vocabulary! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Prepositions are a nightmare in every language, but if you follow the tips that I am about to give you, not only you won't get these prepositions wrong anymore, but you will also understand the logic behind them. Let's see how the prepositions A, IN, and DA are used in expressions of location. The main reason why students get the prepositions wrong in Italian is that they don't really translate in English. Don't get me wrong, they do have a translation. The problem is that the prepositions A and IN translate at, to, and in . You can understand that knowing the translation is not really going to help you in understanding what preposition to use. You need to understand what prepositions to use when, and how to use them correctly, rather than knowing the translation. Before we jump right into the use of these prepositions, let's take a step back and understand the main differences between Italian and English prepositions. In English, you usually choose the right preposition based on the kind of movement the subject is performing. Let me give you a couple of examples: I go to Rome → the subject is moving from point A to point B (Rome) I live in Rome → the subject is staying still in one place. The subject is in point A and stays in point A. I'm going to Italy next summer → the subject is moving from point A to point B (Italy) Stefano comes from Italy → the subject is moving from point B (Italy) to point A. I go to the doctor → the subject is moving from point A to point B (the doctor) Now let me show you how they translate in Italian: I go to Rome → Vado a Roma. I live in Rome → Vivo a Roma. I am going to Italy next summer → Vado in Italia la prossima estate. Stefano comes from Italy → Stefano viene dall' Italia. I go to the doctor → Vado dal dottore. Before you throw away your computer and start regretting the day you started learning Italian, let me tell you that at the end of this article, everything will make much more sense. Stay with me and let's break it down. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. The preposition A As I told you at the beginning of the article, the preposition A translates at, to, and in. The question shouldn't be what A means, but when do we use it? Well, we use these prepositions in two cases: Before names of cities and small islands In some idiomatic expressions Cities This is pretty easy. When you are IN that city or going TO that city, then you are going to use the preposition A : Vado A Roma (I go to Rome), Abito A Roma (I live in Rome). As you can see, we're not choosing the preposition based on the kind of movement we are doing, but we're choosing it based on the word we have after the preposition. Since I have the name of a city, I am going to use the preposition A. Small Islands When I tell this to my students, they usually say something like "What's a small island? How do I tell if an island is small or big?". Very good question. I would say that anything smaller than Sicilia and Sardegna is small. For example, we would say "Vado A Capri" because Capri is a small island close to Naples ( a beautiful island by the way ). Idiomatic expressions We use the preposition A in some idiomatic expressions you will have to memorize. Let me give you some examples: A scuola → at/to school A casa → at home (Vado a casa = I go home or Sono a casa = I am home ) A lavoro → at/to work A pranzo → at/to lunch A cena → at/to dinner A letto → in/to bed A piedi → by foot/walking (This is pretty different from the other ones but very common. For example, Vado a scuola a piedi = I go to school walking/by foot ). 2. The preposition IN The preposition IN is used: Before the names of continents , countries , regions , and big islands . Before the names of means of transport In some idiomatic expressions Names of continents, countries, regions , and big islands This is pretty simple! First of all, if it's not a city (or eventually a small island) for all other geographical places, you're going to use IN . And, again, it doesn't matter what kind of movement you are doing, you're going to use IN before these places. Let me give you some examples: Vado in Italia → I go to Italy Vado in Europa → I go to Europe Vivo in Italia → I live in Italy Vivo in Europa → I live in Europe Sono andato in Puglia la scorsa estate → I went to Puglia last summer Vivo in Sicilia da 10 anni → I've been living in Sicily for 10 years. Means of transport When you're saying that you will go somewhere by bike, car, train or any other type of transport, you'll need to use IN in Italian. So, you would say something like "Vado in Italia in treno (by train), in macchina (by car), in aereo (by airplane), in autobus (by bus)" and so on. This also applies when you are in