Italian Trapassato Prossimo
One of the past tenses you need to know, especially if you’re at an intermediate level, is the trapassato prossimo. The trapassato prossimo in Italian, or the ‘past perfect’ in English, is a compound tense, which means it is a combination of the...
Italian Tricky Words: “Anzi”
What Does Anzi Mean in Italian? Anzi is one of those tricky Italian words that doesn’t have a direct one-to-one translation in English. That’s why it often confuses non-native speakers. And yet, Italians use anzi all the time, especially in spoken language. It’s a...
Italian Verb Conjugation for Beginners: Complete Guide with Examples
Why Italian Verb Conjugation Matters If you’ve ever taken a formal Italian class, I’m sure your teachers required you to spend a significant amount of time on verb conjugation drills: parlo, parli, parla ho parlato, hai parlato, ha parlato parlerò,...
Italian Verbs with ‘DI’ and ‘A’
Di or A? It depends. In Italian, there are a number of verbs that are followed by a preposition and an infinitive verb (e.g., iniziare a fare qualcosa or finire di fare qualcosa). Because these Italian prepositions do not appear in the English equivalents of the...About
Ciao! I'm Serena, and I'm the creator of Smart Italian Learning. I am the head teacher of a small language school. We offer online, in-person and video courses for Italian learners, with a focus on adult English native speakers. Our courses are based on our passion for teaching and our experience as long-term adult language learners. You can meet us online, or in person in Rome.