French & Italian Comparative Tutorial I: Learn Two Languages Simultaneously

Basic Phrases

English French ItalianGood day Bonjour BuongiornoGood evening Bonsoir Buona seraGood night (going to bed) Bonne nuit Buona notteHello / Hi / Bye Salut CiaoGoodbye Au revoir ArrivederciThank you (very much) Merci (beaucoup) Grazie (mille)You're welcome De rien PregoPlease S'il vous plaît Per favoreHow are you? (formal) Comment allez-vous ? Come sta?How are you? (informal) Ça va? Come stai?I'm (really) good. Je vais (très) bien. Sto (abbastanza) bene.I'm ok. Comme ci, comme ça. Cosí cosí.Bad / not bad Mal / pas mal Male / Non c'è maleWhat's your name? (f) Comment vous appelez-vous ? Come si chiama?What's your name? (in) Tu t'appelles comment ? Come ti chiami?My name is… Je m'appelle… Mi chiamo…Where are you from? (f) D'où venez-vous ? Di dov'è Lei?Where are you from? (in) Tu es d'où ? Di dove sei?I'm from…. Je suis de… Sono di…How old are you? (f) Quel âge avez-vous ? Quanti anni ha?How old are you? (in) Tu as quel âge ? Quanti anni hai?I'm ___ years old. J'ai ___ ans. Ho ___ anni.Yes / No Oui / Non Si / NoDo you speak … ? (f) Parlez-vous … Parla…Do you speak … ? (inf) Est-ce que tu parles … Parli…I (don't) speak… Je (ne) parle (pas)… (Non) parlo…I (don't) know Je (ne) sais (pas). (Non) lo so.Do you understand? (f) Comprenez-vous? Capisce?Do you understand? (inf) Est-ce que tu comprends ? Capisci?I (don't) understand Je (ne) comprends (pas). (Non) capisco.Can you help me? (f) Pouvez-vous m'aider ? Può aiutarmi?Can you help me? (inf) Est-ce que tu peux m'aider ? Puoi aiutarmi?Of course. Bien sûr CertamenteI would like… Je voudrais… Vorrei…Where is / are … ? Où est / sont… ? Dov'è / Dove sono… ?

Excuse me Excusez-moi Con permessoPardon me Pardonnez-moi Mi scusiI'm sorry Je suis désolé(e). Mi dispiaceSee you tomorrow A demain A domaniSee you later / soon A tout à l'heure / A bientôt A più tardi / A presto

Mister / Misses / Miss Monsieur / Madame / Mademoiselle Signore / Signora / Signorina

Pleased to meet you. Enchanté(e). Piacere. / Molto lieto.Pardon? Comment ? Come?How do you say … ? Comment dit-on … ? Come se dice … ?What's the matter? Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ? Cosa c'è?What's happening? Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? Che succede?There is / are… Il y a… C'è / Ci sono…What is it? Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça ? Che cosa è?Right? N'est-ce pas ? Vero?It doesn't matter. Ça ne fait rien. Non importaI have no idea. Je n'ai aucune idée Non ho ideaI don't care. Ça m'est égal. Non m'importaI'm tired / sick. Je suis fatigué(e) / malade. Sono stanco(-a) / malato(-a)I'm hungry / thirsty. J'ai faim / soif. Ho fame / sete.I'm cold / hot. J'ai froid / chaud. Ho freddo / caldo.I'm bored. Je m'ennuie. Mi annoio.I forgot. J'ai oublié. Ho dimenticato.I have to go. Je dois y aller. Devo andare.Welcome! Bienvenue BenvenutiLet's go! Allons-y ! Andiamo!Good luck! Bonne chance ! Buona fortuna!Have fun! (inf) Amuse-toi ! Divertiti!Bless you! A tes souhaits ! Salute!Cheers! A la vôtre ! Cincin!Pay attention! / Be careful! (f) Faites attention ! Fate attenzione!Don't worry! (inf) Ne t'en fais pas ! Non ti preoccupare!Shut up! (f / inf) Taisez-vous ! / Tais-toi ! Sta zitto! / Stai zitto!Congratulations! Félicitations ! Congratulazioni!Happy New Year Bonne Année Buon AnnoHappy Easter Joyeuses Pâques Buona PasquaMerry Christmas Joyeux Noël Buon NataleHappy Birthday Bon Anniversaire Buon CompleannoI love you. (singular) Je t'aime Ti amo / Ti voglio beneI miss you. (singular) Tu me manques Mi manchiAdjectives in both languages must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular and plural) with the nouns they describe. For example. if you are a man, you would use je suis fatigué in French and sono stanco in Italian for I am tired. If you are a woman, you would use je suis fatiguée in French and sono stanca in Italian. Vocabulary words are generally given in the

masculine form, with the feminine ending in parentheses.(In French, you generally add -e to form the feminine; while in Italian, you change -o to -a). If there is only one form of an adjective given, then it is the same for masculine and feminine (such as malade in French).

There are two ways to say "you" in both languages, formally (f) or informally (inf). The formal you is the polite form and should be used with people you do not know or with people to whom you want to show respect. The informal you should be used with children and animals, and with close friends and family.

Pronunciation

The major difference in pronunciation between the two languages is that French has several silent letters, while every letter must be pronounced in Italian. In addition, French contains four distinctive nasal vowels that do not exist in Italian.

VowelsVowels in French are somewhat complex (12). Vowels in Italian are much simpler (7). Vowels that do not exist in English are highlighted.

French Vowels Italian Vowels English Pronunciation

[i] vie, midi, lit, riz [i] vita meet[y] rue, jus, tissu, usine ee rounded[e] blé, nez, cahier, pied [e] vedi wait[ø] jeu, yeux, queue, bleu ay rounded[ɛ] lait, aile, balai, reine [ɛ] era bet[œ] sœur, œuf, fleur, beurre eh rounded[a] chat, ami, papa, salade [a] kane not[ɑ] bas, âne, grâce, château ah longer[u] loup, cou, caillou, outil [u] uva boot[o] eau, dos, escargot, hôtel [o] sole coat

[ɔ] sol, pomme, cloche, horloge [ɔ] modo law

[ə] fenêtre, genou, cheval, cerise rut

I'm using the International Phonetic Alphabet symbols for the vowels and a rough phonetic transcription for those who do not know the IPA. French has three front rounded vowels that do not exist in English, but you can learn to pronounce them correctly because their unrounded counterparts do exist in English. To pronounce [y], round your lips when saying [i]; to pronounce [ø], round your lips when saying [e]; and to pronounce [œ], round your lips when saying [ɛ]. The distinction between [a] and [ɑ] continues to disappear in modern French, so don't worry about trying to distinguish these two sounds.

Pronouncing Italian vowels is rather easy. The only problems arise when distinguishing the two e's and o's. If the vowel is stressed, then it is always closed [e] and [o]. If the vowel is not stressed, it is always open [ɛ] and [ɔ]. This can change according to regional dialects in Italy, of course, but this is the standard rule.

Nasal Vowels, Semi-Vowels/Consonants, & Diphthongs

The four nasal vowels are a distinctive feature of French. There are also three semi-vowels. In Italian, there are two semi-vowels, several diphthongs and a few triphthongs.

French nasal vowels

French semi-vowels

Italian semi-vowels

[a] gant, banc, dent [w] oui, Louis [w] quando, uomo

[ɛ̃] pain, vin, linge [ɥ] lui, suisse [j] piano, ieri,

piove

[œ̃] brun, lundi, parfum [j] oreille,

Mireille

[o] rond, ongle, front

The distinction between the two nasals [ɛ̃] and [œ̃] is disappearing in French. Italian semi-vowels are written ua, ue, uo, ui for [w] and ia, ie, io, iu for [j]. If another vowel precedes u or i, then it is a diphthong: ai, ei, oi, au, eu. The combination iu + another vowel creates a triphthong.

ConsonantsFrench consonants

ex + vowel egz examen, exercice eg-zah-mawn, eg-zehr-sees

ex + consonant eks exceptionnel, expression

ek-sehp-see-oh-nel, ek-spreh-see-ohn

ch (Latin origin) sh architecte, archives ar-shee-tekt, ar-sheev

ch (Greek origin) k orchestre,

archéologie ohr-kehs-tr, ar-kay-oh-loh-zhee

ti + vowel (except é) see démocratie, nation day-moh-krah-see, nah-see-

ohnItalian consonant + vowel combinations

c + a, o, u, he, hi k amica, amico, amiche ah-mee-kah, ah-mee-koh, ah-

mee-kehc + ia, io, iu, e, i ch bacio, celebre, cinema bah-cho, cheh-leh-breh, chee-

neh-mahg + a, o, u, he, hi g gara, gusto, spaghetti gah-rah, goo-stoh, spah-geh-

teeg + ia, io, iu, e, i dj Giotto, gelato, magico djoh-toh, djeh-lah-toh, mah-

djee-kohsc + a, o, u, he, hi sk scala, scuola, scheda skah-lah, skoo-oh-la, skeh-dah

sc + ia, io, iu, e, i sh sciarpa, sciupato,

scemoshar-pah, shoo-pah-toh, sheh-moh

In both languages, s is generally pronounced the same as in English, except when it is between two vowels, then it is pronounced like z. H is always silent.

Double consonants in Italian must be pronounced individually: il nonno (eel nohn-noh) is pronounced differently than il nono (eel noh-noh)

Liaison in French forces a preceding consonant to be pronounced before the following vowel of the next word. Normally, this consonant is silent, but it must be pronounced at the beginning of the next

word: très (treh) and heureux (uh-ruh) become treh zuh-ruh when pronounced together. S and x are pronounced as z, d as t and f as v in liaisons.

StressIn general, stress falls on the last syllable in French and the second-to-last syllable in Italian. If stress falls on the last syllable in Italian, the vowel is written with an accent mark (la città). However, it is also possible for the stress in Italian to fall on the third-to-last syllable (America, telefono) and even the fourth-to-last syllable (telefonano) in third person plural verb conjugations.

Alphabet

English French ItalianA ah ahB bay beeC say cheeD day deeE uh ehF eff eff-ehG zhay zheeH ahsh ahk-kahI ee eeJ shee ee loon-gahK kah kahp-pahL ell ehl-ehM emm ehm-ehN enn ehn-ehO oh ohP pay peeQ kew kooR air ehr-rehS ess ehs-sehT tay tehU ew ooV vay vooW doo-blah-vay dohp-pyah vooX eeks eeksY ee-grek ee greh-kahZ zed dzeh-tah

Numbers

English French Italian English French Italianzero zéro zero

one un uno first premier (ère) primo (a) two deux due second deuxième secondo (a)three trois tre third troisième terzo (a) four quatre quattro fourth quatrième quarto (a) five cinq cinque fifth cinquième quinto (a) six six sei sixth sixième sesto (a) seven sept sette seventh septième settimo (a) eight huit otto eighth huitième ottavo (a) nine neuf nove ninth neuvième nono (a) ten dix dieci tenth dixième decimo (a) eleven onze undici eleventh onzième undicesimo (a)twelve douze dodici twelfth douzième dodicesimo (a)thirteen treize tredici thirteenth treizième tredicesimo (a)

fourteen quatorze quattordici fourteenth quatorzième quattordicesimo (a)

fifteen quinze quindici fifteenth quinzième quindicesimo (a)sixteen seize sedici sixteenth seizième sedicesimo (a)

seventeen dix-sept diciassette seventeenth dix-septième diciassettesimo (a)

eighteen dix-huit diciotto eighteenth dix-huitième diciottesimo (a)

nineteen dix-neuf diciannove nineteenth dix-neuvième diciannovesimo (a)

twenty vingt venti twentieth vingtième ventesimo (a)twenty-one vingt et un ventuno twenty-first vingt et unième ventunesimo (a)twenty-two vingt-deux ventidue twenty-second vingt-deuxième ventiduesimo (a)twenty-three vingt-trois ventitre twenty-third vingt-troisième ventitreesimo (a)

thirty trente trenta twenty-fourth vingt-quatrième ventiquattresimo (a)

forty quarante quaranta twenty-fifth vingt-cinquième venticinquesimo (a)

fifty cinquante cinquanta

sixty soixante sessanta one-half une moitié un mezzoseventy soixante-dix settanta one-third un tiers un terzoeighty quatre-vingts ottanta one-fourth un quart un quartoninety quatre-vingt-dix novanta

hundred cent cento once une fois una voltahundred one cent un centuno twice deux fois due voltetwo hundred deux cents duecento three times trois fois tre volte

thousand mille mille

million un million un milioneWhen writing numbers, switch the use of commas and periods. For example, 4.50 in English would be written as 4,50 in French and Italian. In French, cent has a plural form: cents, but mille is invariable (there is no plural form); while in Italian, cento is invariable and mille has a plural form: mila.

