GIFT OF ttLLlALI R. JEUB3HS CO.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2008 with funding from
Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/elementarygrammaOOmaririch
AN ELEMENTARY GRAMMAR
OF THE
ITALIAN LANGUAGE
BY
A. MARINONI
PROFESSOR OF ROMANCE LANGUAGES, UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS
AUTHOR OF "AN ITALIAN READER," "SELECTIONS
FROM CARDUCCI," ETC.
SECOXD EDITIOX, REVISED
New York
WILLIAM R. JENKINS CO.
PUBLISHERS
'Slxtu Avenue at Is ra Street
774
M-
Copyright, 1911, 1912 By William R. Jenkins Co.
All Rights Reserved
PREFACE
The fact that students who wish to study Italian are required to have had, at least in many institu- tions, either Latin or French, has led many to believe that an elementary course in Italian should be rushed through. Hence the adoption of grammars that are, a general rule, while brief, designed for students of greater maturity than the average college student even though he may have had the advantage of a good foundation in either Latin or French. In my long experience as a teacher of the Italian language I have had the opportunity to see how unsatisfactory such a plan is.
On the other hand, other grammars frequently used are entirely too bulky to give satisfactory results in an elementary course. Accordingly, this grammar, which is but a re-writing of my personal work in the class room, and has therefore been tested in its present form, is now published for the benefit of such persons as may have felt the lack of a book that would be a happy medium between the short and long treatises now on the market.
In the treatment of the subject I have striven to approach a systematic and easy development and a thorough, though necessarily not exhaustive, discus- sion of the elementary rules of the language together vith a practical illustration of such rules by means of
332674
iv PREFACE
examples and exercises. The latter, especially, I hav< tried to make as pertinent as possible, and in prepar' ing them I held constantly in view the living language thereby giving a practical value that could hardly b< attained with quotations from books and particularly the classic authors.
It is hoped that both the treatment of the verb and the distribution of the subject-matter will prove sat isfactory, as, of the various schemes of presentatioi that I had devised, the present one seems to hav< been the easiest for my students to grasp.
It is needless to say that in the preparation of thi4 work practically no use of other grammars has been made, and, as the author knows how dangerous anq ill-advised it is to make sweeping statements concern ing rules that are oftentimes only seemingly without exceptions, especial care has been taken to avoid all dogmatism in this regard, even at the risk of making too frequent use of adverbs such as generally, usually and the like.
In the hope that in spite of its limitations the book will be of some service, I confidently submit it to the consideration of my fellow teachers.
A. Marinoni.
A'l
CONTENTS
LESSON PAGE
Introductory. Alphabet, Pronunciation, and Accent vii
I. The Article 1
II. Number of Nouns 5
III. Use of the Article 9
IV. Gender of Nouns 12
V. Augmentatives and Diminutives 16
VI. Adjectives 19
VII. Position of Adjectives 23
VIII. Comparison. Comparative 26
IX. Superlatives 29
X. Numerals. Cardinals 33
XI. Numerals. Ordinals 37
XII. Pronouns. Subject Pronouns. Object Pronouns . 40
XIII. Disjunctive Object Pronouns .- 45
XIV. Possessives 4S
XV. Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns 52
XVI. Relatives 55
XVII. Interrogatives 59
XVIII. Indefinites 62
XIX. The Verb. The Auxiliary "Essere" 67
XX. The Auxiliary "Avere" 71
XXI. Regular Verbs. First Conjugation 7!
XXII. Regular Verbs. Second Conjugation 77
XXIII. Regular Verbs. Third Conjugation 80
XXIV. Reflexive and Impersonal Verbs 83
XXV. Irregular Verbs. First Conjugation s7
XXVI. Irregular Verbs. First Conjugation (continued \>\
XXVII. Irregular Verbs. Second Conjugation . . , i'l
VI CONTENTS
LESSON PAGE
XXVIII. Irregular Verbs. Second Conjugation {continued) . 98
XXIX. Irregular Verbs. Third Conjugation 101
XXX. Irregular Verbs. Third Conjugation {continued) . 104
XXXI. Interrogative and Negative Sentences 107
XXXII. Modes and Tenses. The Indicative 110
XXXIII. The Indicative {continued) 113
XXXIV. The Subjunctive 116
XXXV. The Conditional. The Infinitive 121
XXXVI. Present Participle. Past Participle 124
XXXVII. Adverbs 127
XXXVIII. Prepositions 131
XXXIX. Conjunctions and Interjections 136
Reference List of Irregular Verbs 139
Italian-English Vocabulary 157
English-Italian Vocabulary 167
Material for Composition 177
The Origins of the Italian Language 177
Vocabulary to Material for Composition 189
INTRODUCTION
ALPHABET
The Italian alphabet contains the same letters as the [English, with the exception that k, w, x, and y occur only 1 |m words of foreign derivation. The letter j is rarely used [nowadays, i being used instead.
i
PRONUNCIATION
Ib. With the exception of e and o, the sound of Italian vowels never changes, and each vowel must be pronounced distinctly.
a, like a in father; as, caro, dear.
e, open like a in fair; as, terra, earth; or close like a in
late; as, venti, twenty. i, like ee in feel; as, fila, line. o, open like o in forest; as, rosa, rose; or close like o in
note; as, ora, hour. u, like oo in pool; as, uva, raisin.
From what precedes it appears that no difficulty is in- volved in the pronunciation of a, i, u, while the open and close sounds of e and o may offer some difficult}'. 77 is indeed only by practise that the student will be enabled to di - tinguish the open and close sounds of e and o, and it may l>e remarked that Italians themselves find it hard in many instances to establish such distinction.
It is hoped, however, that the following remarks will help toward a better understanding of the origin and nature ol vowel sounds in Italian.
vii
X ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
s, as in English (seta, silk), except that between
two vowels it sounds like z in dozen; as, casa,
house. z, rarely like English z in zone, with a slight sound d
heard before the z; as, pranzo, dinner; more often like
English ts in fits; as, stanza, room, cc, before e or i, like tch in match; as accesso, access;
accidente, accident, ch, before e or i, always hard, like k; as, perche, why;
chiave, key. '* >»
gg, before e or i, sounds almost like dj in adjust; as,
oggetto, object; oggi, to-day. gh, before e or i, alway^l hard, like g in game; as,
mughetto, lily-of-the-valley; ghiaia, gravel. gl,* before i, like 11 in million; as, figlio, son; except
in negligere, to neglect; negligenza, negligence; negli-
gente, negligent (and a few others), in whicn the gl
sounds as in the corresponding English words. gn, like n in onion; as, campagna, country sc, soft before e ^id i, like sh in she; as, scena, scene;
scimmia, monkeyT
Remark : Double consonants are pronounced with double emphasis. A S
ACCENT AND APOSTROPHE
d. As a general .rule the grave accent C) is the only one used in Italian. It is placed over the final vowel of some words having the tonic accent on the last syllable; as, virtu, virtue; cittd, city; avro, I shall have. It is further used to distinguish certain words of like spelling but of different meaning; as, di, day, from di, of; e, is,
* These two consonants are always pronounced separately before a, e, o, u.
INTRODUCTION XI
rom e, and; Id, there, from la, the; da, gives, from da, rom, etc.
Remark: Except in cases as indicated above, the stress r tonic accent of words must be learned by practise. As i general rule, however, the greater number of Italian vords are stressed on the penultimate syllable; fewer on ,he antepenultimate, and a very small number on the ourth from the last. For the convenience of the student, an acute accent (') has been used to indicate stress in the conjugation of verbs and in the vocabularies. Such accent, )f course, should never be written.
e. In Italian the apostrophe (') is used to indicate the elision of a vowel (rarely of a syllable); as, Vargento, the silver, for lo argento; po', little, for poco.
DIVISION OF SYLLABLES
/. A single consonant between two vowels belongs to the following syllable; as, o-ro, gold.
g. A group of two (or more) consonants of which the first is s belongs to the following syllable; as, pre-sio, soon; co-strin-ge-re, to compel.
h. Two consonants are separated when they are alike or when the first of such group is 1, m, n, r; as, ter-ra, earth; al-ta-re, altar; em-pi-re, to fill; bon-td, goodness; in-ver-no, winter.
i. Of three consonants, the first belongs to the breeding syllable, provided it is not an s; as, sem-pli-cc, simple.
j. Vowels forming diphthongs (or triphthongs) are not separated; as, buo-no, good; a-in<>-ln, garden-plot.
Xll ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
USE OF CAPITALS
k. Capital letters are generally used as in English, except :
(a) With proper adjectives; as, un libro italiano, an
Italian book. (6) With names of months and days; as, in gennaio,
in January; lunedi venturo, next Monday, (c) With the pronoun io, I.
LESSON I
THE ARTICLE
1. The English definite article the is expressed in Italian I is follows:
In the singular by: il, before all masculine nouns beginning with a consonant, ex- cept s impure, that is, s followed by a consonant, and z. Ex.: il libro, the book; il maestro, the teacher. lo, before s impure or z.
Ex.: lo scolaro, the pupil; lo zio, the uncle. la, before feminine nouns beginning with a consonant.
Ex.: la scuola, the school; la veranda, the veranda; la promessa, the promise. V, before all nouns beginning with a vowel.
Ex.: Vonore, the honor; Varia sana, the healthy air.
2. In the plural by:
i, before masculine nouns beginning with a consonant.
Ex. : i monti, the mountains. gli, before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel, s im- pure, or z. Ex.: gli amici, the friends; gli schiavi, the slaves; gli zaini, the knapsacks. gP, before masculine nouns beginning with i, though not necessarily, gli usually being employed instead. Ex. : gVinni or gli inni, the hymns, ie, before all feminine nouns.
Ex.: Ie lettere, the letters; le idee, the ideas; h li moderne, the modern languages.
2 .'.' . ••-"*: .^V&WlilXil^ ITALIAN GRAMMAR
3. The English indefinite article a, an, is rendered by: un, before masculine nouns beginning with vowel or con- sonant, except s impure and z.
Ex.: un uomo, a man; un cuore, a heart, uno, before masculine nouns beginning with s impure or z.
Ex.: uno sbaglio, a mistake; uno zelo, a zeal. una, before feminine nouns beginning with a consonant.
Ex. : una carrozza, a carriage. un', before feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.
Ex.: un' arancia, an orange; un' obbligazione, an obliga- tion. Note: The student is advised to associate each noun with its article as this is the surest way of learning the gender of Italian nouns.
4. The prepositions di, of; a, to, at; da, from, by; con, with; in, in; su, on, upon, are usually contracted with the definite article according to the following table :
CONTRACTION OF THE ARTICLE WITH PREPOSITIONS
|
Singular |
Plural |
||||||||
|
il |
lo |
V |
la |
i |
gli |
gl' |
le |
||
|
di |
del |
dello |
dell' |
della |
dei |
degli |
degl' |
delle |
of the |
|
a |
al alio |
all' |
alia |
ai |
agli |
agl' |
alle |
to the |
|
|
da |
dal |
dallo |
dall' |
dalla |
dai |
dagli |
dagl' |
dalle |
from, by the |
|
con |
col |
collo |
coll' |
colla |
coi |
cogli |
cogl' |
colle |
with the |
|
in |
nel |
nello |
nell' |
nella |
nei |
negli |
negP |
nelle |
in the |
|
su |
sul |
sullo |
sull' |
sulla |
sui |
sugli |
SUgP |
sulle |
on the |
Note 1. — These contracted forms are used before nouns according to the rules already given for the simple article.
Note 2. — The preposition per, for, is rarely contracted (per-}- 51 = pel, etc.).
LESSON II
NUMBER OF NOUNS
6. The plural of nouns is formed according to the fol- lowing rules:
1. Masculine and feminine nouns ending with o or e, form their plural in i.
Ex.: il guanto, the glove; i guanti, the gloves; la madre, the mother; le madri, the mothers.
2. Masculine nouns ending in a, form their plural by- changing a to i.
Ex.: il poeta., the poet; i poeti, the poets.
3. Feminine nouns ending in a, change a to e in the plural. Ex.: la riva, the bank; le rive, the banks.
IRREGULARITIES IN THE FORMATION OF THE PLURAL
7. 1. Nouns ending with i, ie, or with accented a or u, and monosyllables remain unchanged.
Ex.: la crisi, the crisis; le crisi, the crises; la serie, tin- series; le serie, the series; la cittd, the city; A cilia, the cities; la virtu, the virtue; le virtu, the virtues; il re, the king; i re, the kings.
2. Nouns ending in ca and ga. insert h in the plural. (This is to preserve the hard sound of c and g.)
Ex.: la barca, the boat; l< bardie, the boats; In l»>tt< ga, the shop; le botlezhe, the shops.
O ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
3. Nouns ending in co and go, generally form their plural in chi and ghi respectively.
Ex.: il banco, the bench; i banchi, the benches; il lago, the lake; i laghi, the lakes.
Note: This rule suffers some exceptions: Vamico, the friend; gli amid, the friends; il nemico, the enemy; i nemici, the enemies, and a few others.
4. A few noucs ending in co, may admit both ci and chi, though ci is perhaps the more usual form.
Ex.: il monaco, the monk; i monad or monachi, the monks; I'Austriaco, the Austrian; gli Austriad or Austriachi, the Austrians,
5. Nouns ending in io with stress on i, change o to i in the plural.
Ex.: il mormorio, the murmur; i mormorii, the mur- murs.
Otherwise the o is dropped, unless ii is necessary to avoid ambiguity.
Ex.: il figlio, the son; i figli, the sons; il ciliegio, the cherry-tree; i ciliegi, the cherry-trees.
But: il principio, the principle; i principii, the prin- ciples (to distinguish it from principi, the princes. This rule, however, is not strictly observed, as am- biguity rarely arises from any connected passage).
6. The following words change final o to a in the plural and also change their gender:
il moggio, the bushel, le moggia.; un paio, a pair, couple, le paia; un uovo, an egg, le uova; il miglio, the mile, le miglia; un centinaio (about) a hundred, le cen- tinaia.; un migliaio (about) a thousand, le migliaia.
NUMBER OF NOUNS 7
7. The following nouns have anomalous plurals:
Vuomo, the man; gli uomini, the men; il dio, the god; gli dei, the gods; il bue, the ox; i bnoi, the oxen.
EXERCISE H
Vocabulary
le Alpi, the Alps.
l'Arabo, m., the Arab.
l'Arno, m., the Arno.
centrale, central.
la colazione, the breakfast.
commercialmente, commercially.
comodi, adj. pi. of comodo, com- fortable.
la corsa, the race.
la dispensa, the pantry.
due, two.
gia, already.
ho, I have.
hanno, they have.
importanti, adj. pi. of important e, important.
incantevoli, adj. pi. o/incantevole, enchanting.
industrioso, industrious.
Italia, /., Italy.
Lombardia, /., Lombardy.
Milano, /., Milan.
Napoli, /., Naples.
la persona, the person.
il popolo, the people.
la regata, the boat race.
il salotto, the parlor.
serio, serious.
soltanto, only.
il Tamigi, the Thames.
il Tedesco, the German.
il Tevere, the Tiber.
Torino, /., Turin.
l'universita, /., the university.
veloci, adj. pi. of veloce, fast.
Venezia, /., Venice.
videro, (they) saw.
(Also words given in preceding lesson.)
1. Put the definite article before the following words and then form the plural of both article and noun: a-, il cavdllo, i cavdlli.
cavdllo, horse; stdlla, /., stable; fiume, ?n., river; sedia, /., chair; fiorc, ///., flower: pisco, /».. peach- tree; bosco, m., wood.
A. — 1. I cavalli degli Arabi Bono veloci. 2. be Bedie e i banchi della scuola sono comodi. J. 1 bnoi son > aella
8 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
stalla. 4. I laghi e i boschi delle Alpi sono incantevoli. 5. Milano e Brescia sono citta della Lombardia. 6. Ho due paia di guanti. 7. La corsa e di due miglia. 8. Le uova sono nella dispensa. 9. II Tevere e PArno sono fiumi dell' Italia centrale. 10. I peschi hanno gia i fiori.
B. — 1. The boats are on the bank of the river. 2. The friends of the young lady are in the parlor. 3. Venice and Naples are two enchanting cities. 4. I have a pair of fast2 horses1.* 5. The Germans are a serious2 and industrious3 people1. 6. Milan and Turin are important2 cities1 com- mercially. 7. Thousands of persons saw the boat races on the Thames. 8. The university is (insert 'to') two miles from the city. 9. The cherry-trees are already in flower. 10. For breakfast I have only a couple of eggs.
* Small numbers are used throughout the book to indicate the re- spective order of the words in the sentence.
LESSON III
USE OF THE ARTICLE
8. The definite article is used in Italian and not in English :
1. Before nouns taken in a general sense.
Ex.: I'oro e un metallo prezioso, gold is a precious metal; il ferro e utile, iron is useful.
2. Before abstract nouns.
Ex.: la libertd e car a, liberty is dear; il vizio e odioso, vice is odious.
3. Before names of countries.
Ex.: 1' Italia, Italy; la Francia, France; dagli Stati Uniti, from the United States. In the genitive case, however, the article may be omitted if the name of a country is used instead of an adjective. Ex.: il vino di Francia (i.e., francese, French), the French wine (lit. of France). Yet the article is used also in the genitive case, pro- vided the name is modified by an adjective.
Ex. : le speranze della nuova Italia, the hopes of n<u I taly. Note: The article is usually omitted after the preposi- tion in.
4. Before family names,* titles, professions, except in direct address.
Ex.: il Petrarca, Petrarch: il Carducci, Carducci; il re Vittorio Emanuele III (terzo), King Victor Emman- uel III; il signar Bianehi, Mr. Bianchi.
* In many instances, however, the us,- of the article is optional; sometimes the article is omitted altogether.
10 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Note 1. — The definite article is usually repeated be- fore each noun.
Ex. : il fratello e la sorella, the brother and sister. Note 2. — The definite article replaces the English in- definite article before nouns of weight, measure, number, and time.
Ex.: cinque soldi la libbra, five cents a pound; due lire il metro, two francs a meter; venti soldi la doz- zina, twenty cents a dozen; died dollari il giorno, ten dollars a day.
5. The genitive articles del, dello, della, and dei, degli, delle, are often used in a partitive sense to render the English words some, any, a few.
Ex. : avete dei librif Have you any books?
9. The indefinite article in Italian is generally omitted:
1. Before nouns denoting profession, rank, title, nation- ality.
Ex.: il signor Martini e avvocato, Mr. Martini is a
lawyer; il signor Black e capitano, Mr. Black is a
captain; (egli) e Americano, he is an American.
Note : The indefinite article, however, is used in Italian
when such nouns indicating profession, etc., are modified
by an adjective or followed by a relative pronoun.
Ex. : il signor Martini e un avvocato famoso, Mr. Mar- tini is a famous lawyer; (egli) e un Americano die parla bene italiano, he is an American who speaks Italian well.
2. Before nouns used in apposition.
Ex.: Sant' Elena, piccola isola nelV Atlantico, e famosa nella storia, St. Helena, a small island in the Atlantic, is famous in history.
USE OF THE ARTICLE 11
EXERCISE HI Vocabulary
rrivato, arrived; e — , has arrived. la letteratura, the literature.
i ciliegia, the cherry. ma, but.
5me, as, like. il meccanico, the mechanic.
dsi, so. mio, my.
onosce, knows. non, not.
ostano, cost. oggi, to-day.
appertutto, everywhere. la pesca, the peach.
;uropa, /., Europe. prosperoso, prosperous.
giornale, the newspaper. rinomati, adj. pi. of rinomato, tuadagna, earns. famous,
'influenza, /., the influence. la riputazione, the reputation,
nghilterra, /., England. la rivista, the review,
nglese, English. settentrionale, northern,
nnato, innate. la vendita, the sale. (Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. L'oro e un metallo prezioso, ma non cosi utile
3ome il ferro. 2. L'amore della liberta e innato nell' uomo.
1. II signor Lupi e arrivato oggi dall' Italia. 4. I vini di
Francia sono rinomati. 5. I giornali e le riviste d'ltalia
d'lnghilterra sono in vendita oggi. 6. Le uova costano
Iventi soldi la dozzina. 7. II meccanico guadagna cinque
Idollari il giorno. 8. Lo zio di Carlo e awocato. 9. Mio
Sfratello e un commerciante prosperoso. 10. L'influenza
'del Petrarca sulle letterature d'Europa e grain le.
B. — 1. Mr. White is an Englishman who knows Italy- Iwell1. 2. Mr. Adams is a lawyer who has some ivputati< in in the (omit) city. 3. Peaches cost ten cents a dozen. 1. Lib- erty is dear to man. 5. My uncle earns five dollars a day.
6. Europe is2 not1 so prosperous commercially as America.
7. He has some Italian2 and French5 reviews1 in the library.
8. The wines of northern- Italy' an- famous everywhere.
9. The influence of Byron and Shelley on the literatures of Europe is great. 10. Have you any (§ 8, 5) cherries?
LESSON IV
GENDER OF NOUNS
10. Italian nouns have no case forms, and the English possessive case is expressed by means of the preposition di.
Ex. : il libro di mio fratello, my brother's book.
11. There are only two genders in Italian, masculine and feminine. As a general rule, nouns denoting males, titles, and professions pertaining to males are masculine, whatever their endings; those denoting females, titles, and professions pertaining to females are feminine. Ex- ceptions to this rule are: la guida, the guide; la persona, the person; la sentinella, the sentry.
12. The following rules may help in determining the gender of nouns:
1. Nouns ending in o are usually masculine. Ex.: il giorno, the day; I'oro, the gold. Except: la mano, the hand; Veco (la eco), the echo.
(Eco may also be masculine in the singular. It is
masculine in the plural.)
13. Nouns ending in a are usually feminine. Ex.: la paura, the fear; la casa, the house. Except: il poeta, the poet; il poema, the poem; il
clima, the climate; il sistema, the system; il dramma, the drama; il pianeta, the planet.
14. Nouns ending in e or i can hardly be classified as to
12
GENDER OF NOUNS 13
lender; the following rules, however, will be of some assistance:
1. Nouns ending in lidine and zione are feminine. Ex.: la moltitudine, the multitude; la nazione, the
nation.
2. Nouns ending in i are feminine when derived from the Greek, otherwise they are masculine.
Ex.: la tesi, the thesis; la genesi, the genesis.
But: il brindisi, the toast; il di, the day, and its com- pounds mezzodi, midday; lunedi, Monday; martedi, Tuesday; mercoledi, Wednesday; giovedi, Thursday; venerdi, Friday.
3. Nouns ending in u are usually feminine when meaning abstract ideas and masculine when meaning concrete objects.
Ex.: la virtu, the virtue; la gioventu, the youth. But: il Peru, Peri; il bambu, the bamboo. Remark: The difficulty involved in determining the gender of nouns can only be overcome by a long practise.
FORMATION OF THE FEMININE IN NOUNS
15. The feminine of nouns representing living beings is often formed by changing the termination of the masculine.
1. Nouns ending in o change o to a.
Ex.: lo zio, the uncle; la zia, the aunt; il ragazzo, the
boy; la ragazza, the girl. Except: fratello, brother; sordid, sister; dio, god; dea,
goddess.
2. Nouns ending in a change a to essa.
Ex.: il poeta, the poet; la poetessa, the poetess; il duca,
the duke; la duchessa, the duchess. Except: artista, artist; violinista, violinist; corista,
14 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
chorister, and others of similar ending which re- main invariable.
3. Nouns in e usually have the feminine in a.
Ex.: il padrone, the master; la padrona, the mistress; il signore, the gentleman, Mr. ; la signora, the lady, Mrs.
Except: padre, father; madre, mother; barone, baron; baronessa, baroness; conte, count; contessa, count- ess; leone, lion; leonessa, lioness; and the invariable cantante, singer; nipote, nephew, niece; erede, heir.
4. Nouns ending in tore have the feminine in trice.
Ex.: il pittore, the painter, la pittrice; lo scrittore, the
writer, la scrittrice. Except: il dottore, the doctor, la dottoressa.*
5. As regards inanimate objects, nouns ending in o that are names of trees, change o to a and become feminine to indicate the fruit.
Ex.: il pero, the pear-tree; la pera, the pear; il pesco,
the peach-tree; la pesca, the peach. Except: il fico, the fig-tree or fig (fruit); il porno, the
apple-tree or apple (fruit) f; il dattero, the date-tree
or date (fruit); il cedro, the cedar-tree or cedar
(fruit).
