The Passive Voice in Italian (and English)
The passive voice is used when the focus is on the object of an action rather than the subject performing it. What’s the Passive Voice? Active: Serena teaches the class.(Focus: Serena — the subject doing the action) Passive: The class is taught by Serena.(Focus: the...
The Placement of Italian Pronouns in Sentences
What Are Pronouns in Italian? Pronouns in Italian, like in English, are small words we use to replace nouns. These include direct and indirect object pronouns, as well as the particles ci and ne, which are also considered pronouns. Italian PronounsMeaning in...
The Ultimate Guide to Italian Pronominal Verbs (Verbi Pronominali)
What Is a Pronominal Verb? A pronominal verb is a verb that includes one or more pronouns as part of its structure, forming a new verb whose meaning differs—sometimes slightly, sometimes entirely—from the base verb. In Italian, these are often formed by combining a...
The Verb “Piacere” in Italian: A Simple Guide for Beginners
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 – to...
The Verb Andare: Conjugation and Uses
Conjugating “Andare” in the Present Tense First off, it’s crucial to recognize that ‘andare’ is an irregular verb in Italian. Unlike regular verbs, which follow a consistent conjugation pattern, irregular verbs like ‘andare’ have...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.