French telephone numbers are ten digits, beginning with zero, and the country code is 33 (Belgium: 32, Switzerland: 41, Canada: 1). Italian telephone numbers are between 8 and 11 digits, most beginning with zero, and the country code is 39.

Articles & Demonstratives

Definite and Indefinite Articles

Definite Article (the) French Italian Indefinite Article (a, an) French Italian

masculine singular le il masculine singular un unbegins with vowel l' l' begins with vowel un unbegins with s + cons. lo begins with s + cons. unomasculine plural les i masculine plural des deiplural of l' and lo gli plural: di + gli degli feminine singular la la feminine singular une unabegins with vowel l' l' begins with vowel une un'feminine plural les le feminine plural des delleArticles are slightly more complicated in Italian. The rows in italics only concern Italian and not French. If a masculine Italian noun begins with s + consonant, z, gn, ps, x, or i + vowel, you must use lo as the definite article (instead of il). However, la is still used for all feminine Italian nouns that begin with those same letters. Only il changes to i in the plural, while l' and lo change to gli. Feminine articles are more simple: la and l' change to le in the plural. The plural indefinite article can be expressed as some in English, but it is not always used.

Demonstrative Adjectivesthis / these + noun French Italian that / those + noun French Italianmasculine singular ce questo masculine singular ce quelbegins with vowel cet quest' begins with vowel cet quell'begins with s + cons. questo begins with s + cons. quellomasculine plural ces questi masculine plural ces queiplural of l' and lo questi plural: di + gli quegli feminine singular cette questa feminine singular cette quellabegins with vowel cette quest' begins with vowel cette quell'feminine plural ces queste feminine plural ces quelleIn French, ce, cet, and cette can be translated as this or that, while ces can be translated as these or those. If you would like to be precise, you can add -ci to the end of the noun to specify this/these (for what is close to you), and -là to the end of the noun to specify that/those (for what is further away from you). For example, cette chaise-ci means this chair while cette chaise-là means that chair. In Italian, two distinct forms exist to distinguish between what is close and what is far away:

quest- for close, and quel- for far away.

In Italian, demonstrative adjectives (which precede nouns) and demonstrative pronouns (which take the place of nouns) have very similar forms. In French, the demonstrative pronouns have different forms. You can add -ci and -là to the French demonstrative pronouns to specify what is close (this/these) and what is far away (that/those): celui-ci means this one, while celui-là means that one.

Demonstrative Pronounsthis / these + verb French Italian that / those + verb French Italianmasculine singular celui questo masculine singular celui quellomasculine plural ceux questi masculine plural ceux quelli feminine singular celle questa feminine singular celle quellafeminine plural celles queste feminine plural celles quelle

Nouns: Gender & Number

There are two genders of nouns in both languages, masculine and feminine, and two numbers, singular and plural. Adjectives agree in gender and number with nouns, so you must learn the gender with each noun in order to form grammatically correct phrases. Usually the last letter of the noun will tell you which gender it is.

GenderIn French, masculine singular nouns generally end with a consonant, - age or -ment. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance, -té, and -ette.

In Italian, masculine singular nouns generally end with -o or -ore. Feminine singular nouns generally end with -a or -zione. Nouns ending with -e and -ista can be either gender, so you must learn those individually. A few masculine nouns end with -a: il problema, il tema, il teorema, il poeta, il cinema, il programma; and a few feminine nouns end with -o: la mano, la radio, la foto, la moto.

In most cases, the gender of a noun is the same in French and Italian. But there are some cases in which the genders are reversed. (For example, names of cities and letters of the alphabet are masculine in French, but feminine in Italian.)

Masculine in French / Feminine in Italian Feminine in French / Masculine in ItalianEnglish French Italian English French Italianair l'air l'aria affair, case l'affaire l'affareart l'art l'arte tooth la dent il dentecalm le calme la calma oil l'huile l'olionumber/digit le chiffre la cifra limit la limite il limite

couple le couple la coppia sea la mer il mareSunday le dimanche la domenica method la méthode il metodosummer l'été l'estate minute la minute il minutoforehead le front la fronte panic la panique il panicoguide le guide la guida period la période il periodospring le printemps la primavera planet la planète il pianetasand le sable la sabbia second la seconde il secondo

evening le soir la sera attempt la tentative il tentativo

NumberIn French, singular nouns generally add -s (unless the noun already ends in -s, -z, or -x, then they change nothing for the plural), though nouns ending in -au, -eau, and -eu add -x instead (or change -al/-ail to -aux) to form the plural. (Exceptions: festival, carnaval, bal, pneu, bleu, landau, détail, chandail all add -s) There are also seven nouns ending in -ou that add -x instead of -s: bijou, caillou, chou, genou, pou, joujou, hibouFrench Irregular Plurals: l'œil - les yeux (eye-eyes); le ciel - les cieux (sky-skies); le jeune homme - les jeunes gens (young man-young men); and three nouns are masculine in the singular, but feminine in the plural: amour, délice, orgue

In Italian, singular nouns that end with -o or -e, whether masculine or feminine, change to -i in the plural. Feminine nouns change -a to -e in the plural. Monosyllabic nouns, nouns that end with an accented letter, with a consonant, and with -i do not change in the plural. Nouns ending in -ca, -go, -ca, and -ga add an -h before the plural ending (as a rule of pronunciation). Nouns that end with -io can either change to -ii in the plural (if the i of -io is stressed), or to -i (if the i of -io is not stressed).

Italian Irregular Plurals: l'uomo - gli uomini (man-men); il dio - gli dei (god-gods); il bue - i buoi (beef); il centinaio - le centinaia (century-centuries); il dito - le dita (finger-fingers); il riso - le risa (laughter); l'uovo - le uova (egg-eggs); l'ala - le ali (wing-wings); l'arma - le armi (weapon-weapons); la mano - le mani (hand-hands)

Personal Pronouns

Subject Pronouns Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns Disjunctive Pronouns

English French Italian English French Italian English French Italian English French ItalianI je io me me mi me me mi me moi meyou (s, inf) tu tu you (s,

inf) te ti you (s, inf) te ti you (s,

inf) toi te

you (s, f) vous Lei you (s,

f) vous La you (s, f) vous Le you (s,

f) vous Lei

he / she il / elle lui / lei

him / her le / la lo / la him /

her lui gli / le him / her lui /elle lui / lei

one / we on si

we nous noi us nous ci us nous ci us nous noiyou (pl, inf/f) vous voi you (pl,

inf) vous vi you (pl, inf) vous vi you (pl,

inf) vous voi

they (m/fem)

ils / elles loro them les li them leur loro them eux /

elles loro

s = singular, pl = plural, inf = informal, f = formal, m = masculine, fem = feminine

There is more than one you in both languages, depending on how many people you are speaking to and how informal or formal you are being. In French, tu is singular and informal (when speaking to one person, such as a family member); while vous is plural, whether informal or formal (when speaking to more than one person) AND singular and formal (when speaking to one person, whom you do not know well or to whom you'd like to show respect). In Italian, tu is informal and singular,

while Lei is formal and singular and voi is plural, whether informal or formal. Keep in mind that Lei takes a third person singular form when conjugating verbs (same as for he/she - lui/lei).

On and si are used as an abstract subject meaning one, they, you, we, people in general, etc. There are several translations of this into English where the subject doesn't refer to any person already mentioned: They say it's going to rain today. How are you supposed to do this? What should one do with $10 million? In addition, the French on is very commonly used to mean we instead of nous in everyday conversation. It always take a third person singular form when conjugating verbs, even though it refers to more than one person.

In both languages, if you want to use it to refer to a noun, you must know the gender. For example, il in French can mean he or it, depending on what noun the pronoun refers to. Il est petit, le garçon. He is small, the boy. Il est petit, le lit. It is small, the bed. Notice that they can also be translated in two ways in French (ils and elles), depending on the gender of the noun.

Verbs: Be, Have, Do

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

être / essere - to be

suis sono étais ero serai saròes sei étais eri seras saraiest è était era sera saràsommes siamo étions eravamo serons saremoêtes siete étiez eravate serez saretesont sono étaient erano seront saranno

avoir / avere - to have

ai ho avais avevo aurai avròas hai avais avevi auras avraia ha avait aveva aura avràavons abbiamo avions avevamo aurons avremoavez avete aviez avevate aurez avreteont hanno avaient avevano auront avranno

faire / fare - to do, make

fais faccio faisais facevo ferai faròfais fai faisais facevi feras faraifait fa faisait faceva fera faràfaisons facciamo faisions facevamo ferons faremofaites fate faisiez facevate ferez faretefont fanno faisaient facevano feront faranno

Past tense here refers to the imperfect, not preterite.In French, the subject pronoun must always be used before the verb conjugations. When the verb begins with a vowel, je becomes j' and is connected to the verb (j'ai). In informal speech, the same happens with tu, it becomes t' and is connected to the following verb (t'as). In Italian, you do not have to use the subject pronouns, unless you want to emphasize the subject or to avoid ambiguity.

There are several common and idiomatic expressions with the verbs avoir and avere, which translate to be in English:

to be hungry avoir faim avere fameto be thirsty avoir soif avere sete

to be warm avoir chaud avere caldoto be cold avoir froid avere freddoto be right avoir raison avere ragioneto be wrong avoir tort avere tortoto be sleepy avoir sommeil avere sonnoto be afraid (of) avoir peur (de) avere paura (di)to be # years old avoir # ans avere # annito need avoir besoin de avere bisogno dito want, feel like avoir envie de avere voglia di

There is another verb in Italian that means to be, stare. But this verb is only used in expressions relating to health and feelings and when expressing the progressive form (be + gerund in English).

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

stare - to be

sto stavo staròstai stavi staraista stava staràstiamo stavamo staremostate stavate staretestanno starano staranno

Interrogatives / Conjunctions / Adverbs

English French Italian English French Italianwho qui chi because parce que perchéwhose de qui di chi and et ewhat qu'est-ce que / quoi che cosa / che / cosa or ou owhere où dove but mais mawhere from d'où di dove if si sewhy pourquoi perché not pas nonwhen quand quando very très moltohow comment come also aussi anchehow much combien quanto while pendant mentrewhich quel(le) quale since depuis dathat que che although bien que benché

Days / Months / Seasons

English French Italian English French ItalianMonday lundi lunedì January janvier gennaioTuesday mardi martedì February février febbraioWednesday mercredi mercoledì March mars marzoThursday jeudi giovedì April avril aprile

Friday vendredi venerdì May mai maggioSaturday samedi sabato June juin giugnoSunday dimanche domenica July juillet luglio August août agostospring le printemps la primavera September septembre settembresummer l'été (m) l'estate (f) October octobre ottobreautumn l'automne (m) l'autunno November novembre novembrewinter l'hiver (m) l'inverno December décembre dicembreThe days of the week and months of the year are all masculine in both languages (except domenica in Italian). If you want to express an action that happens habitually on a certain day, use the definite article before the day: le lundi / il lunedì (on Mondays). In a season or a month is translated as en in French (except for in spring, which is au printemps) and in in Italian. When writing the date, use the definite article (le or il) plus the number and then the month: le 5 mai / il 5 maggio. For the first day of a month, you must use premier or primo instead of the number.

