Riuscire and Potere. The Difference.
In my experience as an Italian language teacher, students often struggle with the verb riuscire because of its widespread use in informal Italian. The reason is that the Italian verbs potere and riuscire are both frequently used in English with “can” and so,...
Italian Noun Gender. Determining Masculine vs. Feminine
Nouns ending in ‘-o’ or ‘-a’ In Italian language, nouns, pronouns, and adjectives can be assigned one of two grammatical genders: masculine or feminine. The gender of a word is arbitrary and does not always have a logical connection to the...
Italian Prepositions: How To Use ‘In’ and ‘A’
One of the most common mistakes in Italian (for foreign learners) concerns the use of the preposition a and in. And it is totally normal. In fact, in some cases, specific rules are telling you how to use the preposition in and when using the...
Italian Impersonal Form
The impersonal form with “si” In Italian, we have a simple way to make a generalization or to make a sentence where the subject is not specified: the impersonal form. The impersonal form is made up by: si + any verb conjugated in the 3rd person singular....
Common expressions using ESSERE and AVERE
In Italian, the verbs essere and avere are certainly amongst the most popular ones. This is why they are widely used in many common Italian idiomatic expressions like the one following. Bear in mind that a certain number of recurring expressions use the...
Beginner’s Guide to Learning Italian: Expert Tips from a Teacher
1. Determine Your Learning Style To learn a foreign language efficiently, it’s important to understand your learning style. Are you a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? Knowing this information can help you identify the best way to absorb information....
PLIDA B1: The Structure.
What’s the PLIDA Exam? The P.L.I.D.A (Progetto Lingua Italiana Dante Alighieri) is an Italian exam created by the Italian Ministry of Education to test language proficiency at different levels in Italian. It’s intended for people who don’t live or study Italian...
Expressing Positive Emotions in Italian
Italians have a reputation for being emotional and sentimental, and this is entirely right. No need to say, we like to express positive and (negative) emotions with friends and family, and we do it often. Have you ever wondered what the most common ways to say in...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.