0.2.2 Pronouns & Origins

Question 1

Translate to Italian:

The United States

(The U.S.)

Answer 1

gli Stati Uniti

l’USA

Remember how adjectives appear after the noun? That’s why Uniti goes after Stati in Italian.

Question 2

Translate to Italian:

an American boy

Answer 2

un ragazzo americano

American = americano

Adjectives for nationality, such as americano, are always lowercase in Italian.

Question 3

Translate to Italian:

an American

(female)

Answer 3

un’americana

Typically, you’d find the word una before a feminine noun.

But Italian has to flow, so instead of saying una americana and getting stuck on that awkward double a between the two words, it chops off the last letter of una and becomes un’americana.

Question 4

Translate to Italian:

an American

(male)

Answer 4

un americano

Question 5

Translate to Italian:

an Italian

(female)

Answer 5

un’italiana

Typically, you’d find the word una before a feminine noun.

But Italian has to flow, so instead of saying una italiana and getting stuck on that awkward double a between the two words, it chops off the last letter of una and becomes un’italiana.

Question 6

Translate to Italian:

an Italian

(male)

Answer 6

un italiano

Question 7

Translate to Italian:

I

(the personal pronoun)

Answer 7

io

Question 8

Translate to Italian:

you

(singular)

Answer 8

tu

tu means “you” when you’re just talking to one person.

Question 9

Translate to Italian:

you

(plural)

Answer 9

voi

voi means “you” when you’re talking to more than one person.

Question 10

Translate to Italian:

you

(formal)

Answer 10

Lei

This still means “you”, but it’s used for strangers as a mark of respect.

Question 11

Translate to Italian:

he

Answer 11

lui

Question 12

Translate to Italian:

she

Answer 12

lei

Question 13

Translate to Italian:

we

Answer 13

noi

Question 14

Translate to Italian:

they

Answer 14

loro

Question 15

Translate to Italian:

I am a woman

Answer 15

io sono una donna

I am = io sono

You can also just say sono. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun io. The verb contains that information.

Question 16

Translate to Italian:

you are a man

(singular)

Answer 16

tu sei un uomo

you (singular) are = tu sei

You can also just say sei. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun tu. The verb contains that information.

Question 17

Translate to Italian:

you are Italians

(plural)

Answer 17

voi siete italiani

you (plural) are = voi siete

You can also just say siete. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun voi. The verb contains that information.

Question 18

Translate to Italian:

you are a professor

(formal)

Answer 18

Lei è un professore

you (formal) are = Lei è

You can also just say è. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun Lei. The verb contains that information.

Question 19

Translate to Italian:

he is cute

Answer 19

lui è carino

he is = lui è

You can also just say è. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun lui. The verb contains that information.

Question 20

Translate to Italian:

Ferdinando is cute.

Answer 20

Ferdinando è carino.

he is = lui è
X is = X è

Question 21

Translate to Italian:

she is beautiful

Answer 21

lei è bella

she is = lei è

You can also just say è. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun lei. The verb contains that information.

Question 22

Translate to Italian:

Beatrice is beautiful.

Answer 22

Beatrice è bella.

she is = lei è
X is = X è

Question 23

Translate to Italian:

we are students

Answer 23

noi siamo studenti

we are = noi siamo

You can also just say siamo. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun noi. The verb contains that information.

Question 24

Translate to Italian:

they are young

Answer 24

loro sono giovani

they are = loro sono

You can also just say sono. Because verbs change in Italian based on the the subject (I, you, he, she, we etc), you don’t have to include the pronoun loro. The verb contains that information.

Question 25

# Translate to Italian: I _am_ American. | (female)

Answer 25

Io _sono_ americana. ## Footnote An American man is described as *americano*. An American woman is described as *americana*.

Question 26

[What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 26

**Donna**: Sei americano? **Uomo**: No, sono italiano. ## Footnote _Translation:_ **Woman**: Are you american? **Man**: No, I'm Italian. In Italian, you don't always have to place the subject such as "I", "you", "he", or "she" before a verb. The verb changes based on the subject, so it already tells us this information! You could say *Tu sei americano?* But you can just say *Sei americano?* and we know that you mean *tu* from the verb *sei*.

Question 27

# Translate to Italian: Laura _is_ Italian.

Answer 27

Laura _è_ italiana.

Question 28

# Translate to Italian: Is Maria _Roman_? No, she's _Sicilian_.

Answer 28

Maria è _romana_? No, è _siciliana_. ## Footnote In Italian, you don't always have to place the subject such as "I", "you", "he", or "she" before a verb. The verb changes based on the subject, so it already tells us this information! Here, it's implied that we're already talking about Maria, and the word *è* means "is", so there's no need to say *lei* in the answer. (It's not wrong if you do! But most people will skip this word.)

