Mi manca? Mi manchi? A Guide to the Use of ‘Mancare’
If you want to say “I miss” in Italian, you should say “mi manca” and not “manco”. Why so? What does the “mi” in front stand for? Understanding the use of ‘mancare’ in Italian The mi is an indirect pronoun and it’s used because mancare...
Imperfetto vs. Passato Prossimo: A Simple Guide.
Both the imperfetto and passato prossimo are used to describe past events. However, they are used in different situations. The passato prossimo is used when the action is completed, happened once, and has a definite starting and ending point. The imperfetto,...
The Verb Piacere in Italian: A Simple Guide
How to Conjugate ‘Piacere’ As you might already know, piacere (and a few other verbs that I will list at the end of this post) doesn’t follow a regular conjugation pattern, and it’s used differently from its equivalent in English...
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...
Italian Definite Articles (Articoli Determinativi)
Building solid foundations is key in every foreign language you learn. Mastering the nitty-gritty of the basics will be your pathway to fluency, I promise. That’s why today we’ll cover the Italian definite articles (gli articoli determinativi) and especially when...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.