HSC Italian Beginners (NSW) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

essere (present tense)

Irregular 'to be': sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Used for identity, origin, state and telling the time, as in Sono studentessa and È l'una.

avere (present tense)

Irregular 'to have': ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno. Expresses possession and age (Ho sedici anni) and forms the passato prossimo with most verbs.

Definite article: lo and gli

Use lo before masculine nouns starting with s plus a consonant, z, gn, ps, x or y (lo studente, lo zaino); the plural is gli (gli studenti, gli zaini).

Possessives with family nouns

Singular unmodified family nouns drop the article: mia madre, tuo padre. The article returns with plurals or added words: i miei fratelli, la mia sorellina.

Reflexive verbs in the present

Pronouns mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si precede the verb: mi alzo, ti chiami, si lava, ci divertiamo. Infinitives end in -arsi, -ersi, -irsi, e.g. svegliarsi.

Telling the time in Italian

Use Sono le + number for most hours, but È l'una for one o'clock. Add e mezza, e un quarto, or meno un quarto; appointments take alle, as in alle otto.

Frequency adverbs for routine

Placement and meaning: sempre, spesso, di solito, qualche volta, raramente, non... mai. They describe how often a daily activity happens, e.g. Vado spesso in palestra.

School vocabulary essentials

Key nouns: la materia (subject), la lezione (lesson), il compito (homework), l'intervallo or la ricreazione (break), la pagella (report card), il voto (mark).

Passato prossimo with avere

Avere in the present plus a past participle: ho mangiato, hai visto, abbiamo finito. The participle does not agree with the subject when the auxiliary is avere.

Passato prossimo with essere

Movement and state verbs plus all reflexives take essere: sono andato/a, è partita, ci siamo alzati. The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Irregular past participles

Common forms to memorise: fatto (fare), visto (vedere), preso (prendere), scritto (scrivere), letto (leggere), stato (essere), rimasto (rimanere), aperto (aprire).

Future tense endings

Add -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno to the infinitive stem, dropping final -e for -are and -ere verbs: parlerò, prenderai, partirà, vedremo.

Irregular futures

Short stems: sarò (essere), avrò (avere), andrò (andare), farò (fare), potrò (potere), dovrò (dovere), verrò (venire), vedrò (vedere), saprò (sapere).

Prepositions with places

Use a with cities (a Roma, a Sydney), in with regions and countries (in Toscana, in Italia), and fixed phrases al mare, in montagna, in campagna, a casa.

Ferragosto

An Italian public holiday on 15 August, at the height of summer. Families and friends gather for meals and outings, and many cities hold festivals and fireworks.

Carnevale in Italy

The period before Lent, marked by costumes, masks and parades. Venice is famous for elaborate masks, while Viareggio is known for satirical papier-mâché floats.

Mi piace versus mi piacciono

Use mi piace with a singular noun or an infinitive (Mi piace leggere), and mi piacciono with plural nouns (Mi piacciono i film). The subject is the thing liked.

Polite requests with Vorrei

Vorrei is the conditional of volere and means 'I would like'. It softens requests in shops and hotels: Vorrei un biglietto, Vorrei prenotare una camera.

Italian question words

Chi (who), che cosa or cosa (what), quando (when), dove (where), come (how), perché (why), quanto (how much), quale (which). Each signals the answer type to listen for.

Formal versus informal address

Lei plus third-person verbs marks formality: Come sta? Scusi, Vorrei. Tu plus second-person verbs marks informality: Come stai? Ciao, Vuoi. Mixing them is an error.

Negative expressions

Italian uses double negatives: non... mai (never), non... niente (nothing), non... nessuno (nobody), non... più (no longer). The answer may contradict the positive wording of a question.

Asking someone to repeat

Useful listening repairs: Scusi, può ripetere? Come, scusi? Parla più lentamente, per favore. These keep a conversation going when a detail is missed.

Telephone opening formulas

Pronto? answers a call; Chi parla? asks who is speaking; Un attimo, per favore asks the caller to wait; Sono io confirms identity. These appear in listening dialogues.

Numbers that are easily confused

Watch pairs such as quattordici/quindici, sessanta/settanta, novanta/novanta and ordinal endings -esimo. Stress and the -anta versus -enta pattern distinguish them.

Train announcement vocabulary

Frequent terms: il treno, il binario (platform), la partenza, l'arrivo, in ritardo (delayed), soppresso (cancelled), il capolinea. Announcements pair a destination with a platform number.

Identifying a menu

A menu lists portate: antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno, dolce, bevande. Prices in euro and words like specialità del giorno signal this text type in reading tasks.

Reading for the question word

Match the question word to the detail needed: quando needs a time or date, dove a place, quanto a price or quantity, chi a person. Scan only for that detail.

Small words that change meaning

Non, mai, sempre, solo, già, ancora, troppo, poco alter the truth of a statement. A choice repeating text words can still be wrong if it ignores one of these.

Signs and public notices

Common reading items: Vietato fumare (no smoking), Aperto/Chiuso (open/closed), Ingresso libero (free entry), Chiuso il lunedì (closed Mondays), Uscita (exit), Pericolo (danger).

Informal email conventions

Open with Ciao + name, use tu verb forms, and close with A presto, A domani or Un abbraccio. Contractions and exclamation marks are acceptable in this register.

Formal letter conventions

Open with Gentile Signora or Gentile Signore, use Lei verb forms, and close with Cordiali saluti or Distinti saluti. Avoid contractions and slang throughout.

Accents that change meaning

è (is) versus e (and); sì (yes) versus si (oneself); né (nor) versus ne (of it); dà (gives) versus da (from). Missing accents are penalised in writing tasks.