Most common mistakes beginners make when speaking Italian
While coaching my students over the years, there are some mistakes that I keep hearing all the time, despite the Italian level of my students. If it is true that “one learns, by making mistakes”, it is also true repeating all the time the same errors might...
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...
Andare and Venire: The Difference
Venire or Andare? In Italian, the verb venire, which means to come, is much more common than in English. As a result, most English speakers use the verb vado or, more generally, the verb andare as a default. This will sound a...
Nessuno and Niente (How to say Any, Anyone and Anything in Italian)
Nessuno/Nessuna/Nessun = (not…any) Nessuno can be used both as an indefinite adjective and as a pronoun . As an adjective, nessuno comes before a noun and is the translation of “any” in negative sentences in English. For example: Non ho nessun dubbio...
Q in Italian: How To Pronounce It
Let’s explore what happens with Q in Italian. The sound of Q In Italian, Q is always followed by U, and together they make the sound /kw/. This is the same sound as in English words like queen or question. Examples: quando → when (kwando) questo → this (kwesto) quasi...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.