You have many great reasons to learn Italian. It’s a beautiful language that will open the doors to Italian culture. Just as you need to carefully plan a vacation in Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast, you’ll need to plan your language learning journey. Take this article as your roadmap to start from general concepts and gradually deepen your knowledge. Get a panoramic of the Italian parts of speech and then navigate each part at your own pace. Practice and a solid Dynamic Immersion method will do the rest—from the first ciao (hi) to proficiency. Let’s go!
Table of Contents
What are the parts of speech in Italian?
Le parti del discorso (Italian parts of speech) are the grammatical categories that Italian words fall into based on their function. Every language has its own. For example, there are eight parts of speech in English (including nouns, pronouns, and verbs), and they determine the position and role each word will have in a sentence.
Italian has nine parts of speech (just one more than English) and learning them is straightforward since they closely correspond to what you already know.
| Italian | English | Function |
| nomi/sostantivi | nouns | indicate a person, animal, place, thing, or idea |
| verbi | verbs | indicate actions or state facts |
| aggettivi | adjectives | describe a noun |
| articoli | articles* | specify gender, number, and definiteness of a noun |
| pronomi | pronouns | replace a noun to avoid repetition |
| avverbi | adverbs | add details to a verb |
| preposizioni | prepositions | indicate the relationship between two nouns |
| congiunzioni | conjunctions | join two phrases or items |
| interiezioni | interjections | express emotions |
* Articles are usually excluded from the English parts of speech.
Why is it important to know them?
Parts of speech form the framework for learning Italian grammar. Think of the Italian language as a giant Rubik’s cube made up of thousands of pieces (words). The parts of speech are like the colors that help you organize and solve the puzzle. They determine the correct order of words in a sentence.
For instance, adjectives always come before nouns in English. Italian is more flexible with word placement, but it still has some fixed positions—like articles that should always precede nouns.
Italian language parts of speech are also key to understanding which words follow the rules for gender-number agreement. That’s why grammar in Italian makes a distinction between:
- parti variabili (variable parts of speech)
- parti invariabili (invariable parts of speech)
Variable Italian parts of speech
The five variable parts of speech in Italian are nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, and pronouns. They all change their endings depending on gender and number, but verbs and pronouns have the most variables.
I nomi or sostantivi (nouns)
Nouns are the types of words we use to name people, animals, things, places, and abstract concepts. Without them, we’d have to describe everything in detail just to be understood!
Take the word pizza, for example. When you say, Vorrei una pizza (I would like a pizza), everyone knows what you mean. But if the noun pizza didn’t exist to describe all the ingredients and finished product you think of, then you’d have to say, “I would like an Italian flatbread with tomato and cheese that’s baked in an oven.” Communicating or ordering food in Italian would be a nightmare!
That said, Italian nouns are not all the same. There are two main categories:
- Nomi propri (proper nouns) are the names of people, places, pets, brands, or artworks
- Mary, Rome, Snoopy, La Gioconda (Mona Lisa), etc.
- Nomi comuni (common nouns) are generic nouns that are less specific
- bambino (child), cane (dog), città (city), etc.
Nouns are the king of a sentence because they dictate the gender and number of adjectives and articles. You’ll see in the first example below that the Italian sentences are written to indicate a male or female cat, but there is no distinction in English.
- Ho un gatto nero. (masc.)/Ho una gatta nera. (fem.) = I have a black cat.
- La montagna è alta. (s)/Le montagne sono alte. (pl) = The mountain is high./The mountains are high.
I verbi (verbs)
Verbs describe actions and facts, so they are vital to understanding what’s happening in a sentence.
Italian has many regular and irregular verbs, but all can be traced back to just three conjugations. To determine what conjugation Italian verbs belong to, look at the ending of the present infinitive.
- First conjugation: Italian -ARE verbs, like mangiare (to eat).
- Second conjugation: Italian -ERE verbs, like leggere (to read).
