Marley's Italy

Used to narrate completed past events, refer to events that took place in a completed time period or have no continuing effect on the present, far past, not yesterday. 

To form: drop -re ending for all but 3rd singular which also drops the final vowel, and then add endings. 

1-3-3 verbs:

Irregular in io, lei/lui, and loro form 

Different stem and end in -i, -e, ero 

3 types of Se sentences, 2 categories

possible

not possible

Possible

Whole thing is in the indicative

And indicative tense: present, future, imperfect

Se useremo l’energia solare, aiuteremo l’ambiente  If we use solar energy, we will help the environment. 

Se + if clause (present, perfect, imperfect) -> independent clause (present, future, or imperfect) 

Not possible

Imperfect subjunctive relate to now, hypotheticals

Avrebbe comprato i pannelli solari, se non costassero tanto He would have bought solar panels, if they didn’t cost so much. 

Trapassato subjunctive relate to an earlier time, impossible, contrary to fact 

Non avrei sprecato i soldi per la benzina se fossi andata a piedi  I wouldn’t have wasted the money on gas if I had walked 

Se + imperfect subjunctive or trapassato subjunctive -> present conditional or past conditional 

For any verb tense used in the main clause, the tense of the subordinate clause is based on when the actions take place in relation to one another 

Use when action in subordinate clause takes place before the action in the main clause

Still use di + infinitive if there is no change in subject 

To form: use imperfect subjunctive form of essere or avere 

Imperfect Subjunctive Form 

Avere

avessi

avessi

avesse

avessimo

aveste

avessero

Essere

fossi

fossi

fosse

fossimo

foste

Used when the verb in the main clause is in the past of the conditional 

Use when action in subordinate clause takes place at the same time, or later than a past tense or conditional in the main clause. 

Main clause can be:

passato prossimo

imperfetto 

trapassato

conditional

conditional perfect

To form: conjugation is identical for -are, -ere, -ire just drop the ‘re’ and add the imperfect ending 

All verbs have the same endings, some have irregular stems

essere- fossi

dare- dessi

stare- stess-

bere- bevessi

dire- dicessi

Conjunctions used only with the indicative

appena- as soon as

e- and

ma- but

mentre- while

o/oppure- or

perche- because

Conjunctions followed by the subjunctive

Meaning “so that”

affinche

in modo che

perche

Meaning “although”

benche

per quanto

sebbene

Meaning “provided that”

a condizione che

a patto che

purche

Other

prima che- before

senza che- without

a meno che... non- unless

Perche can mean either “because” which is used with the indicative or “so that” which is used with the subjunctive

You can use the same subject in the main clause and the dependent clause here and it is still in the subjunctive form

EXCEPT FOR:

Perche, prima che, and senza che

If they have the same subject use per, prima di, senza + infinitive respectively

Expresses actions that took place in the past

Choose it when the action in the subordinate clause takes place before the action in the main clause

Ernesto pensa che abbiano scalato la montagna  Ernesto thinks that they climbed the mountain 

To form: use present subjunctive avere or essere + past participle 

Avere

abbia

abbia

abbia

abbiamo

abbiate

abbiano

Essere

sia

sia

sia

siamo

siate

siano 

Same Subject

When the same subject is used use di + infinitive of avere or essere + past participle 

Quella capra e contenta di avere mangiato il nostro pranzo  The goat is happy to have eaten our lunch 

With the Relative Superlative 

If the clause has 2 different subjects and the verb in the main clause expresses emotion use subjunctive in the subordinate clause

Verbs expressing hope and desire, and verbs of opinion, doubt, or uncertainty also trigger the subjunctive 

Do not use the subjunctive if:

In a subordinate clause the subject is the same as that of the main clause 

Use di + infinitive instead

Dubito di potere arrivare in tempo  I doubt I can arrive on time

Omit the di before the infinitive in same subject sentences with 

desiderare

prefifire

volere

Many common verbs are irregular in the subjunctive 

Avere

abbia

abbia

abbia

abbiamo

abbiate

abbiano

Dare

dia

dia

dia

diamo

diate

diano

Essere

sia

sia

sia

siamo

siate

siano

Sapere

sappia

sappia

sappia 

sappiamo

sappiate

sappiano

Stare

stia

stia

stia

stiamo

stiate

stiano

Irregular form derived from first person singular form 

Andare

vada

vada

vada

andiamo

andiate

vadano

Dovere

debba

debba

debba

dobbiamo

dobbiate

debbano

Uscire

esca

esca

esca

usciamo

usciate

escano

Venire

venga

venga

venga

veniamo

veniate

vengano

Use singular subjunctive forms to derive full present for verbs:

bere - beva

dire- dica

fare- faccia

piacere - piaccia 

potere- possa

Expresses a person’s emotions, opinions, desires, or attitude, or undercertainty, or hypothetical thoughts.

