ITALIAN 3/05/11 2:47 PM

Perfect (Past) Subjunctive 23/03/11

The perfect or past subjunctive is used to discuss (in the present
tense) something that has happened in the past but that you are not sure
is a concrete fact.
E.g. I think that you sang very well

Present Past Subjunctive

Basically, if you are using the present tense of any verb that
requires the use of the subjunctive to describe something that happened
in the past, you need to use the perfect (past) subjunctive.

The perfect subjunctive is another example of a compound tense

(i.e. it is made up of two verbs). It is formed as follows:
Present subjunctive of essere/avere + past participle

essere (subjunctive) avere (subjunctive)

io Sia
tu Sia
Lui/lei Sia
noi Siamo
voi Siate
loro siano
 io abbia
tu abbia
Lui/lei abbia
noi abbiamo
voi abbiate
loro abbiano
e.g. Io penso che tu abbbia cantato bene – I think that you sang
very well

Present Past Subjunctive

Loro credono che io sia partito/a troppo presto – They believe that I
left too early

In a nutshell, if a verb requiring the use of the subjunctive is used

in the present tense to refer to something that happened in the past (e.g.
spensare, pensare, credere etc.), the event that happened in the past is
written in the perfect (past) subjunctive.

The usual rules regarding both verb having the same subject apply
to the perfect subjunctive too (i.e. the di + infinitive construction). In this
case, you would use the infinitive of essere/avere (without the final ‘e’ i.e.
esser/aver) + the past principle.

E.g. Penso di aver mangiato troppo – I think that I ate/have eaten

too much
Lei crede di esser stata a Wagga – She believes that she has been
to Wagga

The past subjunctive is also used when a verb in the future tense is
used to refer to an event in the past (Lui penserá che tu abbia mangiato
tutta la pizza – He will think that you ate all of the pizza)

1. I think that you ate too much – Penso che tu abbia mangiato troppo
2. He thinks that I sang very badly – Lui pensa che io abbia cantato
molto male
3. We believe that they left at 9 – Crediamo che loro abbiano partiti/e a 9
4. I don’t believe that he listened – Non credo che lui abbia ascoltato
5. I think that I spoke to Mr. Broheir yesterday – Penso di aver parlato/a
con il Signor Broheir ieri
6. Do you believe that I've been to Brisbane? – Credi che io sia stato/a a
Brisbane
7. You (pl.) think that they drank too much – Pensate che loro abbiano
bevuto troppo
8. I hope that they have studies for the exams – Spera che loro abbiano
studiato per gli esami
9. I'm afraid that she fell over – Temo/Ho paura che lei si caduta
10. The boys think that I've gone to Brisbane – I ragazzi pensano che io
sia andato/a Brisbane

CHOWF – command, hope, opinion, wish, fear

Disjunctive Pronoun
Disjunctive pronouns are mainly used after prepositions (e.g. a;
per; con; di; da). They are as follows:
io → me
tu → te
lui → lui
lei → lei
Lei → Lei
noi → noi
voi → voi
loro → loro

Note that only the ‘io’ an ‘tu’ forms are different to the regular
personal pronouns (i.e. they're easy to remember).

Disjunctive pronouns are also used in the emphatic position (i.e.

when you want to emphasize who the pronoun refers to).
E.g. Ti mi guarda – Tim is watching m (“normal” position)
Tim guarda me – Tim is watching me (“emphatic” position – i.e. Tim
is watching ME, not YOU).

Disjunctive pronouns are also used after expressions such a

“secondo” e.g. “Secondo me, Madonna é meravigliosa!” “Secndo te, chi é
lo tudente piú bravo della classe?” “Secondo lui, la scuola é stupida!”

Special IDOPs
Review:
DOPs IDOPs
mi mi
ti ti
lo/la gli/le
ci ci
vi vi
li/le loro
 loro – to them/ for them
Loro – to you (pl.)(formal)/ for you (pl.)(formal)

NB: unlike all other DOPs and IDOPs, loro is placed after the verb
(not before it) e.g. Scrivo una lettera ai nonni → Scrivo loro una lettera
Abbiamo comprato una casa per i mieie genitori → Abiamo
comprato loro una casa

To make life more complicated for you, in modern Italian, it is very

common to replace loro with gli, and like all other IDOPs, this is placed
before the verb.
E.g. Scrivo una lettera ai nonni→ Gli scrivo una lettera
Abbiamo comprato una casa per I miei genitori→Gli abbiamo
comprato una casa

