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Italian grammar is the body of rules describing the properties of theItalian language. Italian words can be divided into the followinglexical categories: articles, nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.
Italian articles vary according to definiteness (definite,indefinite, andpartitive),number,gender, and the initial sound of the subsequent word. Partitive articles compound the prepositiondi with the corresponding definite article, to express uncertain quantity. In the plural, they typically translate into English as 'few'; in the singular, typically as 'some'.
| Gender | Number | Article | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | il | Standard masculine singular definite article, used in all cases other than those detailed below.[1] Foreign words beginning with⟨w⟩, pronounced/w/ or/v/, takeil and notlo:il West/ˈwɛst/ (referring to theAmerican Old West),il whisky/ˈwiski/,il Watt/ˈvat/, etc.[2] |
| lo | Used before words with certain initial sounds:
| ||
| l' | Used before words that begin with a vowel (l'amico) or⟨uo⟩/wɔ/ (l'uomo). | ||
| Plural | i | Standard masculine plural definite article, used for plurals that takeil in the singular:i cani (plural ofilcane). | |
| gli | Corresponds tolo andl' in the singular:
Ildio ('the god') has the irregular pluralglidei ('the gods'). | ||
| Feminine | Singular | la | Standard form of the feminine singular definite article, used before consonants and before⟨i⟩ when pronounced as semivowel/j/, e.g.laiarda. |
| l' | As withl', used before any word that begins with a vowel, not including⟨i⟩ when pronounced as the semivowel/j/. | ||
| Plural | le | Standard form of the feminine plural definite article, never elided. |
| Gender | Article | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | un | Standard masculine singular indefinite article, used before vowels and simple consonants. |
| uno | Used instead ofun before "impure s", self-geminating consonants, and complex consonant clusters, following the same rules aslo vs.il above, for example:unostudente. | |
| Feminine | una | Standard feminine singular indefinite article. |
| un' | Used before any word that starts with a vowel, not including⟨i⟩ when used as semivowel/j/. |
| Gender | Number | Article | Contraction of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | del | di +il |
| dell' | di +l' | ||
| dello | di +lo | ||
| Plural | dei | di +i | |
| degli | di +gli | ||
| Feminine | Singular | della | di +la |
| dell' | di +l' | ||
| Plural | delle | di +le |
Nouns havegender (masculine, feminine or, in many instances, both) and inflect innumber (singular and plural). When a noun refers to people or animals with natural gender, grammatical gender typically corresponds. The gender each noun is written in is not arbitrary: because most nouns have a masculineand a feminine form, the form the given noun is written in could change the entire structure of the sentence. As in most other Romance languages, the historical neuter has merged with the masculine. A subgroup of these deriving from Latin's second declension are considered feminine in the plural. Subclauses and infinitives are masculine. Adjectives inflect for gender and number in patterns broadly similar to nouns.
| Gender | Singular | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | -o | -i | il cappello nero,i cappelli neri ('the black hat(s)') |
| Feminine | -a | -e | la bella macchina,le belle macchine ('the beautiful car(s)') |
| Masculine and feminine | -e | -i | il/la comandante intelligente,i/le comandanti intelligenti ('the smart commander(s)') |
| Mixed (historically neuter) | -o | -a | il lenzuolo leggero,le lenzuola leggere ('the light bed sheet(s)') |
| Masculine | -a | -i | l'atleta entusiasta,gli atleti entusiasti ('the enthusiastic athlete(s)') |
| Feminine | -ie | -ie | la specie estinta,le specie estinte ('the extinct species') |
| All nouns ending with a stressed vowel | singular = plural | la città,le città ('the city(-ies)') | |
| Non-integratedloanwords | il/la manager trendy,i/le manager trendy ('the trendy manager(s)') | ||
In the last two examples, only the article carries information about gender and number.
Most masculine words that end in-io pronounced as/jo/ drop the-o and thus end in-i in the plural:vecchio /vecchi ('old'),funzionario /funzionari ('functionary(-ies)'),esempio /esempi ('example(s)'), etc.
The Italianhard and soft C andG phenomenon leads to certain peculiarities in spelling and pronunciation:
Most nouns are derived from Latin. Many of these are themselves borrowed from Greek (e.g.poeta below). Although Italian nouns do not inflect for case, they are derived from a mixture of the Latin nominative and accusative cases:
| Latin declension (nominative/accusative) | Italian singular/plural | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (-a, -ae / -am, -ās) | -a, -e | amica / amiche 'female friend(s)' | |
| 1st & 2nd (-a, -i / -, -)[7] | -a, -i | poeta / poeti 'poet(s)' | ala/ali 'wing(s)' |
| 2nd (-us, -ī / -um, -ōs) | -o, -i | amico / amici 'friend(s)' | |
| 3rd (-is, -ēs / -em, -ēs) | -e, -i | cane / cani 'dog(s)' | parete / pareti 'wall(s)' |
| 4th (-us, -ūs / -um, -ūs) | -o, -i | passo / passi 'step(s)' | mano / mani 'hand(s)' |
| 5th (-ēs, -ēs / -em, -ēs) | -e, -i | fede / fedi 'faith(s)' |
Nouns ending in any letter other than-a,-e or-o, as well as nouns ending in a stressed vowel, are normally invariable in the plural. Thus:
There are certain words (derived from Latin second-declension neuter nouns) that are masculine in the singular and feminine or masculine in the plural. Examples include:
These nouns' endings derive regularly from the Latin neuter endings of the second declension (sg.-um / pl.-a), but there are some from the third declension as well: e.g.il gregge / le greggi ('flock(s)', buti greggi works, too); the tradition of calling them "irregular" or "mobile gender" (genere mobile) would come from the paradigm that there are so few nouns of this type that the existence of neuter can be considered vestigial (compared toRomanian, which has many more nouns of the masculine singular–feminine plural type, and as such are usually classified as a separate neuter gender). The choice of plural is sometimes left to the user, while in some cases there are differences of meaning:[8]
Most noun stems are derived from the accusative: Latinsocer/socerum begets Italiansuocero, and Latinpēs/pēdem begets Italianpiede. There are a few exceptions, however, such asuomo from Latinhomo/hominem andmoglie from Latinmulier/mulierem. Neuter third-declension nouns may bequeath Italian nouns either from the nominative/accusative case (e.g.capo fromcaput,cuore fromcor) or from the oblique case used for other cases and for the plural (e.g.latte fromlac, lact-,giure fromius, iur-).