EXERCISE IV
Vocabulary
abbondanti, adj. pi. of abbon- che, which.
dante, abundant. chiamato, called,
angolo, corner. conquistato, conquered,
caldi, adj. pi. of caldo, warm. crescono, (they) grow.
* As a title, dottore may be used in the feminine also; dottoressa is often said of a woman who makes vain pretensions to knowledge.
f Melo (m.) is also another word for apple-tree, and mela (/.) for apple (fruit).
GENDER OF NOUNS 15
iecimale, decimal. pianta, tree.
iivino, divine. popolari, adj. pi. of popolare,
eccellenza, per — , par excellence. popular.
.effetto, effect. Rinascimento, Renaissance.
Firenze, /., Florence. Roma, Rome.
fu, was. sicura, adj. fern. sing, of sictiro,
generalmente, generally. reliable.
gentile, gentle, kind. telegram, telegraph.
grammatica, grammar. talvolta, sometimes.
ingegno, talent. terra, earth.
inventato, invented. terribili, adj. pi. of terribile,
macellaio, butcher. terrible.
mite, mild. vane, adj. fern. pi. of vano, vain.
molto, very.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. La bottega del macellaio e all' angolo della strada. 2. La dottoressa Tagliaferro e una signora molto gentile. 3. La grammatica e una guida molto utile nello
I studio delle lingue. 4. Gli effetti delle vane paure sono talvolta terribili. 5. II sistema decimale fu inventato dagli Arabi. 6. La signorina e una nipote della padrona di casa. 7. Firenze fu la citta per eccellenza dei poeti e degli artisti del Rinascimento. 8. Le mele e le pesche sono abbondanti, ma non i fichi. 9. La Duse e una grande attrice. 10. II dattero e il cedro sono piante che crescono nei climi caldi.
B. — 1. Peru was conquered by Pizarro.* 2. Shake- speare's dramas are popular in Italy. 3. Mrs. White is very kind to (verso di) me (me). 4. The climate of Italy is generally mild. 5. The wireless (senza fdi)'1 telegraph1 was invented by Marconi. 6. The guide is a reliable2 per- son1. 7. The earth is a planet of the solar2 system1. 8. Mrs. Grazia Deledda is a writer of great talent. 9. Dante is sometimes called "the divine poet." 10. Mr. Wolf's sister is a doctor of the university of Rome.
* Omit the article before this name.
LESSON V
AUGMENTATIVES AND DIMINUTIVES
16. The original meaning of many Italian nouns and adjectives, and sometimes also of verbs and adverbs, may be modified by means of suffixes. These are called aug- me?itatives when they imply augmentation, diminutives when they imply diminution.
17. Of augmentative suffixes the most important are -one and -otto. Of these, -one, always masculine (with a rare feminine in -ona), usually refers to size.
Ex.: il libro, the book; il librone, the large book; la tavola, the table; il tavolone, the big table.
The suffix -otto (feminine -otta) usually indicates strength. Ex.: contadino, peasant; contadinotto, peasant of fine build; vecchio, old man; vecchiotto, old man of fine appearance; aquila, eagle; aquilotto, eaglet.
18. The principal diminutive suffixes are: -ino, -etto, -cello, -cino, -icino. Of these suffixes with feminine forms in -ina, -etta, etc., -ino indicates both smallness and pretti- ness and oftentimes endearment, the others generally refer to size only.
Ex.: viso, face; visino, pretty little face; mano, hand; manina, pretty little hand; povero, poor fellow; poverino, poor little one; casa, house; casetta, littb house; carro, wagon; carretto, small wagon; lag\ lake; laghetto, small lake; fiume, river; fiumicell \
AUGMENTATIVES AND DIMINUTIVES 17
small river; tavola, /., table; tavolino, m., small table; bastone, cane; bastoncino, little cane; lupo, wolf; lupicino, little wolf.
19. The diminutive suffixes -erello, -uccio, -ello with feminine forms -erella, etc., are generally used to express either affection or contempt.
Ex.: vecchio, old man; vecchierello, poor old man; Carlo, Charles; Carluccio, (dear) little Charles; casa, house; casuccia, hovel; cappello, hat; cappelluccio, worn out and cheap hat; scrittore, writer; scrittorello, bad writer.
20. The suffixes -accio, -astro, and sometimes -icciuolo, with others of less importance, generally convey an idea of badness, contempt, weakness, and the like; hence they are called in Italian peggiorativi (depreciatives).
Ex.: uomo, man; omaccio, wicked man; poeta, poet; poetastro, poetaster; corpo, body; corpicciuolo, little sickly body; muro, wall; muricciuolo, little wall.
Note: It will be noticed that all words drop the final vowel before taking suffixes.
Remark: In general it is rather hard to determine what diminutive or augmentative suffixes a noun may take. Usage is apparently the best rule to go by.
EXERCISE V
Vocabulary
allegro, cheerful. diligente, diligent,
aperto, open. dorme, sleeps,
bellina, adj. fern. dim. of bello, edera, ivy.
pretty. elegante, elegant.
cinta, di , surrounding. erba, firass; erbetta, soft grass.
delicato, delicate. fresco, fresh.
18
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
geisomino, jasmine.
letto, bed.
margherita, daisy.
nonno, grandfather.
notte, /., night.
ombrellino, parasol, dim. of om-
brello, umbrella, paglia, straw.
prato, meadow.
ricoperto, covered.
rosa, rose.
Rubicone, m., Rubicon.
sempre, always.
sfortunato, unfortunate.
storia, history.
vflla, country house, villa.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. II portone del palazzo e aperto giorno e notte. 2. Mio nonno e un vecchiotto allegro. 3. II fanciullino del signor Neri ha un visino fresco come una rosa. 4. Car- luccio e un ragazzino diligente. 5. II signor Roberts ha una villetta molto bellina a Firenze. 6. La margheritina e un fiorellino di prato. 7. II giardinetto della casa di mio padre ha un muricciuolo di cinta. 8. II poverino dorme in un lettuccio di paglia. 9. II praticello e ricoperto d'er- betta. 10. L'ombrellino della signorina e molto elegante.
B. — 1. The little wall of the garden is covered with (di) ivy. 2. The poor old man is very unfortunate. 3. Little Charles is always cheerful. 4. The Rubicon is an impor- tant2 little river1 in the history of Rome. 5. The poor little one lives in a hovel on the banks of the small lake. 6. My uncle's little house is very pretty and elegant. 7. John's little sister has a white2 parasol1. 8. The large book is on the little table of the library. 9. The jasmine is a delicate2 little flower1. 10. He has a very2 elegant3 little cane1.
LESSON VI
ADJECTIVES
21. Adjectives in Italian agree in gender and number with the noun they qualify. An adjective qualifying two or more nouns of different gender representing living beings is masculine plural, unless such nouns are all feminine.
Ex.: un uomo sincero, a sincere man; una bella. si- gnora, a beautiful lady; il fratello e la sorella sono buoni, the brother and sister are good.
22. An adjective qualifying two or more nouns of differ- ent gender representing inanimate objects may be in the plural masculine or made to agree in gender and number with its nearest noun.
Ex. : il calamaio e la penna sono nuovi or e nuova, the inkstand and the pen are new.
23. Adjectives ending in e are both masculine and femi- nine in the singular.
Ex.: lo smeraldo e verd», the emerald is green; Yedera, /., e verde, the ivy is green.
24. Adjectives ending in o, change o to a in the feminine.
Ex.: un lavoro prezioso, a precious work; una moneta preziosa, a precious coin.
25. The plural of adjectives is formed like that of nouns of similar endings.
19
20 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
APOCOPATION OF ADJECTIVES
26. The adjective bello is shortened to bel when it pre- cedes a masculine noun beginning with a consonant (ex- cept s impure).
Ex.: un bel quadro, a beautiful picture. But: un bello sguardo, a beautiful look. Bello drops the final o and takes an apostrophe bell before a vowel.
Ex.: un bell' argomento, a fine argument. Note : The plural of bello and bell' is begli ; that of be is bei.
27. The adjectives grande and Santo are shortened t< gran and San* before a noun beginning with a consonan (except s impure).
Ex.: il gran palazzo, the great palace.
But: il grande sgomento, the great alarm; San Tom
maso, St. Thomas. But: Santo Stefano, St. Stephen. Either grande or grand' may be used before a nou
beginning with a vowel ; Sajito is always shortened t
San? before a vowel. Ex.: un grande or grand' animo, a great spirit; Sari
Agostino, St. Augustine. Note: In the plural the form gran is often used instea of grandi.
Ex.: gran monumenti, great monuments; gran ricchezz
great riches.
* Whereas gran can be used both with masculine and feminii
nouns, San precedes only masculine nouns beginning with a consonar
Before feminine nouns beginning with a consonant Santa is used.
Ex.: Santa Caterina, St. Catherine.
ADJECTIVES
21
28. The adjective buono drops the final o before a mas- ( line noun beginning with a consonant or vowel (except s
impure, though not consistently).
fj Ex.: un buon cantante, a good singer; un buon amico, a good friend. Note: The form buon' may be used instead of buona U'ore feminine nouns beginning with a vowel. el | Ex. : buon' anima, good soul.
29. The student will easily notice that, except in the case { s impure, the tendency with adjectives is to drop the
tojial vowel.* This is largely in order to avoid a monotonous currence of vowel sounds.
EXERCISE VI
Vocabulary
cettato, accepted.
(ireo, golden.
Vule, m., trunk.
.po, head, leader.
riesa, church.
j ;>mmerciale, commercial. ill I imsiglio, counsel, advice.
omanda, demand, request, ^tremo, extreme. 7l!iticoso, hard, losofo, philosopher, .ornata, day. •ri, yesterday. nmenso, immense, nposizione, /., imposition. Jingo, long.
lale, m., evil, disease, istallo, metal, loderno, modern, aturale, natural.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.) * Such vowel may fall when preceded by 1, m, n, r. If the group 11 recedes, one of the two consonants also falls (§ 26); except giallo,
paese, m., country.
periodo, period.
piacevole, pleasing.
piuttosto, rather.
platino, platinum.
principale, main.
questo, this.
ragguardevole, remarkable.
rimedio, remedy.
risorsa, resource.
scioperante, m., striker.
scolastica, scholastic philosophy.
stesso, same.
sviluppo, development.
tempo, time.
utilita, usefulness.
valigia, valise.
viaggio, trip.
voi, you.
22 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
A. — 1. La strada e lunga e faticosa. 2. Le riso naturali degli Stati Uniti sono immense. 3. Lo svilttp commerciale dell' Italia moderna e ragguardevole. 4. valigia e il baule sono arrivati oggi. 5. A mali estre estremi rimedi. 6. Questo non e un bell' argomen 7. Oggi e una bella giornata. 8. Questo e un buon consig, e di grande utilita per voi. 9. San Tommaso e uno grandi filosofi del periodo aureo della scolastica. 10. i domanda degli scioperanti e un' imposizione bella e buci (idiomatic: the two adjectives here emphasize the statemifc made. Translate by an adverb — certainly, surely, etc.
B. — 1. The trip is long and hard but pleasing at 1; same time. 2. This is a fine argument, but the strike have not* accepted the counsel of the leaders. 3. St. h gustine is one of the great philosophers of the Chur.
4. The commercial2 development1 of the United States! the natural2 effect1 of the immense resources of the count .
5. Yesterday was a fine day. 6. Gold and platinum :a very2 precious3 metals1. 7. This remedy is very good tj you. 8. This trunk is rather large. 9. They (essi) hg:3 a great palace in the main street of the city. 10. This mi is sincere.
* The negative non is always placed before the verb; in compous it precedes the auxiliary.
LESSON VII
POSITION OF ADJECTIVES
30. Adjectives usually follow their nouns when deno- ting an occasional shape, color, taste, or a physical quality.
Ex. : una tavola rotonda, a round table ; il cavallo bianco, the white horse; il caffe e amaro, the coffee is bitter; Vuomo cieco, the blind man; Vacqua fredda, the cold water.
31. Likewise, adjectives indicating nationality, religion, or office follow their nouns.
Ex.: la lingua italiana, the Italian language; V Italia e un paese cattolico, Italy is a catholic country; un ordine imperiale, an imperial order.
32. Adjectives of participial derivation are also placed after their nouns.
Ex.: uno scolaro intelligente, an intelligent pupil; Vamico ingannato, the deceived friend.
33. A short noun or adjective usually precedes a longer adjective or noun.
Ex.: un orrore indescrivibile, an indescribable horror; un bel paesaggio, a beautiful landscape.
34. Adjectives expressing quantity or size, numeral ad- jectives, and others denoting beauty, ugliness, goodness, badness, generally precede their nouns, unless a different order is preferable for emphasis.
23
24
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Ex.: molti soldati, many soldiers; un piccolo esercito, a small army; ire card, three dogs; un bel parco, a beautiful park; un cattivo ragazzo, a bad boy; e un' azione cattiva (emphatic), it is a bad action.
35. Augmentative and diminutive adjectives always follow their nouns.
Ex.: una casetta bellina, a pretty little house.
Note: The foregoing rules on the position of adjectives are not always binding. As a matter of fact, the position of adjectives (especially in poetry) is largely left to the discretion of the writer who places them according to his, idea of effect, harmony, taste, etc.
EXERCISE VII
Vocabulary
alpino, Alpine.
armonioso, harmonious.
Boero, Boer.
campagna, country (fields).
carrozza, carriage.
caus6, caused.
civilta, civilization.
competente, competent.
cristdano, Christian.
diritto, law.
equatoriale, equatorial.
eroe, hero.
flotta, fleet.
forza, force.
francese, French.
giovane, adj., young; noun, young
man. insalubre, unhealthy. invasione, /., invasion. meraviglioso, wonderful.
(Also words given
numero, number, offrono, (they) offer, pigro, lazy, potente, powerful, punito, punished. puro (lit. pure), sheer. questione, /., question, ricco, rich, rotondo, round, sacrificio, sacrifice. salvb, saved. spettacolo, spectacle. suono, sound. tesoro, treasure. tirato, drawn, valoroso, brave, vero, true. vinto, overcome, vita, life.
in preceding lessons.)
POSITION OF ADJECTIVES 25
A. — 1. II re Arturo e l'eroe dei poemi della Tavola Totonda. 2. L'esercito dei Boeri era piccolo ma valoroso. 3. II signor Adams e una persona competente in questioni di diritto commerciale. 4. II clima caldo di molti paesi equatoriali e insalubre. 5. La gran vittoria di Carlo Mar- tello (Charles Martel) sopra gli Arabi, salvo la eivilta cristiana. 6. La lingua italiana e molto ricca di suoni armoniosi. 7. L'amico e arrivato oggi dalla campagna su una piccola carrozza tirata da due bei cavalli bianchi.
8. I paesaggi alpini offrono degli spettacoli meravigliosi.
9. Carlo e un giovane intelligente ma pigro. 10. Un vero amico e un tesoro.
B. — 1. The American fleet is very powerful. 2. The little round table of the library is beautiful. 3. The Alps offer some wonderful landscapes. 4. With the sacrifice of his (la) life, Pietro Micca saved Turin from a French in- vasion. 5. The bad boy was punished. 6. The small army of the Boers was overcome by sheer force of numbers (sing.). 7. The disaster caused an indescribable horror. 8. This coffee is very bitter. 9. I have two white horses and a fine carriage. 10. The cold climate of this northern country is not good for you.
LESSON VIII COMPARISON
36. The various degrees of comparison are generally expressed in Italian by means of adverbs, not by changing the termination of adjectives.
COMPARATIVE
37. The comparative of superiority and inferiority are.; formed respectively by placing piu, more, and meno, less, before the adjective.
Ex.: importante, important; piu importante, more im- portant; artistico, artistic; meno artistico, less artistic.
38. A few adjectives have, besides a regular compara- tive, an irregular one of Latin derivation as follows:
alto, high; piu alto or superiore (followed by a), higher; grande, great; piu grande or maggiore, greater (older, elder); piccolo, small; piu piccolo or minore, smaller, (younger, minor); buono, good; piu buono or migli ore, better; cattivo, bad; piu cattivo or pcggiorc, worse; basso, low; piu basso or inferiore (followed by a), lower.
39. The forms maggiore, minore, superiore, inferiore are
not used to denote height or size except in mathematical language or in the case of abstract ideas. Hence:
una casa piu piccola (not minore), a small house.
But : un numero piu grande or maggiore, a larger number. 26
!
COMPARISON 27
Note: The English adverbs better and worse are rendered Italian by meglio and peggio respectively.
40. The word than is rendered as follows:
1. By che, when the second member of the comparison either an adjective, a verb in the infinitive, or an adverb.
Ex.: il ferro e piu utile che prezioso, iron is more use- ful than precious; e meglio morire che vivere disonorati, it is better to die than to live in dishonor; meglio cosi che peggio, better thus than worse (i.e., it might be worse).
2. By di before a numerical expression, a pronoun, or noun.
Ex.: studio piu di cinque ore il giorno, I study more than five hours a day; le signorine sono piu diligenti di noi, the young ladies are more diligent than we; il leone e piu forte delta (di -f- la) tigre, the lion is stronger than the tiger.
41. The comparative of equality is usually expressed nth the correlative forms tanto . . . quanto or cosi . . . tome.
Ex. : Vitaliano non e tanto difficile quanto il tedesco
Or: Vitaliano non e cosi difficile come il te- desco
Note 1. — In the foregoing examples both tanto and osi may be omitted.
Note 2. — Tanto and quanto, when used for quantity, gree in gender and number with the noun.
Ex.: non ha tanta esperienza quanta ne ho io, he h 9 not as much experience as I (lit. as I have of il t.
Italian is not as hard as German
28 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
EXERCISE VIII
Vocabulary abita, lives. partire, (to) depart, leave.
Americano, American. piano, floor,
attivo, active. possibile, possible,
centro, center. presente, present.
coraggio, courage. presto, soon,
crede, egli — , he thinks (lit. prezzo, price.
believes). salario, salary.
domani, to-morrow. sciopero, strike.
Europeo, European. senza, without.
ferroviario, railroad (adj.) servizio, service.
importanza, importance. sforzo, effort.
mai, never. sodisfacente, satisfactory.
me, me (I). studioso, studious.
Parigi, Paris. tardi, late.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. Parigi e un centro artistico piu importante di New- York. 2. II signore ha piu esperienza di noi. 3. Carlo e piu studioso di me, ma non ha tanti libri quanti ne ho io. 4. E meglio partire piu presto. 5. Un maggiore sforzo non e possibile. G. Lo studio della grammatica e piu utile che piacevole. 7. II figlio maggiore del signor Lom- bardi e a Boston. 8. (E) meglio tardi che mai. 9. II servizio ferroviario in Italia non e cosi sodisfacente come negli Stati Uniti. 10. In questo sciopero la questione dei salari e di minor importanza.
B. — 1. I study more than five hours a day without effort. 2. New York is commercially a more important city than Paris. 3. The remedy is worse than the disease.
4. It (omit) is better to leave to-day than to-morrow.
5. The price is not so high as he thinks. 6. My brother has a better opinion of you. 7. Americans are generally more active than Europeans. 8. My (mia) sister is older than I. 9. I have not as much courage as Charles. 10. Mr Erown lives on (omit) the (al) lower2 floor1.
LESSON IX
SUPERLATIVES
42. The superlative may be relative or absolute. It is relative when expressing the highest or lowest degree of a quality in comparison with another either implied or ex- pressed. It is absolute when no comparison exists and the quality is not the highest or lowest but only very high or very low.
RELATIVE SUPERLATIVE
43. The relative superlative is formed by means of the comparative preceded by the definite article.
Ex.: Dante e il piu grande poeta italiano, Dante is the greatest Italian poet. Note: When the relative superlative follows its noun, the definite article is not used. Ex. : il miglior sistema
, the best system. il sistema migliore J
44. The English prepositions of, in, are usually rendered with di (rarely with fra or tra, among).
Ex.: V Italia e il piu bel paese del mondo, Italy is the most beautiful country in the world.
ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE
45. The absolute superlative is formed:
1. By means of adverbs like molto or assai, very, and less frequently with sommamente or estremamente, extremely. 29
30 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Ex. : lo struzzo e molto or assai veloce, the ostrich is very fast. 2. By adding the termination -issimo to the adjective. Ex.: generoso, generous; generosissimo, very generous; forte, strong; fortissimo, very strong. Note: The ending -issimo is inflected, and adjectives drop their final vowel before adding it.
46. A few adjectives (see § 38) besides a regular super- lative have also an irregular one as follows:
alto . . . supremo, very high (supreme).
, f molto grande 1 grande ... \ massimo, very great.
[ grandissimo J
, f molto piccolo 1 . . „
piccolo . ... minimo, very small.
[ piccohssimo J
. f molto buono | , , . ,
buono . . . } ottimo, very good.
[ buomssimo j
f molto cattivo 1 , ,
cattivo \ ..... pessimo, very bad.
{ cattivissimo J
, f molto basso 1 . _ ,
basso , . . f ultimo, very low.
[ bassissimo J
Note: The absolute superlatives supremo, etc., are sometimes used as relative superlatives when preceded by the definite article.
Ex.: Shakespeare e il massimo poeta inglese, Shake- speare is the greatest English poet.
47. Several adjectives have also an irregular superlative in -errimo, of Latin derivation.
acre, sour, sharp, bitter; acerrimo, very bitter, etc.; misero, wretched; miserrimo, very wretched; celebre, famous; celeberrimo, very famous.
48. English most followed by a noun is rendered by la piu parte (di), and more often by la maggior parte (di).
SUPERLATIVES 31
Ex. : most Americans, la piu or maggior parte degli Americani. Note: The superlative of assai, much, used as adverb, cannot be formed by prefixing molto, very (cf. English, very much), but must be rendered with moltissimo, very much.
EXERCISE IX
Vocabulary
assicuro, I assure. lirico, lyric,
causa, causes {verb). lotta, strife.
che, that, lui, him.
controversia, controversy. metropoli, /., metropolis,
coraggioso, courageous. onesta, honesty.
c6rso, course. Oriente, m., East, Orient,
critico, critic. pittoresco, picturesque,
differenza, difference. politica, policy, politics,
forse, perhaps. politico, political.
Giappone, m., Japan. popoloso, populous,
intellettuale, intellectual. risultato, result,
intraprendente, enterprising. romanziere, m., novelist.
Le, you. sbaglio, mistake, error,
letterario, literary. spesso, often,
lezione, /., lesson. timido, timid, lingua, language.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. H- Fogazzaro e uno dei piu grandi romanzieri italiani. 2'. Gli Americani sono i piu intraprendenti com- naercianti del mondo. 3. I laghi della Lombardia sono i piu pittoreschi d'Europa. 4. Milano e commercialmente la citta piu importante d'ltalia, e Napoli la piu popolosa.
5. II Carducci fu il massimo poeta lirico dell'Italia moderna e uno dei critici piu potenti della letteratura italiana.
6. Parigi e forse la citta piu intellettuale del mondo. 7. Le lotte politiche sono talvolta acerrime. 8. La maggior parte
32 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
delle universita americane offrono dei corsi di lingua ita- liana. 9. La lezione d'oggi e molto facile. 10. Giovanni e un giovane fortissimo ma molto timido.
B. — 1. This is the best climate in the world. 2. New York is the largest city of the New World. 3. Honesty is the best policy. 4. I assure2 you1 that the difference is very small. 5. Japan is the most enterprising nation of the East. 6. (He) is a very2 courageous3 man1. 7. The least mistake sometimes causes very bad results. 8. My uncle was always very generous with him. 9. To-day's lesson is perhaps the easiest in the grammar. 10. The literary2 controversy1 on Tasso's ((Gerusalemme Liberata)) (Jeru- salem Delivered) was very bitter in Italy.