the mean of transport: sono in taxi , sono in macchina , sono in aereo . Idiomatic expressions Let me give you some very common idiomatic expressions with the preposition IN that you might want to memorize: In città → in/to the city In ufficio → in/to the office In centro → in/to the city center In vacanza → on holiday/vacation (both when you are going and when you are there so you can say both vado in vacanza and sono in vacanza ) In viaggio → travelling ( Sono in viaggio = I am travelling) In palestra → at/to the gym In piedi → standing up (this is a tricky one! A piedi means walking/by foot BUT in piedi means standing) 3. The preposition DA Let's talk about the last preposition of today: DA . This preposition means from most of the time. For example, you could say: Stefano viene da Roma → Stefano comes from Rome (either he arrives from Rome or he is from Rome ) Il treno arriva da Torino → the train arrives from Turin However, the preposition DA has also another important meaning! When you're saying you are going t o or are at a person's house or workplace , then you're going to use the preposition DA. Let me give you a few examples to better understand: Vado da Luca → I am going to Luca's house . Dormo da Maria domani → I am sleeping at Maria's house tomorrow Devo andare dal dottore lunedì → I have to go to the doctor (the doctor's workplace perhaps, not his house) on Monday. Sono dal macellaio → I am at the butcher's shop Makes sense? Why don't you try this little exercise? All right! I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to check out my YouTube Channel for more Italian lessons! Ciao! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Ciao! In today's article, we will take a look at the different sounds the letters SC can have in Italian. These sounds exist in English, so they shouldn't be hard to pronounce. Let's get into it! Before we dive into today's topic, make sure you've read my previous article on the sound of Cs and Gs in Italian . This is because the same rules apply to SC , so once you understand how that works, it'll be much easier for you to remember how SC is pronounced. SC can have two different sounds in Italian: a hard sound and a soft sound depending on the vowel that follows SC. 1. Soft sound SC is pronounced as a soft sound when it is followed by the vowels E or I . The soft sound of SC is the same as the sh sound you have in English in the words she, ship, or shell . Let me give you a few examples with this word: Pesce (fish) Sciarpa (scarf) Sciare (to ski) Scemo (idiot) P.S. Make sure to watch my YouTube Video on this topic to listen to the pronunciation of these words and repeat them after me. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 2. Hard sound SC is pronounced as a hard sound when it is followed by the vowels A , O , or U . The hard sound of SC is the same as the sk sound you have in English in the words skill or skull. Let me give you a few examples to better understand: Discutere (to discuss) Scale (stairs) Scarpe (shoes) Bosco (wood, forest) Let's talk for a second about the third one, scarpe ! You want to make sure to pronounce the sc there like a hard sound, because if you pronounce it like a soft sound, then you're saying sciarpe (sh-iar-pe), scarves! 3. Hard sound with the H As we discussed in the article about the pronunciation of Cs and Gs , if we add an H after the C, we make the sound hard. SCHI and SCHE are pronounced as hard sounds. Remember that you will find only the vowels E or I after SCH . Here are a few examples you can practice with: Schiavo (slave) Scherzo (prank) Schermo (screen) Rischio (risk) Do you remember the word pesce (= fish) we talked about at the beginning of this article. Well, adding an H and pronouncing the sc sound like a hard sound, would completely change the meaning of the word. Pesche (pe-sk-e) means peaches! 4. The word SCUOLA This word is very unique, as its spelling and pronunciation are not common among Italian words. I am sure you can guess what SCUOLA means! It simply means school . The C in this word is pronounced as a q. Its pronunciation is something similar to s-q-uo-la. All right! We are done with today's lesson. As you can see, the pronunciation of SC is very simple and extremely similar to the rules we've seen for the Cs and the Gs. One little piece of advice that I have for you is to memorize one word per rule. This way, you won't have to memorize the actual pronunciation rules, but just one example word you can connect the rule with! Make sure you watch my YouTube Video on this topic, to better understand how I would pronounce these words. You will also find a little pronunciation practice at the end of the video to improve your pronunciation with me! I'll talk to you soon! Ciao! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Planning a trip to Italy? Well, maybe now it's not the best time to travel (I am writing this article in January 2021), but I am sure we will start traveling again soon. This gives you extra time to study and practice your Italian, so make sure you learn these 25 phrases before you come to Italy. They will be extremely useful! 1. Greetings You should also know the greetings before you come to Italy, but I haven't included them in the list as I wrote an entire article on those that you can check out here . 2. Grazie Thank you I am sure you know this word already, but do you know how to pronounce it correctly? Make sure you pronounce every single vowel, especially the "i" and "e" at the end. It's not gra-tsi but gra-tsi-eh . You can hear the pronunciation of this word on my YouTube video attached to this post. Grazie is very nice, but you can also use grazie mille ( thank you a lot , lit. thank you a thousand ) if you want to be extra nice. 3. Prego You're welcome Since you know how to say thank you now, we should also learn how to say you're welcome , right? Very easy: prego ! This word can actually be used in a lot of different ways; its main use is as you're welcome , however, it also means go ahead both when you're talking to someone and you want them to express their idea, but also when you're walking into a store and you let someone enter or pass in front of you to be nice. Prego is also used to say come in when someone is knocking on your door. 4. Scusa and Scusi Sorry, excuse me I am sure you've heard this word as well, or perhaps you've heard scusi that is a very popular Italian word abroad. Scusa and scusi both mean the same thing ( sorry or excuse me ) but scusa is informal, while scusi is formal. This means, that you will be using scusa with people you know well, your friends and family, or eventually, people that you don't know but are about your age or younger. On the other hand, you're going to use scusi in a formal setting, for example at work, with people much older than you and university. Scusa and scusi means both sorry and excuse me . So you can use it both to apologize but also to get someone's attention. Let's say you are on the metro in Roma and you accidentally step on your friend's foot, so you want to apologize and say: scusa . Now, let's say you are still on the metro and you see an old lady dropping her wallet. She didn't realize it, so you pick it up for her and you get her attention saying scusi to give her wallet back. In the first case, you would use scusa because you're talking to a friend, in the second case you would use scusi if you are talking to a woman older than you. Scusa and scusi can also be used at the restaurant to get the waiter's attention or to a person on the street to ask for directions. 5. Scusami and Mi scusi Sorry, excuse me These two words are basically the same, but they add the pronoun "mi", just to add a bit more emphasis on the person that is speaking. 6. Mi dispiace I am sorry, I feel sorry This word is also very popular but many students still use it incorrectly. Mi dispiace can be used to apologize but remember that is very emotional. We usually use it when our friend tells us about something bad that happened to him/her, so we say that we feel sorry for what happened. Let's say for example that they've run out of pasta and wine at home, so we say mi dispiace ! You can also use it to apologize but remember that it's more emotional than just scusa . Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 7. Per favore or Per piacere Please These two expressions don't need much explaining. They just mean please . They are completely interchangeable so you can use them in the same way. Let's say you walk into a bar to get your caffè and say: "Scusi, prendo un caffè, per favore/per piacere" (Excuse me, I'll have a coffee, please). 8. Come ti chiami? What's your name? Don't you want to know people's names? Remember that Come ti chiami? is informal. If you want to use the formal version go for Come si chiama? 9. Mi chiamo Stefano My name is Stefano To answer the previous question you just need to add your name to mi chiamo ( my name is lit. I am called ). In my case, mi chiamo Stefano . 10. Come stai? How are you? This is the easiest way to ask someone how they're doing. Remember that this expression is informal. If you want to be formal, you just need to get rid of the "i" and say " come sta?" . 11. Sto bene, grazie! E tu? I am good, thanks! What about you? 12. Sto benissimo, grazie! I am very good, thanks! 13. Sto alla grande, grazie! I am very good, thanks! This is just an alternative to benissimo . I love this expression as it's very positive and happy. 14. Come va? How is it going? This expression is very similar to come stai , but we're using the verb "va" (from andare = to go ) as you would in English (How is it going ?). 