Are you struggling in choosing the right helping verb to use with passato prossimo ? In today's article, we will cover the rules to choose the right helping verb and I will be giving you some tips to avoid common mistakes! Before we dive into today's topic let's do a quick recap of PASSATO PROSSIMO . This tense is used to describe an action that took place in the past. More specifically, it is used when the action is well defined in a specific moment in the past and eventually started and finished. Passato prossimo is formed this way: Subject + auxiliary verb in the present (essere/avere) + past participle The past participle doesn't change when you use the verb avere , but you need to change it according to the gender and number of the subject when using essere . The big question is: when do I use essere and when avere ? Most of the verbs in Italian actually require avere , so we will talk about the verbs that take essere . Then, if you have a verb that doesn't fall in these categories, you will use avere . Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Verbs suggesting motion This does not work all the time, but generally, verbs suggesting some kind of movement take essere. This is the list of verbs of motion taking essere that I suggest you memorize: Andare → sono andato (I went) Venire → sono venuto (I came) Salire → sono salito (I went up) Scendere → sono sceso (I went down) Cadere → sono caduto (I fell) Partire → sono partito (I left) Entrare → sono entrato (I went in, I entered) Uscire → sono uscito (I went out, I exited) (Ri)Tornare → sono (ri)tornato (I came back, I returned) Arrivare → sono arrivato (I arrived) Let me give you a couple of examples using these verbs: Sono andato a fare shopping con mia sorella (I went shopping with my sister) Sono ritornati a casa alle 2 (They came back home at 2) Sono arrivata in ritardo a lavoro (I arrived late at work) 2. Verbs suggesting NO motion I know this is weird because it's the opposite of the previous one. However, verbs suggesting you (or the subject) staying still in one place, usually takes essere . Stare → sono stato (I stayed) Rimanere → sono rimasto (I remained, I stayed) Restare → sono restato (I remained, I stayed) Let me give you some more examples: Sono rimasta a casa ieri sera perché ero stanca (I stayed at home last night because I was tired) Siete mai stati in Italia? (Have you guys ever been to Italy?) P.S: Restare does NOT mean "to rest" but it's actually a synonym of "rimanere". "To rest" is riposarsi . 3. Verbs suggesting a change of state All those verbs that suggest a transformation or development in the subject require essere . Crescere → sono cresciuto (I grew up) Diventare → sono diventato (I became) Nascere → sono nato (I was born) Morire → sono morto (I died) For example, I could say: sono nato e cresciuto in Italia (I was born and raised in Italy). 4. ALL reflexive verbs There's not much explanation needed here. All reflexive verbs take essere . All of them! No exception! Lavarsi → mi sono lavato (I washed myself) Vestirsi → mi sono vestito (I got dressed) Divertirsi → ci siamo divertite (we had fun (f.)) 5. The verb ESSERE itself Don't forget that the verb essere takes essere itself to form passato prossimo. The past participle of essere is stato , so that means that the passato prossimo of "essere" and "stare" are going to be the same. Sono stato might be I was, I stayed or I've been . You can easily figure it out from the context. If your verb doesn't fall in any of these categories, then it probably takes avere . Of course, there are many exceptions, but if you follow these rules, you'll be able to form 90% of Italian passato prossimo with no troubles. A presto! Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

In today's article, I will list some extremely useful expressions with the verb avere . Don't forget to watch my YouTube video on this topic for the full explanation! You probably already know that the verb avere means to have in English. However, there are many idiomatic expressions that use avere , and they are extremely common, so you want to make sure you know them and start using them in your daily Italian conversations. I will list them below with their English translation, however, if you want the full explanation and useful example sentences, don't forget to watch my YouTube video related to this topic! Avere fame → to be hungry Avere sete → to be thristy Avere fretta → to be in a hurry Avere voglia di → to want, to feel like Avere sonno → to be sleepy Avere paura di → to be scared of Avere bisogno di → to need Avere caldo → to be hot Avere freddo → to be cold A presto! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Ciao! As you probably know, I have a brand new office (you can watch the video here ) and I would love to receive some letters from your countries written in Italian to hang them on a wall. This is a way to feel closer to each other. If I get enough letters I will go through them and read them in a YouTube video! If you're interested in this little project, you can send your letter here: Stefano Chiaromonte Via Palmiro Togliatti 36/B, San Severo, FG, 71016, Italia I can't wait to receive your letters! Un abbraccio dall'Italia, Teacher Stefano