LESSON X
NUMERALS
CARDINALS
49. The following table shows how cardinal numbers : are named in Italian.
|
0 zero |
||
|
1 un, uno, m. |
,1r> , ciiiit |
/. 19 diciannove (diecinove) |
|
2 due |
20 venti |
|
|
3 tre |
21 ventuno |
|
|
4 quattro |
22 ventidue |
|
|
5 cinque |
30 trenta |
|
|
6 sei |
31 trentuno |
|
|
7 sette |
32 trentadue |
|
|
8 otto |
40 quaranta |
|
|
9 nove |
50 cinquanta |
|
|
10 dieci |
60 sessanta |
|
|
11 undici |
70 settanta |
|
|
12 dodici |
80 ottanta |
|
|
13 tredici |
90 novanta |
|
|
14 quattordici |
100 cento |
|
|
15 quindici |
200 duecento (dugento) |
|
|
il6 sedici |
1000 mille |
|
|
117 diciassette |
'diecisette) 2000 due mila |
|
|
•18 diciotto (dieciotto) |
1,000,000 un milione. |
|
|
1 Remarks. — |
- 1. For the use of un, uno, un', una, see § 3. |
|
|
( 2. Venti, trenta, etc., |
drop the final vowel before uno |
|
|
and otto. |
33 |
34 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
3. Cento and mille are never preceded by un.
4. No conjunction is required between numbers. Ex.: mille settecento quarantanove, 1749.
5. Tens of hundreds must be expressed by mille, (pi. mild). Ex. : fourteen hundred, mille quattrocento.
6. Mille and milione have the plural forms mila and milioni.
50. In speaking of the days of the month, cardinal numbers must be used in Italian with the exception of the first, primo, or when the word giorno occurs. The English preposition on is always omitted.
Ex.: il cinque maggio, May the fifth; it primo d'agosto, August the first; il terzo giorno di marzo (on) the third day of March.
51. English expressions like I am ten, twenty, etc., years old, are rendered in Italian by corresponding forms of the verb avere (to have), or compire (lit. to complete).
Ex.: he is twenty-five years old, (egli) ha venticinque anni; he toill be twenty (years old) to-morrow, (egli) compira i venti (anni) domani.
52. In or within when referring to future time are ren- dered by fra or entro.
Ex. : I hope to speak Italian in a year, spero di parlare italiano fra un anno; I will come in a few minutes, (io) verro fra pochi minuti.
53. The English word ago is usually fa (from fare, to make) in Italian.
Ex. : due anni fa, two years ago. Note : What time is it? is usually expressed by che ora e
NUMERALS 35
or che ore sono? A few answers are given below (the verb is used or omitted at pleasure).
(e) un'ora, (e) Vuna, (e) il tocco (rarely sono le una), it is one o'clock; (sono) le due, le ire, etc., it is two, three o'clock, etc.; (sono) le sei e un quarto, le otto e died, it is six fifteen, eight ten; (sono) le undid e mezzo or mezza, le died e tre quarti, it is eleven thirty, (a) quarter to eleven; (sono) le nove meno venti or venti minuti alle nove, twenty minutes of nine; (e) mezzo- giomo or (sono) le dodid (rare), it is twelve o'clock (midday); (e) mezzanotte, it is midnight.
EXERCISE X
Vocabulary
abitante, m., inhabitant. libero, free.
aveva, was (lit. had). lo, him.
cannone, m., gun. mori, (he) died.
capitolo, surrendered. museo, museum.
classe, /., class. o, or.
durante, during. parte, leaves (does . . . leave).
festa, feast. parto, I leave.
fortezza, fortress. preciso (lit. precise), sharp.
franco (used in compounds), Franco. prima di, before.
generale, m., general. prussiano, Prussian.
guerra, war. quando, when.
incontrai, I met. quanti, how many.
ingresso, entrance. quasi, nearly.
invitato, guest. treno, train.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. Durante la guerra franco-prussiana del mille ottocento settanta, il generale francesc Bazaine capitolo nella fortozza di Metz con piu di cento ottanta mila soldati e seicento canhoni. 2. II piu giovane della classe ha sedici anni. 3. Napoleone I (primo) morl a S ant 'Elena il cin |ue
36 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
maggio mille ottocento ventuno. 4. II primo d'agosto parto per l'ltalia. 5. Due giorni fa e arrivato mio fratello dall' Europa. 6. A che ora parte il treno per Roma? — Alle tre e venticinque. 7. L'ingresso al museo e libero il (on) lunedi e il venerdi dalle nove alle cinque. 8. Sono gia le otto e venti e il treno non e ancora arrivato. 9. Quanti anni ha questo fanciullo? — Ha dodici anni. 10. Gl'in- vitati alia festa sono piu di cento.
B. — 1. Naples, the most populous city of Italy, has (fa) nearly one million (of) inhabitants. 2. The boy will be twelve years old to-morrow. 3. He leaves for Europe on the twenty-third of May. 4. The train leaves to-night at seven fifteen sharp (fern, plural). 5. What time is it? — It is ten twenty; ten minutes of eleven; three thirty. 6. How old was Napoleon I when he died? 7. Napo- leon III (terzo) surrendered at Sedan with an army of nearly eighty-three thousand men and six hundred and twenty guns. 8. The train leaves in five minutes. 9. I met2 him1 two or three days ago. 10. I leave to-day be- fore five o'clock.
LESSON XI
NUMERALS (Continued)
ORDINALS
54. The ordinal numbers are named in Italian as follows:
1st primo 50th cinquantesimo
2d secondo 100th centesimo
3d terzo 200th duecentesimo
4th quarto 1000th millesimo
5th quinto 10,000th diecimillesimo
6th sesto 100,000th centomillesimo
7th settimo 1,000,000th milionesimo
8th ottavo last, ultimo.
9th nono
10th decimo
11th undicesimo (undecimo or decimo primo)
12th dodicesimo (duodecimo or decimo secondo)
13th tredicesimo (decimo terzo)
14th quattordicesimo (decimo quarto)
15th quindicesimo (decimo quinto)
16th sedicesimo (decimo sesto)
20th ventesimo (rarely vigesimo)
21st ventesimo primo (ventunesimo)
22d ventesimo secondo (ventiduesimo)
23d ventesimo terzo (ventitreesimo)
24th ventesimo quarto (ventiquattresimo)
30th trentesimo
31st trentesimo primo (trentunesimo)
40th quarantesimo
37
38 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Remarks. — 1. All ordinal numbers are inflected like ad- jectives and agree in gender and number with their noun. Ex.: il quinto giorno, the fifth day; la quinta parte, the fifth part; i primi anni, the first years; le prime guerre, the first wars.
2. Ordinal numbers are used as in English with names of sovereigns but the article is omitted in Italian.
Ex.: Luigi decimo quarto, Louis the Fourteenth; Vit- torio Emanuele secondo, Victor Emmanuel the Second.
3. Mezzo (half) is inflected like an adjective when it precedes the noun; it may be invariable when it follows the noun.
Ex.: mezzo dollaro, half a dollar; mezza. lira, half a franc; mezz'ora, half an hour; due libbre e mezzo or mezza, two pounds and a half.
4. Meta, /., half, is always used as a noun.
EXERCISE XI
Vocabulary
arte, /., art. platea, orchestra (pit of a theater).
arriva, arrives. povero, poor.
biglietto, ticket. presidente, m., president.
cappello, hat. progresso, progress.
comperato, bought. qui, here.
costa, costs. sara, will be.
denaro, money. scientifico, scientific.
disastro, disaster. sconfortante, distressing.
drammatico, dramatic. secolo, century.
ffla, row. somma, sum.
imperatore, emperor. totale, total.
intensamente, intensely. tutto, adj., all.
lasciato, left. iinico, unique.
notizia, news. venduto, sold.
pagato, paid.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
NUMERALS 39
A. — 1. Vittorio Emanuele secondo fu il primo re d'ltalia. 2. II progresso scientifico del secolo decimo nono e unico nella storia. 3. II secolo di Leone (Leo) decimo fu il periodo aureo delle arti in Italia. 4. II canto tren- tesimo terzo dell' ((Inferno)) di Dante e forse il piu intensa- mente drammatico della ((Divina Commedia» (Divine Comedy). 5. Napoleone terzo fu l'ultimo imperatore di Francia. 6. II biglietto ferroviario costa cinque dollari e mezzo. 7. Le prime notizie del disastro sono molto scon- fortanti. 8. Ho pagato questo cappello tre dollari e un quarto. 9. La quarta fila della platea e tutta venduta. 10. II treno arriva alle sei e mezza.
B. — 1. I have bought half a bottle of good wine. 2. The train will be here in half an hour. 3. Louis the Fourteenth was (fu) the last of the great kings of France. 4. The commercial development of the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century was per- haps the greatest in the history of the world. 5. This hat costs seven francs and a half. 6. The second part of this book is better than the first. 7. Washington* was the first president of the United States. 8. Half of the money was left to the poor (put in the plural). 9. To-day's lesson is the eleventh in (of) the book. 10. I have already paid one third of the total sum.
* Do not use the article.
LESSON XII
PRONOUNS
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
55. Subject pronouns are generally omitted in Italian unless required for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity. The subject pronouns are:
1st person 2d person
3d person
Singular io, I
tu, thou (you)
egli or esso, he
esso, it
ella or essa (lei), she
essa, it
Ella (Lei), you, m. and/
Plural noi, we voi, you eglino* or essi, they
elleno* or esse, they, /. Loro, you, m. and/. Esso, essa, essi, esse refer both to persons and
Note things; ella (lei), elleno, only to persons.
56. Tu, thou (to be translated by you), is used almost exclusively between intimate friends and relatives and in sacred or poetical style. It is used sometimes in addressing servants and almost invariably in speaking to children.
57. Voi, you, may be limited to one person, though the verb is always in the second person plural. When so used, this pronoun is a kind of intermediate between the informal tu and the formal Ella. It may be interchanged with tu in sacred or poetical style, but as a general rule it is used in- variably in commercial style, by children to elders, and by officers in addressing their inferiors in rank.
* Eglino is still used in literary language, though rarely; elleno is now an obsolete form; in their place essi and esse are used. 40
PRONOUNS 41
58. Ella and Loro are the polite or formal pronouns used by society in general. These pronouns require respec- tively the verb, object pronouns, and possessives in the third person singular or plural.
Note : In familiar style Lei is often used instead of Ella.
OBJECT PRONOUNS
59. Object pronouns are divided into two classes: con- junctive and disjunctive. Conjunctive when used as direct or indirect object of a verb. Disjunctive when used inde- pendently of a verb or as the object of a preposition.
60. The conjunctive object pronouns are:
Singular Plural
mi, me, to me ci, us, to us
ti, thee, to thee (you, to you) vi, you, to you
gli, to him, to it loro, them, to them, m. and/.;
Loro, you, to you (pi.)
lo, him. it Ji, them, m.\ Li, you
le, to her, to it; Le, to you, m. and/, le, them, /.; Le, you
fa, her, it; La, you, m. and/. ne, of them, about them, for
I ne, of it, about it, for it them
1 si, refl., himself, herself, to himself, to si, themselves, to themselves,
herself „ m. and /.
Note: The final vowel of the conjunctives (except le
, and li, which are invariable, and ci and vi, which lose the
J final vowel only before i) may be elided before a vowel.
! Such elision (except in the case of loro) is indicated by an
apostrophe.
61. The conjunctive pronouns usually precede the verb except when used with an infinitive, a present participle, the second person singular and the first and second plural of
ie imperative (affirmative). In compound tenses the pro- precedes the auxiliary.
tr
QOUl
42 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Ex.: mi pare, (it) seems to me; vederla, to see her (the infinitive drops the final vowel before all conjunc- tive pronouns) ; scrivendoii, writing to you (lit. thee) ; guardami, look (thou) at me; ricordiamoci, let us remember; ascoltatelo, listen to him; I'hofinito, I have finished it.
Note 1. — Loro (to them) follows the verb and is not joined to it.
Ex. : dice loro, he says to them.
Note 2. — If the imperative is used negatively the pro- noun or pronouns precede the verb.
Ex.: non mi aspettate, do not wait for me.
Note 3. — If the infinitive is governed by another verb (generally of motion), the pronoun may either follow the infinitive or precede the governing verb.
Ex. : vado a vederli or li vado a vedere, I am going to see them.
62. If two conjunctive pronouns are used, their position is the same as stated in the case of one single pronoun.1 When they precede the verb, the object pronoun always stands nearer the verb; when they follow, the indirect ob- ject pronoun precedes the direct object pronoun.
Note: The forms mi, ti, si, ci, vi, change final i to e when followed by lo, la, li, le, ne.
These pronouns are used separately when they precede the verb, and joined together when they follow.
Ex.: me lo spiega, he explains it to me; ricordiamocelo, let us remember it.
63. Gli and le become glie before lo, la, li, le, ne, and
both pronouns are written as one word.
PRONOUNS
43
Ex.
64.
: glielo ripeto, I repeat it to him or to her (also to you, though in this case Glielo with the capital is sometimes used to avoid ambiguity); parlargliene, to speak to him or to her about it.
If the direct object is a pronoun of the first or second person, the pronoun in the dative (indirect object) is prefera- bly a disjunctive pronoun and is usually placed after the verb. Ex. : mi rimetto a te, I refer (the matter) to you. Note : The context alone will in many cases suggest the exact translation of some pronouns (lo, la, etc.).
EXERCISE XH
M
Vocabulary
adesso, now. ascoltare, to listen. che, that. chi, who.
chiamare, (to) call, credo, I believe. detto, said, told. deve, must. dir(e), to tell, say.
divertano (3d person pi.,
§ 58), amuse. eccita, excites, esorto, (I) urge, essere, (to) be. facilmente, easily. fatto, done, made, favore, m., favor. genere, m., kind. giuoco, game.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
grato, grateful.
interesse, m., interest.
leggere, to read.
parla, he speaks.
perche, because.
po', rather (lit. a little).
prendere, to take.
raccomando, (I) recommend.
ritardo, in — , late.
(io) sono, I am.
studiare, to study.
tant-o, -a, adj., so much; pi.,
tant-i, -e, (so) many. troppo, too much, too. vede, lit. sees (see § 58). veduto, seen, volta, time, vuole, lit. wishes (see § 58).
A. — 1. Lei arriva sempro in ritardo. 2. Ella & molto • gentile, signorc. 3. II giuoco del base-ball deve essere
44 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
assai bello perche il signor Adams me ne parla sempre con interesse; oggi vado a vederlo. 4. Gliel'ho detto tante volte, ma Lei non mi vuole ascoltare. 5. Le raccomando di (to) parlargliene quando lo vede. 6. Gl'invitati sono, tutti nel giardino; adesso vado a chiamarli e dir loro che il pranzo e in tavola (idiomatic: 'served'). 7. Io mi rimetto (§ 64) a loro perche li credo piu competenti di voi in que- stioni di questo genere. 8. Carlo e un buon giovane, ma si eccita un po' facilmente. 9. Mi pare che Loro si diver- tano un po' troppo, e io Li (see § 58) esorto a studiare di (omit) piu. 10. Ella mi ha fatto un gran favore e gliene sono grato.
B. — 1. I am going to see him to-day. 2. I recommend them to you. 3. I have told him that he must study more.1 4. You have (§ 58) made so many mistakes in to-day's1 lesson. 5. I am very grateful to you for the favor (insert 'that') you have (§ 58) done me. 6. Who has told you thisi 7. This young man always speaks to him about it. 8. Ii you wish (§ 58) to read this book you can (pud) take it; 9. I have seen him to-day. 10. Do (omit) you (put last; see it?
LESSON XIII
DISJUNCTIVE OBJECT PRONOUNS
65. The disjunctive object pronouns are:
Singulak Plural
me, me noi, us
te, thee (you) voi, you
j > lui (esso), him loro* (essi), them, m.
lei (essa), her loro* (essi), them,/.
Ella, and often Lei, you, m. and/. Loro,* you, m. and/,
se, refl., himself, herself (also your- se,* themselves, m. and /.; also
self when referring to a subject yourselves
pronoun of the third person)
66. Disjunctive pronouns do not stand necessarily after the verb; they may also precede. They are used as follows:
1. After prepositions.
Ex.: di me, of me; per lui, for him; da voi, from you. Note: Besides the regular forms con me, with me; con te, with thee; con se, with himself, herself, themselves (m. and/.), corresponding forms of Latin derivation, meco, teco, seco, are also used, though rarely.
2. For emphasis, instead of the conjunctive pronoun. Ex. : do il libro a Lei, I give the book to you; instead of:
he do il libro, I give you the book.
3. Two disjunctive pronouns used in opposition to onr- another almost invariably follow the verb.
Ex.: interroga Lei, non lui, he questions you, not him.
* Loro may substitute the reflexive se when the latter refers to a plural subject; ex.: lo facciano da loro, let them do it by themselves (or, do it by yourselves). Loro must take the place of se when reciprocal action is implied; ex.: come vanno d'accordo tra loro! How perfectly in harmony they are! 45
46 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
4. The disjunctive pronouns lui, lei, loro are often usee in familiar style as subject pronouns.
Ex. : lui (for egli) mi dice, he says to me; loro (for eglino) mi esortano a studiare, they urge me to study. Note : The forms lui, lei, loro, however, are always used as subject pronouns to render the English expressions it is he, e lui; it was they, erano loro, etc.
Likewise in exclamations the disjunctive pronouns should be used.
Ex.: beato lui die non lo sa, how fortunate he is not to know it.
EXERCISE Xm
VOCABULAKY
alcuno, adj., any. posto, seat (lit. place),
aveva, had. preoccupa, preoccupies.
che, who. preso, taken.
fare, (to) do. puo, may.
indirizzato, addressed. sodisfatto, satisfied.
informazione, /., information. stamane, this morning,
parlato, spoken. stanco, tired.
parlavano, spoke. teatro, theater,
passeggiato, walked. uscire, to come or go out. portalettere, m., (invariable) letter- va, goes.
carrier. vorrebbe, (he) would like, posso, I can.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. II maestro interroga te e non me. 2. La lettera e indirizzata a me. 3. Ho parlato a lui e non a Lei. 4. Ella si preoccupa troppo di loro. 5. Ho passeggiato con lui nel parco stamane. 6. Ho preso due posti per voi e uno per me. 7. Questo clima puo essere buono per Loro ma non per me. 8. II signor White mi ha detto tante belle cose di Lei. 9. Carlo va sempre a teatro da (by) se. 10. Lui vorrebbe sempre uscire con me, ma io ho troppo da (to) fare.
DISJUNCTIVE OBJECT PRONOUNS 47
B. — 1. It is he who has done this. 2. Do (omit) you Ispeak (§ 58) to him or to me? 3. I cannot give you any linformation about (di) him. 4. I cannot come out with lyou to-day because I am tired. 5. The letter-carrier had i letter for you this morning. 6. You (use Ella) cannot io this by yourself. 7. I am not satisfied with (di) you. 3. Have you (use Ella) any (§ 8, 5) money with you? 9. It yas they who spoke, not we. 10. He has taken the books vith him (refl.). (If seco is used, it should precede the iirect object, i.e., the books.)
LESSON XIV
POSSESSIVES
67. Forms of the possessive adjectives and pronouns:
|
Singular |
Plural |
||||||
|
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
MASCULINE |
FEMININE |
||||
|
(il) mio |
(la) |
mia |
(i) |
miei |
(le) |
mie, |
my, mine |
|
tuo |
tua |
tuoi |
tue, |
thy, thine |
|||
|
suo* |
sua* |
suoi* |
sue,* |
his, her, hers, its |
|||
|
nostro |
nostra |
nostri |
nostre |
our, ours |
|||
|
vostro |
vostra |
vostri |
vostre, |
your, yours |
|||
|
loro* |
loro* |
loro* |
loro,* |
their, theirs; your (see § 58) |
68. The foregoing table shows that all possessives agree in gender and number with the noun which they either qualify as adjectives or represent as pronouns; i.e., the agreement of possessives must be with the thing possessed and not with the possessor.
Ex. : le nostre azioni e le loro, our actions and theirs.
Note : Loro is an invariable form, and the article which precedes it agrees in gender and number with the noun to which it refers.
Ex.: il loro interesse, their interest; le loro idee, their ideas.
69. The article is generally omitted before a possess^
(used as adjective):
* To avoid ambiguity write the possessive with a capital whene used in connection with the personal pronouns Ella and Loro (s
48
POSSESSIVES 49
1. When the noun modified by such possessive is in the singular and indicates dignity or near relation.
Ex.: Sua Maestd, His Majesty; mio fratello, my brother; suo padre, his or her father.
Note: However, the article is used before the posses- jsive with the words: sposo, bridegroom; sposa, bride; con- sorte, husband or wife; avo, grandfather; ava, grandmother. Hence: il mio avo, my grandfather, etc.
2. When the possessive adjective precedes a noun used in apposition to a previous one.
Ex.: Dante fu cacciato da Firenze, sua cittd natale, Dante was banished from Florence, his native city.
3. In direct address, the possessive follows the modified Inoun without the latter being preceded by the definite article.
Ex. : dove siete stati, amici miei? Where have you been, my friends?
Note: In many instances the exact meaning of posses- sives like suo, sua, etc., can only be determined by the context. In detached sentences absolute clearness is not always possible.
70. The possessive adjective is usually replaced by the definite article provided the substitution does not cause ambiguity.
Ex. : chiudete gli (for i vostri) occhi, close your eyes.
71. The possessive is replaced by an indirect object pronoun and the article (sometimes only by the article), especially when the reference is to parts of the body, dress,
; and the like.
Ex.: badi di non tagliarsi la mano, be careful not to
50 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
cut your hand; si levi il cappello, take off your hat; alzi la voce, raise your voice.
12. The possessive pronouns are frequently used seem- ingly without reference to any noun. In this case, how- ever, such nouns as avere, property, or denaro, money; lettera, letter; soldati, soldiers; genitori, parents; parenti, relatives, are understood.
Ex. : vivo del mio, I live with my own (money) ; spende del suo, he or she spends his or her money; rispondo alia vostra gentilissima, I answer your very kind letter; il generale fu fatto prigioniero con tutti i suoi, the general was made a prisoner with all his soldiers; come stanno i tuoif How are your folks? (colloquial).
73. Expressions like a friend of mine, etc., must be ren- dered in Italian by un mio amico or uno dei miei amici.
EXERCISE XIV
Vocabulary
affatto, at all, entirely. lode, /., praise,
altrimenti, otherwise. merita, deserves.
ancora, still. " merito, merit.
ben(e), well. mettiamoci, let us put on.
caro, dear. parola, word,
corrente, instant, current. perdiito, lost.
differente, different. prendere, (to) catch,
dove, where. presento, I introduce,
dovro, I shall have (to). progresso, progress.
famiglia, family. prowisto, provided,
finito, finished. ricevuto, received,
freddo, cold. ringrazio, I thank.
incoraggiante, encouraging. riprendere, to resume,
intendo, I hear, understand^ riputazione, /., reputation,
lavoro, work. ritorneranno, (they) will retu
POSSESSIVES 51
si, yes. usciamo, let us go out.
sono, (they) are. vacanza, vacation.
soprabito, overcoat. vista, sight.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. Le presento un mio carissimo amico. 2. La sua riputazione come avvocato e superiore al suo merito. 3. Come stanno i Suoi, signor Neri? — Bene, grazie (see Voc); e Lei e ancora in campagna colla Sua famiglia? — Si, ma le vacanze sono presto finite e dovrd riprendere i miei studi all' universita. 4. I Loro progressi nello studio della lingua italiana non sono affatto incoraggianti. 5. Ho ricevuto oggi la Sua gentilissima del venticinque corrente e La ringrazio dei Suoi consigli. 6. La tua biblioteca non e cosl ben provvista di (with) libri come la mia. 7. Met- tiamoci il cappello e usciamo. 8. Alzi la voce, signorina, altrimenti non intendo.
B. — 1. Where is my pen and my book? 2. Their ideas are entirely different from ours. 3. I shall have to resume my work soon. 4. I thank you (use La) for (di) your kind words. 5. My parents (§ 72) are still in the (omit) coun- try, but will return to (in) the (omit) city soon. 6. Your words are always encouraging. 7. His advice is always well received because his reputation is good. 8. His action deserves praise. 9. Take off your overcoat now, otherwise you (use Ella) may (pud) catch cold. 10. The poor young man has nearly lost his (§ 71, third ex.) sight.
LESSON XV
DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES
74. Demonstrative adjectives agree in gender and num- ber with the noun they determine and are regularly placed before it. They are:
Singular Plural
MASCULINE FEMININE MASCULINE FEMININE
questo questa, this questi queste, these
cotesto cotesta, that cotesti coteste, those
(codesto) (codesta), that (codesti) (codeste), those
quello quella, that quelli quelle, those
75. Questo, usually refers to something near the person who speaks; cotesto, to something near the person spoken to; quello, to something far from both.
