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small iItalian words
Useful small Italian words (who, what, where, why, how, etc.).
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| chi | who, whom, (which, whoever) |
| che cosa | what, come what may |
| dove | where |
| Li | them, there |
| laggiù | over there |
| Perché | why/because |
| come | how, like, (such, as) |
| questo | this, this one (that, that one) |
| quello | that, that one, (one, such, ) |
| come | like, how (as) |
| così | so, like this, like that |
| Tutto / Tutti / Tutte | everything, all - Must agree in number and gender with noun. |
| altro | another, other |
| poi | then |
| meglio di | better than |
| peggio di | worse than |
| cosa (cose pl) | WHAT, thing / things, what, (article, object, doings, it's a good thing) WHAT FOR MORE OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS |
| qualche | some, but must be followed by a singular noun. |
| alcuni | few, some, a few |
| davvero | indeed, really, absolutely, genuinly, truly |
| ancora | still, yet, again, , (anchor, till, afresh, all over again, anew, once more, come again?) |
| verso | toward, (about, verse, approximately, cry, line, rhyme, telephone line, ag-, at, towards) |
| tempo | time |
| già | already, (yet, by now, formerly, yes) |
| spesso | often, (frequently, thick, bold, corpulent, fat, regularly, many a time, oftentime, a lot, deep, several times, thickish) |
| allora | then, well (a space filler when you talk), now, (now and then) |
| qualcosa | something, anything, (some) |
| qualche | some, any, several, (sometimes, matter, no matter what) |
| qualche cosa | something |
| basta | enough |
| abbastanza | just enough, adequately, sufficiently (quite, rather, fairly, pretty, moderately) |
| di più | more |
| troppo | too much |
| tutti | everyone, all |
| ne.....ne | neither.....nor |
| molto | much, very, (extremely, a lot, a lot of, quite, very much, awfully, badly, boiling hot, heavily, heavy, jolly, long, lot, most, nearly, widely, greatly) |
| maggior parte di | most of |
| il meno | the least |
| bene | well |
| buono | good |
| volete qualunque cosa di più? | do you want anything more? |
| più | more |
| anche | also, too, (besides, withal, even if, likewise, so, even) |
| sempre | always, (ever, forever, infallible, infallibly, invariable, invariably, perennially, permanently) |
| che | that, what, (than, which, who, whom, what time is it?, tha, worthwhile, thing, whichever) USED A MORE OPEN ENDED QUESTION |
| nessuno / nessuna | No one, nobody (noun) / any (adj) |
| nessun | no as in no school today (adj) |
| niente | nothing (noun) |
| ciascuno | each, each one |
| qualunque cosa | whatever, anything |
| ovunque, dovunque | both mean everywhere, or wherever. they are interchangeable |
| gira a destra / una gira / girare | turn to the right / a tour, trip / to turn |
| Mentre | While |
| più di L'italiano è più difficile del francese. Maria è la più intelligente della classe | più and di are used together to compare nouns, with più meaning "more" and di meaning "than". To express a person or thing's quality at its maximum or minimum level in relation to a group, use il più di for majority and il meno di for minority. |
| quindi | so, then |
| ciò | that |
| insomma | in short |
| Attraverso | Through |
| dunque | Therefore |
| ci vogliono | It takes (plural) Ci vogliono 15 minuniti a piedi |
| ci vuole | It takes (s), ci vuole 1 minuto. |
| Che cosa sta succedendo? | What is happening (now). Che sta succedendo? |
| Che cos sta per succedere? | What is happening in the immediate future. |
| Stare + Gerundio | doing now. eg: sto viaggiando |
| Stare + Per * infinitive | doing something in immediate future, eg: Sto per tornare a casa Fra due ore , sta per arrivare il presidente mattarella |
| Ce l’ho | I have it |
| ce li/le ho | (I have them) |
| Ce l’hai | (you have it) – |
| ce li/le hai | (you have them) |
| Ce l’ha | (he/has has it)- |
| ce li/le ha | (he/she has them) |
| Ce l’abbiamo | (we have it) – |
| ce li/le abbiamo | (we have them) |
| Ce l’avete | (you all have it) – |
| ce li/le avete | (you all have them) |
| Ce l’hanno | (they have it) – |
| ce li/le hanno | (they have them) |
| alcuni/alcune | Some, must be followed by plural nouns. alcuni i biscotti |
| ogni | Ogni means "every/each" as an invariable adjective (e.g., ogni giorno) and requires a singular noun, |
| poco poca pochi | little little few - must match number of gender of known |
| quando? | when? |
| quanto | how much? |
| quanti, quante | how many? |
