A Guide to Italian Pronunciation for Native English Speakers
Why it’s Important To Practice Your Italian Pronunciation From Day 1 In over ten years of teaching Italian as a foreign language, I’ve noticed a number of patterns that are next to impossible to get rid of (or that take a great deal of time and work to...
Passato Prossimo with Pronouns. A Simple Guide.
The basic rule is that when using the passato prossimo tense with the auxiliary verb ‘avere’, the past participle—the second part of the verb—usually does not change. It remains the same regardless of the subject’s gender and number. Lei ha...
Most Common -IRE Verbs in Italian
Most Common -IRE Verbs: Regular vs. Irregular In Italian, -ire verbs fall into two main types: Regular -ire verbs — like “dormire” (to sleep) — follow a standard conjugation pattern. See the first chart for this...
Most Common -ERE Verbs in Italian
Present Tense of ‘scrivere’ (regular verb) IoscrivoI write or I’m writing TuscriviYou write you’re writingLui/LeiscriveHe/she writes or he/she is writingNoiscriviamoWe write or we are writingVoiscriveteYou all write or you’re all...
Sapere and Potere. What’s the difference?
In Italian, ‘potere’ is more commonly used to express possibility or permission, but NOT skill or ability. To express the skill or ability to do something, the verb ‘sapere’ is used, which means ‘to know how to.’ For example,...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.