Time / Weather / Directions

What time is it?

Quelle heure est-il ?

Che ora è? / Che ore sono?

What's the weather like?

Quel temps fait-il ? Che tempo fa?

At what time? A quelle heure ? A che ora? It's nice Il fait bon Fa tempo

buono1:00 Il est une heure È l'una It's beautiful Il fait beau Fa bel tempo2:00 Il est deux heures Sono le due It's hot Il fait chaud Fa caldo

3:10 Il est trois heures dix

Sono le tre e dieci It's cold Il fait froid Fa freddo

19:50 Il est vingt heures moins dix

Sono le venti meno dieci It's sunny Il fait du

soleil C'è il sole

18:15 Il est dix-huit heures et quart

Sono le diciotto e un cuarto It's windy Il fait du

vent Tira vento

7:45 Il est huit heures moins le quart

Sono le otto meno un quarto It's cool Il fait frais Fa fresco

15:30 Il est quinze heures et demie

Sono le quindici e mezzo It's bad Il fait

mauvaisFa brutto tempo

noon midi mezzogiorno It's foggy Il fait du brouillard C'è la nebbia

midnight minuit mezzanotte It's cloudy Il fait nuageux È nuvoloso

exactly précise in punto It's stormy Il fait orageux

Il tempo è burrascoso

in the morning du matin di mattina It's raining Il pleut Piove

in the de l'après-midi del pomeriggio It's snowing Il neige Nevica

afternoon

in the evening du soir di sera It's freezing Il gèle Fa un freddo

gelido

English French Italian English French Italian

afternoon l'après-midi (m) il pomeriggio sunrise le lever du soleil il levar del sole

century le siècle il secolo sunset le coucher du soleil il tramonto

dawn l'aube l'alba time le temps il tempoday le jour il giorno today aujourd'hui oggi

daybreak le point du jour la spuntar del giorno tomorrow demain domani

dusk la tombée de la nuit il far della notte week la semaine la settimana

evening le soir la sera year l'an (m) l'annofortnight la quinzaine la quindicina yesterday hier ieri

holiday la fête la festa last, previous dernier (ère) ultimo

hour l'heure (f) l'ora next prochain(e) prossimohalf hour une demi-heure una mezz'ora north nord nordquarter hour un quart d'heure un quarto d'ora south sud sudhour and half

une heure et demi un'ora e mezzo east est est

leap year l'année bissextile l'anno bisestile west ouest ovestmidnight la minuit la mezzanotte northeast nord-est nord-estminute la minute il minuto northwest nord-ouest nord-ovestmonth le mois il mese southeast sud-est sud-estmorning la matin la mattina southwest sud-ouest sud-ovestnight la nuit la notte to/on the left à gauche a sinistra

noon le midi il mezzogiorno to/on the right à droite a destra

season la saison la stagione straight tout droit sempre diritto

second la seconde il secondo

Colors & Shapes

English French Italian English French Italianred rouge rosso (-a) square le carré il quadratopink rose rosa circle le cercle il cerchioorange orange arancione triangle le triangle il triangoloyellow jaune giallo (-a) rectangle le rectangle il rettangolo

green vert(e) verde oval l'ovale l'ovale

blue bleu(e) azzurro (-a) box la boîte la scatola

purple lila / violet(te) viola sphere la sphère la sfera

brown brun(e) / marron marrone cube le cube il cubo

black noir(e) nero (-a) pyramid la pyramide la piramide

white blanc(he) bianco (-a) cone le cône il cono

gray gris(e) grigio (-a) cylinder le cylindre il cilindro

silver argenté(e) argento (-a) heart le cœur il cuore

gold dor oro (-a) star l'étoile (f) la stella diamond le diamant il diamante crescent le croissant la mezzalunaRemember that colors are adjectives and they are placed after the noun they modify. In French, add -e to form the feminine; in Italian, change the final -o to -a. Adjectives that already end in -e do not change for the feminine in either language. Adjectives that end in -a (such as lila or viola) tend to be invariable and do not change at all, not even for the plural.

Family

family la famille la famiglia stepson le beau-fils il figliastro

mother la mère la madre stepsister la belle-sœur la sorellastra

mom maman mamma stepbrother le beau-frère il fratellastro

father le père il padre half-sister la demi-sœur la sorellastra

dad papa papà half-brother le demi-frère il fratellastro

parents les parents i genitori mother-in-law la belle-mère la suocera

daughter la fille la figlia father-in-law le beau-père il suoceroson le fils il figlio daughter-in-law la belle-fille la nuorachildren les enfants i figli son-in-law le gendre il genero

sister la sœur la sorella sister-in-law la belle-sœur la cognata

brother le frère il fratello brother-in-law le beau-frère il cognato

wife la femme / la sposa godmother la marraine la madrina

l'épousehusband le mari / l'époux lo sposo godfather le parrain il padrinograndmother la grand-mère la nonna girl la jeune fille la ragazzagrandfather le grand-père il nonno boy le garçon il ragazzo

grandparents les grands-parents i nonni baby le bébé il bambino

granddaughter la petite-fille la nipote woman la femme la donnagrandson le petit-fils il nipote man l'homme l'uomograndchildren les petits-enfants i nipoti adult l'adulte l'adultocousin (f) la cousine la cugina relatives les parents i parenticousin (m) le cousin il cugino twins les jumeaux i gemelliaunt la tante la zia birth la naissance la nascitauncle l'oncle lo zio death la mort la morteniece la nièce la nipote marriage le mariage il matrimonionephew le neveu il nipote divorce le divorce il divorzio

stepmother la belle-mère la matrigna single célibataire celibe / nubile

stepfather le beau-père il patrigno married marié(e) sposato (-a)

stepdaughter la belle-fille la figliastra divorced divorcé(e) divorziato (-

a)

Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

Possessive Adjectives French Italian French Italian French Italian French Italianadjective + noun masculine singular masculine plural feminine singular feminine pluralmy mon il mio mes i miei ma la mia mes le mieyour (s) ton il tuo tes i tuoi ta la tua tes le tuehis / her son il suo ses i suoi sa la sua ses le sueour notre il nostro nos i nostri notre la nostra nos le nostreyour (pl) votre il vostro vos i vostri votre la vostra vos le vostretheir leur il loro leurs i loro leur la loro leurs le loroIn Italian, you must always use the definite article before the possessive adjective, except with singular family members that are not modified in any way. However, loro is invariable and always preceded by the definite article. In both languages, you generally use the definite article instead of a possessive adjective when referring to parts of the body (because it is obvious who they belong to).

In Italian, possessive adjectives (which precede nouns) and possessive pronouns (which take the place of nouns) have the same form. However, in French, there are different words for the possessive pronouns.

Possessive Pronouns French Italian French Italian French Italian French Italianverb + masculine masculine plural feminine singular feminine plural

pronoun singularmine le mien il mio les miens i miei la mienne la mia les miennes le mieyours (s) le tien il tuo les tiens i tuoi la tienne la tua les tiennes le tuehis / hers le sien il suo les siens i suoi la sienne la sua les siennes le sueours le nôtre il nostro les nôtres i nostri la nôtre la nostra les nôtres le nostreyours (pl) le vôtre il vostro les vôtres i vostri la vôtre la vostra les vôtres le vostretheirs le leur il loro les leurs i loro la leur la loro les leurs le loroRemember that the forms for her/hers in Italian can also be capitalized and use for the singular formal your/yours: il Suo / i Suoi / la Sua / le Sue.

French & Italian Comparative Tutorial II: Learn Two Languages Simultaneously

Adjectives: Gender & Number

Adjectives are placed after the noun they describe in French and Italian, though there are a few common adjectives that are placed before the noun (adjectives of beauty, age, goodness and size). They also must agree in gender and number with the noun. Most of the rules for changing gender and number in both languages are the same for adjectives as they are for nouns.

GenderIn French, add -e to the masculine adjective to form the feminine. If the masculine adjective already ends in -e, then add nothing (the masculine and feminine forms are the same). There are several other rules for forming feminine adjectives in French: -x changes to -se, -il, -el, and -eil change to -ille, -elle, and -eille, -et changes to -ète, -en and -on change to -enne and -onne, -er changes to -ère, -f changes to -ve, -c changes to -che, -g changes to -gue, -eur changes to -euse if adjective is derived from verb, -eur changes to -rice if adjective is not same as verb, -eur changes to -eure with adjectives of comparison. Three common adjectives are irregular, and generally precede the noun: beau - belle (beautiful); nouveau - nouvelle (new); vieux - vieille (old). These three adjectives also have an alternate form that is used before masculine adjectives that begin with a vowel: bel, nouvel, vieil.

In Italian, masculine adjectives change -o to -a for the feminine. Adjectives that end in -e can be masculine or feminine.

NumberIn French, add -s to a singular adjective to form the plural, unless it already ends in -s, -x, or -z (adjectives ending in these letters are the same in the singular and plural).

In Italian, singular masculine adjectives change -o to -i and singular feminine adjectives change -a to -e to form the plural. Adjectives ending in -e (regardless of gender) change to -i for the plural. Same as for nouns, adjectives ending in -ca, -go, -ca, and -ga add an -h before the plural ending. Adjectives that end with -io can either change to -ii in the plural (if the i of -io is stressed), or to -i (if the i of -io is not stressed).

In both languages, when an adjective describes more than one noun of different genders, the adjective will be masculine plural. Mes amis et mes amies sont tous italiens. / I miei amici e le

mie amiche sono tutti italiani. My male friends and my female friends are all Italian. However, in Italian, the adjective can also agree with the noun that is closest to it.

nice gentil / gentille gentile ugly laid/e brutto/amean méchant/e meschino/a open ouvert/e aperto/agreat / large grand/e grande closed fermé/e chiuso/asmall petit/e piccolo/a wide large largo/along long/ue lungo/a narrow étroit/e stretto/ashort (length) court/e corto/a hot chaud/e caldo/atall grand/e alto/a cold froid/e freddo/ashort (height) petit/e basso/a dirty sale sporco/a

new nouveau / nouvelle nuovo/a clean propre pulito/a

young jeune giovane quiet tranquille zitto/aold vieux / vieille vecchio/a loud bruyant/e rumoroso/a

first premier / première primo/a thin maigre magro/a

next prochain/e prossimo/a big / fat gros / grosse grasso/alast dernier / dernière ultimo/a empty vide vuoto/asame même stesso/a full plein/e pieno/adifferent différent/e differente slow lent/e lento/agood bon / bonne buono/a fast vide velocebad mauvais/e cattivo/a happy content/e felicebeautiful beau / belle bello/a sad triste tristeRemember for adjectives, you add -e to form the feminine in French; while in Italian, you change

-o to -a.

Verbs: Come, Go

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

venir / venire - to come

viens vengo venais venivo viendrai verròviens vieni venais venivi viendras verraivient viene venait veniva viendra verràvenons veniamo venions venivamo viendrons verremovenez venite veniez venivate viendrez verreteviennent vengono venaient venivano viendront verranno

aller / andare - to go

vais vado allais andavo irai andròvas vai allais andavi iras andraiva va allait andava ira andràallons andiamo allions andavamo irons andremoallez andate alliez andavate irez andretevont vanno allaient andavono iront andranno

Aller and andare can both be used to indicate the future, as does go in English: to be going to + infinitive. In French, aller is followed directly by the infinitive, but in Italian, the preposition a is

placed between andare and the infinitive.

Je vais partir. / Vado a partire. I'm going to leave.

Asking Questions

Yes / No QuestionsThe easiest way to form yes/no questions in both languages is to add n'est-ce pas to the end of French statements and non è vero to the end of Italian statements. These phrases are similar to the tags that English adds to the end of questions, and therefore there are several translations into English.

Tu es une étudiante, n'est-ce pas ? / Sei una studentessa, non è vero? You're a student, aren't you?

