Are you struggling to choose between Passato Prossimo and Imperfetto in Italian? Well, you're in the right place then! In today’s article, we’ll talk about how to choose the correct past tense: passato prossimo or imperfetto ? It all comes down to the type of action you have. I am going to give you some examples and explain the actual rules along the way. 1. Repeated vs one-time Mia mamma faceva sempre una torta buonissima. Mia mamma ieri ha fatto una torta buonissima. In the first case, we’re saying that "my mom always used to make a delicious cake". In the second we’re saying that "my mom made a delicious cake yesterday". And here’s the first difference! If we’re talking about a repeated action then we’ll go for imperfetto, instead, if we have a one-time action , very specific , very defined , then we go for passato prossimo! Don’t forget that the idea of repeated action has to be very general . This is because imperfetto is a tense used to describe actions that are not well-defined on a timeline. Let me give you another example: Andavo sempre in palestra da ragazzo. Sono andato tre volte in palestra la scorsa settimana. The first one makes sense: I used to go to the gym when I was a boy . The second one... don’t let it fool you. It might look repeated because you went three times, but three times that week and that’s it. It’s not something you used to do every week! I hope that makes sense! 2. Habit vs non-regular actions Let me tell you that this is one is very similar to the previous one! Let's look at a few examples: Da bambino andavo al mare tutte le domeniche. Da bambino sono andato al mare una volta. In the first sentence, we clearly have a regular action, a habit in the past, because "da bambino" , when I was little , I would go to the beach every Sunday . That’s the idea: a regular action, a habit, something you used to do regularly, you would do regularly in the past. That's why we use imperfetto . In the second example, da bambino sono andato al mare una volta , I went just once and that’s it! That's why I use passato prossimo . 3. Imperfetto and Passato Prossimo in the same sentence Sometimes though you might have multiple past tenses, multiple actions in one sentence. Let me give you one example: Mentre studiavo , è arrivata Chiara. Here we have two actions: "me studying" and "Chiara arriving". The action of "me studying" is long, continuous and it has been interrupted by "Chiara arriving". So I could translate that sentence: While I was studying, Chiara arrived. You would use imperfetto for the long action and passato prossimo for the short sudden one ! I hope this article helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, Stefano

Reflexive verbs are extremely important and common in Italian. Do you know what they are and how to use them? If you don't, then you're in the right place! What’s a reflexive verb? Think of it as a mirror . If you look at yourself in the mirror, what are you going to see? Yourself , right? A mirror reflects the image and a reflexive verb does the same thing! A reflexive verb is used when the subject of the action (the person doing the action) is the same as the object of the action. Most of the time when we talk about reflexive verbs we need to say that the subject of the action is the same as the subject. Sometimes, it’s very obvious. The verb “ lavarsi ” means to "wash oneself". Of course, if you’re showering, you’re washing yourself. So that makes sense. With some reflexive verbs, though, it’s less obvious. For example, take the verb “sentire” which normally means to hear. However, when we make it reflexive and we say “ sentirsi ”, then it means “to feel”, for example "mi sento bene" (I feel good). Although many reflexive verbs make sense by adding “myself” or “oneself” in general in English, sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes, by making a verb reflexive, we’re just changing the meaning of the verb. 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. How do you conjugate a reflexive verb? A reflexive verb will always end in -si in the infinitive. Therefore, we will get rid of the -si and conjugate the verb as we would normally do in the present (or any other tense). For example: Lavarsi → lavar(e) → conjugate this as an - are verb (lavo, lavi, lava, laviamo, lavate, lavano) Mettersi → metter(e) → conjugate this as an - ere verb Vestirsi → vestir(e) → conjugate this as an - ire verb Once we have conjugated the verb we need to add the reflexive pronouns . 2. Reflexive pronouns Reflexive pronouns are placed before the verb in the present, past, or future tense and are there to remind you that a specific verb is reflexive. These are the reflexive pronouns that you will need to use for each personal pronoun (subject): Mi (io) Ti (tu) Si (lui/lei) Ci (noi) Vi (voi) Si (loro) Let’s conjugate the verb lavarsi : Io mi lavo Tu ti lavi Lui/lei si lava Noi ci laviamo Voi vi lavate Loro si lavano Now let’s conjugate mettersi (to put on): Io mi metto Tu ti metti Lui/lei si mette Noi ci mettiamo Voi vi mettete Loro si mettono 3. Some examples Svegliarsi : to wake up (or to wake yourself up) → Mi sveglio tutti i giorni alle 7:00 di mattina (I wake up every day at 7:00 in the morning) Vestirsi : to get dressed (or to dress yourself) → Mi vesto in fretta perché sono in ritardo (I get dressed quickly because I am late) Chiamarsi : to be called → Mi chiamo Stefano (I am called Stefano, my name is Stefano) Sentirsi : to feel (sentire to hear, sentirsi to feel) → Ti senti bene? (Do you feel good/well, are you all right?) Divertirsi : to have fun → Ci divertiamo alla festa di Giorgia (We have fun at Giorgia's party) I hope this article helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, 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!