| quale, quali (pl) | which, what? USED WHEN A CHOICE is implied |
| qual | what |
| Che, Che Cosa , Cosa | what. |
| quel, quella, quell', quello | that |
| quei, quelle, quegli | THOSE, Quei” is used before plural masculine nouns starting with a consonant, while “quegli” is used before plural masculine nouns starting with a vowel, “z,” “gn,” “ps,” “x,” or “s” follow |
| Questo, questa, quest' | this |
| Questi, queste | these |
| Qualunque | Anyone , any |
| Ogni | each, every |
| Qualche | some, a few Qualch always preceeds a singular nouns |
| Alcuni/e | Some, a few |
| Parecchi, Parecchie, Diversi, Diversie, Vari, Varie | Variations on "Several" |
| Altro , Altri, Altre | Other / Others |
| sopra | above |
| sotto | under, below |
| dentro | in, inside |
| fuori | out, outside |
| davanti a | in front of |
| davanti | in front |
| dietro | behind |
| vicino a | near to |
| accanto a | next to |
| lontano da | far away from |
| Che Cosa s a pronoun, so you cannot use it together with nouns; that's why sentences such as *Che cosa tipo di musica ascolti? are wrong: tipo is a noun, so the correct sentence is Quale/che tipo di musica ascolti? | |
| Che cosa means what when asking for a definition, so: Che cos'è un atomo? "What is an atom? = Give me a definition of atom". | |
| Quale (or che, invariable) as an adjective involves a choice: Quale/che canzone preferisci? "What song do you like the most?" Che cos'è il tuo lavoro? would be understood as In cosa consiste il tuo lavoro? "What is your job about?" | |
| Italian doesn't make a distinction between a choice out of an indefinite number (what) and a choice out of a definite number (which): quale/che is used in either cases. You might say quale dei/delle due if the context requires. | |
| Finally, qual(e) (not che)is also a pronoun involving a choice: Qual è l'ultimo libro che hai letto? "What is the last book you have read?" not: ?*Che è l'ultimo libro che hai letto? | |
| Di più | Di più is an adverbial phrase used after verbs and means ‘more.’ Voglio allenarmi di più quest’anno – I want to train more this year |
| In più | In più is a noun phrase that means ‘more’ or ‘in addition,’ and it is used to indicate that something is added to an existing quantity. used to refer to both tangible and intangible things. Vorrei una bottiglia d’acqua in più – I would like one more |
| Non più | means “not…anymore” and is used in negative sentences. The pattern to follow is “non + verb + più.” Non viaggio più – I don’t travel anymore no more, no longer |
| Proprio | possive adjective: own proprio means "one's own" (possessive, agreeing in gender/number) to clarify ownership or for emphasis it acts as an invariable adverb meaning "really," "exactly," or "just," |
| Sempre di più | more and more |
| su | on |
| in piedi | standing |
| cui | which |
| tuttavia | however |
| oltre | more than, in addition, more than over prep. in addition adv. more than prep. beyond prep |
| quasi | almost |
| infine | finally, lastly |
| A che cosa | what for |
| Suffix: -ino/a/i/e | tiny Povero (poor guy) → Poverino (little, poor guy) Paese (town) → Paesino (tiny town) |
| Suffix - -etto/a/i/e | little Case (houses) → casette (little houses) Muro (wall) → Muretto (little wall) Borsa (purse) → Borsetta (little purse) Pezzo (piece) → Pezzetto (little piece) |
| Suffix - -ello/a/i/e | Little Albero (tree) → alberello (small tree) Povero (poor person) → poverello (poor little poor man) Gioco (toy) → giocherello (poor little toy) Bambino (child) → bambinello (poor little child) |
| Suffix - -uccio, -uccia, -ucci, -ucce | something is of poor quality Maria (Mary) --> Mariuccia (little Mary) Regalo (gift) → regaluccio (little poor quality gift) Scarpe (shoes) → scarpucce (little poor shoes) Affari (business/affair) → affarucci (small lousy business) |
| Suffix - -one/-ona (singular) and -oni/-one (plural) | Largeness Libro (book) --> librone (big book) Lettera (letter) --> letterona (long letter) Bacio (kiss) → Bacione (big kiss) |
| Suffix - -accio, -accia, -acci, and -acce | bad/ugly Giorno (day) → Giornataccia (bad day) Ragazzo (Boy) → ragazzaccio (bad boy) Figura (impression) → figuraccia (bad impression) |
| per niente | not at all |
| appena malapena | appena - Just,as soon as - adv malapena - Barely |
| adagio | slowly - adverb |
| almeno | at least - adverb |
| appunto | exactly - adverb |
| dappertutto | everywhere - adverb |
| inoltre | Furthermore, in addition, also, moreover - adverb |
| ormai | at this point by now / now - adverb |
| perfino/persino | even - adverb |
| perlopiù | mostly/mainly - adverb |
