Italian Grammar

Perché ‘lo studente’ invece di ‘il studente’?

Ciao . Could anyone recommend any short stories or easy to read books in Italian that would help with the use of and improving Italian grammar? 

I'm confused about when or if you use la mia or mia to denote “mine” - I have encountered both in Rocket Italian and am not sure how to differentiate them. Are they both right? Is “la mia” just more emphatic? Thank you for any help! 

I'm in 2.7 at the moment. Apologies for probably an obvious question - but I think this may vary by language.   In Italian do you say - as we would in English:   Ci sono zero cose.   Or    C'è zero cosa   (Although it occurs to me that we would...

Doing an exercise about quantities. And one of the questions posed is:   Quanti ragazzi ci sono ?   I wonder whether this could also be expressed as:   Ci sono quanti ragazzi ?   Or does Quanti have to come at the start?

Ciao!     Nella lezione sul impersonale SI l'esempio :  “Cosa fare se si e dimenticato di pagare?”   Questo sta nella parte dei esempi di verbi riflessivi.  Pero non deve essere “Cosa fare se ci si e dimenticato di pagare”?  E anche, le regole dicono...

This sentence appears in Italian Beginner Level 4.9: “Scrivete cartoline spesso per la tua zia in Germania?” Do (you) write postcards often for (your) aunt in Germany?   The subject does not appear, but the verb indicates it is plural. So why is ...

Dear all,    I have been trying to wrap my head around the combination of a subjunctive-triggering past-tense verb in the main clause referring to a future event in the subordinate clause. In the table in that lesson, it says that this requires the con...

When do I use ‘dovere’, ‘servire’, or ‘avere bisogno di’ to express ‘to need’ in English?   Thanks

When do I  use either solo/a or unico/a to express the English word “only”?   Thanks

This sentence appears in the Italian unit 2.18: È l’una e mezzo . But Gemini says that it is wrong (see below). Who is right?  You've hit on a common point of confusion for Italian learners! You are absolutely right that "mezza ora" means "half an hour...

In the phrase, “time for dinner”, why do we say, “tempo di cenare”, and not “tempo per cenare”?

Hello,   I am just starting to use the subjunctive and understand the words that trigger it like ‘Credo che’ ‘Sembra che’ and so on.   The other day I was talking with AI and said “Questa non era una buona idea”. My statement was corrected to “Questa...

In lesson 10.6 of level 2 there are some sentences that use “da” or “di” before a verb in the infinitive. For example: “Vuoi qualcosa da mangiare”.   But there are also sentences that leave it out, for example: “Non vogliono mangiare neinte” and “An...

I have a question about this sentence from lesson 8.6: “Cosa vi è successo?”   In the passato prossimo with “essere” the past participle agrees in number and gender with the subject of the sentence, and “cosa” is a feminine noun, so why isn't it “Cosa ...

My understanding is that gerunds use the verb, stare.  However, this lesson included the following phrase and translation: Fa freddo ma non nevica. (It) is cold but (it) isn't snowing.   Why doesn't the phrase read, “…ma non sta nevicando.”  Is this ...

Can anyone explain the order of “si” and “la” in the following sentence? Sì, se non la si pensa così, si resta a casa e non si viaggia!   It seems to me it should be “se non se la pensa così”, with the “si impersonale” followed by the direct obj...

Ciao,   I have a question about indirect and direct object pronouns.   I understand from lesson 4.9 that direct object pronouns can be attached to infinitive verb forms, like this: Puoi chiamarmi quando vuoi.   And I understand from lesson 4.10 ...

Hi ,     In lesson 4.10 around indirect pronouns there is the rule mentioned below   Le , le and gli cannot be attached to verbs that start with a vowel or the letter H , such as the conjugation of the verb avere .   Please could you help ...

Ciao a tutti! Mi chiamo Juditha.  Parlo un po d'Italiano as I am only up to 1.3 of the first module.  My question is using one, uno, before masculine and feminine nouns.  In module 1.3 we use ‘una' before ‘pizza’ since pizza ends in a and therefore is a ...

I'm just beginning so I have very basic question. In the flashcards, how do I know if it is referring to “you” singular or “you” plural?  In the other sections such as listening, you can tell from the grammar and verb conjugation, but I when it is presen...

In lesson 4.8, there is brief mention that “prepositional pronouns” can be used without prepositions to emphasize the person in question. This is one of the examples:   Invito lui alla cena, ma voi no. (I) am inviting him to dinner, but not you. ...

Can someone explain the difference between ‘Da quanto tempo stai qui’ and ‘Da quanto tempo è che stai qui’

Hello   I have a question about two sentences in lesson 9.6 level 2.   The first sentence is “Eravate professri” - were you teachers? The second sentence is “il mio vicino faceva poliziotto” - my neighbour used to be a police officer.   I am confu...

