BUON NATALE ! - MERRY CHRISTMAS !

Italian is a language that is very connected to genders: almost every noun we pronounce is classified as masculine or feminine and therefore, knowing the gender of a noun, is useful to conjugate its corresponding adjectives and articles (or vice versa). Ofc when it comes to nouns that indicate living beings it's easier: you see their gender or anyway you can understand/ask for it (especially with humans and animals). But what happens with all the others "things"?

Nature, animals' species, objects, body parts, materials, stuff in general...?

It is not always an easy task to tell if the noun of a "something", that is not a human/animal thing, is masculine or feminine. No matter what is its final vowel, most of the times you have to learn it by heart or remember through practice (cause many nouns got their gender out of a linguistic formality).

4 basic problems:

The thing to keep in mind is that (1) sometimes, a noun that is masculine at the singular, can become feminine at the plural (e.g. l'uovo, le uova / the egg, the eggs), and that (2) some nouns can totally change meaning according on their gender/last vowel (e.g. il porto = the harbour, la porta = the door). To make it worse, there are also some (3) fixed nouns in number (e.g. la serie, le serie / the serie, the series - fem.) and (4) nouns that don't have a final vowel (e.g. lo sport, gli sport / the sport, the sports - masc.).

Let's go step by step.

Ending of the noun: -A, -O, -E (singular nouns) - general rules.

- Most of the times, if a singular noun ends in -a (plural -e: e.g. la matita, le matite / the pencil, the pencils) it means it is feminine, while if it ends in -o (plural -i: e.g. il libro, i libri / the book, the books), it is masculine. But this is not always true. - There are singular nouns ending in -o that are feminine (e.g. la mano, le mani / the hand, the hands) and names ending in -a that are masculine (e.g. il problema, i problemi / the problem, the problems). - Same thing happens with the ending -e: we can have both a masculine noun (e.g. il piede, i piedi / the foot, the feet) or a feminine noun (e.g. la lince, le linci / the lynx, the lynxes - on a side note, this is the name of the specie. We don't have different nouns for masculine and feminine: in general, la lince = feminine, "l'esemplare maschio della lince / il maschio della lince" * = masculine. But I'll get back to this later on). There's the word "signore" which at the singular is masculine and at the plural is feminine (gentleman= il signore, gentlemen= i signori; lady= la signora, ladies= le signore) - And all this said, there are also some common exceptions.

So what can we do? - Rules that can come in handy most of the times.

There are general rules that can work for most cases (not always, keep in mind): when you find the category in which the object (or whatever else) is into, you can try to follow them. Let's see:

-> Nouns that are more likely to be FEMININE:

1) Fruits names: e.g. la mela (apple), la pera (pear), la pesca (peach)... 2) Abstract things, sciences, disciplines: e.g. la geometria (geometry), la pace (peace), la grammatica (grammar)... 3) Military activities: e.g. la guardia (the guard), la pattuglia (the patrol)... 4) Some names of cities [esp. when talking about a specific time/era/characteristic or telling something about a city: because you leave the word "città", which is feminine, implied], regions [but not all the Italian regions], islands [mostly cause "isola" is a feminine noun and it is left implied when saying the island's name], states, continents: e.g. la Milano da bere (social life/aperitivo time in Milan), Venezia è bella (=la città di Venezia è bella / the city of Venice is beautiful), la Lombardia, la collina (=la regione collinare / the hills region), l'Elba (=l'isola d'Elba / the island of Elba), la Francia, L'Europa... 5) Some sports associations: e.g. la Juventus, la Fiorentina... 6) Almost all the names ending by -a: e.g. la casa (house), la palla (ball), la testa (head)... 7) Many names ending in -i: e.g. la sintassi (syntax)... 8) The nouns ending in -tà and -tù: e.g. la verità (truth), la virtù (goodness)...