You can also change the word order to form yes/no questions. In French, you invert the subject and verb and write them together with a hypen. If the verb ends in a vowel, you must add -t- between the verb and subject for ease of pronunciation. And if there is a subject other than the subject pronoun, you leave the subject at the beginning and invert the subject pronoun and verb. In Italian, you simply add a question mark to the end of the sentence and raise the intonation of your voice. Or if there is a subject, you can move it to the end of the sentence.

Parlez-vous allemand ? / Parlate tedesco? Do you speak German?Le garçon a-t-il faim ? / Ha fame, il ragazzo? Is the boy hungry?

Another way to form yes/no questions in French involves adding est-ce que before the statement: Est-ce que vous parlez allemand ? You can also simply add a question mark and raise the intonation of your voice to form questions in French, but this is informal and not advised in writing: Vous parlez allemand ?Interrogative QuestionsFor questions that begin with wh- words or phrases in English, you use question word + inversion of subject and verb in French and simply the question word + verb in Italian. You can also use question word + est-ce que + subject + verb in French if you do not want to use inversion. A third, and informal, way of forming wh- questions in French is to use the question word + subject + verb (no est-ce que and no inversion).

Quelle heure est-il ? / Che ore sono? What time is it?

Negatives

In French, ne and pas are placed around the verb to make the phrase negative. (In everyday spoken French, ne is often dropped, but it must always be written). In Italian, non is placed before the verb.

Il n'est pas triste. / Non è triste. He is not sad. Tu n'es pas parti ? / Non è partito? You haven't left? Je ne joue pas au foot. / Non gioco a calcio. I don't play soccer. Other negatives use two words in both languages. Ne or non is placed before the verb, and the other word is placed after. Unlike English, it is possible to use two negative words in a sentence.

English French Italiannever ne...jamais non...mai no longer, no more ne...plus non...più nothing ne...rien non...niente

nobody ne...personne non...nessuno neither...nor ne...ni...ni non...nè...nè

Work & School

English French Italian English French Italianactor l'acteur l'attore lawyer l'avocat l'avvocatoactress l'actrice l'attrice mechanic le mécanicien il meccanico

author l'écrivain l'autore musician le musicien il/ la musicista

baker le boulanger il fornaio nurse l'infirmière l'infermierabookseller le libraire il libraio optician l'opticien l'otticobusinessman le commerçant il commerciante painter le peintre il pittorebutcher le boucher il macellaio pharmacist le chimiste il chimicoclerk le vendeur il commesso photographer le photographe il fotografocook le cuisinier il cuoco policeman l'agent de police la guardiacustomer le client il cliente postman le facteur il portaletteredentist le dentiste il dentista priest le curé il prete

doctor le médecin / docteur

il medico / dottore publisher l'éditeur l'editore

employee l'employé l'impiegato shoemaker le cordonnier il calzolaioengineer l'ingénieur l'ingegnere singer le chanteur il cantantefisherman le pêcheur il pescatore soldier le soldat il soldatogardener le jardinier il giardiniere student l'étudiant lo studentehairdresser le coiffeur il parrucchiere surgeon le chirurgien il chirurgojeweler le bijoutier il gioielliere teacher l'instituteur il maestro

journalist le journaliste il giornalista typist le dactylographe il dattilografo

judge le juge il giudice workman l'ouvrier l'operaioEnglish French Italian English French Italianaccounting le comptabilité la ragioneria history l'histoire (f) la storia

architecture l'architecture l'architettura law le droit la giurisprudenza

art l'art l'arte (f) linguistics le linguistique la linguisticaastronomy l'astronomie l'astronomia literature la littérature le lettere

biology la biologie la biologia mathematics les mathématiques la matematica

business les commerces il commercio medicine la médecine la medicinachemistry la chimie la chimica music la musique la musicacomputer science l'informatique l'informatica philosophy la philosophie la filosofia

earth science la science de la terra

la scienza della terra

physical education

l'éducation physique

l'educazione fisica

economics l'économie l'economia physics la physique la fisicaengineering l'ingénieur l'ingegneria political la science le scienze

science politique politicheforeign languages

les langues étrangères

la lingua straniera psychology la pyschologie la psicologia

geography la géographie la geografia science la science la scienzageometry la géométrie la geometria sociology la sociologie la sociologia

In the French school system, foreign languages is referred to as les langues vivantes (living languages).

Countries & Nationalities

English French Italian English French ItalianAfrica l'Afrique (f) l'Africa Indonesia l'Indonésie (f) l'IndonesiaAfrican africain/e africano/a Indonesian indonésien/ne indonesiano/aAlbania l'Albanie l'Albania Ireland l'Irlande (f) l'IrlandaAlbanian albanais/e albanese Irishman irlandais/e irlandeseAmerica l'Amérique (f) l'America Israel l'Israël l'IsraeleAmerican américain/e americano/a Israeli israélien israeliano/aArgentina l'Argentine (f) l'Argentina Italy l'Italie (f) l'ItaliaArgentine argentin/e argentino/a Italian italien/ne italiano/aAsia l'Asie (f) l'Asia Japan le Japon il GiapponeAsian asiatique asiatico/a Japanese japonais/e giapponeseAustralia l'Australie (f) l'Australia Latvia la Lettonie la Lettonia

Australian australien/ne australiano/a Latvian letton/ne lettone

Austria l'Autriche (f) l'Austria Lithuania la Lituanie la LituaniaAustrian autrichien/ne austriaco/a Lithuanian lituanien/ne lituano/aBelgian belge belga Luxembourger luxembourgeois/e lussemburghese Belgium la Belgique il Belgio Luxembourg le Luxembourg il LussemburgoBosnia la Bosnie la Bosnia Macedonia la Macédoine la MacedoniaBosnian bosniaque bosniaco/a Macedonian macédonien/ne macedoneBrazil le Brésil il Brasile Malta Malte (f) Malta (f)Brazilian brésilien/ne brasiliano/a Maltese maltais/e malteseBritish brittanique britannico/a Netherlands les Pays Bas i Paesi BassiBulgaria la Bulgarie la Bulgaria Dutch néerlandais/e olandese

Bulgarian bulgare bulgaro/a New Zealand la Nouvelle-Zélande

la Nuova Zelanda

Canada le Canada il Canada New Zealander néo-zélandais/e neozelandese

Canadian canadien/ne canadese Norway la Norvège la NorvegiaChina la Chine la Cina Norwegian norvégien/ne norvegeseChinese chinois/e cinese Poland la Pologne la PoloniaCroatia la Croatie la Croazia Polish polonais/e polacco/aCroatian croate croato/a Portuguese portugais/e portogheseCzech tchèque ceco/a Portugal le Portugal il Portogallo

Czech Republic

la République Tchèque

la Repubblica Ceca

Romanian roumain/e romeno/a

Danish danois/e danese Romania la Roumanie la Romania

Denmark le Danemark la Danimarca Russia la Russie la Russia

Egypt l'Egypte (f) l'Egitto Russian russe russo/aEgyptian égyptien/e egiziano/a Scotland l'Ecosse la ScoziaEngland l'Angleterre (f) l'Inghilterra Scottish écossais/e scozzeseEnglish anglais/e inglese Serbia la Serbie la SerbiaEstonia l'Estonie l'Estonia Serbian serbe serbo/aEstonian estonien/ne estone Slovakia la Slovaquie la SlovacchiaEurope l'Europe (f) l'Europa Slovak slovaque slovacco/aEuropean européen/ne europeo/a Slovenia la Slovénie la SloveniaFinland la Finlande la Finlandia Slovene slovène sloveno/aFinnish finnois/e finlandese Spain l'Espagne (f) la SpagnaFrance la France la Francia Spanish espagnol/e spagnolo/aFrench français/e francese Swedish suédois/e svedeseGerman allemand/e tedesco/a Sweden la Suède la SveziaGermany l'Allemagne (f) la Germania Switzerland la Suisse la SvizzeraGreat Britain

la Grande-Bretagne

la Gran Bretagna Swiss suisse svizzero/a

Greece la Grèce la Grecia Turkey la Turquie la TurchiaGreek grec/grecque greco/a Turk turc/turcque turco/aHungarian hongrois/e ungherese Ukrainian ukrainien/ne ucraino/aHungary la Hongrie l'Ungheria Ukraine l'Ukraine l'Ucraina

Iceland l'Islande l'Islanda United Kingdom la Royaume-Uni il Regno Unito

Icelandic islandais/e islandese United States les Etats-Unis gli Stati UnitiIndia l'Inde l'India Wales le Pays-de-Galles GallesIndian indien/ne indiano/a Welsh gallois/e gallese

The article is not used with Malta in either language.

Prepositions & Contractions

Prepositions are highly idiomatic in any language, so it is always better to learn them in common phrases. Nevertheless, here are the most common prepositions:

English French Italianto, in, at à ain, to en / dans inon sur suwith avec conwithout sans senzafor pour per

from, by de daof de diover / above au-dessus sopraunder / below au-dessous sottoin front of devant dietrobehind derrière di fronte anear près de vicino a far loin de lontano a

In both languages, possession is shown by using de or di (of) rather than the - 's in English:

le chat de Luca / il gatto di Luca Luca's cat (or the cat of Luca) In French à and de combine with the definite articles: à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des. Italian has several more contractions involving prepositions and articles:

il lo l' la i gli le

a al allo all' alla ai agli alleda dal dallo dall' dalla dai dagli dalledi del dello dell' della dei degli dellein nel nello nell' nella nei negli nellesu sul sullo sull' sulla sui sugli sullecon col collo coll' colla coi cogli colle

Usually no article is used with in before words denoting rooms in a house or buildings in a city. The contractions with con are rarely used nowadays, but you will see them in older writings.

Verbs: Know

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

savoir / sapere - to know facts

sais so savais sapevo saurai sapròsais sai savais sapevi sauras sapraisait sa savait sapeva saura sapràsavons sappiamo savions sapevamo saurons sapremosavez sapete saviez sapevate saurez sapretesavent sanno savaient sapevano sauront sapranno

connaître / conoscere - to know people, places;to be acquainted with

connais conosco connaissais conoscevo connaîtrai conosceròconnais conosci connaissais conoscevi connaîtras conosceraiconnaît conosce connaissait conosceva connaîtra conosceràconnaissons conosciamo connaissions conoscevamo connaîtrons conosceremoconnaissez conoscete connaissiez conoscevate connaîtrez conoscerete

connaissent conoscono connaissaient conoscevano connaîtront conosceranno

Food & Meals

English French Italian English French Italian

bacon le bacon il lardo lunch le déjeuner il pranzobeef le bœuf il manzo meal le repas il pastobeer la bière la birra meat la viande la carnebeverage la boisson la bevanda milk le lait il lattebiscuit le biscuit il biscotto mustard la moutarde la mostarda

bread le pain il pane mutton le mouton la carne di montone

breakfast le petit déjeuner la colazione oil l'huile (f) l'oliobutter le beurre il burro omelet l'omelette (f) la frittatacake la gâteau la torta pepper le poivre il pepecandy le bonbon la caramella pie la tarte la tortacheese le fromage il formaggio pork le porc il maialechicken le poulet il pollo rice le riz il risochocolate le chocolat il cioccolato roast le rôti l'arrostocoffee le café il caffè roll le petit pain il paninocookie le biscuit il biscotto salad la salade l'insalatacottage cheese le fromage blanc la ricotta salami le salami il salamecotton candy la barbe à papa lo zucchero filato salt le sel il salecream la crème la panna sauce la sauce la salsadessert le dessert la frutta sausage la saucisse la salsicciadinner le dîner la cena soup la soupe la minestraegg l'œuf (m) l'uovo steak le bifteck la bisteccafat la graisse il grasso stew la ragoût lo stufatoflour la farine la farina sugar le sucre lo zuccheroham le jambon il prosciutto supper le souper la cenahamburger le hamburger l'hamburger tea le thé il tèhoney le miel il miele toast le pain grillé il pane tostatohot dog le hot-dog l'hot dog veal la veau la carne di vitelloice la glace il ghiaccio vegetables le légume il legumeice cream la glace il gelato vinegar le vinaigre l'acetojam la confiture la marmellata water l'eau l'acquajuice le jus il succo wine le vin il vinolollipop la sucette il leccalecca yogurt le yaourt lo yogurt

