Gli aggettivi
Position of adjectives
• The adjectives can be used before or after the
noun.C'era un grande lago. – There was a big
lake.
• C'era un lago grande. – There was a big lake .
• The position gives a different tone to a
sentence, according to these rules:
• The adjective before the noun has less
power than the one after.
– Luisa è una bella ragazza. Luisa is a beautiful girl.
This is less powerful than
– Luisa è una ragazza bella. (The meaning is more
like "Luisa is REALLY beautiful.")
• Sometimes the adjective before the noun has
a descriptive function, while after it has
a distinctive functionLuigi è venuto con la sua
bella figlia. – Luigi has come with his beautiful
daughter.
• Luigi è venuto con la figlia bella. – Luigi has
come with his daughter, the beautiful one.
• In some cases, the different position can
influence the meaning of the sentence.Il
nostro vicino è un uomo povero. – Our
neighbor is a poor man.
• Il nostro vicino è un pover'uomo. – Our
neighbor is a worthless man.
• There are adjectives which are used just after
the noun. They indicate:
• nationality (italiano, tedesco, americano, etc.)
• membership (democratico, socialista,
comunista, etc.)
• location or position (destro, sinistro, etc.)
• physical characteristics (cieco, gobbo, etc.)
Regular IRE verbs
• There are three main categories of Italian Verbs
known as 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugation. Here is
the most obvious, initial difference;
1st Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with the
letters ARE in the infinitive form.
2nd Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with
the letters ERE in the infinitive form.
3rd Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with the
letters IRE in the infinitive form.
(These ending are “Infinitive endings”)
• Subject Pronoun
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
Ending
o
i
e
iamo
ite
ono
•
To conjugate = infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + conjugated ending =
conjugated verb. Example;
Servire (To Serve) - ire = Serv + iamo (ending for we) = Serviamo (We serve)
Servire conjugated in the present tense
•
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro
•
Servo
Servi
Serve
Serviamo
Servite
Servono serve
You serve
He/She/It serves
We serve
Y'all serve
They serve
•
There is one exception with the 3rd conjugation on how it is handled in the present tense for some regular
verbs. That is, there are some verbs that you have to insert the letters "ISC" after the infinitive root and
before the present indicative ending for Io, Tu, Lui/Lei and Loro. Therefore, we conjugate these verbs as
follows;
Example;
Capire (To Understand) - ire = Cap + isc = capisc + ono (ending for they) = Capiscono (They understand)
Capire conjugated in the present tense
•
•
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
LoroCapisco
Capisci
Capisce
Capiamo
Capite
Capiscono
I understand
You understand
He/She/It understands
We understand
Y'all understand
They understand