1. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: Italian personal pronouns
Italian personal pronouns (The subject pronoun) is the person or thing that performs the action
These are personal pronouns in Italian
| 1st person singular | io | I |
| 2nd person singular | tu | You |
| 3rd person singular | lui/lei | He / She |
| 1st person plural | noi | We |
| 2nd person plural | voi | You |
| 3rd person plural | loro | They |
- (io) Sono felice (I’m Happy)
- (io) Ho i capelli lunghi (I’ve got long hair)
- (lui/lei) Ha gli occhi azzurri (He/She has blue eyes)
- (lei) È una ragazza bella (She is a beautiful girl)
- (Lui) È un ragazzo carino (He is a nice guy)
- (noi) Siamo felici (We are happy)
- (Loro) Sono stanchi (They are tired)
- (voi) Avete balla amicizia (You have a beautiful friendship)
- (voi) Siete Spagnoli (You are Spanish)
- (loro) Hanno una grande casa (They have a big house)
As you can see from the examples, it is not necessary to use the subject pronoun, the forms of the verb are different for each person:
- (Sei /Hai) can only be the third person singular(you)
- (Hanno) can only be the third person plural (you)
The only case of equal forms are these of (sono) and (è), but the context eliminates any doubt:
- Sono stanco (singular) (I’m tired)
- Sono stanchi (plural) (They are tired)
- È bella (feminine) ( She is beautiful)
- È bello (It’s nice)
- È carino (masculine) (He is cute)
The pronouns Lui, for the masculine, and lei, for the feminine, are used only for persons. For objects usually the pronouns questo (this) or quello (that) are used.
- (io) Sono un medico (I am a doctor)
- Lui è un avvocato e lei è una professoressa (He is a lawyer and she is a professor)
- Questa è una chiave (This is a key)
- Quello è uno zaino (Tha’s a backpack)
2. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: What are the forms of courtesy in Italian?
In Italian, when speaking to one or more people we don’t know or need to respect (old people), in this case we use the form of courtesy (la forma di cortesia). For the singular, both men and women, the pronoun (Lei) with (L capital) is used instead of (tu) followed by the verb in the 3rd person singular.
The form of courtesy = the 3rd person singular / plural of any verb
- (Lei) È la mia amica. [informal] She is my friend.
- (Lei) È la mia professoressa.[formal] She is my professor.
- (Lei) È il mio dottore.[formal] He is my Doctor.
For the plural we usually use the 2nd person plural (Voi), or the 3rd person plural (Loro), which is more formal.
- Avete la casa? (informal) Do you have a house?)
- Hanno la casa? (informal) Do You have a house?)
- Signori Bartoli, (voi) avete la casa? (formal) Bartoli, Do you have a house?)
- Signori Bartoli, (Loro) hanno la casa? (more formal) Bartoli, Do you have a house?)
3. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: Verb essere in Italian conjugation.
Verb Essere (to be) is irregular and here is the conjugation (six forms) of the verb Essere (to be) in Italian in the present.
Essere conjugation in Italian
| Subject pronouns | Essere (to be) |
| io | Sono (I’m) |
| tu | Sei (you are) |
| lui/lei | È (he/she is) |
| noi | Siamo (we are) |
| voi | Siete (you are) |
| loro | Sono (they are) |
How to use the verb to be in Italian? How to use essere?
Verb essere in italian is usually followed by a name or an adjective:
- (io) sono francese (I’m french)
- Francesca è Italiana. (Francesca is italian)
- Siete Studenti. (You are students)
Expressions with the verb essere in Italian:
- Essere in ritardo (to be late)
- Essere in anticipo (to be early)
- Essere bravo (to be good at doing something)
- Essere Buono ( to be nice / good)
- Essere malato / Essere ammalato (to be sick)
- Essere sveglio (to be awake)
- Essere occupato (to be busy)
- Essere pronto (to be ready)
- Essere dispiaciuto (to be sorry)
- Essere fidanzato (to be in relationship)
- Essere sposato (to be married)
- Essere felice (to be happy)
- essere triste (to be sad)
- Essere depresso (to be depressed)
- Essere contento (to be content)
- Essere innamorato (to be in love)
4. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: The verb Esserci (there is/are).
The verb (Esserci) in Italian is commonly used in the two expressions [there is(C’è)] and [there are(Ci Sono)]
When to use c’è and ci sono?
C’è (there is) with nouns in the singular
- In piazza Castello c’è un ristorante vietnamita
- In square Castello there is a Vietnamese restaurant.
- In centro c’è molto traffico
- In the center there is a lot of traffic
- C’è Carla al telefono
- There’s Carla on the phone
Ci sono (there are) with nouns in the plural
- Nell’aula ci sono 20 studenti.
- There are 20 students in the classroom.
- A Giugno ci sono le elezioni.