Ex.: questo calamaio, this inkstand; cotesta penna, that pen (by you); quella sedia, that chair (yonder).
76. The singular forms questo, questa, cotesto, cotesta may drop final o or a, before a word beginning with a vowel.
Ex.: quest'uomo, this man; quest'aria, this air.
Such elision is rather rare in the corresponding plural forms.
The demonstrative quello changes its orthography like bello (see § 26).
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
77. The demonstrative pronouns have the same form as the demonstrative adjectives and agree in gender and num- ber with the noun they represent.
52
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS 53
Ex.: questo ritratto e migliore di quello, this portrait is better than that.
78. Cio is often used instead of questo or quello when eferring to an abstract idea, a statement, etc.
Ex. : cio e vero, this or that is true.
79. There are certain forms of demonstrative pronouns n Italian that are used almost exclusively with reference to oersons. These forms are:
Singular Plural
MASCULINE FEMININE MASCULINE AND FEMININE
luesti 1 ... . . ... f these men
r . . r this man costei, this woman costoro
costui ) [ these women
cotesti 1 ,, , . ,, . f those men
. . that man cotestei, that woman cotestoro ,. 'cotestui ) those women
quegh (quei) colui
that man colei, that woman coloro
those men those women
Note: Of the foregoing pronouns, cotestui, cotestei, cotestoro are rarely, used.
[ 80. Questi and quegli can only be used as subject ! pronouns.
Ex. : questi fu onorato, this (man) was honored. But: parlo a quello (not quegli), I speak to that man.
81. Costui, costei, costoro are emphatic forms and may sometimes convey an idea of contempt.
Ex.: non badi a costui, don't mind this fellow.
82. English former and latter are rendered by quegli and questi respectively when the reference is to persons; in other cases by quello and questo.
Ex.: Dante e Shakespeare sono due grandi poeti; quegli
54 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
italiano questi inglese, Dante and Shakespeare are two great poets; the former Italian, the latter Eng- lish.
EXERCISE XV
Vocabulary
acqua, water. esercizio, exercise.
appartengono, belong. finestra, window.
apra, open. guanto, glove.
architettura, architecture. ieri, yesterday.
assicura, assures. preferisco, I prefer.
caldo, warm. scolaro, pupil.
camera, room. seccat6re, m., importunate fellow.
che, that. smentisce, denies.
era, was. tradurre, (to) translate.
dice, says.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. Questa sedia e phi comoda di quella. 2. Apra quella porta. 3. Cotesti libri appartengono a quel signore.
4. Costui m'assicura che il clima di quei paesi e buono.
5. Cio pud essere vero, ma questo giornale lo smentisce.
6. Questa lezione e facile, ma quella di ieri era difficile.
7. Quello scolaro e il piu diligente della classe. 8. £ un seccatore costui. 9. Questo e il mio cappello e quello e il Suo. 10. Preferisco questa camera a quella.
B. — 1. This water is not warm enough. 2. Those gloves are better than these. 3. That man denies it and says that it is not true at all. 4. That gentleman is one of the professors of this university. 5. These exercises are easy to (da) translate. 6. Where have (§ 58) you (use Ella) bought that (use cotesto) hat? 7. The architecture of that house is very beautiful. 8. I prefer this grammar to that. 9. Those (yonder) books belong to me. 10. Open that window for a few (alcuni) minutes.
LESSON XVI
RELATIVES
83. The relative pronouns are: Invariable Forms Variable Forms
SING. AND PL. m. AND /. SINGULAR PLURAL
che, who, which, that; il quale 1 who, which, i quali 1 who, which, cui (only usedz&s in- la quale J that le quali J that
direct object;
Note: All relative pronouns apply both to persons and things and are declined by means of prepositions as in English. Whether variable or invariable in form, they must be considered as of the same gender, number, and person as their antecedents.
84. The relative pronoun is always expressed in Italian, and cannot be separated from a governing preposition.
Ex. : ecco un libro che mi place, here is a book (which) I like; il signore di cui parli e un mio caro amico, the gentleman (whom) you speak of is a dear friend of mine.
i 85. Che is chiefly used as subject and direct object, and
; cui as object of a preposition.
Ex.: la signorina che legge, the young lady who reads; lo scolaro che il maestro ha lodato, the pupil whom the teacher has praised; un poeta di cui ammiro la forza, a poet whose (see § 90) force I admire.
86. II quale, la quale, i quali, le quali are on account of
56 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
their inflections more precise forms than the invariable che and cui; hence, they are preferred when otherwise the antecedent would be in doubt.
Ex.: la signora del capitano la quale e con noi, the captain's wife who is with us.
87. The English relative what, when equivalent to thai which, must be translated by the demonstrative quelle (or cio) and the invariable relative che.
Ex.: what he says is true, quello (or cio) che dice i\ vero.
88. English expressions like the one (which), those which are likewise rendered by the demonstratives quello, quella etc., and che.
Ex.: this lesson is not as easy as those which precede questa lezione non e cost facile come quelle che prece- dono.
89. The English forms he who, she who, the one who, may either be rendered by colui or quegli che, colei che, or simply by chi, provided it does not refer to an antecedent. Th< plural, those who, is always rendered either by quelli che quelle che, or coloro che.
Ex.: he who speaks in this way is not a gentleman: colui che or quegli che or chi parla in questo modo noi e un gentiluomo; those who are in the garden are ou: guests, quelli che or coloro che sono nel giardino son*
(i) nostri invitati.
90. The English relative whose is either translated b; di cui or by cui (in the latter case cui must be placed be; tween the article and the noun, see the second exampl below) or by del quale, della quale, etc.
KEL.-TIVES
57
he is a writer whose tal- ent all admire
Ex.: (e uno scrittore di cui tutti
ammirano Vingegno.
e uno scrittore il cui ingegno tutti ammirano.
e una scrittore del quale tutti ammirano Vingegno.
Note: As to the relative whose used interrogatively' see § 92, note.
EXERCISE XVI
Vocabulary
acconto, account, capisco, I understand, comperare, to buy. contingente, in., quota, propor- tion, cosa, tiling. danno, (they) give, dato, given. devo, I owe. dice. lit. says (§ 68). diceva, used to say. emigrazione, /., emigration, gentilmente, kindly, indifferente, indifferent. luce, shines.
r,a*i<i^>. I send, I am sending. matti i?., morning, mercato, a buon — , cheap.
(Also words given
meridionale, southern, nulla, nothing, opportunita, opportunity. oro, gold, orologio, watch. proverbio, proverb, provincia, pro\'ince. restituisco, I give back, ride, (he) laughs. stringe, gets (lit. clasps). Svizzera, Switzerland, tratta, (he) treats, ultimo, last. vengono, (they) come, verso, toward, vogliono, (they) wish, vuole, (he) wishes.
n preceding lessons.)
A.. — I. Capisco bene cio ch'Ella dice. 2. Questa e la casa di cui ti ho parlato tante volte. 3. II padrone per cui lavoro mi tratta molto gentilmente. 4. Non e tutto oro quello che luce. 5. Chi troppo vuole nulla stringe, dice un proverbio italiano. 6. Gli orologi americani sono spesso »ri di quelU che vengono dalla Svizzera. 7. Le resti-
58 ELEMENTARY ITAi^AN GRAMMAR
tuisco il libro ch'Ella mi ha dato ieri mattina. 8. Questa e una bella opportunity per quelli che vogliono comperare delle belle cose a buon mercato. 9. Vi mando venti dol- lari in acconto di quelle- che vi devo. 10. Le provincie meridionali d'ltalia sono quelle che danno il maggior con- tingente all' emigrazione italiana verso gli Stati Uniti.
B. — 1. I give back to you the books I have. 2. The house (§ 84) you (use Ella) wish to buy is not so cheap as he says it is (do not translate ' it is')- 3- He (omit) laughs best (bene) who laughs (insert V) last. 4. I am grateful to you (use Le, § 61) for the opportunity (§ 84) you have given me (conj. pron. dative). 5. The things of which you (use Ella) speak are very important. 6. " I have three kinds of friends," Voltaire2 used to say,1 "the friends who love (dmano) me, the friends to whom I am indifferent and those who detest (detestano) me." 7. I understand that what he says is true. 8. That is a young man whose talent all admire. 9. He is not always sure of what he says. 10. This is a thing (§ 84) I do (omit) not understand. 11. Has your friend spoken to you about it (§ 63)?
LESSON XVII
INTERROGATIVES
91. The interrogative pronouns are: chi, who, whom; che, what; quale (pi. quali), which, what.
92. Chi is used as subject or object with verbs or prepo- sitions and can only refer to persons.
Ex. : chi e quella signora? Who is that lady? a chi parla il maestro? To whom does the teacher speak? di chi e questa rnatita? Whose pencil is this? Note: When used interrogatively, whose is rendered by di chi; otherwise as stated in § 90.
93. Chi, as subject, is used in the plural with forms of essere, to be, but not with other verbs.
Ex. : sa Ella chi sonof Do you know who they are?
94. Che, when interrogative, may be used as object of a verb or a preposition, and refers to things only. ~"
Ex.: che vuole, signorina? What do you wish, young lady? a che pensi? What are you thinking of? Note: When used as in the two examples given above, che may be replaced by che cosa (lit. what thing) or simply cosa.
Ex. : che cosa or cosa studia Ella? What do you study?
95. Che may be used with an infinitive depending on another verb.
Ex. : non so che dire, I do not know what to say. 59
60 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
96. Che may precede nouns representing persons or things.
Ex. : che uomo e costuif What (sort of a) man is this? che strada e questaf What street is this?
97. Che is often used in exclamations.
Ex.: che peccato! What a pity! Too bad! che bel viso! What a beautiful face!
98. Quale? (pi. quali?), which? when a pronoun, is used as subject or object with verbs or prepositions, and refers both to persons and things.
Ex. : quali di questi libri desidera averef Which of these books do you wish to have?
99. Quale? (pi. quali?), which? when used as adjective precedes the noun. These forms have usually a more defi- nite meaning than che.
Ex. : in quali cilia siete statof In which cities have you been?
100. Quale and quali, what! are also used in exclama- tions.
Ex.: quale splendore! What splendor!
EXERCISE XVII
Vocabulary
addurre, (to) produce. dica, tell.
assenza, absence. eri, you (lit. thou) were.
avete, you have, have you? favore, per — , kindly, (if you)
chiama, (he) calls. please.
concerto, concert. giustificazione, /., justification.
conduce, leads. intendi. you (lit. thou) intend.
devo, I must. motivo, motive, reason.
INTERROGATE VES 61
nuova, news. saluto, lit. (he) saluted (see § 58).
poco, little (while). significato, meaning,
prende, lit. (he) takes. studiato, studied,
qualciino, some one. telefono, telephone,
rivolgere, (to) turn, address. vedere, to see.
(Also words given in preceding lessons.)
A. — 1. Chi e quel signore ch'Ella saluto poco fa? 2. Ho dato la mia penna a qualcuno, ma non ricordo a chi. 3. Cosa intendi di (to) fare durante le vacanze? 4. Mi dica, per favore, quale strada conduce al museo. 5. Che giorno e oggi? 6. Per qual motivo non avete studiato la lezione d'oggi? 7. Non eri al concerto ieri sera; che pec- cato! 8. Quali giustificazioni pud Lei addurre per questa Sua assenza? 9. A chi devo rivolgermi per informazioni? 10. Di che paese e Lei?
B. — 1. Who calls me to the telephone? 2. Which (sing, and pi.) of these books do (omit) you (use Ella)2 pre- fer (preferisce)1? 3. Whom do (omit) you (use Ella)3 wish1 to see2? 4. Whose overcoat3 is1 this2? 5. What news (pi.) have (§ 58) you (use Ella)? 6. Whom do (omit) you (use Lei) take (§ 58) me for? (§ 84). 7. What street is this, please? 8. What is the meaning of that word? 9. For what reasons have2 (§ 58) you (use Ella)3 not1 studied to-day's lesson? 10. What must I (omit) do during your (translate in four different ways) absence?
LESSON XVIII
INDEFINITES
101. In the following treatment special attention is given to the most important indefinite adjectives and pronouns. â–
102. Indefinite pronouns such as we, you, they, people, one, are generally expressed in Italian by si, with the verb always in the third person singular.
Ex.: si parte subito, one (we, etc.) leaves (leave) im- mediately; si pud andare, one may go.
103. Verbs that are used reflexively in the plural often denote reciprocal action. When such reciprocal meaning is not clear enough in the context, it may be emphasized by means of the indefinite pronouns Tun l'altro or their plural gli uni gli altri.
Ex.: ci incoraggiamo, we encourage ourselves; ci in- coraggiamo Vun l'altro or gli uni gli altri, we encour- age each other.
104. Ogni, each, every, modifies a singular noun only, and is both masculine and feminine.
Ex.: ogni uomo, each or every man; ogni eta, each or every age. Note: The singular forms ognun(o), ognuna, each one, every one, are used as pronouns.
105. Tutto, tutta, whole, all, everything, and their plural tutti, tutte, all, everybody, every, are indefinite adjectives
62
INDEFINITES 63
as well as pronouns. As adjectives they always come first when the article is used with the noun.
Ex.: tutto I'esercito, the whole army; tutte le strade, all the streets, every street.
106. Alcun(o),* alcuna, alcuni, alcune, some, some one, any, any one, a few, are used both as adjectives and pro- nouns.
Ex.: alcuni scolari lavorano volentieri, some pupils work
willingly; non ho incontrato alcuno, I have not met
any one.
Note: The singular forms alcuno, alcuna are rarely used
in the singular except in negative sentences; the invariable
qualche, some, a few, always preceding a singular noun,
replaces thern^
Ex.: datemi qualche cosa, give me something; hai qualche foglio di carta? Have you some sheets of paper?
107. Nessun(o), nessuna, no, nobody, no one, have no plural forms (except in colloquial style) and are used both as adjectives and pronouns. The emphatic negative non is generally required when nessuno or nessuna follow the verb (not when they precede or when used alone).
Ex.: nessun allievo sa la lezionef Nessuno, no student knows the lesson? No one; non c'e nessuno ancora? Is there no one yet? nessuno e arrivato, no one has arrived.
108. Niente or nulla, nothing, are invariable and used only as pronouns. The negative non is used with these forms as with nessuno (§ 107).
Ex. : nel Suo compito non c'e niente or nulla di buono,
in your (written) lesson there is nothing good;
* Alcuno is rarely used in the singular as a pronoun, qualcuno or
nnolrliafliinA t.il.-infr ifa nlarta In +Vir> r-»lllT"ll alniTl— 1 —A Q rp fnmmnn
64 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
niente or nulla da fare per domani, nothing to do for to-morrow. Note: Niente and nulla take di before an adjective and da before a verb. (See examples above.)
109. The indefinite un(o), when inflected and preceded by the definite article, is used as a pronoun and is generally contrasted or combined with some forms of altro, viz. : l'un l'altro, each other; l'uno e 1'altro, both; l'uno o l'altro, either; ne l'uno ne l'altro, neither. (L'un l'altro, etc., have also a pi., gli uni gli altri, etc.)
Ex.: non mi place ne Vuno ne V altro di questi quadri, neither (one) of these pictures pleases me; gli uni si divertono, gli altri lavorano, some (lit. the ones) amuse themselves (the) others work.
110. Chiunque, whoever, any one, is an invariable pro- noun and is not used in the plural.* It refers only to persons.
Ex. : chiunque lo dice si sbaglia, whoever says so is mis- taken; lo capisce chiunque, any one understands it.
111. Qualunque, any, whatever, is used as a pronoun f in- stead of chiunque, and is also an adjective. It is invariable and has no plural.
Ex. : qualunque or chiunque pud farlo, any one can do it; qualunque mezzo e buono, any means is good; qualunque cosa, anything.
112. Tal(e) (pi. tali), such a, such, so and so, is used both as adjective and pronoun.
Ex.: tali esempi sono rari, such examples are rare; tale e la mia impressione, such is my impression; il tale e partito, so and so has left.
* See, however, § 93.
t As a pronoun, qualunque may be followed by plural forms of essere only. Ex.: qualunque siano, whoever they may be.
INDEFINITES
65
EXERCISE XVIH
Vocabulary
aiutato, helped, cambiare, (to) change, commosso, touched, competere, (to) compete, conducono, (they) lead, diritto, right. esprimere, (to) express, estate, /., summer, ferma, si — , stops. gara, contest. invitato, invited, invito, invitation. medaglia, medal, parlare, to speak, partecipare, (to) take part, passare, (to) pass.
(Also words given
perorazione, /., peroration, piacere (a), (to) please, posso, I can. presto, hurry up. prossimo, next, rimase, remained. riposare, (to) rest, rovescio, reverse, servire, (to) serve, spina, thorn. stazione, /., station, trovare, (to) see, visit, (lit.
find), uditorio, audience, visibilmente, visibly.
A. — 1. Molti amici vengono a trovarmi in campagna ogni estate. 2. Ho studiato tutto il giorno ieri, cosi oggi posso riposarmi un po\ 3. Ogni rosa ha le sue spine. 4. II signor Neri mi ha invitato a passare alcune settimane con lui. 5. II treno si ferma qualche minuto alia prossima stazione. 6. Nessuno mi ha aiutato, qualunque sia (be) il merito di questo lavoro. 7. In questa gara pud compe- tere chiunque. 8. La perorazione dell' avvocato fu tale che tutto l'uditorio ne rimase visibilmente commosso. 9. II tale mi ha detto che nessuno pud partecipare alia festa senza un invito. 10. Presto, signori, si parte subito.
B. — 1. Every one for himself and God for us (omit) all. 2. Everybody's friend is nobody's friend. 3. Money leads to everything. 4. You cannot (§ 102) please every- body. 5. No man can serve two masters. 6. All roads
66 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
lead to Rome. 7. Every medal has its reverse. 8. My impression is such that {die) no one could (potrebbe) change it. 9. Any one has the right to (di) express his own (trans, proprie) opinions. 10. Some one wishes to speak to you.
LESSON XIX THE VERB
THE AUXILIARY ESSERE
113. The conjugation of the irregular verbs essere and avere is given before that of the regular verbs because they are used as auxiliaries to form all the compound tenses. (As for the use of the acute accent in the conjugation of essere and all other verbs in this grammar, see Introductory- Chapter, section d, remark.)
CONJUGATION OF ESSERE
114. Infinitive: essere, to be. Pres. part.:* essendo, being. Past part. : stato, been.
Present Indicative Present Subjunctive {
(io) t sono, I am, etc. sia, I may be, etc.
(tu) sei sia
(egli, ella) e sia
(noi) siamo siamo
(voi) siete siate
(eglino, elleno) sono siano or sieno
Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Conditional! era, I was, etc. sard, I shall be, sarei, I should be,
eri sarai etc. saresti etc.
era sara sarebbe
eravamo saremo saremmo
eravate sarete sareste
erano saranno sarebbero
* It is really a gerund; however, this name will be used as it is more familiar, and also because the present participle is always used in Italian as an adjective.
t The subject pronouns of verbs are generally omitted in Italian, the person being in most cases sufficiently indicated by the end'ngs of the verbs. They are used, of course, in doubtful cases.
t The subjunctive and conditional tenses of this and othc verbs are variously rendered according to the context. 67
68 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
|
Preterit |
Imperfect |
Subjunctive Imperative* |
||
|
fui, I was, etc. |
fossi, I might be, |
etc. |
||
|
fosti |
fossi |
sii or sia, be (thou) |
||
|
fu |
fosse |
sia, let him (her) be |
||
|
fummo |
fossimo |
siamo, let us be |
||
|
foste |
foste |
siate, be (you) |
||
|
furono |
fossero |
siano, let them be |
115. Unlike English, the verb essere builds its own compounds, and the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject of the verb: e stato, he has been; era stata, she had been; sono stati, they (m.) have been; saranno state, they (/.) shall have been.
116. The passive construction is formed in Italian with essere as auxiliary and a past participle which agrees in gender and number with the subject of the verb.
Ex.: la letter a e scritta, the letter is written; le letter e sono scritte, the letters are written. Note: The passive construction is often formed with verbs other than essere as an auxiliary. Of these the most important are: stare, restare, venire, rimanere. When so used, the foregoing verbs are practically equivalent in mean- ing to essere.
117. The English impersonal forms there is, there are, there was, etc., are rendered in Italian by means of ci or vi (usually c' and v' before a vowel, and ce or ve before the pronoun ne), there, and forms of essere.
Ex.: c'e, there is; c'era, there was; ci sono, there are. Note: Oftentimes ci and vi are actually pgnivalpnt forms of adverbs of place like qui, here, and la, there,
* When negative, the second person singular of the imperative is rendered by "on essere, be not (thou). The infinitive of all verbs is similarly used with non.
THE VERB
69
and are not as emphatic. In conversation they are widely used.
Ex.: ci sono tutti, all are here; c'erano tutti, all were there.
118. The auxiliary essere is used to form the compound tenses of many intransitive verbs. * Some of frequent occur- rence are:
anddre, to go; past part., anddto; sono andato, I have
gone, etc. entrdre, to enter; past part., entrdto; sono entrato, I have
entered, etc. arrivdre, to arrive; past part., arrivdto; sono arrivato, I
have arrived, etc. partite, to depart; past part., partito; sono partito, I
have departed, etc. venire, to come; past part., venuto; sono venuto, I have
come, etc. succedere (impersonal), to happen; past part., successo;
e successo, (it) has happened, etc. uscire, to come (or go) out; past part., uscito; sono
uscito, I have come (or gone) out, etc.
EXERCISE XIX Vocabulary
arriviamo, we arrive. scorso, past, last,
finito, finished; over. scritto, written,
interrogo, I question. sorpreso, surprised,
partiamo, we start. venduto, sold.
preparato, prepared. (Also words given in preceding lessons; words not given are to be found in General Vocabularies.)
* Usually, verbs implying an action take as auxiliary avere, while those implying a fact take essere. This rule, however, suffers excep- tions, and hence the indication in this grammar of verbs taking a dif- ferent auxilii English.
70 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
A. — 1. Ci sono ancora pochi minuti da (to) aspettare prima che il pranzo sia in tavola. 2. Siate piu pronti a rispondere quando vi interrogo. 3. Oggi e arrivata la posta dalF Italia, e forse ci sara qualche lettera per me.
4. Ieri sera a teatro c'era una gran folia e tutti i posti in platea erano gia venduti quando sono arrivato. 5. Sarebbe meglio andare subito alia stazione perche e probabile che il treno sia in orario questa volta. 6. Questo lavoro e scritto molto male e sarebbe meglio rifarlo. 7. £ venuto alcuno a domandare di (for) me mentre io era assente? 8. Non c'e tempo da (to) perdere; sono quasi le tre, e se non partiamo subito, la prima partita sara gia finita quando arriviamo. 9. I raccolti dell' anno scorso furono scarsi, ma le previsioni per quest' anno sono molto incoraggianti. 10. La rappresentazione di ieri sera al ((Metropolitan)) fu veramente splendida, peccato che Lei non ci fosse (were) !
B. — 1. Criticism is easy but art is difficult. 2. There is no rule without exceptions. 3. This house was (preterit) sold last year. 4. These letters have arrived this morning.
5. I do (omit) not know (so) what has (pres. subj.) happened during all this time. 6. They will be surprised when they know (sanno) that you have arrived. 7. There is no one at (in) home. 8. I was very tired after the walk. 9. Be (you, pi.) well prepared because the examinations will be very difficult. 10. There was a big crowd last night at the theater.
LESSON XX
THE AUXILIARY AVERE
CONJUGATION
119. Infinitive: avere, to have. Pres. part.: avendo, having. Past part. : avuto, had.
|
Present Indicative |
Present Subjunctive |
|
|
ho, I have, etc. |
abbia, I may have, etc. |
|
|
hai |
abbia |
|
|
ha |
abbia |
|
|
abbiamo |
abbiamo |
|
|
avete |
abbiate |
|
|
hanno |
abbiano |
|
|
Imperfect Indicative Future Indic |
A.TIVE Present Conditiona |
|
|
aveva, * I had, |
avrd, I shall have, avrei, I should have, |
|
|
avevi etc. |
avrai etc |
avresti etc. |
|
aveva |
avra |
avrebbe |
|
avevamo |
avremo |
avremmo |
|
avevate |
avrete |
avreste |
|
avevano |
avranno |
avrebbero |
|
Preterit |
[mperfect Subjunctive Imperative |
|
|
ebbi, I had, etc. |
avessi, I might have, |
|
|
avesti |
avessi etc. |
abbi, have (thou) |
|
ebbe |
avesse |
abbia, let him (her) have |
|
avemmo |
avessimo |
abbiamo, let us have |
|
aveste |
aveste |
abbiate, have (you) |
|
ebbero |
avessero |
abbiano, let them have |
120. In compound tenses formed with the auxiliary avere, the past participle usually agrees in gender and num-
* The first person of the Imperfect Indicative of all verbs may also end with o.