There is a main clause and a subordinate clause connected by CHE, the main clause contains the verb that triggers the subjunctive 

Impersonal phrases trigger subjunctive 

E importante lavorare ogni giorni  E importante che io lavori ogni giorni 

To form: Drop the infinitive ending and then add the subjunctive ending.

Add an h between the stem and the ending for verbs ending in -care and -gare

Used to make general statements, no subject specified, typically consists of a single verb or a verb followed by a noun or adjective. 

To make a general statement follow with an infinitive

E bello ricevere un aumento It’s nice to get a raise 

When an infinitive follows the expression ‘e ora’ use the preposition di after it.

When no specific individual is referenced but an adjective is used use the maculine plural form. 

Something is having something done to it.

One more word than the active sentence, essere verb is added in.

DO becomes subject

Former subject becomes object of da at the end of the sentence

Tackle the verb

Determine the tense of the active verb

Conjugate essere in that tense

Follow essere verb with the past participle of the active verb

The past participle is now an adjective and must agree with the subject (former DO)

Any past tense must also use the past tense of essere, stato, which also must agree.

Original sentence: La giuria vedrà tutti i film

Passive sentence: Tutti i film saranno veduti dalla giuria

Essere Verb Forms

Imperfect

ero

eri

era

eravamo

eravate

erano

Future

saro

sarai

sara

saremo

sarete

To add a suffix drop the final vowel and then add it. 

Smallness or to express affection 

-ello

-etto

-ino

-uccio

Expresses largeness or importance 

-ore/a

Disparaging 

-accio

Commonly Used 

Bellino/a - cute, pretty

Caruccio- sweet, very dear

Cattivello - a little bit naughty

Piccolino - very small

La boccuccia - cute little mouth 

La borsetta - little purse

Il/la chiacchierone - chatter box

Il giornataccia - bad day

La letterone- long letter

La manina- little hand

Il minestrone - thick soup

Il nasino - little nose

Il ragazzazzio - bad boy

Il tempaccio- bad weather

Other than first ten, drop final vowel and add -ESIMO. 

Numbers ending in tre or sei maintain final vowel. 

They are adjectives they must agree with nouns

Numbers

1st - primo

2nd - secondo 

3rd - terzo 

4th - quarto 

5th - quinto 

6th - sesto 

7th - settimo 

8th - ottavo 

9th - nono

10th - decimo 

100th- centesimo 

Emphasizing that an action is in progress

To form: stare (present or imperfect) + gerund

Infinitive->Gerund 

-are->ando

-ere->endo

-ire->endo 

Present Stare (action in progress)

sto 

stai

sta

stiamo

state

stanno

Imperfect Stare (actions that were in progress in the past)

stavo

stavi

stave

stavamo

stavate

stavano 

Notes

Some groups of nouns do not follow the masculine/feminine structure

Nouns ending in -ma are always masculine 

Nouns ending in -ista are either masculine or feminine, but their plural forms respectively are -isti and -iste (look for indefinitive article for gender) 

Nouns that are masculine in singular and feminine in plural 

Nouns ending in -ma 

aroma- aroma, flavoring

clima- climate

dilemma- dilemma

diploma- diploma 

dramma- drama

panorama- landscape

poema- poem

problema- problem

programma- program, plan

schema- scheme, design 

sistema- system 

tema- theme, essay 

teorema- theorem 

trauma- trauma 

Noun’s who’s gender changes 

il braccio -> le braccia arms

il ciglio -> le ciglia eyelashes

il dito-> le dita fingers

il ginocchio -> le ginocchia knees

il labbro- le labra lips

l’orrecchio -> le orrechie ears 

il sopracciglio-> le sopracciglia eyebrows

il lenzuolo -> le lenzuola sheets 

il miglio -> le miglia miles

il muro -> le mura walls

il paio -> le paia pairs

l’uovo-> le uova eggs

Dependent verb + no object -> former subject = direct object 

DV + DO  ->  F sub = IO (need to precede IO with preposition ‘a’) 

DV + DO + IO -> F sub object of ‘da’ 

Sub = DO or IO of DV -> F sub = object of ‘da’ AND the whole thing becomes reflexive