Collins Dictionaries - Easy Learning Italian Conversation

BUONO A SAPERSI!

If you have to ask Quanti anni ha?( How old are You ?) you can always add se non sono indiscreto(or indiscreta) ( if You don’t mind my asking ).

To talk about who you are and what you do, use sono( I am ), ho( I have ) and faccio( I do ). These come from the verbs essere( to be ), avere( to have ) and fare( to do ). For more information on these verbs, see here, hereand here.

When you say what you do in Italian, you use the verb fare( to do ): I’m a baker is faccio il panettiere. The verb essere( to be ) can also be used, but it is less common.

BUONO A SAPERSI!

Remember that when talking about people’s jobs, a in English is often translated by the definite article ( il, laand so on) in Italian.

To say that you’ve done something for a given length of time, use da( for ) with the present tense. Another common way of talking about things you’ve been doing for a while is to use sono… che….

When you’re chatting socially, you will want to ask any number of questions. One simple way of finding out information from someone is to say mi parli di( tell me about ) to someone you don’t know very well, or parlami dito someone younger. These come from the verb parlare( to speak ). For more information on this verb, see here.

Another common way of asking for information in spoken Italian is to use question words: Come…?( How…? ), Cosa…?( What…? ), Dove…?( Where…? ), Quando…?( When…? ) and so on.