AIL DALI C2 key terms

Listening strategy in which you focus only on the specific information you need, such as a name, a time or a price, and ignore the rest of the message.

The act of working out meaning that is not stated directly, using clues from context, tone or prior knowledge. Common in listening and reading tasks.

A word in a question or text that carries the main information and helps you locate the answer quickly while listening or reading.

A style of language used with friends, family or people you know well, with contractions, simple words and relaxed grammar.

A polite, controlled style of language used in official situations, with complete sentences, titles and the polite pronoun forms.

To address someone with the informal second-person singular pronoun tu, typical of friends, peers and informal settings.

To address someone with the polite third-person singular pronoun lei, used with strangers, superiors or in formal contexts.

A short public message, for example at a station or airport, giving information about departures, delays or changes to a service.

A recorded or written communication left for someone by phone, usually containing a name, a reason for calling and a request to reply.

A fast reading technique used to get the general idea of a text by looking quickly at titles, first sentences and key words.

A fast reading technique used to find one specific piece of information, such as a date or a number, without reading every word.

The name of a text, article or section, usually printed in larger type, which tells the reader what the text is about.

A short line of text placed under a picture or photo that explains or comments on it.

The words and situation surrounding a word or sentence that help you understand its meaning.

A word that has a similar meaning to another word, for example 'casa' and 'abitazione'. Useful for matching questions to texts.

A word that expresses the opposite meaning of another word, for example 'alto' and 'basso'.

The most important point that a paragraph or text communicates, which the other sentences support or explain.

A group of sentences on one topic, separated from other groups by a space or by starting on a new line.

The type or category of a text, such as an email, a notice, an article or a recipe, each with its own typical layout and language.

The article il, lo, la, i, gli or le, used before a noun to refer to something already known or already mentioned.

The article un, uno or una, used before a noun to refer to one non-specific person or thing mentioned for the first time.

The matching of gender and number between words that belong together, such as a noun and its adjective or article.

The grammatical category of a noun or adjective as masculine or feminine in Italian, which affects articles and agreement.

The grammatical category showing whether a word is singular, referring to one thing, or plural, referring to more than one.

A verb used with a reflexive pronoun, such as mi, ti, si, where the subject and the object are the same person.

A verb such as potere, dovere or volere that is followed by an infinitive and expresses ability, obligation or desire.

The basic, unconjugated form of a verb, ending in -are, -ere or -ire, as found in dictionary entries.

The verb form ending in -ato, -uto or -ito, used to build compound tenses with avere or essere and to form the passive.

A word that replaces a noun or noun phrase, such as lui, lei, questo or ne, to avoid repeating it.

A short linking word such as di, a, da, in, con, su, per or tra, which connects words and shows relationships like place or time.

The instruction or prompt for a writing task, telling you the topic, the audience, the purpose and the length required.

A short plan made of bullet points that organises the ideas of a text before you start writing it.

A first version of a written text, produced quickly and then improved through checking and correction.

The final stage of writing in which you read your text again to check grammar, spelling, vocabulary and whether you answered the task.

A linking word or phrase such as inoltre, tuttavia or quindi that joins ideas and shows how sentences relate to each other.

A written message to an institution or unknown person, opening with a polite greeting, using the lei form and closing with a formal formula.

The act of speaking in the target language to express ideas, describe, narrate or give an opinion, alone or with others.

Two-way spoken communication in which participants listen, respond and build the conversation together.

The moment when it is one speaker's opportunity to talk in a conversation, before passing the floor to another person.

A fixed polite expression used to open or close an exchange, such as buongiorno, per favore, mi scusi or cordiali saluti.