Learn Italian - Lesson Eleven

Lesson Eleven - Italian Conjunctions, Italian Ci and Ne, and More Italian Vocabulary

Conjunctions are little words and expressions which link together sentences and other words.

The most common conjunctions are relatively free of difficulties to remember and use:

E	And
O	Or
Ma	But
Né, neppure	Neither…nor
Sia....che	Both….and

Examples:

Piero e Marco sono fratelli (Piero and Mark are brothers)

Vuoi la bistecca o il pesce? (Do you want a steak or fish?)

Strano ma vero (Strange but true)

Non è né carne né pesce (It is neither meat nor fish)

Voglio sia il dolce che il caffè (I want both the cake and the coffee)

Other conjunctions connect two different clauses, one of which is depending on the other. In this case the use of the "congiuntivo" is needed:

Benché, sebbene, malgrado, nonostante, quantunque	Although, in spite of, even though
Purché, a patto che, a condizione che	Provided that
Nel caso che	In case

With the following conjunctions the "congiuntivo" is needed only if the subject of the first and second sentence are different:

Affinché, cosicché, in modo che	So that, in order to
Senza che	Without
Prima che	Before

For a detailed overview on how to form and use the "congiuntivo" see lesson 3.

Ci and Ne

These two little words are abundantly used in Italian and therefore it is well worth the effort to learn their meaning and usage. They act as pronouns, i.e. they substitute a noun so that it is not necessary to repeat it within the same sentence or immediately after it.

Sei andata al cinema? Sì ci sono andata (Have you gone to the movie? Yes I have gone to the movie): in this case "ci" takes the meaning of "al cinema".

Quanti panini hai preso? Ne ho preso uno (How many sandwiches have you taken? I have taken one sandwich): in this case "ne" takes the meaning of "panini".

Note: when using "ci" and "ne", they always come before the verb, whereas if you were to use the noun, it would come after the verb:

Sei andata al cinema? Sì ci sono andata OR Sì sono andata al cinema

Quanti panini hai preso? Ne ho preso uno OR Ho preso un panino

As a general rule, "ci" is used to replace a noun or sentence preceded by "in", "su", "con", "a", while "ne" replaces a noun or sentence preceded by "di" or "da".

Furthermore, both "ci" and "ne" are used in idioms:

C'è, ci sono	There is, there are	C'è tanta gente (There is a lot of people)
Ci vuole, ci vogliono	It is necessary	Ci vuole tanta pazienza con lei (It is necessary to be very patient with her)
Metterci	To take (as in "to take 5 minutes to get there")	Quanto ci metti ad andare al lavoro? (How long does it take you to go to work?)
Vederci	To see	Non ci vedo molto bene (I cannot see very well)
Sentirci	To hear	Io ci sento perfettamente (I can hear perfectly well)
Entrarci	To have something to do with	Ma cosa c'entra? (What has this got do to with it?)
Andarsene	To go away, to leave	Ne ho avuto abbastanza, me ne vado (I have had enough, I go away)
Ritornarsene	To return, to go back	Me ne ritorno a casa ora (I go back home now)
Starsene	To stay	Se ne stava tranquillo in spiaggia quando ha iniziato a piovere (He was quietly staying at the beach when it started raining)

ITALIAN PROVERBS AND IDIOMS

Con rispetto parlando	Excuse my French
Cose dell'altro mondo	It is out of this world
D'altro canto	On the other hand
Da morire	To die for
Davvero?	Really?
Dio ce la mandi buona!	Let's hope for the best
È una parola!	Easy to say
Faccio presente che...	Bear in mind
Fatti gli affari tuoi	Mind your business
Fra l'altro...	Among other things
È meglio un uovo oggi di una gallina domani.	A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Fra il dire e il fare c'è di mezzo il mare.	Easier said than done
L'abito non fa il monaco	Clothes do not make the man
Lupo non mangia lupo	Dog does not eat dog
I morti non parlano	Dead men tell no tales

AN ESSENTIAL DICTIONARY OF ITALIAN - PART 4

insistere	To insist
intanto	In the meantime
intendere	To mean
intenzione	Intention
interessante	Interesting
interessare	To be interested
interesse	Interest
internazionale	International
interno	Internal
intero	Whole, entire
intorno	Around
inutile	Useless
invece	Instead
inverno	Winter
invitare	To invite
io	I
isola	Island
istante	Instant
istituto	Institute
italiano	Italian
là	There
Labbro (plural: labbra)	Lip
Lago	Lake
lanciare	To throw, to launch
largo	Large, wide, broad
lasciare	To leave
latino	Latin
lato	Side
latte	Milk
lavorare	To work
lavoro	Work, job
legare	To tie
legge	Law
leggere	To read
leggero	Light (opposite of heavy)
lei	She
lettera	Letter
letto	Bed
levare	To remove,
liberare	To free
libero	Free
libertà	Freedom
libro	Book
limitare	To limit
limite	Limit
linea	Line
lingua	Language, tongue
lontano	Far
loro	They
lotta	Fight
luce	Light (as in light bulb)
lui	He
luna	Moon
lungo	Long
luogo	Place
ma	But
macchina	Car, machine
madre	Mother
maestro	Teacher
magari	Perhaps
maggio	May
malattia	Disease, illness
male	Bad, evil
mamma	Mom
mancare	To miss
mandare	To send
mangiare	To eat
maniera	Manner
mano	Hand
mantenere	To maintain, to keep
mare	Sea
marito	Husband
massa	Mass
massimo	Maximum
materia	Matter, subject
matrimonio	Marriage, wedding
mattina	Morning
medesimo	The same
medico	Doctor, physician
medio	Medium
meglio	Better
memoria	Memory
meno	Minus
mente	Mind
mentre	While, whilst, whereas
mercato	Market
meritare	To merit, to deserve
merito	Merit
mese	Month
mestiere	Profession, job
metà	Half
metro	Meter
mettere	To put
milione	Million
militare	Military
minimo	Minimum
ministro	Minister
minuto	Minute
misura	Measure
moderno	Modern
modo	Way, mode
moglie	Wife
molto	Very
momento	Moment
mondo	World
montagna	Mountain
monte	Mount
morale	Morale, mood
morire	To die
morte	Death
mostrare	To show
motivo	Motive, reason
movimento	Movement
muovere	To move
muro	Wall
musica	Music
nascere	To be born
nascondere	To hide
natura	Nature
naturale	Natural
naturalmente	Naturally
nave	Ship, boat
nazionale	National
nazione	Nation, country
necessario	Necessary
necessità	Necessity
nemico	Enemy
nero	Black
nessuno	No one