| soprattutto | especially - adverb |
| talvolta | sometimes - adverb |
| magari | maybe - adverb |
| pure | also, to, so - adverb |
| volentieri | willingly / glady - adverb |
| mai | never - adverb |
| male | badly/poorly bad/poor done - adverb |
| chiaro | clear / clearly - adverb of manner, parla chiaro (speak clearly) |
| grosso | big / huge / large - adverb |
| forte | strong /hard - adverb |
| lassù | up there - adverb |
| quassù | up here - adverb |
| quaggiù | down there - adverb |
| lì / là | there - adverb |
| qui / qua | - adverb here [ qui - refers to a specific location - here "qua" indicates a more general or approximate area near the speaker. |
| proprio | just / exactly / right - adverb |
| nemmeno, neanche, neppure | not even - adverb |
| mica | not at all - adverb |
| circa | about, approximately v |
| affatto | at all / not - adverb |
| allora | then / so - adverb |
| subito | quickly / immediately / right - adverb |
| presto | soon / early - adverb |
| ancora | still / yet / more / again - adverb |
| dove/come/quanto/perché/di dove/meno/molto/bene/male/mai/spesso/forse /meglio/peggio/forse | various adverbs - adverb |
| causa | due/because/cause - adverb |
| troppo | too much - adverb |
| tanto | much / so much - adverb |
| poco | little / just - adverb |
| piuttosto | rather / quite - adverb |
| per lo più | mostly/mainly - adverb |
| parecchio | a lot of, several, /pretty/a long - adverb |
| assai | very much/much/very/quite -adverb |
| abbastanza | sufficiently - adverb |
| Derived adverbs - adding suffix mente certamente /ultimamente / velocemente / facilmente | To make an adjective ending in -o or -a into an adverb with the suffix -mente, the final vowel is dropped and an a is added. To make an adjective ending in -e an adverb with the suffix -mente, simply add the suffix to the word. |
| Derived Adverbs with the suffix -oni Drop last vowel then add -oni bocca → bocconi (face down, prone) tastare → tastoni (groping around) ginocchio → ginocchioni | The suffix -oni is used with a limited number of nouns and verbs. When combined with these nouns or verbs, it creates an adverb that usually indicates a physical position, attitude, or outlook. |
| Bello - When it comes after the noun, it follows regular adjective patterns (e.g., un vestito bello, due vestiti belli) | |
| Bello - when it precedes the noun, it can change to bel, bello, bell', bei, begli, or belle. | |
| Descriptive (Before the noun): When "bello" comes before the noun, it's often used to describe a quality or characteristic of the noun. | Descriptive (Before the noun): For example, "un bel fiore" (a beautiful flower) emphasizes the flower's beauty. In this case, the adjective acts as a simple descriptor, and the speaker might be referring to any beautiful flower. |
| Restrictive (After the noun): When "bello" follows the noun, it can be used to identify or restrict the noun to a specific subset. | For example, "un fiore bello" (a flower that is beautiful) implies a specific flower that is beautiful, distinguishing it from other flowers. |
| Emphatic/Figurative (Before the noun): Sometimes, "bello" before the noun can carry a more emphatic or figurative meaning. | For example, "un bel ragazzo" (a handsome boy) might imply a particularly attractive or charming boy. |
| Literal (After the noun): Conversely, "un ragazzo bello" (a boy who is handsome) might be a more straightforward description of the boy's appearance. | |
| BUONO: General Goodness and Suitability: When "buono" is used before a noun, it often indicates an inherent quality or a general sense of goodness.: | For example: "Un buon libro" (A good book) - This implies the book is generally considered good, perhaps for its quality or content. "Un buon caffè" (A good coffee) - This suggests the coffee is tasty or enjoyable. |
| BUONO: Emphasis and Specificity: When "buono" follows the noun, it tends to emphasize the specific quality or suitability of the noun in question. | "Un libro buono" (A good book, in the sense that it's suitable) - This might be used when talking about a book that is appropriate |
| BUONO: Form Changes: Like some other Italian adjectives, "buono" changes its form when placed before a noun. It becomes "buon" before masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel or consonant. | "Un buon libro" (A good book) "Un buon amico" (A good friend) "Un buon gelato" (A good gelato) |
| The interrogative adverbs in Italian are as follows: come how come mai how come dove where quando when perché why | |
