Italian Demystified. A self-Teaching Guide
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Male Name Female Name
Mario Maria
Pino Pina
Pasquale Rachele
Italian surnames or family names (cognomi) can also end in vowels, but no gen-
der distinction is made because these apply to both males and females.
Male Name Female Name
Mario Franceschi Maria Franceschi
Pino Vecchiarelli Pina Vecchiarelli
Pasquale Di Tommaso Rachele Di Tommaso
QUIZ
Answer the following question using the names given. For example:
Come ti chiami? What is your name?
Anne Mi chiamo Anna.
My name is Anne.
1. Come ti chiami?
Arnold .
Edward .
Eleanor .
Hilary .
Isabel .
Indicate what each man’s name is in Italian. Recall that lui means he. For
example:
Mark
Lui si chiama Marco.
His name is Mark.
2. Humbert .
Peter .
Thomas .
John .
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18 Italian Demystifi ed
Now, indicate what each woman’s name is in Italian. Recall that lei means she. For
example:
Helen
Lei si chiama Elena.
Her name is Helen.
3. Mary .
Pina .
Claudia .
Blanche .
Using the male names provided answer the question appropriately. For example:
Come si chiama il tuo amico? What is your friend’s name?
Ignazio
Il mio amico si chiama Ignazio.
My friend’s name is Ignatius.
4. Come si chiama il tuo amico?
Guglielmo .
Cesare .
Osvaldo .
Cristofero .
Giuseppe .
Using the female names provided answer the question appropriately. For example:
Come si chiama la tua amica? What is your friend’s name?
Claudia
La mia amica si chiama Claudia.
My friend’s name is Claudia.
5. Come si chiama la tua amica?
Pasqualina .
Sara .
Rachele .
Maria .
Chiara .
Introduce the following people using the familiar form of address. For example:
Marco
Ti presento Marco.
6. Alessandro .
Annabella .
Introduce each person using the polite form of address this time. For example:
il signor Gino Marchi
Le presento il signor Gino Marchi.
7. il professor Giovanni Rossini .
la professoressa Gina Marchi .
la signorina Maria Franceschi .
la signora Vittoria Dini .
il signor Marco Rossi .
il dottor Piero Roccia .
la dottoressa Sara Loggia .
Say that you like the following things. (Do not worry at this point about the article
in front of the noun. You will learn about defi nite articles in Chapter 5.) For
example:
la città
Mi piace la città.
8. il jazz .
il weekend .
la città .
il caffè .
l’università .
CHAPTER 1 Italian Pronunciation and Spelling 19
20 Italian Demystifi ed
Personal Matters! Answer each question appropriately.
9. Come ti chiami? (Give your name.)
.
10. Ti piace il caffè? (If you do not like something, say No, non mi piace.)
.
21
CHAPTER 2
Meeting and
Greeting People
Here’s what you will learn in this chapter:
Italian Nouns
Asking Chi è?
Asking Che cosa è?
Plural Nouns
Asking Chi sono? and Che cosa sono?
Italian Titles
Meeting and Greeting Expressions
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22 Italian Demystifi ed
Italian Nouns
Come si chiama? What is it called? This section will teach you how to answer this
question by naming things in Italian. You will be learning about Italian nouns—the
words that allow you to name persons, objects, places, concepts, and so on. In Ital-
ian a noun can be recognized easily by its vowel ending, which indicates its gen-
der—masculine or feminine.
NOUNS REFERRING TO PEOPLE
Nouns ending in -o are generally masculine and nouns ending in -a are generally
feminine. Also, the gender of the noun and the sex (male or female) of the being to
which it refers, typically correspond (with some exceptions, of course). Note that,
unlike English, nouns referring to nationalities are not capitalized.
Masculine Feminine
il ragazzo the boy la ragazza the girl
l’amico the (male) friend l’amica the (female) friend
lo zio the uncle la zia the aunt
il fi glio the son la fi glia the daughter
l’americano the (male) American l’americana the (female) American
l’italiano the (male) Italian l’italiana the (female) Italian
Carlo Charles Carla Carla
Paolo Paul Paola Paula
Some nouns end in -e, and when they do, they can refer to either males or females.