15. Va tutto bene, grazie! Everything is going well, thanks! This is one potential answer to "come va?" . 16. Dov'è + place ? Where is + place? You want to make sure you know this expression as it is going to be very useful during your next trip. Let's not kid ourselves, you're not going to use it to ask for directions. You're never going to say something like "Dov'è il colosseo?" to a random person on the street. We have phones and everyone uses maps. But, let's say you are at a restaurant and you want to ask where the restroom/toilet is. You can't use your phone for that! For instance, you could say Dov'è il bagno? ( Where's the bathroom?) . Or, let's say you just got to the hotel you're staying at and you want to ask where the breakfast room is, so you say "Dov'è la sala colazioni?" . 17. Quanto costa? How much is it? How much does it cost? This expression is used to ask for the cost of an item. If you are asking for the cost of multiple items, then you want to use the plural version "Quanto costano?" . 18. Quant'è? How much is it? How much does it cost? This expression is very similar to the previous one, but it's usually used when you're asking for the total amount you are supposed to pay. "Quanto costa?" is usually used to ask for the cost of a specific item, whereas "quant'è?" is used to ask for the total amount of money you need to pay at the cashier. The only problem with this is that the person is going to answer with numbers. If you don't know numbers, try to learn them before your next trip to Italy as they are going to be useful for a lot of different things. 19. Mi può dare + item ? Can you give me + item ? Let's say you are in a bakery and you want to buy that amazing arancino ( click here if you don't know what that is ) that is staring at you. To ask the baker to give you that arancino you can just say "Mi può dare un arancino?" . If you don't know the name of the thing you're buying, you can say "mi può dare quello?" ( Can you give me that? ) and just point the thing you want. To be nicer, you can add the expression please that we learned before: per favore or per piacere . 20. Vorrei... I would like... This verb can be used in several different ways. You could use it at a restaurant to order your food, for example " Vorrei una lasagna, grazie" (I would like a lasagna, thank you!). 21. Prendo... I'll have... This expression is just an alternative to the previous one, and again it can be used at a restaurant, bar, pizzeria... "Prendo" literally translates as "I take". 22. Ci può portare il conto? Can we have the check/bill? Well, that's pretty straightforward. You would use it to ask for the bill/check at the restaurant. You can also add per favore or per piacere in there to make it nicer. P.S. We don't usually tip waiters in Italy, so it's not something you should worry about. 23. Di dove sei? Where are you from? Super useful expression if you want to initiate a conversation with someone. 24. Sono di + city or Sono + adjective I am from + city / I am + adjective If you get asked "Di dove sei?" you want to make sure you answer correctly. You have two options. You either say Sono di + the name of city you're from or Sono + adjective of nationality. Let me give you a few examples: Sono di Roma = I am from Rome Sono di Milano = I am from Milan Sono americano = I am American Sono francese = I am French Make sure you look up your adjective of nationality so that you will always know what to answer. You can translate your adjective of nationality using my favorite Online Dictionary: WordReference . I love this dictionary as it's very detailed and gives a lot of examples. If the adjective you find ends in -o then you will have to change based on your gender. For instance, if you are an American man, the translation is going to be american o . But, if you are a woman, you want to change that to american a . If the adjective you find ends in -e, then you won't have to worry about it. For example, francese , French , works both for men and women. P.S. We don't capitalize adjectives of nationality. 25. Scusami, non parlo molto bene l'italiano. I am sorry, I don't speak Italian very well. These sentences are going to help you to get started, but of course, you might find yourself in a situation in which you need to switch to English. But before you do that you you may want to apologize for not speaking Italian very well. But let me add something... YET. You don't speak Italian very well YET. And if you would like to take your Italian to the next level, make sure to check out my Online Italian Course for Beginners . I am sure you'll love it! I hope you enjoyed these phrases for your next trip to Italy and I'll see you soon! Ciao!

