KPG Italian cheat sheet

CILS/CELI listening tasks are played twice at A1–B1; the first pass is for gist (who, where, why), the second for detail (numbers, times, prices).

Numbers arriving in pairs (e.g. "alle 7 e mezza", "dalle 9 alle 11") are the most common distractor pattern; write both digits and re-check against the question.

Italian raddoppiamento fonosintattico changes meaning: "a casa" [a ˈkaːza] vs "a ccasa"; listen for lengthened initial consonants after monosyllables (è, ho, da, che).

Contracted prepositions fuse in fast speech: "della"→[della], "nel"→[nel]; missing the article often signals a verb phrase instead ("dello" vs "devo").

Negative sentences in spoken Italian often drop "non" in casual speech ("Vengo mica"), so rely on the tag or intonation contour rather than a single word.

Register markers to catch: "Lei" + third-person verb = formal; "tu" + second-person = informal; the choice is usually stated in the first exchange.

Numbers, dates and prices use comma for decimals (1.250,50 euro = one thousand two hundred fifty euros fifty); do not read them as English thousands.

Inference items ask what the speaker implies ("Cosa suggerisce?"), not what is said; the correct option paraphrases attitude, not words.

B1–B2 texts often use nominalisation ("l'aumento dei prezzi"); convert back to a verb phrase to locate the sentence's real subject.

Italian punctuation: the comma separates clauses, not the subject from its verb; a comma before "che" usually marks a non-restrictive relative clause.

Passato remoto appears in literary and historical texts ("nacque", "fu", "ebbe"); it marks completed narrative action, not a different tense meaning from passato prossimo.

Connectors signal logical relations: "tuttavia/ebbene" = contrast, "pertanto/quindi" = consequence, "infatti" = confirmation, "benché" = concession (+ congiuntivo).

Pronominal verbs like "si tratta di", "si può", "si deve" are impersonal; the agent is generic, so answer options naming a specific person are usually wrong.

Headline style drops articles and uses the present tense for past events ("Governo approva la legge"); expand to a full sentence before answering.

False friends to flag in reading: "attualmente" = currently (not actually), "eventualmente" = possibly (not eventually), "fattoria" = farm (not factory).

Scan order: read the question stems first, then locate the keyword in the text; answers follow text order in most exam formats.

Congiuntivo triggers: "penso che", "è importante che", "benché", "affinché", "prima che", "senza che" all require the subjunctive in the dependent clause.

Sequence of tenses: main verb present → congiuntivo presente ("credo che venga"); main verb past → congiuntivo imperfetto ("credevo che venisse").

Articolo determinativo before possessives: "il mio libro", but family singular without article ("mia madre"), except "il loro padre" and diminutives ("la mia mamma").

"Ne" replaces a partitive or quantity ("Ne ho due"); "ci" replaces a place or "a/in + noun" ("Ci vado"). Both precede the verb or attach to the infinitive.

Comparatives: "più... di" before nouns/pronouns, "più... che" before verbs, adjectives and prepositions ("è più facile dire che fare").

Reflexive vs reciprocal: "si lavano" (themselves) vs "si incontrano" (each other); context or "l'un l'altro" disambiguates.

Idioms with fixed prepositions: "andare a piedi", "in treno", "a cavallo", "per telefono"; errors here are a frequent exam distractor.

Accent distinguishes minimal pairs: "e" (and) vs "è" (is); "si" (oneself) vs "sì" (yes); "ne" (of it) vs "né" (neither).

Formal address uses "Lei" + third-person singular verb and "La/Lo/Le" object pronouns: "Le posso chiedere...?"; informal uses "tu" throughout.

"Scusi" is formal (apologising or getting attention), "scusa" informal; "permesso" is said when passing through a space.

Requests soften with conditional: "Potrebbe...?", "Vorrei...", "Mi piacerebbe..."; the imperative alone reads as a command.

Refusals follow a pattern: appreciation ("Grazie mille"), regret ("Purtroppo"), reason ("perché"), alternative ("Magari la prossima volta").

"Figurati/Figuratevi" = don't mention it; "Prego" answers thanks or invites someone in; "Ci mancherebbe" = of course/not at all.

Turn-taking markers: "allora" opens, "comunque" shifts topic, "insomma" summarises, "appunto" confirms, "dunque" concludes.

In email opening, "Gentile" + surname or "Gentilissimo/a" without name; closings: "Cordiali saluti" formal, "Un caro saluto" semi-formal, "A presto" informal.

Indirect speech shifts deixis: "domani" → "l'indomani", "qui" → "lì", "adesso" → "allora"; tense often shifts to imperfetto or condizionale.

Italy has 20 regions; five have special autonomy status (Valle d'Aosta, Trentino-Alto Adige, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Sicilia, Sardegna) recognised by constitutional statute.

The Italian Constitution took effect 1 January 1948; the Republic was declared by referendum on 2 June 1946, now Festa della Repubblica.

National holidays include 25 April (Liberazione), 1 May (Lavoro), 2 June (Repubblica), 15 August (Ferragosto), 1 November (Ognissanti), 8 December (Immacolata).

Italian school system: scuola dell'infanzia (3–6), primaria (6–11), secondaria di I grado (11–14), secondaria di II grado (14–19), then università.

Regional languages with recognised status include friulano, sardo, ladino, sloveno and tedesco (Alto Adige), protected under law 482/1999.

Food naming rules: "spaghetti alla carbonara" uses "alla" + place/style; "olio extravergine d'oliva" is the top grade of olive oil by acidity.

"Made in Italy" sectors traditionally cited: moda, agroalimentare, arredamento, meccanica, automotive; the "quattro A" mnemonic groups them.

Geographic anchors: the Po is Italy's longest river; the Alps and Apennines form the two main ranges; Etna and Vesuvio are the active volcanoes.