Verbs: Can, Want, Must

Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense

pouvoir / potere - to be able to, can

peux posso pouvais potevo pourrai potròpeux puoi pouvais potevi pourras potraipeut può pouvait poteva pourra potràpouvons possiamo pouvions potevamo pourrons potremopouvez potete pouviez potevate pourrez potretepeuvent possono pouvaient potevano pourront potranno

vouloir / volere - to want

veux voglio voulais volevo voudrai vorròveux vuoi voulais volevi voudras vorraiveut vuole voulait voleva voudra vorràvoulons vogliamo voulions volevamo voudrons vorremovoulez volete vouliez volevate voudrez vorreteveulent vogliono voulaient volevano voudront vorranno

devoir / dovere - to have to, must

dois devo devais dovevo devrai dovròdois devi devais dovevi devras dovraidoit deve devait doveva devra dovràdevons dobbiamo devions dovevamo devrons dovremodevez dovete deviez dovevate devrez dovretedoivent devono devaient dovevano devront dovranno

Fruits & Vegetables

English French Italian English French Italianalmond l'amande (f) la mandorla lentil la lentille la lenticchiaapple la pomme la mela lettuce la laitue la lattugaapricot l'abricot (m) l'albicocca lime le citron vert la limettaartichoke l'artichaut (m) il carciofo melon le melon il meloneasparagus l'asperge (f) l'asparago mint la menthe la mentaavocado l'avocat l'avocado mushroom le champignon il fungobanana le banane la banana oats l'avoine (f) l'avenabarley l'orge (f) l'orzo olive l'olive (f) l'olivabean (broad) la fève la fava onion l'oignon (m) la cipollabean (kidney) le haricot il fagiolo orange l'orange (f) l'arancia

berry la baie la bacca parsley le persil il prezzemolobroccoli le brocoli i broccoli pea le petit pois il pisellocabbage le choux il cavolo peach la pêche la pescacarrot la carotte la carota pear la poire la peracauliflower le chou-fleur il cavolfiore pepper le poivron il peperone celery le céleri il sedano pine le pin il pinocherry la cerise la ciliegia pineapple l'ananas (m) l'ananasso

chestnut la châtaigne, le marron la castagna plum la prune la susina

chives la ciboulette la cipollina potato la pomme de terre la patata

corn la maïs il granoturco pumpkin le potiron la zuccacucumber le concombre il cetriolo radish le radis il ravanellocurrant la groseille il ribes raspberry la framboise il lamponecypress le cyprès il cipresso rice le riz il risodate la datte il dattero rye le seigle la segale

eggplant l'aubergine (f) la melanzana sage la sauge la salviafig la figue il fico seed la graine il semefruit le fruit la frutta spinach les épinards (m) gli spinacigarlic l'ail (m) l'aglio strawberry la fraise la fragola

grapefruit le pamplemousse il pompelmo tomato la tomate il pomodoro

grapes le raisin l'uva turnip le navet la rapahazelnut la noisette la nocciola vine la vigne la viteherb l'herbe (f) l'erba walnut la noix la nocehorse-radish le raifort la barbaforte watermelon la pastèque l'angurialeaf la feuille la foglia wheat le froment il frumentolemon le citron il limone zucchini le courgette la zucchinaTo specify the type of tree that a certain fruit grows on, just make the noun masculine and add -ier to the French fruit / change the last letter of the Italian fruit to -o (sometimes the fruit and the tree will be the same). la pomme / la mela - apple; le pommier / il melo - apple tree

There is, are : Il y a / C'e, ci sono

Il y a is the French expression for there is or are. C'è is Italian for there is, while ci sono means there are.

il y a une chaise / c'è una sedia there is a chairil y a trois chats / ci sono tre gatti there are three cats

Il y a also means ago in French when it precedes a time period. In Italian, you add fa after the time period.

il y a un mois / un mese fa one month ago

Necessity: Il faut / Bisogna, Occorre, Ci vuole

To express necessity, such as must, have to, need (to), require, it's necessary to, etc. French uses il faut + verb or a noun (whether singular or plural). Italian has several more expressions: bisogna + verb; or occorre + verb; occorre + singular noun / occorrono + plural noun; or ci vuole + singular noun / ci vogliono + plural noun. The verbs will always be in the infinitive.

Il faut faire des courses. / Bisogna fare la spesa. You must / It's necessary to go grocery shopping.Il faut acheter du pain. / Occorre comprare pane. You must buy bread.Il faut du lait. / Occorre il latte. We need milk.Il faut des biscuits. / Ci vogliono i biscotti. We need cookies.

Partitive

In French, you must always express some, especially when speaking about food, even though you do not have to do this in English. Partitives are formed by using de (of) + definite article: du, de l', de la and des in the positive; but in the negative, only de or d' are used. The partitive (contractions with di) is not required in Italian. You may use it in positive sentences, but never in negative sentences.

Est-ce que tu prends du vin ou de l'eau ? / Prendi (del) vino o (dell') acqua? Are you having (some) wine or (some) water?

J'ai acheté des livres intéressants. / Ho comprato (dei) libri interessanti. I bought (some) interesting books.Je n'ai pas passé de bonnes vacances. / Non ho passato buone vacanze. I didn't have a good vacation.

French Italian 3

French & Italian Comparative Tutorial III: Learn Two Languages Simultaneously

Verbs: Present & Past Tenses

In both languages, there are three types of verbs grouped according to the last letters of the infinitive. In French, there are -er, -re, and -ir verbs; while in Italian, there are -are, -ere, and -ire verbs. The following chart uses aimer/amare (to love); vendre/vendere (to sell); and finir/finire (to finish) as examples for all regular verbs in the present and imperfect tenses. (There is another simple past tense, the preterite, but it is rarely used in modern spoken French or Italian).

French Italian aimer vendre finir amare vendere finire

Present Tense

aime vends finis amo vendo finiscoaimes vends finis ami vendi finisciaime vend finit ama vende finisceaimons vendons finissons amiamo vendiamo finiamoaimez vendez finissez amate vendete finiteaiment vendent finissent amano vendono finiscono

Imperfect Tense

aimais vendais finissais amavo vendevo finivoaimais vendais finissais amavi vendevi finiviaimait vendait finissait amava vendeva finivaaimions vendions finissions amavamo vendevamo finivamoaimiez vendiez finissiez amavate vendevate finivateaimaient vendaient finissaient amavano vendevano finivano

Not all French verbs that end in -ir or all Italian verbs that end in -ire use the above endings. Some -ir / -ire verbs have slightly different endings in the present tense. In French, verbs such as partir, dormir, sortir (to leave, to sleep, to go out) are conjugated thus: for the singular forms, take off the last three letters, and add -s, -s, -t; for the plural forms, take off the last two letters, and add -ons, -ez, -ent. For example, je pars, tu pars, il part, nous partons, vous partez, ils partent. In Italian, verbs such as partire, dormire, aprire (to leave, to sleep, to open) are conjugated without the -isc- before the regular endings. For example, parto, parti, parte, partiamo, partite, partono. Regular Verbs

to like, love aimer amare to sell vendre vendereto sing chanter cantare to wait for attendre aspettare

to look for chercher cercare to listen écouter ascoltareto begin commencer cominciare to lose perdre perdereto study étudier studiare to answer répondre (à) rispondere (a)to close fermer chiudere to go down descendre scendereto live habiter abitare to live vivre vivereto play jouer giocare to understand comprendre capireto eat manger mangiare to finish finir finireto show montrer mostrare to choose choisir scegliereto speak parler parlare to punish punir punireto think penser pensare to fill remplir riempireto work travailler lavorare to obey obéir (à) ubbidire (a)to find trouver trovare to succeed réussir riuscireto jump sauter saltare to cure, heal guérir guarire

Spelling Changes in the Present Tense

There are a few spelling changes in regular verbs in the present tense. These changes are made to reflect the pronunciation of the conjugated verb.

In French, verbs that end in -ger will use -geons as the first person singular form (nous mangeons); while verbs that end in -cer will use -çons as the first person singular form (nous commençons). Verbs that end in -yer change the y to i in all forms except nous and vous (j'essaie, tu essaies, nous essayons). Some verbs add an accent grave to the letter e to all forms except nous and vous (j'achète, il achète, vous achetez). Some verbs double the consonant before the verb endings in all forms except nous and vous (tu appelle, elle appelle, vous appelez).

In Italian, verbs ending in -care and -gare add an h before the -i of the second person singular and first person plural forms (tu and noi). Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare do not add an extra -i before the tu and noi forms.

Irregular Imperfect Verbs

In French, there is only one verb in the imperfect that is irregular, être. It uses the stem ét- and the regular imperfect endings.

êtreétais étionsétais étiezétait étaient

In Italian, the stem of essere becomes er- for io, tu, lui/lei and loro, and it does not take the v, while the stem for noi and voi is era- and it does take the v. The stems for bere, dire and fare are derived from the old Latin infinitives, and are beve-, dice-, and face-. They also take the regular endings of the imperfect.

essere bere dire fareero eravamo bevevo bevevamo dicevo dicevamo facevo facevamoeri eravate bevevi bevevate dicevi dicevate facevi facevateera erano beveva bevevano diceva dicevano faceva facevano

Pronominal Verbs

Pronominal verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, but have an extra pronoun before them that agrees with the subject of the verb. Most of these verbs indicate a reflexive action - that reflects back on the subject. You can translate the pronouns as myself, yourself, etc. but we rarely use these words in English. Some other verbs indicate a reciprocal action, translated by each other in English.

myself me miyourself te tihimself/herself/itself se siourselves nous ciyourselves vous vithemselves se si

Reflexive verbs

to break (arm, leg, etc.) se casser rompersi to fall asleep s'endormir addormentarsi

to hurry se dépêcher sbrigarsi to get dressed s'habiller vestirsito relax se détendre rilassarsi to get married se marier sposarsito rest se reposer riposarsi to get up se lever alzarsi

to get along s'entendre avec

intendersi con

to have a good time s'amuser divertirsi

to train/practice s'entraîner allenarsi to remember to se souvenir de ricordarsi di

to be interested in s'intéresser à interessarsi di

to shave (the face) se raser farsi la barba

to be bored s'ennuyer annoiarsi to stop (oneself) s'arrêter fermarsi to be called s'appeler chiamarsi to wake up se réveiller svegliarsito complain about se plaindre lamentarsi di to wash up se laver lavarsi

Notice in French that the reflexive pronoun precedes the infinitive, whereas in Italian, it is connected to the end of the infinitive.

When conjugating verbs, the reflexive pronoun is always placed before the conjugated verb in both languages. However, in sentences where the pronominal verb remains in the infinitive, the reflexive pronoun must agree with the subject of the main verb in the sentence.

Nous nous levons à 8h chaque matin. / Ci alziamo alla 8 ogni mattina. We get up at 8 am every morning.Il s'appelle Michael. / Si chiama Michael. He's called Michael.Vous allez vous amuser ce soir. / Andate a divertirvi stasera. You're going to have fun tonight.

Etre sur le point de / Stare per + infinitive

If you want to express to be about to do something, French uses être sur le point de + infinitive and Italian uses stare per + infinitive. You can use these expressions in the present and imperfect, just as in English.

J'étais sur le point de réussir. / Stavo per riuscire. I was about to succeed.On est sur le point de manger. / Stiamo per mangiare. We're about to eat.Vous êtes sur le point de finir. / State per finire. You are about to finish.

Etre en train de / Stare + gerund

To translate that an action is currently happening (the progressive form in English: be + gerund), French uses the phrase être en train de + infinitive, while Italian uses stare + gerund. Remember that être and stare can be conjugated in other tenses besides the present or imperfect. To form the gerund in Italian, just replace the verb endings: -are becomes -ando, -ere becomes -endo, and -ire also becomes -endo. There are three irregular forms: fare - facendo, dire - dicendo, bere - bevendo. Je suis en train de lire. / Sto leggendo. I am reading. / I'm busy reading. / I'm in the middle of reading.Il était en train de parler. / Stava parlando. He was talking.Elles sont en train de partir. / Stanno partendo. They are leaving.