- The elections took place in June.
- Quante persone ci sono?
- How many people are there?
5. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: Conjugate verb avere in Italian.
Verb avere (to have) in italian is an irregular verb and here is the conjugation of the verb avere (to have) in Italian in the present.
Avere conjugation Italian
| Subject pronouns | Avere (to have) |
| io | Ho (I have) |
| tu | Hai (you have) |
| lui/lei | Ha (he/she has) |
| noi | Abbiamo (we have) |
| voi | Avete (you have) |
| loro | Hanno (they have) |
How do you use the verb Avere in Italian?
Verb avere in italian is followed by a name:
- Gianni ha una casa in montagna.
- (Giannihas a house in the mountains)
- Paola e Francesco Hanno Due figli.
- (Paola and Francesco have two children)
- Hai l’indirizzo di Livia?
- (Do you have Livia’s address?)
Verb Avere in italian is used in some idiomatic expressions:
- Avere fame (to be hungry)
- Avere sete (to be thirsty)
- Avere ragione (to be right)
- Avere torto (to be wrong)
- Avere bisogno (di) (to need to)
- Avere voglia (di) (to feel like / to want)
- Avere paura (di) (to be afraid) (of)
- Avere caldo (to Be hot)
- Avere freddo (to be cold)
- Avere sonno (to be sleepy)
- Avere fretta (to be in a hurry)
- Aver vergogna (to be ashamed)
- Avere tempo (to have time)
- Avere successo (to be successful)
- Avere fortuna (to be lucky)
- Avere mal di pancia (to have a stomach ache)
- Avere mal di gola (to have a sore throat)
- Avere mal di testa (to have a headache)
- Avere la febbre (to have a fever)
The verb Avere in Italian is also used to express age (età):
- Quanti anni hai?
- (How old are you?)
- Ho 20 anni.
- (I have 20 years)
6. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: What is the meaning of Avercela?
The verb “avercela” is used when something has already been mentioned before.
Verb “avercela” with masculine and feminine singular nouns
[Ce + (lo / la )+ avere] = [Ce (l’) + avere]
| Ce l’ho Ce l’hai Ce l’ha Ce l’abbiamo Ce l’avete Ce l’hanno | (I have it) (You have it) (He/she has it) (We have it) (You have it) (They have it) |
- Hai la macchina / il portafoglio? Sì, ce L’ho. / No, non ce l’ho.
- Do you have the car/ the wallet? Yes I have it / No, I don’t have it.
- Avete la macchina? Sì, ce L’abbiamo.
- Do you have the car? Yes, we have it.
- Hanno il portafoglio? Sì, ce L’hanno.
- Do they have the wallet? Yes, they have it.
Verb “avercela” with masculine or feminine plural nouns
[Ce + (li /le) + avere]
| Ce Li /Le ho Ce Li /Le hai Ce Li /Le ha Ce Li / Le abbiamo Ce Li/ Le avete Ce Li /Le hanno | (I have them) (You have them) (He/she has them) (We have them) (You have them) (They have them) |
- Hai le chiavi? Sì, ce le ho.
- Do You have the keys? Yes, I have them.
- Hai i soldi? No, non ce li ho.
- Do you have the money? No, I don’t have them.
- Avete le chiavi? Sì, ce le abbiamo.
- Do you have the keys? Yes, we have them.
- Hanno i soldi? No, non ce li hanno.
- Do they have the money? No, they don’t have them.
Verb “avercela” with the form of courtesy
- Il signor Bianchi ha la macchina? Sì, ce l’ha.
- Does Mr. Bianchi have the car? Yes, he has it.
Expressions with verb avercela
- Ce l’ho fatta! (I did it!)
- Ce l’hai fatta! (You did it!)
- Ce l’ha fatta! (He/she did it!)
- Ce l’abbiamo fatta! (We made it!)
- Ce l’avete fatta! (You did it!)
- Ce l’hanno fatta! (They made it!)
Avercela con qualcuno = be angry with someone, is a common expression
- Scusa, non ce l’ho con te, sono arrabbiata per il lavoro.
- (Sorry, I’m not mad at you, I’m mad about the work.)
- Non capisco perchè ce l’hai con lui.
- (I don’t understand why you are angry with him.)
7. Italian Grammar Lessons for Beginners: The verb piacere in italian
The verb piacere (to like) is commonly used in the two expressions (piace / piacciono).
| io | (non) Mi piace/piacciono |
1. (Non) mi piace + singular noun / verb in the infinitve
- (Non) mi piace la pizza.
- I (don’t) like pizza.
- (Non) mi piace mangiare la pizza.
- I (don’t) like to eat pizza.
2. (Non) mi piacciono + plural noun
- (Non) mi piacciono gli spaghetti.
- I (don’t) like spaghetti.