Weight and quantities are measured in "grammi" or "gr" (grams), "etti" (quarters of a pound), "chili" or "kg" (kilos) and "litri" (quarts):

Length is measured in "centimetri" or "cm", "metri" or "m" and "chilometri" or "km":

Temperature is calculated in "gradi centigradi" (centigrades). To convert centigrades into Fahrenheit, multiply centigrade by 1.8 and add 32.

In January 2002 every country in the European Union, changed its traditional currency in order to adopt the Euro.

Automatic currency convertor

In Italy, "le carte di credito" (credit cards) are used in an increasing number of restaurants and shops.

In some recipes the quantities (hectograms, grams ...) of the ingredients are not given but they are calculated "by eye". Or to taste (q.b. = just enough).

Watch this video. It is the recipe for "torta salata di peperoni e radicchio" (peppers and radicchio-salad pie).

Can you prepare it?

Can you hear the following words?

To describe or tell a story that happened in the past we need to learn the past tense of verbs and the past participle.

The past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding the endings "ato, uto, ito", to the stems of the infinitive (instead of "are, ere, ire").

Infinitive :
cant-are, cad-ere, dorm-ire (to sing, to fall, to sleep)

Past Participle :
cant-ato, cad-uto, dorm-ito (sung, fallen, slept)

The past participle is used to form compound tenses like the "passato prossimo" (ho cantato = I have sung, sono caduto = I have fallen...) or it may be used as an "adjective*". When used as an "adjective" it agrees with the noun to whom it refers: "la canzone cantata da lui è famosa" = the song sung by him is famous).

* grammatically this definition is not correct but in practice it helps to use the past participle.

In English, the past participle is formed by adding "ed" to the root of the verb:

Tornare (=to return) tornato ( =returned)

Sorridere (=to smile) sorriso ( =smiled)

Navigare (=to navigate) navigato ( =navigated)

etc.

In the English language, many verbs have an irregular past participle:

Andare (=to go) andato ( =gone)

Venire (=to come) venuto ( =come)

Mangiare (=to eat) mangiato ( =eaten)

etc.

Needless to say, even in Italian we find many verbs that have an irregular past participle:

The Italian language has three main forms of past:

The " passato prossimo " ( recent-past tense ) is used to express an action that began and was completed in the past ( I ate the apple, I did eat the apple, I have eaten the apple ...). We can try to visualize it like this:

The " imperfetto " ( descriptive-past tense ) is used to express a habit or an action that was frequently repeated in the past ( as a child, I used to go to the beach every day, I would go to the beach every day ), or to describe a situation in the past ( when I was living in Rome... ). We can try to visualize it like this:

Il " passato remoto " ( remote-past tense ) is rarely used in conversation (except for some regions). It expresses an action completed in the past, that no longer has reference in the present ( Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452 ). Mostly, it is a past tense widely used in writing for historical or literary narrations. We can try to visualize it like this:

Our beginner course presents only the "passato prossimo".

You may notice that the "passato prossimo" is formed with an auxiliary verb (essere o avere) plus the past participle.

The auxiliary " avere " is used with most verbs: "io ho mangiato, ho dormito, ho giocato..." (I have eaten, I have slept, I have played)

The auxiliary " essere " is used with verbs that express motion: "io sono andato, sono venuto, sono uscito, sono partito, sono arrivato..." (I have gone, I have come, I have gone out, I have left, I have arrived) a state of being: "sono stato, sono nato..." (I have been, I was born...) or with reflexive verbs: "mi sono lavato..." (I have washed myself)

With the auxiliary "essere", the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb: "la ragazza è andatA, il ragazzo è andatO, i ragazzi sono andatI, le ragazze sono andatE..." (the girl has gone, the boy has gone, the girls are gone, the boys are gone...)

An "h" is added before the vowel "i" in the verbs ending in "g" or "c" + are . Some of this verbs are: dimenticare (to forget), cercare (to look for), spiegare (to explain). Tu dimentichi, noi dimentichiamo, tu spieghi...

In Italian we have a special expression to say 'grocery shopping': "fare la spesa". The word "spesa" derives from the Medieval Latin "expìnsus" (speso = spent), past participle of the verb "expendere" (spendere = to spend).

To indicate a generic shopping for dresses, shoes, books or other products, Italians say "fare compere" o "fare acquisti".