-> Nouns that are more likely to be MASCULINE:

1) Some names of trees [esp. fruit trees]: e.g. il platano (sycamore), il pino (pine), il pesco (peach tree), il pero (pear tree)... 2) Metals and chemical elements: e.g. il piombo (lead), l'oro (gold), l'ossigeno (oxygen)... 3) Months [when talking about some characteristic/a specific month] and days of the week: e.g. un maggio piovoso (a rainy May), il venerdì (friday)... 4) Some seas, mountains, lakes, rivers [mostly because you leave the words "mare, monte, lago, fiume" implied, and they are all masculine]: e.g. il Mediterraneo (=il mar Mediterraneo / the Mediterranean sea), il Cervino (=il monte Cervino / Mount Cervin), il (lago) Maggiore, il (fiume) Po [but those ending by -a can be treated as feminine when the word "fiume" isn't explicit: la Bormida = il fiume Bormida]... 5) Some wines, prayers and all the cardinal points: e.g. il Barolo [here too, you live the masculine word "vino" implied - but still for example, there's la Bonarda, which is a feminine wine when you don't say "il vino Bonarda". If they end by -a, you can still act as if they're feminine nouns tbh], il Padre Nostro [but there's also the feminine l'Ave Maria, bc is related to a woman], il Sud (South)... 6) Most of the nouns ending in -o: e.g. l'uovo (egg), lo specchio (glass)... 7) Most of the foreign nouns that end with a consonat: e.g. il computer, lo sport... 8) Some names ending by -a [esp. those that have a Greek origin or are of scientific/technical use]: e.g. il dramma (drama - play), l'eritema (rash), il karma (karma)...

-> Nouns that can be 50/50:

1) These are especially among those that end with -e: il mare (masculine), la nave (the boat)...

You mentioned common exceptions though -

Yes I did. And these are what I was referring to (and I mentioned as "problems" before):

1) Some words are fixed: they keep the same form both if they are feminine or masculine, but articles and adjectives have to clarify the gender: luckily they're often related to humans and their jobs: e.g. il/la fisioterapista (physiotherapist), il/la giornalista (journalist), il/la cantante (singer)... OR animal [species esp.] names: as said before when talking about the lynx (la lince), we generally say explicitly if the sample we are considering is masculine or feminine by adding "masculine/feminine" near the specie's name (e.g. la femmina/il maschio della lince, la lince femmina/la lince maschio).

2) Some words change their gender when passing from mascuiline to feminine and vice versa (basically when changing their final vowel): e.g. il busto (bust, chest), la busta (envelop)... (I call them "weird plurals"**)

3) Some words have a double plural***, one masculine and one feminine, and they carry a different meaning. E.g.: il labbro (lip, rim) -> i labbri (rims), le labbra (lips); il braccio (arm, branch) -> i bracci (branches, arms of thing e.g. crane), le braccia (arms as body part)...

4) Some words have one singular form, but two different plurals according on the gender they're referring to: e.g. l'atleta (athlete) - gli atleti (plu. masc.), le atlete (plu. fem.)

5) Some words change completely (or only partially their ending) according to the gender they are referring to (it's generally for some jobs or animals), so it’s easier to find out the feminine and the masculine: e.g. il professore (man professor) + la professoressa (woman professor), il traduttore (man interpreter) + la traduttrice (woman interpreter), la mucca (cow) + il toro (bull), maschio (male) + femmina (female), uomo (man) + donna (woman) dio (god), dea (goddess) fratello (brother), sorella (sister)...

To go a little more into detail: **** What if we wanted to change the gender of a noun from masculine to feminine?

[This is gonna be esp. related to the last point of the previous slot, so the partially changing endings]: - with most of the masculine nouns ending in -o, you only have to change that vowel with an -a: e.g. il gatto -> la gatta (cat), il cavallo -> la cavalla (horse)... [just beware it doesn't change the meaning of the word, as seen above] - at times you add the suffix -essa: e.g. professore -> professoressa (professor), poeta -> poetessa (poet), leone -> leonessa (lion/lioness), dottore -> dottoressa (doctor)... - if the masculine ends in -tore, you add the suffix -trice (only exception: dottore): e.g. traduttore -> traduttrice (translator), pattinatore -> pattinatrice (skater), giocatore -> giocatrice (player), attore -> attrice (actor/actress)... - and then there are few nouns that at the feminine end with -ina: e.g. gallo -> gallina (rooster/hen), re -> regina (king/queen), eroe -> eroina (hero/heroine), zar -> zarina (tsar/tsarina)...

