Italian A2: Basics

Time arrives at this level. You can report what happened and announce what you mean to do. Sentences get longer because they join up: the first linking words — and, but, because, when — come into play.

The vocabulary covers daily life — work, housing, travel, health, weather. Anything unfamiliar is still hard, anything familiar runs smoothly.

Tenses and if-sentences9

Verbs: modals, si, subjunctive9

To be and to have

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

The imperative

A2Imperative: tu, noi, voiThe -are verbs swap their final vowel, and only they.A2Formal imperative: 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

A2To know: sapere or conoscereTwo verbs for « know » — and two for « can ».A2Asking politely« I'd like », « could you », « may I » — three for three.

Verbs with si

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

Verb + infinitive

A2Infinitive without prepositionWant, can, must — and a dozen more.

Articles, nouns and pronouns16

The articles

A2Articles where English has noneCountries, languages, days, and your own hands.A2The partitive articleIt is your some — except that qualche is singular.A2Articles with countries and namesYour the United States rule is exactly the Italian one.

The noun

A2Plural spelling: -chi, -ghiEnglish respells to fit the -s; Italian respells to protect the sound.A2Possession with diThere is no apostrophe s — the owner goes last.

The adjectives

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.A2Absolute superlative: -issimoIt is your very, packed into a suffix.A2Adverbs in -mente-mente is your -ly, irregulars included.

The pronouns

A2Direct object pronouns: lo, laIn front of the verb, and it follows the thing's gender.A2Indirect object pronouns: gliWhich set applies is decided by the Italian verb, not the English one.A2Stressed pronouns: con me, per te, a luiAfter a preposition and for emphasis, the full form.A2Indefinites: ogni, qualcuno, tuttoogni never changes, tutto wants the article.A2The pronouns ne and ciEnglish leaves the slot empty; Italian may not.

Prepositions

A2The preposition daFrom, since, at somebody's, and for — in one word.A2Time expressions: fa, tra, per, entrofa comes last, tra counts forward, in measures how long.

Sentence structure3

Questions and negation

A2Double negatives: non … maiThe sentence English teachers strike out is the correct one here.

Joining sentences

A2Relative pronouns: che, cuiOne word for almost everything, and no way to drop it.A2Conjunctions: perché, quandoAnd the verb stays where it is.

Politeness, style, fine points4

Formal and informal you

A2When to use tuThere is no English instinct for this, so it has to be learnt as a fact.A2Polite conditional: vorreiIt moves nothing in time; it takes the edge off.

Fine points and style

A2The accent and the apostropheYour apostrophe owns things; this one only marks a missing vowel.A2Punctuation, numbers, capitals3,5 and 12.000 are not what an English reader reads.

Word lists at level A2

Lists: 14 · words: 683

Reading texts at level A2

Sentences from this level’s topics

Come stai? — Non c’è male, grazie.How are you? — Not bad, thanks.

Vado a scuola in bicicletta.I cycle to school.

Se paghi tu, offro il caffè la prossima volta.If you pay, I will buy the coffee next time.

Il martedì ho lezione di italiano.On Tuesdays I have an Italian lesson.

Practise level A2 only