There are a few genuine irregular plurals in Italian (plurali irregolari). Most of these were introduced in Vulgar Latin, but some derive from irregular Latin plurals. Examples include:
In Italian, altered nouns are nouns with particular shades of meaning. They are divided intodiminutives,vezzeggiativi (diminutives with kindness and sympathy nuance),augmentatives andpejoratives.
| Suffix | Example | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| diminutivi (diminutive) | -ino | tavolo (table) | tavolino (small table) |
| -etto | libro (book) | libretto (booklet) | |
| -atto | cerbia (deer) | cerbiatto (fawn) | |
| -ello | bambino (child) | bambinello (small child) | |
| -icello | monte (mountain) | monticello | |
| -icciolo | porto (port) | porticciolo | |
| -acchio | orso (bear) | orsacchio | |
| vezzeggiativi (terms of endearment) | -uccio | cavallo (horse) | cavalluccio |
| -acchiotto | orso (bear) | orsacchiotto | |
| -iciattolo | fiume (river) | fiumiciattolo | |
| -olo | figlio (son) | figliolo (alsofigliuolo) | |
| -otto | cucciolo (puppy) | cucciolotto | |
| accrescitivi (augmentative) | -one | libro (book) | librone (big book) |
| -accione | uomo (man) | omaccione | |
| dispregiativi (pejorative) | -accio | libro (book) | libraccio (bad book) |
| -astro | medico (medic) | medicastro (quack doctor) | |
| -ucolo | poeta (poet) | poetucolo (poetaster) | |
| -onzolo | medico (medic) | mediconzolo | |
| -uncolo | uomo (man) | omuncolo (insignificant man) | |
| -otto | contadino (farmer) | contadinotto (peasant) | |
Many other alterations can be built, sometimes with more than one suffix: for example,libro ('book') can becomelibretto (diminutive),libricino (double diminutive),libercolo (diminutive + pejorative),libraccio (pejorative),libraccione (pejorative + augmentative).Uomo ('man'), coming from Latinhomo, becomesom- in altered forms:omino/ometto (diminutive),omone (augmentative),omaccio (pejorative),omaccione (augmentative + pejorative).
In Italian, an adjective can be placed before or after the noun. Theunmarked placement for most adjectives (e.g. colours, nationalities) is after the noun,[10] but this is reversed for a few common classes of adjective—those denoting beauty, age, goodness, and size are placedbefore the noun in the unmarked case, and after the noun for emphasis.
Placing the adjective after the noun can alter its meaning or indicaterestrictiveness of reference. If a noun has many adjectives, usually no more than one will be before the noun.[citation needed]
Adjectives are inflected for gender and number:
| Gender | Grammatical number | Case 1 | Case 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | -o | -e |
| Plural | -i | -i | |
| Feminine | Singular | -a | -e |
| Plural | -e | -i |
Italian has threedegrees of comparison:comparative, relativesuperlative and absolute superlative.[clarification needed]
The comparative and relative superlative are formed withpiù ('more', 'most'); for instance:
Vice versa when expressing inferiority,meno ('less, fewer') is used; for instance:
Another comparative form is made with the wordcome ('as', 'like'); for instance:
Theabsolute comparative is formed by placingtroppo ('too') before the adjective; for instance:
Theabsolute superlative, derived from the Latin synthetic superlative in-issimus, is formed by adding-issimo to an adjective:intelligente ('intelligent'),intelligentissimo ('very intelligent');sporco ('dirty')sporchissimo ('very dirty'). If the two letters before the last vowel arepr orbr (e.g.aspro,celebre), ther is removed and-errimo is the suffix used (asperrimo,celeberrimo) ('very sour', 'very famous'). Another way to form theabsolute superlative is to place eithermolto orassai ('very') before the adjective. For instancesporchissimo andmolto sporco ('very dirty') are the same, although the form ending inissimo is usually perceived as more emphatic; that is,sporchissimo is dirtier thanmolto sporco.[citation needed]
Some adjectives have irregular comparatives (although with regularly-formed variants also in common use), such as
With the exception of 3rd person pluralloro ('their'), possessive adjectives, like articles, must agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify. Hence,mio zio ('my uncle'), butmia zia ('my aunt'). So depending on what is being modified, the possessive adjectives are:
| Person | Masculine | Feminine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | |
| 1st sing. | mio | miei | mia | mie |
| 2nd sing. | tuo | tuoi | tua | tue |
| 3rd sing. | suo | suoi | sua | sue |
| 1st pl. | nostro | nostri | nostra | nostre |
| 2nd pl. | vostro | vostri | vostra | vostre |
| 3rd pl. | loro | |||
In most cases the possessive adjective is used with an article, usually thedefinite article:
| Ho persola mia penna. | ("I have lost my pen.") |
| Mi piaceil mio lavoro. | ("I like my job.") |
| Hanno rubatola mia automobile! | ("They have stolen my car!") |
And sometimes with theindefinite article:
| Un mio amico mi ha detto che... | ("A friend of mine told me that...") |
| Ho vistouna sua foto. | ("I have seen a photograph of him/her.") |
| Luca èun mio amico. | ("Luke is a friend of mine.") |
The only exception is when the possessive refers to an individual family member (unless the family member is described or characterised in some way):
| Laura èmia sorella | ("Laura is my sister.") |
| Ieri ho vistomia sorella Diana | ("I saw my sister Diana yesterday.") |
| Questa penna è dimia zia. | ("This pen is my aunt's.") |
Mamma andpapà (orbabbo, in central Italy; 'mother' and 'father'), however, are usually used with the article.