I'm leaving some old links worth taking a look at. You can find more examples too.

I'm talking about like, you know how in English we have this word "like" and you use it in like 300 different ways without realizing it, like you can be like, "Man, "like" is like the most ubiquitous word EVER!"

Does Italian have any sort of equivalent? :D

Ciao!

Well I think one we use in the same way of like could be "ecco" (=exactly, here you have, there you are, uhm, I see - check these posts 1 | 2). I think "ma" (=but) is another versatile word: we use it also to stress questions (Ma cosa mi stai dicendo! = What the hell are you telling me!). It can be found also as "mah" (=Idk) but mostly when you are expressing a doubt/thinking. Some other words could be "tipo" (=like, almost) or "cioè" (=i.e.). We tend to use a lot of interjections/filler words when talking, and some of them do actually have a meaning of their own (like "like" does). Here some post reblogged and made about filler words, just in case, but my vote as one of the most versatile Italian words goes to "ecco". :)

Ciao! First of all, there's nothing bad in trying to speak despite being a starter: we all want to learn a language to communicate, so even if you were to try convos (esp. easiest ones), I can't see anything bad. You can learn new words while talking (you can ask for explanations of what you don't understand: that's a nice way of learning). But ofc, I also totally understand if you don't feel comfortable doing so: I'm generally not as well when I'm starting to learn a language.

So, to answer you: I think there must be some Discord server about it, but I'm not really sure: I haven't joined one yet, and I'm postponing that as for now I'm having too many things to do. There's this old post I made with a few links, I'm not sure if those servers are still up or what)

Then there's HelloTalk. I used to think about joining it, as it seems a nice app where you can share your language's knowledge with other students via messages, audios, videos... whatsoever, and get feedback.

The Tandem app, which I found related to the website Conversation Exchange (this latter one helps you with resources and finding some natives near where you live). Tandem though, only works online and connects you to wherever through audios and chats, probably same as HelloTalk, after a very fast look.

The Speaky app, which I think works almost the same way. It seems though that it doesn't really show you the level of the other speaker you're connecting with.

But all the apps are probably worth a better look: you'll find out by checking them personally which one might work best for you. Or you can try them.

There is also Language Exchange Community. but I think it's mostly a website? I haven't checked it too fondly, sorry.

I think also Italki might give the chance to share audios with other learners, without needing to pay teachers. But I'm not sure if you can join alone or with an invitation (I'm reading the latter).

Forvo can help with pronunciations: it has a good database of audios in different languages, but I'm not sure (i don't remember) if you can get a feedback once you record something there. Probably there's a separate section for learners though, but again Idk if they just give you audios or you can send some back (I think it should be that way though but). There's also Forvo kids (which please, don't get me wrong, but I personally found a pretty good idea: when we start learning a language we are just basically like kids learning, aren't we? It also has drawings/cards)

There's also Sayitaliano audio section + youtube channel and all the audio resources just in case, but if you wanna practice you can join Sayitaliano Telegram: I'm totally willing to help you out with audios there, so there's no problem to me. No matter the level of knowledge you have, you're welcome. Plus, there might be someone speaking another language too or we can sort out another way to chat if you want it to be more private, maybe through Instagram's audios (which are always open to everyone, and you can request me pronounciations there or elsewhere).

five days in one post, five words/phrases daily,   one week to introduce yourself.

—

DAY ONE

ciao — hi / bye (informal)

buongiorno — hello / good morning (formal)

buonasera — hello / good evening (formal)

sono […] / mi chiamo […] — i am […] / my name is […] 

piacere di conoscerti/la  — nice to meet you

DAY TWO

come stai? — how are you?

va bene — good / well

e tu? — and you?

come ti chiami? — what’s your name?

scusa  — excuse me / sorry  (informal)

DAY THREE

capito? — do you understand?

dai! — come on!

permesso — excuse me / sorry (formal)

sei [nazionalità]? — are you [nationality]?

sono [nazionalità] — i am [nationality] 

DAY FOUR

da dove vieni / di dove sei? — where do you come / are you from?

parli [lingua]? — do you speak [language]?

