Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 2

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Book I: Speaking Italian in Everyday Settings 5

Chapter 1: Exploring Pronunciations and Italian You May Already Know 7

You Already Know Some Italian! 8

Getting to the root of cognates 9

Picking up popular expressions 9

Mouthing Off: Basic Pronunciation 11

Starting with the alphabet 11

Vowels 12

Consonants 14

Stressing Syllables Properly 18

Chapter 2: Dealing with Numbers, Dates, and Time 21

Counting from Zero to a Billion: Cardinal Numbers 21

Building numbers in Italian 23

Speaking numbers like a native 25

Making sense of addresses 26

Putting Things in Order: Ordinal Numbers 27

Looking at the Calendar: Days, Months, and Seasons 29

Days of the week 29

Months and seasons of the year 30

Specific dates 31

Telling Time 34

Familiarizing Yourself with the Metric System 38

Converting the temperature to/from Celsius 39

Measuring in metric units 40

Chapter 3: Buongiorno! Salutations! 41

Looking at Common Greetings and Goodbyes 41

Issuing a greeting 41

Deciding between formal and friendly 43

Replying to a greeting 43

Specifying your reunion 44

Making Introductions 44

Introducing yourself 45

Introducing other people 47

Talking about Language, Countries, and Nationalities 49

Finding out whether someone speaks Italian 49

Talking about where you come from 50

Extending and Responding to Invitations 54

Chapter 4: Making Small Talk 55

Discovering Interrogative Pronouns 55

Asking simple questions 56

Taking care of basic needs 58

Talking About Your Family 60

Discussing What You Do 61

Talking shop 62

Discussing your job 62

Chatting about the Weather 64

Chapter 5: Casa Dolce Casa: Home Sweet Home 67

Describing Where You Live 67

Stating your country and hometown 67

Noting the type of home you have 68

Taking a Tour of Your Home 69

Il soggiorno: The living room 69

La cucina: The kitchen 71

La sala da pranzo: The dining room 72

La camera da letto: The bedroom 75

Il bagno: The bathroom 76

Other areas around the house 77

Chapter 6: Using the Phone and Talking Business 81

Phoning Made Simple 81

Connecting via cellphones, texts, and video 82

Calling for business or pleasure 84

Making Arrangements over the Phone 86

Asking for People and Getting the Message 88

Discussing Your Job 91

Referring to coworkers 92

Interviewing 92

Covering compensation and breaks 93

Describing things around the office 93

Chapter 7: Food, Glorious Food, and Drink 97

Eating, Italian-Style 97

Having breakfast 97

Eating lunch 98

Enjoying dinner 100

Drinking, Italian-Style 103

Expressing your love for espresso 103

Beverages with even more of a kick 105

Dining Out, from Start to Finish 106

Making reservations 106

Paying for your meal 108

Shopping for Food 109

Dal macellaio (butcher shop) 109

Pesce (fish) 109

At the panetteria (bread shop) 110

Chapter 8: Shopping, Italian-Style 115

Checking Out Stores 115

Deciding between department stores and boutiques 116

Navigating the store 116

Admiring shop displays 118

Clothing Yourself 119

Checking out various items 119

Sizing up Italian sizes 119

Talking definitely and indefinitely 123

Coloring your words 124

Choosing the right fabric 125

Accessorizing 126

Narrowing Your Options 127

Comparing items, more or less 128

Considering price 129

Book II: Exploring and Wandering About 133

Chapter 1: Where Is the Colosseum? Asking Directions 135

Finding Your Way: Asking for Specific Places 135

Mapping the quarters and following directions 137

Expressing verbs on the move 140

Exploring Italian Cities and Towns 143

La piazza: The heart of the Italian city 143

Viewing famous sites and architectural styles 143

Finding the places you're looking for 144

Chapter 2: Having Fun Out on the Town 147

Experiencing Italian Culture 147

Taking in a movie 149

Going to the theater 150

Exploring a museum 152

Experiencing a local festival 153

Taking in the Italian Music Scene 154

Catching a concert 154

Exploring the world of Italian opera 156

Popular Italian music 158

Inviting Fun 159

Chapter 3: Exploring the Outdoors, Sports, and Hobbies 163

