Italian language tips, culture deep dives, and everything you need to fall in love with Italy.
What on earth is a diphthong, you ask? Put simply it’s when two vowels come together side by side and form one syllable, also known as a “gliding vowel”. The one syllable vowel sound is similar to how the two vowels sound on their own, unlike English where a diphthong can sound nothing like the […]
How to say SO in italian? Lynne asks: “How do I say SO in italian?“ The word SO is an extremely versatile word in English and can be used in many different contexts depending on the meaning that you wish to express. Italian, on the other hand, uses different words for the different meanings of […]
The Particle NE Lesson 4 of 4 Make sure you watch and study Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Ask Manu Italiano before moving on to this episode. In the Lesson 3 you can find the practice exercise Don’t forget to download the pdf of this lesson for the answers. Watch the PART 2 of […]
The Particle NE Lesson 3 of 4 Make sure you watch and study Lesson 1 and Lesson 2 of Ask Manu Italiano before moving on to this episode. Don’t forget to download the pdf for the practice exercises.
The Particle NE Lesson 2 of 4 We continue our journey to unveil all the secrets of this little grammatical monster we call NE. This is the second Episode of Ask Manu Italiano dedicated to this topic. Make sure you watch and study Lesson 1 of 4 before moving on to this episode. NE in […]
The Particle NE Lesson 1 of 4 The particle NE is a complicated beast. In the next 4 episodes of Ask Manu Italiano we’ll try and demystify it and make some sense of it! Watch the PART 2 of the Lesson 1 HERE You need to get good at this one! Generally speaking NE works […]
What is the difference between ESSERE and STARE? Sam asks: “When do I say SONO and when STO?“ What’s the difference between ESSERE (to stay) and STARE (to be) ? ESSERE (to be) – STARE (to stay) Confusion:DialectsSimilar Meanings STANDARD ITALIAN = ENGLISHI am..I stay..*exceptions apply! ▷ EXAMPLES Sono Manu “I am Manu” Sono Italiano […]
COSA / CHE / QUALE? Joee asks: “How do I say WHAT in Italian? OR… when do I use CHE and when CHE COSA?“ What is the difference between CHE and CHE COSA ? In which cases are they used in Italian? ▷ WHAT + VERB (no noun) CHE / COSA / CHE COSA– when […]
How to choose between PRESENTE, FUTURO, PASSATO PROSSIMO and IMPERFETTO Phil asks: ” How do I know which italian tense to use?“ The Present Tense: IL PRESENTE The Italian Present Tense is used to render the following scenarios: Generic statement: I speak Continuous action in the present: I am speaking Future action: I will speak […]
Gender and Number in Passato Prossimo Ellie asks: ” When does the PAST PARTICIPLE agree with the direct object in the PASSATO PROSSIMO?“ First things first… The Italian Passato Prossimo looks just like the English Present Perfect (I have worked, I have seen, I have gone), but it translates both the English Simple Past (I […]
What is the difference between IMPERFETTO and PASSATO PROSSIMO? Sherrie asks: When do I use the IMPERFETTO over the PASSATO PROSSIMO or… what’s the difference between these two past tenses? Understanding when to use one over the other tense is tough and most students struggle with this. So you are not alone! The main reason […]
When do I use BENE vs BUONO? Phil asks: “When do I use BENE and when do I use BUONO? Or… how can I get this right?“ Getting confused between BENE and BUONO? You shouldn’t! 😉 BENE means WELL, while BUONO means GOOD. That is, BENE/WELL are adverbs, while BUONO/GOOD are adjectives. If you know […]
