Italian — Basic

Italian — Basic Level

Italian is spoken by approximately 85 million people and is among the most phonetically transparent of the Romance languages — what you see is almost always what you say. Its grammar shares significant structure with French and Spanish, making it accessible to speakers of those languages.

Pronunciation: Italy's Greatest Gift

Italian vowels are pure and consistent — the same five vowel sounds as Spanish. Every letter is pronounced (almost); there are no silent letters except H, which appears rarely. This makes Italian significantly more transparent than French.

Key sounds: C before E or I sounds like CH (ciao, cinema). C before A, O, or U sounds like K (casa, cosa). G before E or I sounds like J (gelato). G before A, O, or U sounds like G in "go" (gatto — cat).

Double consonants are genuinely doubled — the consonant is held longer. "Anno" (year) vs. "ano" (anus) — the distinction is the doubled N. Italians notice and appreciate correct doubling.

Essential Phrases

Greetings: Buongiorno, Come sta? (formal: How are you?), Come stai? (informal), Bene, grazie (Fine, thanks), E Lei/tu? (And you? — formal/informal), Piacere (Nice to meet you — lit. "pleasure")

Daily necessities: Non capisco (I don't understand), Può ripetere? (Can you repeat? — formal), Parla inglese? (Do you speak English?), Dove è il bagno? (Where is the bathroom?), Quanto costa? (How much does it cost?)

Numbers: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci, undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici, diciassette, diciotto, diciannove, venti

Regular Verb Conjugation: -are

With "parlare" (to speak):

Io parlo, Tu parli, Lei parla (formal you), Lui/Lei parla, Noi parliamo, Voi parlate, Loro parlano

Food Vocabulary (Because Italy)

Colazioni (breakfast) items: caffè (espresso), cappuccino, cornetto (croissant), pane (bread), burro (butter), marmellata (jam). "Un caffè, per favore" will serve you well at any Italian bar.