If you only learn three conjunctions in Italian, learn these. E ("and"), o ("or"), and ma ("but") are the building blocks of every sentence that contains more than one idea. They sit between words, phrases, and whole clauses, joining them or contrasting them. They are also among the very first words a child learns, and they remain among the most common words in adult speech. This page covers what each of them means, how they behave in modern Italian, and the small spelling quirks that distinguish written from spoken usage.
E — and
E is the all-purpose additive conjunction. It joins two or more elements of any kind: nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositional phrases, full clauses. It is the single most common word in spoken Italian alongside the articles.
Marco e Luigi sono fratelli.
Marco and Luigi are brothers.
Mangio una pizza e bevo una birra.
I'm eating a pizza and drinking a beer.
È una città bella e tranquilla.
It's a beautiful, peaceful city.
Apri la finestra e fai entrare un po' d'aria.
Open the window and let some air in.
In a list of three or more items, e typically appears only before the last one: pane, formaggio e vino ("bread, cheese, and wine"). Italian does not use a comma before the final e — there is no "Oxford comma" tradition. Writing pane, formaggio, e vino looks odd to an Italian eye.
Ho comprato pane, formaggio e vino per la cena.
I bought bread, cheese, and wine for dinner.
The euphonic ed
Before another word that begins with e-, e often becomes ed. The added d exists purely for sound — it prevents two identical vowels from running into each other. This is called d eufonica (euphonic d) and was once mandatory; in modern Italian it has become optional, with a strong tendency to use it only before e- and to drop it before other vowels.
Marco ed Elena si sono sposati a giugno.
Marco and Elena got married in June.
Lavorava ed era stanco.
He was working and he was tired.
Ed ecco che arriva il treno.
And here comes the train.
The current rule of thumb in good written Italian: use ed before e-; otherwise prefer plain e even before other vowels. So Marco ed Elena is preferred to Marco e Elena, but Marco e Anna is preferred to Marco ed Anna. In speech the d may not be pronounced clearly even when written, and many native speakers no longer use ed at all in casual conversation.
E joining clauses
When e connects two full clauses, the second clause normally keeps its own subject if it is different. With the same subject, the subject is usually omitted in the second clause — Italian is a pro-drop language and there is no need to repeat io, tu, etc.
Sono andato al mercato e ho comprato la frutta.
I went to the market and bought fruit. (same subject, dropped in the second clause)
Marco lavora e Sara studia.
Marco is working and Sara is studying. (different subjects, both expressed)
O — or
O introduces an alternative: one option or another. It works exactly like e in terms of placement — between two or more elements of the same kind — but the relationship it expresses is exclusive or inclusive choice, not addition.
Vuoi un caffè o un tè?
Would you like a coffee or a tea?
Possiamo andare al cinema o restare a casa.
We can go to the cinema or stay home.
Domani o dopodomani ti chiamo.
I'll call you tomorrow or the day after.
Pago io o paghi tu?
Am I paying or are you?
For a stronger or more emphatic alternative, Italian has the correlative o... o... ("either... or...") and the variant oppure ("or else").
O vieni con noi o resti a casa da solo.
Either you come with us or you stay home alone.
Vado a piedi, oppure prendo l'autobus.
I'll walk, or else I'll take the bus.
The euphonic od
Like ed, o has a euphonic variant od for use before another word starting with o-. The same modern trend applies — od is now even rarer than ed. You will see it in older texts and very careful formal writing, but most modern Italians drop it entirely.
Oggi od altro giorno, decidi tu.
Today or another day — you decide. (formal/old-fashioned)
Oggi o un altro giorno, decidi tu.
Today or another day — you decide. (modern, more natural)
O in questions
In yes-or-no questions offering a choice, o is the natural way to present the two options. Italian intonation rises slightly on each option.
Preferisci la carne o il pesce?
Do you prefer meat or fish?
Andiamo in macchina o in treno?
Shall we go by car or by train?
Ma — but
Ma is the basic adversative conjunction: it introduces a contrast or an objection. It corresponds to English "but" in most everyday cases.
Sono stanco ma felice.
I'm tired but happy.
Volevo uscire, ma ha cominciato a piovere.
I wanted to go out, but it started raining.
Capisco l'italiano, ma parlo ancora poco.
I understand Italian, but I still don't speak much.
Non è caro, ma è bellissimo.
It's not expensive, but it's beautiful.
In modern Italian, ma normally goes at the start of the second clause, with a comma before it. It can also begin a sentence — that is, the contrast can stand on its own as a new sentence — and this is fully acceptable in both speech and writing, despite what some old-fashioned style guides say.
