Common nouns: the home and food
Thirty-odd everyday objects, each learned with its article — and Italian has seven of those, so the article is the work.
Colours live this week
8 of 10 in playA thing, a person or a place.
An action or a state — what is happening.
Stands in for a noun — I, you, he, it.
the / a / some — and possessives like mon, ma.
Links words together — to, in, of, for.
Describes a noun.
Opens a question — where, when, how, why.
Learn it whole. Do not take it apart.
Adverbs and conjunctions are the last two, and they arrive in Week 4.
Seven ways to say the
Italian picks its article by the sound that follows it. Masculine: il before most consonants, lo before s+consonant, z, gn or ps, and l' before a vowel. Feminine: la, and l' before a vowel. In the plural: i and gli for masculine, le for feminine. It sounds worse than it is — you will absorb it by ear long before you can state the rule, which is why every noun below is shown with its article attached.
Around the home
- la casathe housela mia casamy house
- la cucinathe kitchenin cucinain the kitchen
- il salottothe living room
- la camerathe bedroom
Camera da letto in full. Nothing to do with photography.
- la portathe doorChiudi la porta.Close the door.
- la finestrathe window
- il tavolothe table
- la sediathe chair
- il bagnothe bathroom / the toilet
The word to ask for in a café or a station.
Food and drink
- il panebread
- il caffècoffee
Un caffè means an espresso. If you want a long one, ask for un caffè americano.
- il tètea
- l'acquawaterun bicchiere d'acquaa glass of water
Feminine, but la has vanished into l'. The slant is the only cue left — memorise it with the word.
- il vinowineun bicchiere di vinoa glass of wine
- la birrabeer
- il formaggiocheese
- il menùthe menuIl menù, [per favore].The menu, please.
- il contothe billIl conto, [per favore].The bill, please.
The vanishing article
Before a vowel, both il and la collapse into l' — l'acqua is feminine, l'amico is masculine, and the article no longer tells you which. This is exactly the case the text style exists for: the slant or the bold carries the gender on its own. Italian does the same thing to di and a as well: di + il becomes del, a + il becomes al.
Sentence frames
- 1
Dove è la cucina / il bagno?
Where is ___?
Usually written and said dov'è — the e drops before a vowel.
- 2
Vorrei un caffè / del pane.
I would like ___.
Vorrei is the polite would like. Use it and you will always sound courteous.
- 3
Il conto, [per favore].
The bill, please.
Daily mini-tasks
Listening this week
Easy Italian — street interviews
YouTube
Real speech with Italian and English subtitles. Do not try to understand everything. Aim to catch the words you already know.