Introduction to Italian/Lesson 4

In Italian, as in most languages, there are two genders: masculine and feminine.

Singulars
Every singular noun ends in -a, -o, or -e; with very few exceptions, the nouns that end in -o are masculine and the nouns that end in -a are feminine (-e is generally masculine but not always). A few examples: tavolo (table, masculine), sedia (chair, feminine), figlio (son, masculine), figlia (daughter, feminine), dottore (male doctor, masculine), calcolatrice (calculator, feminine)

Plurals
With very few exceptions, when a noun ending in -o or -e is pluralized the -o or -e is changed to an -i (tavolo changes to tavoli) and when a noun ending in -a is pluralized the -a is changed to an -e (sedia changes to sedie).

The Indefinite Articles
In English, the indefinite articles are a before a consonant and an before a vowel. In Italian the indefinite article agrees with gender and quantity. This chart should explain:

Note: Technically, dei, delle, and degli all translate to of the. However, in Italian they are used to mean ‘‘some’’. ‘‘Some’’ can also be used with certain singular nouns: ‘‘del pane’’ (‘‘some bread’’), ‘‘del latte’’ (‘‘some milk’’), etc.

Get Used to Indefinite Articles
Whenever you learn a new noun and are practicing saying it, always say it with the indefinite article. It really does help. For example, take the word mela, which means apple and is, of course, feminine. It should be natural to you to say ‘‘una mela’’.

The Definite Articles
In English, the definite article is the. One of the few ways in which English is easier to learn than other languages is that we have only one definite article. However, in Italian there are as many definite articles as indefinite, and once again they are used according to gender and quantity. Let's recycle the other chart:

Numbers
Let's just do up to one hundred for now: 0 - zero 1 - uno 2 - due 3 - tre 4 - quattro 5 - cinque 6 - sei 7 - sette 8 - otto 9 - nove 10 - dieci 11 - undici 12 - dodici 13 - tredici 14 - quattordici 15 - quindici 16 - sedici 17 - diciasette 18 - diciotto 19 - dicianove 20 - venti (yes, like the coffee size) 21 - ventuno 22 - ventidue 23 - ventitre 24 - ventiquattro 25 - venticinque 26 - ventisei 27 - ventisette 28 - ventotto 29 - ventinove 30 - trenta

Every other number up to one hundred follows the same pattern as the 20’s: ‘‘venti’’+’’uno’’ = ‘‘ventuno’’, ‘‘venti’’+’’due’’ = ‘‘ventidue’’, ‘‘venti’’+’’tre’’ = ‘‘ventitré’’, etc., so ‘‘trenta’’+’’uno’’ = ‘‘trentuno’’, ‘‘trenta’’+’’due’’ = ‘‘trentadue’’, ‘‘trenta’’+’’tre’’ = ‘‘trentatré’’, and so on. Notice that the numbers that end in ‘‘uno’’ and ‘‘otto’’ leave off the last letter of the tens digit. That applies to every number. Here are all the tens: 10 – dieci (irregular; see above) 20 – venti 30 – trenta 40 – quaranta 50 – cinquanta 60 – sessanta 70 – settanta 80 – ottanta 90 – novanta 100 - cento

Some Basic Nouns
Here are a few nouns to help build a fundamental vocabulary. You don’t need to memorize them all immediately, but be sure to reference them often.



Animals
un cane - a dog un gatto - a cat un uccello – a bird

Homes and Rooms
una casa - a house un appartamento – an apartment un bagno - a bathroom (don't forget the gn diphthong) una camera (da letto) – a room (bedroom) una cucina – a kitchen un soggiorno – a living room

People
un uomo - a man (irregular pluralization: uomini; don't be too concerned with it) una donna - a woman un ragazzo - a boy una ragazza - a girl un bambino - a baby boy una bambina - a baby girl

Family
una famiglia – a family un marito – a husband una moglie – a wife un figlio – a son una figlia – a daughter un padre – a father una madre – a mother un fratello – a brother una sorella – a sister un nonno – a grandfather una nonna – a grandmother

Foods
una mela – an apple una banana – a banana un’arancia – an orange della carne – some meat del prosciutto – some ham del pollo – some chicken del latte – some milk un gelato – an ice cream del caffè – some coffee del pane – some bread un panino – a sandwich (usually on a roll) un tramezzino – a triangular sandwich del formaggio – some cheese un uovo – an egg (plural is "uova", NOT "uovi", and is feminine, while the singular is masculine)

Electronics
una macchina – a machine una calcolatrice – a calculator una radio – a radio ("una" is used because "radio" is an abbreviation of a feminine word) un telefono – a phone un telefonino/un cellulare – a cell phone un computer/un elaboratore – a computer un televisore/una televisione/una TV – a television/a TV una ricetrasmittente/un walkie-talkie – a walkie-talkie

Transportation
una macchina – a car un camion/un autocarro – a truck un furgone/un furgoncino – a lorry un autobus (un bus) – a bus una bicicletta (una bici) – a bicycle (a bike)

One thing to which attention should be paid is that there are multiple words for "car" in Italian (including "auto", "automobile" and "autovettura", all feminine), although "macchina" is the most common, but unformal.

Odds and Ends
un libro – a book una matita – a pencil una penna – a pen un foglio di carta – a paper sheet della carta – some paper un giornale – a newspaper una rivista – a magazine una chiave – a key

Clothes
un capotto - a coat un cappello - a hat una maglia - a shirt una maglietta - a T-shirt una camicia - a longsleeve shirt dei pantaloni - some pants un vestito - a dress una gonna - a skirt un mantello - a mantle