If You Ask Me

Italian Pronunciation English

Ho capito. oh kah-pee-toh I understand.
Ha capito? ah kah-pee-toh Do you understand?
Hai ragione. ay rah-joh-neh You are right. (fam.)
Hai torto. ay tor-toh You are wrong. (fam.)
Che peccato! keh peh-kah-toh What a shame!
Credo di s/no. kreh-doh dee see/no I believe so/not.
Penso di s/no. pen-soh dee see/no I think so/not.
Non importa. non eem-por-tah It doesnt matter.
Per carit! per kah-ree-tah No way!
al contrario al kon-trah-ree-oh on the contrary
allora ah-loh-rah now then, well
comunque koh-moon-kweh anyhow
daccordo dah-kor-doh agreed
dunque doon-kweh now then/so

Ho fame. I am hungry.
Sono stanco. I am tired.
Italian Pronunciation English
naturalmente nah-too-rahl-mehn-teh naturally
per dire la verit per dee-reh lah veh-ree-tah to tell the truth
secondo me seh-kohn-doh meh in my opinion
senza dubbio sen-zah doo-bee-oh without a doubt

Gender-Obvious Nouns

Masculine Noun Feminine Noun Pronunciation English

il padre eel pah-dreh the father
la madre lah mah-dreh the mother
il marito eel mah-ree-toh the husband
la moglie lah mol-yeh the wife
il nonno eel noh-noh the grandfather
la nonna lah noh-nah the grandmother
il fratello eel frah-teh-loh the brother
la sorella lah soh-reh-lah the sister
il cugino eel koo-jee-noh the cousin (m.)
la cugina lah koo-jee-nah the cousin (f.)
il ragazzo eel rah-gah-tsoh the boy
la ragazza lah rah-gah-tsah the girl
Masculine Noun Feminine Noun Pronunciation English
lo zio loh zee-oh the uncle
la zia lah zee-ah the aunt
luomo lwoh-moh the man
la donna lah doh-nah the woman
lamico lah-mee-koh the friend (m.)
lamica lah-mee-kah the friend (f.)

Either-Gender Nouns
Italian English
lartista the artist
latleta the athlete
il/la cantante the singer
il/la dentista the dentist
il/la dirigente the director/executive
lerede the heir
il/la giovane the youth
il/la nomade the nomad

il/la parente the relative

il/la turista the tourist

Nouns Ending in e
Masculine English Feminine English
il cane the dog
lautomobile the car
il sole the sun
la nave the ship
il nome the name/noun
la notte the night
il mare the ocean
la stazione the station

Disconcerting Genders

Masculine Feminine
il ballo (dance)
la balla (bundle, bale)
il collo (neck)
la colla (glue)
il colpo (blow)
la colpa (fault, guilt)
il costo (cost)
la costa (coast)
il filo (thread)
la fila (line)
il foglio (sheet of paper)
la foglia (leaf)
il legno (wood)
la legna (firewood)
il manico (handle)
la manica (sleeve)
il mento (chin) la menta (mint)
il
il
il
il
il
il

partito (political party)

porto (port)
la
posto (place)
la
punto (detail, dot)
la
torto (mistake)
velo (veil)
la

la partita (sports match)

porta (door)
posta (mail)
punta (tip)
la torta (cake)
vela (sail, sailing)

Masculine Nouns That End in a

Noun Pronunciation English
il clima eel klee-mah the climate
il cruciverba eel kroo-chee-ver-bah the crossword (puzzle)
il dramma eel drah-mah the drama
il pianeta eel pee-ah-neh-tah the planet
il problema eel proh-bleh-mah the problem
il programma eel proh-grah-mah the program

Feminine Nouns That End in o

Noun Pronunciation English

la foto (short for fotografia) lah foh-toh the photo
la mano lah mah-noh the hand
la moto (short for motocicletta) lah moh-toh the motorcycle
la radio lah rah-dee-yoh the radio