- Third conjugation: Italian -IRE verbs, like aprire (to open).
Conjugations indicate how a verb will change to match the person or thing doing the action, since they provide patterns that influence the verb suffixes. However, verbs are one of the Italian parts of speech influenced by the most factors, so you’ll need to consider four things.
- The subject of the action
- Io mangio. = I eat.
- Tu mangi. = You eat.
- Lui/lei mangia. = He/she eats.
- The seven verbal moods (the intentions of the subject)
- indicativo (indicative): facts or real situations
- congiuntivo (subjunctive): doubt or hypothetical situations
- condizionale (conditional): hypothetical actions or actions dependent on certain conditions
- imperativo (imperative): giving orders or making requests
- infinito (infinitive): basic form, like “to + verb”
- participio (participle): for compound tenses
- gerundio (gerund): ongoing actions
- The verb tenses (when the action is happening)
- Io vado a casa. = I go home.
- Io sono andato a casa. = I went home.
- Io andrò a casa. = I will go home.
- The gender of the subject in compound verbs
- Martha è andata in vacanza. = Martha went on a vacation
- Paul è andato in vacanza. = Paul went on a vacation.
You might need more study time and practice to master verbs than some of the more intuitive parts of grammar in Italian. Start with the present, compound past, and future simple of the indicative mood—these are the tenses you’ll use the most. Also, make Italian part of your daily life with these tips on how to learn Italian—they’ll make a big difference.
Gli aggettivi (adjectives)
Nouns and verbs are the muscles and spine of a sentence. Adjectives are what bring them to life. Knowing as many Italian adjectives as possible will help you be clear and specific:
- Puoi darmi una penna, per favore? = Can you give me a pen, please?
- Puoi darmi la penna rossa, per favore? = Can you give me the red pen, please?
The influence of adjectives is even more evident when you want to paint a vivid picture in the listener’s mind:
- Ho visto un cavallo. = I saw a horse.
- Ho visto un enorme cavallo bianco! = I saw a huge white horse!
You can truly develop your dialectical skills and enrich your conversations since many things can function as adjectives: Italian colors, Italian words for “beautiful”, and more.
- Roma è una città molto bella. = Rome is a very beautiful city.
- Ho due fratelli. = I have two brothers.
- Io ho un libro rosso. = I have a red book.
Always remember these two rules for adjectives:
- Italian adjectives change endings to match the gender and number of the nouns they describe.
- un ragazzo alto (masc.)/una ragazza alta (fem.) = a tall boy/girl
- i ragazzi alti (masc.)/le ragazzie alte (fem.) = the tall boys/girls
- Qualitative adjectives come after the noun in Italian. However, you can break this rule to add emphasis, especially in poetry or writing.
- una casa grande = a big house
- un libro interessante = an interesting book
- i verdi occhi = the green eyes (It’s more poetic than gli occhi verdi.)
Gli articoli (articles)
Unlike English, articles are one of the most important Italian parts of speech, as you can rarely omit them from sentences as you can in English.
- Mi piace la pasta. not
Mi piace pasta. = I like (the) pasta.
There are three types of Italian articles:
- articoli determinativi (definite articles): corresponds to the English “the”
- articoli indeterminativi (indefinite articles): corresponds to “a/an” in English
- articoli partitivi (partitive articles): used to express an indefinite quantity, like “some” or “a few”
To successfully use articles, practice these four easy grammar rules:
- Match the gender and number of articles with the noun.
- il ragazzo/i ragazzi = the boy/the boys
- la ragazza/le ragazze = the girl/the girls
- un ragazzo/una ragazza =a boy/a girl
- dei ragazzi/delle ragazze = some boys/some girls
- Omit articles before names. (Some northern Italian dialects may say “la Giulia,” but it’s incorrect in standard Italian.)
- Giulia è arrivata tardi. = Julia arrived late.
- Use definite articles also for general concepts.
- Amo la musica. = I love (the) music.
