Have, want, go, and the short words with “the” inside

Have, want, can, must, go and come, each one word with the doer already inside it. Then the short words that weld a place-word onto “the”, like al and nel, and how to split them.

≈ 4 min of reading · Practise at your own pace

What’s in this chapter

ho, hai, ha are I have, you have, he or she has — the h is silent.
Italian has hunger rather than being hungry: Ho fame is “I have hunger”.
After voglio, posso and devo, the next verb keeps its plain dictionary shape.
Small place-words weld onto “the”: nel in the, sul on the.
When a short word looks unfamiliar, split it — the small word plus the article is hiding inside.

Doing words with the doer built in

Each of these is one word doing the work of two in English. The ending already says who, so no separate word for I or you appears.

hooh · haieye · haah

I have · you have · he or she has

The h says nothing; it keeps these apart on the page.

voglioVOH-lyoh

I want

The gli of million, inside a verb.

possoPOHS-soh · devoDEH-voh

I can · I must

vadoVAH-doh · vaivye

I go · you go

Dove vai?“where are you going?” — one form covers “I go” and “I am going”.

vieniVYEH-nee

you come — and, said to somebody, “come!”

Vieni con me.“Come with me.” After con“with”, “me” is me, never mi.

I am hungry.

Ho fame.

oh FAH-meh

Word for word: “I have hunger”. Italian uses have where English uses be, in the states a body can be in — fame“hunger” is a thing, not a description.

Can you see the tree?

Puoi vedere l'albero?

pwoy veh-DEH-reh LAHL-beh-roh

puoi“you can” carries the “you”, and vedere is the plain form of vedo — the shape a dictionary lists, ending in -are, -ere or -ire. English does the same job with “to”.

Short words with “the” welded on

Italian glues a small place-word onto the word for the and writes the result as one word. Read a row left to right to see both halves.

a + il

alahl

to the

in + il

nelnehl

in the — and in + la = nella

da + il

daldahl

from the

su + l'

sull'sool

on the — sull'alberosool-LAHL-beh-roh“on the tree”. Both halves are still in there: when an unfamiliar short word starts with a, d, n or s, try splitting it. One phrase takes no article at all: Vado a casa.VAH-doh ah KAH-zah“I am going home.” — a fixed phrase, learned whole.

Split the short word, then read the line

Vado nel bosco.
nel is two words welded together.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Vado nel bosco.VAH-doh nehl BOH-skoh“I am going to the wood”
Voglio bere l'acqua.
bereBEH-reh is the plain form of “drink”.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Voglio bere l'acqua.VOH-lyoh BEH-reh LAHK-kwah“I want to drink the water”
Non posso vedere il coniglio.
non still sits straight in front of the verb.
Show answer +Hide answer −
Non posso vedere il coniglio.nohn POHS-soh veh-DEH-reh eel koh-NEE-lyoh“I cannot see the rabbit”

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