71
72 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
ber with a preceding direct object. It is usually invariable, but may also agree when the object follows the verb:
Ex. : e questa la poesia che avete letta? Is this the poem (that) you have read? hai avuto (or avuta) una buona idea, you have had a good idea.
121. Avere is used as auxiliary before active verbs. It is used also with nouns in many idiomatic expressions, whereas in English to be is used with adjectives. Of such expressions, the following are of frequent occurrence:
aver(e)* ragione, to be right aver(e) freddo, to be coldf
aver(e) torto, to be wrong aver(e) caldo, to be warmf
aver(e) fame, to be hungry aver(e) vergogna, to be ashamed
aver(e) sete, to be thirsty aver(e) paura, to be afraid
EXERCISE XX
Vocabulary
accendiamo, we light. goduto, enjoyed,
assicuro, I assure. ritorniamo, we return,
comperato, bought. sapendo, knowing,
detto, said. scommetto, I bet.
A. — 1. Giacche Ella ha avuto la buona idea di venirci a trovare, abbia anche la bonta di restare a pranzo con noi. 2. Ieri sera ebbi l'imprudenza di (to) uscire senza sopra- bito e oggi ho un forte raffreddore. 3. Ella ha avuto ragione di non accettare quel posto. 4. Avrebbe Lei il
* In order to avoid the recurrence of too many vowel sounds, the infinitive of Italian verbs may drop its final e. If two consecutive consonants precede the final e, one of them is also dropped; as, con- dur(re), to load.
t Avere is used thus idiomatically only with subjects representing animate objects.
Ex.: ho freddo, I am cold; bni : questa stanza e fredda, this room is cold.
THE AUXILIARY AVERE 73
coraggio di sostenere una tal cosa sapendo di aver torto? 5. Scommetto che avremo fame quando ritorniamo da questa passcggiata. 6. Non abbia paura, Le assicuro che la cosa e facile. 7. Se non accendiamo il fuoco avremo freddo. 8. Quanti ne abbiamo del mese oggi? 9. Gli scritti del De Amicis hanno sempre goduto molta popo- larita anche fuori d'ltalia. 10. Se Ella aveva delle ragioni plausibili perche non le ha dette? *
B. — 1. I should have (pres. cond.) finished my exercise before, if I had (imp. subj.) had time. 2. When shall I have the pleasure of seeing (inf.) you? 3. Were (preterit) you (use Ella) afraid of the storm last night? 4. The experience (§ 84) he has had in this kind of work will be very useful to him (conj. pron.). 5. It seems to me (§ 61) that he was (imp. subj.) not right in (di) saying (use the inf.) that (§ 78). 6. I had (imp. ind.) no (insert 'any,' § 106) idea that the examination would be so difficult. 7. Have (3d person, § 58) a little (insert di) consideration for what (§ 87) he has done. 8. If I had (imp. subj.) had enough money, I should have bought that little farm a few years ago. 9. I had a terrible headache all day yesterday. 10. Have you finished your work?
* When the preceding direct object is a personal pronoun (mi, ti, lo, la, ci, vi), the past participle usually takes the gender and number of such pronoun; in the case of the plural forms li and le, such agreement is
LESSON XXI
REGULAR VERBS
122. All regular verbs are divided into three conjuga- tions or classes. The ending of the infinitive indicates to what conjugation the verb belongs.
am-are, to love 1st conjugation
cred-ere, to believe 2d conjugation
sent-ire, to feel, hear 3d conjugation
123. The stem of regular verbs remains unchanged as shown in the conjugation of the following models:
FIRST CONJUGATION Amare, to love
Infinitive: am-are, to love. Pres. Part.: am-ando, loving. Past Part.: am-ato, loved.
Present Subjunctive
am-i, I may love, etc.
am-i
am-i
am-i4mo
am-iate
am-ino
Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative Present Conditional
am-ava, I used to am-erd, I shall love, am-erei, I should love,
love,t etc. etc. etc.
am-avi am-erai am-eresti
am-ava am-era am-erebbe
* Also, I do love, I am loving, etc. This applies to all verbs. t Also, I did love, I loved, I was loving, etc. This applies to all verbs.
74
|
| Present Indicative |
||
|
am- |
-o, I love, |
'etc. |
|
am- |
-i |
|
|
am- |
-a |
|
|
am- |
-iamn |
|
|
am- am- |
-ate^ -ano |
REGULAR VERBS
75
|
am-avamo |
am-eremo am-eremmo |
|
am-avate |
am-erete am-ereste |
|
am-avano |
am-eranno am-erebbero |
|
Preterit |
Imperfect Subjunctive Imperative |
|
am-ai, I loved, etc. |
am-assi, I might love, |
|
am-asti |
am-assi etc. am-a, love (thou) |
|
am-6 |
am-asse am-i, let him (her) love |
|
am— ammo |
am-assimo am-iamo, let us love |
|
am-aste |
am-aste am-ate, love (you) |
|
am-arono |
am-assero am-ino, let them love |
124. The sound of the consonant immediately prece- ding the infinitive ending is usually preserved throughout the conjugation. Hence, the c and g of verbs ending in -care and -gare are followed by h before e or i.
Ex.: giocare, to play; giochero, I shall play; legare, to tie; leghi, you tie.
125. Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare drop the final i before e or i, and verbs in -chiare, -gliare, -sciare drop the i only before another i.
Ex.: land, you throw (from lanciare); mangerei, I would eat (from mangiare).
EXERCISE XXI
Vocabulary
affittare, to let. applicare, to apply. ascoltare, to listen (to), chiuso, adj., closed, domandare, to ask. entrare, to enter, fatto, done.
giudicare, to judge, imparare, to learn, pagare, to pay (for). parlare, to speak, sperare, to hope, studiare, to study, trovare, to find.
A. — 1. Gli Americani amano molto lo ((sport. » 2. Se tu avessi un po' piu d'esperienza non parleresti cosi.
76 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
3. Domani mattina giocheremo al ((tennis)) se il tempo e bello. 4. Le domando cosa ha fatto tutto il giorno ieri; se avesse studiato non Glielo domanderei certo. 5. Se studiano molto impareranno presto a parlare italiano. 6. Sono andato dal signor White per un affare importante ma non l'ho trovato in casa. 7. Mi ascolti prima, poi giudichi Lei se ho ragione o torto. 8. Che materie studi quest' anno? 9. Ella imparerebbe facilmente se si appli- casse di piu alio studio. 10. Quanto paghi al mese dove sei a dozzina?
B. — 1. I will pay you (conj. pron. dative) for these books to-morrow. 2. We will eat at eleven this morning. 3. I will ask him (conj. pron. dative) if he has time to (di) do this. 4. I have learned to read (insert 'the') Italian a little. 5. If I had (imp. subj.) studied more (di piu) in the (omit) beginning I should not find these lessons so hard now. 6. Have you (use Ella) any (§ 8, 5) rooms to (da) let? 7. I found (preterit) the door closed last night. 8. Do not judge (p. 68, note) by (insert 'the') appearances. 9. I hope you will listen to (omit) him (conj. pron. accusative). 10. When I entered (preterit; insert 'in the') his room he was studying.
LESSON XXII
SECOND CONJUGATION
Credere, to believe, think
126. Infinitive : cred-ere, to believe. Pres. part. : cred-en- do, believing. Past part.: cred-uto, believed.
|
Present |
Indicative Present Subjunctive |
||
|
cred-o, I believe, etc. cred |
-a, I may believe, etc. |
||
|
cred-i |
cred |
-a |
|
|
cred-e |
cred |
-a |
|
|
cred-iamo |
cred-iamo |
||
|
cred-ete |
cred-iate |
||
|
cred-ono |
cred |
-ano |
|
|
Imperfect Indicative |
Future Indicative |
Present Conditional |
|
|
cred-eva |
cred |
-ero, I shall believe, |
cred-erei, I should believe, |
|
cred-evi |
cred- |
-erai etc. |
cred-eresti etc. |
|
cred-eva |
cred- |
-era |
cred-erebbe |
|
cred-evamo |
cred- |
-eremo |
cred-eremmo |
|
cred-evate |
cred- |
-erete |
cred-ereste |
|
cred-evano |
cred- |
eranno |
cred-erebbero |
|
Preterit |
Imperfect Subjunctive Imperative |
||
|
cred-ei or cred- |
etti, |
cred-essi, I might |
|
|
I believed, et( |
believe, etc. |
||
|
cred-esti |
cred-essi |
cred-i, believe (thou) |
|
|
cred-e or cred-ette |
cred-esse |
cred-a, lei liim (her ) believe |
|
|
cred-emmo |
cred-essimo |
cred-iamo, let us believe |
|
|
cred-este |
cred-este |
cred-ete, believe (you) |
|
|
cred-erono or |
cred-essero |
cred-ano, let them believe |
|
|
cred-ettero |
77
78 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
127. A few other verbs besides credere have a double form in the first and third person singular and third person plural of the preterit. Of these, the most important are: fremere, to fret; gemere, to moan; perdere, to lose; rice- vere, to receive; temere, to fear; splendere, to shine; godere, to enjoy.
128. Verbs in -cere and -scere that have a regular past participle in -uto, insert i between c and u so as to preserve the soft sound of c :
tacere, to be silent; taciuto, been silent; mescere, to pour out; mesciuto, poured out.
EXERCISE XXH
Vocabulary
battere, to beat, knock. coperto, covered,
cedere, to yield. ripetere, to repeat,
combattere, to fight.
A. — 1. Non perdano tempo e incomincino a studiare seriamente. 2. Oggi forse ricevero i libri di cui Le ho parlato ieri. 3. Perche non ha battuto alia porta, Lei? 4. Quel giovane e cosi testardo che non cedera, te lo assi- curo io. 5. Se tutti credono che il fatto e vero, perche non lo crederebbe Lei? 6. Non sono entrato perche temeva di (to) disturbare la classe. 7. Perche hai taciuto se credevi di (to) aver ragione? 8. Che cambiamento repentino! Stamane splendeva il sole e adesso il cielo e tutto coperto di (with) nubi. 9. I Boeri combatterono valorosamente contro gli Inglesi e perdettero in una lotta gloriosa per la loro liberta. 10. Grazie al cielo ho sempre goduto buona salute.
B. — 1. Some one is knocking (see note *, p. 74) at the door. 2. He does not lose his (§ 70) patience very easily.
SECOND CONJUGATION 79
3. I am sure that you will receive an invitation. 4. How many times (pi. of volta) shall I repeat these things? 5. Not only did Napoleon I fight (-preterit) against the English (pi.) at Waterloo, but also against the elements. 6. You would enjoy better health if you walked (imp. subj.) a little every day (§ 105). 7. Too bad (§ 97; insert 'that') the sun doesn't shine to-day. 8. Do not fear (p. 68, note), I will help you. 9. I fear that my friend may not receive my letter in time. 10. He will think that I have (pres. subj.) done it (§ 61) on purpose.
LESSON XXIII
THIRD CONJUGATION
Sentire, to feel, hear
Pres. part.: sentendo,
129. Infinitive: sentire, to feel feeling. Past part. : sentito, felt.
Present Indicative sent-o, I feel, etc. sent-i sent-e sent-iamo sent-ite sent-ono
Present Subjunctive
sent-a, I may feel, etc.
sent-a
sent-a
sent-iamo
sent-iate
sent~ano
Imperfect Indicative Future Indicative
sent-iva, I felt, etc.
sent-ivi
sent-iva
sent-ivamo
sent-ivate
sent-ivano
Preterit sent-ii, I felt, etc. sent-isti sent-i sent immo sent-iste sent-irono
sent-iro, I shall feel,
sent-irai etc.
sent-ira
sent-iremo
sent-irete
sent-iranno
Imperfect Subjunctive sent-issi, I might feel, sent-issi etc
sent-fsse sent-issimo sent-iste sent-issero
Present Conditional
sent-irei, I should feel,
sent-iresti etc.
sent-irebbe
sent-iremmo
sent-ireste
sent-irebbero
Imperative
sent-i, feel (thou) sent-a, let him (her) feel sent-iamo, let us feel sent-ite, feel (you) sent-ano, let them feel
130. There are but afew_ verbs that are conjugated ex- actly like sentire. Of these the most important are:
THIRD CONJUGATION 81
dormire, to sleep; partire,* to depart, leave; fuggire, to flee; servire, to serve; vestire, to dress; seguire,_ to follow. With a few exceptions (see § 131), all the other regular verbs of the third conjugation take -isc before the singular endings and the third plural of the present indicative, present subjunctive, and imperative as shown in the following table :
Pulire, to clean
Present Indicative Present Subjunctive
pul-isco, I clean, etc. pul-isca, I may clean, etc.
pul-isci pul-isca
pul-isce pul-isca
pul-iamo pul-iamo
pul-ite pul-iate
pul-iscono pul-iscano
Imperative pul-isci, clean (thou) pul-isca, let him (her) clean pul-iamo, let us clean pul-ite, clean (you) pul-iscano, let them clean
131. Several verbs may be conjugated like sentire or pulire. Of these the most important are:
abborrire, to abhor; assorbire, to absorb; awertire, to advise, warn, inform; bollire, to boil; divertire, to distract, amuse; mentire, to lie; applaudire, to applaud.
EXERCISE XXIII
Vocabulary
capire, to understand, finire, to finish, preferire, to prefer.
* Partire, when meaning to divide, follows pulire.
82 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
A. — 1. Seguird il Suo consiglio, signor maestro, non dubiti. 2. Partirei volentieri stasera, ma il tempo e troppo cattivo. 3. Quando sara tempo di partire La avvertiro io, signore. 4. Hai sentito il temporale di ieri notte? 5. Quella signora veste sempre elegantemente e con gusto. 6. Molti schiavi romani servivano in capacita di pedagoghi. 7. Dei romanzi del Dickens quale preferisce Lei? 8. Adesso in- comincio a capire un po' quando il maestro parla italiano. 9. Perche non finisce Ella il Suo lavoro oggi? 10. Quando bollira quest' acqua?
B. — 1. Why don't you clean your pen? 2. This water will boil in a few (§ 52) minutes. 3. Finish (3d person sing, imperative) this work to-day if you (use Ella) have time. 4. If I had (imp. subj.) to (da) choose I should prefer this color to that*. 5. I warn you that if you (use Ella) continue to come so late, it will be impossible for (omit) you (conj. pron. dative) to (omit) follow my explanations.
6. This man has always served me (§ 61) faithfully.
7. I have heard him sing two or three times (see XXII, B, 4) when I was (imp. ind.) in (a) New York. 8. Why do you leave so soon? 9. She always2 dresses1 her two girls in (di) white. 10. He left (preterit) without informing (inf.) any one of his departure.
LESSON XXIV
REFLEXIVE AND IMPERSONAL VERBS REFLEXIVE VERBS
132. The object pronouns used in the conjugation of reflexive verbs are the conjunctive pronouns mi, myself; ti, thyself (yourself); si, himself, herself; ci, ourselves; vi, yourselves; si, themselves (m. and/.).
133. The position of reflexive pronouns is like that of personal object pronouns (see § 61), and the subject pro- noun is either used or omitted as stated in § 55.
Ex.: (Loro) s'ingannano, signori, you are mistaken, gentlemen (lit. you deceive yourselves) ; chi pud con- siderarsi felicef Who can consider himself happy?
134. The following tenses show how the reflexive pro- nouns should be used throughout the conjugation.
Present Indicative Future Indicative
(io) mi sforzo, I exert myself (fo) mi sforzero, I shall (tu) ti sforzi, (thou) you exert yourself exert myself, etc.
(egli, ella) si sforza, he or she exerts ti sforzerai
himself or herself si sforzera
(noi) ci sforziamo, we exert ourselves ci sforzeremo
(voi) vi sforzate, you exert yourselves vi sforzerete
(eglino, ellenoj si sforzano, they exert si sforzeranno
themselves
135. Compound tenses of reflexive verbs are formed with the auxiliary essere, and the reflexive pronoun is al- ways placed before the auxiliary.
84 ELEMENTARY ITALIA? GRAMMAR
Ex.: mi sono sbagliato, I was mistaken; ti sei vestito you dressed yourself.
136. If the emphatic forms stesso, stessa, self, and stessi, stesse, selves, are used, the reflexive pronoun is then a disjunctive one, and the auxiliary avere is used instead of essere.
Ex.: ho colpito me stesso, I struck myself (much more emphatic than: mi sono colpito).
137. Some Italian verbs are used only reflexively, and often the reflexive construction (in the third person singular and plural) is used instead of the passive.
Ex.: pentirsi, to repent; vergognarsi, to be ashamed
(always reflexive). queste riviste si pubblicano in
Italia for: queste riviste sono pubbli-
cate in Italia
Note: It may be observed that the reflexive construc- tion is perhaps preferable to the passive when the verb im- plies an habitual action.
138. A reflexive verb may also imply a reciprocal action. Ex.: si confortano, they insole themselves or they
console one another.
However, when the reciprocal meaning is not clear enough or emphasis is required, properly inflected forms of l'uno and l'altro may be added (see § 103), but frequently the invariable adverbial phrase a vicenda or the expression fra di loro (lit. among themselves) is used.
Ex.: si odiano Vun l'altro, they hate one another; si rispettano a vicenda, they respect one another.
these reviews are pub- lished in Italy.
REFLEXIVE AND IMPERSONAL VERBS 85
â– plural forms of l'uno and l'altro (gli uni, , altri) indie. >cal action among many.
IMPERSONAL VERBS
139. Impersonal verbs in Italian are conjugated without pronouns, and their conjugation is limited to th<
participles and the third person singular of all other tenses.
Ex.: pidvere, to rain; piove, it rains; tuonq, it thunders: nerd, it will snow; e nevicato or ha nevicato, it has snowed.
140. The following verbs are used impersonally: parere, to seem (pare, it seems; pareva, it seemed, etc.). bastdre, to be enough (bdsta, it is enough; ba$terd, it will
be enough). convenire, to be fitting (conviene, it is fitting, etc.). bisogndre, to be necessary (bisogna, it is necessary,
141. The irregular verb fare (to do, to make) is often used impersonally in expr
temperature, etc.
Ex. : fa bel tempo, it is fine weather; fa caldo, it is warm; fafreddo, it is cold; si fa tardi, it is getting la
EXERCISE XXTV
Vocabulary
contentarsi, to be satisfied. meravigliarsi, to wonder,
dice, - rallegrarsi, to rejo
dimenticarsi, to forget. ricordirsi (di), to remember,
mancare, to miss. svegliarsi, I
contenta gode, dice un proverbio it:'
itO per tempo. 3. M
86 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
di vederti in buona salute. 4. Ci siamo aiutati a vicenda, ma nessuno dei due ha copiato il lavoro dell' altro. 5. Si ricordi di non mancare all' appello la volta ventura. 6. Fa un po' freddo oggi. e forse nevichera. 7. Non Le pare di essersi sbagliata nei Suoi calcoli? 8. L'arancio e il limone si trovano soltanto nei paesi dove fa sempre caldo. 9. Si fa tardi e non mi sono ancora vestito per il concerto. 10. II ((Corriere della Sera» (Evening Courier), uno dei migliori giornali d' Italia, si pubblica a Milano.
B. — 1. Wolves do not eat each other. 2. I think (use credere) he will repent of (di) what (§ 87) he has done. 3. I wonder that he has (pres. subj.) not come yet. 4. It was very cold this morning when I left (preterit of partire; insert di) home. 5. Will it snow to-day? — I hope not (di no). 6. The most important newspapers in (§ 44) this country are published in the large cities of the East. 7. How1 glad3 I would be2 if the weather were (imp. subj.) fine to-morrow. 8. It seems to me that this room is (pres. subj.) not well ventilated. 9. Do not forget (3d person sing, ircperative)- to (di) come and (omit and insert a) see me soon. 10. Re- member (3a person sing, imperative) then that we expect you (U before the verb) this week.
LESSON XXV
IRREGULAR VERBS
142. No attempt is made in the following lessons to present a scientifically devised treatment of the irregular verb. This is in order to avoid the confusion that any such treatment usually creates in the mind of the beginner. Hence, only a few irregular verbs from each of the three conjugations are taken up separately, and the student is expected to supplement these lessons with a careful study of the irregular verbs given at end of the grammar.
143. The following remarks will facilitate the under- standing of the irregular verb.
1. A verb is irregular when departing from the regular conjugation either by changing the stem otherwise than stated in § 124 and 125, or by changing both the stem and the termination.
2. In the conjugation of derivatives, the stress of the simple verbs usually remains unchanged.
3. The irregularities in the preterit are practically al- ways confined to three persons only, namely, first and third person singular and third person plural.
4. The only irregular verbs of the first conjugation are andare, to go; dare, to give; stare, to stand, stay; fare, to do, make, and several of their derivatives. The verb fare is here classed as an irregular verb of the first conjugation on account of its ending. Fare, however, is but a con- tracted form of the obsolete facere {2d conjugation) of which
87
88 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
the stem fac- occurs frequently in many forms (see § 147). All other irregular verbs belong either to the second or third conjugation.
5. Compound verbs are conjugated like their simple verbs (exceptions will be often indicated).
6. All tenses not given are regular.
7. Irregular forms are given in heavy types. Rare forms are usually omitted.
IRREGULAR VERBS — FIRST CONJUGATION
144. Anddre, to go
Present Indicative vado or vo, vai, va; andiamo, andate, vanno.
Present Subjunctive vada (throughout the singular) ; andiamo, andiate, vadano.
Future Indicative andr6 (contracted from anderb, etc.), andrai, andra; andremo, andrete, andranno.
Present Conditional andrei (contracted from anderei, etc.), andresti, andrebbe; andremmo, andreste, andrebbero.
Imperative no first person, va', vada; andiamo, andate, vadano.
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
Note 1. — Andarsene, to go away, is conjugated re- flexively.
Ex. : me ne vado, I go away, etc. Imperative (2d sing.) : vattene, go away.
Note 2. — The verb trasandare, when meaning to neg- lect, and riandare, when meaning to reconsider, are both regular. If used with the meaning of to pass over, tn g\
IRREGULAR VERBS 89
beyond (trasandare) , and to go again (riandare), both are conjugated like andare.
145. Dare, to give
Present Indicative do, dai, da; diamo, date, danno.
Present Subjunctive dia (throughout the singular); diamo, diate, diano or dieno.
Imperfect Subjunctive dessi, dessi, desse; dessimo, deste, dessero.
Future Indicative daro, darai, dara; daremo, darete, daranno.
Present Conditional darei, daresti, darebbe; daremmo, dareste, darebbero.
Preterit diedi (or detti), desti, diede (or dette or die); demmo, deste, diedero (or dettero).
Imperative no first person, da', dia; di&mo, date, diano or dieno.
Note 1. — Only ridare, to give again, restore, and ad- darsi (refl.), to perceive, are conjugated like dare.
Note 2. — The verbs in such English sentences as: "I will go and tell him," are rendered in Italian by a principal verb and a dependent infinitive, e.g., " andrd a dirgli."
EXERCISE XXV
Vocabulary
andare d'accordo, to agree.
A. — 1. Dove andavi ieri quando t'incontrai? 2. Ella e cosi appassionata per lo «sport» che trasanda persino i Suoi doveri di scunla. 3. Posso andarmene quando 1 o
90 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
finito il mio esame? 4. Le do la mia parola d'onore che nessuno ha parlato male di Lei. 5. Mi dia qualche cosa da mangiare. 6. La vita dei campi gli ha ridato la salute. 7. Perche te ne vai cosi presto? 8. Se fa bel tempo an- dremo a fare (take) una passeggiata nel parco. 9. Come vanno gli affari? 10. Vada a parlargli e sentira quello che Le dice.