For emphasis, however, possessive adjectives are sometimes placed after the noun. This is usually after words such ascolpa ('fault', 'sin');casa ('house', 'home');merito ('merit');piacere ('pleasure'); or innouns of address.
| È colpasua. | ("It is his/her fault.") |
| Oh diomio! | ("Oh, my god!") |
| Arrivederci, amicomio! | ("Goodbye, my friend!") |
| Vorresti andare a casamia? | ("Would you like to come over to my house?") |
If the antecedent of a third person possessive (being used as an object) is the subject of the sentence,proprio can be used instead ofsuo,[11] although the usage ofproprio is declining in spoken language:[citation needed]
| Marco e Maria hanno discusso di filosofia. Marco ha scelto ilproprio punto di vista. | ("Marco and Maria discussed philosophy. Marco tookhis own point of view.") |
| Marco e Maria hanno discusso di filosofia. Marco ha scelto ilsuo punto di vista. | ("Marco and Maria discussed philosophy. Marco tookhis/her point of view.") |
The first sentence is unambiguous and states that Marco took his own point of view, whereas the second sentence is ambiguous because it may mean that Marco took either his own or Maria's point of view.
Italian originally had three degrees ofdemonstrative adjectives:questo (for items near or related to the first person speaker: 'this'),quello (for items near or related to an eventual third person: 'that'), andcodesto (for items near or related to an eventual second person). The usage has undergone a simplification, including the meaning ofcodesto inquello, and onlyTuscan speakers still usecodesto. Its use is very rare in modern language, and the word has acquired a rather pejorative connotation.
Italian features a sizeable set of pronouns.Personal pronouns are inflected for person, number, case, and, in the third person, gender. Literary subject pronouns also have a distinction between animate (egli,ella) and inanimate (esso,essa)antecedents, although this is lost in colloquial usage, wherelui,lei, andloro are the most used forms for animate subjects, while no specific pronoun is employed for inanimate subjects (if needed, demonstrative pronouns such asquesto orquello may be used). There is also the uninflected pronounciò, which is only used with abstract antecedents.
Personal pronouns are normallyomitted in the subject, as the conjugation is usually enough to determine the grammatical person. They are used when some emphasis is needed, e.g.sono italiano ('I am Italian') vs.io sono italiano ('I [specifically, as opposed to others] am Italian').
The wordsci,vi andne act both as personal pronouns (respectively instrumental and genitive case) and cliticpro-forms for "there" (ci andvi, with identical meaning—as inc'è,ci sono,v'è,vi sono,ci vengo, etc.) and "from there" (ne—as in:è entrato in casa alle 10:00 ene è uscito alle 11:00).
| Nominative | Genitive | Dative | Accusative | Instrumental | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clitic form[a] | Stressed form | Clitic form I.[a][b] | Clitic form II.[c] | Stressed form | Clitic form[a][d] | Stressed form[e] | Clitic form I.[a][f] | Clitic form II.[g] | Stressed form | ||||
| sg. | 1st | io | — | di me | mi | me | a me | mi | me | — | — | con me | |
| 2nd | tu[h] | — | di te | ti | te | a te | ti | te | — | — | con te | ||
| 3rd | m. | egli, esso,[i]lui[j] | ne | di lui, di esso | gli | glie-[k] | a lui, a esso | lo | lui, esso | ci | ce | con lui, con esso | |
| f. | ella,[l] essa,[i]lei[j][l] | di lei, di essa | le | a lei, a essa | la | lei, essa | con lei, con essa | ||||||
| refl. | — | di sé | si | se | a sé | si | sé | con sé | |||||
| pl. | 1st | noi | — | di noi | ci | ce | a noi | ci | noi | — | — | con noi | |
| 2nd | voi[h] | — | di voi | vi | ve | a voi | vi | voi | — | — | con voi | ||
| 3rd | m. | elli,[m] essi,[i][l]loro[j] | ne | di loro, di essi[n] | loro[o][p] | a loro, a essi[n] | li | loro, essi[n] | ci | ce | con loro, con essi[n] | ||
| f. | elle,[m][l] esse,[i][l]loro[j][l] | di loro, di esse[n] | a loro, a esse[n] | le | loro, esse[n] | con loro, con esse[n] | |||||||
| refl. | — | di sé | si | se | a sé | si | sé | con sé | |||||
| Singular | Plural | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Feminine | Masculine | Feminine | ||
| sg. | 1st | mio | mia | miei | mie |
| 2nd | tuo | tua | tuoi | tue | |
| 3rd | suo | sua | suoi | sue | |
| pl. | 1st | nostro | nostra | nostri | nostre |
| 2nd | vostro | vostra | vostri | vostre | |
| 3rd | loro | ||||
| Nominative/ Accusative | Genitive | Dative | Instrumental | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clitic form[r] | Clitic form[r] | Stressed form | Clitic form[r] | Stressed form | Stressed form | |
| sg./pl. | che | cui[s][t] | di cui | cui[u][t] | a cui | con cui |
| Locative,Lative[v] | Ablative[w] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clitic form I.[a] | Clitic form II. | Stressed form | Clitic form[a] | Stressed form |
| ci, vi | ce, ve | qui, qua / lì, là | ne | da qui, da qua / da lì, da là |
Notes:
Although objects come after the verb as a rule, this is often not the case with a class of unstressedcliticpro-forms.
Clitic pronouns are replaced with the stressed form for emphatic reasons. A somewhat similar situation is represented by thedative shift in Englishditransitive verbs. Compare, for example, (emphasis in italic) "John gave a bookto her" with "John gavehera book". In Italian these two different emphases map respectively to "John diede un libroa lei" (stressed form) and "Johnle diedeun libro" (clitic form). Compared to English, Italian presents a richer set ofcases.
