Fermare and smettere: what’s the difference?
The difference between FERMARE and SMETTERE Misusing or swapping the verbs fermare and smettere is one of the most frequent errors students of Italian as a second language do and I understand why. The confusion is drove by the fact that both verbs, in English, have only one translation: stopping. Instead, Italians have two different verbs to indicate […]
How to use the Italian prepositions IN and A
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “IN” AND “A” IN ITALIAN One of the most common mistakes in Italian (for foreign learners) concerns the use of the preposition a and in. And it is totally normal. In fact, in some cases, specific rules are telling you how to use the preposition in and when using the preposition a. However, the truth is that in most […]
5 ways to use the Italian word PROPRIO
5 ways to use the Italian word PROPRIO 1. Proprio as an adverb (really, just) As ad adverb, proprio, meaning really Quello studente è proprio bravo! Mi piace proprio il nuovo film di Sorrentino Sometimes proprio means ‘just’, especially when combined with the adverbs of time (adesso, ora ) or a numeral adjective Ho finito […]
How to use in Italia ECCO e CIOÈ
How to use ECCO and CIOÈ in Italian Ecco and cioè are Italian filler words that Italians use all the time. Both ecco and cioè are considered Italian filler words. A filler word is a word with no specific meaning that people use in sentences when they speak informally, for mainly two reasons: buying time or giving […]
How to master the Italian pronouns CI and NE
Have you learned Italian for a while? Then, I am sure you have been faced with the usage and misusage of CI and NE (aka particelle pronominali ci e ne, in Italian). And you have been wondering how to use ci and how to use ne. What does ne stand for? And what about ci? Maybe you have also decided to neglect […]
Lì or là? Qui or qua? Is there any difference between them?
If you have ever felt confused whether using lì and là or qui and qua, when speaking in Italian, this post is for you. Let’s get straight to the point… You question may be if there is really any major difference between lì and là or qui and qua? The answer is, yes […]
The Italian connectors: how to learn them
The Italian connectors: how to learn them Italians are quite wordy and love stringing together long sentences. To put them together they use connectors (or conjugations) A connector in Italian is a small word that joins information together within a sentence. I am sure you have already eavesdropped on many of them without being too […]
How to master the Italian imperfetto
How to master the Italian imperfetto WHAT IS THE IMPERFETTO IN ITALIAN? Italian uses two tenses to talk about the past : the passato prossimo (present perfect) and imperfetto (imperfect). Most non-romance languages do not make the difference, this is why using correctly the imperfetto in Italian can be tricky. Not to mention that, most […]