B. — 1. He who gives promptly gives twice, says the proverb. 2. They agree like dog and cat. 3. He often goes away without saying (inf.) anything (nulla) to us. 4. So goes the world. 5. " How is business? " (see A, 9, above) is a very common question in America. 6. Go (3d person sing, imperative) and tell him that I cannot wait till (fino a) to-morrow. 7. This is all that (§ 84) I can give you. 8. Where shall you (omit) go next summer? 9. Give (2d person pi.) me something (insert di) good to (da) eat. 10. I wouldn't give more than two dollars for this pair of gloves.
LESSON XXVI
IRREGULAR VERBS (Continued) 146. Stare, to stand, stay
Present Indicative sto, stai, sta; stiamo, state, stanno.
Present Subjunctive stia (throughout the singular) ; stiamo, stiate, stiano or stieno.
Imperfect Subjunctive stessi, stessi, stesse; stessimo, steste, stessero.
Future Indicative stard, starai, stara; staremo, starete, staranno.
Present Conditional starei, staresti, starebbe; staremmo, stareste, starebbero.
Preterit stetti, stesti, stette; stemmo, steste, stettero.
Imperative no first person, sta', stia; stiamo, state, stiano or stieno. (Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
Note 1. — The progressive construction is expressed in Italian by means of stare as auxiliary.
Ex.: sto lavorando, I am working; stava scrivendo, I was writing, etc.
Note 2. — Contrastare, meaning to deny, dispute; re- sfare, to remain; ostare, to oppose, hinder, and instare, to lie urgent, are regular. Ristare, to cease, stop, is conju- 91
92 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
gated like stare and sovrastare, to stand above or over, may be conjugated both as a regular verb or like stare.
147. Fare, to do, make
Present Indicative f actio {or fo), fai, fa; facciamo, fate, fanno.
Present Subjunctive faccia (throughout the singular) ; facciamo, facciate, facciano.
Imperfect Subjunctive facessi, facessi, facesse; facessimo, faceste, facessero.
Imperfect Indicative faceva, facevi, faceva; facevamo, facevate, facevano.
Future Indicative faro, farai, fara; faremo, farete, faranno.
Present Conditional farei, faresti, farebbe; faremmo, fareste, farebbero.
Preterit feci, facesti, fece; facemmo, faceste, fecero.
Imperative no first person, fa', faccia; facciamo, fate, facciano.
Present Participle Past Participle
facendo. fatto.
Remark: The final vowel of verbs conjugated like andare, dare, stare, fare is accented on the first and third persons singular of the present indicative.
Ex.: rivo, I go again; rida, he gives again, etc.
With compounds of andare and fare, however, no accent is required when the forms vado and faccio are used. Ex.: rifaccio, I am doing again; rivado, I go again.
IRREGULAR VERBS 93
EXERCISE XXVI
Vocabulary assuefare, refl., to accuston, adapt. sodisfare, to satisfy. confare, refl., to agree with. sopraffare, to overpower,
fare l'awocato, il medico, etc., to stare (di casa), to dwell. .
practise law, medicine, etc. f bene, [ well.
farla finita, to stop it. stare to feel
far(e) venire, to send for (venire I male, i bad.
is, of course, invariable). stare per (and an infinitive), to be
far(e) visita, to pay a visit. about to, be on the point of.
rifare, to do again.
A. — 1. Sono andato a stare in campagna perche l'aria della citta non mi (si) confaceva. 2. E quasi ora di farla finita, mi pare. 3. Non dimenticarti che ora sto di casa al numero 52, Via Indipendenza. 4. Faccia quello che crede, io me ne lavo le mani. 5. E vero che Suo fratello fa l'av- vocato a New- York? 6. Intanto ch'Ella resta qui io vado a fare una visita a un signore che sta non molto lontano. 7. II Suo lavoro non mi sodisfa; lo rifaccia. 8. Non mi sono ancora del tutto (quite) assuefatto al clima di questo paese, ma ora sto molto meglio di quando sono venuto.
9. Lei cerca di sopraffarmi colla forza, non colla ragione.
10. Come sta Ella oggi?
B. — 1. How is your friend to-day? 2. I sent for (pret- erit) the doctor many times (XXIII, B, 7) but the condi- tion of the patient is always the same. 3. You will feel much better (§ 39, note) when you come back from the country. 4. I used to dwell (imp. ind.) in that street many years ago. 5. Try (3d person sing, imperative) to (di) adapt yourself to the customs of this country. 6. How long (see Voc.) shall you remain in Italy? 7. What can I do to (per) satisfy your desire? 8. I advise you to do this work again. 9. I was about to (imp. ind.) go out when you (use Ella) came (venne) to (a) see me. 10. I don't feel well enough to (per) come out to-night.
LESSON XXVII
IRREGULAR VERBS — SECOND CONJUGATION
148. Potere, to be able
Present Indicative posso, puoi, pud; possiamo, potete, possono.
Present Subjunctive possa (throughout the singular) ; possiamo, possiate, possano.
Future Indicative potro, potrai, potra; potremo, potrete, potranno.
Present Conditional potrei, potresti, potrebbe; potremmo, potreste, potrebbero.
149. Sapere,* to know Present Indicative
so, sai, sa; sappiamo, sapete, sanno.
Present Subjunctive sappia (throughout the singular); sappiamo, sappiate, sappiano.
Future Indicative saprd, saprai, sapra; sapremo, saprete, sapranno.
Present Conditional saprei, sapresti, saprebbe; sapremmo, sapreste, saprebbero.
Preterit seppi, sapcsti, seppe; sapemmo, sapeste, seppero.
Imperative no first person, sappi, sappia; no first person, sappiate, sappiano.
* To know, when meaning to be acquainted with, is rendered by con6scere (see List of Irregular Verbs). 94
IRREGULAR VERBS 95
150. Vedere, to see
Present Indicative vedo or veggo, v£di, v£de; vediamo, vedete, vedono or veggono.
Present Subjunctive veda or vegga (throughout the singular) ; vediamo or veggiamo, vediate or veggiate, vedano or veggano.
Future Indicative vedro, vedrai, vedra; vedremo, vedrete, vedranno.
Present Conditional vedrei, vedresti, vedrebbe; vedremmo, vedreste, vedrebbero.
Preterit vidi, vedesti, vide; vedemmo, vedeste, videro.
Imperative no first person, vedi, veda; vediamo, vedete, vedano. (The irregular forms vegga, etc., are rare in the imperative.)
Present Participle Past Participle
vedendo or veggendo. vediito or visto.
151. Rimanere, to remain
Present Indicative rimango, rimani, rimane; rimanidmo, rimanete, rimangono.
Present Subjunctive rimanga (throughout the singular) ; rimanidmo, rimanidte, rimangano.
Future Indicative rimarrd, rimarrai, rimarra; rimarremo, rimarrete, rimarranno.
Present Conditional rimarrei, rimarresti, rimarrebbe; rimarremmo, rimarreste, rimarreb- bero.
Preterit rimasi, riman6sti, rimase; rimancmmo, riman^ste, rimasero.
9G ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Imperative no first person, rimani, rimanga; rimaniamo, rimanete, rimangano.
Past Participle
rimasto (or rimaso).
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
EXERCISE XXVn
Vocabulary
prevedere, to foresee 1 These two verbs are not contracted in the prowedere, to provide J future and conditional, rivedere, to see again.
A. — 1. Potresti venire a casa mia stasera verso le otto? 2. Saprd io cosa fare in caso di necessita. 3. A rivederla (good-by), signor White, mi dispiace (I am sorry) assai di non poter rimanere con Lei qualche giorno ancora, ma Lei sa benissimo che i miei (§ 72) mi aspettano a casa. 4. Vedro piu tardi quello che posso fare per Lei. 5. Ho fatto tutto quel'o che potevo per riuscire nel mio intento, ma chi avrebbe preveduto tante difficolta? 6. Vedo che non sapete la lezione d'oggi e questo e male perche non potrete far nulla (anything) senza i verbi. 7. Ieri sono rimasto in casa tutto il giorno perche non stavo bene. 8. Dove mi hai visto stamane? 9. Non so se potrd venire stasera a casa Sua. 10. Le saro tanto grato s'Ella mi provvedera i mezzi di continuare nei miei studi.
B. — 1. I doubt whether (che) he can (pres. subj.) ac- cept such conditions. 2. I- know positively that your friends are ready to help you. 3. Could (condit.) you do me this favor? 4. No one can serve you better. 5. I hope you will remain with us at dinner. 6. When he saw (preterit) that he could not (imp. ind.) convince him, he went away (preterit). 7. I do n t s^e bow y. u can
1
IRREGULAR VERBS 97
subj.) succeed. 8. I cannot understand why you should find (pres. subj.) this lesson so hard. 9. I would do anything (§ 111) for you, but I do not see how I can (pres. subj.) help you this time. 10. I shall remain in the (omit) city three or four days.
LESSON XXVIII
IRREGULAR VERBS (Continued)
152. Chiedere, to ask (for)
Present Indicative chiedo or chieggo, chiedi, chiede; chiediamo, chiedete, chiddono or chieggono.
Present Subjunctive chi6da or chiegga (throughout the singular); chiediamo, chiediiite, chiedano or chieggano.
Preterit chiesi, chiedesti, chiese; chied£mmo, chiedeste, chiesero.
Imperative no first person, chiedi, chieda or chiegga; chiediamo, chiediate, chiedano or chieggano.
Past Participle chiesto.
153. Cogliere, to pick, gather
Present Indicative c61go, c6gli, c6glie; cogliamo (or colghiamo), cogliete, colgono.
Present Subjunctive c61ga (throughout the singular); cogliamo (or colghiamo), cogliate, colgano.
Preterit c61si, cogli6sti, colse; cogliemmo, coglieste, colsero.
Imperative
no first person, cogli, colga; cogliamo, cogliete, colgano.
Past Participle
colto.
98
IRREGULAR VERBS 99
Note: The irregular forms corro, etc., of the future, and correi, etc., of the conditional, are poetical.
154. Spegnere, to extinguish, blow out (light); refl. to go out.
Present Indicative spengo, sp6gni, sp6gne; spegniamo, spegn^te, spengono.
Present Subjunctive spenga (throughout the singular) ; spegniamo, spegniate, spengano.
Preterit spensi, spegnesti, spense; spegnemmo, spegneste, spensero.
Imperative no first person, spegni, spenga ; spegniamo, spegn6te, spengano.
Past Participle spento.
155. Scrivere, to write
Preterit scrissi, scrivesti, scrisse; scrivemmo, scriveste, scrissero.
Past Participle scritto.
156. Prendere, to take
Preterit presi, prend^sti, prese; prendemmo, prend^ste, presero.
Past Participle preso.
Note: The irregularities of many verbs of the second conjugation stressed on the antepenultimate syllable ar? practically confined to the preterit and past participle (see Table of Irregular Verbs).
100 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
EXERCISE XXVHI
VOCABULABY
concesso, granted. scegliere, to choose,
distogliere, to dissuade. sciogliere, to dissolve,
richiedere, to require. togliere, to take away.
A. — 1. Non mi chieda il nome di chi ha scritto questo articolo, non posso dirglielo. 2. Dove ha colto questi bei fiori, signorina? 3. Non so ancora quale scegliero di tutti i candidati. 4. £ molto tardi perche i lumi delle strade sono gia tutti spenti. 5. Quante ore di studio si richiedono (§ 137) in questo corso? 6. I popoli non progrediscono quando si toglie loro la liberta. 7. La polizia ha preso tutte le misure necessarie per evitare possibili conflitti. 8. II ministro della marina chiedera i fondi necessari per la costruzione di nuove navi da guerra. 9. Scrivimi spesso quando sei in Italia. 10. Spero ch'Ella non prendera queste cose sul serio.
B. — 1. I hope you (use Ella) will write to me often during your (§ 58) trip. 2. You will dissolve this pill in half2 a1 glass of water. 3. What (§ 87) you ask cannot be granted. 4. The fire will soon go out (§ 154) if you don't go and (a) get (inf.) some (§ 8, 5) wood. 5. I would write to him if I knew (imp. subj.) his address. 6. Have you chosen any one of the candidates for this position? 7. I shall take the first train to-morrow morning. 8. I will do all (insert 'that which') I can to (per) dissuade him from his project. 9. Go and (a) pick (inf.) some roses for the young lady. 10. Blow out (2d person sing, imperative) the lamp and let us go to bed.
LESSON XXIX IRREGULAR VERBS — THIRD CONJUGATION
157. Venire, to come
Present Indicative vengo, vieni, viene; veniamo, venite, vengono.
Present Subjunctive venga (throughout the singular) ; veni&mo, veniate, vengano.
Future Indicative verrd, verrai, verra; verremo, verrete, verranno.
Present Conditional verrei, verresti, verrebbe; verremmo, verreste, verrebbero.
Preterit venni, venisti, venne; venimmo, veniste, vennero.
Imperative
no first person, vieni, venga; venidmo, venite, vengano.
Past Participle
venuto.
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
158. Dire, to say, tell
Present Indicative dico, did, dice; diciamo, dite, dicono.
Present Subjunctive dica (throughout the singular) ; diciamo, diciate, dicano.
Imperfect Subjunctive dicessi, dicessi, dicesse; dicessimo, diceste, dicessero. 101
102 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Imperfect Indicative diceva, dicevi, diceva; dicevamo, dicevate, dicevano.
Preterit dissi, dicesti, disse; dicemmo, diceste, dissero.
Imperative no first person, di', dica; diciamo, dite, dicano.
Present Participle Past Participle
dicendo. detto.
Note 1. — It is on account of its ending in -ire, that dire is assigned to the third conjugation. Dire is but a con- tracted form of the obsolete dicere (2d conjugation) , of which the stem die- is evident in many of the foregoing forms.
Note 2. — Benedire, to bless, and maledire, to execrate, follow dire, but the forms benediva and malediva, etc., of the imperfect indicative are also used. Both verbs may be conjugated either like dire or like sentire (see § 129) in the preterit.
159. Saltre, to mount, rise, come or go up
Present Indicative salgo, sali, sale; sagliamo, salite, salgono.
Present Subjunctive saiga (throughout the singular); sagliamo, sagliate, silgano.
Preterit salii (or salsi), salisti, sali (or salse); salimmo, saliste, salirono (or salsero).
Imperative no first person, saii, saiga; sagliamo, salite, silgano.
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
Note: Salire may also be conjugated like pulire (see § 130) in the present indicative, present subiunctive. and im-
IRREGULAR VERBS 103
160. Aprire, to open
Preterit aprii or apersi, apristi, apri or aperse; aprlmmo, apriste, aprirono or apersero.
Past Participle aperto
Note: In all other lenses aprire follows sentire,,§ 129.
EXERCISE XXIX
Vocabulary
contradire, to contradict. divenire, to become.
convenire, to suit, be convenient. offrire, to offer (like aprire).
coprire, to cover (like aprire). predire, to foretell, predict.
A. — 1. Vieni presto a trovarmi, sai che sono sempre contento di vederti. 2. Dica la Sua opinione liberamente, Ella sa come stanno le cose. 3. Mi dica Lei quello che conviene fare in questa circostanza. 4. Chi ha aperto quella finestra? 5. Mi hanno detto che il pallone salira oggi verso le quattro. 6. Le riviste commerciali predicono un' era di prosperity. 7. Uno che contradice sempre nella conversazione diviene insopportabile. 8. Si copra bene perche fuori fa molto freddo. 9. Ditemi quale sconto potete offrirmi. 10. Venga a casa mia stasera se Le e possibile; ho a parlarle di cose importantissime.
B. — 1. Mr. Brown came (preterit) to see me yesterday about this matter. 2. The letter-carrier will not come to- morrow because it is a (omit) holiday. 3. I found {pretn it) the door open last night when I came {preterit; insert a.) home. 4. Mr. Adams told (preterit) me that he would come to the reception to-night. 5. The witness har tradicted himself (§ 136) several times (pi. of voltaj during the trial. 6. I am glad to (fli) offer (tn) you (§ 6i hospitality of my home. 7. I hope I I] suit you (conj. pron. Le). 8. I do not understand what ('§ 87)
s. 9. The reasons (§ 84) you ttisfactory.
LESSON XXX
IRREGULAR VERBS (Continued)
161. Morire, to die
Present Indicative mu6io (or muoro), muori, mu6re; moriamo, morite, muoiono.
Present Subjunctive mu6ia (or mu6ra), (throughout the singular); moriamo; moriate, muoiano.
Future Indicative morrd, morrai, morra; morremo, morrete, morranno. (Also regular: moriro, etc.)
Present Conditional morrei, morresti, morrebbe; morremmo, morreste, morrebbero. (Also regular: morirei, etc.)
Imperative no first person, muori, muoia (or muora) ; moriamo, morite, mu6iano.
Past Participle
morto.
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
162. Uscire, to go or come out
Present Indicative esco, esci, esce; usciamo, uscite, escono.
Present Subjunctive esca (throughout the singular); usciamo, usciite, escano.
IMPERATIVE
no first person, csci, ftsca; usciamo, uscite, escano.
■••mod with essere.) 1 )}
IRREGULAR VERBS 105
163. Apparire, to appear
Present Indicative apparisco or appaio, apparisci, apparisce or appare; appariamo, apparite, appariscono or appaiono.
Present Subjunctive apparisca or appaia (throughout the singular); appariamo, appari&te, appariscano or appaiano.
Preterit apparii, apparsi or apparvi, apparisti, appari, apparse or apparve; apparfmmo, appariste, apparirono, apparsero or apparvero.
Imperative no first person, apparisci, apparisca or appaia; appariamo, apparite, appariscano or appaiano.
Past Participle
apparito or apparso.
(Compound tenses are formed with essere.)
Note: Sparire, to disappear, is conjugated like ap- parire, except that the forms in -isco, etc., are practically the only ones used.*
164. Udire, to hear
Present Indicative odo, odi, ode; udidmo, udite, odono.
Present Subjunctive oda (throughout the singular); udiamo, udiate, odano.
Imperative no first person, odi, oda; udiamo, udite, odano.
* In the Preterit the forms spirsi, sparse, sparsero are not used, how- ever, as these are also forms of the Preterit of spargere, to scatter.
106 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
EXERCISE XXX
Vocabulary
riuscire, to be successful, succeed, scomparire, to disappear.
A. — 1. II signor Neri e uscito poco fa e non ritornera prima delle cinque. 2. Faccia come Le dico io e tutte le difficolta spariscono. 3. II Suo piano riuscira, certamente s'Ella avra la pazienza d'aspettare il momento opportuno.
4. Questa notizia e apparsa in tutti i giornali d'oggi. 5. Le raccontero una storiella che La fara morir dalle risa. 6. Ho udito uno strano rumore ieri notte; Thai udito anche tu?
7. Durante le lotte dell' indipendenza italiana molti pa- triotti furono esigliati e molti morirono sul patibolo.
8. II signor Adams esce regolarmente dal suo ufficio tutti i giorni alle sei. 9. Con tutti i Suoi argomenti Ella non riesce a convincermi. 10. Nella famosa ritirata di Russia, il fiore delP esercito di Napoleone I mori di privazioni e di stenti.
B. — 1. Dante Alighieri died {preterit) at Ravenna in 1321. 2. I shall go out to take a walk this evening if the weather is good. 3. What a (§ 97) beautiful speech we heard last night at the meeting of the society! 4. No one has yet succeeded in (a) reaching (inf.) the south2 pole1.
5. The cashier of the bank has disappeared and no one knows where he is (pres. subj.). 6. The last edition of this newspaper comes out at eight o'clock. 7. Your friend is a man that usually succeeds in everything (insert 'that which') he does. 8. I will tell you to-morrow in what paper the news has appeared. 9. You cannot go out through (da) that door. 10. Sounds could (condit. of potere) not be heard (§ 137; the refi. pron. si, precedes tl e condit.) without air.
LESSON XXXI
INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE SENTENCES
165. In interrogative sentences the subject pronoun is often omitted, but in speaking, the inflection of the voice will invariably tell whether the sentence is interrogative or not. Such inflection is more pronounced in Italian than in English.
Ex.: set andato a teatro ieri sera? Did you go to the theater last night?
166. When the subject pronoun is expressed, it is placed after the verb, and in compound tenses usually between the auxiliary and the past participle, and sometimes after the past participle.
Ex.: come puoi tu dire una tal cosa? How can you say
such a thing?
ha Ella veduto il signor Brunif or: ha veduto Ella il signor Brunif or: ha veduto il signor Bruni Ella?
Did you see Mr. Bruni?
167. When the subject of an interrogative sentence is a noun, this may be placed according to the foregoing rule, but in a short sentence especially, it stands either first or last.
Ex.: e stato molto tempo in Italia il tuo babbo? or: il tuo babbo e stato molto tempo in Italia?
107
Did your father stay long in Italy?
1UO JDljJiiMliiJN TAK X HAljlAiN UHAlVllVlAXt
168. The real negative particle in Italian is non, not, which precedes the verb or any other word taken negatively.
Ex.: non ho studiato molto oggi, I have not studied much to-day; hai finito it tuo lavorof Non ancora, have you finished your work? Not yet.
169. The negative adverb no, no (not used with verbs), is either employed alone or placed after any word taken negatively.
Ex. : ha Ella accettato Vinvitof — No, have you accepted the invitation? — No; lo crede Lei? — Io no, ma molti non esitano a crederlo, do you believe it? I do not (lit. 'not I'), but many do not hesitate to believe it.
170. The negative non, is often used with other adverbs either to intensify the negation or simply for emphasis. The most common of these added forms are given below:
non . . . mai, never. non . . . punto, not ... at all.
non . . . piii, no more, no longer, non . . . mica, not ... at all (lit.
not . . . any more. not a bit).
non . . . affatto, not ... at all.
Ex. : non ho mai sentito un oratore piu facondo, I never heard a more eloquent orator; non I'ho piu riveduta, I have seen her no more.
171. Mai, as a general rule is not negative unless accom- panied by non; yet it may have a negative force if used ab- solutely. When used in interrogative sentences, mai is the equivalent of English ever.
Ex. : ha mai visto un' opera Lei? — Mai, Have you ever seen an opera? — Never.
172. Non, followed by che has often the meaning of only, but, and che always precedes the word it modifies.
INTERROGATIVE AND NEGATIVE SENTENCES 109
Ex.: non ho che pochi dollari da spendere, I have but a few dollars to spend. Note: The negative correlative forms ne . . . ne, neither . . . nor, require non before the verb.
Ex. : non voglio ne I'uno ne I'altro, I wish neither one nor the other.
EXERCISE XXXI
(The remaining exercises of this grammar are based largely on irregular verbs contained in the list given at the end of the grammar.)
A. — 1. Ha letto il giornale di stamane, Lei? 2. Non piove quasi mai in questa regione durante Testate. 3. II medico mi ha detto che l'ammalato non ha che pochi giorni da (to) vivere. 4. Non ti sei ancora persuaso che con- chiudendo un contratto simile corri il pericolo di perdere tutto quello che hai? 5. Non c'e piu tempo da (to) per- dere; s'Ella aspetta ancora un po' non arrivera piu alia stazione in tempo. 6. La cosa non e mica cosi facile come credi tu. 7. Rifletta bene prima di decidersi e non abbia punto fretta. 8. Le assicuro che non ho mai espresso l'opinione a cui Ella allude. 9. Non mi rincresce affatto d'essermi assunto questa responsabilita. 10. Non s'e an- cora deciso ne per l'uno ne per I'altro di questi progetti.
B. — 1. I assure you that he has never expressed any desire to (di) accept this place. 2. When have you de- cided to (di) go? 3. Have you obtained his permission? 4. Have you ever lived in (a) Boston? 5. He has but a few dollars to (da) give me this time. 6. Why don't you persuade him to do otherwise? 7. I am sorry (insert 'that') you are not acquainted with (pres. subj.) him (conj. pron.). 8. It does not rain at all. 9. Have you closed the door of my office? 10. Do not try (3d person sing, imperative) any more to translate from (the) English without consulting (inf.) the vocabulary.
LESSON XXXII
MOODS AND TENSES
THE INDICATIVE (MOOD)
173. The tenses of the indicative are used in Italian prac- tically in the same manner as in English. The following re- marks, however, will be of considerable help to the student.
174. The present indicative is often used in Italian to indi- cate that a certain action begun in the past still continues.