Question 29

# Translate to Italian: Ma'am, _are you_ Italian?

Answer 29

Signora, _Lei è_ italiana? ## Footnote "she" = *lei* "you" (formal) = *Lei* Spelled differently, but pronounced the same. In conversation, you can identify which is being used from context. If someone says *Lei* instead of *tu* directly to you, they're being polite and formal. People who don't know you might use the word *Lei*, while your friends and peers will usually say *tu*.

Question 30

# Translate to Italian: He is *from Tuscany*.

Answer 30

Lui è _toscano_. ## Footnote In English, we usually say that someone is "from X". We like to use the word "from", then name the place. Italians tend to use adjectives to describe where people are from. So, while an English speaker would be more likely to say that someone is "is from France", and Italian would be more likely to say that this person is *è francese*.

Question 31

# Translate to Italian: _Where_ is he from?

Answer 31

Di _dove_ viene? ## Footnote where = *dove* from = *di* Literally, this says: "Of where he comes?"

Question 32

# Translate to Italian: [What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 32

**Uomo**: Ciao, di dove vieni? **Donna**: Sono americana. E tu? **Uomo**: Sono italiano. ## Footnote _Translation_: **Man**: "Hello, where are you from?" **Woman**: "I'm American, and you?" **Man**: "I'm Italian." Did you notice the endings of the adjectives? The adjective *americana* ends in A here because it's describing a woman. Meanwhile, the adjective *italiano* ends in O here because it's describing a man. Unfortunately, there is no widely accepted alternative for non-binary people in Italian. Some people will use an asterisk in writing, like this: italian* Some people will refer to themselves as *loro* = "they" and describe themselves with the masculine plural I ending. However, neither of these practices are widespread or commonly understood in Italian. (We are describing the grammar, not endorsing it!)

Question 33

# Translate to Italian: We _are_ Italian.

Answer 33

Noi _siamo_ italiani. ## Footnote Note that the adjective *italiano* changes to *italiani* to agree with the plural *noi*.

Question 34

# Translate to Italian: all

Answer 34

tutti

Question 35

# Translate to Italian: You are all English, right? | (voi)

Answer 35

Voi siete tutti inglesi, vero? ## Footnote *vero* = "true" In English, you can add the word "right" after a sentence to turn it into a question. You can do the same thing with *vero* in Italian.

Question 36

[What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 36

**Uomo**: Siete italiane? **Donna**: No, siamo americani. ## Footnote _Translation_: **Man**: "Are you Italian?" **Woman**: "No, we're American."

Question 37

# Translate to Italian: They _are_ cute!

Answer 37

Loro _sono_ carine.

Question 38

[What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 38

**Donna**: Voi siete tutti studenti? **Uomo**: Sì, siamo studenti d'italiano. ## Footnote _Translation_: **Woman**: "Are you all students?" **Man**: "Yes, we are students of Italian."

Question 39

# Translate to Italian: an Italian _course_

Answer 39

un _corso_ d'italiano ## Footnote of = *di* Before a vowel, *di* becomes *d'*. Here it specifies that this is a course where you learn Italian. Otherwise, *un corso italiano* would mean an Italian-made course, but doesn't specify the subject.

Question 40

# Translate to Italian: an Italian _class_

Answer 40

una _classe_ d'italiano ## Footnote *corso* refers to the actual subject that you study. *classe* refers to the group of people studying that subject together.

Question 41

# Translate to Italian: _Who_ is [that]?

Answer 41

_Chi_ è? ## Footnote who = *chi* In Italian, you don't need to add the word "that" in this question.

Question 42

# Translate to Italian: Who's that _guy_?

Answer 42

Chi è quel _tipo_? ## Footnote a guy = *un tipo* quel = *that* This is a commonly used slang instead of saying *uomo*, especially when you don't really know or care about the person. (Like saying "some guy" in English.)

Question 43

# Translate to Italian: Who are they?

Answer 43

Chi sono? ## Footnote In Italian, you don't need to add the word *loro* ("they") in this question. We can tell what you mean from the verb *sono*.

Question 44

# Translate to Italian: _What_ is [that]?

Answer 44

Che cos'è? ## Footnote what = *che* Note that *cos'é* is a contraction of *cosa* and *é*.

Question 45

[What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 45

**Uomo**: Chi sono? **Donna**: Sono le donne americane. ## Footnote _Translation_: **Man**: "Who are they?" **Woman**: "They are the American women."

Question 46

[What is being said in the audio recording?]

Answer 46

**Uomo**: Che cos'è? **Donna**: È un gelato. ## Footnote _Translation_: **Man**: "What is that?" **Woman**: "It's an ice cream." A foodie will insist that there is a difference between "gelato" and "ice cream", but in real life, these words are often used interchangeably.