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EveryLingua

A2

Grundkenntnisse

Hier kommt die Zeit dazu. Man kann erzählen, was passiert ist, und ankündigen, was man vorhat. Sätze werden länger, weil sie verbunden werden: and, but, because, when.

Der Wortschatz deckt den Alltag ab — Arbeit, Wohnen, Reisen, Gesundheit, Wetter. Ungewohntes bleibt schwierig, Vertrautes geht flüssig.

Noch ohne Familie37

To be and to have

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A2stare — to be placed, to feelYou have the progressive; here it is optional, and that is the hard part.

The present tense

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A2The irregular onesfare is do and make at once — and the weather is made.

The articles

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A2Where English uses noneCountries, languages, days, and your own hands.A2The partitive articleIt is your some — except that qualche is singular.A2Countries, cities and namesYour the United States rule is exactly the Italian one.

The noun

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A2When the plural changes the spellingEnglish respells to fit the -s; Italian respells to protect the sound.A2Of whom, not whoseThere is no apostrophe s — the owner goes last.

The adjectives

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A2Where the adjective standsEnglish has one position; Italian uses two, and they mean different things.A2Comparing and gradingOne way of comparing instead of two — and than splits in half.A2The superlative that compares nothingIt is your very, packed into a suffix.A2From adjective to adverb-mente is your -ly, irregulars included.

The pronouns

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A2This and thatTwo distances, as in English — but quello reshapes itself.A2The direct objectIn front of the verb, and it follows the thing's gender.

Questions and negation

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A2Two negatives, one statementThe sentence English teachers strike out is the correct one here.

The past

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A2The passato prossimo with essereHere the verb says whether a man or a woman is speaking.A2The irregular participlesNearly all of them are sitting in one of the three families.A2The imperfettoThree English pasts arriving as one ending.

The future

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A2The futuro sempliceOne set of endings, with an r for a badge.A2stare per and the other announcementsThe narrow end of « going to », and nothing wider.A2The presente for the futureThe everyday future, and it is not carelessness.

Asking and telling

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A2The forms for tu, noi and voiThe -are verbs swap their final vowel, and only they.A2The form for LeiThe form that says the two of you have not met.A2The negative imperative« Don't » leaves the verb alone; here it rebuilds it.

Can, must, want

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A2sapere and conoscereTwo verbs for « know » — and two for « can ».A2Asking politely« I'd like », « could you », « may I » — three for three.

The little words

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A2da — the preposition with no counterpartFrom, since, at somebody's, and for — in one word.

The two ways of saying you

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A2When to use tuThere is no English instinct for this, so it has to be learnt as a fact.A2The condizionale as politenessIt moves nothing in time; it takes the edge off.

Verbs with si

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A2The reflexive verbsA pronoun that changes with the person and means nothing on its own.A2piacere and its relativesThe coffee is the subject and you are the object.

If-sentences

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A2When it is likelyAnd here the future after « if » is allowed.

Joining sentences

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A2che and cuiOne word for almost everything, and no way to drop it.A2The conjunctionsAnd the verb stays where it is.

What follows a verb

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A2The bare infinitiveWant, can, must — and a dozen more.

The finish

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A2molto, troppo, tanto, poco« Very » and « many » are one word here, and it changes shape for only one of the two jobs.A2The accent and the apostropheYour apostrophe owns things; this one only marks a missing vowel.A2Marks, numbers and capitals3,5 and 12.000 are not what an English reader reads.