Language Use: Grammar and Vocabulary (Uso della lingua)
What the section tests
Multiple-choice and completion items test morphology (articles, agreement, verb forms), syntax (prepositions, pronouns, connectors) and lexical choice (collocations, false friends, register).
Concepts to master
- Articles: il/lo/l'/la/i/gli/le; lo before s+consonant, z, gn, ps, y; un/uno/una/un'.
- Noun–adjective agreement including irregular plurals: uomini, braccia, dita, uova; invariable forms (città, bar, film).
- Verbs: present of regular and key irregular verbs (essere, avere, andare, fare, dire, sapere, potere, volere, dovere); passato prossimo with avere/essere and participle agreement; imperfetto for description vs passato prossimo for events; futuro for plans and supposition; condizionale for politeness; congiuntivo presente after penso che, benché, affinché.
- Prepositions: di/a/da/in/con/su/per/tra-fra; fixed combinations (andare in treno, a piedi, in centro, al mare).
- Pronouns: direct/indirect (lo, la, li, le, gli, mi, ti, ci, vi), combined forms (glielo, me lo), ne and ci.
- Connectors: perché, siccome, quindi, però, affinché, purché (+ subjunctive).
Typical traps
- Essere vs avere auxiliaries with verbs like piacere, uscire, correre (transitive vs intransitive).
- Agreement of the participle with a preceding direct pronoun (Le ho comprate).
- Conoscere (people/places) vs sapere (facts/skills).
- False friends: attuale (current), educato (polite), confetti (sugared almonds).
- Subjunctive triggered by conjunctions that look neutral (benché, purché, prima che).
Rule of thumb
For verb items, identify the subject and the time frame first; then choose the tense, then the person. For preposition items, recall a memorised chunk (in autobus, a scuola, di sera) rather than translating.
Worked example
“Benché ___ stanco, è venuto.” Options: è / sia / era. Benché requires the subjunctive, so sia is correct. The indicative è is the most tempting distractor because the meaning feels complete without it.