The verb "piacere" is a bit tricky but once you understand how it works, I am sure you won't have any problems using it correctly during conversation. Let's dive right in! The verb piacere is one of the trickiest verbs in Italian because it works very differently compared to English. In today's article, we will see how it is used, the grammar rules behind it, and I will be giving you an awesome tip that will make this verb much easier to understand. Before we start talking about how piacere works in Italian, let's look at the main differences compared to English: In English, you would say: I like something . "I" is the subject of the sentence, the person doing the "liking". The thing you like (something) is the object of the action. In Italian, the thing you like will become the subject of the sentence and the person who does the liking is the person the action is directed to. So, you would say Mi piace qualcosa . To make things a little bit easier, I always tell my students to think it this way; instead of saying "I like something", think it as "something is pleasing to me" . As you can see from the previous example, something is now the subject of the action and to me (the person who's doing the liking) becomes the person the action is directed to. This is the logic of the verb piacere in Italian! Now let's see the actual rules! 1. Piace and Piacciono You probably already know that mi piace means I like , however that is not completely true. This is because you need to choose the right form of piacere based on the object that is liked. Mi piace means I like only when the object that is liked is singular . But if you like multiple objects, then you will have to choose piacciono . Let me give you a few examples to better understand: Mi piace la pizza = I like pizza Mi piacciono le canzoni d'amore = I like love songs In the first example, we're choosing piace because the object that is liked (la pizza) is singular! In the second example, we're choosing piacciono because we like multiple things. The object that is liked (le canzoni d'amore) is plural! This is the first rule you need to remember: you choose piace when the object that is liked is singular and piacciono when it's plural! 2. Piacere with a verb Sometimes, you might need to say that you like doing something. For example, I like singing, cooking or travelling . Well, in that case, you will need to use the singular form piace ! Mi piace cantare = I like singing Mi piace cucinare = I like cooking Mi piace viaggiare = I like travelling Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 3. Conjugation of Piacere The main problem with the verb piacere is that you won't always say mi piace , sometimes you'll need to say that you like or he likes . How do we do that? First of all, you can notice that I am not using the usual personal pronoun io with the verb piacere , I am not saying io piace or piacciono . Instead, I am saying mi . That's because mi means to me , and it's an indirect object pronoun. I've never talked about indirect object pronouns on my blog or my YouTube Channel , but I will very soon! In the meantime, let me show you how these pronouns work so you can start to memorize them and use them in real conversation. Let's go over the conjugation of piacere in the present, together with indirect object pronouns: Mi piace/piacciono = I like Ti piace/piacciono = You like Gli piace/piacciono = He likes Le piace/piacciono = She likes Ci piace/piacciono = We like Vi piace/piacciono = You (guys) like Gli piace/piacciono = They like Does that make sense? All these pronouns translate "to + pronoun". When I am saying mi piace or piacciono , I am actually saying that something is pleasing to me . The same thing applies to ti that actually means to you . Let me show you the translation of these pronouns to better understand and visualize them: Mi = to me Ti = to you Gli = to him Le = to her Ci = to us Vi = to you guys Gli = to them Pronouns in Italian are much more complex than this, but this is how they work with the verb piacere . Let me give you a few examples to better understand: Ti piacciono i film d'azione? = Do you like action movies? ( Are action movies pleasing to you?) Le piace la pasta = Does she like pasta? ( Is pasta pleasing to her?) Vi piacciono queste foto? = Do you like these photos? ( Are these photos pleasing to you?) Gli piace nuotare? = Does he like swimming? ( Is swimming pleasing to him?) Makes sense? I think it does! As you can see, if you think the verb piacere as to be pleasing to someone you will also understand why you're using piace or piacciono . In the first example we are saying ti piacciono because i film is plural. That's why in English we're saying "ARE action movies pleasing to you?" . In the second example, we're saying " IS pasta pleasing to you?" , making it singular, and that's why we use piace . 