DDOPs
 Double object pronouns (DDOPs) are used when both a DOP and an
IDOP are used in the same sentence. They express the idea of “it to
me”, “it to you”, “them to me” etc.
 Double object pronouns are placed in a SPECIFIC order.
 The IDOP is generally placed before the DOP, and BOTH are placed
before the verb.
When placed before a DOP, mi, ti, ci and vi must be modified in the
following way:
mi → me e.g. Darò la rivista a te → Ti la Daró → Te la Daró
– I’ll
ti → te give it to you
ci → ce e.g. Lui manda il messaggio a me → Lui mi lo
manda →
vi → ve Lui me lo manda – He sends it to me
e.g. Mamma prepara i panini per noi → Mamma ci li prepara →
Mamma ce li prepara – Mum prepares them for us.

1. Scrivo la lettera a voi → Scrivo la vi→ Vi la scrivo → Ve la scrivo

2. Mandano il messaggio a me → Mi lo mandano → Me lo mandano
3. Hanno letto il giornale a te? → Ti lo hanno letto → Te l’hanno
letto
 4. Lui ha dato la rivista a noi → Lui ce l’ha data
5. Compro I vestiti oer te → Te li compro
6. Scrivono le canzoni per noi → ce le scrivono

I before D and both before V

Loro 19/04/11
As you know, when loro is ised as an IDOP, unlike ALL other DOPs
and IDOPs, it is placed after the verb (e.g. Parlo loro – I speak to them).
This rule also needs to be followed when using it as a DDOP. The Dop will
be placed before the verb, while loro will be placed after the verb.

E.g. Mandiamo il messagio ai nonni – Lo mandiamo loro – We send

it to them
Compro le fragole per le ragazze – Le compro loro – I buy them for
them
Ho comprato la pizza per i ragazzi – La ho comprato loro – l’ho
comprata loro – I bought it for them

Remember that in modern Italian, gli is often used to replace loro.

There are special rules governing the use of gli, which are outlined below.

Tricky DDOPs 20/04/1

When using gli and le in conjugation with DOPs (i.e. lo, la, li and le),
special rules must be followed
Gli and le are combined to create glie, which means “to him/her”/
The appropriate DOP is then added to gie to indicate it or them

i.e. glielo – it(m) to him/her

gliela – it (f) to him/her
glieli – them (m) to him/her
gliele – them (f) to him her

e.g. Compro la pizza per lui – Gliela compro – I buy it for him/her

When used in the past )perfect) tense, glielo and gliela are
contracted with the conjugated form of avere.
 E.g. Ho comprato il libro per Luisa – Glielo’ho comprato – I bought it
for her/him

If you ised gli in place of loro (as outlined above), you need to
follow the sam rules (i.e. glielo – it(m) to them; gliela – it (f) to them
etc.)

E.g. Mandiamo il messagio ai nonni – Glielo mandiamo – We send it

to them

Giving Instructions 03/05/11

When giving instructions in Italian (e.g. directions, recipes etc.), you have
three options:
1. The use of the infinitive e.g. Cucinare la pasta – cook the pasta
2. The use of the formal imperative e.g. Cucini la pasta – cook the
pasta
3. The use of the voi form of the verb e.g. Cucinate la pasta – cook the
pasta

All of these methods are completely acceptable for giving instructions. On

food packets it is more likely that you will see the infinitive form used, but
this does not make it more acceptable than the other two methods.

Ho Tanto Da Fare
When you want to say that there is a lot of something to do, to eat, to
see etc. or that there is nothing/not much to do, to eat, to see etc., you
used the following construction:

Da+infinitve
e.g. Ho tanto da fare – I have so much to learn
Ho molto da imparare – I have a lot to learn
C’é troppo da studiare – There’s too much to study
Vorrei qualcosa da mangiare – I’d like something to eat
Posso avere qualcosa da bere? – May I have something to drink?
Non c’é niente da mangiare nel frigo -
ITALIAN TUTORIALS 05/03/2011

Comparatives of Equality 19/04/11

To compare two objects in an equal manner (e.g. Maddy is a clever as
Chelsea; David is as funny as a monkey), one of two expressions can be
used:

cosí… come OR tanto…quanto

NB: Although these two expressions both mean exactly the same thing
(i.e. as…as…), you cannot mix up the different elements of each
expression (i.e. you cannot and must not say cosí… quanto or tanto…
come).

E.g. Maddy é cosí intelligente come Chelsea

Maddy é tanto intelligente quanto Chelsea
Davide é cosí divertente come una scimmia
Davide é tanto divertente quanto una schimmia

In an expression involving verbs, only tanto…quanto can be used (e.g. I

study as much as you – Io studio tanto quanto te). Not that in
expressions involving comparisons of equality, the disjunctive pronouns
are used (i.e. me, te, lui, noi, voi, loro).