I completed Module 1 and went back to do some review. Why in lesson 1.8 is the english 'You are right',    'Lei ha ragione' in italian? It seems like it should be ‘Lei e’ ragione' per the lesson 1.9 information about essere instead of 1.10 informati...

Why is it “ci vediamo dopo” for ‘see you soon’?  Doesn't “ci” mean “us”?

In lesson 1.9 why does the first sentence use il but the second does not?   Lei è il mio collega. You are my colleague.   Lui è mio fratello. He is my brother.

The translation of the bolded part of this sentence from Module 12.2 is really confusing to me:   Beh, non è facile perché non c'è solo la lingua ma anche la differenza culturale sia al colloquio che poi durante il lavoro.   Well, (it) is not ea...

In the sentance below, why isn't sono sei per subject pronoun rules?   Le ragazze sono buone. The girls are good.

In the three examples below, what is the rule including or leaving out the definite article L' ? The phrases were extracted from Lesson 1.2.   Parli italiano? Da quanto tempo studi l’italiano? Studio l'italiano da un mese.

How can I bookmark particular grammar lessons so that I can gain access to them easily when I want to review them.

Maria, mi manca la mia famiglia.   I thought when it came to immediate family, we are not to use the article.  Can someone clarity please?

I just began Rocket - is there any grammar or is it strictly audio/oral ???

In Module 8.2 on filling up your car with gas, I came across this sentence which is confusing me:   Se si è fiduciosi e si hanno i vocaboli, si possono affrontare tutte le situazioni. The English translation it gives is: If you are trusting and hav...

Can someone explain this verb conjugation to me? Why is it lavori and not lavoro? “Bisogna che io lavori.”

In lesson 5.3, we have “…sia una buona idea.”  (I haven't gotten there yet, but it looks like “una buona idea” also appears in 6.3 and 19.1.   From the adjective lesson, however, I would've thought that this should be “una buon'idea”   Is it personal...

I notice that the adverb for ‘here’ is ‘qui’ and ‘qua’.  And the adverb for ‘there' is ‘li’ and ‘la’.  What is the rule for when one is used rather than the other?

In Lesson 4.7, which addresses the use of the possessive, Rocket Italina translates the sentence, “Your friend is very beautiful.” to “La vostra amica è bellissima.” The contxt of the sentence implies that “your” is singular" Why is the sentence not “La ...

Anyone else have a problem with this approach of the assumption that masculine is the default?     “Generally in this course, the masculine forms are the default forms. This means that we only provide a notation to indicate feminine forms. However, sin...

Hi In lesson 6.8 dal is used in “Andiamo in fretta dal medico” but al is used in “Parla dolcemente al bambino”. I thought that al was used to mean “to the” and dal for “from the”. So I am a bit confused why dal is used to say “to the doctor”. Could you ...

should the above not be uguale agreeing with the feminine borse

​Ciao everyone!   This morning, a longtime user asked a great question about Italian grammar. Since this is a pretty common topic, we thought we'd share it on the forum so all Rocket Italian users can benefit. If you have any ideas as to why essere “...

I am constantly mixing up my QU words. Any suggestions?  Quel, Qual, Quando, Quanti, Questo… Any suggestions? Any tricks?  

Came across this clear, comprehensive guide which gives good explanations of when to use da vs di, a vs in etc.  This comes up a lot.  I printed it out and keep it handy for those times when the reason for choice of preposition in a Rocket sentence isn't...

In lesson 6.1 Maria says “ a fare la spesa” (to do my shopping) but later says “ per fare una bella cena” (to make a good dinner). I am not sure when to use “a fare” and when to use “per fare” and if there is any difference in the meaning?    

In Lesson 5.5, the phrase  ‘ci mettera’  is used for  ‘it will take ’.   I understand the use of the future tense, but I don't understand what ‘ci’ represents in this sentence.   I thought ‘ci’ was either the direct or indirect pronoun for ‘us’.  

I am having difficulty choosing the word for WHAT.   For example - Che tempo fa :  What is the weather like?                            Cosa fanno i tuoi:   What are your parents doing?   Guidance please.

I am confused by the answer to the quiz question below.  I thought that when we tell someone NOT to so something in Italian, we use Non+ the infinitive.  And if it is reflexive, the pronoun goes either before the infinitive or attached to the end, as per...

I notice that the word ‘morning’ can be spelled either ‘mattino’ or ‘mattina’.   It looks like ‘mattino’ is used when referring to a specific time in the morning, as in “delle sette del mattino”.  However when used without reference to a specific time, ‘...

I understand there are many verbs that can be used with weather but in the flashcards a number of sentences done seem to follow the runes. One example: In the sentence "it is windy and raining" is translated as  "C'e vento e piove" .  Confusing, does no...