LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,
MELBOURNE, DELHI
Print edition first published in Great Britain in 2008
by Dorling Kindersley Limited,
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL.
A Penguin company.
ISBN: 9781405331081
Copyright 2008 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London
Text Copyright 2008
This digital edition published in 2011 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited.
e-ISBN: 9781409383680
Digital conversion by DK Digital Content, London
and DK Digital Media, Delhi
Creative team: Satu Fox, Angela Wilkes, Lee Griffiths, Stephanie Farrow
Digital conversion team: Alice Alexandra Milner, Gemma Casajuana Filella, Roz Hitchcock, Saurabh Pratap, Ruchi Bansal, Hari Dutt, Manjari Rathi Hooda, Nain Singh Rawat, Rachna Nair, Archna Sharma
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner.
Discover more at
www.dk.com
Welcome to the Italian Visual Phrasebook.
This guide provides all the key words and phrases you are likely to need in everyday situations when you spend time in Italy. It is grouped into themes, and key phrases are broken down into short sections, to help you build a wide variety of sentences. A lot of the vocabulary is illustrated to make it easy to remember, and youll find this immediately after the key phrases for each topic.
The best way to navigate this guide is to start from the
Table of contents.
The best way to navigate this guide is to start from the
Table of contents.
You can get there by selecting the book symbol , which can be found at the top of the page at the beginning of every section.
The order of contents is also listed on the first page of every chapter. Here, you will see links to other useful chapters such as the Dictionaries the Numbers, time and dates and the A-Z Food and drink.
If you cant find what youre looking for, use your devices search function. Try searching one word at a time, rather than looking for phrases.
Nouns
All Italian nouns (words for things, people, and ideas) are masculine or feminine.
The gender of singular nouns is usually shown by the word for the: il or lo (masculine) and la (feminine). They change to l before vowels. The plural forms are i or gli (masculine) and le (feminine).
Adjectives
Most Italian adjectives change endings according to whether they describe a masculine or feminine, singular or plural word. In this guide the singular masculine form is shown, followed by the alternative feminine ending:
Mi sono perso/a Im lost
You
There are two ways of saying you in Italian:
lei (polite) and
tu (familiar).
Verbs
Verbs change according to whether they are in the singular or plural.
Verbs
Verbs change according to whether they are in the singular or plural.
In phrases where this happens, the singular form of the verb is followed by the plural form:
Dov/Dove sono? Where is/are?
Pronunciation guide
Below each Italian word or phrase in this content, you will find a pronunciation guide in italics. Read it as if it were English and you should be understood, but remember that it is only a guide and for the best results you should listen to and mimic native speakers. Some Italian sounds are different from those in English, so take note of how the letters below are pronounced.
- a like a in car
- ai like i in mile
- ao, au like ow in cow
- c before a, o, and u, like k in kite
before i and e, like ch in church
- cc like ch in church
- ch like k in keep
- e like e in pet
- ei like ay in day
- g before a, o, and u, like g in get
before i and e, like j in jam
- gh like g in got
- gli like lli in million
- gn like ni in onion
- h silent
- i like ee in keep
- o like o in pot
- oi like oy in boy
- qu like qu in quick
- rrolled
- s like s in see or z in zoo
- sc before a, o, and u, like sk in skip
before i or e, like sh in ship
- u like oo in boot
- z like ts in pets, or ds in loads
In this section, you will find the essential words and useful phrases you need for basic everyday talk and situations. Be aware of cultural differences when youre addressing Italian people, and also remember that they tend to be quite formal when they are greeting each other, using
signore (for men),
signora (for women) and
signorina (for girls and younger women).
Greetings
Salve salvehHello
Buonasera bwonaserahGood evening
Buonanotte bwonanottehGood night
Arrivederci arreevedercheeGoodbye
Ciao/ciao! chowHi/bye!
Piacere pyacherehPleased to meet you
Come sta? komeh stahHow are you?
Bene, grazie beneh gratsyeFine, thanks
Prego pregohYoure welcome
Mi chiamo mee kyamohMy name is
Come si chiama? komeh see kyamahWhats your name?
Lui/lei come si chiama? looee/lay komeh see kyamahWhats his/her name?
Questo/a kwestoh/ah ehThis is
Lieto/a di conoscerla lyetoh/ah dee konosherlahNice to meet you
A domani ah domaneeSee you tomorrow
A presto ah prestohSee you soon