Chapter 6 of 16 · Explore the Italian path
How sentences work · Chapter 6 of 16
First sentences: greeting people and saying who you are
Say hello, say thank you, and introduce yourself. Then learn the six shapes of am, are and is, so you can tell who a sentence is about.
≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- 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.
Four greetings you can use today
These four cover arriving, leaving and saying thanks. The last column tells you who each one is safe with.
| English | Italian | When you use it |
|---|---|---|
| hello / bye | ciao | friends and family only — arriving and leaving |
| good morning | buongiorno | the safe hello to anybody — until mid-afternoon |
| good evening | buonasera | the safe hello from mid-afternoon on |
| thank you | grazie | and prego |
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 and is, for every person
English uses three words here. Italian changes the word for each person. You only have to recognise these, so read down the middle column.
| 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 chiama
Say my and your, and match the thing owned
The word for my copies the ending of the thing owned. Compare the two rows and watch that ending change.
Read the line before revealing it
- Sono Mina.
No word in it means “I”.
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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”