Ready to learn how to say and use these words in Italian? They are mostly filler words and are so common! I am sure you use these words or expressions in English every day but maybe you struggle in using them in Italian because you don’t know their translation or maybe the translation does not even exist! Well, in today’s article we’re going to go over these words and understand how to translate them to Italian, or at least I'll give you the closest word we have if there is not a direct translation! 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. Actually I use this word in English every single day. What would I say in Italian? First of all, I would say that this word is not used in Italian with the same frequency you would use it in English but we do have a translation. You have two options: in realtà or a dire il vero . Let me give you a couple of examples: Il mio amico sembra italiano ma in realtà/a dire il vero è tedesco → My friend looks Italian but actually he is from Germany. Pensavo che andassi in Italia. No, in realtà vado in Francia quest’estate → I thought you were going to Italy. No, actually I am going to France this summer. 2. Like Oh wow! How many times do you use this in English? Although I hate using “like” too much, sometimes we just need it. And of course, Italian does have its counterpart. Let’s say you’re saying something but you need to think. What can you say in Italian? Sono andato in Italia questa estate e siamo andati in, diciamo , una specie di ostello → I went to Italy this summer and we went to, like, this sort of hostel. We use diciamo to buy ourselves some time and make sure we can continue our sentence. We can also use tipo . These two words are extremely informal and I tend to avoid them as much as I can both in English and Italian, but sometimes it’s useful to throw in some filler words like diciamo or tipo to buy yourself some time and think! 3. To be like Let’s say you’re telling a story and you’re telling me what your friend was saying. You start saying: He came to my house and he was like: "Where’s the cake that I made?" . How would we translate the he was like . For starters, we could just use dire (ha detto) but very often if we want to be colloquial we can use the verb fare in the present and dire mi fa . (Lui) È venuto a casa mia e mi ha detto : "Dov’è la torta che ho preparato?" (Lui) È venuto a casa mia e mi fa : "Dov’è la torta che ho preparato?" 4. Whatever I absolutely love this one. I know this is not the nicest thing, but sometimes we just don’t care: so, whatever! How we would say that in Italian? You need one word: vabbè . Scusa Stefano, sono in ritardo. Vabbè non ti preoccupare → I am sorry Stefano I am late. Whatever no worries. Of course, intonation and context are key here. 5. It's not like You have been invited to go to Europe this summer with your friends but they are going everywhere except Italy. We all know you want to visit Italy. So it’s not like you don’t want to go with them but you’d rather go to Italy. How would you say that? Non è che non voglio andare con loro però preferisco andare in italia. So, remember: it’s not like → non è che 6. You know I am sure this is very common, and again we use it all the time to buy ourselves some time when we are speaking. This is not a tricky one though, because we say exactly the same thing in Italian. We just say: sai . Sono stato in Italia e, sai , mi è piaciuta tantissimo ma mi sto pentendo di non essere andato a Venezia → I’ve been to Italy and, you know, I loved it but I am regretting I didn’t go to Venice. 7. It's good This can be applied to so many things! You agree with your friends on something, you show interest and you say: it’s good, it’s ok, all right . How do we say that in Italian? Super easy: va bene . Ci vediamo la prossima settimana alla stessa ora? Sì, certo, va bene ! → Are we meeting next week at the same time? Yeah sure, it’s good (that’s good/all right). 8. That's it! We're done for today's article, that's it! Before letting you go, let me tell you how we would say that's it in Italian! Very easy, I am going to give you two options: tutto qui or è tutto . Ok, tutto qui for today's article! I hope it helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, 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!