CI can be so many things in Italian. Do you know how to use it properly? Well, let's find out in today's article. The first thing we need to understand is that CI is a pronoun, therefore it replaces things. As you probably know, ci can be a reflexive, direct object, and indirect object pronoun. We are not going to focus on these functions of CI in today's article, but let me give you some examples anyway: Ci laviamo → we wash ( ourselves ) Chiama ci ! → call us ! Ci hai detto una bugia! → you told us a lie 1. CI as THERE One of the first functions of CI is " there " in the expressions c'è and ci sono . Let me give you some examples: C'è l'acqua in frigorifero? → is there water in the fridge? Ci sono 22 studenti in classe → there are 22 students in class Don't forget that you can apply this also to past and/or future tenses: C'erano alcuni problemi con i documenti → there were some issues with the documents Ci sarà molto sole domani → there will be a lot of sun tomorrow (= it will be very sunny tomorrow) 2. CI is used to replace expressions of place One of the reasons why I love ci is because it replaces anything else that other pronouns can't. Ci can replace a word or expression introduced by these prepositions: a , in , su , and da . A) Sei mai stato in Italia ? B) No, non ci sono mai stato! → A) Have you ever been t o Italy ? B) No, I've never been there . A) Ti piacerebbe andare a Roma ? B) Certo, vorrei andar ci subito! A) Would you like to go to Rome ? B) Of course, I would like to go there now! A) Sei mai salito sulla terrazza del Duomo di Milano? B) No, non ci sono ancora salito → Have you ever been on the terrace of the Duomo di Milano? B) No I haven't been up there yet. A) Vai da Marco stasera? B) No, non ci posso andare perché ho la febbre! → A) Are you going to Marco's house tonight? B) No, I can't go there because I've got a fever. 3. CI is used to replace words introduced by CON Ci is also used to replace words or names introduced by the preposition con (with). Let me give you two examples: A) Esci con il tuo ragazzo oggi? B) No, ci esco domani! → A) Are you going out with your boyfriend today? B) No, I am going out with him tomorrow! A) Che farai con la farina e il lievito ? B) Ci faccio una pizza per stasera! → A) What are you going to do with flour and yeast ? B) I am making a pizza for tonight with them ! We're done with today's article! If you'd like a more in-depth explanation of the uses of CI, don't forget to check out my YouTube Video on this topic! Anyway, CI has also many other uses in the Italian language such as the expressions ci vuole and ci vogliono , CI used with some verbs, the so-called ci di proprietà and more! If you want to know more about these other uses, let me know and I'll make sure to make another video and article about this topic! A presto, Stefano

Passato prossimo is one of the two most important past tenses in Italian, let's see how to use it and how it's formed! Passato prossimo is a past tense used to describe an action that took place in the past (duh!). However, not any action in the past. More specifically, we are talking about an action that started and finished in the past, that took place at a specific time, or in a specific amount of time. That moment could be a very specific one in the past or even a long continuous one and as long as it's defined, we are going to use passato prossimo , most of the time! 1. How is PASSATO PROSSIMO formed? Passato prossimo is formed this way: Subject + auxiliary verb (essere/avere) in the present + past participle One of the most common questions I get from my students is: how do I choose between essere and avere . We're not going to talk about this in today's blog article as I already wrote another article on this topic that you can check out here . 2. Past participle The past participle is formed by adding a specific ending to the stem of the verb. Let me show you how: Amare (to love) forms the past participle by dropping the ending of the infinitive (-are) and adds -ato : amato (loved). Cadere (to fall) adds -uto : caduto (fallen). Sentire (to hear) adds -ito : sentito (heard) Just to recap: -ARE → -ATO -ERE → -UTO -IRE→ -ITO Remember that the past participle is a sort of adjective and therefore you need to change it according to the gender and number of the subject only when you are using ESSERE as an auxiliary verb. Let me show you some examples: Io ho mangiato and lei ha mangiato and noi abbiamo mangiato Io sono andato (io, Stefano) but io sono andata (io, Chiara) but noi siamo andati So, when you're using avere , you won't have to worry about changing the past participle. When you're using essere , you will have to change the past participle according to the subject: Masculine singular → -O Feminine singular → -A Masculine plural → -I Feminine plural → -E Some verbs, especially the most common ones, have an irregular past participle that you will have to memorize. Here are just a few of the very common ones: Fare (to do/to make) → fatto (done/made) Vedere (to see) → visto (seen) Dire (to say/to tell) → detto (said/told) 3. Conjugation Let me conjugate two verbs for you, to make sure you understand how to conjugate verbs in passato prossimo . Let's conjugate GUARDARE (to watch). This verb takes avere : Io ho guardato Tu hai guardato Lui/Lei ha guardato Noi abbiamo guardato Voi avete guardato Loro hanno guardato Here, we're saying I watched, you watched, he/she watched... Now, let's conjugate the verb PARTIRE (to leave) . This verb takes essere so we will need to change the past participle according to the gender and number of the subject. Io sono partit o / a Tu sei partit o / a Lui è partit o Lei è partit a Noi siamo partit i / e Voi siete partit i / e Loro sono partit i / e Here, we're saying I left, you left, he/she left... All right! I hope you now have a better understanding of passato prossimo in Italian. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach me in the contact section of the website. Un abbraccio, Stefano

