Italiano Grammar
Complete grammar guide from beginner to intermediate
Master Italian grammar from beginner to intermediate level. Our comprehensive guide covers A1, A2, and B1 grammar topics with clear explanations, conjugation tables, and practical examples to help you speak and write Italian correctly.
Beginner
Basic grammar rules, simple sentence structures, and essential verb forms.
Personal Pronouns
Learn the Italian subject pronouns (io, tu, lui, lei, noi, voi, loro) and how to use them in everyday sentences. Understand when pronouns can be omitted in Italian since verb endings often indicate the subject.
Articles
Learn Italian definite articles (il, la, lo, i, le, gli) and indefinite articles (un, una, uno) with gender and number agreement.
Noun Gender and Number
Understand Italian noun genders (masculine/feminine) and form plurals with the correct endings.
Present Tense
Conjugate Italian verbs in the present tense across the three main verb groups (-are, -ere, -ire) and common irregular verbs.
Basic Word Order
Learn the fundamental Italian sentence structure: Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). Italian is flexible with word order due to verb conjugations, but the standard SVO pattern is essential for beginners. Understand how subject pronouns are often omitted because verb endings indicate the subject.
Negation
Form negative sentences in Italian using non and other negative expressions like mai, niente, nessuno.
Elementary
Past tenses, comparatives, and more complex sentence structures.
Past Tenses
Master the passato prossimo and imperfetto to describe completed actions and ongoing past situations in Italian.
Past Tense (Passato Remoto)
Learn the passato remoto (simple past/preterite), used for completed actions in the distant past, especially in literature and Southern Italian speech. Master the regular conjugations for -are, -ere, and -ire verbs, as well as common irregular verbs like essere, avere, and fare.
Present Perfect Tense (Passato Prossimo)
Master the Italian passato prossimo, the most common past tense in spoken Italian. Learn how to form it with avere and essere, when to use each auxiliary verb, and how past participles agree with the subject or object.
Object Pronouns
Use Italian direct and indirect object pronouns correctly, including their position before verbs and combined forms.
Possessive Adjectives
Use Italian possessive adjectives with articles, understanding when to omit the article with family members.
Possessive Pronouns
Learn Italian possessive pronouns (il mio, la tua, i suoi) to replace nouns and indicate ownership. In Italian, possessive pronouns have the same forms as possessive adjectives but stand alone. They agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not the owner.
Intermediate
Subjunctive mood, passive voice, and advanced grammar concepts.
Future Tense
Learn to express future actions in Italian using the futuro semplice (simple future). Master the regular conjugation patterns for -are, -ere, and -ire verbs, common irregular verbs, and when to use the future tense versus present tense for future events.
Subjunctive & Conditional
Master Italian subjunctive mood (congiuntivo) and conditional tense (condizionale). Learn to express wishes, doubts, opinions, hypothetical situations, and polite requests. Understand when to use the subjunctive after specific verbs, conjunctions, and in conditional sentences.
Relative Clauses
Learn to create sophisticated Italian sentences using relative pronouns (che, cui, il quale). Understand how to connect clauses to describe people, things, and places. Master the difference between defining and non-defining relative clauses in Italian.
Passive Voice
Learn to form and use the passive voice (voce passiva) in Italian. Understand when to shift focus from the doer to the action using essere + past participle. Master the passive in different tenses and discover alternative passive constructions with 'si' and 'venire'.
Reported Speech
Master indirect speech (discorso indiretto) in Italian. Learn to report what others said using verbs like dire, raccontare, and chiedere. Understand the tense shifts, pronoun changes, and time expression adjustments required when converting direct speech to reported speech.
Past Perfect Tense
Master the Italian past perfect tense (trapassato prossimo) to describe actions completed before another past action. Learn to form it with imperfect of avere/essere + past participle. Essential for storytelling, reported speech, and expressing sequences of past events.