Ex. : ti aspetto da due giorni or: ti sto aspettando da due giorni or: sono due giorni che ti aspetto
PAST INDEFINITE
I have been waiting for you two days.
175. The past indefinite which is formed with the present indicative of an auxiliary and the past participle, is more widely used in Italian than in English, especially in familiar style and conversation. This tense is employed mainly with reference to a past action that has occurred at a time not yet elapsed.
Ex.: hai saputo la lezione oggif Did you know your lesson to-day? ho fatto dei progressi notevoli nei miei studi quest'anno, I made (some) remarkable progress in my studies this year.
IMPERFECT INDICATIVE
176. The following distinctions, if properly observed, will enable the student largely to avoid confusion as to the use of the two past tenses: the imperfect indicative and the preterit.
110
MODES AND TENSES 111
177. The imperfect indicative expresses in the past:
1. Habitual or continued action.
Ex.: lo incontravo tutti i giorni, I used to meet him every day.
2. Two or more actions taking place at the same time. Ex.: quando eravamo in campagna ci divertivamo assai,
when we were in the country we enjoyed ourselves greatly.
3. An action interrupted by another (usually expressed with the preterit).
Ex.: arrival alia stazione quando il treno partiva, I reached the station when the train was leaving; egli mi vide mentre passeggiavo nel parco, he saw me while I was walking in the park. Note : The English auxiliary was followed by a gerund, or used to followed by an infinitive, should always be ren- dered with the imperfect indicative.
PRETERIT
178. The preterit is the great historical tense and ex- presses in the past :
1. An action occurring at or within a fixed time entirely elapsed.
Ex.: la riunione ebbe luogo stamane, the meeting took place this morning; Garibaldi fu I'eroe popolare del- V indipendenza italiana, Garibaldi was the popular hero of the Italian independence.
2. The preterit is also used instead of the past anterior to express the first in order of time of two consecutive ac- tions when it is introduced by conjunctions such as appena, tosto che, as soon as, dopo che, after, quando, when.
112 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Ex. : quando gli dissi die studiavo Vitaliano mi domando se lo sapevo parlare, when I told him that I was study- ing Italian, he asked me if I knew how to speak it.
EXERCISE XXXn
A. — 1. Discutiamo da due ore e non ci siamo ancora messi d'accordo. 2. L'ultima volta che lo vidi, il povero uomo sembrava affranto dal dolore. 3. Quando gli esposi le mie ragioni, si persuase d'avermi giudicato con severita. 4. Pochi anni fa il signor Adams era molto ricco, ma in seguito a speculazioni azzardose, perdette tutto quello che possedeva. 5. I Romani concedevano il diritto di citta- dinanza anche agli stranieri. 6. Leone X protesse le lettere e le arti in Italia. 7. Negli ultimi venticinque anni lo svi- luppo industriale degli Stati Uniti ha raggiunto delle propor- zioni gigantesche. 8. Quando Napoleone I giunse davanti a Mosca (Moscow), la citta ardeva gia da parecchi giorni. 9. A quel tempo non conoscevo alcuna persona influente e percio dovetti abbandonare il mio progetto. 10. II suo rifiuto mi sorprese specialmente perche lo ritenevo uno dei miei migliori amici.
B. — 1. He has been reading for (da) over two hours. 2. I am very grateful to him (conj. pron.) for the services (§ 84) he has rendered me (dat. conj. pron.). 3. It has been raining for (da) at least an hour. 4. How much (see Voc.) did you spend to make all these purchases? 5. Where did you put the book that I was reading a little while ago? 6. When I was in the (omit) country I used to go (insert a) fishing (inf.) nearly every day. 7. He didn't want to go because it was raining hard. 8. I must say that in this matter he conducted himself like (da) a (omit) gentleman. 9. We used to play together when we were boys. 10. While he was running the poor boy fell and hurt his (§ 71) leg.
LESSON XXXIII
THE INDICATIVE (Continued) PLUPERFECT AND PAST ANTERIOR
179. The pluperfect is formed with the imperfect indica- tive of an auxiliary and the past participle: era stato, I had been. The auxiliary of the past anterior is the preterit: fui stato, I had been. Both tenses indicate that a certain action took place before another also past. Yet, the action expressed by the pluperfect precedes by an indefinite period of time, while in the case of the past anterior the action takes place immediately before the other. Such difference is especially emphasized by conjunctions of time like quando, when, dopo che, tosto che, appena, as soon as, which always introduce the past anterior.
Ex. : avevo gid pensato a questo quando mi giunse la tua lettera, I had already thought of this when your letter reached me; tosto che l'ebbe veduto andd a salutarlo, as soon as he had seen him he went to salute him.
FUTURE
180. The future is sometimes used as an imperative, and often to express an idea of approximation or probability.
Ex.: f arete quello che vi dico, you shall do what I tell you; quel signore avrd trent' anni, that gentleman is (about, perhaps) thirty years old.
FUTURE ANTERIOR
181. The future anterior is formed with the future in- dicative of an auxiliary and the past participle: saro stato,
113
114 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
I shall have been. This tense indicates that a future ac- tion will take place before another also future.
Ex.: se avrete studiato con amore, gli esami non vi in-
timoriranno, if you shall have studied faithfully, the
examinations will not scare you.
Note: The future anterior, like the simple future, ex- presses approximation.
Ex.: Vavro detto Loro cento volte d'essere diligenti, I must have told you a hundred times to be diligent.
IMPERATIVE (MOOD)
182. Properly speaking the imperative has but two per- sons: second person singular and plural. The third person singular and first and third plural are taken from the present subjunctive.
Ex.: apri la porta, open (thou) the door; scrivetemi spesso, write (you) to me often; mi faccia un favor e, do me a favor; andiamo via, let us go away; vadano pure, let them go, or you may go (pure emphasizes vadano). Note: A negative imperative of the second person sin- gular is replaced by an infinitive (see § 114, note). Ex. : non ti fermare, do not stop.
EXERCISE XXXm
A. — 1. Cercai in ogni modo di dissuaderlo, ma fu inu- tile perche (egli) aveva deciso di partire. 2. Appena l'oratore ebbe finito di parlare, molti andarono a stringer- gli la mano. 3. Per la volta ventura Loro mi tradurranno questi due esercizi. 4. Quando sard ritornato dal passeg- gio studiero la lezione. 5. Fra un' ora avro messo in ordine ogni cosa, spero. 6. I Gracchi caddero in odio al partite
THE INDICATIVE 115
aristocratico perche avevano difeso strenuamente gl'in- teressi del popolo. 7. Saranno le dieci tutt' al piu (at most). 8. Gli inquilini avevano gia spento il fuoco quando giun- sero i pompieri. 9. Legga le Sue lezioni d'italiano ad alta voce se vuol migliorare la Sua pronuncia. 10. Gli dica pure quel che penso di lui.
B. — 1. I had already translated several pages of this book when you came to see me. 2. As soon as I noticed that he was trying (use cercare) to (d') deceive me, I broke all (§ 104) connection with him. 3. In (§ 52) a couple of weeks we shall have finished the grammar. 4. Never judge by appearances (XXI, B, 8). 5. Try to (di) read at least ten pages of your Reader for the next time (see A, 3, above). 6. Your friend must have (future) spent a lot of money to build his new cottage. 7. Let us not lose any (omit) time or we shall miss (insert 'to') the roll-call.
8. What had he done to (per) deserve such a punishment?
9. Answer soon and let (imperative third sing, of fare) me (conj. pron.) know when you (Ella should be used) will come to see us in the (omit) country. 10. When I reached (insert 'to') the theater, the performance had (era) already begun.
LESSON XXXIV
THE SUBJUNCTIVE
It is needless to say that the following treatment of the subjunctive is not meant to be exhaustive, and only such rules are given as are of capital importance to the beginner.
183. The use of the subjunctive is almost entirely limited to the subordinate clause of a sentence, and usually con- veys an idea of uncertainty or 'probability.
184. The subjunctive is used in subordinate clauses:
1. After verbs or phrases expressing desire, command, necessity, permission, prohibition.
Ex.: desidero ch'Ella venga con me, I wish you to come (lit. that you come) with me; voglio che ven- gano per tempo, I want you to come early; Ella ha bisogno che alcuno La aiuti, you need some one to help you; permette (Ella) ch'io vada? do you allow me to go?
2. After verbs or expressions of feeling or emotion.
Ex.: mi dispiace ch'Ella non stia bene; I am sorry you don't feel well; sono contento ch'egli ritorni fra noi, I am glad he is coming back among us; sono sorpreso ch'Ella non capisca, I am surprised that you do not understand.
3. After verbs implying fear, belief, doubt.
Ex.: temo che accada qualche disgrazia, I fear that some misfortune may happen; credi ch'io abbia in
THE SUBJUNCTIVE 117
ragione? Do you think I am right? dubito ch'egli pensi a me, I doubt whether he thinks of me.
Note: In subordinate clauses, a future action is usually expressed by the subjunctive when such future action is viewed merely as a possibility or probability. If there is no uncertainty, the future indicative is used.
Ex.: credo che piova oggi, I think that it will rain to- day; credo che piovera oggi, I think that it will (cer- tainly) rain to-day.
v 4. After impersonal verbs or expressions.
Ex.: sembra ch'Ella non ascolti, it seems that you are not listening; e necessario che si mettano a studiare di lena, it is necessary that you begin to study eagerly.
5. After an imperative.
Ex.: ditegli che venga stasera, tell him to come this evening.
I 6. After interrogative and negative verbs when the state- ment of the subordinate clause is uncertain.
Ex. : crede Ella che si possa fare? Do you think that it could be done? egli non ammette che sia vero, he does not admit that it is true.
7. After relative pronouns unless the action is stated with certainty.
Ex.: cerco uno che parli italiano, I am looking for some one who speaks Italian; gli dica una parola che lo rassicuri, speak a word (to him) that may reassure him.
8. After many conjunctions, of which the most important are:
118 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
benche purche, provided
sebbene although posto che )
quantunque J dato che f SUpP°Se' m Caae
acciocche salvo che, unless
affinche ,, , senza che, without
, v so that . , , ,
perche prima che, before
in modo che j
Ex.: benche il tempo sia cattivo uscird, though the j weather is bad I will go out; lo compero purche sia in buono stato, I buy it provided it is in good condition; andro solo, salvo ch'Ella non voglia accompagnarmi, I will go alone, unless you wish to accompany me.
9. After exclamative or optative expressions.
Ex.: peccato (che) tu giunga cost tardi, too bad you arrive so late; (che) il cielo Tahiti! May heaven help him!
Note: The student will see that the subjunctive is gen- erally introduced by che.
USE OF THE TENSES OF THE SUBJUNCTIVE
185. If the verb of the principal clause is a present or future indicative, the tense used in the subordinate clause is the present subjunctive only when present or future time is implied. If the reference is to a past action, the tense is the imperfect subjunctive or perfect subjunctive.
Ex. : desidero che legga ad alta voce, I wish you to read aloud; gli diro che aspetti, I will tell him to wait; suppongo (che) Le volesse parlare, I suppose he wished to speak to you; non credo (che) lo abbia fatto apposta, I don't believe he did it on purpose.
186. When the verb of the principal clause is a past tense of the indicative, the tense used in the subordinate clause is the imperfect subjunctive.
THE SUBJUNCTIVE 119
Ex.: il medico gli ordind che non si levasse di letto, the doctor ordered him not to leave his bed.
Note: If, however, the reference is to a future event, the present subjunctive is used.
Ex.: gli ho raccomandato che non lo dica a nessuno, I advised him not to tell it to any one.
187. For the use of the subjunctive in conditional phrases, see § 189.
188. When the verb of the principal clause is a present conditional, the verb in the subordinate clause is usually in the imperfect subjunctive when the reference is to a present or future action; it is in the pluperfect subjunctive if the action expressed is past.
Ex. : non vorrei che partisse senza vedermi, I should not like for him to leave without seeing me; vorrebbe ch'io avessi letto tutto questo capitolo, he should like for me to have read all this chapter.
EXERCISE XXXIV
A. — 1. Non credo ch'Ella possa tradurre questo passo senza l'aiuto di un dizionario. 2. Ho insistito specialmente su questo punto perche Ella non ricada piu negli stessi er- rori. 3. Vuoi ch'io chiuda la finestra col caldo che fa? 4. Vorremmo ch'Ella ci esprimesse le Sue idee su questa questione. 5. Mi sorprende che il fiume sia cresciuto tanto in cosi breve tempo. 6. La dottrina di Monroe non per- mette che le nazioni d'Europa fondino nuove colonic in America. 7. Non era necessario ch'Ella lo conoscessc per- sonalmente per fargli una proposta di questo genere. 8. Non c'e ragione che lo persuada a desistere dal suo pro- posito. 9. Gli diro che si rivolga a Lei per informazioni
120 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
10. Mi displace ch'Ella non possa intervenire alia riunione i che si terra domani all'universita.
B. — 1. I am sorry you have decided to (di) leave so soon. 2. I have not introduced you to my friend because!; I thought (imp. ind.) you knew (§ 149, note) him. 3. Tell your brother to come to (da) me at once; it is necessary that J I see him not later than (§ 40, 2) to-morrow. 4. I think (that) he did not understand (past subj.) your words well. 5. Do you think (that) the professor will accept (§ 184, 3, note) an excuse like this? 6. I fear the streets are too muddy to (per) go out. 7. I must go now because I fear it might rain. 8. I think (that) you have all the reasons in (§ 44) the world to (di) complain. 9. I shouldn't like for you to spend (§ 188) more than (§ 40, 2) what (§ 87) you have. 10. Your letter will not leave until to-morrow unless you mail it to-day before (§ 184, 8) the post-office closes (use verb reflexively).
It
q
^
I LESSON XXXV
THE CONDITIONAL
The conditional mood is used in Italian practically in the same manner as in English. However, the student should carefully study the following rules.
189. A condition introduced in English by if (or any other expression equivalent in meaning) followed by a past or conditional tense, is expressed in Italian by se followed by the pluperfect subjunctive or imperfect subjunctive with the past or present conditional in the conclusion.
Ex.: if you had known him you would not have spoken* thus of him, se Tavesse conosciuto non avrebbe parlato* cost di lui; if it should rain I could not leave, se piovesse non potrei partire.
190. The present conditional is often used to express doubt or uncertainty in the present.
Ex. : ci sarebbe un posto per me? Is there (perchance) a place for me?
191. The conditional of the verbs potere, volere, dovere, followed by an infinitive, expressed or implied, is often ren- dered in English by a compound form in which could, would, or should, respectively, are the auxiliaries.
I* In Italian as well as in English the present conditional could be used in the conclusion (would speak, parlerebbe), but the reference then i would be to a present action.
121
122 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Ex.: potrebbe Ella fare altrettantof Could you do as much? vorrebbe Ella rimanere con noi? Would you stay with us? Mi pare cKElla dovrebbe saperlo, it seems to me that you should know it.
Note: The conditional of volere is sometimes used to express a request politely.
Ex.: vorrebbe (Ella) dirmi come si pronuncia questa parolaf Would you (please) tell me how this word is pronounced?
THE INFINITIVE
192. The infinitive is used instead of the subjunctive when the subject of the subordinate clause is the same as the subject of the principal clause.
Ex. : teme d'essere ammalato, he fears he is (lit. to be) sick.
193. When the verb of the principal clause is impersonal, the infinitive is used in the subordinate clause provided no subject is expressed, otherwise the subjunctive is used.
Ex. : non si pud perder tempo, no time can be lost. But: bisogna cKegli parta subito, it is necessary for him to leave at once.
194. The infinitive is often used in Italian as a noun generally preceded by the singular masculine form of the article, and sometimes by a possessive, demonstrative, or relative adjective.
Ex.: il nascere poveri non e una disgrazia, humble birth (lit. to be born poor) is not a disgrace; il tuo criticare non serve a nulla, your criticism is to no purpose (useless); questo parlare continuo non va, this continual talking will not do; che agire e questof What way of doing is this?
THE CONDITIONAL 123
195. The English gerund preceded by a preposition is almost invariably rendered in Italian with the infinitive.
Ex.: I am tired of reading, sono stanco di leggere; do not think of being able to translate without using the dictionary, non creda di poter tradurre senza usare il dizionario.
196. The use of prepositions governing the infinitive is explained in Lesson XXXVIII, § 221 to 226.
EXERCISE XXXV
A. — 1. S'Ella avesse pensato di piu, avrebbe risposto meglio. 2. Se fosse accaduto qualche cosa di nuovo te lo direi. 3. Potrebbe accorgersi anche Lei che le cose non vanno come dovrebbero andare. 4. Bisogna andare cauti nel parlare. 5. Vorrebbe Ella tradurre di nuovo questo passo difficile? 6. II perder tempo in queste inezie non Le giovera certo. 7. Ella potrebbe rendermi questo servizio se volesse. 8. Perche non dovresti convincerti dopo aver inteso le sue ragioni? 9. Se Loro non fossero cosi distratti quando Li interrogo, risponderebbero meglio. 10. Crede d'aver tradotto bene, Lei?
B. — 1. How1 happy3 I should be2 if I could own a house like this. 2. If I had known that you wanted {imp. ind.) to read this book, I would have given it to you (§ 63). 3. What a (§ 97) blessing it would be if it rained now. 4. He thinks he can (§ 192) do what (§ 87) he wants. 5. I soon2 sot tired1 of reading (use partitive construction, § 8, 5) stuff like this. 0. It is necessary to decide now whether (se) to go or not. 7. All this talk is perfectly useless. 8. It scorns to me that you could (§ 191) translate these sentences a little better (§ 39, note). 9. 1 should (§ 191) like (omit) to speak to you (conj. pron. of the 3d person sing.) a moment. 10. What would you do in a case like this?
LESSON XXXVI
PRESENT PARTICIPLE — PAST PARTICIPLE
PRESENT PARTICIPLE (GERUND)
197. The present participle is always invariable. As al- ready stated (§ 146, note) the present participle is often used with the auxiliary stare to form the progressive con- struction. The present participles of andare and essere are consistent exceptions to this rule; thus:
I am going to the station, vado (not sto andando) alia stazione; the question is being discussed by all, la questione e discussa (not sta essendo discussa) da tutti.
Note: Besides stare there are a few other verbs used as auxiliaries to form the progressive construction. Of these, andare is the most important, and when it precedes the present participle it gives to the action an intensive and progressive value.
Ex. : va dicendo male di tutti, he speaks ill of every one.
198. The English gerund governed by some forms of the verbs to see, to hear, and the like, is rendered in Italian with the infinitive.
Ex.: I see him coming, lo vedo venire; I hear knocking at the door, sento battere alia porta.
PAST PARTICIPLE
199. Concerning the agreement of the past participle in compound tenses, see also § 115, 116, 120.
124
PARTICIPLES 125
200. The past participle is often used absolutely. In such case an auxiliary is understood. The absolute past participle always agrees in gender and number with the following complement or with the subject.
Ex.: finite, la lezione, andrd a fare due passi, (when) the lesson (is) finished, I shall go for a walk (lit. two steps); giunti. alia stazione, ci dissero die il treno era in ritardo, on arriving at the station we were told that the train was late.
201. Sometimes the past participle is followed by the conjunction che and an auxiliary. In this case the com- pound tense is used absolutely, and the order of words of such compound is merely inverted.
Ex. : finito che ebbe di parlare, il pubblico applaudi, as soon as he finished speaking, the audience applauded; smontato che fui dal treno, mi sentii chiamare da una folia di fiaccherai, as soon as I got off the train, I heard myself called by a crowd of cabmen.
Note: In the foregoing examples, che is but a part of the compound conjunction tosto che, and both sentences could be expressed according to the last example of § 179.
202. The English past participle preceded by a comple- ment and depending on principal verbs like to see, to hear, to have, etc., is often rendered in Italian with the infinitive.
Ex.: I have seen it done, Vho visto fare; I heard (it said) that . . ., ho sentito dire che . . .; I had a suit made last week, mi son fatto fare un vestito la selti- mana scorsa.
EXERCISE XXXVI
A. — 1. Morto Cesare, Roma s'immerse in atroci guerre civili. 2. Sto discutendo con questo signore da due ore e
126 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
non mi riesce di convincerlo. 3. Questa canzone l'ho sentita cantare molte volte. 4. Quante pagine hai lette di questo libro? 5. Pud dirmi cosa va cercando Lei? 6. «L'appetito viene mangiando)) e un modo di dire comune. 7. Impaurite dalla discesa di Attila in Italia, le popolazioni delle provincie vicine all'alto (upper) Adriatico, si rifugiarono sulle lagune dove poi sorse Venezia (Venice). 8. Non ripeto ne piu ne meno che quello che ho sentito dire. 9. Quando ti sei fatto fare questo vestito? 10. Ho visto fare delle cose ben (much) piu difficili di queste, io. (This pronoun placed at the end, makes the sentence very emphatic.)
B. — 1. I met (preterit) your friend this morning while I was going to school. 2. Who has told you all these things? 3. By (da) which tailor did you have your suit made? 4. Who can have done that? (§ 78). 5. Where are you going so hurriedly? 6. I have two of Fogazzaro's (§ 8, 4, and 10) novels in my library, but I have not read them (conj. pron.) yet. 7. Everything considered, it seems to me (§ 184, 4) that you are right (§ 121) in (di) refusing (§ 195) the place that is being offered to you (conj. pron.). 8. He went away (§ 144, note) without saying a word about the matter. 9. What have you heard (§ 202) about the failure of the bank 10. After the father died (see A, 1, above), there was (preterit; § 117) no more (§ 170) union in the family.
LESSON XXXVII
ADVERBS
203. The most common adverbs in Italian are: 1. Adverbs of place:
vi, ci (used exclusively with verbs), here.
qui, qua, here, costi, costa, there, la, li, there. ove, dove, where, onde, donde, whence, su, sopra, on, above, giu, abbasso, down, dappertutto, everywhere.
indietro, backwards, innanzi, davanti, before, avanti, forward, far. dentro, within. fuori (di), outside, out (of), lontano, distantly, far. vicino, near.
2. Adverbs of time:
ora, adesso, now.
quando, when.
sempre, always.
mai, giammai, ever, never.
spesso, sovente, often.
allora, then.
prima, dianzi, before.
finch e, until.
tardi, late.
presto, soon.
subito, at once, immediately.
intanto, frattanto, meanwhile.
gia, already.
poi, poscia, afterwards.
poc'anzi, poco fa, a little while
ago. ancora, yet, still.
Adverbs of manner:
come, how. cosi, thus, bene, well. male, badly.
insieme, together, quasi, almost. volentieri, willingly. molto, assai, very.
128
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
4. Adverbs of quantity:
molto, assai, much, troppo, too, too much, piu, more.
abbastanza, enough, meno, less.
appena, scarcely. solamente, soltanto, only, poco, little, quanto, how much.
Adverbs of affirmation and negation:
dawero, indeed.
neanche, neppure, not even.
appunto, just, exactly.
si, yes.
certo, certamente, certainly
no, no.
6. Adverbial expressions like :
a caso, by chance, at random.
per tempo, early.
di buona voglia, willingly.
di mala voglia, unwillingly.
di fresco, recently, newly.
di colpo, suddenly.
di quando in quando, once i
while, from time to time. in fretta, di fretta, hastily. di bene in meglio, better
better. di sopra, up-stairs.
and
a buon mercato, cheap.
di giorno, during the day.
di notte, at night.
da ora innanzi, from now on.
di nascosto, secretely.
con comodo, at ease.
di solito, al solito, usually.
fra poco, fra breve, in a short
while, a proposito, at the right moment,
by the way. presto o tardi, sooner or later.
204. Adjectives may be turned into adverbs by adding -mente to the feminine form. Adjectives ending in -le or -re drop the final e before -mente.
Ex.: coraggioso, courageous; coraggiosa (/.), coraggio- samente, courageously; recente (m. and /.), recent; recentemente, recently.
But: utile (m. and/.), useful; utilmente, usefully.
205. Adverbs are compared like adjectives.
Ex.: destramente, cleverly; piu destramente, more clev- erly; il pill destramente, most cleverly.
ADVERBS
129
206. The following adverbs have irregular forms of comparison:
bene, well. meglio, better. (il) meglio, (the) best; benissimo
and ottimamente, very well, male, badly. peggio, worse. (il) peggio, (the) worst; malissimo
and pessimamente, very badly. molto, much. piii, more. (il) pid, (the) most; moltissimo,
very much, poco, little. meno, less. (il) meno, (the) least; pochissimo
and minimamente, very little.