Are you struggling to choose between Passato Prossimo and Imperfetto in Italian? Well, you're in the right place then! In today’s article, we’ll talk about how to choose the correct past tense: passato prossimo or imperfetto ? It all comes down to the type of action you have. I am going to give you some examples and explain the actual rules along the way. 1. Repeated vs one-time Mia mamma faceva sempre una torta buonissima. Mia mamma ieri ha fatto una torta buonissima. In the first case, we’re saying that "my mom always used to make a delicious cake". In the second we’re saying that "my mom made a delicious cake yesterday". And here’s the first difference! If we’re talking about a repeated action then we’ll go for imperfetto, instead, if we have a one-time action , very specific , very defined , then we go for passato prossimo! Don’t forget that the idea of repeated action has to be very general . This is because imperfetto is a tense used to describe actions that are not well-defined on a timeline. Let me give you another example: Andavo sempre in palestra da ragazzo. Sono andato tre volte in palestra la scorsa settimana. The first one makes sense: I used to go to the gym when I was a boy . The second one... don’t let it fool you. It might look repeated because you went three times, but three times that week and that’s it. It’s not something you used to do every week! I hope that makes sense! 2. Habit vs non-regular actions Let me tell you that this is one is very similar to the previous one! Let's look at a few examples: Da bambino andavo al mare tutte le domeniche. Da bambino sono andato al mare una volta. In the first sentence, we clearly have a regular action, a habit in the past, because "da bambino" , when I was little , I would go to the beach every Sunday . That’s the idea: a regular action, a habit, something you used to do regularly, you would do regularly in the past. That's why we use imperfetto . In the second example, da bambino sono andato al mare una volta , I went just once and that’s it! That's why I use passato prossimo . 3. Imperfetto and Passato Prossimo in the same sentence Sometimes though you might have multiple past tenses, multiple actions in one sentence. Let me give you one example: Mentre studiavo , è arrivata Chiara. Here we have two actions: "me studying" and "Chiara arriving". The action of "me studying" is long, continuous and it has been interrupted by "Chiara arriving". So I could translate that sentence: While I was studying, Chiara arrived. You would use imperfetto for the long action and passato prossimo for the short sudden one ! I hope this article helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, Stefano

Reflexive verbs are extremely important and common in Italian. Do you know what they are and how to use them? If you don't, then you're in the right place! What’s a reflexive verb? Think of it as a mirror . If you look at yourself in the mirror, what are you going to see? Yourself , right? A mirror reflects the image and a reflexive verb does the same thing! A reflexive verb is used when the subject of the action (the person doing the action) is the same as the object of the action. Most of the time when we talk about reflexive verbs we need to say that the subject of the action is the same as the subject. Sometimes, it’s very obvious. The verb “ lavarsi ” means to "wash oneself". Of course, if you’re showering, you’re washing yourself. So that makes sense. With some reflexive verbs, though, it’s less obvious. For example, take the verb “sentire” which normally means to hear. However, when we make it reflexive and we say “ sentirsi ”, then it means “to feel”, for example "mi sento bene" (I feel good). Although many reflexive verbs make sense by adding “myself” or “oneself” in general in English, sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes, by making a verb reflexive, we’re just changing the meaning of the verb. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. How do you conjugate a reflexive verb? A reflexive verb will always end in -si in the infinitive. Therefore, we will get rid of the -si and conjugate the verb as we would normally do in the present (or any other tense). For example: Lavarsi → lavar(e) → conjugate this as an - are verb (lavo, lavi, lava, laviamo, lavate, lavano) Mettersi → metter(e) → conjugate this as an - ere verb Vestirsi → vestir(e) → conjugate this as an - ire verb Once we have conjugated the verb we need to add the reflexive pronouns . 