Noun Endings
Masculine Feminine English
lattore lattrice actor/actress
lavvocato lavvocatessa lawyer
il cameriere la cameriera waiter/waitress
il direttore la direttrice director
il dottore la dottoressa doctor
il maestro la maestra teacher
il padrone la padrona boss
il pittore la pittrice painter
il poeta la poetessa poet

il professore la professoressa professor

lo studente la studentessa student

Plural Endings
Singular Plural Singular Plural
o i ragazzo ragazzi

a e
donna donne

ca che

amica amiche

e i cane cani

The Definite Article (The)

Gender Singular Plural When Its Used Examples

Masculine lo gli
In front of all masculine lo zio gli
zii
nouns beginning with a lo studente gli
studenti
z or s + consonant
l gli
In front of all masculine lamico gli
amici
nouns beginning with
a vowel
Il i In front of all other il nonno i nonni
masculine nouns
Feminine l le
In front of all feminine lamica le
amiche
nouns beginning with
a vowel
la le
In front of all other la sorella le
sorelle
feminine nouns

Always Plural Nouns

Italian English
le forbici scissors
le pinzette tweezers
le redini reins
i pantaloni pants
le mutande underwear
gli occhiali eyeglasses

Formal and Generic Salutations and Expressions

Italian Pronunciation English
Buon giorno. bwon jor-noh Good morning/Good day/Good afternoon/
Hello (use until early afternoon).
Buona sera. bwoh-nah seh-rah Good evening (begin using after 3:00 P.M.).
Buona notte. bwoh-nah noh-teh Good night/Good-bye.
Signore see-nyoh-reh Mr./Sir
Signora see-nyoh-rah Mrs./Ms.
Signorina see-nyoh-ree-nah Miss
Come sta? koh-meh stah How are you?
Sto bene, e Lei? stoh beh-neh, eh leh? I am well, and you?
Molto bene. mol-toh beh-neh Very well.
Non c male. nohn cheh mah-leh Not bad.
Abbastanza bene. ah-bah-stahn-zah beh-neh Pretty well.
Come si chiama? koh-meh see kee-ah-mah What is your name?
Mi chiamo mee kee-ah-moh My name is (literally, I call
myself)
Piacere. pee-ah-cheh-reh Its a pleasure.
ArrivederLa. ah-ree-veh-der-lah Until next time.

Pleasantries
English Italian Pronunciation
Greetings. Salve. sal-veh
Yes. S. see
No. No. no
Please. Per favore. per fah-voh-reh
Per piacere. per pee-ah-cheh-reh
Thank you. Grazie. grah-tsee-yeh
Excuse me. Mi scusi. mee skoo-zee
Youre welcome. Prego. pray-goh
Im sorry. Mi dispiace. me dees-pee-ah-cheh
Help! Aiuto! ah-yoo-toh
Where is ? Dov ? doh-veh
How much? Quanto? kwahn-toh

Informal Salutations

Italian Pronunciation English

Ciao! chow Hi/Bye-bye!
Saluti! sah-loo-tee Greetings!
Salve! sahl-veh Hello!
Come stai? koh-meh stah-ee How are you?
Come va? koh-meh vah Hows it going?
Va bene. vah beh-neh Things are good.
Va benissimo. vah beh-nee-see-moh Things are great.
Non c male. nohn cheh mah-leh Not bad.
Okay. oh-kay Okay.
Cos cos. koh-zee koh-zee So-so.
Arrivederci. ah-ree-veh-der-chee See you later.
A pi tardi. ah pyoo tar-dee Until later.
A domani. ah doh-mah-nee See you tomorrow.
A presto. ah pres-toh See you soon.