Clitic pronouns generally come before the verb, but in certain types of constructions, such aslo devo fare, they can also appear asenclitics (attached to the verb itself)—in this case,devo farlo. In theinfinitive,gerund and, except with third-person courtesy forms,imperative moods clitic pronouns mustalways be compound to the suffix as enclitics[12] (as inconfessalo! [2p. sg.]/confessiamolo! [1p. pl.]/confessatelo! [2p. pl.],ricordandolo andmangiarlo).
| Italian | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Genitive | Non vedo Francesca, mane vedo la bicicletta. | I don't see Francesca, but I see her bike (the bikeof her). |
| Dative | Gli parlai per un'ora intera. | I spoketo him for a whole hour. |
| Accusative | La vedo. | I seeher. |
| Instrumental | Sì! Lo conosco! Una voltaci giocai a pallacanestro! | Yes! I know him! Long ago I played basketballwith him! |
Other examples:
| accusative | Davidela lascia in ufficio. | (David leavesit in the office.) |
| dative +accusative + nominative | Davidemela lascia. | (David leavesmeit.) |
| Davidetene lascia una. | (David leaves(to) you oneof them.) | |
| accusative + nominative +dative | Davidela lasciaa me. | (David leavesitto me.) |
| Davidene lascia unaa te. | (David leaves oneof them(to) you.) | |
| (subjunctive +) infinitive +dative +accusative | Davide potrebbe lasciargliene una. | (David might leave oneof themto him/her/it.) |
| dative +accusative + subjunctive (+ infinitive) | Davidegliene potrebbe lasciare una. | (David might leave oneof themto him/her/it.) |
(Compare with the similar use of objective pronouns and pro-forms inFrench andCatalan.)
Finally, in the imperative mood, the objective pronouns come once againafter the verb, but this time as a suffix:
| imperative +accusative | "Lasciala in ufficio!" | ("Leaveit in the office!") |
| imperative +dative +accusative | "Lasciamela!" | ("Leaveitto me!"/"Leavemeit!") |
| (conditional +) infinitive +dative | "Davide potrebbe lasciarla in ufficio." | (David might leaveit in the office.) |
| negative imperative +dative +accusative | "Non lasciargliela!" | ("Do not leaveitto/for him/her/it/them!") |
| imperative +dative +accusative | "Davide dovrebbe lasciargliela." | ("David should leaveitto/for him/her/it/them.") |
In Italian it is possible to append more than one clitic to a single verb. In normal usage, two is the usual limit, although clusters of three can occasionally arise for some speakers,[13] especially with impersonal constructs (e.g.Ce la si sente = "One feels up to it", orNessuno ha ancora visto l'ultimo film di Woody Allen, quindice lo si vede tutti insieme! = "Nobody has watched the last Woody Allen movie yet, so we have to watch it together!"). Any two cases can be used together, except for accusative + genitive, and word order is strictly determined according to one of the following two patterns:[14]
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| me, te, glie-, se, ce, ve | lo, la, li, le | ne si[a] |
For example:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mi | gli, le | vi | ti | ci | si[a] |
Thus:
Clitic forms (exceptcui) before a verbal form beginning with a vowel (except when they are compound to the suffix) can be apocopated; apocopations are more common before verbal formsè,ho,hai,ha,hanno,abbia, andabbiano of verbsessere andavere, than when they are before verbal forms of other verbs, which are more rare, also apocopations ofche are rare, while apocopation ofcui is avoided due to phonetic ambiguities with words such asqua (homophone tocu'ha).Apocopation is not mandatory.Ci is graphically apocopated only in front of "e" and "i" (as inc'è andc'inserisco), but the "i" is graphically kept in front of other vowels (as inmi ci addentro), although in all cases it is pronounced /t͡ʃ/ (without the "i"); similarlygli is graphically apocopated only in front of "i" (as ingl'impongo) but not in front of other vowels (gli è dato sapere), although in all cases the "i" is never pronounced. The apocopated form ofche is always pronounced /k/, even when otherwise common phonetic rules switch their pronunciations.[16]
| clitic form | è[a] | ho[b] | hai[c] | ha[d] | abbiamo[e] | avete[f] | hanno[g] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mi | m'è | m'ho[h] | m'hai | m'ha | — | m'avete | m'hanno |
| ti | t'è | t'ho | t'hai[h] | t'ha | t'abbiamo | — | t'hanno |
| gli | gli è | gli ho | gli hai | gli ha | gli abbiamo | gli avete | gli hanno |
| gliela/gliele/glieli/glielo | gliel'è | gliel'ho | gliel'hai | gliel'ha | gliel'abbiamo | gliel'avete | gliel'hanno |
| la/le/li/lo | l'è | l'ho | l'hai | l'ha | l'abbiamo | l'avete | l'hanno |
| si | s'è | — | — | s'ha | — | — | s'hanno |
| ci | c'è | ci ho | ci hai | ci ha | ci abbiamo | ci avete | ci hanno |
| vi | v'è | v'ho | v'hai | v'ha | v'abbiamo | v'avete | v'hanno |
| che | ch'è | ch'ho | ch'hai | ch'ha | ch'abbiamo | ch'avete | ch'hanno |
Italian makes use of theT–V distinction in second-person address. The second-person nominative pronoun istu for informal use, and for formal use, the third-person formLei (and historicallyElla) has been used since the Renaissance.[6][17] It is used likeSie in German,usted in Spanish, andvous in French.Lei was originally an object form ofella, which in turn referred to anhonorific of the feminine gender such asla magnificenza tua/vostra ('Your Magnificence') orVossignoria ('Your Lordship'),[18] and by analogy,Loro came to be used as the formal plural. Previously, and in some Italian regions today (e.g. Campania),voi was used as the formal singular, like Frenchvous. The pronounslei (third-person singular),Lei (formal second-person singular),loro (third-person plural), andLoro (formal second-person plural) are pronounced the same but written as shown, and formalLei andLoro take third-person conjugations. FormalLei is invariable for gender (always feminine), but adjectives that modify it are not: one would say to a manLa conosco ('I know you') butLei è alto ('You are tall'). FormalLoro is variable for gender:Li conosco ('I know you [masc. pl.]') vs.Le conosco ('I know you [fem. pl.]'), etc. The formal plural is very rarely used in modern Italian; the unmarked form is widely used instead.[19] For example:Gino, Lei è un bravo ingegnere. Marco, Lei è un bravo architetto. Insieme, voi sarete una gran bella squadra. ("Gino, you are a good engineer. Marco, you are a good architect. Together, you will make a very good team.").