2. Reflexive pronouns Reflexive pronouns are placed before the verb in the present, past, or future tense and are there to remind you that a specific verb is reflexive. These are the reflexive pronouns that you will need to use for each personal pronoun (subject): Mi (io) Ti (tu) Si (lui/lei) Ci (noi) Vi (voi) Si (loro) Let’s conjugate the verb lavarsi : Io mi lavo Tu ti lavi Lui/lei si lava Noi ci laviamo Voi vi lavate Loro si lavano Now let’s conjugate mettersi (to put on): Io mi metto Tu ti metti Lui/lei si mette Noi ci mettiamo Voi vi mettete Loro si mettono 3. Some examples Svegliarsi : to wake up (or to wake yourself up) → Mi sveglio tutti i giorni alle 7:00 di mattina (I wake up every day at 7:00 in the morning) Vestirsi : to get dressed (or to dress yourself) → Mi vesto in fretta perché sono in ritardo (I get dressed quickly because I am late) Chiamarsi : to be called → Mi chiamo Stefano (I am called Stefano, my name is Stefano) Sentirsi : to feel (sentire to hear, sentirsi to feel) → Ti senti bene? (Do you feel good/well, are you all right?) Divertirsi : to have fun → Ci divertiamo alla festa di Giorgia (We have fun at Giorgia's party) I hope this article helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Ready to learn how to say and use these words in Italian? They are mostly filler words and are so common! I am sure you use these words or expressions in English every day but maybe you struggle in using them in Italian because you don’t know their translation or maybe the translation does not even exist! Well, in today’s article we’re going to go over these words and understand how to translate them to Italian, or at least I'll give you the closest word we have if there is not a direct translation! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Actually I use this word in English every single day. What would I say in Italian? First of all, I would say that this word is not used in Italian with the same frequency you would use it in English but we do have a translation. You have two options: in realtà or a dire il vero . Let me give you a couple of examples: Il mio amico sembra italiano ma in realtà/a dire il vero è tedesco → My friend looks Italian but actually he is from Germany. Pensavo che andassi in Italia. No, in realtà vado in Francia quest’estate → I thought you were going to Italy. No, actually I am going to France this summer. 2. Like Oh wow! How many times do you use this in English? Although I hate using “like” too much, sometimes we just need it. And of course, Italian does have its counterpart. Let’s say you’re saying something but you need to think. What can you say in Italian? Sono andato in Italia questa estate e siamo andati in, diciamo , una specie di ostello → I went to Italy this summer and we went to, like, this sort of hostel. We use diciamo to buy ourselves some time and make sure we can continue our sentence. We can also use tipo . These two words are extremely informal and I tend to avoid them as much as I can both in English and Italian, but sometimes it’s useful to throw in some filler words like diciamo or tipo to buy yourself some time and think! 3. To be like Let’s say you’re telling a story and you’re telling me what your friend was saying. You start saying: He came to my house and he was like: "Where’s the cake that I made?" . How would we translate the he was like . For starters, we could just use dire (ha detto) but very often if we want to be colloquial we can use the verb fare in the present and dire mi fa . (Lui) È venuto a casa mia e mi ha detto : "Dov’è la torta che ho preparato?" (Lui) È venuto a casa mia e mi fa : "Dov’è la torta che ho preparato?" 4. Whatever I absolutely love this one. I know this is not the nicest thing, but sometimes we just don’t care: so, whatever! How we would say that in Italian? You need one word: vabbè . Scusa Stefano, sono in ritardo. Vabbè non ti preoccupare → I am sorry Stefano I am late. Whatever no worries. Of course, intonation and context are key here. 5. It's not like You have been invited to go to Europe this summer with your friends but they are going everywhere except Italy. We all know you want to visit Italy. So it’s not like you don’t want to go with them but you’d rather go to Italy. How would you say that? Non è che non voglio andare con loro però preferisco andare in italia. So, remember: it’s not like → non è che 6. You know I am sure this is very common, and again we use it all the time to buy ourselves some time when we are speaking. This is not a tricky one though, because we say exactly the same thing in Italian. We just say: sai . Sono stato in Italia e, sai , mi è piaciuta tantissimo ma mi sto pentendo di non essere andato a Venezia → I’ve been to Italy and, you know, I loved it but I am regretting I didn’t go to Venice. 7. It's good This can be applied to so many things! You agree with your friends on something, you show interest and you say: it’s good, it’s ok, all right . How do we say that in Italian? Super easy: va bene . Ci vediamo la prossima settimana alla stessa ora? Sì, certo, va bene ! → Are we meeting next week at the same time? Yeah sure, it’s good (that’s good/all right). 8. That's it! We're done for today's article, that's it! Before letting you go, let me tell you how we would say that's it in Italian! Very easy, I am going to give you two options: tutto qui or è tutto . Ok, tutto qui for today's article! I hope it helped and if you have any questions, send me an email in the contact section of my website. Un abbraccio, Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!

