The verbs sapere and conoscere both mean “to know,“ but have different implications. Sapere means “to know,“ “to be able to,“ or “to know how to.“ Take a look at these examples with th
Indirect object + verb + subject. Not your usual sentence structure, but in the case of piacere (to please, to like) that’s the way it works in Italian, and here’s why: In English, you say that A
I am eating, you are drinking, the soprano is singing. In Italian, the gerund (il gerundio) is equivalent to the “-ing“ verb form in English. To form the simple gerund in Italian, add -ando to the
We grow up hearing negative commands: Don’t bother your brother! Don’t scream! Don’t forget to do your homework! The negative tu command forms of all verbs are formed by the infinitive of the ve
Need to tell your teacher, supervisor, or the Italian prime minister to do something? Use the subjunctive form of the verb to form the formal commands. The table below contains some examples of formal
Romeo and Juliet meet, hug, kiss, and fall in love. They comfort each other, admire each other, and get married—but not without some help from reciprocal reflexive verbs! These verbs express a recip
In Italian, to express an action that began in the past and is still going on in the present, use the verb in the present tense + da + length of time. This construction does not exist in English, wher
A sentence is usually made negative in Italian by placing the word non in front of the verb:Francesca voule dormire. (Francesca wants to sleep.)Francesca non voule dormire. (Francesca doesn’t want t
Your grade school English teacher told you repeatedly that you couldn’t use more than one negative word in the same sentence. In Italian, though, the double negative is the acceptable format, and ev
Interrogative adjectives indicate a quality or indefinite quantity and come with specific nouns. The most common forms are che (what? what kind of?), quale (which?), and quanto (how much? how many?).