Based on the ending of theirinfiniti presenti (-are,-ere, or-ire), all Italian verbs can be assigned to three distinct conjugation patterns. Exceptions are found:fare, 'to do/make' (from Latinfācere),[citation needed] anddire, 'to say' (from Latindīcere),[citation needed] were originally 2nd conjugation verbs that reduced the unstressed vowel in the infinitive (and consequentially in the future and conditional, whose stem derives from the infinitive), but still follow the 2nd conjugation for all the other tenses; this behaviour is similarly featured in the verbs ending in-trarre,-porre and-durre, derived respectively from the Latintrahere[citation needed] ('to drag'),pōnere[citation needed] ('to put'), anddūcere[citation needed] ('to lead').[20]
Just like many otherRomance languages, Italian verbs express distinct verbal aspects by means ofanalytic structures such as periphrases, rather thansynthetic ones; the only aspectual distinction between two synthetic forms is the one between theimperfetto (habitual past tense) and thepassato remoto (perfective past tense), although the latter is usually replaced in spoken language by thepassato prossimo.
| Tense | Italian name | Example | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative Mood | |||
| Present | indicativo presente | faccio | I do I am doing[verbs 1] |
| Imperfect | indicativo imperfetto | facevo | I used to do I was doing[verbs 1] |
| Preterite[verbs 2] | passato remoto | feci | I did |
| Future | futuro semplice | farò | I will do |
| Conditional mood | |||
| Present | condizionale presente | farei | I would do |
| Subjunctive mood | |||
| Present | congiuntivo presente | (che) io faccia | (that) I do |
| Imperfect | congiuntivo imperfetto | (che) io facessi | (that) I did/do |
| Imperative mood | |||
| Present | imperativo | fa'! | (you) do! |
Aspects other than the habitual and the imperfective, such as the perfective, the progressive and the prospective, are rendered in Italian by a series of periphrastic structures that may or may not be perceived as different tenses by different speakers. Note the difference between:
| Tense | Italian name | Example | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indicative Mood | |||
| Present perfect | passato prossimo | ho fatto | I have done I did |
| Recent pluperfect | trapassato prossimo | avevo fatto | I had done[verbs 3] |
| Remote pluperfect | trapassato remoto | ebbi fatto | I had done[verbs 3] |
| Future perfect | futuro anteriore | avrò fatto | I will have done I may have done |
| Present continuous | presente progressivo | sto facendo | I am doing[verbs 1] |
| Past continuous | passato progressivo | stavo facendo | I was doing[verbs 1] |
| Future continuous | futuro progressivo | starò facendo | I will be doing I may be doing |
| Conditional mood | |||
| Preterite | condizionale passato | avrei fatto | I would have done |
| Present continuous | condizionale progressivo | starei facendo | I would be doing |
| Subjunctive mood | |||
| Preterite | congiuntivo passato | (che) io abbia fatto | (that) I have done |
| Pluperfect | congiuntivo trapassato | (che) io avessi fatto | (that) I had done |
| Present continuous | congiuntivo presente progressivo | (che) io stia facendo | (that) I be doing |
| Imperfect continuous | congiuntivo imperfetto progressivo | (che) io stessi facendo | (that) I were doing |
| Tense | Italian name | Example | English equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitives | |||
| Present | infinito presente | fare | to do |
| Past | infinito passato | aver fatto | to have done |
| Gerunds | |||
| Present | gerundio presente | facendo | doing |
| Past | gerundio passato | avendo fatto | having done |
| Participles | |||
| Present | participio presente | facente | doing |
| Past | participio passato | fatto | done |
In Italian,compound tenses expressing perfect aspect are formed with either auxiliary verbavere ('to have') fortransitive verbs and someintransitive verbs and withessere ('to be') for the remaining intransitive verbs, plus the past participle.Progressive aspect is rendered by verbstare plus the gerund. Theprospective aspect is formed withstare plus the prepositionper and the infinitive.
Thepassive voice of transitive verbs is formed withessere in the perfective and prospective aspects, withvenire in the progressive or habitual aspect, and with eitheressere orvenire in the perfective aspects:
For the perfect tenses of intransitive verbs a reliable rule cannot be given, although a useful rule of thumb is that if a verb's past participle can take onadjectival value,essere is used, otherwiseavere.[21][22] Also,reflexive verbs andunaccusative verbs useessere (typically non-agentive verbs of motion and change of state, i.e. involuntary actions such ascadere ('to fall') ormorire ('to die')).[citation needed]
The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is essential to theagreement of the past participle. Some verbs, such asvivere ('to live'), may use both:Io ho vissuto ('I have lived') can alternatively be expressed as,Io sono vissuto.
The past participle is used in Italian as both an adjective and to form many of the compound tenses of the language. There are regular endings for the past participle, based on the conjugation class (see below). There are, however, many irregular forms as not all verbs follow the pattern, particularly the -ere verbs. Some of the more common irregular past participles include:essere ('to be') →stato (same forstare);fare ('to do', 'to make') →fatto;dire ('to say, to tell') →detto;aprire ('to open') →aperto;chiedere ('to ask') →chiesto;chiudere ('to close') →chiuso;leggere ('to read') →letto;mettere ('to put') →messo;perdere ('to lose') →perso;prendere ('to take', 'to get') →preso;rispondere ('to answer') →risposto;scrivere ('to write') →scritto;vedere ('to see') →visto.
For the intransitive verbs takingessere, the past participle always agrees with the subject—that is, it follows the usual adjective agreement rules:egli è partito; ella è partita. This is also true forreflexive verbs, the impersonalsi construction (which requires any adjectives that refer to it to be in the masculine plural:Si è sempre stanchi alla fine della giornata – One is always tired at the end of the day), and the passive voice, which also useessere (Queste mele sono state comprate da loro – These apples have been bought by them, againstEssi hanno comprato queste mele – They bought these apples).[1]
The past participle when used withavere never changes to agree with the subject. Itmust agree withthe object, although, in sentences where this is expressed by a third person clitic pronoun (e.g.Hai mangiato la mela? – Sì,l'ho mangiata (Have you eaten the apple? – Yes, I have eaten it)). When the object is expressed by a first or second person clitic pronoun instead, the agreement is optional:Maria! Ti ha chiamato / chiamata Giovanni? – No, non mi ha chiamato / chiamata (Maria! Has Giovanni called you? – No, he has not).