Do you know how to tell whether a word is masculine or feminine in Italian? If you don't, this blog article is for you! Sometimes understanding whether a word is masculine or feminine can be kind of tricky. In today’s blog article, I am going to give you some tips to get the gender of a word right most of the time and also some tricks on how to make nouns plural based on their gender! Let’s get started! 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. Masculine or feminine? Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine: amico, treno, panino Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine: amica, studentessa, bicicletta Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine: studente (m.), caffè (m.) and automobile (f.), notte (f.) However, if we look at the last syllable of words ending in -e rather than just the last letter we can use this trick to get the gender right. If a word ends in: -IONE : feminine (English -ion ): televisione, nazione, opinione -ORE : masculine (English -or ) attore, autore, professore 4. Nouns ending in CONSONANT are usually words of foreign origin that we have borrowed from another language (such as English). They are usually masculine: film, bar, autobus, sport Common exceptions: Ending in -a but masculine : problema, diploma, programma Ending in -o but feminine : radio, mano 2. Plural nouns rules All words ending in -O or -E have plural in - I so: amico → amici treno → treni televisione → televisioni studente → studenti professore → professori Words ending in -A have their plural in -E ONLY if they are feminine : studentessa → studentesse bicicletta → biciclette, casa → case Words ending in -A that are masculine have their plural in -I : problema → problemi programma → programmi Words of foreign origin don’t change : il film → i film You can understand if a word of foreign origin is singular or plural by the definite article and, no worries, I will be making another article on this topic very soon! If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website. 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! A presto, Stefano

Do you know how to use Italian Definite Articles correctly? Learn how to do just that with me today and practice with a little quiz at the end of the article. In English you have THE, in Italian, we have: IL, LO, LA, I, GLI, LE, L'. Do you know how to choose the correct one? Well, it's very easy. In Italian we choose the correct definite article based on three things: gender and number of the word, and the first few letters of the word itself. 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. Masculine definite articles IL = masculine singular nouns starting with a consonant (il libro, il mare, il ristorante) LO = masculine singular nouns starting with s+consonant and z ( lo zaino, lo studente, lo spagnolo) . These are the most common ones but we would also use LO with words starting with ps, pn, gn, x and y . However, words starting with these letters are less common. L’ = masculine singular words starting with a vowel (l’amico, l’asino) I = masculine plural nouns starting with a consonant (i libri, i ristoranti) GLI = masculine plural nouns starting with a vowel or s+consonant, z and all the other letters we’ve seen with LO (gli zaini, gli srtudenti, gli amici) 2. Feminine definite articles LA = feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant (la scuola, la palestra) L’ = feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel (l’amica) LE = all plural feminine nouns (le scuole, le palestre, le amiche) 3. Final quiz If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website. 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! A presto, Stefano

Today we're talking again about the pronoun CI. We'll see some more advanced uses of the particle CI in Italian and how to use it correctly. Ciao! In today's article, we will be talking again about the pronoun CI. Before reading this article make sure to read the first one on the basic uses of CI . 1. Ci vuole/Ci vogliono The verb volerci is used to say it takes, usually referring to time. You will use ci vuole if the amount of time is singular and ci vogliono if plural. For example: Ci vuole un'ora per arrivare a Roma → It takes one hour to get to Rome. Ci vogliono venti minuti per arrivare a casa mia → It takes twenty minutes to get to my house Quanto tempo ci vuole? → How long does it take? Ci vuole molto tempo → It takes a lot of time. 2. Metterci The problem with the verb volerci is that it's very general and impersonal, therefore you can conjugate it only in the third person form singular or plural. What if you want to say that it takes you or a specific person a certain amount of time to do something or to get somewhere? In that case, you will have to use the verb metterci , that is personal! So you conjugate the verb mettere as a normal verb and then add ci in front of it. Adding CI is very important! If you forget CI, then you're just saying to put . Here's the conjugation: Ci metto Ci metti Ci mette Ci mettiamo Ci mettete Ci mettono Let's look at a few examples: Ci metto 20 minuti per venire a casa tua → It takes me 20 minutes to come to your house. Ci vogliono 2 ore in macchina per andare a Firenze, ma io ci metto solo 1 ora con il treno ad alta velocità → It takes 2 hours to go to Florence by car, but it takes me only 1 hour with the high-speed train. 