4. Expressing the subject One last thing before you start practicing with piacere ! Sometimes you might need to say "Stefano likes pizza" or "My mother likes reading". Basically, you need to express the subject! What do we do in this case? Well, if you're thinking Stefano piace la pizza ... you're wrong, unfortunately. If you phrase this way, you're missing a very important part of the sentence: to . Again, remember that the translation would be: pizza is pleasing TO Stefano . So, where's the TO there? No worries, it's very easy! You'll need to add the preposition A (= to) in front of the person that is doing the liking. The correct way to say Stefano likes pizza is A Stefano piace la pizza . It's not that bad, isn't it? Let's see some other examples: A mia madre piace leggere = my mother likes reading Ai miei figli piacciono le patatine fritte = my kids like french fries/chips A Marco piace il mare = Marco likes the sea Final recap I have to admit, that was a lot to take in! Let's do a quick recap of what we talked about today: You choose piace or piacciono based on how many things you like. Piace if singular, piacciono if plural. You use the indirect object pronouns (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli) to conjugate the verb piacere. You add the preposition A in front of the person who is doing the liking if you decide to express the subject! I hope this helps! If you have any questions just send me a message in the contact section of the website and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more Italian tips! Ci vediamo presto, ciao! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

You may think that saying where you come from is the easiest thing, however, many students (even the most advanced ones) still get this wrong. Prepositions don't spare anyone, that's why I am here to talk about it! Di dove sei? (Where are you from?) and Da dove vieni? (Where do you come from?) are definitely the most common questions foreigners get asked in Italy. We want to know where you come from! But you want to make sure you answer this question correctly! How can you do that? Well, it's very simple and you even have 3 different options! Essere + adjective of nationality Essere + di + city where you come from Venire + da + country Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Essere + adjective of nationality This is very simple and no preposition is required for this one (yay!). For example, I would say: sono italiano (= I am Italian). My advice is to look up your adjective of nationality (you can use my favorite online dictionary ( WordReference ). You need to keep two things in mind: 1. If the adjective you found ends in -o then you'll need to change the last vowel according to the gender of the subject. I say sono italian o because I am a man. If you are a woman you would change the -o into -a and say sono italian a . Let me give you a couple of more examples: Sono american o = I am American (man) Sono american a = I am American (woman) Sono spagnol o = I am Spanish (man) Sono spagnol a = I am Spanish (woman) Sono russ o = I am Russian (man) Sono russ a = I am Russian (woman) Sono brasilian o = I am Brazilian (man) Sono brasilian a = I am Brazilian (woman) 2. If the adjective you found ends in -e , then you won't need to change it. For example: Sono francese = I am French (both men and women) Sono inglese = I am English (both men and women) Sono canadese = I am Canadian (both men and women) P.S. As you can see we don't capitalize adjectives of nationality. 2. Essere + di + city If you want to say you come from *any city in the world*, you just need to say sono di + city . For example: Sono di Milano = I am from Milan Sono di New York = I am from New York Sono di Londra = I am from London Sono di Parigi = I am from Paris This is extremely important: SONO DI is used with cities only! You wouldn't use it with countries. Saying SONO DI ITALIA is very, very wrong! So is SONO DA ITALIA , wrong! The verb essere can't be used with the preposition DA , only with DI , and the whole expression SONO DI is preferably used with cities. 3. Venire + da + country/city First of all, you need to know that the verb venire is irregular, so the first person singular is going to be vengo . Then, you would use vengo with da + definite article + country , or da + city . If you don't know how to combine the preposition DA + definite articles, this list below might help: Da + il = dal Da + lo = dallo Da + i = dai Da + gli = dagli Da + la = dalla Da + le = dalle Da + l' = dall' Since I come from Italy, I would say: vengo dall'Italia . Italia is considered feminine and singular, so the right article would be L' that combined with the preposition da , forms dall' . Let me give you some more examples: Vengo dagli Stati Uniti = I come from the United States Vengo dall'Inghilterra = I come from England Vengo dal Brasile = I come from Brazil Vengo dalla Francia = I come from France Vengo da can be used with cities as well, with no article. For example: Vengo da Milano = I come from Milan Vengo da Roma = I come from Rome Vengo da Washington DC = I come from Washington DC And what about you? Di dove sei? Get in touch with me and let me know where you come from! A presto! Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Are you struggling in choosing the right helping verb to use with passato prossimo ? In today's article, we will cover the rules to choose the right helping verb and I will be giving you some tips to avoid common mistakes! Before we dive into today's topic let's do a quick recap of PASSATO PROSSIMO . This tense is used to describe an action that took place in the past. More specifically, it is used when the action is well defined in a specific moment in the past and eventually started and finished. Passato prossimo is formed this way: Subject + auxiliary verb in the present (essere/avere) + past participle The past participle doesn't change when you use the verb avere , but you need to change it according to the gender and number of the subject when using essere . The big question is: when do I use essere and when avere ? Most of the verbs in Italian actually require avere , so we will talk about the verbs that take essere . Then, if you have a verb that doesn't fall in these categories, you will use avere . Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Verbs suggesting motion This does not work all the time, but generally, verbs suggesting some kind of movement take essere. This is the list of verbs of motion taking essere that I suggest you memorize: Andare → sono andato (I went) Venire → sono venuto (I came) Salire → sono salito (I went up) Scendere → sono sceso (I went down) Cadere → sono caduto (I fell) Partire → sono partito (I left) Entrare → sono entrato (I went in, I entered) Uscire → sono uscito (I went out, I exited) (Ri)Tornare → sono (ri)tornato (I came back, I returned) Arrivare → sono arrivato (I arrived) Let me give you a couple of examples using these verbs: Sono andato a fare shopping con mia sorella (I went shopping with my sister) Sono ritornati a casa alle 2 (They came back home at 2) Sono arrivata in ritardo a lavoro (I arrived late at work) 2. Verbs suggesting NO motion I know this is weird because it's the opposite of the previous one. However, verbs suggesting you (or the subject) staying still in one place, usually takes essere . Stare → sono stato (I stayed) Rimanere → sono rimasto (I remained, I stayed) Restare → sono restato (I remained, I stayed) Let me give you some more examples: Sono rimasta a casa ieri sera perché ero stanca (I stayed at home last night because I was tired) Siete mai stati in Italia? (Have you guys ever been to Italy?) P.S: Restare does NOT mean "to rest" but it's actually a synonym of "rimanere". "To rest" is riposarsi . 3. Verbs suggesting a change of state All those verbs that suggest a transformation or development in the subject require essere . Crescere → sono cresciuto (I grew up) Diventare → sono diventato (I became) Nascere → sono nato (I was born) Morire → sono morto (I died) For example, I could say: sono nato e cresciuto in Italia (I was born and raised in Italy). 4. ALL reflexive verbs There's not much explanation needed here. All reflexive verbs take essere . All of them! No exception! Lavarsi → mi sono lavato (I washed myself) Vestirsi → mi sono vestito (I got dressed) Divertirsi → ci siamo divertite (we had fun (f.)) 5. The verb ESSERE itself Don't forget that the verb essere takes essere itself to form passato prossimo. The past participle of essere is stato , so that means that the passato prossimo of "essere" and "stare" are going to be the same. Sono stato might be I was, I stayed or I've been . You can easily figure it out from the context. If your verb doesn't fall in any of these categories, then it probably takes avere . Of course, there are many exceptions, but if you follow these rules, you'll be able to form 90% of Italian passato prossimo with no troubles. A presto! Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

In today's article, I will list some extremely useful expressions with the verb avere . Don't forget to watch my YouTube video on this topic for the full explanation! You probably already know that the verb avere means to have in English. However, there are many idiomatic expressions that use avere , and they are extremely common, so you want to make sure you know them and start using them in your daily Italian conversations. I will list them below with their English translation, however, if you want the full explanation and useful example sentences, don't forget to watch my YouTube video related to this topic! Avere fame → to be hungry Avere sete → to be thristy Avere fretta → to be in a hurry Avere voglia di → to want, to feel like Avere sonno → to be sleepy Avere paura di → to be scared of Avere bisogno di → to need Avere caldo → to be hot Avere freddo → to be cold A presto! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Ciao! As you probably know, I have a brand new office (you can watch the video here ) and I would love to receive some letters from your countries written in Italian to hang them on a wall. This is a way to feel closer to each other. If I get enough letters I will go through them and read them in a YouTube video! If you're interested in this little project, you can send your letter here: Stefano Chiaromonte Via Palmiro Togliatti 36/B, San Severo, FG, 71016, Italia I can't wait to receive your letters! Un abbraccio dall'Italia, Teacher Stefano

