Basic Italian Vocabulary and Grammar

1. Essential Vocabulary

Greetings & Common Phrases

Italian	English
Ciao	Hello / Bye (informal)
Buongiorno	Good morning
Buonasera	Good evening
Arrivederci	Goodbye (formal)
Per favore	Please
Grazie	Thank you
Prego	You're welcome / Please (as in go ahead)
Scusa / Scusi	Excuse me (informal / formal)
Mi chiamo	My name is
Come stai? / Come sta?	How are you? (informal / formal)

Numbers 120

Italian	English
uno	one
due	two
tre	three
quattro	four
cinque	five
sei	six
sette	seven
otto	eight
nove	nine
dieci	ten
undici	eleven
dodici	twelve
tredici	thirteen
quattordici	fourteen
quindici	fifteen
sedici	sixteen
diciassette	seventeen
diciotto	eighteen
diciannove	nineteen
venti	twenty

Days of the Week

Italian	English
Luned	Monday
Marted	Tuesday
Mercoled	Wednesday
Gioved	Thursday
Venerd	Friday
Sabato	Saturday
Domenica	Sunday

2. Basic Grammar Overview

2.1 Nouns and Articles

Italian nouns have gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). The definite articles change to match:

Gender/Number	Definite Article
Masculine singular	il (before most consonants), lo (before s+cons., z, gn, ps, x, y), l (before vowels)
Masculine plural	i (after il), gli (after lo, l)
Feminine singular	la (before consonants), l (before vowels)
Feminine plural	le

Example: il libro (the book), i libri (the books), la casa (the house), le case (the houses).

2.2 Pronouns

Italian	English
Io	I
Tu	You (informal)
Lui / Lei	He / She
Noi	We
Voi	You (plural)
Loro	They

2.3 Regular Verbs (Present Tense)

Italian verbs are grouped by infinitive endings: -are, -ere, and -ire. Below is the pattern for each using parlare (to speak), credere (to believe), and partire (to leave).

Person	-are (parlare)	-ere (credere)	-ire (partire)
Io	parlo	credo	parto
Tu	parli	credi	parti
Lui/Lei	parla	crede	parte
Noi	parliamo	crediamo	partiamo
Voi	parlate	credete	partite
Loro	parlano	credono	partono

Io parlo italiano. I speak Italian.

2.4 Question Formation

Form questions by raising intonation or by placing the interrogative word at the start:

• Che cosa? What?
• Dove? Where?
• Quando? When?
• Perch? Why?
• Chi? Who?
• Come? How?

Dove la stazione? Where is the station?

2.5 Negation

Place non before the verb. For verbs with compound tenses, non precedes the auxiliary.

Non mangio carne. I do not eat meat.

2.6 Adjectives

Adjectives usually follow the noun and agree in gender and number.

Una macchina rossa (a red car feminine singular), due case grandi (two big houses feminine plural).

3. Useful Everyday Sentences

• Quanto costa? How much does it cost?
• Mi pu aiutare? Can you help me?
• Vorrei un caff, per favore. I would like a coffee, please.
• Parla inglese? Do you speak English?
• Ho bisogno di un taxi. I need a taxi.
• Che ora ? What time is it?
• Sto imparando l'italiano. I am learning Italian.

4. Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

Articles: il/lo/l (m. sg.), i/glie (m. pl.), la/l (f. sg.), le (f. pl.)

Pronouns: io, tu, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro

Verb endings (present): -are -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano; -ere -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono; -ire -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono

Negation: non + verb

Common question words: chi, che cosa, dove, quando, perch, come