In all the other cases where the object is not expressed by a clitic pronoun, the agreement with the object is obsolescent in modern Italian (but still correct):La storia che avete raccontata (obsolete)/ raccontato non mi convince (The story you told does not convince me); or compareManzoni'sLucia aveva avute due buone ragioni[23] with the more modernLucia aveva avuto due buone ragioni (Lucia had had two good reasons).
Italian inheritsconsecutio temporum, a grammar rule from Latin that governs the relationship between the tenses in principal and subordinate clauses.Consecutio temporum has very rigid rules. These rules require the subjunctive tense in order to express contemporaneity, posteriority and anteriority in relation with the principal clause.
The infinitive of first conjugation verbs ends in-are, that of second conjugation verbs in-ere, and that of third conjugation verbs in-ire. In the following examples for differentmoods, the first conjugation verb isparlare ('to talk/speak'), the second conjugation verb istemere ('to fear') and the third conjugation verb ispartire ('to leave/depart').
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Simple future | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | |
| io | parlo | temo | parto | parlai | temetti; temei | partii | parlavo | temevo | partivo | parlerò | temerò | partirò |
| tu | parli | temi | parti | parlasti | temesti | partisti | parlavi | temevi | partivi | parlerai | temerai | partirai |
| egli, ella, esso/essa | parla | teme | parte | parlò | temette; temé | partì | parlava | temeva | partiva | parlerà | temerà | partirà |
| noi | parliamo | temiamo | partiamo | parlammo | tememmo | partimmo | parlavamo | temevamo | partivamo | parleremo | temeremo | partiremo |
| voi | parlate | temete | partite | parlaste | temeste | partiste | parlavate | temevate | partivate | parlerete | temerete | partirete |
| essi/esse | parlano | temono | partono | parlarono | temettero; temerono | partirono | parlavano | temevano | partivano | parleranno | temeranno | partiranno |
| Recent past = present ofavere/essere + past participle | Remote pluperfect = preterite ofavere/essere + past participle | Recent pluperfect = imperfect ofavere/essere + past participle | Future perfect = simple future ofavere/essere + past participle | |||||||||
Many third conjugation verbs insert an infix-sc- between the stem and the endings in the first, second, and third persons singular and third person plural of the present indicative and subjunctive, e.g.capire >capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono (indicative) andcapisca, capisca, capisca, capiamo, capiate, capiscano (subjunctive). This subgroup of third conjugation verbs is usually referred to asincoativi, because in Latin the original function of the suffix -sc- was to denoteinchoative verbs, but this meaning is totally lost in modern Italian, where the suffix mostly serves a euphonic function.[6]
TheItalian subjunctive mood is used to indicate cases of desire, express doubt, make impersonal emotional statements, and to talk about impending events.
| Present | Imperfect | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | |
| io | parli | tema | parta | parlassi | temessi | partissi |
| tu | parli | tema | parta | parlassi | temessi | partissi |
| egli, ella, esso/essa | parli | tema | parta | parlasse | temesse | partisse |
| noi | parliamo | temiamo | partiamo | parlassimo | temessimo | partissimo |
| voi | parliate | temiate | partiate | parlaste | temeste | partiste |
| essi/esse | parlino | temano | partano | parlassero | temessero | partissero |
| Past = present ofavere/essere + past participle | Past perfect = imperfect ofavere/essere + past participle | |||||
| Present | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | |
| io | parlerei | temerei | partirei |
| tu | parleresti | temeresti | partiresti |
| egli, ella, esso/essa | parlerebbe | temerebbe | partirebbe |
| noi | parleremmo | temeremmo | partiremmo |
| voi | parlereste | temereste | partireste |
| essi/esse | parlerebbero | temerebbero | partirebbero |
| Past = conditional ofavere/essere + past participle | |||
As the table shows, verbs each take their own root from their class of verb:-are becomes -er-, -ere becomes -er-, and -ire becomes -ir-, the same roots as used in the future indicative tense. All verbs add the same ending to this root.
Some verbs do not follow this pattern, but take irregular roots, these include:Andare ('to go') ~ Andr-, Avere ('to have') ~ Avr-, Bere ('to drink') ~ Berr-,Dare ('to give') ~ Dar-, Dovere ('to have to') ~ Dovr-, Essere ('to be') ~ Sar-,Fare ('to make/do') ~ Far-, Godere ('to enjoy') ~ Godr-, Potere ('to be able to') ~ Potr-,Rimanere ('to remain') ~ Rimarr-, Sapere ('to know') ~ Sapr-, Sedere ('to sit') ~ Sedr-,Stare ('to be/feel') ~ Star-, Tenere ('to hold') ~ Terr-, Vedere ('to see') ~ Vedr-,Venire ('to come') ~ Verr-, Vivere ('to live') ~ Vivr-, Volere ('to want') ~ Vorr- etc.