Getting Close to Nature 164

Playing and Watching Sports 166

Using the right names and verbs for sports talk 167

Watching sports 171

Talking about Hobbies and Interests 173

Speaking Reflexively 176

Chapter 4: Planning a Trip 179

Deciding When and Where to Go 179

Going to agriturismo 181

Going to the beach and spa 182

Visiting castles, palaces, and estates 182

Taking a Tour 183

Booking a Trip outside of Italy 185

Arriving and Leaving with Arrivare and Partire 187

Using the Simple Future Tense 188

Chapter 5: Money, Money, Money 189

Going to the Bank 189

Changing Money 190

Using Credit Cards 193

Looking at Various Currencies 195

Chapter 6: Getting Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and Buses 199

Getting through the Airport 199

Checking in 200

Dealing with excess baggage 202

Waiting to board the plane 203

Coping after landing 204

Dealing with lost luggage 204

Going through Customs 204

Renting a Car 206

Navigating Public Transportation 208

Calling a taxi 208

Moving by train 209

Going by bus or tram 210

Reading maps and schedules 212

Being Early or Late 213

Chapter 7: Finding a Place to Stay 215

Choosing a Place to Stay 215

Reserving a Room 216

Checking In 219

Chapter 8: Handling Emergencies 223

Getting Help Fast 223

Receiving Medical Attention 224

Describing what ails you 224

Understanding professional medical vocabulary 228

Getting what you need at the pharmacy 228

Braving the dentist 229

Handling Legal Matters 229

Reporting an accident 229

Reporting a robbery 230

Reporting a lost or stolen passport 233

Getting legal help 235

Dealing with Car Trouble 236

Book III: Grasping Basic Grammar Essentials for Communication 239

Chapter 1: What Do You Know? Parts of Speech 241

Recognizing the Parts of Speech 241

Nouns 245

Pronouns 246

Articles 246

Verbs 247

Adjectives 247

Adverbs 248

Prepositions 249

Conjunctions 249

Interjections 250

Conjugating Verbs in the Present Tense 250

Identifying infinitives 250

Establishing subject-verb agreement 251

Moving on to Other Verb Tenses 251

Composing a Simple Sentence 252

Chapter 2: Noun and Article Basics: Gender and Number 253

A Primer on Articles 254

Definite articles: Dealing with "the" 254

Indefinite articles: Saying "a" or "an" 256

Distinguishing between Masculine and Feminine Nouns 257

Recognizing common noun endings 257

Sorting nouns into classes 258

Moving from Singular to Plural: Basic Rules 260

Making Exceptions to the Basic Rules on Number 261

Changing more than just the ending 262

Changing only the article 263

Using nouns only in the singular or the plural 263

Deciding When to Include an Article 264

When (and when not) to use a definite article 264

When (and when not) to use an indefinite article 266

Chapter 3: All about Pronouns 267

Meeting the Subject Pronouns 268

Knowing when to use subject pronouns 269

Adapting subject pronouns for informal and formal usage 269

Emphasizing Stressed Pronouns 270

Digging into Direct Object Pronouns 271

What direct object pronouns are and what they do 271

Where to place direct object pronouns 272

Investigating Indirect Object Pronouns 273

Forming Double Pronouns 274

Figuring out how to replace direct and indirect object pronouns 275

Checking out common double pronouns 276

But Wait, There's More! Special Italian Pronouns 276

The adverbial pronoun ci 277

The pronoun ne 278

When the Subject Is Also the Object: Reflexive Pronouns 280

Chapter 4: Adjectives, Adverbs, and Comparisons 281

Matching Adjectives to Nouns in Gender and Number 282

Regular adjectives 283

Irregular adjectives 284

Invariable adjectives 285

Associating One Adjective with More Than One Noun 286

Putting Adjectives in Their Place 286

Recognizing the adjectives that come before nouns 287

Using placement to change an adjective's meaning 287

Forming Adverbs the Italian Way 288

Original adverbs 288

Derived adverbs 290

Finding a Place for Adverbs 290

Making Comparisons 292

Comparisons of equality 292

Comparisons of inequality 293

The best and the worst: Superlatives 294

Special comparatives and superlatives 295

Chapter 5: Meeting the...