Do you know how to tell whether a word is masculine or feminine in Italian? If you don't, this blog article is for you! Sometimes understanding whether a word is masculine or feminine can be kind of tricky. In today’s blog article, I am going to give you some tips to get the gender of a word right most of the time and also some tricks on how to make nouns plural based on their gender! Let’s get started! Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Masculine or feminine? Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine: amico, treno, panino Nouns ending in -a are usually feminine: amica, studentessa, bicicletta Nouns ending in -e may be masculine or feminine: studente (m.), caffè (m.) and automobile (f.), notte (f.) However, if we look at the last syllable of words ending in -e rather than just the last letter we can use this trick to get the gender right. If a word ends in: -IONE : feminine (English -ion ): televisione, nazione, opinione -ORE : masculine (English -or ) attore, autore, professore 4. Nouns ending in CONSONANT are usually words of foreign origin that we have borrowed from another language (such as English). They are usually masculine: film, bar, autobus, sport Common exceptions: Ending in -a but masculine : problema, diploma, programma Ending in -o but feminine : radio, mano 2. Plural nouns rules All words ending in -O or -E have plural in - I so: amico → amici treno → treni televisione → televisioni studente → studenti professore → professori Words ending in -A have their plural in -E ONLY if they are feminine : studentessa → studentesse bicicletta → biciclette, casa → case Words ending in -A that are masculine have their plural in -I : problema → problemi programma → programmi Words of foreign origin don’t change : il film → i film You can understand if a word of foreign origin is singular or plural by the definite article and, no worries, I will be making another article on this topic very soon! If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! A presto, Stefano

Do you know how to use Italian Definite Articles correctly? Learn how to do just that with me today and practice with a little quiz at the end of the article. In English you have THE, in Italian, we have: IL, LO, LA, I, GLI, LE, L'. Do you know how to choose the correct one? Well, it's very easy. In Italian we choose the correct definite article based on three things: gender and number of the word, and the first few letters of the word itself. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Masculine definite articles IL = masculine singular nouns starting with a consonant (il libro, il mare, il ristorante) LO = masculine singular nouns starting with s+consonant and z ( lo zaino, lo studente, lo spagnolo) . These are the most common ones but we would also use LO with words starting with ps, pn, gn, x and y . However, words starting with these letters are less common. L’ = masculine singular words starting with a vowel (l’amico, l’asino) I = masculine plural nouns starting with a consonant (i libri, i ristoranti) GLI = masculine plural nouns starting with a vowel or s+consonant, z and all the other letters we’ve seen with LO (gli zaini, gli srtudenti, gli amici) 2. Feminine definite articles LA = feminine singular nouns starting with a consonant (la scuola, la palestra) L’ = feminine singular nouns starting with a vowel (l’amica) LE = all plural feminine nouns (le scuole, le palestre, le amiche) 3. Final quiz If you have any questions about this topic, feel free to send me a message in the contact section of my website. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! A presto, Stefano

Today we're talking again about the pronoun CI. We'll see some more advanced uses of the particle CI in Italian and how to use it correctly. Ciao! In today's article, we will be talking again about the pronoun CI. Before reading this article make sure to read the first one on the basic uses of CI . 1. Ci vuole/Ci vogliono The verb volerci is used to say it takes, usually referring to time. You will use ci vuole if the amount of time is singular and ci vogliono if plural. For example: Ci vuole un'ora per arrivare a Roma → It takes one hour to get to Rome. Ci vogliono venti minuti per arrivare a casa mia → It takes twenty minutes to get to my house Quanto tempo ci vuole? → How long does it take? Ci vuole molto tempo → It takes a lot of time. 2. Metterci The problem with the verb volerci is that it's very general and impersonal, therefore you can conjugate it only in the third person form singular or plural. What if you want to say that it takes you or a specific person a certain amount of time to do something or to get somewhere? In that case, you will have to use the verb metterci , that is personal! So you conjugate the verb mettere as a normal verb and then add ci in front of it. Adding CI is very important! If you forget CI, then you're just saying to put . Here's the conjugation: Ci metto Ci metti Ci mette Ci mettiamo Ci mettete Ci mettono Let's look at a few examples: Ci metto 20 minuti per venire a casa tua → It takes me 20 minutes to come to your house. Ci vogliono 2 ore in macchina per andare a Firenze, ma io ci metto solo 1 ora con il treno ad alta velocità → It takes 2 hours to go to Florence by car, but it takes me only 1 hour with the high-speed train. 