The Italian conditional mood is a mood that refers to anaction that is possible or probable, but is dependent upon acondition. Example:
| Io andrei in spiaggia, ma fa troppo freddo. | ("Iwould go to the beach,but it is too cold.") |
It can be used in two tenses, the present, by conjugation of the appropriate verb, or the past, using the auxiliary conjugated in the conditional, with the past participle of the appropriate noun:
| Mangerei un sacco adesso, se non stessi cercando di fare colpo su queste ragazze. | ("I would eat a lot now, if I were not trying to impress these girls.") |
| Sarei andato in città, se avessi saputo che ci andavano loro. | ("I would have gone to the city, if I had known that they were going.") |
Many Italian speakers often use the imperfect instead of the conditional and subjunctive. Prescriptivists usually view this as incorrect, but it is frequent in colloquial speech and tolerated in all but high registers and in most writing:[24]
| Se lo sapevo, andavo in spiaggia | ("If I had known it, I would have gone to the beach.") |
| Se Lucia non faceva quel segno, la risposta sarebbe probabilmente stata diversa.[25] | ("If Lucia had not made that sign, the answer would probably have been different.") |
The conditional can also be used in Italian to express "could", with the conjugated forms ofpotere ('to be able to'), "should", with the conjugated forms ofdovere ('to have to'), or "would like", with the conjugated forms ofvolere ('want'):
| [Lui] potrebbe leggere un libro. | ("He could read a book.") |
| [Loro] dovrebbero andare a letto. | ("They should go to bed.") |
| Vorrei un bicchiere d'acqua, per favore. | ("I would like a glass of water, please.") |
| 1st Conj. | 2nd Conj. | 3rd Conj. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (tu) | parla! | temi! | parti! |
| (Ella) | parli! | tema! | parta! |
| (noi) | parliamo! | temiamo! | partiamo! |
| (voi) | parlate! | temete! | partite! |
| (Essi/Esse) | parlino! | temano! | partano! |
Verbs such ascapire insert-isc- in all except thenoi andvoi forms. Technically, the only real imperative forms are the second-person singular and plural, with the other persons being borrowed from the present subjunctive.
While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the most commonly used areirregular. In particular, theauxiliary verbsessere,stare andavere, and the commonmodal verbsdovere (expressing necessity or obligation),potere (expressing permission and to a lesser degree ability),sapere (expressing ability) andvolere (expressing willingness) are all irregular.
The only irregular verbs of the first conjugation aredare ('to give'), which follows the same pattern asstare, andandare ('to go'), which featuressuppletive forms in the present of the indicative, subjunctive and imperative from the Latin verbVADERE. While apparently a 1st conjugation verb,fare is actually a highly irregular verb of the second conjugation. Even the third conjugation features a small handful of irregular verbs, such asmorire ('to die'), whose present ismuoio, muori, muore, moriamo, morite, muoiono (indicative) andmuoia, muoia, muoia, moriamo, moriate, muoiano (subjunctive).
The second conjugation combines the second and third conjugation of Latin; since the verbs belonging to the third conjugation were athematic, and they behaved less regularly than the ones belonging to the other conjugations (compareAMĀRE >AMAVI, AMATVS, first conjugation, andLEGĚRE >LEGI, LECTVS, third conjugation), the second conjugation Italian features many irregularities that trace back to the original paradigms of the Latin verbs:amare >amai, amato (first conjugation, regular), butleggere >lessi, letto (second conjugation, irregular).
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | sono | ero | fui | sarò | sia | fossi | sarei |
| tu | sei | eri | fosti | sarai | sia | fossi | saresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | è | era | fu | sarà | sia | fosse | sarebbe |
| noi | siamo | eravamo | fummo | saremo | siamo | fossimo | saremmo |
| voi | siete | eravate | foste | sarete | siate | foste | sareste |
| loro, essi/esse | sono | erano | furono | saranno | siano | fossero | sarebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | sto | stavo | stetti | starò | stia | stessi | starei |
| tu | stai | stavi | stesti | starai | stia | stessi | staresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | sta | stava | stette | starà | stia | stesse | starebbe |
| noi | stiamo | stavamo | stemmo | staremo | stiamo | stessimo | staremmo |
| voi | state | stavate | steste | starete | stiate | steste | stareste |
| loro, essi/esse | stanno | stavano | stettero | staranno | stiano | stessero | starebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | ho | avevo | ebbi | avrò | abbia | avessi | avrei |
| tu | hai | avevi | avesti | avrai | abbia | avessi | avresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | ha | aveva | ebbe | avrà | abbia | avesse | avrebbe |
| noi | abbiamo | avevamo | avemmo | avremo | abbiamo | avessimo | avremmo |
| voi | avete | avevate | aveste | avrete | abbiate | aveste | avreste |
| loro, essi/esse | hanno | avevano | ebbero | avranno | abbiano | avessero | avrebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | devo/debbo | dovevo | dovetti | dovrò | debba | dovessi | dovrei |
| tu | devi | dovevi | dovesti | dovrai | debba | dovessi | dovresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | deve | doveva | dovette | dovrà | debba | dovesse | dovrebbe |
| noi | dobbiamo | dovevamo | dovemmo | dovremo | dobbiamo | dovessimo | dovremmo |
| voi | dovete | dovevate | doveste | dovrete | dobbiate | doveste | dovreste |
| loro, essi/esse | devono/debbono | dovevano | dovettero | dovranno | debbano | dovessero | dovrebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | posso | potevo | potei | potrò | possa | potessi | potrei |
| tu | puoi | potevi | potesti | potrai | possa | potessi | potresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | può | poteva | poté | potrà | possa | potesse | potrebbe |
| noi | possiamo | potevamo | potemmo | potremo | possiamo | potessimo | potremmo |
| voi | potete | potevate | poteste | potrete | possiate | poteste | potreste |
| loro, essi/esse | possono | potevano | poterono | potranno | possano | potessero | potrebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | voglio | volevo | volli | vorrò | voglia | volessi | vorrei |
| tu | vuoi | volevi | volesti | vorrai | voglia | volessi | vorresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | vuole | voleva | volle | vorrà | voglia | volesse | vorrebbe |
| noi | vogliamo | volevamo | volemmo | vorremo | vogliamo | volessimo | vorremmo |
| voi | volete | volevate | voleste | vorrete | vogliate | voleste | vorreste |
| loro, essi/esse | vogliono | volevano | vollero | vorranno | vogliano | volessero | vorrebbero |
| Indicative | Subjunctive | Conditional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Imperfect | Preterite | Future | Present | Imperfect | ||
| io | so | sapevo | seppi | saprò | sappia | sapessi | saprei |
| tu | sai | sapevi | sapesti | saprai | sappia | sapessi | sapresti |
| lui, lei, esso/essa | sa | sapeva | seppe | saprà | sappia | sapesse | saprebbe |
| noi | sappiamo | sapevamo | sapemmo | sapremo | sappiamo | sapessimo | sapremmo |
| voi | sapete | sapevate | sapeste | saprete | sappiate | sapeste | sapreste |
| loro, essi/esse | sanno | sapevano | seppero | sapranno | sappiano | sapessero | saprebbero |
An adjective can be made into a modal adverb by adding-mente (from Latinmente, ablative ofmens ('mind'), feminine noun) to the ending of the feminine singular form of the adjective. E.g.lenta, 'slow' (feminine), becomeslentamente, 'slowly'. Adjectives ending in-re or-le lose theire before adding-mente (facile, 'easy', becomesfacilmente, 'easily';particolare, 'particular', becomesparticolarmente, 'particularly').
