Beth Bartolini-Salimbeni - Italian Grammar For Dummies

Introduction

I n your mother tongue, you need to know very little about grammar to communicate accurately and efficiently. You may not know a predicate adjective from a walrus, but you dont have to. To pick up a second language, like Italian, however, you definitely need to understand grammar. Grammar is the foundation on which you lay vocabulary and vocabulary makes up the walls, roof, and furnishings that go on the foundation and that allow you to communicate. Grammar and vocabulary come together to produce something greater than the sum of its parts: communicative, living ( read: useful) language.

Grammar doesnt mean diagramming sentences and labeling parts. Its more like building a house. The goal of this book is to enable you to construct solid Italian from the ground up and to have fun while doing so.

About This Book

Each chapter of Italian Grammar For Dummies introduces a particular piece of grammar, explaining what it is and showing you, through examples and practice, what it does. Each chapter ends with an answer key, which allows you to check your work as you go.

Italian Grammar For Dummies begins with the essentials parts of speech, pronunciation, nouns, numbers, and descriptive words. These elements alone allow you to communicate, though at a rather basic level. So moving through the book, you discover how to add in verbs (in all their tenses and moods) and other critical parts of language, parts that let you elaborate and elucidate.

You probably dont want to read straight through this book, unless youre starting at the very beginning with Italian. (If youre a complete beginner to Italian, you may want to first check out Italian For Dummies by Teresa Picarazzi, Francesca Romana Onofri, and Karen Mller, published by Wiley.) If youre somewhat familiar with Italian, though, you can pick and choose chapters that clarify for you a particular grammar point.

I use the following conventions to make use of this book easy.

Italian words, phrases, and sentences appear in bold.

English equivalents, set in italic, follow the Italian.

When putting Italian into English, Im not always literal. For example, the Italian prego literally means I pray, but its often used to mean youre welcome, go ahead (if youre holding a door for someone), or May I take your order? (when a waiter says it to you in a restaurant). In this book, I repeat the importance of context as a way to grasp meaning; prego is a good example of how important context is.

At the end of each chapter is an answer key that provides the correct responses to all the practice exercises in that chapter.

This book doesnt give you phonetic pronunciations after Italian texts. It focuses on grammar and written communication. The obvious source for pronunciation (besides ) is the dictionary, though Italian movies, television, music, and radio can also be especially helpful.

Foolish Assumptions

As I was writing this book, I assumed the following things about you.

You already know some Italian and may be interested in honing your communicative skills. (If youre truly a beginner, I recommend starting with Italian For Dummies [Wiley].)

You want to practice skills as you review or learn them so you can cement and retain them.

You love Italian its sounds, its idiosyncrasies, its culture as expressed in language, and its grammar. Well, maybe not the last. Remember, though, that grammar makes the rest of language feasible for you.

Icons Used in This Book

To make certain kinds of information easier to reference, I use the following icons in this book.

This icon highlights information thats especially critical to your mastery of Italian. If you dont read anything else, read text marked with this icon.

This icon gives you tips for understanding Italian grammar.