LC Italian key terms

Listening strategy in which you ignore irrelevant speech and focus only on the specific information a task asks for, such as a time, a price or a name, while a recording plays once or twice.

A word or short phrase in a question or recording that signals where the answer lies, for example 'partenza', 'costo' or 'vietato'. Identifying it before listening reduces the amount you must process.

Information in a listening or reading text that looks like the answer but is corrected, negated or replaced later. Noticing it prevents choosing a plausible but wrong option.

Working out meaning that is not stated directly, using tone, context or shared knowledge. Exam tasks often ask what a speaker implies rather than what they literally say.

The level of formality a speaker or writer chooses, from informal chat among friends to formal announcements. Recognising it helps you judge who is talking to whom and what attitude is intended.

Addressing someone with the informal second-person singular 'tu' and its verb forms. Appropriate with friends, family, peers and children; using it with strangers or superiors can sound rude.

Addressing someone with the formal third-person singular 'Lei' and third-person verb forms. Standard with strangers, officials, older people and professional contacts; the pronoun is often omitted but the verb stays third person.

Fixed polite phrases used to open or close speech and letters, such as 'Buongiorno', 'La ringrazio', 'Distinti saluti' or 'Cordiali saluti'. Choosing the right one signals awareness of the relationship.

A structured letter to an institution, company or stranger, following conventions: place and date, recipient, formal opening, clear body paragraphs, formal closing and signature. It avoids contractions and colloquial vocabulary.

A message to a friend or close acquaintance using 'tu', contractions, everyday vocabulary and a simple greeting and sign-off. Structure is looser than a formal letter but still needs an opening, body and closing.

A linking word or phrase that shows how ideas relate, such as 'tuttavia', 'inoltre', 'quindi', 'd'altra parte' or 'in primo luogo'. Correct use raises the coherence score in written production.

The quality of a text whose ideas follow logically and stay on topic, with each paragraph developing one point. Assessors judge it separately from grammatical accuracy when marking a composition.

The prompt or instructions for a writing task, stating the topic, the reader, the purpose and often a word limit. Reading it carefully prevents off-topic answers that lose content marks.

A rough first version of a text written quickly to organise ideas before polishing. Leaving a few minutes to draft and revise reduces agreement and spelling errors in the final version.

The final check of a written text for agreement, tense consistency, spelling and missing accents. Reading slowly and checking verb endings against subjects catches most careless errors.

Agreement between grammatical elements, chiefly article and noun for gender and number, and subject and verb for person and number. Errors here are among the most frequent in Italian writing.

The classification of Italian nouns as masculine or feminine, which determines articles and adjective endings. Gender is not predictable from meaning, so it must be learned with each noun.

The definite article: 'il', 'lo', 'la', 'l'', 'i', 'gli', 'le'. Its form depends on the noun's gender, initial sound and number, for example 'lo studente' but 'il libro'.

The indefinite article: 'un', 'uno', 'una', 'un''. The choice depends on the noun's gender and initial sound, for example 'uno zaino', 'un amico', 'una amica' written as 'un'amica'.

The matching of tenses across clauses, especially in reported speech and hypothetical sentences, for example a past main verb followed by an imperfect or past conditional in the subordinate clause.

A conditional sentence with an 'if' clause and a main clause. Italian has three main types: reality ('se piove, resto'), possibility ('se piovesse, resterei') and impossibility ('se avessi saputo, sarei venuto').

The mood used for doubt, wish, opinion, emotion and after certain conjunctions such as 'benché' or 'affinché'. It has present, imperfect, past and pluperfect forms, and is a common exam accuracy point.

Reporting what someone said without quoting them, which shifts pronouns, time expressions and verb tenses, for example 'Ha detto che sarebbe arrivato tardi'. It contrasts with direct quotation.

A word replacing a noun or noun phrase, such as 'lui', 'questo', 'ne' or 'ci'. Object pronouns attach to infinitives and some forms change with gender and number, for example 'lo', 'la', 'li', 'le'.

A short prepared talk on a given topic in the oral exam, usually with an introduction, two or three main points and a conclusion. Signposting phrases help the examiner follow your structure.

A two-way spoken exchange, such as a role-play or discussion, where you must respond to a partner, ask questions, take turns and repair misunderstandings. Fluency and appropriateness matter more than perfect grammar.

An oral task in which you act out a situation with the examiner, for example buying a ticket or complaining in a hotel. You must perform the communicative functions the prompt requires, not just talk about them.

A spoken phrase that organises talk, such as 'innanzitutto', 'passando al secondo punto', 'in conclusione' or 'come dicevo'. They buy thinking time and make a presentation easy to follow.

Restating an idea in different words, used when you lack a term or when checking understanding in conversation. It keeps communication going and is rewarded in oral assessment as a communication strategy.

The heading of a reading passage, which often announces the topic and text type. Skimming titles and subheadings first gives a mental map that makes detailed reading faster and more accurate.

Reading quickly for the general sense of a text, often by looking at titles, first sentences and layout. It is used before detailed reading to predict content and locate relevant sections.

Reading a text rapidly to find one specific detail, such as a date, name or number, without reading every word. It suits tasks where the question names something concrete to locate.

The central point a paragraph or whole text makes, which the other sentences support. Many reading tasks ask you to choose a summary that matches it rather than a detail that is merely mentioned.

The vocabulary of a language or of a particular text. Exam preparation means building topic-based word families, collocations and synonyms rather than isolated single words.

A habitual word partnership that sounds natural to native speakers, such as 'prendere una decisione' or 'fare una domanda'. Wrong partners are understood but marked as inaccurate.

A word with a similar meaning to another, such as 'casa' and 'abitazione'. Reading tasks often paraphrase the text in the question, so recognising synonyms is essential to matching answers.

A word that looks like an English word but means something different, such as 'attualmente' (currently, not actually) or 'parente' (relative, not parent). These cause confident but wrong answers.