On / Si

To translate you, we, they, the people (in general, abstract terms), French uses on + 3rd person singular conjugation whereas Italian uses si + 3rd person conjugation (which agrees with the subject for number). However, on in French is a regular subject pronoun while si is not in Italian. It is actually a reflexive pronoun normally used with pronominal verbs. But this should not cause many problems as you rarely use the subject pronouns in Italian anyway. The subject for the Italian expression is placed after the verb and the verb agrees with it - singular or plural.

En France, on boit beaucoup de café. / In Francia, si beve molto caffè. In France, they drink a lot of coffee. / In France, a lot of coffee is drunk.En Italie, on mange beaucoup de glaces. / In Italia, si mangiano molti gelati. In Italy, they eat a lot of ice cream. / In Italy, a lot of ice cream is eaten.

French uses this same construction (reflexive pronoun + 3rd person conjugation) for the impersonal form and as a subsitute for the passive mood. For example, in the French Le pain s'achète à la boulangerie the verb is constructed the same as in the Italian Al panificio si compra il pane. It's just the word order that is slightly different. Both sentences mean Bread is bought at the bakery, but the French construction is not used as often because active expressions with on are more common: On achète le pain à la boulangerie.

Plaire / Piacere

Because the verbs aimer and amare means to like and to love, it would be better to use the verbs plaire and piacere when talking about things that you like. The construction of these verbs can be confusing though because the word order is different from English. In French, the word order is subject + indirect pronoun + plaire. In Italian, the word order is indirect pronoun + piacere + subject. You can think of these verbs as meaning to please rather than to like. Note that the verbs are only conjugated for third person singular and plural, because they agree with the subjects, and not the indirect pronouns.

Le football me plaît. Mi piace il calcio. I like soccer.Le ski te plaît. Ti piace lo sci. You like skiing.Les pommes lui plaisent. Gli / Le piacciono le mele. He / she likes apples.Le sport nous plaît. Ci piace lo sport. We like sports.Les films vous plaisent. Vi piacciono i film. You like films.La natation leur plaît. A loro piace il nuoto. They like swimming.

Verbs: Imperative

The imperative is the command form of the verb. The subject (you) is implied and doesn't need to be expressed. You can also use the we form of verbs to express Let's... The imperative conjugations are very similar to the present tense conjugations in both languages.

Imperatives in French are slightly easier to form. The you singular form is identical to the tu conjugations, except -er verbs drop the -s. The you singular formal / you plural and we forms are identical to the vous and nous conjugations. To form the negative of an imperative, just place ne before the verb and pas after. For pronominal verbs, the affirmative imperative is formed connecting the reflexive pronoun to the verb with a hyphen (te becomes toi in imperatives). To form the negative pronominal imperative, the reflexive pronoun is once again placed before the verb and ne is placed before the pronoun and verb, and pas is placed after the verb.

Reste là. Stay there.Finis ton travail. Finish your work.Ecoutez le professeur. Listen to the teacher.Commençons. Let's begin.Ne fume pas. Don't smoke.Ne parlez pas. Don't speak.Dépêche-toi. Hurry.Ne vous levez pas. Don't get up.

Italian imperatives are not quite as similar to the present tense conjugations. The you singular form is -a for -are verbs and -i for -ere/-ire verbs. The you singular formal (the Lei form) is the opposite: -i for -are verbs and -a for -ere/-ire verbs. The you plural and we forms are identical to the voi and noi conjugations (just as in French). To make a command negative, just add non before the verb; except for you singular imperatives, where you use non + the infinitive. Pronominal verbs form the imperative by placing the reflexive pronoun after the verb, and they are written together as one word. Negative imperatives for pronominal verbs just add non before the verb; except for you singular pronominal verbs, which use non + the infinitive. However, the reflexive pronoun attached to this infinitive must still agree with the subject, so it will be -ti and not -si. Resta lì. Stay there.Finisci il tuo lavoro. Finish your work.Ascoltate il professore. Listen to the teacher.Cominciamo. Let's begin.Non fumare. Don't smoke.Non parlate. Don't speak.Sbrigati. Hurry.Non alzatevi. Don't get up.

French Irregular Imperatives Italian Irregular Imperatives

être avoir savoir andare venire fare dare dire essere avere stareyou singular sois aie sache va' vieni fa' da' di' sii abbi sta'

you sing. formal

soyez ayez sachez vada venga faccia dia dica sia abbia stia

you plural soyez ayez sachez andate venite fate date dite siate abbiate state

Let's… soyons ayons sachons andiamo veniamo facciamo diamo diciamo siamo abbiamo stiamoIn Italian, dare is to give and dire is to tell.

Verbs: Present Perfect / Past Perfect Tenses

The perfect tenses in French and Italian are formed with to have or to be as auxiliary verbs and a past participle. (In English, to have is always the auxiliary verb.) To have or to be are in the present tense for the present perfect, and in the imperfect tense for the past perfect. The majority of verbs will use to have as the auxiliary verb; however, all prononimal/reflexive verbs in both languages use to be as the auxiliary. To form the past participle of a verb, use the following endings:

French Italian-er / -are -é -ato

-ir / -ire -i -ito

-re / -ere -u -uto

Verbs using to have (avoir/avere) as an auxiliaryVerbs that can take a direct object use to have as an auxiliary. Word order is simply present/imperfect form of have + past participle. In the negative, word order becomes ne + present/imperfect of have + pas + past participle for French, and non + present/imperfect of have + past participle for Italian. There is no agreement with the past participle in gender or number unless there is a preceding direct object. Follow the same rules for agreement as you do with nouns and adjectives: add -e for feminine and -s for plural in French; change -o to -a for feminine, -o to -i for masculine plural, and -o to -e for feminine plural in Italian.

French Italian EnglishPositive Tu as mangé la pomme. Hai mangiato la mela. You ate the apple.

Negative Tu n'as pas mangé la pomme.

Non hai mangiato la mela. You didn't eat the apple.

Preceding Direct Object Tu ne l'as pas mangée. Non la hai mangiata. You didn't eat it.

Verbs using to be (être/essere) as an auxiliaryVerbs that cannot take a direct object (i.e. intransitive verbs), as well as all pronominal verbs, generally use to be as an auxiliary. Word order is present/imperfect form of be + past participle for intransitive verbs and reflexive pronoun + present/imperfect form of be + past participle for prononimal verbs. In the negative, word order becomes ne + reflexive pronoun + present/imperfect of be + pas + past participle for French, and non + reflexive pronoun + present/imperfect of be + past participle for Italian. The past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject for all verbs using to be as an auxiliary.

French Italian English

Positive Elle est allée à la poste. E andata alla posta. She went to the post office.

Negative Elle n'est pas allée à la poste. Non è andata alla posta.

She didn't go to the post office.

Positive Pronominal Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. Ci siamo lavati/e. We washed ourselves.

Negative Pronominal

Nous ne nous sommes pas lavé(e)s.

Non ci siamo lavati/e. We didn't wash ourselves.

The verbs that require to be (être) as an auxiliary in French are: aller-to go, sortir-to go out, venir-to come, mourir-to die, arriver-to arrive, partir-to leave, devenir-to become, monter-to go up, entrer-to enter, tomber-to fall, revenir-to come back, rester-to stay, rentrer-to return home, retourner-to return, naître-to be born, passer-to go by (pass), descendre-to go down. Only a few

of these verbs have irregular past participles: venir-venu, devenir-devenu, revenir-revenu, mourir-mort, and naître-né. And five of these verbs (monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer) can sometimes be conjugated with avoir if they are followed by a direct object.

Some verbs that require to be (essere) as an auxiliary in Italian are: arrivare-to arrive, andare-to go, uscire-to go out, entrare-to enter, costare-to cost, venire-to come, essere-to be, partire-to leave, stare-to stay/be, sparire-to disappear, tornare-to come back, nascere-to be born, morire-to die. Five of these verbs have irregular past participles: venire-venuto, essere-stato, stare-stato, nascere-nato, and morire-morto.

Note that avoir and être both use avoir as an auxiliary in French, but that avere uses avere and essere uses essere as an auxiliary in Italian! And remember that the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object when the auxiliary is to have; but the past participle agrees with the subject when the auxiliary is to be.

Venir de / Appena

To express that something has just happened, use a form of venir + de + infinitive in French, and a form of the correct auxiliary verb + appena + past participle in Italian.

Le train vient de partir. / Il treno è appena partito. The train just left.

House & Furniture

English French Italian English French Italianalarm clock le réveil la sveglia hook le crochet l'uncino

armchair le fauteuil la poltrona house la maison la casa

ashtray le cendrier il portacenere iron (flat) le fer á repasser il ferro da stiro

attic le grenier la soffitta kerosene le pétrole il petroliobalcony le balcon il balcone key la clef la chiavebasement le sous-sol il sottosuolo kitchen la cuisine la cucinabasket la corbeille la cesta ladder l'échelle (f) la scalabathroom le bain il bagno lamp la lampe la lampada

bathtub la baignoire la vasca da bagno lawn la pelouse il prato

batteries la pile le pile light bulb l'ampoule la lampadinabed le lit il letto living room le living il soggiornobedroom la chambre la camera lock la serrure la serratura

bell (door) la sonnette il campanello mailbox la boîte á lettres la cassetta postale

blanket la couverture la coperta matches les allumettes i fiammiferiblinds le store la persiana mattress le matelas il materasso

bookcase le bibliothèque la libreria microwave oven

le four á micro-ondes

il forno microonde

box la boître la scatola mirror le miroir lo specchiobroom le balai la scopa oven le four il fornellobucket le seau il secchio pantry le garde- la dispensa

mangercamcorder la caméra la telecamera picture le tableau il quadro

camera l'appareil-photo (m)

la macchina fotografica pillow l'oreiller (m) il cuscino

candle la bougie la candela pipe la pipe la pipacarpet le tapis il tappeto pipe (water) le tuyau il condottocassette la cassette la cassetta poker le tisonnier l'attizzatoioCD player la lecteur de CD il lettore CD radio le radio la radioceiling le plafond il soffito record le disque il discochair la chaise la sedia refrigerator le réfrigerateur il frigoriferochimney la cheminée il camino roof le toit il tettocigar le cigare il sigaro room la pièce la stanzacigarette la cigarette la sigaretta rug le tapis il tappetoclock la pendule l'orologio sheet le drap il lenzuolocloset le placard l'armadio shelf l'étagère lo scaffalecompact disc le CD il compact disc shovel la pelle la pala

computer l'ordinateur (m) il computer shower la douche la docciacorner le coin l'angolo sideboard le buffet la credenzacupboard l'armoire (f) l'armadio sink l'évier il lavandino

curtain le rideau la cortina / tenda sink (bathroom) le lavabo il lavandino

cushion le coussin il cuscino sitting room le salon il salottodesk le bureau la scrivania smoke la fumée il fumodining room la salle á manger la sala da pranzo sofa le canapé il sofà

door la porte la porta stairs l'escalier (m) la scaladrawer le tiroir il cassetto steps les marches lo scalinodresser la commode il comò story l'étage (m) il pianodriveway l'allée il viale d'accesso stove le poêle la stufaDVD player

le lecteur de DVD il lettore DVD study le cabinet de

travail lo studio

fence le portail / clôture lo steccato switch le

commutateur l'interruttore

film la pellicule il rullino table la table la tavolafire le feu il fuoco tap (faucet) le robinet il rubinettoflame la flamme la fiamma telephone le téléphone il telefono

flashlight la lampe de poche la pila tascabile television la télévision il televisore

flat l'appartement (m) l'appartamento toaster le grille-pain il tostapane

floor la plancher il pavimento toilet (WC) le cabinet il gabinettofloor (levels) l'étage (m) il piano towel la serviette la salvietta

