Lessons for English speakers

Learn to read Italian

A short, active path into reading Italian: decode real words from a small sound guide, learn where the endings and the verb sit, meet the past that fables are printed in, and read a whole fable before opening your first book.

13 core sections · ≈ 32 min + 3 optional lookups · ≈ 48 min with everything

How sentences work

3 sections

First sentences: greeting people and saying who you are

≈ 3 min

What you'll learn

ciao is for friends; buongiorno is the safe hello to anybody until mid-afternoon, then buonasera.
Know the six shapes of am / are / is by sight: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono.
The verb ending already says who, so the word for “I” is usually absent.
Nobody says “my name is”: Italian says mi chiamo, nearer to “I call myself”.
my and your copy the ending of the thing owned: la mia casa.

The first four

English	Italian	When you use it
hello / bye	ciaochow	friends and family only — arriving and leaving
good morning	buongiornobwohn-JOR-noh	the safe hello to anybody — until mid-afternoon
good evening	buonaserabwoh-nah-SEH-rah	the safe hello from mid-afternoon on
thank you	grazieGRAH-tsyeh	and pregoPREH-goh is the answer to it

Italian keeps two levels of address, and the greetings are where you first meet them: ciao to a stranger is a small mistake — forgivable, but a mistake.

Am, are, is

English	Italian	Sounds like
I am	sono	SOH-noh
you are	sei	say
he is, she is, it is	è	eh
we are	siamo	SYAH-moh
you are — more than one	siete	SYEH-teh
they are	sono	SOH-noh

Sono is both “I am” and “they are”; the rest of the sentence settles which. These six are the only verb shapes the core path asks you to know by sight.

I am Mina.

Sono Mina.

SOH-noh MEE-nah

Two words, and neither means “I”. son- is the being and the -o on the end is the “I”. Italian has words for I and you — io, tu, lui, lei — and mostly does without them, because the ending has already said who.

Hello, my name is Dara.

Ciao, mi chiamo Dara.

chow mee KYAH-moh DAH-rah

For somebody else it is si chiamasee KYAH-mah“he or she is called”, which says nothing about whether it is a he or a she.

my and your take their shape from the thing owned

amicoah-MEE-koh“friend”

il mio amico“my friend”

A word ending in -o takes mio.

casa“house”

la mia casalah MEE-ah KAH-zah“my house”

A word ending in -a takes mia; yours is la tua casa. And the word for “the” stays in front of a possessive, where English drops it — the next section is about that little word.

Read the line before revealing it

Sono Mina.
No word in it means “I”.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Sono Mina.SOH-noh MEE-nah“I am Mina”
Sei Tobi?
No word for “you”.
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Sei Tobi?say TOH-bee“Are you Tobi?”
La mia casa è piccola.
One held c.
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La mia casa è piccola.lah MEE-ah KAH-zah eh PEEK-koh-lah“My house is small”
uccello
From the decoding section.
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uccellooot-CHEHL-loh“bird”