Italian All-in-One For Dummies (96 page)

Adjectives of nationality often end in
e:
inglese
(
English
),
francese
(
French
), and
svedese
(
Swedish
); there are some exceptions, such as
americano/a, italiano/a,
and
spagnolo/a.

Adverbs

Similar to adjectives, adverbs add detail and description but to actions rather than things. Adverbs can exaggerate, and they can understate. How much did you study?
A lot.
When?
Constantly.
Where?
Nearby.
For how long?
Endlessly.
How exactly did you go about studying?
Obsessively.
Really?
Absolutely.
Adverbs tell you the place, time, quantity, and quality of what's happening.

The good news about adverbs is that they're invariable. As the very name says,
a
(
to
)
verbi
(
verbs
), adverbs generally accompany verbs and, thus, don't have number and gender agreement issues. Even when they qualify adjectives and other adverbs, they remain unchanged. For example:

Le Smart sono incredibilmente piccole
. (
Smart [cars] are incredibly small
.)

I grattacieli sono incredibilmente alti.
(
Skyscrapers are incredibly tall
.)

The most common adverb, in almost any language, is
very
(
molto
). For example:
La ragazza è molto bella
(
The girl is very pretty
);
I cani sono molto docili
(
The dogs are very tame
); and
Le macchine sono molto veloci
(
The cars are very fast
).

Prepositions

Prepositions are the unruly children of Italian. They are ever present, unpredictable, and idiosyncratic. They vary widely (and wildly) in meaning, depending on context.

The preposition
a
, for example, can mean
to, at,
or
in:

Vado a Roma.
(
I'm going to Rome.
)

Sto a casa.
(
I'm at home.
)

Abito a Firenze.
(
I live in Florence.
)

Likewise,
in
can mean
to, at,
or
in:

Vado in Italia.
(
I'm going to Italy.
)

Sono in ufficio.
(
I'm at the office.
)

Lavoro in giardino.
(
I'm working in the yard.
)

Prepositions are small words with big impact. They connect nouns and pronouns to each other or to other phrases. They show the relationship among individual words, phrases, actions, places, and times.

Although prepositions are always first and foremost prepositions, they can function as adverbs, objects, or adjectives (usually as part of a phrase). They announce themselves by being prepositioned, or coming before a phrase: The girl
with
the pearl earring. The hordes are
at
the gates.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions, as their name indicates, (con)join words, phrases, or sentence clauses. They make compound and complex sentences possible. The most common forms of conjunctions are
e
(
and
),
ma
(
but
),
perché
(
because
), and
come
(
as
). For example:
Il cane è enorme perché mangia molto
(
The dog is huge because he eats a lot
).

Some conjunctions foreshadow the subjunctive mood, which you can find more about in
Chapter 6
of Book IV.

Interjections

Interjections are individual words or short phrases that express emotions. They're exclamatory, and Italian is peppered with them. You use interjections to say hello and goodbye (
ciao
), and you use them to be polite (
grazie
). Interjections can be mild or heated, sincere or sarcastic.

Interjections aren't only verbal. Hand gestures and whole body poses can be as expressive as words. Leave gestural language alone until you're completely comfortable speaking Italian, though. All too often foreign speakers of Italian misinterpret gestures they pick up from stereotypes in B-grade movies or television.

Hundreds of interjections exist, making up some of the most basic expressions. For example, did you know that
ciao
(
hi; bye
) is an interjection? These words often change, just as they do in English, to reflect current usages.

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense

When using and conjugating verbs, you not only have to know the meaning, and thus be able to choose which verbs to use, but you also have to keep in mind a bunch of other considerations, such as the following:

The verb has to reflect and agree in number with the subject (be first, second, or third person singular or plural).

The verb has to tell when something is happening (present, past, future, and so on).

The verb has to reveal the attitude or
mood
of the subject (indicative or factual, subjunctive or subjective, conditional or what if, imperative or commanding).

The verb has a voice (active or passive).