3. Ci di proprietà It is used in colloquial Italian to emphasize the fact of you having or not having something. For example: Hai un fazzoletto? → Do you have a tissue? No, non ce l’ho → No, I don't have it. Hai portato le chiavi? → Did you bring the keys? Sì, ce le ho in tasca → Yes, I have them in my pocket. In this case, CI becomes CE because we’ve got a pronoun ( direct object pronoun ) and when CI is found before another pronoun then you change it to CE. These are called double object pronouns and I've never talked about them on my website or my YouTube channel , so if you're interested in a video on this topic, let me know! 4. CI + NE Sometimes you might need both CI and NE in one sentence. For example: Quante opere ci sono alla Pinacoteca di Brera? → How many artworks are there at Pinacoteca di Brera? Ce ne sono oltre 200 → There are over 200. In this case, you are saying there are (ci sono) which I explained in the previous article. CI becomes CE in front of another pronoun NE. That’s why we say CE NE SONO . Therefore, NE is replacing artworks, but unfortunately, I can't use a normal direct object pronoun as I am talking about a quantity (200). I hope you enjoyed this article and learned a lot from it. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. A presto, Stefano

Struggling with Italian Prepositions of time? In today's article, we are going to look at the difference between the preposition DA and the preposition PER. In today's article, we are going to talk about two Italian prepositions (DA and PER) that are used for many purposes, and one of them is to express time. They are a bit tricky but I am sure this article will help you understand which one to use. Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me! 1. Preposition DA This preposition is used when the action has started in the past but hasn’t finished yet, it’s still ongoing in the present. This is one of the most common mistakes English speakers make in Italian! Let me show you some examples: Studio italiano da 17 anni → I’ve been studying Italian for 17 years. Here, we can see two big differences between Italian and English: In Italian, we’re just using the present “studio”, whereas in English we’re using a past progressive. And using the present makes total sense because I’m still studying Italian. In English you use "for" but in Italian we use " da " not "per". This action started in the past, specifically 17 years ago, but it’s still ongoing because I am still studying Italian. Other examples are: Vivo in Italia da 10 anni → I’ve been living in Italy for 10 years. Gioco a calcio da quando ero piccolo → I’ve played soccer since I was a child. 2. Preposition PER The preposition " per" is used to talk about an action that started in the past but has finished or will start in the future and will finish. Or a limited action, whatsoever. Corro per un’ora e poi faccio una doccia → I’ll go for a run for one hour and then I’ll take a shower . Here I know that I am going out now to run for one hour, so this action eventually starts now and will finish in one hour. Vado in vacanza a Roma per due settimane → I am going on vacation to Rome for two weeks. I know that this action is limited because it’s supposed to last two weeks only. Now let's look at two sentences to compare the use of DA vs the use of PER. Ho studiato italiano per 17 anni. In this case, I am saying that I studied Italian for 17 years, but now I don’t study it anymore. I don't know exactly when I started or when I stopped, but I do know that this action is finished and lasted 17 years. Studio italiano da 17 anni. With DA, I am saying that I started 17 years ago and this action is still ongoing now. Furthermore, I am using the present with the preposition DA, whereas with PER I am using the past as the action is 100% in the past. Ok guys! We are done for today’s article! Did you like it? We will also need to talk about the prepositions IN and TRA , which are very confusing, especially for English speakers. If you want me to do an article on this topic let me know and I’ll do it as soon as I can. If you have any questions about this topic, don't hesitate to send me a message in the contact section of my website. A presto, Stefano Do you want to take your Italian to the next level? Check out my Online Italian course for beginners "Be Italiano" and start learning today to become a real Italiano, like me!