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### Survival Italian for learners

The fastest way to learn Italian is to ask about Italian — in Italian. This lesson is your classroom survival kit: fixed phrases you deploy whole, the moment the language runs ahead of you. Do not build them from grammar; say them as they are.

### When you are lost

{{item:850044}} — *I did not understand* — is the honest start of every repair. Follow it with {{item:850063}} — *can you repeat?* The verb inside is **ripetere**, a regular **-ere** verb you can also use on its own: an *insegnante* repeats a word, students repeat a rule. And when the answer itself is missing, admit it with {{item:850048}} — *I do not know*.

{{item:850064}}

### Asking about words

Three questions built on **si** — which you met with reflexive verbs — treat the language itself as the subject:

| ask... | to find out... |
|---|---|
| {{item:850050}} | how to **say** something |
| {{item:850053}} | how to **write** or spell it |
| {{item:850056}} | what someone or something is **called** |

When the mystery is the meaning, ask {{item:850059}} — *what does it mean?* — and point at the word.

{{item:850055}}

Classroom Italian (non ho capito)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to repeat	ripetere
I didn't understand	non ho capito
I didn't understand the rule. It is very difficult.	Non ho capito la regola. È molto difficile.
The teacher repeats the difficult word.	L'insegnante ripete la parola difficile.
The students repeat the rule together.	Gli studenti ripetono la regola insieme.
I don't know	non lo so
"Where is the professor?" "I don't know."	Dov'è il professore? Non lo so.
how do you say...?	come si dice
How do you say this in Italian?	Come si dice questo in italiano?
How do you say this thing in English?	Come si dice questa cosa in inglese?
how do you write / spell...?	come si scrive
How do you write your name?	Come si scrive il tuo nome?
I didn't understand. How do you write this word?	Non ho capito. Come si scrive questa parola?
what is he/she/it called?	come si chiama
What is this animal called in Italian?	Come si chiama questo animale in italiano?
What is your teacher called?	Come si chiama la tua insegnante?
what does ... mean?	che cosa significa
"What does this word mean?" "I don't know."	Che cosa significa questa parola? Non lo so.
What does this difficult word mean?	Che cosa significa questa parola difficile?
I don't understand. What does this answer mean?	Non capisco. Che cosa significa questa risposta?
can you repeat?	puoi ripetere
Sorry, I didn't understand. Can you repeat, please?	Scusa, non ho capito. Puoi ripetere, per favore?
Sorry, can you repeat the question?	Scusa, puoi ripetere la domanda?
I didn't understand the answer. Can you repeat, please?	Non ho capito la risposta. Puoi ripetere, per favore?

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