flower la fleur il fiore vacuum cleaner

l'aspirateur (m) l'aspiratore (m)

freezer la congélateur il congelatore vase le vase il vaso

front walk la promenade la passeggiata VCR la magnétoscope

il videoregistratore

furniture les meubles (m) i mobili wall (house) le mur il murogarage le garage il garage wall (room) la paroi la paretegarden le jardin il giardino window la fenêtre la finestraground floor

le rez-de-chaussée il pianterreno yard le jardin il giardino

hearth la cheminée il caminetto

Buildings & Materials

English French Italian English French Italianairport l'aéroport l'aeroporto port le port il portobakery la boulangerie la panetteria prison la prison la prigionebank le banc la banca restaurant le restaurant il ristorante

bar le bar il bar road le chemin / la route

il cammino / la via

barn le grange il granaio school l'école la scuolabarracks la caserne la caserma sidewalk le trottoir il marciapiedebench le banc la panchina square la place la piazzabridge le pont il ponte stable l'écurie (f) la stallabookstore le librairie la libreria stadium le stade lo stadiobuilding le bâtiment l'edificio stop sign le stop lo stopbutcher's la boucherie la macelleria store le magasin il negoziocastle le château il castello street la rue la stradacathedral la cathédrale il duomo suburb la banlieue il sobborgocemetery le cimetière il cimitero theater le théâtre il teatrochurch l'église la chiesa tower la tour la torrecinema le cinéma il cinema town la ville la cittàconsulate le consulat il consolato town hall la mairie il municipio

corner le coin l'angolo traffic light

le feu de circulation il semaforo

courtyard la cour il cortile university l'université l'università (f)

crosswalk le passage pour piétons

il passaggio pedonale village le village il villaggio

dock le bassin il bacino alloy l'alliage (m) la legadry cleaner's le pressing la tintoria brass le laiton l'ottone (m)

embassy l'ambassade (f) l'ambasciata brick la brique il mattonefactory l'usine (f) la fabbrica cement le ciment il cementofarm la ferme la fattoria chalk la craie la cretafire hydrant la bouche à l'idrante clay l'argile (f) l'argilla

incendiefountain la fontaine la fontana coal le charbon il carbonegarage le garage il garage concrete le béton il calcestruzzogrocery store l'épicerie la drogheria copper le cuivre il rame

hospital l'hôpital (m) l'ospedale (m) cork le liège il sugherohotel l'hotel l'albergo (m) glass le verre il vetrohouse la maison la casa gold l'or (m) l'orohut la hutte la capanna iron le fer il ferroinn l'auberge (f) l'osteria lead le plomb il piombolane / alley la ruelle il vicolo leather le cuir il cuoiolibrary la bibliothèque la biblioteca lime la chaux la calcemarket le marché il mercato marble le marbre il marmoministry le ministère il ministero mercury le mercure il mercuriomonument le monument il monumento metal le métal il metallomuseum le musée il museo rubber le caoutchouc la gommapalace le palais il palazzo silver l'argent (m) l'argentopath le sentier il sentiero steel l'acier (m) l'acciaiopavement le trottoir il marciapiede stone la pierre la pietrapharmacy la pharmacie la farmacia tar le goudron il catramepier la jetée il molo tin l'étain (m) lo stagnopolice station le commisariat il commissariato wood le bois il legno

French & Italian Comparative Tutorial IV: Learn Two Languages Simultaneously

Comparatives / Superlatives

Comparatives of Superiority, Inferiority, and Egality

English French Italianmore ... than plus ... que / plus de ... que più ... che / più ... diless ... than moins .... que / moins de... que meno ... che / meno ... dias ... as aussi ... que / autant de ... que così... come / tanto ... quantoFrench comparatives are less complicated than Italian comparatives. Plus... que, moins... que, and aussi... que are used with adjectives, while plus de... que, moins de... que and autant de... que are used with nouns. In Italian, più...che and meno... che are used when comparing two qualities of the same thing, and with adjectives, verbs or adverbs; while più... di and meno... di are used when comparing two different things. Così... come and tanto... quanto are used interchangeably with adjectives, but tanto...quanto can also compare two quantities (in which case, the words agree in gender and number with the noun they describe).

Marc a plus d'amis que d'amies. / Marco ha più amici che amiche. Mark has more male friends than female friends.Paul est plus grand que Franco. / Paolo è più alto di Franco. Paul is taller than Frank.Paris est aussi belle que Rome. / Parigi è così bella come Roma. Paris is as beautiful as Rome.

Superlatives

Use the correct form of the definite article if using an adjective, or just the masculine singular form if using an adverb, and plus / moins or più / meno. The preposition de / di (plus contractions, if needed) means in with all superlatives.

If the adjective follows the noun, you must repeat the definite article before the superlative form in French, but not in Italian.

C'est la ville la plus riche d'Italie. / È la città più ricca d'Italia. It's the richest city in Italy.

Irregular Forms

English French Italianadjective - comparative - superlative

good - better - best bon - meilleur/e - le/la meilleur/e buono - migliore - il/la migliorebad - worse - worst mauvais - pire - le/la pire cattivo - peggio - il/la peggiorelittle - less - least petit - moindre - le/la moindre piccolo - minore - il/la minimo

adverb - comparative - superlativewell - better - best bien - mieux - le mieux bene - meglio - il megliobadly - worse - worst mal - pis - le pis male - peggio - il peggiolittle - less - least peu - moins - le moins poco - meno - il menomuch - more - most beaucoup - plus - le plus molto - più - il più

Clothing & Toiletries

English French Italian English French Italianapron le tablier il grembiale silk la soie la setabarrette la barrette il fermaglio skirt la jupe la gonnabathrobe le peignoir l'accappatoio sleeve la manche la manicabelt la ceinture la cintura slippers les pantoufles la pantofolablouse le chemisier la camicetta soap le savon il saponeboot la botte lo stivale sock les chaussettes il calzino

bra le soutien-gorge il reggiseno stocking le bas la calza

bracelet le bracelet il braccialetto suit (men / women)

le costume / le tailleur

l'abito / il vestito

brush la brosse la spazzola per capelli sunglasses les lunettes de soleil gli occhiali da

solebuckle la boucie la fibbia suspenders les bretelles le bretellebutton le bouton il bottone sweater le pull-over il maglione

cap la casquette il berretto swimsuit le maillot de bain il costume da bagno

clothes les vêtements i vestiti thread le fil il filo

coat le manteau il cappotto tie la cravate la cravattacollar le col il colletto T-shirt le t-shirt la magliettacomb le peigne il pettine umbrella le parapluie l'ombrello

contact lens les lentilles (f) le lenti a contatto underwear les sous-vêtements le mutandine

cotton le coton il cotone waistcoat le gilet il panciottodress la robe il vestito watch la montre l'orologio

earmuffs le cache-oreilles il paraorecchie wool la laine la lana

earrings la boucle d'oreille l'orecchino toothbrush la brosse à dents lo spazzolino

fashion la mode la moda toothpaste le dentifrice il dentifricioglasses les lunettes gli occhiali makeup le maquillage il truccoglove les gants il guanto lipstick le rouge il rossetto

handbag le sac à main la borsa nail polish le vernis à ongles lo smalto per unghie

handkerchief le mouchoir il fazzoletto nail polish remover le dissolvant l'acetone (m)

hat le chapeau il cappello mascara le mascara il mascara

jacket la veste / le blouson la giacca blush le blush il fard

jeans le jean jeans eyeliner l'eyeliner lo spazzolino per unghie

mittens les moufles le manopole eyeshadow l'ombre à paupière l'ombrettonecklace le collier la collana foundation le fond de teint il fondotintaneedle l'aiguille (f) l'ago lotion la lotion la lozione

nightgown la chemise de nuit

la camicia da notte shampoo le shampooing lo sciampo

outfit l'ensemble il corredo conditioner l'après-shampooing il balsamo

overcoat le pardessus il soprabito shaving cream la mousse à raser la crema da

barbapajamas le pyjama il pigiama razor le rasoir il rasoiopants le pantalon i pantaloni tweezers les pinces à épiler le pinzettepin l'épingle (f) lo spillo nail clippers le coupe-ongles le forbicinepocket la poche la tasca nail file la lime la lima

purse la bourse la borsetta floss le fil dentaire il filo interdentale

raincoat l'imperméable l'impermeable curling iron le fer à friser il ferro arricciacapelli

ribbon le ruban il nastro straightening iron le lisseur la piastra

stiracapelliring la bague l'anello hairspray la laque la laccasandals les sandales i sandali hairdryer le sèche-cheveux l'asciugacapelliscarf l'écharpe la sciarpa powder la poudre la polvereshirt la chemise la maglia perfume le parfum il profumo

shoe la chaussure la scarpa cologne le cologne la colonia

shoelace le lacet il laccio suntan lotion la lotion solaire l'emulsione solare

shorts le short i pantaloncini sponge l'éponge (f) la spugna

Verbs: Other common irregular verbs

Other irregular verbs to memorize in French in the present tense:

mettre - to wear vivre - to live lire - to read dire - to say voir - to seemets vis lis dis voismets vis lis dis voismet vit lit dit voitmettons vivons lisons disons voyonsmettez vivez lisez dites voyezmettent vivent lisent disent voient

croire - to believe écrire - to write recevoir - to receive suivre - to follow mourir - to die

crois écris reçois suis meurscrois écris reçois suis meurscroit écrit reçoit suit meurtcroyons écrivons recevons suivons mouronscroyez écrivez recevez suivez mourezcroient écrivent reçoivent suivent meurent

Other irregular verbs to memorize in Italian in the present tense:

dare - to give bere - to drink dire - to say, tell salire - to go up uscire - to go outdo bevo dico salgo escodai bevi dici sali escidà beve dice sale escediamo beviamo diciamo saliamo usciamodate bevete dite salite uscitedanno bevono dicono salgono escono

Human Body

English French Italian English French Italianankle la cheville la caviglia mouth la bouche la boccaarm le bras il braccio muscle le muscle il muscoloartery l'artère l'arteria nail l'ongle (m) l'unghiaback le dos il dorso neck le cou il collobeard la barbe la barba nerve le nerf il nervobelly le ventre il ventre pain la douleur il dolorebladder la vessie la vescica nose le nez il naso

blood le sang il sangue palm la paume la palmabody le corps il corpo pulse le pouls il polsobone l'os (m) l'osso rib la côte la costolabrain la cervelle il cervello shin / tibia le tibia la tibiabreast le sein il seno shoulder l'épaule (f) la spallabreath la haleine l'alito skeleton le squelette lo scheletrocalf le mollet il polpaccio skin la peau la pellecheek la joue la guancia skull le crâne il craniochest la poitrine il petto sole la plante la piantachin le menton il mento spine l'épine dorsale (f) la spina dorsalecoccyx le coccyx il coccige stomach l'estomac (m) lo stomacocold le rhume il raffreddore tear la larme la lacrimacomplexion le teint la carnagione temple la tempe la tempiacough la toux la tosse thigh la cuisse la cosciadisease la maladie la malattia throat la gorge la golaear l'oreille (f) l'orecchio thumb le pouce il polliceelbow la coude il gomito toe l'orteil (m) il dito del piedeeye l'œil l'occhio tongue la langue la linguaeyebrow le sourcil il sopracciglio tooth la dent il denteeyelid la paupière la palpebra vein la veine la venaface le visage / la figure la faccia / il viso wound la blessure la feritafever la fièvre la febbre waist la taille la vitafinger le doigt il dito wrist le poignet il polsofist le poing il pugno flesh la chair la carne see voir vederefoot le pied il piede hear entendre udireforehead le front la fronte smell sentir annusaregum la gencive la gengiva taste goûter assaggiare hair les cheveux i capelli touch toucher toccarehand la main la mano head la tête la testa enamel l'émail lo smaltoheadache le mal de tête il mal di testa filling le plombage l'otturazionehealth la santé la salute crown la couronne la coronaheart le cœur il cuore gum la gencive la gengivaheel le talon il tallone bone l'os l'ossohip la hanche l'anca root la racine la radiceintestine l'intestin (m) l'intestino nerve la nerf il nervojaw la mâchoire la mascella iris l'iris l'iridekidney le rein il rene cornea la cornée la corneaknee le genou il ginocchio pupil la pupille la pupillaleg la jambe la gamba retina la rétine la retinalip la lèvre il labbro optic nerve le nerf optique il nervo otticoliver la foie il fegato lens le cristallin la lente

lung le poumon il polmone moustache la moustache i baffi

Verbs: Future / Conditional Tenses

Rather than using auxiliary verbs before the infinitive to form the future and conditional tenses (will and would in English), French and Italian add different endings to the infinitives. There are several irregular stems, but these stems are used to form both the future and conditional tenses.