3. Ci di proprietà It is used in colloquial Italian to emphasize the fact of you having or not having something. For example: Hai un fazzoletto? → Do you have a tissue? No, non ce l’ho → No, I don't have it. Hai portato le chiavi? → Did you bring the keys? Sì, ce le ho in tasca → Yes, I have them in my pocket. In this case, CI becomes CE because we’ve got a pronoun ( direct object pronoun ) and when CI is found before another pronoun then you change it to CE. These are called double object pronouns and I've never talked about them on my website or my YouTube channel , so if you're interested in a video on this topic, let me know! 4. CI + NE Sometimes you might need both CI and NE in one sentence. For example: Quante opere ci sono alla Pinacoteca di Brera? → How many artworks are there at Pinacoteca di Brera? Ce ne sono oltre 200 → There are over 200. In this case, you are saying there are (ci sono) which I explained in the previous article. CI becomes CE in front of another pronoun NE. That’s why we say CE NE SONO . Therefore, NE is replacing artworks, but unfortunately, I can't use a normal direct object pronoun as I am talking about a quantity (200). I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a lot from it. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. A presto, Stefano

Struggling with Italian Prepositions of time? In today's article, we are going to look at the difference between the preposition DA and the preposition PER. In today's article, we are going to talk about two Italian prepositions (DA and PER) that are used for many purposes, and one of them is to express time. They are a bit tricky but I am sure this article will help you understand which one to use. 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. Preposition DA This preposition is used when the action has started in the past but hasn’t finished yet, it’s still ongoing in the present. This is one of the most common mistakes English speakers make in Italian! Let me show you some examples: Studio italiano da 17 anni → I’ve been studying Italian for 17 years. Here, we can see two big differences between Italian and English: In Italian, we’re just using the present “studio”, whereas in English we’re using a past progressive. And using the present makes total sense because I’m still studying Italian. In English you use "for" but in Italian we use " da " not "per". This action started in the past, specifically 17 years ago, but it’s still ongoing because I am still studying Italian. Other examples are: Vivo in Italia da 10 anni → I’ve been living in Italy for 10 years. Gioco a calcio da quando ero piccolo → I’ve played soccer since I was a child. 2. Preposition PER The preposition " per" is used to talk about an action that started in the past but has finished or will start in the future and will finish. Or a limited action, whatsoever. Corro per un’ora e poi faccio una doccia → I’ll go for a run for one hour and then I’ll take a shower . Here I know that I am going out now to run for one hour, so this action eventually starts now and will finish in one hour. Vado in vacanza a Roma per due settimane → I am going on vacation to Rome for two weeks. I know that this action is limited because it’s supposed to last two weeks only. Now let's look at two sentences to compare the use of DA vs the use of PER. Ho studiato italiano per 17 anni. In this case, I am saying that I studied Italian for 17 years, but now I don’t study it anymore. I don't know exactly when I started or when I stopped, but I do know that this action is finished and lasted 17 years. Studio italiano da 17 anni. With DA, I am saying that I started 17 years ago and this action is still ongoing now. Furthermore, I am using the present with the preposition DA, whereas with PER I am using the past as the action is 100% in the past. Ok guys! We are done for today’s article! Did you like it? We will also need to talk about the prepositions IN and TRA , which are very confusing, especially for English speakers. If you want me to do an article on this topic let me know and I’ll do it as soon as I can. If you have any questions about this topic, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. 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!