CI can be so many things in Italian. Do you know how to use it properly? Well, let's find out in today's article. The first thing we need to understand is that CI is a pronoun, therefore it replaces things. As you probably know, ci can be a reflexive, direct object, and indirect object pronoun. We are not going to focus on these functions of CI in today's article, but let me give you some examples anyway: Ci laviamo → we wash ( ourselves ) Chiama ci ! → call us ! Ci hai detto una bugia! → you told us a lie 1. CI as THERE One of the first functions of CI is " there " in the expressions c'è and ci sono . Let me give you some examples: C'è l'acqua in frigorifero? → is there water in the fridge? Ci sono 22 studenti in classe → there are 22 students in class Don't forget that you can apply this also to past and/or future tenses: C'erano alcuni problemi con i documenti → there were some issues with the documents Ci sarà molto sole domani → there will be a lot of sun tomorrow (= it will be very sunny tomorrow) 2. CI is used to replace expressions of place One of the reasons why I love ci is because it replaces anything else that other pronouns can't. Ci can replace a word or expression introduced by these prepositions: a , in , su , and da . A) Sei mai stato in Italia ? B) No, non ci sono mai stato! → A) Have you ever been t o Italy ? B) No, I've never been there . A) Ti piacerebbe andare a Roma ? B) Certo, vorrei andar ci subito! A) Would you like to go to Rome ? B) Of course, I would like to go there now! A) Sei mai salito sulla terrazza del Duomo di Milano? B) No, non ci sono ancora salito → Have you ever been on the terrace of the Duomo di Milano? B) No I haven't been up there yet. A) Vai da Marco stasera? B) No, non ci posso andare perché ho la febbre! → A) Are you going to Marco's house tonight? B) No, I can't go there because I've got a fever. 3. CI is used to replace words introduced by CON Ci is also used to replace words or names introduced by the preposition con (with). Let me give you two examples: A) Esci con il tuo ragazzo oggi? B) No, ci esco domani! → A) Are you going out with your boyfriend today? B) No, I am going out with him tomorrow! A) Che farai con la farina e il lievito ? B) Ci faccio una pizza per stasera! → A) What are you going to do with flour and yeast ? B) I am making a pizza for tonight with them ! We're done with today's article! If you'd like a more in-depth explanation of the uses of CI, don't forget to check out my YouTube Video on this topic! Anyway, CI has also many other uses in the Italian language such as the expressions ci vuole and ci vogliono , CI used with some verbs, the so-called ci di proprietà and more! If you want to know more about these other uses, let me know and I'll make sure to make another video and article about this topic! A presto, Stefano

Passato prossimo is one of the two most important past tenses in Italian, let's see how to use it and how it's formed! Passato prossimo is a past tense used to describe an action that took place in the past (duh!). However, not any action in the past. More specifically, we are talking about an action that started and finished in the past, that took place at a specific time, or in a specific amount of time. That moment could be a very specific one in the past or even a long continuous one and as long as it's defined, we are going to use passato prossimo , most of the time! 1. How is PASSATO PROSSIMO formed? Passato prossimo is formed this way: Subject + auxiliary verb (essere/avere) in the present + past participle One of the most common questions I get from my students is: how do I choose between essere and avere . We're not going to talk about this in today's blog article as I already wrote another article on this topic that you can check out here . 2. Past participle The past participle is formed by adding a specific ending to the stem of the verb. Let me show you how: Amare (to love) forms the past participle by dropping the ending of the infinitive (-are) and adds -ato : amato (loved). Cadere (to fall) adds -uto : caduto (fallen). Sentire (to hear) adds -ito : sentito (heard) Just to recap: -ARE → -ATO -ERE → -UTO -IRE→ -ITO Remember that the past participle is a sort of adjective and therefore you need to change it according to the gender and number of the subject only when you are using ESSERE as an auxiliary verb. Let me show you some examples: Io ho mangiato and lei ha mangiato and noi abbiamo mangiato Io sono andato (io, Stefano) but io sono andata (io, Chiara) but noi siamo andati So, when you're using avere , you won't have to worry about changing the past participle. When you're using essere , you will have to change the past participle according to the subject: Masculine singular → -O Feminine singular → -A Masculine plural → -I Feminine plural → -E Some verbs, especially the most common ones, have an irregular past participle that you will have to memorize. Here are just a few of the very common ones: Fare (to do/to make) → fatto (done/made) Vedere (to see) → visto (seen) Dire (to say/to tell) → detto (said/told) 3. Conjugation Let me conjugate two verbs for you, to make sure you understand how to conjugate verbs in passato prossimo . Let's conjugate GUARDARE (to watch). This verb takes avere : Io ho guardato Tu hai guardato Lui/Lei ha guardato Noi abbiamo guardato Voi avete guardato Loro hanno guardato Here, we're saying I watched, you watched, he/she watched... Now, let's conjugate the verb PARTIRE (to leave) . This verb takes essere so we will need to change the past participle according to the gender and number of the subject. Io sono partit o / a Tu sei partit o / a Lui è partit o Lei è partit a Noi siamo partit i / e Voi siete partit i / e Loro sono partit i / e Here, we're saying I left, you left, he/she left... All right! I hope you now have a better understanding of passato prossimo in Italian. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach me in the contact section of the website. Un abbraccio, Stefano