Read Italian All-in-One For Dummies Online
Authors: Consumer Dummies
Italian All-in-One For Dummies
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013942766
ISBN 978-1-118-51060-5 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-51057-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51062-9 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51053-7 (ebk)
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Table of Contents
Book I: Speaking Italian in Everyday Settings
Chapter 1: Exploring Pronunciations and Italian You May Already Know
You Already Know Some Italian!
Getting to the root of cognates
Picking up popular expressions
Mouthing Off: Basic Pronunciation
Chapter 2: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time
Counting from Zero to a Billion: Cardinal Numbers
Speaking numbers like a native
Putting Things in Order: Ordinal Numbers
Looking at the Calendar: Days, Months, and Seasons
Months and seasons of the year
Familiarizing Yourself with the Metric System
Converting the temperature to/from Celsius
Chapter 3: Buongiorno! Salutations!
Looking at Common Greetings and Goodbyes
Deciding between formal and friendly
Talking about Language, Countries, and Nationalities
Finding out whether someone speaks Italian
Talking about where you come from
Extending and Responding to Invitations
Discovering Interrogative Pronouns
Chapter 5: Casa Dolce Casa: Home Sweet Home
Stating your country and hometown
Noting the type of home you have
La sala da pranzo: The dining room
La camera da letto: The bedroom
Chapter 6: Using the Phone and Talking Business
Connecting via cellphones, texts, and video
Calling for business or pleasure
Making Arrangements over the Phone
Asking for People and Getting the Message
Covering compensation and breaks
Describing things around the office
Chapter 7: Food, Glorious Food, and Drink
Expressing your love for espresso
Beverages with even more of a kick
Dining Out, from Start to Finish
At the panetteria (bread shop)
Chapter 8: Shopping, Italian-Style
Deciding between department stores and boutiques
Talking definitely and indefinitely
Book II: Exploring and Wandering About
Chapter 1: Where Is the Colosseum? Asking Directions
Finding Your Way: Asking for Specific Places
Mapping the quarters and following directions
Exploring Italian Cities and Towns
La piazza: The heart of the Italian city
Viewing famous sites and architectural styles
Finding the places you're looking for
Chapter 2: Having Fun Out on the Town
Taking in the Italian Music Scene
Exploring the world of Italian opera
Chapter 3: Exploring the Outdoors, Sports, and Hobbies
Using the right names and verbs for sports talk
Talking about Hobbies and Interests
Visiting castles, palaces, and estates
Booking a Trip outside of Italy
Arriving and Leaving with Arrivare and Partire
Chapter 5: Money, Money, Money
Chapter 6: Getting Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and Buses
Navigating Public Transportation
Chapter 7: Finding a Place to Stay
Chapter 8: Handling Emergencies
Understanding professional medical vocabulary
Getting what you need at the pharmacy
Reporting a lost or stolen passport
Book III: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials for Communication
Chapter 1: What Do You Know? Parts of Speech
Recognizing the Parts of Speech
Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense
Establishing subject-verb agreement
Moving on to Other Verb Tenses
Chapter 2: Noun and Article Basics: Gender and Number
Definite articles: Dealing with “the”
Indefinite articles: Saying “a” or “an”
Distinguishing between Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Recognizing common noun endings
Moving from Singular to Plural: Basic Rules
Making Exceptions to the Basic Rules on Number
Changing more than just the ending
Using nouns only in the singular or the plural
Deciding When to Include an Article
When (and when not) to use a definite article
When (and when not) to use an indefinite article
Knowing when to use subject pronouns
Adapting subject pronouns for informal and formal usage
Digging into Direct Object Pronouns
What direct object pronouns are and what they do
Where to place direct object pronouns
Investigating Indirect Object Pronouns
Figuring out how to replace direct and indirect object pronouns
Checking out common double pronouns
But Wait, There's More! Special Italian Pronouns
When the Subject Is Also the Object: Reflexive Pronouns
Chapter 4: Adjectives, Adverbs, and Comparisons
Matching Adjectives to Nouns in Gender and Number
Associating One Adjective with More Than One Noun
Putting Adjectives in Their Place
Recognizing the adjectives that come before nouns
Using placement to change an adjective's meaning
Forming Adverbs the Italian Way
The best and the worst: Superlatives
Special comparatives and superlatives
Chapter 5: Meeting the Challenge of Prepositions
Combining Basic Prepositions with Articles
Forming Complements (Preposition + Noun, Name, or Pronoun)
Chapter 6: Demonstrative, Indefinite, and Possessive Qualifiers
Pointing to Something with Questo and Quello
Conveying Something Indefinite
Indefinite words used as adjectives or pronouns
Indefinite words used solely as pronouns
Indefinite words that express a part of a set
Assigning Ownership with Possessive Qualifiers
Chapter 7: Making Connections with Conjunctions and Relative Pronouns
Linking Words and Clauses with Conjunctions and Prepositions
Connecting words or sentences with coordinating conjunctions
Joining a dependent clause with an independent one
Joining Clauses That Belong Together
Dealing with your average relative pronouns
Economy of speech: Combined pronouns
Chapter 8: Asking and Answering Questions
Looking at Ways of Asking Questions in Italian
Digging Deeper: Asking More Complex Questions
Employing interrogative adjectives
Requesting the location and time: Interrogative adverbs
Inquiring about who, what, which one, and how many: Interrogative pronouns
Providing Detailed Answers to Questions
Answering Questions Negatively
Book IV: Mastering Italian Verbs and Tenses
Chapter 1: Jumping into Action with Italian Regular Verbs
Conjugating Regular Verbs in Italian
Communicating Quickly with Verbs
Looking More Closely at Personal Subject Pronouns
Chapter 2: Talking in the Present Tense with Irregular Verbs
To Be or Not to Be: Conjugating Essere
To Have and to Hold: Conjugating Avere
To Make or to Do: Conjugating Fare
To Come and to Go: Venire and Andare
Declaring Needs, Wants, and Abilities: Dovere, Volere, and Potere
The -orre, -urre, and -arre Verbs
Using Irregular Verbs in Idiomatic Expressions
Idiomatic expressions with essere