| Come and dove are generally shortened to com’ and dov’ before the conjugated forms of essere beginning with the letter e. | |
| In questions beginning with an interrogative adverb, the subject is generally put at the end of the sentence. Quando si è laureato Raimondo? When did Raimondo graduate? Dov’è andato Sebastiano? Where did Sebastiano go? | |
| After perché and come mai you will see the subject either before the verb or at the end of the question. Come mai non vuole venire Cinzia? (Come mai Cinzia non vuole venire?) How come Cinzia doesn’t want to come? | Perché Andrea non è venuto? (Perché non è venuto Andrea?) Why didn’t Andrea come? |
| When forming a yes/no question in Italian, the subject can come at the beginning or the end of the question. | |
| The interrogative adjectives are as follows: quanto, quanta, quanti, quante how much, how many che what, what kind of quale, quali which, what | |
| interrogative adjectives, before a noun, must agree in gender and number with the noun they are modifying. The exception to this rule is che, which is invariable. Quale usually implies a choice between two or more things, and che is used more generally. | |
| Che often substitutes quale in informal Italian. Che (quali) studenti vengono? What (which) students are coming? Che (quali) tipi preferisce? What (which) types does she prefer? | |
| The interrogative pronouns are as follows: chi who, whom che, cosa, che cosa what quanto, quanta, quanti, quante how much, how many quale, qual, quali which (one), which (ones) | |
| Interrogative pronouns take the place of nouns in questions, or refer back to previously mentioned nouns. Quale and quanto are used as both adjectives and pronouns, and they always agree with the nouns they replace. Italian interrogative pronouns ask | Quale drops its final e before a vowel--usually in front of a conjugated form of essere. Che, cosa, and che cosa are interchangeable. Common Interrogative Pronouns Chi: Who/Whom (invariable, for people). Chi sei? (Who are you?) Che / Cosa / Che cosa |
| Unlike in informal English, in Italian prepositions must always precede an interrogative pronoun. | Con chi andate? Who are you going with? |
| Di chi, which means whose, is directly followed by essere. | Di chi è questa giacca? Whose jacket is this? |
| Che cosa is used with essere to ask for the definition of a word | Che cosa sono i Muppets? What are the Muppets? |
| In Italian, past participles can be used as adjectives, and when they are, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. This agreement is similar to how Italian adjectives change to match the nouns they describe. | For example, "una torta decorata" (a decorated cake) uses the past participle "decorata" (decorated) which agrees in gender (feminine) and number (singular) with "torta" (cake). |
| cioè | that is," "that is to say," "in other words," or "I mean," used to clarify, explain, or rephrase a preceding statement. I |
| nonostante | despite, notwithstanding |
| Siccome | Since used to start a sentence instead of Perchè Don't s Perchè to start a sentence |
| qualunque | whatever, any |
| ognuno | while ognuno means "each one/everyone" as a pronoun, referring to individuals within a group and acting as a substitute for a noun. Refers to all individuals in a group, often interchangeable with ciascuno. |
| entro | within, by, |
| come in | as in |
| che ne dici | what about, what do you think |
| A transitive verb is an action verb that transfers its action to a direct object—a person, place, or thing that receives the action. To identify a transitive verb, ask "what?" or "whom?" after the verb; | |
| An intransitive verb is a verb that does not take a direct object; the action of the verb is complete on its own, or it is followed by an adverb or prepositional phrase rather than a noun or pronoun receiving the action. | Verbs of movement , verbs of state/condition change |
| a volte | sometimes |
| in grado | able |
| Venuto in mente | came to mind , occurred to me. |
| Ogni tanto | sometimes, every now and then |
| qualsiasi | Any |
| chiunque | anyone, whoever |
| mi sa | I might, I believe, pretty sure |
| il cui, la cui, i cui, le cui | whose, must agree in gender and number |
| l'anno in cui sono nato l'anno nel quale sono nato l'anno che sono nato (colloquial) | Expressions of time, WHEN as a relative pronoun |
| la città dove abitiamo la città in cui abitiamo la città nella quale abitiamo | Expressions of place, WHERE as a relative pronoun. |
| oppure | or |
| qualsiasi | Whatever, any |
| affinchè | so that |
| col | with |
| maggioranza di | majority of |
Created by:
mxitalian