These two adjectives are very common in Italian, so you definitely need to understand how to use them and I hope this article will help! In today's article, we are going to talk about two Italian adjectives: BUONO and BELLO. These two are probably the most common adjectives in Italian and we use them all the time but do you really know how to choose the correct one? 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. BELLO These are the categories you would use bello in: Appearance : used to describe something or someone for their look. Marco è un bel ragazzo → Marco is a good-looking, handsome guy. Chiara è una bella ragazza → Chiara is a beautiful girl. Tutti gli italiani sono belli → All the Italians are good-looking/beautiful. Questa casa è molto bella → This house is very beautiful. Something that is well-done, well organized : Questo corso di italiano è molto bello → This Italian course is well-done, it works. Questa puntata è molto bella → this episode is good, it’s interesting or well-done (not necessary referred to the look of it). Size : something that is big, abundant: E’ una bella lista della spesa → It’s a big, long, conspicuous shopping list. To emphasize an idea : Questo è un bel problema → This is a pretty big problem. 2. BUONO Kindness : Francesca è buona → Francesca is kind. E’ importante fare una buona azione al mese → It’s important to do a good deed a month. I miei amici sono sempre buoni con me → My friends are always nice to me. To express that someone is good at what they do or what they are supposed to do: E’ un buon medico → He is a good doctor (he is good at doing his job). Quel ristorante è molto buono → That restaurant is very good. To say that something is useful or works for something else : Questo sciroppo è buono per la tosse → This syrup is good for treating a cough. Il mio nuovo cellulare è buono per fare le foto → My new cell phone is good for taking pictures. Something that is good to the taste or smell (food, drinks) Le tue lasagne sono molto buone → Your lasagne are very good. Il vino pugliese è buono → Pugliese wine is good. 3. Forms of BELLO and BUONO The adjectives buono and bello behave differently based on their position in the sentence : if positioned after the noun they refer to, they behave as normal four-ending adjectives ( bello/bella/belli/belle and buono/buona/buoni/buone ). If put before the noun they refer to, they behave a bit differently. Let's start with bello . Look at the chart below: Be + il = bel Be + lo = bello Be + la = bella Be + i = bei Be + gli = begli Be + le = belle Be + l’ = bell’ As you can see, what’s going on here is pretty obvious. You attach the definite article to the root of the adjective according to the chart above ( this doesn’t mean you don’t put the article before the adjective. That’s not a real article you are attaching. It’s just a particular ending so similar to definite articles that I call it “article ending” ). Let’s look at a few examples: Il ragazzo —> il ragazzo bello —> il bel ragazzo Gli alberi —> gli alberi belli —> i begli alberi La bambina —> la bambina bella —> la bella bambina As you can see, you can choose the position of the adjective. If you put it after the noun, you treat "bello" as a normal adjective, but if you put it before you'll have to choose the right form based on the definite article you would use. This is what you do : ⁃ Choose the right article for the word ⁃ Position "bello" after the noun treating it as normal adjective ⁃ Or position "bello" before the noun and change the ending according to the article you would’ve used. A lot of my students ask me if there is a difference between the position of the adjective. There’s practically none. Though I do understand the struggle of saying “begli” instead of “belli”, that’s why I often recommend my students to put the adjective after the noun. It’s much easier, and correct anyway. Now let's talk about buono . Basically, it works like the previous adjective, but instead of using definite articles as endings, it uses indefinite articles ( un, uno, una, un ). Again the use of "buono" depends on its position. If positioned after the noun it refers to, it has four regular endings ( buono/buona/buoni/buone ), exactly like the adjective "bello". Otherwise, it follows the following rules: Un amico —> un buon amico Un mattino —> un buon mattino Uno zaino —> un buono zaino Uno specchio —> un buono specchio Un’amica —> una buon’amica Una chiesa —> una buona chiesa In the plural you have only buoni and buone : Delle amiche —> le buone amiche Degli amici —> i buoni amici If you have any questions about this topic, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. 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!