These adverbs can also be derived from theabsolute superlative form of adjectives, e.g.lentissimamente ('very slowly'),facilissimamente ('very easily').
There is also a plethora of temporal, local, modal and interrogative adverbs, mostly derived from Latin, e.g.quando ('when'),dove ('where'),come ('how'),perché ('why/because'),mai ('never'),sempre ('always'), etc.
Italian has aclosed class of basic prepositions, to which a number ofadverbs can be added that also double as prepositions, e.g.:sopra il tavolo ('upon the table'),prima di adesso ('before now').
In modern Italian the prepositionstra andfra are interchangeable, and often chosen on the basis ofeuphony:tra fratelli ('among brothers') vs.fra i tralicci ('between the power pylons').
In modern Italian, all the basic prepositions excepttra,fra,con, andper have to be combined with an article placed next to them. Of these,con andper have optional combining forms:col,collo,colla,coll',coi,cogli,colle;pel,pello,pella,pell',pei,pegli,pelle; except forcol andcoi, which are occasionally used, these forms are archaic and very rare.
Prepositions normally require the article before the following noun in a similar way as the English language does. HoweverLatin's lack of articles influenced several cases of prepositions used without article in Italian (e.g.a capo,da capo,di colpo,in bicicletta,per strada).
The prepositionsu becomessu di before a pronoun (e.g.su di te). Some speakers also usesu di before a word beginning inu foreuphonic reasons (e.g.su di un cavallo), but this is regarded as incorrect by grammarians. Historically the variant formsur was used before the letteru; however, this form fell into disuse during the nineteenth century.
| Mandatory contractions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian | English | Preposition + article | ||||||
| il | lo | la | l' | i | gli | le | ||
| di | of, from | del | dello | della | dell' | dei | degli | delle |
| a | to, at | al | allo | alla | all' | ai | agli | alle |
| da | from, by, since | dal | dallo | dalla | dall' | dai | dagli | dalle |
| in | in | nel | nello | nella | nell' | nei | negli | nelle |
| su | on, about | sul | sullo | sulla | sull' | sui | sugli | sulle |
| Optional contractions | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italian | English | Preposition + article | ||||||
| il | lo | la | l' | i | gli | le | ||
| con | with | col | collo | colla | coll' | coi | cogli | colle |
| per | for, through | pel | pello | pella | pell' | pei | pegli | pelle |
| tra | between, among | tral | trallo | tralla | trall' | trai | tragli | tralle |
| fra | between, among | fral | frallo | fralla | frall' | frai | fragli | fralle |
Italian is anSVO language. Nevertheless, the SVO sequence is sometimes replaced by one of the other arrangements (SOV, VSO, OVS, etc.), especially for reasons of emphasis and, in literature, for reasons of style and metre: Italian has relatively free word order.
The subject is usuallyomitted when it is a pronoun—distinctive verb conjugations make it redundant. Subject pronouns are considered emphatic when used at all.
Questions are formed by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence (in written form, a question mark). There is usually no other special marker, althoughwh-movement does usually occur. In general, intonation and context are important to recognize questions from affirmative statements.
| Davide è arrivato in ufficio. | ("David has arrived at the office.") |
| Davide è arrivato in ufficio? | ("Talking about David… did he arrive at the office?" or "Davide has arrived at the office? Really?" – depending on the intonation) |
| Perché Davide è arrivato in ufficio? | ("Why has David arrived at the office?") |
| Perché Davide è arrivato in ufficio. | ("Because David has arrived at the office.") |
| È arrivato Davide in ufficio. | ("It wasDavid who arrived at the office" or "Davidarrived at the office" – depending on the intonation) |
| È arrivato Davide in ufficio? | ("Has David arrived at the office?") |
| È arrivato in ufficio. | ("He has arrived at the office.") |
| (Lui) è arrivato in ufficio. | ("He has arrived at the office.") |
| Chi è arrivato in ufficio? | ("Who has arrived at the office?") |
In general, adjectives come after the noun they modify, adverbs after the verb. But: as withFrench, adjectives coming before the noun indicate essential quality of the noun. Demonstratives (e.g.questo, 'this',quello, 'that') come before the noun, and a few particular adjectives (e.g.bello) may be inflected like demonstratives and placed before the noun.
Among sometimes proscribed Italian forms are:
The first Italian grammar was printed byGiovanni Francesco Fortunio in 1516 with the titleRegole grammaticali della volgar lingua.[27] Ever since, several Italian and foreign scholars have published works devoted to its description. Among others may be mentioned the famousGrammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti written by thephilologistGerhard Rohlfs, published at the end of the 1960s.
Among the most modern publications are those byLuca Serianni, in collaboration withAlberto Castelvecchi,Grammatica italiana. Suoni, forme, costrutti (Utet, Turin, 1998); and byLorenzo Renzi,Giampaolo Salvi andAnna Cardinaletti,Grande grammatica italiana di consultazione (third vol., Bologna, Il Mulino, 1988–1995). The most complete and accurate grammar in English isA Reference Grammar of Modern Italian byMartin Maiden andCecilia Robustelli (McGraw-Hill, Chicago, 2000; second ed. Routledge, New York, 2013).
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) See an excerpt at"Grammatica italiana – L'imperfetto nelle frasi condizionali". Retrieved2007-10-08.