Since the article that precedes the noun gives you a clue to the noun’s gender, you
should learn the nouns along with their articles (il, lo,and l’ with masculine nouns
and la and l’ with feminine nouns). However, do not worry too much about these
article forms right now. They will be discussed further in Chapter 5. For now, sim-
ply learn them along with the noun as best you can. The advantage for you is that by
the time you reach Chapter 5, you will already be familiar with them.
Masculine Feminine
il padre the father la madre the mother
il francese the French man la francese the French woman
l’inglese the English man l’inglese the English woman
il canadese the Canadian man la canadese the Canadian woman
NOUNS REFERRING TO THINGS
Nouns are marked as masculine or feminine, even when they do not refer to people.
Everything remains the same, grammatically speaking. If the noun ends in -o, it is
generally masculine; if it ends in -a, it is generally feminine.
Masculine Feminine
il muro the wall la casa the house
il giardino the garden la porta the door
il tetto the roof la cucina the kitchen
il salotto the living room la fi nestra the window
il pavimento the fl oor la tavola the table
il divano the couch la sedia the chair
Nouns ending with the vowel -e are, again, either masculine or feminine. It is best
to just memorize these since they follow no particular pattern or rule. To be sure
about the gender of a noun of this type, consult a dictionary. In the set of nouns
below, the indefi nite article is shown, which will also be taken up in Chapter 5.
Again, for now, just try to remember the forms for the oral exercises coming up.
Masculine Feminine
un giornale a newspaper una parete a partition (internal
wall)
un nome a name una chiave a key
un cognome a surname una lente a magnifying glass
un mobile a piece of furniture un’automobile an automobile
Nouns ending in an accented -à or -ù are feminine; those ending in other accented
vowels are masculine.
Masculine Feminine
il tè the tea la città the city
il caffè the coffee l’università the university
il tassì the taxi la gioventù youth
There are a few exceptions to this pattern, notably: il papà (dad).
BORROWED NOUNS
Nouns that have been borrowed from other languages, primarily English, are gener-
ally masculine. These typically end in a consonant.
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24 Italian Demystifi ed
lo sport the sport
il computer the computer
il tennis tennis
l’autobus the bus
But the following are feminine:
la mail (l’e-mail) e-mail
la chat chatroom
Asking Chi è?
To ask Who is it? in Italian, say:
Chi è?
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Chi è? Who is it?
È il padre di Maria. He is Mary’s father.
Chi è? Who is it?
È l’amica di Paolo. She is Paul’s friend.
Chi è? Who is it?
È la madre di Alessandro. She is Alexander’s mother.
Chi è? Who is it?
È il fi glio di Sara. He is Sarah’s son.
Chi è? Who is it?
È la fi glia di Giovanni. She is John’s daughter.
Chi è? Who is it?
È lo zio di Claudia. He is Claudia’s uncle.
Chi è? Who is it?
È la zia di Pasquale. She is Pascal’s aunt.
Written Practice 1
Write the feminine equivalent of each noun following the example.
il ragazzo the boy
la ragazza
the girl
1. l’americano the (male) American
the (female) American
2. l’italiano the (male) Italian
the (female) Italian
3. il francese the French man
the French woman
4. l’inglese the English man
the English woman
5. il canadese the (male) Canadian
the (female) Canadian
6. Carlo Charles
Carla
7. Paolo Paul
Paula
Asking Che cosa è?
To ask What is it? in Italian, you say:
Che cosa è? What is it?
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26 Italian Demystifi ed
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Che cosa è? What is it?
È un muro. It is a wall.
Che cosa è? What is it?
È una casa. It is a house.
Che cosa è?
È un giardino. It is a garden.
Che cosa è?
È una porta. It is a door.
Che cosa è?
È un tetto. It is a roof.
Che cosa è?
È una cucina. It is a kitchen.
Che cosa è?
È un salotto. It is a living room.
Che cosa è?
È una fi nestra. It is a window.
Written Practice 2
Fill in the blanks with the answer to each question as shown in the example. Don’t
worry about the article forms for now (un, uno, una, un’). These will be discussed
in depth in later chapters. For now, try your best from memory.
Che cosa è? What is it?
È un giornale.
It is a newspaper.
1. Che cosa è?
. It is a fl oor.
2. Che cosa è?
. It is a surname.