Using PIACERE in Italian is always confusing but it gets even more confusing when using it to express the idea of you liking someone. Read this article to understand the logic behind this tricky Italian verb! I am sure you know that “I like” is “Mi piace”, but do you know how to use PIACERE with people? “I like Italy” is “Mi piace l’Italia”, but what about “I like you”, “She likes me”, “We like you”, “They like us”. Well, it might seem a bit confusing at first, but I am going to walk you through the logic behind this verb so that you will know how to use it in conversation! 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! Before reading this article, make sure you've read my previous blog post on the verb PIACERE . By knowing the basics of this verb, it will be easier for you to understand how these rules work. Remember that the verb PIACERE works the other way around in Italian. We don’t say “I like something” but “ something is pleasing to me ”. Therefore we will have to figure out a way to say that “someone is pleasing to me/you/her” and so on? How do we do that? First of all, you need to know indirect object pronouns: Mi → to me Ti → to you Gli → to him Le → to her Ci → to us Vi → to you guys Gli/Loro → to them You can also review direct and indirect object pronouns with this blog post . Second, we need to conjugate the verb piacere in all its forms: (io) piaccio (tu) piaci (lui/lei) piace (noi) piacciamo (voi) piacete (loro) piacciono IMPORTANT: (io) piaccio does NOT mean I like ! Keep this in mind! You know that I like is “mi piace”. Once we’ve reviewed indirect object pronouns and the conjugation of the verb piacere let’s take a simple English sentence and let’s try to translate it: I like you We are not actually saying I like you but we’re saying you are pleasing to me , right? So what you’ll have to do is translate this bit by bit. Follow these easy steps: Start from the end of the sentence and translate the indirect object pronoun to me . If you look at the chart above, you should know that to me is mi . Keep this one in mind. Now we want to say you are pleasing to me , so we need to look for the YOU form of the verb piacere that is going to be piaci . Let's write down the whole thing Mi piaci = I like you! Done! As you can see, it's not that hard, it just needs some getting used to! Let's take a look at these other examples: We like you → You are pleasing to us → Ci piaci You like us → We are pleasing to you → Ti piacciamo They like me → I am pleasing to them → Gli piaccio We like her → She is pleasing to us → Ci piace She likes you (p.) → You (p.) are pleasing to her → Le piacete I hope that makes sense! If you have any questions about this topic, send me a message in the contact section of my website or on Instagram ! 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!