Communications
Italian Pronunciation English
Capisco. kah-pee-skoh I understand.
Non capisco. non kah-pee-skoh I dont understand.
Non parlo italiano. non par-loh ee-tah-lee-ah-noh I dont speak Italian.
Studio italiano. stoo-dee-oh ee-tah-lee-ah-noh I am studying Italian.
Parla inglese? par-lah een-gleh-zeh Do you speak English?
Capisce? kah-pee-sheh Do you understand?
Che cosa significa? keh koh-zah seeg-nee-fee-kah What does it mean?
Che? keh What?
Come? koh-meh How?
Dov ? doh-veh Where is ?
Lo ripeta per favore. loh ree-peh-tah per fah-voh-reh Please repeat that.
Non lo so. non loh soh I dont know.
Parli lentamente per piacere. par-lee len-tah-men-teh per Please speak slowly.
pee-ah-cheh-reh

Days of the Week

Day of the Week Italian Pronunciation

Monday luned loo-neh-dee
Tuesday marted mar-teh-dee
Wednesday mercoled mer-koh-leh-dee
Thursday gioved joh-veh-dee
Friday venerd ven-er-dee
Saturday sabato sah-bah-toh
Sunday domenica doh-meh-nee-kah
the weekend il fine settimana eel fee-neh seh-tee-mah-nah

I Mesi (The Months)

Month Mese Pronunciation

January gennaio jeh-nah-yoh
February febbraio feb-rah-yoh
March marzo mar-zoh
April aprile ah-pree-leh
May maggio mah-joh
June giugno joo-nyoh
July luglio loo-lyoh
August agosto ah-goh-stoh
September settembre seh-tem-breh
October ottobre oh-toh-breh
November novembre noh-vem-breh
December dicembre dee-chem-breh

Exclamations

Expression Pronunciation Meaning

Che bello! keh beh-loh How beautiful!
Che brutto! keh broo-toh How ugly!
Che chiasso! keh kee-ah-soh What a ruckus!
Che disastro! keh dee-sas-troh What a disaster!
Eccellente! eh-cheh-len-teh Excellent!
Fantastico! fan-tas-tee-koh Fantastic!
Favoloso! fah-voh-loh-zoh Fabulous!
Magnifico! mag-nee-fee-koh Magnificent!
Meraviglioso! meh-rah-vee-lyoh-zoh Marvelous!
Orribile! oh-ree-bee-leh Horrible!
Ridicolo! ree-dee-koh-loh Ridiculous!
Stupendo! stoo-pen-doh Stupendous!
Terribile! teh-ree-bee-leh Terrible!

Idioms for Travel and Transportation

English Italian Pronunciation
by bicycle in bicicletta een bee-chee-kleh-tah
by boat in barca een bar-kah
by bus in autobus een ow-toh-boos
by car in macchina een mah-kee-nah
by foot a piedi ah pee-eh-dee
by plane in aereo een eh-reh-roh
by scooter in moto een moh-toh
by subway in metro een met-roh

by taxi in tass een tah-see

by train in treno een treh-noh
on horseback a cavallo ah kah-vah-loh

1. a scuola (to school)

2. al cinema (to the movies)
3. dal dottore (to your doctor)
4. in ospedale (to the hospital)
5. in Europa (to Europe)
6. al parco (to the park)
7. in unisola tropicale (to a tropical island)
8. a pescare (to go fishing)
9. in farmacia (to the pharmacy)
10. in biblioteca (to the library)

Timely Expressions

Expression Pronunciation Meaning

di buon ora dee bwon oh-rah early
unora buona oh-rah bwoh-nah a full hour
unoretta oon oh-reh-tah about an hour
a tutte le ore ah too-teh leh oh-reh at any time
Expression Pronunciation Meaning
essere in orario eh-seh-reh een to be on time
oh-rah-ree-yoh
nelle prime ore neh-leh pree-meh oh-reh in the early afternoon
le ore piccole leh oh-reh pee-koh-leh the wee hours
lora di punta loh-rah dee poon-tah rush hour
ora legale oh-rah leh-gah-leh daylight savings time

Idioms with Andare

Idiom Pronunciation Meaning

andare bene ahn-dah-reh beh-neh to go well
andare male ahn-dah-rah mah-leh to go poorly
andare in giro ahn-dah-reh een jee-roh to go around
andare in pezzi ahn-dah-reh een peh-tsee to go to pieces
lasciare andare lah-shah-reh ahn-dah-reh to let something go