In Italian, the infinitive may stand alone or be preceded by a preposition. In most cases, the infinitive is translated by the English infinitive. (Dobbiamo lavorare. –“We have to work.”) In some cases, though, the Italian infinitive must be translated by the English participle ending in –ing or the verbal noun ending in –ing.

Facciamolo prima di partire. –“Let’s do it before leaving.”

Il fumare fa male alla salute. –“Smoking is bad for the health.”

Vedere è credere. –“Seeing is believing.”

VOCABULARY A

VOCABULARY B

SAPERE (basic meaning: to know [for a fact]). When followed by an infinitive, sapere means “to know how.”

Present tense: so, sai, sa, sappiamo, sapete, sanno

Imperfect: sapevo, etc.

Past absolute: seppi, sapesti, seppe, sapemmo, sapeste, seppero

Past participle: saputo

NOTE: The present perfect (ho saputo, etc.) and the past absolute mean “learned in the sense of “found out.”

Non lo sapevate? –No, l’ho saputo oggi. “You didn’t know it? –No, I learned it today.”

CONOSCERE (“to know” in the sense of “to be acquainted with” or “to be familiar with”).

Present tense: conosco, conosci, conosce, conosciamo, conoscete, conoscono

Imperfect: conoscevo, etc.

Past absolute: conobbi, conoscesti, conobbe, conoscemmo, conosceste, conobbero

Past participle: conosciuto

Conoscere is used to mean “to know” whenever familiarity or acquaintance is meant, and so it is conoscere that is used whe speaking of persons, places, works, and other things, that cannot be “known” in the same way that facts can. The knowledge implied when sapere is used is normally much more complete than when conoscere is used. In speaking of a poem, for example, one may say Conosco questo poema, meaning “I am familiar with this poem,” but one uses sapare to mean “to know by heart,” sapere a memoria: So questo poema a memoria.

VOCABULARY

BELLO (“beautiful”) and QUELLO (“that”; pl. “those”)

Before a noun or an adjective, the forms of bello and quello are similar to those of the definite article combined with di in the same situation: bel, quel (cf. del), bei, quei (cf. dei), etc.

BUONO (“good”) has singular forms paralleling those of the indefinite article: buon (cf. un), buona (cf. una), buon’ (cf. un’), and buono (cf. uno).

GRANDE (“big,” “large”) and SANTO (“Saint”) also have singular forms which vary not only with gender and number, but also depending on the initial sound of the following word:

VOCABULARY

Nouns ending in –tà and –tù have identical forms in the singular and in the plural.²

la virtù    virtue                        la difficoltà     difficulty

le virtù    virtues                 le difficoltà     difficulties

It is therefore necessary to examine the context to determine whether such a noun is singular or plural. An accompanying article, adjective, or verb will generally indicate which is the case.

² Many of these words have English cognates.

VOCABULARY