I am sure you’ve heard of the pronoun NE in Italian many times but do you know how to use it? And what’s the difference between NE and normal direct object pronouns? We’ll go over all of this in today's lesson! Ne is a pronoun and that means that it replaces things in sentences. Ne has multiple uses but in today’s lesson, we will focus on its main uses. Then, in the future, we will cover more advanced uses of this pronoun. 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. PARTITIVO Before we start diving into ne , I need to make sure you know what partitivo is. Partitivo is a specific part of the sentence introduced by a preposition or two adjectives to convey the idea of part of something (that’s why partitivo) or a quantity not specified in number . Let me give you some examples: Voglio del caffè = I want some coffee (a part of it not all of it) I want some delle mele = I bought some apples (quantity not specified in number) I can also say: Voglio alcune mele/ qualche mel a When the partitivo is singular (so we’re talking about a part of something) we will use: DI + definite article + a singular noun When you are referring to a quantity not specified in number you can use DI + definite article + a plural noun Alcuni/e (masculine and feminine) + a plural noun Qualche + a singular noun. Sometimes qualche + a singular noun confuses students because why would you use a singular noun to refer to multiple things? And you’re right, it’s confusing! But think about the word every in English. You would say every day but you mean multiple days! Qualche is the same thing! You use a singular noun, but the real meaning behind it is plural. Just to do a quick recap: Delle mele → some apples Alcune mele → some apples Qualche mela → some apples You’re saying exactly the same thing! 2. HOW TO USE NE Now that we know what partitivo is, we can move on to ne . This is because ne replaces a noun in the partitive sense (introduced by di + article, alcuni/e, qualche ) or a noun introduced by a number or an expression of quantity (poco, molto, tanto, chilo, litro). We need to see some examples: Hai molti vestiti ? Sì, ne ho molti! → Do you have many clothes? Yes, I have many (of them). Quante fette di pane vuoi? Ne voglio tre, grazie → How many slices of bread do you want? I want three (of them), thanks! Hai molti amici ? No, ne ho pochi! → Do you have many friends? No, I have few (of them) Vuoi dei cioccolatini ? Sì, ne voglio due, grazie! → Do you want some chocolate? Yes, I want two, thanks! One thing you can notice here, and this is very important, is that you can’t use NE alone in the sentence. If we go back to the first example you can’t say just ne ho , you need to add how many, so molti . Or tre , quattro , un chilo , pochi . Ne does not work alone in a sentence, therefore you need to add the quantity! One of the hardest things about NE is understanding its difference with direct object pronouns . If you don't know what direct object pronouns are, you can have a look at this article . For example, if I say: Compri le mele? And I want to say that I buy them, there’s no need to use NE because I am not expressing a quantity so I will say: Sì, le compro . But If I ask Quante mele compri , the person I am talking to is expecting a number (or quantity) from me in the answer so I a going to say: Ne compro 3, molte, un chilo , whatever! Just don't forget to add the quantity! ATTENZIONE : Just remember that when you’re using NE in a sentence with passato prossimo the past participle changes according to the gender and number of the object you replace: Hai mangiato la pizza ? Sì, ne ho mangiat e due! (of pizze) Quanti libri hai letto quest’estate? Ne ho letti tre! (of libri) If you have any questions about this topic, send me a message in the contact section of my website or on Instagram ! 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!

Making mistakes is one of the most important things while learning a new language. Only by making mistakes you can improve your language skills and get better. However, some mistakes are more common than others so why not fix them right away? In today’s article, we are going to look at some common mistakes English speakers make in Italian. I will talk about English speakers specifically only because most of my students come from English-speaking countries and because I speak English fluently but maybe these mistakes also apply to other languages. If that’s the case, let me know! 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. Misgendering nouns Using a feminine article with masculine words is very common but I want to talk about two words in particular: problema and paese . Problema is a weird one because it ends in -a but it’s actually masculine. Let me tell you that this exception actually applies to several -ma ending words like tema (essay, topic) . Since problema is masculine you are going to say IL PROBLEMA . Then we’ve got the word paese (country) . Honestly, -e ending words are the worst because they could be either masculine or feminine and you can’t really know. You can find some tipis to understand the gender of nouns in this article . Anyway, one of the most misgendered words in Italian is, in fact, paese . It’s not LA PAESE, but IL PAESE (country) as PAESE is masculine. 