207. Of the following adverbs of place :
qui and qua, here, usually refer to a place near the per- son who speaks.
costi and costi, there, refer to a place near the person spoken to.
li and la, there, refer to a place far from both.
Note: The forms qui, costi, li, are perhaps preferable when indicating a precise and limited space, like stanza, room; casa, house, and the like. Such distinction is not binding, however, nor is it always observed.
EXERCISE XXXVII
A. — 1. A proposito, Le e piaciuto Particolo che e ap- parso recentemente sull' Herald di New- York? 2. Le mie cose (affairs) qui vanno di bene in meglio. 3. Da ora in- nanzi voglio che tutti vengano per tempo. 4. Forse questo libro non mi e piaciuto perche l'ho letto troppo in fretta; Ella puo leggerlo con comodo e tenerlo finche vuole. 5. Ac- cetterei volentieri il Suo invito per il concerto di stasera, ma sfortunatamente sono ancora un po' indisposto, e ho paura che mi faccia male rincasare tardi di notte. 6. Queste mele sono arrivate di fresco dalla campagna e davvero non potrei venderle a piu buon mercato. 7. Ella riuscira presto
130 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
a parlare italiano se continuera a studiare di buona voglia come fa ora. 8. L'infermo e gia fuori di pericolo, e fra breve lascera il letto. 9. II peggio e ch'Ella non riflette abba- stanza, e cosi scrive i Suoi esercizi a caso e commette errori che sono imperdonabili. 10. Di solito i Suoi compiti sono scritti malissimo.
B. — 1. You are always welcome at (in; omit the article) my2 house1. 2. Sooner or later you will repent (§ 137) of (di) what (§ 87) you have done. 3. The article has ap- peared recently in one of the leading New York papers. 4. It seems to me that you have gone (§ 184, 4) too far (avanti) with your promises and I think it is (§ 184, 3) too late now to (per) withdraw (refl.). 5. I don't work much at night, but usually I get up early in (omit) the morning. 6. By the way, could you (§ 191) tell me how much this2 book3 costs1? 7. He only2 comes1 to (a) see me once in a while, but I hope he will come (§ 184, 3, note) more often from now on. 8. He went out (use perfect tense; see § 118) a little while ago. 9. This is the worst that can (pres. subj.) happen. 10. I have looked for the book every- where and I have not found it (§ 61) yet.
LESSON XXXVIII
PREPOSITIONS
208. The most simple prepositions in Italian are:
a, to, at. fuori, out, without.
avanti, davanti, before. intorno, about, around.
circa, concerning. lungo, lunghesso, along, by.
con, with. in, in, into, at, on.
contro, against. mediante, by means of.
da, from. per, for, by, through.
dentro, inside of, within. presso, near.
di, of, from. secondo, according to.
dietro, behind, after {not of time), senza, without.
dopo, after, behind. su, sopra, on, upon, above.
eccetto, except. sotto, under.
finche, until. verso, towards.
fra, tra, between, among, in. prima, before.
209. By far the greater number of Italian prepositions are coupled with di, a, da, thus forming compound prepo- sitions. In fact, many of the foregoing prepositions (§ 208), may be compounded, as:
contro me, contro di me, contro a me, against me.
dietro la casa, dietro della casa, dietro dalla casa, be- hind the house.
REMARKS ON THE USE OF SOME PREPOSITIONS A
210. The preposition a (sometimes ad before a vowel) usually rendered in English by to and at, is often used to form adverbial expressions indicating:
131
132 ELEMENTAEY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
1. Distribution.
Ex.: (a) uno a uno, one by one; (a) poco a poco, little by little.
2. Physical or moral disposition.
Ex.: a viso aperto, courageously (lit. with open face); a mente calma, calmly (lit. with a calm mind).
3. Manner, means.
Ex.: a piedi, on foot; a vapore, by steam; a elettricitd, by electricity.
211. To, a£, in, before names of cities are usually ex- pressed by a; before names of countries by in (often com- pounded with the article).
Ex.: vado a New-York, I am going to New York; sei stato a Parigif Have you been in Paris? forse andrd in Italia, perhaps I shall go to Italy.
Di
212. The English possessive case is always rendered in Italian by means of the preposition di, of (see § 73).
Ex.: did you see Mr. White's new store? Ha Ella veduto il nuovo negozio del signor White?
213. Di, is always used before a noun expressing the material of a preceding noun.
Ex.: un vestito di seta, a silk dress; una borsa di pelle, a leather bag.
Da
214. Da, from, by, is used before words indicating the use or the characteristic feature of an object or person.
Ex. : questa e la sola da pranzo, this is the dining-room; mi dia delta carta da scrivere, give me some writing-
PREPOSITIONS 133
paper; e proibito portare armi da fuoco, carrying fire- arms is forbidden; e un signore dai modi cortesi, he is a gentleman of courteous manner.
215. Da, is often used with personal pronouns or nouns especially after verbs of motion or rest.
Ex.: verro da te stasera, I will come to (see) you this evening; sono stato dal libraio tutta la mattina, I was at the bookseller's the whole morning.
216. Sometimes da expresses a relation of manner. Ex. : questo e agire da uomo, this is acting like a man.
217. Per, when preceding an infinitive, usually corre- sponds to the English preposition to, meaning in order to.
Ex. : non so che fare per fargli coraggio, I don't know what to do to encourage him.
218. Expressions formed with per and an infinitive de- pending on forms of finire and stare, may be rendered as follows :
Ex.: fini per accettare, he finally accepted; stava per uscire, I was about to go out.
219. Per is often the equivalent of English by, per, through. Ex.: he spedird il libro per posta, I will send you the
book by mail; he offro uno sconto del died per cento, I offer you a ten per cent discount; entrai per la porta di dietro, I entered through the back door.
PREPOSITIONS BEFORE AN INFINITIVE
220. The correct use of prepositions before an infinitive depends largely on experience, and the following rules, though very important, are not meant to be exhaustive.
134 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
221. The infinitive is often used without a preposition after many verbs of which the most important are:
potere, to be able. sentire, to hear,
sapere, to know how. volere, to wish, want,
dovere, to be necessary, must. lasciare, to allow, let.
osare, to dare. credere,* to believe,
solere, to be accustomed. desiderare,* to desire, sperare,* to hope.
222. The infinitive is generally used without a preposi tion after impersonal verbs or expressions.
Ex.: basta dirlo una volta, it is enough to say it once e meglio aspettare ancora un po\ it is better to wait a little longer.
223. The infinitive is usually preceded by a after verbs of motion in general, and verbs of beginning, continuing, helping, exhorting, learning, teaching.
Ex.: vado a vedere cosa c'e di nuovo, I am going to see what news there is ; La esorto a studiare, I urge you to study; ho imparato a parlare italiano un poco, I have learned to speak Italian a little.
224. To, is rendered by di after many verbs not included in the foregoing classification unless purpose or cause is expressed, in which case, per is used (§ 217).
Ex.: mi dispiace di non essere andato, I am sorry not to have gone; so d'aver torto, I know I am wrong (see § 192).
225. An infinitive is generally preceded by da if depend- ing on forms of essere and avere, especially when implying an idea of duty or necessity.
* After this verb the infinitive may also be preceded by di.
PREPOSITIONS 135
Ex.: guesto lavoro e da rifare, this work is to be done again; avrei da scrivere ma non ne ho voglia, I should have to write, but I don't feel like it.
EXERCISE XXXVm
A. — 1. Ma lascia andare, tanto (anyway) non c'e nulla da guadagnare in discussioni simili. 2. In questa occasione Ella ha agito da vero gentiluomo e ha fatto bene a espri- mere le Sue opinioni a viso aperto. 3. Prima degli esami finali avremo da ripassare (review) tutti gli esercizii di questa grammatica. 4. Felice di vederla, stavo proprio per venire da Lei. 5. Basta dirlo una volta, mi pare, di stare attenti e di non chiacchierare. 6. Vado a vedere se gli operai hanno incominciato a lavorare. 7. Chi non e con me e contro me. 8. Vuol venire a passeggiare con me stasera lungo le rive del fiume? 9. Per ben tradurre una lingua straniera, non basta soltanto saperla parlare. 10. Spero di vederti ancora prima di partire.
B. — 1. Where have you bought these beautiful silk handkerchiefs? 2. We will go to (in) town on foot, if the weather is fine. 3. I came to you for information (pi.). 4. I talked to him (conj. pron.) for hours and hours but I (omit) finally convinced him (§ 218). 5. It is necessary to leave at once. 6. If I have not much to do this evening, I will come to see you (§ 215) without doubt. 7. Go and tell him (§ 145, note 2) that (the) dinner is ready. 8. Is it (omit) a gold watch, the one (§ 88) you bought a few (§ 106) weeks ago at the jeweler's (§ 215)? 9. You (use Ella) must do as I tell you (conj. pron.) in order to succeed. 10. This i; not the kind of writing-paper (§ 214 and 84) I wish to Luy.
LESSON XXXIX
CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS
226. The following conjunctions, classified as to their office in a sentence, are the most commonly used:
Conjunctive — e, ed (before vowel), and; che, that, than.
Additional — anche, ancora, also; oltre, inoltre, altresi, moreover;
piu, di piu, more. Negative — nemmeno, neppure, neanche, neither, nor, not even. Alternative — o, owero, oppure, ossia, or; o . . . o, either ... or. Declarative — cioe, that is; cioe a dire, that is to say. Exempting — eccetto, fuorche, salvo, except; eccetto che, salvo che,
except that, unless; eccetto se, salvo se, except if. Comparative — come, si come, in quel modo che, as, just as; with their
corresponding correlative forms cosi, so; non altrimenti, simil-
mente, likewise. Adversative — benche, quantunque, sebbene, tuttoche, ancorche (with
the subjunctive), although; followed sometimes by per6, pure,
tuttavia, yet, nevertheless. Conditional — se, if; in caso che, dato che (with the subjunctive),
provided. Causal — poiche, giacche, since.
Conclusive — dunque, adunque, percid, then, therefore. Elective — piu, piuttosto, meglio, rather; followed by che, than.
REMARKS
227. Perche, when interrogative, means why. It signi- fies because in affirmative sentences. It is sometimes fol- lowed by a subjunctive with the meaning of so that, in order that.
Ex.: -perche non csci con me stascrc.f — PcrcJie ho molio 136
CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS
137
da fare, Why don't you come out with me this eve- ning? — Because I have much to do; Le dico questo perche imparl, I tell you this so that you may learn.
INTERJECTIONS
228. Interjections are either used alone as expressive of some emotion or with other words to give more force or emphasis to a sentence.
229. Common interjections are:
ahi!
ahime! oh! alas!
ohime !
ah! ah!
eh! eh!
oh! oh!
poh! pooh!
ola! oh there!
come! how! why!
ohe! say!
ebbene! well then!
largo! make way!
animo!
coraggio! courage! cheer up!
cuore ! J
ohbella! fine indeed! that's all!
diavolo ! the deuce !
all'erta! look out! beware!
hush!
heavens! gracious! indeed!
up ! come now!
then! come
basta! enough!
silenzio !
zitto!
per bacco!
perdinci !
capped !
caspita !
su!
via!
su via !
guai! woe!
aiuto! help!
per carita! for charity's sake!
per Pamor del cielo ! for goodness
sake! bene! fine!, good! bravo! bravo!
230. Bravo is an adjective and should always agree in gender and number with the noun to which it refers.
Zitto may be invariable or agree with its noun if consid- ered as an adjective.
Ex. : zitto, ragazzi or zitti, ragazzi! hush, boys!
Note : Bravo may be used in the superlative : bravissim-o, -a, -i, -e.
138 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
EXERCISE XXXIX
A. — 1. Via, via; meno ciarle e piu fatti. 2. Per bacco, adesso che ci penso, mi pare che tu abbia ragione. 3. Verrd da Lei stasera purche il tempo sia bello. 4. Neppure un indizio di colpevolezza e risultato da questo processo. 5. Benche mi abbiano assicurato che gli esami sono difficili, pure spero di passarli bene. 6. Poiche le cose stanno come dice Lei, non mi pare ch'Ella debba piu interessarsi di lui.
7. Per carita, non dica nulla di cio che Le ho riferito, altri- menti potrebbero credere ch'Ella sia d'accordo con me.
8. Diavolo, sono cose da ripetersi queste? 9. Bravo, per- dinci, quello e veramente il modo di fare. 10. Come ho sbagliato io cosi pud sbagliare anche Lei.
B. — 1. Heavens, you always2 complain1 about (di) everything. 2. Well then, what do you intend to do? 3. Come now, be (translate in four different manners) good. 4. For goodness sake don't interrupt me any more (§ 170). 5. He has not even said a word to me (conj. pron.). 6. Your2 friend3 also1 should (§ 191) come with you. 7. Either you accept these conditions or I give the contract to some one (§ 106) else. 8. An impostor is never (§ 170) believed, not even when he tells the truth. 9. I believe (that) we should (§ 191) take a cab rather than go so far on foot. 10. All are here except him (disj. pron.).
IRREGULAR VERBS
The irregular verbs contained in this list are not arranged alphabetically as a whole, but are assigned alphabetically to their respective conjugations. Though the list is not complete, it is hoped that the omission of rare verbs will not cause inconvenience. In any case the student will find in it more verbs than he can ever hope to use.
For irregular verbs of the first conjugation, see § 143, 4.
IRREGULAR VERBS
139
IRREGULAR VERBS OF THE SECOND CONJUGATION
Many verbs of the second conjugation are irregular only in the first and third person singular and third person plural of the -preterit, and in the past participle. The endings of the three irregular persons of the preterit are respectively -i, -e, -ero. For brevity, then, only the first person singular of the preterit is given; from this, the student can easily get the third singular and plural by changing i to e and i to ero respectively. The regular forms (second person singu- lar and first and second person plural) are formed by adding to the stem of the verb the regular endings -esti, -emmo, -este. All other tenses except the preterit and past parti- ciple are formed regularly according to § 126.
The following list contains only compound verbs that are used in the exercises.
|
Infinitive |
Preterit |
Past Participle |
|
accendere, to light, |
accesi |
acceso |
|
accorgere* refl., to |
accorsi (the o is open) |
accorto |
|
notice, perceive |
||
|
accorrere, to run to. |
accorsi (the o is closed) |
accorso |
|
affiggere, to post |
affissi |
aflfisso |
|
(placards) |
||
|
affliggere, to afflict |
afflissi |
afflitto |
|
alludere, to allude |
alliisi |
alluso |
|
ardere, to burn |
arsi |
arso |
|
arrendere refl., to sur- |
arresi |
arreso |
|
render |
||
|
aspergere, to sprinkle |
aspersi |
asperso |
|
assidere* refl., to sit down |
assisi |
assiso |
|
assistere, to assist |
(reg. assistei or assistetti) |
assistito |
|
assolvere, to absolve |
assolsi (also reg. assolvei) |
assolto |
|
assumere, to assume |
assunsi |
assunto |
* Verbs marked with a star form the compound tenses with essere.
140
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
|
Infinitive |
Preterit |
Past Participle |
|
|
cedere, to yield |
(reg. cedei or |
(reg. ceduto) |
|
|
cedetti) poetical: |
|||
|
cessi |
|||
|
chiudere, to close |
chiiisi |
chiuso |
|
|
cingere, to gird, surround |
cinsi |
cinto |
|
|
commettere, to commit |
commisi |
commesso |
|
|
comprendere, to under- |
compresi |
compreso |
|
|
stand |
|||
|
comprimere, to compress |
compressi |
compresso |
|
|
concedere, to concede |
concessi (also |
reg. |
concesso (also reg. |
|
concedei) |
conceduto) |
||
|
conchiudere, to conclude |
conchiusi |
conchiuso |
|
|
confondere, to confuse |
confiisi |
confuso |
|
|
connettere, to connect |
connessi (also |
reg. |
connesso (also reg. |
|
connettei) |
connettuto) |
||
|
conoscere, to know, be |
conobbi |
(reg. conosciuto) |
|
|
acquainted with |
|||
|
contendere, to bruise |
contusi |
contuso |
|
|
convincere, to convince |
convinsi |
convinto |
|
|
correre,t to run |
corsi |
corso |
|
|
crescere,* to grow |
crebbe |
(reg. cresciuto) |
|
|
cuocere, to cook |
cossi |
cotto |
|
|
decidere, to decide |
decisi |
deciso |
|
|
difendere, to defend |
difesi |
difeso |
|
|
dirigere, to direct |
diressi |
diretto |
|
|
disctitere, to discuss |
discussi |
discusso |
|
|
disperdere, to waste, |
dispersi (also |
reg. |
disperso (also reg |
|
scatter |
disperdei) |
disperdiito) |
|
|
dissuadere, to dissuade |
dissuasi |
dissuaso |
|
|
distinguere, to distinguish |
distinsi |
distinto |
|
|
distruggere, to destroy |
distriissi |
distrutto |
|
|
dividere, to divide |
divisi |
diviso |
|
|
elidere, to elide |
elisi (also reg. |
elidei) |
eliso |
|
eludere, to elude |
elusi (also reg |
eludei) |
eluso |
|
emergere,* to emerge |
emersi |
emerso |
* Verbs marked with a star form the compound tenses with essere.
t Correre takes as auxiliary either essere or avere, though it migl be remarked that with essere an idea of duty or necessity may be ii plied, as: son corso, I had, was bound to run.
IRREGULAR VERBS
141
Infinitive erigere, to erect esigere, to exact esimere, to exempt esistere, * to exist espellere, to expel es?15dere, to explode esprimere, to express estinguere, to extinguish findere, to split, cleave
figgere, to drive in fingere, to feign fondere, to fuse, cast frangere, to smash friggere, to fry giungere,* to arrive, reach illudere, to delude
(deceive) immergere, to dip, plunge imprimere, to impress,
imprint intendere, to understand interrompere, to interrupt intingere, to dip (the pen,
brush, etc.) intriidere, to intrude invadere, to invade ledere, to injure leggere, to read mergere, to merge, plunge mescere, to mix, pour
mettere, to put mordere, to bite muovere, to move nascere, * to be born
|
Preterit |
Past Participle |
|
eressi |
eretto |
|
(reg. esigei) |
esatto |
|
(reg. esimei) |
esento |
|
(reg. esistei) |
esistito |
|
espulsi |
espulso |
|
esplosi |
esploso |
|
espressi |
espresso |
|
estinsi |
estinto |
|
fessi (also reg. |
fesso (also reg. |
|
fendei) |
fendiito) |
|
fissi or fisi |
fisso, fiso or fitto |
|
finsi |
finto |
|
fusi (also reg. fondei) |
fuso (rarely: fondiito) |
|
fransi |
franto |
|
frissi |
fritto |
|
giiinsi |
giunto |
|
illusi |
illuso |
|
immersi |
immerso |
|
impressi (also reg. |
impresso |
|
imprimei) |
|
|
intesi |
inteso |
|
internippi |
interrotto |
|
intinsi |
intinto |
|
intnisi |
intnisQ |
|
invasi |
invaso |
|
lesi |
leso |
|
lessi |
letto |
|
mersi |
merso |
|
(reg. mescei) |
misto (also reg. me- |
|
sciiito) misto means |
|
|
mixed; mesciuto, |
|
|
•poured |
|
|
misi |
messo |
|
morsi |
morso |
|
mossi |
mosso |
|
nacqui |
nato |
Verbs marked with a star form the compound tenses with essere.
142
ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Infinitive nascondere, to conceal negligere, to neglect offendere, to offend opprimere, to oppress percuotere, to strike perdere, to lose
permettere, to permit persuadere, to persuade piangere, to weep ping ere (poetical), to
paint piovere, to rain
porgere, to present prediligere, to prefer, love with partiality presumere, to presume
proteggere, to protect radere, to shave, shear,
efface raggiiingere, to attain redimere, to redeem
reggere, to rule, support rendere, to render
reprimere, to repress
resistere, to resist
ridere, to laugh
riflettere,t to reflect (light), send back
rifulgere, to shine
rincrescere* (imper- sonal), to regret
rispondere, to answer
* Verbs marked with a star form the compound tenses with essere. t Riflettere, when meaning to meditate, is regular.
|
Preterit |
Past Participle |
|
nascosi |
nascosto or nascoso |
|
neglessi |
negletto |
|
offesi |
offeso |
|
oppressi |
oppresso |
|
percossi |
percosso |
|
(reg. perdei); |
(reg. perduto); perso |
|
persi is rare |
is rare |
|
permisi |
permesso |
|
persuasi |
persuaso |
|
piansi |
pianto |
|
pinsi |
pinto |
|
piowe (also used in |
(reg. piovuto) |
|
the pi. piowero) |
|
|
porsi |
porto |
|
predilessi |
prediletto |
|
presunsi (also reg. |
presunto |
|
presumei) |
|
|
protessi |
protetto |
|
rasi (also reg. |
raso |
|
radei) |
|
|
raggitinsi |
raggiunto |
|
redensi (also reg. |
redento |
|
redimei) |
|
|
ressi |
retto |
|
resi (also reg. |
reso (also reg. ren- |
|
rendei) |
diito) |
|
repressi |
represso |
|
(reg. resistei) |
resistito |
|
risi |
riso |
|
rifle ssi |
riflesso |
|
rifulsi |
rifulso |
|
rincrebbe (third |
(reg. rincresciuto) |
|
person) |
|
|
risposi |
risposto |
I
IRREGULAR VERBS
143
Infinitive rivolgere refl., to. have
recourse rodere, to gnaw; (refl., to
chafe with rage) rompere, to break scendere,* to descend sconfiggere, to defeat scorgere, to perceive scuotere, to shake sopprimere, to suppress sorgere, * to rise sorprendere, to surprise
(often used impersonally) sospendere, to suspend spandere, to spill, spread spargere, to scatter, spread spendere, to spend spingere, to push sporgere, to project stringere, to bind fast,
press, shake striiggere,* refl., to long for succedere,* to succeed;
(impersonal, to happen) tendere, to extend tergere, to wipe, polish tingere, to tinge, dye torcere, to twist trafiggere, to transfix,
pierce uccidere, to kill tingere, to anoint, grease vincere, to win vivere,* to livef volgere, to turn
Puetekit rivolsi
r6si
Past Participle rivolto
roso
|
ruppi |
rotto |
|
scesi |
sceso |
|
sconfissi |
sconfitto |
|
scorsi |
scorso |
|
scossi |
scosso |
|
soppressi |
soppresso |
|
sorsi |
sorto |
|
sorpresi |
sorpreso |
|
sospesi |
sospeso |
|
(reg. spandei) |
spanto |
|
sparsi |
sparso |
|
spesi |
speso |
|
spinsi |
spinto |
|
sporsi |
sporto |
|
strinsi |
stretto |
|
striissi |
stnitto |
|
successi (also reg. |
successo (also reg |
|
succedei) |
succeduto) |
|
tesi |
teso |
|
tersi |
terso |
|
tinsi |
tinto |
|
torsi |
torto |
|
trafissi |
trafitto |
|
uccisi |
ucciso |
|
unsi |
unto |
|
vinsi |
vinto |
|
vissi |
vissuto |
|
volsi |
volto |
* Verbs marked with a star form the compound tenses with essere.
t The contracted forms vivro, etc., of the future, and vivrei, etc., of the conditional are much more preferable than the regular ones viverd, etc., and viverei, etc.
144 ELEMENTARY ITALIAN GRAMMAR
Besides the foregoing verbs, many others of the second conjugation are also irregular in other tenses. In the con- jugation of such verbs given below, only the forms in heavy type are regular, and those given in parentheses are rare. Tenses not given are regular.
1. Addurre,* to convey, cite, and also condurre, to con- duct; produrre, to produce; tradurre, to translate; indtirre, to induce, etc.
Present Indicative adduco, addiici, adduce; adduciamo, adducete, adducono.
Imperfect Indicative adduceva, adducevi, adduceva; adducevamo, adducevate, adducevano.
Preterit addussi, adducesti, addusse; adducemmo, adduceste, addussero.
Future Indicative addurro, addurrdi, addurra; addurrcmo, addurre te, addurranno
Present Conditional addurrei, addurresti, addurrebbe; addurremmo, addurreste, addur- r^bbero.
Imperative adduci, addiica; adducidmo, adducete, adducano.
Present Subjunctive