sì, posso parlare [lingua] — yes, i can speak [language]

dove vivi? — where do you live?

vivo qui vicino— i live near here ⤷ similar to spanish’ “vivo aquí cerca” - lit. i live here near

DAY FIVE

vivo lontano da qui — i live far from here

che lavoro fa? — what do you do? / what’s your job? (formal)

sono un/una [lavoro] — i am a / i work as a [profession]

che cosa significa? — what does that mean?

grazie mille! — thank you so much!

cordoglio (very deep grief, often collective): from lat. cordolium, cor+dolium (dolore) = 'pain of the heart';

ricordo, ricordare (memory, to remember/recall): from lat. recordari, re+cor = 'back in the heart' because they used to believe memory resided in the heart;

coraggio, coraggioso (courage, courageous): from lat. coraticum, cor+habeo= 'to have heart';

Le faccende domestiche = The domestic matters/chores

Tu resti in mia regal presenza e nulla ancora hai domandato al Re - io voglio averti a me daccanto!

means:

Do you know these times when you’re sitting in front of your textbook, trying to learn these boring af vocabs you’ve seen 1000 times but still can’t remember and just wish to do something different (or hoping that the world explodes so you can at least stop)?

Well, there are more ways to learn a language and I think because we just learned how we “should” learn a language at school, we’re limited in creativity. Thanks to school it’s hard to think outside of this “textbook, vocab lists, tests, etc.” stuff but there are ENDLESS things you can do to learn a language.

Remember: everything you do in your native language, you can try to do in your target language!

This is for all the people who are tired and exhausted, who are thinking about quitting or don’t have fun with their target language anymore.

DON’T YOU DARE TO GIVE UP! YOU’VE COME SO FAR!

_____________________________________________

Examples for different ways of learning a language:

write a diary

summarise an article about a topic you like (cooking, fitness, etc.)

listen to a podcast/radio

listen to music (while reading the lyrics)

try to sing along with music

read out loud while reading a book/magazine/blog/etc.

watch movies/series/videos

record videos in your target language or about how studying is going (progress, problems, etc.)

write a blog (well hello there :))

use apps that make it more fun (duolingo, memrise, lingodeer)

chat with native speakers

actually talk to native speakers ( I know what a crazy idea)

read websites about things you’re interested in

use social media only available in your target language

change the language of your smartphone

change the language of your pc

change the language of your life

play games in your target language (like not necessarily for learning it, I mean just playing a normal game IN your target language)  

take online lessons with teachers that make you forget you’re learning

do a challenge! (I love this one so much)

find a learning group

be active in forums (no matter about language learning or a forum in your target language)

find a language exchange partner. (You should, seriously.)

watch lessons on youtube

read a (children-)book (with audio)

talk to yourself 

think in your target language (a fun way is to tell a story about your life while it’s happening like “I went down the road with a stranger always behind me, who could it be? What does he want? It got quiet… too quiet. I tried to keep calm but was it really a coincidence? All in the middle of nowhere?” I know I’m bad at this but I hope you get what I mean, think of it like reading a book.)

learn vocabs with pictures, type in the word you want to know and ONLY look for pictures, try to feel the word. If you google for “strawberry” (in your target language and don’t know what it means) look at the pictures, the colours, how could it smell? Make a sentence with the new word. When was the last time you ate it? How was it?

Write a story/book online or just for yourself.

Make a mindmap

Use a topic jar (a jar where you put in notes with different topics on it, you take one every day and write/talk about it)

use social media to find groups interested in learning a new language or your target language

translate texts and act like you’re a famous translator who’s the only person on earth who can translate your target language (for example if you’re reading articles about historical stuff, act like you’re the only one who can find out what happened back then and the whole world is counting on you!)

try to solve random online tests

listen to a song/audiobook/whatever and write down what you hear

search for words you want to learn and build up (funny!) sentences with them or even whole stories

read comics/mangas/etc.

search for receipts  in your target language and pray to god you’re doing it right… if not, well you won’t forget the vocab again. Win-win situation. :p

search for language learning groups near your living place and actually meet them (stay safe and check everything before)

listen to children songs (I still remember the first children song I learned in English lessons… like… 11 years ago in 5th grade) these songs are supposed to stick… *cough* head shoulders knees and toes knees and toes *cough* sorry where was I?

