The Easy Learning Italian Vocabulary is designed for both young and adult learners. Whether you are starting to learn Italian for the very first time, revising for school exams or simply want to brush up on your Italian, the Easy Learning Italian Vocabulary offers you the information you require in a clear and accessible format.
This book is divided into 50 topics, arranged in alphabetical order. This thematic approach enables you to learn related words and phrases together, so that you can become confident in using particular vocabulary in context.
Vocabulary within each topic is divided into nouns and useful phrases which are aimed at helping you to express yourself in idiomatic Italian. Vocabulary within each topic is graded to help you prioritize your learning. Essential words include the basic words you will need to be able to communicate effectively, important words help expand your knowledge, and useful words provide additional vocabulary which will enable you to express yourself more fully.
Nouns are grouped by gender: masculine (“il”) nouns are given together, as are feminine (“la”) nouns, enabling you to memorize words according to their gender. In addition, all feminine forms of adjectives are shown, as are irregular, invariable and gender-changing noun plurals.
At the end of the book you will find a list of supplementary vocabulary, grouped according to part of speech – adjective, verb, noun and so on. This is vocabulary which you will come across in many everyday situations.
ABBREVIATIONS
| adj | adjective |
| adv | adverb |
| conj | conjunction |
| f | feminine |
| inv | invariable |
| m | masculine |
| m+f | masculine and feminine form |
| n | noun |
| pl | plural |
| pl inv | invariable, with no change to noun in the plural |
| prep | preposition |
| qc | qualcosa |
| qn | qualcuno |
| sb | somebody |
| sing | singular |
| sth | something |
The swung dash ~ is used to indicate no change to a word in the plural of a compound noun.
GENDER
In Italian, nouns are either masculine or feminine. Most masculine nouns take the article il. This article becomes l’ when the noun begins with a vowel and becomes lo when the noun begins with s+consonant (eg sc, sp, st), or begins gn, pn, ps, x, y or z.
Feminine nouns take la or l’ (when the noun begins with a vowel).
Many masculine nouns end in o; many feminine nouns end in a. Both masculine and feminine nouns can end in e.
PLURAL
Unlike English, where you generally add letters (s or es) to make nouns plural, in Italian you change the final letter.
o > i (il posto > i posti)
a > e (la pizza > le pizze)
e > i (il padre, la madre > i padri, le madri)
Articles change as follows:
| masculine: | il > i | l’ > gli | lo > gli |
| feminine: | la > le | l’ > le |
Nouns that are imported into Italian (such as bar, computer, menù, sport) stay the same in the plural (pl inv). They are generally masculine:
il bar > i bar, il computer > i computer, il menù > i menù, lo sport > gli sport.
PLURAL SPELLING CHANGES