by Serena | Oct 31, 2026 | Italian grammar, beginners
Good news: the basic Italian sentence follows the same order as English, Subject + Verb + Object. But there are a few key differences that make Italian sound Italian: the subject often disappears, adjectives usually go after the noun, object pronouns go before the...
by Serena | Oct 31, 2026 | learning tips, advanced
This is my list of the non-fiction books I have read in the last few years. Every book on this list has inspired me in one way or another. Some books were recommended to me by my lovely students too! Since I believe that reading non-fiction in Italian is an...
by Serena | Oct 30, 2026 | B1, intermediate, Italian grammar
“Was it è stato or era?” My students ask me this all the time, and it makes sense: in English both are simply it was. In Italian they belong to two different past tenses, and choosing one or the other changes what you are saying. Here is the short version:...
by Serena | Oct 11, 2026 | Italian grammar, prepositions
If you’ve ever studied Italian, you’ve probably realized that prepositions are one of the trickiest parts of the language. English and Italian prepositions don’t match up perfectly: there’s no neat one-to-one correspondence. Take da, for...
by Serena | Oct 8, 2026 | Italian grammar
In this article I want to shed light on four Italian verbs that my students mix up all the time: lasciare, partire, uscire and andare via. They can all be translated as “to leave,” but they’re used in different situations and they’re not...
by Serena | Apr 19, 2026 | Italian grammar, beginners
Lo vuoi? La conosci? Li hai visti? Direct object pronouns are tiny words, but they are everywhere in spoken Italian. They help you avoid repeating the same noun over and over, and once you start using them, your Italian immediately sounds more natural. Let’s see...