connect with language learners over Skype (useful groups of course like German trying to learn French, Frenchman trying to learn Turkish, Turk trying to learn German)

write a list (you know… like I do right know so I don’t forget English)

describe things you see (more fun with a partner)

teach your target language to others

listen to audio while sleeping

take notes in your target language (I don’t mean for grammar rules or something like that, I mean notes you would take in your native language anyway)

write a letter (so much better than an e-mail)

write an e-mail (who has time for letters)

learn rimes 

learn jokes (it’s also useful for social interaction)

talk to your pets (at least if they listen to you, if I start to talk to my cat she starts yelling into my face)

translate songs and learn the vocab of it so you have more fun listening to it later

Here are all of the Routledge Grammar PDFs that I currently have. I’ll be updating whenever I find more. Let me know if there’s one in particular you want me to look for^^

Last Update: 2017/04/24

Fixed Intermediate Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook link 

Added books for Czech, English, French, French Creoles, Persian, Ukranian

Added more books in Cantonese, Danish, Greek, Polish, Spanish, Swedish

Arabic

Arabic: An Essential Grammar Basic Arabic: A Grammar and Workbook Modern Written Arabic: A Comprehensive Grammar

Cantonese

Basic Cantonese: A Grammar and Workbook Cantonese: A Comprehensive Grammar Intermediate Cantonese: A Grammar and Workbook

Czech

Czech: An Essential Grammar

Danish

Danish: A Comprehensive Grammar Danish: An Essential Grammar

Dutch

Basic Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook Dutch: A Comprehensive Grammar Dutch: An Essential Grammar Intermediate Dutch: A Grammar and Workbook

English

English: An Essential Grammar

Finnish

Finnish: An Essential Grammar

French

Modern French Grammar Workbook

French Creoles

French Creoles: A Comprehensive and Comparative Grammar

German

Basic German: A Grammar and Workbook German: An Essential Grammar Intermediate German: A Grammar and Workbook

Greek

Greek: A Comprehensive Grammar Greek: An Essential Grammar of the Modern Language

Hindi

Hindi: An Essential Grammar

Hebrew

Modern Hebrew: An Essential Grammar

Hungarian

Hungarian: An Essential Grammar

Indonesian

Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar

Irish

Basic Irish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Irish: A Grammar and Workbook

Italian

Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

Japanese

Basic Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Japanese: A Grammar and Workbook Japanese: A Comprehensive Grammar

Korean

Basic Korean: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Korean: A Grammar and Workbook Korean: A Comprehensive Grammar

Latin

Intensive Basic Latin: A Grammar and Workbook Intensive Intermediate Latin: A Grammar and Workbook

Latvian

Latvian: An Essential Grammar

Mandarin Chinese

Basic Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Chinese: A Grammar and Workbook Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar Chinese: An Essential Grammar

Norwegian

Norwegian: An Essential Grammar

Persian

Basic Persian: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Persian: A Grammar and Workbook

Polish

Basic Polish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Polish: A Grammar and Workbook Polish: A Comprehensive Grammar Polish: An Essential Grammar

Portuguese

Portuguese: An Essential Grammar

Romanian

Romanian: An Essential Grammar

Russian

Basic Russian: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Russian: A Grammar and Workbook

Serbian

Serbian: An Essential Grammar

Spanish

Basic Spanish: A Grammar and Workbook Intermediate Spanish: A Grammar and Workbook Spanish: An Essential Grammar

Swahili

Swahili Grammar and Workbook

Swedish

Swedish: A Comprehensive Grammar Swedish: An Essential Grammar

Thai

Thai: An Essential Grammar

Turkish

Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar

Ukrainian

Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar

Urdu

Urdu: An Essential Grammar

Welsh

Modern Welsh: A Comprehensive Grammar

Yiddish

Basic Yiddish: A Grammar and Textbook

Hope this helps everyone out a bit! Happy studying^^

IL PAESAGGIO - THE LANDSCAPE

il cielo - sky la montagna - mountain il monte - smaller mountain la catena montuosa - mountain range la collina - hill la pianura - plain la valle - valley il bosco - woods la foresta - forest la giungla - jungle