Avevo studiato per settimane. Ma ho fallito comunque.
I had studied for weeks. But I failed anyway.
Ma sei sicuro?
But are you sure?
The sentence-initial ma is especially common as a discourse marker — a way to push back, register surprise, or shift the conversation. Ma dai! ("Come on!"), ma scherzi? ("are you joking?"), and ma certo! ("but of course!") are everyday formulas built on this use.
Ma vs però
Italian has a near-synonym, però, that also means "but / however." The two are interchangeable in most contexts, with subtle differences:
- ma is shorter, more neutral, and the default in both speech and writing
- però is slightly more emphatic and can also appear at the end of a clause as a kind of afterthought
È bravo, ma un po' presuntuoso.
He's good, but a bit conceited.
È bravo, però un po' presuntuoso.
He's good, however a bit conceited.
È bravo. Un po' presuntuoso, però.
He's good. A bit conceited, though.
That last position — però at the very end — is one of the most distinctively Italian features of conversational speech. Ma cannot do this; you would never end a sentence with ma alone. For the broader adversative system (ma, però, tuttavia, invece, anzi), see Adversative Conjunctions.
Comparison with English
The three Italian coordinators map cleanly onto their English counterparts in most cases. The friction points are small but worth noting:
| English | Italian | Note |
|---|---|---|
| and | e (or ed before e-) | No comma before the final and in a list |
| or | o (or od before o-, rare) | oppure for a stronger "or else" |
| but | ma | però is a near-synonym; can end a clause |
| but (sentence-initial) | Ma... | Fully acceptable, very common |
The biggest mismatch is the euphonic d: English has nothing like it. Saying or writing ed before e- is purely a sound-smoothing device that has no equivalent in English usage, and the modern rule (ed before e- only) takes a little practice to internalize.
Common Mistakes
❌ Marco ed Anna sono qui.
Old-fashioned in modern Italian — *ed* before *a-* is no longer the norm.
✅ Marco e Anna sono qui.
Marco and Anna are here. (modern usage: *ed* only before *e-*)
❌ Pane, formaggio, e vino.
Wrong — Italian doesn't use a comma before the final *e* in a list.
✅ Pane, formaggio e vino.
Bread, cheese and wine.
❌ Sono stanco. Però.
*Però* alone as a one-word sentence sounds odd; it needs a clause it modifies, even if elliptical.
✅ Sono stanco. Ma sono contento.
I'm tired. But I'm happy.
❌ Vuoi caffè ma tè?
Wrong — *ma* is contrastive, not alternative. For a choice, you need *o*.
✅ Vuoi caffè o tè?
Do you want coffee or tea?
❌ Mangio e bevo, e poi ho dormito.
Awkward tense mismatch around *e* — *e* doesn't switch tenses for you.
✅ Ho mangiato, ho bevuto e poi ho dormito.
I ate, drank, and then slept. (parallel tenses)
Key takeaways
- E joins, o offers a choice, ma contrasts. These three cover most of what English does with "and / or / but."
- The euphonic forms ed and od are increasingly optional. Modern usage: write ed only before e-, write od almost never, and use plain e / o otherwise.
- No Oxford comma in Italian lists — the final e takes no preceding comma.
- Ma can comfortably begin a sentence; però can comfortably end a clause. Ma and però are near-synonyms but they sit in slightly different slots.
- For richer contrast (tuttavia, invece, anzi) and richer alternation (o... o..., sia... sia...), see the dedicated pages on adversative and correlative conjunctions.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Italian Conjunctions: OverviewA2 — A map of the Italian conjunction system — coordinating, subordinating, causal, final, concessive, temporal, conditional — with the indicativo/congiuntivo split and links to every major subpage.
- Adversative Conjunctions: ma, però, tuttavia, invece, anziB1 — The full Italian adversative system — ma, però, tuttavia, invece, anzi, bensì — with their distinct positions, registers, and the logical relations they encode (contrast, alternative, correction, upgrade).
- Correlative ConjunctionsB1 — The full set of Italian paired conjunctions — sia... sia, o... o, né... né, non solo... ma anche, sia... che, e... e — with their agreement rules, register notes, and the choices English speakers most often get wrong.
- Discourse Connectors: quindi, perciò, dunque, alloraA2 — How Italian marks consequence and reformulation between sentences — quindi, perciò, dunque, pertanto, allora — with their register differences and conversational functions.
- Connected Discourse and ConnectivesB2 — How Italian builds cohesive paragraphs — the rich inventory of sequence, cause, contrast, reformulation, and conclusion connectives, with register notes.