Comparing Nouns:
When comparing nouns (stating that they are equal), only tanto…quanto
can be sued. Note that this situation, tanto must agree with the noun that
it describes (but quanto does not change).

e.g. Ho mangiatio tante pizze quanto te

Sarah ha quardato tanti film quanto Grace
Seb mangia tanti piselli quanto Sam
Laura ha tanto energia quanto Sammy

NB: When both tanto and quanto are followed by nouns, both must agree
with the noun that they describe.

e.g. Ho tanti gatti quanti cani – I have as many cats as dogs

Hanno tanto mele quanti biscotti – They has as many apples as biscuits
STUDY 05/03/2011
Comparatives
 Comparatives of equality:
(cosí)…come – as…as
(tanto)…quanto – as…as
non meno che – not less than
non meno di – not less than

e.g. Roberta é (cosí) alto come Luisa

Roberta é (tanto) alto quanto Luisa
Roberta is as tall as Louise

Questa libri sono (cosí) interressanti come gli altri

Questa libri sono (tanto) interressanti quanto gli altri
These books are as interesting as the others

NOTE: In an expression involving verbs, only tanto…quanto can be used

In expressions involving comparatives of verbs, the disjunctive pronouns
are used (i.e. me, te, lui, noi, voi, loro).

e.g. Io studio (tanto) quanto te – I study as much as you

Teresa lavora (tanto) quanto me – Teresa works as much as me

Comparisons:
Comparisons of adjectives: piú, meno, il (i,la,le), piú, meno, -issimo
forms, special forms.

Luca é alto – Luke is tall

Marco é piú alto – Mark is taller
Matteo é il piú alto – Matt is the tallest

Veronika non é alta – Veronica is not tall

Louisa é meno alta – Louise is less tall
Giula é la meno alta – Julia is the least tall

To say that something is the most or leasr of a group, the expression il (i,
la, le) piú (meno) … di… is used.

e.g. Luigi é il piú alto della classe – Luigi is the tallest in the class
Deborah é la meno difficile di tutte – Debra is the lest difficult of all

NOTE: When di combines with the definite articles, the forms are del,
dei, della, delle, dello, degli, dell’

The suffix –issimo is added to most adjectives to express the idea of very.

e.g. bello/a – bellissimo/a , forte – fortissimo/a , simpatico/a –

simpaticissimo/a , grande – grandissimo/a

Irregular forms of –issimo:

Buono/a, migliore, il/i/la/le migliore
Cattivo/a, peggiore, il/i/la/le peggiore
Grande, maggiore, il/i/la/le maggiore
Piccolo, minore, il/i/la/le minore

Comparatives of inequality:
piú…di; piú…che – more than
meno…di; meno…che – less than

Imperfect Tense
 -are -ere -ire
avo evo ivo
avi evi ivi
ava eva iva
aviamo eviamo iviamo
avate evate ivate
avano evano ivano
essere avere
ero avaevo
eri avevi
era aveva
eravamo avevamo
eravate avavate
erano avevano
Future Tense
-are -ere -ire
eró eró iró
erai erai irai
erá erá irá
eremo eremo iremo
erete erete irete
eranno eranno iranno

Future Perfect

essere avere
saró avró
sarai avrai
sará avrá
saremo avremo
sarete avrete
saranno avranno

Imperative
-are -ere -ire
a i i
i a a
aimo iam iamo
ate ete ite
ino ano ano
essere avere
sii abbi
sia abia
siamo abiamo
siate abbiate
siano abbiano
Gerund
Are – ando
Ere – endo
Ire – endo

Conditional
-are -ere -ire
erei erei irei
eresti eresti iresti
erebbe erebbe irebbe
eremmo eremmo iremmo
ereste ereste ireste
erebbero erebbero irebbero
essere avere
sarei avrei
saresti avresti
sarebbe avrebbe
saremmo avremmo
sareste avrete
sarebbero avrebbero
Progressive
Stare+gerund = present
Stava+gerund=past

Perfect Subjunctive
essere avere
sia abbia
sia abbia
sia abbia
siamo abbiamo
siete abbiate
siano abianno

Imperfect Subjunctive
-are -ere -ire
assi essi issi
assi essi issi
asse esse isse
assimo essimo issimo
aste este iste
assero essero issero
essere avere
fossi avessi
fossi avessi
fosse avesse
fossimo avessimo
foste aveste
fossero avessero