- Il calcio è popolare in Italia. = (the) Soccer is popular in Italy.
- Drop the ending vowel on an article when it’s followed by a noun that starts with a vowel.
- l’aria = the air (instead of l
aaria)
- l’aria = the air (instead of l
I pronomi (pronouns)
The key to speaking good Italian is to avoid repetition. You can achieve this by using synonyms and pronouns. The primary function of Italian pronouns is to replace other parts of speech already mentioned or known to make a sentence flow smoothly.
- Marta e Diego sono andati al cinema. Loro lo adoravano. = Marta and Diego went to a movie. They loved it.
Here, the subject pronoun loro (they) and the object pronoun lo (it) prevent unnecessary repetition of the nouns already specified in the first sentence.
There are many pronouns in Italian, and they have different functions, so it’s difficult to establish universal rules. However, here are three common tips you can rely on.
- Subject pronouns match the six ways to describe a person or group of people and can replace people or things as subjects.
- io = I
- tu = you
- lui/lei = he/she
- noi = we
- voi = plural you
- loro = they
- On the other hand, object, possessive, and reflexive pronouns change depending on the subject pronoun. Here’s a helpful chart of these pronouns and their corresponding English equivalents.
| Direct Object Pronoun | Indirect Object Pronoun | Reflexive Pronoun | Possessive Pronoun* |
| mi me |
mi to/for me |
mi myself |
il mio/la mia (m/f) mine |
| ti you |
ti to/for you |
ti yourself |
il tuo/la tua (m/f) yours |
| lo/la him/her/it |
gli/le to/for him/to her |
si himself/herself |
il suo/la sua (m/f) his/hers |
| ci us |
ci to/for us |
ci ourselves |
il nostro/la nostra (m/f) ours |
| vi you all |
vi to/for you all |
vi yourselves |
il vostro/la vostra (m/f) yours (plural) |
| li/le them |
gli/loro to/for them |
si themselves |
il loro/la loro (m/f) theirs |
*Possessive pronouns also change form to specify gender.
- Some pronouns change only based on gender and number (not the person).
- Relative pronouns
- il quale/la quale (m/f singular) = which, who
- i quali/le quali (m/f plural) = which, who
- Indefinite pronouns:
- nessuno/nessuna (m/f singular) = no one/nobody
- alcuno/alcuna (m/f singular) = some/any
- ciascuno/ciascuna (m/f singular) = each/every
- certo (m/s)/certa (f/s)/certi (m/pl)/certe (f/pl) = certain/some
- tale (m/s)/tale (f/s)/tali (pl) = such
- altro (m/s)/altra (f/s)/altri (m/pl)/altre (f/pl) = other/another
- ognuno/ognuna (m/f singular) = everyone, each one
- qualcuno/qualcuna (m/f singular) = someone, somebody
- Relative pronouns
- As an exception, some pronouns are invariable. meaning they won’t change for gender or number.
- Relative pronouns: che (that/which/who), cui (whom/which)
- Indefinite pronouns: chicchessia (whoever it may be), chiunque (whoever/anyone)
Invariable Italian parts of speech
The parts of speech that don’t change form in Italian are adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. In other words, they are invariable parts of speech in Italian and will be easy to memorize.
Gli avverbi (adverbs)
Adverbs provide information about a verb, much like adjectives do for nouns. The examples perfectly illustrate the difference:
- Ho mangiato una pizza sottile. = I ate a thin pizza.
- Sottile (thin) is an adjective because it gives additional information about the pizza (a noun).
- Ho mangiato la pizza velocemente. = I ate the pizza quickly.
- Velocemente (quickly) is an adverb because it explains how you ate (a verb).
Adverbs in Italian can express quantity, time, opinions, manner, and more. Usually, adverbs come after the verb they refer to.
- Ho dormito molto. = I slept a lot.
Sometimes, an adverb can also refer to another adverb or an adjective. In this case, you must place the adverb before them:
- La pizza era troppo grande. = The pizza was too big.
