Phrase Acquisition
These Grammar lessons are based on a principle we call phrase acquisition. In each lesson you’ll learn (acquire) a set of model phrases that exemplify one or more grammatical concepts. By learning the phrases you’ll automatically learn the underlying grammar, without having to memorize a lot of formal rules. This approach is similar to the way everyone acquires their first language, and as such it directly utilises the part of the brain that is specialised for language learning.
Preview
The model phrases for this lesson are shown below. By the time you finish this lesson’s exercises you will know all these phrases inside out. You’ll be able to understand them when you hear them spoken and you’ll be able to speak them yourself at will. If you like, you can listen to some or all of the phrases now by pressing the button next to each one. However you should not try to memorize anything yet. Just proceed straight to the exercises, which are specifically designed to teach you everything step by step.
Exercises
The exercises for each lesson are divided into two groups.
- Vocabulary Exercises, for learning the new vocabulary used in the model phrases.
- Phrase Exercises, for learning the model phrases themselves.
The vocabulary exercises are merely a stepping stone that make learning the model phrases easier. If you don’t find the vocabulary exercises useful then you can safely skip them and go straight to the phrase exercises.
Exercises generally come in pairs - a listening exercise and a speaking exercise. Most people find it easier to do the listening exercise first, but you can do them in whichever order you prefer. If you like you can even alternate between the two, completing each one a little at a time. Language Speedway will always remember what you’re up to in each exercise, so you can stop and start the exercises as often as you like and even complete them over several days if necessary.
Vocabulary Exercises
Attention new students. If you’ve never used Language Speedway’s exercise system before, we recommend you try the Exercise System Demonstration before continuing.
Do the vocabulary exercises now by clicking on the following links.
Phrase Exercises
Below you’ll find the phrase exercises where you’ll learn this lesson’s model phrases. At first you’ll be learning them as set phrases, without understanding the underlying grammar. But as you proceed through each exercise you’ll start to recognise patterns and, without realising it, you’ll start to build up your own internal grammar of the Italian language.
In the speaking exercise, be sure to say all your answers out loud. In addition to helping you develop your Italian accent, saying everything out loud makes the learning process more effective.
Key concepts
In each lesson we will conclude with a list of key concepts that you should take away with you. You’ll have already worked out most of this information for yourself while doing the exercises, but reading through the key concepts will help to solidify your knowledge and fill in any details you may have missed. It will also allow you to associate with each concept the standard grammatical terminology that’s used for describing that concept. Knowing the standard terminology will be important if you ever need to refer to a more traditional grammar text.
Here are the key concepts for this lesson.
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Italian verbs have different endings (parlo, parli, parla) that indicate who is performing the action represented by the verb.
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You can turn any statement into a question simply by raising your voice at the end (or by adding a question mark when writing). The word order does not normally change as it does in English.
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All Italian nouns have a gender: masculine or feminine. In this lesson you learnt the masculine nouns ragazzo, fratello and telefono, and the feminine nouns ragazza, sorella and casa.
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The indefinite article (a in English) is different for masculine and feminine nouns (un ragazzo, una ragazza).
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Italian adjectives have masculine and feminine versions that are used with the corresponding type of noun. In this lesson you learnt the adjectives italiano (feminine italiana) and alto (feminine alta).
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When using an adjective to describe a person you have to use the masculine gender for a man and the feminine gender for a woman. This also applies if you’re describing yourself or your conversation partner. So, for instance, if you are a man you would say “sono italiano”, I’m Italian, but if you are a woman you would say “sono italiana”. Likewise if you are speaking to a man you would say “sei italiano”, you’re Italian, but if you are speaking to a woman you would say “sei italiana”.
In this course, all the recordings have been made by a male speaker, so you will normally hear the masculine versions of these sorts of phrases (sono italiano, sei italiano), but when the phrase would be different if spoken by or to a woman, we will indicate this with parentheses: sono italiano(a), sei italiano(a). You should practise the feminine versions as well.
Next Lesson: Grammar 2
