by Serena | Dec 17, 2023 | Italian grammar, beginners
In Italian, asking how long someone has been doing something works very differently from English. English uses: How long have you been…? I’ve been doing… Italian does not use have been in these cases or the past tense. Instead, Italian uses the present...
by Serena | Oct 24, 2025 | Italian grammar
English has handy little words like someone, somewhere, something, and somehow. Italian has equivalents, but they change in negative sentences.Here’s how to use them correctly. 1. Someone / Anyone → Qualcuno / Nessuno Qualcuno = someone (singular, unknown person) C’è...
by Serena | Dec 24, 2023 | Italian grammar, advanced, intermediate
What are CI and NE in Italian? CI and NE are essential Italian particles (particelle pronominali) that native speakers use frequently to make their speech more concise and natural. CI generally means: there/here (indicating location) about it/on it...
by Serena | Dec 7, 2023 | Italian grammar
Già has two meanings. The primary one (and most used) is already. The second one, which is especially used in conversation, is right or indeed. Già: already The most common use of già is when it is used with the sense of “already”. The basic...
by Serena | May 9, 2025 | Italian grammar
Anche se vs Nonostante Yes… but not quite! In Italian, anche se and nonostante are conjunctions used to express concession—that is, something that goes against what we might expect. They can all be translated as “even if,” “even...
by Serena | Dec 6, 2023 | vocabulary, Italian grammar
Cioè is one of those words that Italians frequently throw-in during a conversation. In English, cioè can take different translations, depending on the context. In any case, no matter the context, cioè is used to provide or give additional information about something...