- The adverb troppo (too) specifies and precedes the adjective grande (big).
- Ho mangiato molto bene. = I ate very well.
- The adverb molto (very) precedes the other adverb bene (well).
Le preposizioni (prepositions)
Prepositions are words that indicate the relationship between two elements in a sentence. There are two types of Italian prepositions that we’ll briefly cover here.
Preposizioni semplici (simple prepositions) are the simplest type of prepositions in Italian.
- di = of
- il libro di Maria = Maria’s book
- a = to/at
- Vado a Roma. = I’m going to Rome.
- da = from/by
- Vengo da Milano. = I come from Milan.
- in = in/into
- Sono in ufficio. = I’m in the office.
- con = with
- Esco con gli amici. = I’m going out with my friends.
- su = on/about
- il libro su Napoleone = the book about Napoleon
- per = for/through
- Questo è per te. = This is for you.
- tra/fra = between/among
- Il negozio è tra la banca e il bar. = The shop is between the bank and the café.
Preposizioni articolate (articulated prepositions) are a result of merging simple prepositions and definite articles.
- di + il = del (of the, or ‘s)
- il colore del cielo = the color of the sky (or the sky’s colors)
- a + la = alla (to the)
- Ho dato un libro alla maestra. = I gave a book to the teacher.
Le congiunzioni (conjunctions)
Conjunctions are another example of invariable Italian parts of speech. They connect phrases, clauses, or words, and they are vital in Italian because the language tends to form longer sentences with more subordinate clauses than English.
Italian conjunctions can be of two types:
- congiunzioni coordinanti (coordinating conjunctions) link elements of equal grammatical status, like two words or common phrases in Italian.
- Ho comprato pane e latte. = I bought bread and milk.
- Vuoi andare al mare o preferisci andare in montagna? = Do you want to go to the beach or would you rather go to the mountains?
- congiunzioni subordinanti (subordinating) introduce dependent clauses.
- Studio perché voglio passare l’esame. = I study because I want to pass the exam.
- Cucino mentre ascolto la musica. = I cook while listening to music.
Here are other conjunctions that Italians use a lot:
- ma = but
- però = however
- allora =so/then
- infatti = in fact
- cioè = that is/I mean
- né…né = neither…nor
- nemmeno = not even
- dunque = therefore/thus
Le interiezioni (interjections)
Interjections are words that often stand alone to express emotions or reactions. They can vary across regions in Italy, and their use often overlaps Italian slang. The chart below shows the most commonly used interjections.
| Italian | English | Function |
| Ah! | Ah! | surprise/realization |
| Ahi/Ahia! (Ohi! in some regions) | Ouch! | pain |
| Be’/Beh… | Well… | making an observation or in interrogative sentences |
| Boh! | I don’t know! | uncertainty |
| Caspita! | Darn! | surprise/admiration |
| Dai! | Come on! | encouragement/urging |
| Ecco! | There you go! | pointing something out/showing something |
| Eh già! | Yeah, right! | agreement/irony |
| Eh? | Huh? | confusion/asking to repeat |
| Ehi! | Hey! | calling attention |
| Magari! | Maybe/I wish! | desire |
| Mah! | Hmm! | doubt/hesitation |
| Oh! | Oh! | astonishment/calling attention |
| Su! | Come on! | encouragement |
| Toh/tò! | Look! or Take! | surprise/give something |
| Uffa! | Ugh! | frustration/annoyance |
Learn more about Italian parts of speech with Rosetta Stone
This overview of all the Italian parts of speech is a great starting point for your learning journey. As you dive deeper into each category—nouns, verbs, and more—keeping the big picture in mind will help you better understand the language and stay organized.
So, now that you have the foundations of Italian grammar at your fingertips, why not keep them in your pocket for real? With the Rosetta Stone App, you’ll have plenty of resources to take your learning on the go, like courses, live lessons, phrasebooks, and more. Iniziamo! (Let’s start!)
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