IL PAESAGGIO - THE LANDSCAPE

il cielo - sky la montagna - mountain il monte - smaller mountain la catena montuosa - mountain range la collina - hill la pianura - plain la valle - valley il bosco - woods la foresta - forest la giungla - jungle

Persone: People Bebè: Baby Bambina: Little Girl Bambine: Little Girls Bambino: Little Boy Bambini: Little Boys Ragazza: Girl Ragazze: Girls Ragazzo: Boy Ragazzi: Boys Donna: Woman Donne: Women Uomo: Man Uomini: Men

Famiglia: Family Bisnonno: Great-grandpa Bisnonna: Great-grandma Nonno: Grandpa Nonna: Grandma Padre: Father Papà: Dad Madre: Mother Mamma: Mom Genitori: Parents Marito: Husband Moglie: Wife Figlio: Son Figli: Sons Figlia: Daughter Figlie: Daughters Fratello: Brother Fratelli: Brothers Sorella: Sister Sorelle: Sisters Nipote: Grandchild, Nephew, Niece Nipoti: Grandkids, Nephews, Nieces Suocero: Father-in-law Suocera: Mother-in-law Suoceri: Parents-in-law Zio: Uncle Zii: Uncles Zia: Aunt Zie: Aunts Cugino: Cousin (m) Cugini: Cousins (m. plural) Cugina: Cousin (f) Cugine: Cousins (f. plural) Cognato: Brother-in-law Cognati: Brothers-in-law Cognata: Sister-in-law Cognate: Sisters-in-law Genero: Son-in-law Generi: Sons-in-law Nuora: Daughter-in-law Nuore: Daughters-in-law Patrigno: Stepfather Matrigna: Stepmother Padrino: Godfather Madrina: Godmother

Amici: Friends Amico: Friend (m) Amici: Friends (m. plural) Amica: Friend (f) Amiche: Friends (f. plural)

Vicino: Neighbor (m) Vicini: Neighbors (m. plural) Vicina: Neighbor (f) Vicine: Neighbors (f. plural)

Ciao a tutt*! I’d like to recommend an Italian YouTube channel called “Canale di Venti” created by different people in their 20s for people in their 20s and aimed at sparking conversations via different formats (monologues, chats, book reviews, interviews) around topics like:

everyday life (taboos, relationships, university, etc.)

mental health

social issues

Here’s a hilarious vent about life during the pandemic a year after the outbreak:

And the latest book chat 📚:

Ciao:  Hi/Bye (Informal)

Salve: Hello (formal)

Buongiorno: Good morning

Buon pomeriggio: Good afternoon

Buonasera: Good evening/night (after 6 p.m/18hrs)

Buonnanotte: Good night (farewell)

Come sta?: How are you (formal)

Come stai?: How are you (informal)

Come state?: How are you? (plural)

Come va?: How’s it going?

(Va) Tutto bene?: Is everything going well?

Tutto a posto?: Everything okay?

Come butta?: What’s up? (slang)

Comme vanno le cose?: How things are going?

Sto bene: I’m good

Tutto bene: It’s all good

Così così: So-so

Non c’è male: Not that bad

Come ti chiami?: What’s your name?

Mi chiamo: My name is

Sono: I am

E tu?: And you?

Quanti anni hai?: How old are you?

Ho ____ anni: I’m _____ years old.

Da dove vieni?: Where you come from?

Vengo da… : I’m come from…

Di dove sei?: Where are you from?

Io sono di: I’m from…

Cosa fai nella vita?: What do you do in life/for living?

Mi occupo di: I work on…

Mi dedico a: I dedicate myself to…

Che cosa ti piace fare?: What do you like to do?

Mi piace…: I like…

Quali sono i tuoi hobby?: What are your hobbies?

Miei hobby sono…: My hobbies are…

Piacere di conoscerti: Nice to meet you

Anche me / Anch'io: Me too

il piacere è mio / Piacere mio: The pleasure is mine / My pleasure

A presto: See you soon

Ci vediamo dopo: I’ll see you later

Arrivederci: Goodbye (formal)