2. PER instead of DA Another very common mistake is the use of the preposition PER instead of DA to express how long you have been doing something (for). Let’s say you started studying Italian 4 months ago, so you’ve been studying Italian FOR four months. Well, that FOR in Italian does not translate PER, but actually DA . And also, and that’s actually good news for you, you don’t need to use any past tense but the present will do just fine, and that makes sense because the action is still ongoing in the present as you started studying 4 months ago but you still do now. So we would say: studio italiano da 4 mesi . Not per! P.S. Here's an article on DA vs PER . 3. Mi piace VS Mi piacciono Remember that the verb ‘like’ works in a completely different way in Italian compared to English. I’ve made two videos on this topic ( here and here ): one to say that you like things and the other one you like people. Just to do a quick recap, remember that if you want to say that you like something you’re going to say mi piace if the thing you like is singular and mi piacciono if the thing you like is plural. So: Mi piace la pasta Mi piacciono le lasagne 4. Makes sense? How would you say makes sense in Italian? Well, for sure you’re not going to say fa senso . That’s because: Fa senso : it’s gross (for example when looking at a gory scene in a movie) Ha senso : it makes sense 5. Frustrato This word is too strong in Italian. If you’re frustrated because you can’t speak Italian very well yet, don’t say sono frustrato/frustrata but say sono triste , sono un po' arrabbiato instead. Frustrato is too strong, and when we say frustrato we generally apply that to describe a person for their life-style (very very general and extremely negative) rather than frustrated for a specific reason. It’s too strong, tend to avoid it. 6. È bene Do not use è bene . Bene can't be used with the verb essere (except in one specific case that we are not going to cover today) because it’s an adverb . Bene means well . So many times my students watch my videos and then they say that è bene or era bene . Would you say that in English this video is well? No. So try to say è bello , è interessante . Ok, we are done with today’s lesson, I hope you liked it! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me in the contact section of my website. 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!

Struggling with Italian Prepositions of time? In today's article, we are going to look at the differences between the preposition IN and the preposition TRA. In today's article, we are going to talk about two Italian prepositions (IN and TRA) that are used for many purposes, and one of them is to express time. They are a bit tricky but I am sure this article will help you understand which one to use. 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. Preposition TRA Before talking about the use of TRA for time, let's repass really quickly its other main meanings: Between : il ristorante è tra la banca e le poste → the restaurant is between the bank and the postal office Among : tra tutti i dipendenti, tu sei il più bravo → among all employees, you are the best one Now, let's talk about the uses of TRA when it comes to time. The preposition TRA is used in terms of time to convey the idea of IN in English. This is the reason why it might be a bit confusing. TRA is used to talk about an event that will happen in a very specific and defined amount of time. Let's see a few examples to better understand: Partirò per l'Italia tra 2 mesi → I am leaving for Italy in two months (very specific, 2 months from now) Esco di casa tra 10 minuti → I am leaving the house in 10 minutes. Arrivo tra 2 secondi → I am coming in 2 seconds, I will be there in 2 seconds Tra 10 anni voglio essere un dottore → I want to be a doctor in 10 years. 2. Preposition IN The preposition IN , on the contrary, is used to talk about an action that took place or will take place in the future and we know exactly how long it took or it is going to take to perform that action. Ho letto il romanzo in 2 mesi → I 've read the novel in two months = it took me two months to read the novel Scriverò il libro in 1 anno → I will write the book in a year = It will take me a year to write the book. 3. IN vs TRA Finirò il progetto in una settimana VS Finirò il progetto tra una settimana In the first sentence, I am saying that it's going to take me a week to finish the project, no matter when I start. I could start now or in two years, the amount of time required to finish the project will still be one week. In the second sentence, I am saying that starting from now, a week from now the project will be finished. P.S. Many students ask me what the difference between TRA and FRA is. Well, they are exactly the same . Sometimes we choose one preposition over the other for phonetic reasons. Tra tre mesi might be a bit hard to pronounce as we have the TR sound twice. So, we might want to say fra tre mesi instead. Honestly though, I find myself saying tra tre mesi all the time and it does not sound weird to me at all, so no big deal! If you have any questions about this topic, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. 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!