Italian Grammar

When you are learning the grammar of a new language, it can be quite beneficial to make comparisons to a language that you already know. By comparing English grammar to Italian grammar, you will be able to learn some of the similarities and some of the differences. This can help to make the task of learning a new language a bit less daunting. Even though English is a Germanic language, and Italian is a Romance language, you will find some similarities.

Sentence Structure

For example, both languages use the pattern of SVO in sentences. This means that the subject comes first, followed by the verb and finally the object. Knowing this is going to help you with your sentence construction in the Italian language, and it can make learning much easier. However, you will notice that in the Italian, you do have more freedom when you want to emphasize one of the words over another. For example, the sentence “I drink the coffee” follows SVO perfectly. However, you could change the order of the words slightly when you are speaking in Italian to show more emphasis. For example, the sentence would then become “the coffee I drink”. While it might not sound right in English, it is perfectly acceptable in Italian grammar.

Tenses and Verbs

As in other languages, Italian features tenses – past, present, and future – and you will need to know and understand the usage of the different tenses in different situations as well as how to make them agree with the other parts of the sentence.

The Italian verbs are going to change form depending on the tense and the subject of the sentence. Even if you remove the subject, you will usually be able to understand who is going the action based on the verb in the sentence. Conjugation of verbs is therefore very important, and it is something that all students of the language should learn to do well.

Singular and Plural

When you want to make something plural in English, you will usually only need to add an “s” at the end of the word. Of course, we know there are quite a few exceptions (mice, teeth, etc.). In Italian, you will have two ways to create a plural word. Feminine nouns that have an “a” at the end will change the “a” to an “e” to become plural. Masculine nouns that end in an “o” will have an “i” take the place of the “o” at the end of the word in Italian grammar.

Learning the basics of grammar is one of the first steps in learning and mastering a language. Take the grammar slowly, and you will not have trouble learning!