Basic Italian : a grammar and workbook

206 Pages·2006·1.096 MB·English

by  Stella Peyronel, Ian Higgins

BASIC ITALIAN:
A GRAMMAR AND WORKBOOK
Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook comprises an accessible
reference grammar and related exercises in a single volume.
This workbook presents 23 individual grammar points in lively and
realistic contexts. Each unit consists of jargon-free explanations and
comparisons with English, targeting the more common difficulties experi-
enced by learners of Italian. Grammar points are followed by examples
and exercises selected to make use of contemporary Italian.
Basic Italian introduces Italian culture and people through the medium of
the language used today, providing readers with the basic tools to
express themselves in a wide variety of situations.
Features include:
• examples in both Italian and English
• grammar tables for easy reference
• full exercise answer key
• glossary of grammatical terms
Basic Italian is the ideal reference and practice book for beginners and
also for students with some knowledge of the language.
Stella Peyronel is a lecturer at the University of Turin, Italy. She has
taught Italian to foreigners for over 20 years and is the author of
several Italian grammars. Ian Higgins is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the
University of St Andrews and is co-author of Thinking Italian Translation.
Other titles available in the Grammar Workbooks series are:
Basic Cantonese
Intermediate Cantonese
Basic Chinese
Intermediate Chinese
Basic German
Intermediate German
Basic Polish
Intermediate Polish
Basic Russian
Intermediate Russian
Basic Welsh
Intermediate Welsh
Titles of related interest published by Routledge:
Colloquial Italian, Second Edition
by Sylvia Lymbery
Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition
by Anna Proudfoot and Francesco Cardo
Modern Italian Grammar Workbook, Second Edition
by Anna Proudfoot
BASIC ITALIAN:
A GRAMMAR AND
WORKBOOK
Stella Peyronel and Ian Higgins
First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2006 Stella Peyronel and Ian Higgins
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-64007-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0–415–34717–3 (Print Edition)
CONTENTS
Introduction vii
List of signs and abbreviations viii
1 Nouns: gender and number 1
2 Definite and indefinite articles 9
3 Adjectives; possessive and demonstrative pronouns 17
4 The present tense of essere and avere 28
5 The present tense of regular (and some irregular) verbs 36
6 Adverbs 46
7 Direct object pronouns (1) 52
8 Prepositions 57
9 Questions 68
10 Indirect object pronouns (1) 74
11 Piacere and similar verbs 79
12 The present perfect tense 84
13 Direct and indirect object pronouns (2) 94
14 Direct and indirect object pronouns (3: stressed forms) 99
15 Relative pronouns 104
16 The imperfect tense 111
17 The pronouns ne and ci 120
18 The future tense 129
19 The past perfect tense 137
vi Contents
20 Reflexive pronouns 143
21 The imperative 149
22 The pronoun si 157
23 The present conditional 162
Key to exercises 168
Glossary of technical terms 187
Index 191
INTRODUCTION
If you are an English-speaking learner preparing GCSE, Scottish Standard
Grade (credit level) or similar examination, or simply learning the language
for everyday use, this grammar and workbook is for you. You will typically be
either following a course at school, college or evening class, or teaching your-
self from a published course. This book is not itself a course, but a self-help
reference/revision grammar, with exercises designed to reinforce your grasp
of the points dealt with, unit by unit. You will find it a help to have access to a
good Italian–English dictionary when working through the book.
Since this is not a self-contained course, the grammar points are usually
given on their own, out of context. Of course, this is artificial, because, in
everyday life, when we say or write something it is always in a situation or
context. To compensate for this artificiality, the grammar points are illus-
trated with abundant examples, which are often reused, with variations,
under different headings. This is partly to strengthen your grasp of grammar
and vocabulary, but mostly to help you learn how to manipulate the Italian
language in a wide range of situations. Giving plenty of examples is a more
effective way of helping you develop the ability to communicate in Italian
than giving you lists of rules with just one or two examples.
At the end of each unit, there are several sets of exercises. If you work
through these, you will find that they consolidate your understanding of the
various points introduced in the unit, and also that they give you the con-
fidence to have a go at expressing yourself in a range of situations and
contexts.
The aim of the examples and exercises is to strengthen awareness of the
specific points dealt with in the unit; they are not intended to cover all the
possible uses of a given word or grammatical structure.
At the end of the book, there is a key to all the exercises, and a glossary of
grammatical terms, with examples.
SIGNS AND ABBREVIATIONS
f feminine
fp feminine plural
fs feminine singular
lit. literally
m masculine
mp masculine plural
ms masculine singular
pl. plural
sing. singular
Square brackets indicate an explanatory comment attached to an example,
e.g.
C’èLuisaaltelefono. That’s Luisa on the phone.
[i.e.shehasjustrung]
Quanto zucchero [ms] vuoi? How much sugar do you want?
‘Dov’èAnna?’‘Noloso.’ ‘Where’s Anna?’ ‘I don’t know.’
[lit. I don’t know it]
Round brackets in an example show that the material in brackets is optional,
e.g.
‘Haiilibri?’‘Sì,(ce)liho.’ ‘Have you got the books?’
‘Yes, I’ve got them.’
Ne ho mangiati due. I ate two (of them).
A chi scrivete? Who(m) are you writing to?
Round brackets round an entire sentence show that, while possible, this is a
formal form that is not often used, e.g.
((Loro)Partono,SignoriBianco?) Are you leaving(, Mr and Mrs
Bianco)?
Signs and abbreviations ix
A slash shows alternative ways of saying something, e.g.
Gli dico/Dico loro la verità. I tell them the truth. (Here, gli dico and dico
loro are alternative ways of saying ‘I tell them’.)
Non mi sembra giusto. It doesn’t seem fair to me/I don’t think it’s fair.
(Here, the English sentences are alternatives to one another.)