Italian Gone Sexy (IGS)

Lezione 11-It!

Riciao! (Rehello! lol) Not really a word, though some use it online.

Today I'm going to show you how Italians say 'it'.

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As I already told you, the subject is rarely expressed in Italian because you can tell whom is talking by looking at the verb conjugation.

If the verb ends in -o, for example, you know it's me talking (io mangio), but if it ends in -amo, it's us (noi mangiamo).

In Italian, the word for 'it' does exist but it's hardly ever used.

It=esso masculine or essa feminine.

'Esso' is used primarily to emphasize whom is talking by placing it at the end of the sentence.

Mangio la mela. Cosa mangi? Mangio essa!

I eat the apple. What are you eating? I'm eating it!

Terrible example, I know. Just remember that it doesn't really matter simply because we barely use it.

So what if I wanted to refer to some animal whose gender remains unknown?

You either say the animal (duck, bear etc.) immediately followed by è or you just start the sentence with è if we know which animal we are talking about.

Il gatto è bello. The cat is nice (physically)

Or simply

E' bello. It's nice.

If the noun is plural, feminine singular etc. then just change the verb and adjective endings appropriately (I gatti sono belli/le donne sono belle etc.)

Making it negative

Simply place 'non' before the verb:

Il gatto non è bello/non è bello

I gatti non sono belli/non sono belli

Le donne non sono belle/non sono belle

When the verb itself becomes the subject

What about using 'it' for substantiated verbs? Like, "It's nice to work here/working here is nice".

So easy!

Use this formula: è+adjec.+inf. verb+ complements.

It's nice-è bello

to work-lavorare

here-qui

E' bello lavorare qui.

OR

Lavorare qui è bello.

You may invert the subject, 'lavorare'. In this case, translate it as "working here is nice", hence the absence of the impersonal 'it'.

In these situations, think of 'what' is nice. The job, the ball, the game? In this case, it is the 'work' (subject) that is performing the action of being 'nice', and since it is a verb, it remains masculine, leaving 'bello' just 'bello'.

In order to make this sentence negative, use the following structure:

non+adjective+verb

Non è bello lavorare qui

Lavorare qui non è bello

Exercises:

1) Change the following sentences by adding 'it' (è,) then translate. 

Example: Il cane è intelligente. Answer: E' intelligente (the dog is intelligent, it's intelligent)

1. Questo (this) computer è rotto! (broken)

2. Il foglio non è bianco. (FO-glio-paper)

3. La banca è chiusa (bank, closed).

2) Use the words in brackets to make 'it' sentences in both ways, then translate.

Ex: (Giocare-to play, divertente-fun). Answer: E' divertente giocare/giocare è divertente. It's fun to play/playing is fun.

1. (Cantare-to sing, rilassante-relaxing)

2. (Studiare, non difficile)

3. (Ballare, bello)

4. (Parlare, facile)

5. (Scoprire-discover, non interessante)

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Answers:

1)

1. E' rotto! (This computer is broken, it's broken)

2. Non è bianco. (The paper isn't white, it's not white)

3. E' chiusa. (The bank is closed, it's closed)

2)

1. E' rilassante cantare/Cantare è rilasante-it's relaxing to sing/singing is relaxing

2. Studiare non è difficile/non è difficile studiare-it's not difficult to study/studying is not difficult

3. Ballare è bello/è bello ballare-it's nice to dance/dancing is nice

4. Parlare è facile/è facile parlare-it's easy to talk-talking is easy

5. Scoprire è interessante/è interessante scoprire-it's not interesting to discover/discovering is not interesting. (Obviously this is just an example! I love discovering :3)

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