You must drop -e from -re verbs in French and drop -e from all infinitives in Italian, as well as change -ar to -er, before adding the endings. For example, you add the endings to parler-, partir-, and prendr- in French and to parler-, partir-, and prender- in Italian.

Endings for Future and Conditional Tenses for all verbs

Future ConditionalFrench Italian French Italian-ai -ò -ais -ei-as -ai -ais -esti-a -à -ait -ebbe-ons -emo -ions -emmo-ez -ete -iez -este-ont -anno -aient -ebbero

Irregular Stems for Future and Conditional

French Stems Italian Stemsaller ir- avere avr-avoir aur- andare andr-courir courr- bere berr-devoir devr- cadere cadr-envoyer enverr- dare dar-être ser- dovere dovr-faire fer- essere sar-falloir faudr- fare far-mourir mourr- porre porr-pleuvoir pleuvr- potere potr-pouvoir pourr- rimanere rimarr-recevoir recevr- sapere sapr-savoir saur- stare star-tenir tiendr- tenere terr-valoir vaudr- tradurre tradurr-venir viendr- vedere vedr-voir verr- venire verr-vouloir voudr- volere vorr-

For the past future and past conditional tenses, you use the future or conditional of the auxiliary verb (to have or to be) + past participle.

Future Tense Conditional Tense Future Tense Conditional Tenseavoir avere avoir avere être essere être essereaurai avrò aurais avrei serai sarò serais sareiauras avrai aurais avresti seras sarai serais sarestiaura avrà aurait avrebbe sera sarà serait sarebbeaurons avremo aurions avremmo serons saremo serions saremmoaurez avrete auriez avreste serez sarete seriez saresteauront avranno auraient avrebbero seront saranno seraient sarebbero

Agreement of Tenses

Clauses beginning with if (si / se) require different tenses in French and Italian.

In French, if is followed by the present tense, and the verb in the following clause is in the future tense. In Italian, both verbs must be in the future tense:

Si j'ai le temps, je viendrai chez toi. / Se avrò il tempo, verrò a casa tua. If I have the time, I will go to your place.

The conditional is used after if in both languages; however, if the verb in the main clause is in a past tense, then the Italian verb in the subordinate clause must be in the past conditional. French can use either the present or past conditional in this case.

Je ne sais pas s'il pourrait le faire. / Non so se lo potrebbe fare. I don't know if he would be able to do it.

Je savais que tu ne viendrais pas / Sapevo che non saresti venuto. I knew that you wouldn't come.

Y & en / Ci & ne

Y and ci are pronouns used to replace a prepositional phrase beginning with any preposition except de / di, and they translate as it or there in English.

J'y pense. / Ci penso. I'm thinking about it.J'y suis allé. / Ci sono andato. I went there.N'y pense pas. / Non pensarci. Don't think about it.

En and ne are pronouns used to replace a prepositional phrase beginning with de / di, da or to replace the noun following a number, and they translate as about it/them or of it/them in English.

J'en ai quatre. / Ne ho quattro. I have four (of them).Parles-en. / Parlane. Talk about it.Je n'en doute pas. / Non ne dubito. I don't doubt it.

In French, y and en are placed before a conjugated verb and between a conjugated verb and infinitive, but after an imperative (and connected to it by a hypen). In Italian, ci and ne are placed before a conjugated verb, but after an imperative, infinitive or gerund (and they are written together as one word).

Verbs: Subjunctive Mood

Present Subjunctive of Regular Verbs

Add these endings to the ils/elles present tense stem of French (ils boivent; boiv-) and the regular

verb stem (parlare; parl-) in Italian:

French Italianall verbs -are -ere / -ire 2nd -ire

-e -i -a -isca-es -i -a -isca-e -i -a -isca-ions -iamo -iamo -iamo-iez -iate -iate -iate-ent -ino -ano -iscano

Present Subjunctive of Common Verbs All of the following Italian verbs are irregular, but only a few of the French verbs are considered irregular. Notice that in both languages, if the verb has a stem change in the subjunctive, it is usually only the singular forms and the third person plural that is affected.

French Italian French Italian French Italian French Italianêtre essere / stare avoir avere faire fare aller andaresois sia / stia aie abbia fasse faccia aille vadasois sia / stia aies abbia fasses faccia ailles vadasoit sia / stia ait abbia fasse faccia aille vada

soyons siamo / stiamo ayons abbiamo fassions facciamo allions andiamo

soyez siate / stiate ayez abbiate fassiez facciate alliez andiate

soient siano / stiano aient abbiano fassent facciano aillent vadano

venir venire vouloir volere pouvoir potere devoir doverevienne venga veuille voglia puisse possa doive debbaviennes venga veuilles voglia puisses possa doives debbavienne venga veuille voglia puisse possa doive debbavenions veniamo voulions vogliamo puissions possiamo devions dobbiamoveniez veniate vouliez vogliate puissiez possiate deviez dobbiateviennent vengano veuillent vogliano puissent possano doivent debbano savoir sapere boire bere dire dire donner daresache sappia boive beva dise dica donne diasaches sappia boives beva dises dica donnes diasache sappia boive beva dise dica donne diasachions sappiamo buvions beviamo disions diciamo donnions diamosachiez sappiate buviez beviate disiez diciate donniez diatesachent sappiano boivent bevano disent dicano donnent diano sortir uscire poser porre rester rimanere monter salire*sorte esca pose ponga reste rimanga monte salgasortes esca poses ponga restes rimanga montes salga

sorte esca pose ponga reste rimanga monte salgasortions usciamo posions poniamo restions rimaniamo montions saliamosortiez usciate posiez poniate restiez rimaniate montiez saliatesortent escano posent pongano restent rimangano montent salgano

* The verb scegliere in Italian follows this same pattern.

Some impersonal verbs in French have irregular subjunctive forms: pleuvoir - il pleuve, falloir - il faille, valoir - il vaille

Uses of Subjunctive The subjunctive mood must be used in subordinate clauses when the verb in the dependent clause expresses want, wish, doubt, fear, necessity, feelings, etc. for both French and Italian.

Italian also requires the subjunctive after verbs of hope and opinion, while French uses the indicative after these verbs (however, verbs of opinion in the negative or interrogative do in fact use the subjunctive in French).

Je veux que Paul me réponde. / Voglio che Paolo mi risponda. I want Paul to answer me.Il faut que Giacomo visite le centre. / Bisogna che Giacomo visiti il centro. Giacomo must visit the center.Je suis triste qu'il parte. / Sono triste che lui parta. I'm sad that he's leaving.Je pense qu'elle comprend l'allemand. / Penso che lei capisca il tedesco. I think that she understands German.

The subjunctive must also be used after certain impersonal phrases and conjunctions:

il est (im)possible que / è (im)possibile che it's (im)possible thatil est probable que / è probabile che it's probable thatil est utile que / è utile che it's useful thatil est juste que / è giusto che it's right thatil suffit que / basta che it's enough thatbien que / benché, sebbene, nonostante althoughpourvu que, à condition que / purché, a condizione che, a patto che provided thatafin que / affinché so thatpour que / perché in order thatà moins que / a meno che unlesssans que / senza che withoutavant que / prima che before

The imperfect subjunctive is rarely used nowadays in French, but it is still very common in Italian.

Imperfect Subjunctive of Regular Verbs

French uses the il/elle form of the simple past to form the stem for the imperfect subjunctive; while Italian uses the regular stem.

French Italianall verbs -are -ere -ire

-sse -assi -essi -issi-sses -assi -essi -issi-^t -asse -esse -isse-ssions -assimo -essimo -issimo-ssiez -aste -este -iste

-ssent -assero -assero -isseroThe third person singular in French should also add a circonflexe accent over the vowel that occurs

before the t.

Imperfect Subjunctive of Irregular Verbs

Verbs that are irregular in the imperfect indicative are also irregular in the imperfect subjunctive in Italian.

essere avere bere dare dire fare starefossi avessi bevessi dessi dicessi facessi stessifossi avessi bevessi dessi dicessi facessi stessifosse avesse bevesse desse dicesse facesse stessefossimo avessimo bevessimo dessimo dicessimo facessimo stessimofoste aveste beveste deste diceste faceste stestefossero avessero bevessero dessero dicessero facessero stessero

Agreement of tenses is stricter in Italian, so you must use the imperfect sujunctive in a subordinate clause if the dependent clause is in a past indicative or conditional tense. Furthermore, the imperfect subjunctive is required in Italian after come se (as if) and se (if) in hypothetical sentences (with verbs that require the subjunctive); whereas the imperfect indicative is used in French.

Il parle comme s'il était italien. / Parla come se fosse italiano. He speaks as if he were Italian.Si j'étais riche, j'achèterais un palais. / Se fossi ricco, comprerei un palazzo. If I were rich, I would buy a palace.J'ai pensé qu'il me comprenait. / Ho pensato che lui mi capisse. I thought that he understood me.

Animals & Insects

English French Italian English French Italian

animal l'animal (m) l'animale (m) lark l'alouette (f) l'allodola

ant la fourmi la formica lion le lion il leoneantelope l'antilope l'antilope (f) lizard le lézard la lucertola

antenna l'antenne l'antenna lobster (spiny) la langouste l'aragosta

antler la ramure le corna louse le pou il pidocchiobadger le badger il tasso mackerel la maquereau lo sgombro

bat la chauve-souris il pipistrello mole la taupe la talpa

beak le bec il becco monkey le singe la scimmiabear l'ours (m) l'orso mosquito la moustique la zanzarabee l'abeille (f) l'ape (f) moth le papillon de nuit la falenabeetle la scarabée lo scarabeo mouse la souris il topobird l'oiseau (m) l'uccello mule le mulet il muloblackbird le merle il merlo mussel la moule il pidocchio

bull le taureau il toro nest le nid il nidobutterfly le papillon la farfalla nightingale le rossignol l'usignolocalf le veau il vitello octopus la pieuvre il polpocarp la carpe la carpa ostrich l'autruche lo struzzocat le chat il gatto owl le hibou il gufocaterpillar le chenille il bruco ox le bœuf il buecheetah le guépard il ghepardo oyster l'huître (f) l'ostricachicken le poulet il pollo parrot le perroquet il pappagallochimpanzee le chimpanzé lo scimpanzé partridge la perdrix la perniceclaw la griffe l'artiglio paw la patte la zampa

cockroach le cafard lo scarafaggio penguin le pingouin il pinguino

cod la morue il merluzzo pig le cochon il porcococoon le cocon il bozzolo pigeon le pigeon il piccionecow la vache la vacca pike le brochet il lucciocrab le crabe il granchio pony le poney il ponycrayfish l'écrevisse (f) il gambero rabbit le lapin il conigliocrocodile le crocodile il coccodrillo raccoon le raton laveur il procionecrow le corbeau il corvo rat le rat il ratto / il sorciodeer le cerf il cervo rooster le coq il gallodog le chien il cane salmon le saumon il salmonedonkey l'âne (m) l'asino scale l'écaille (f) la squamadragonfly la libellule la libellula scorpion le scorpion lo scorpioneduck le canard l'anitra sea gull la mouette il gabbiano

eagle l'aigle (m) l'aquila seahorse l'hippocampe (m) il cavalluccio marino

eel l'anguille (f) l'anguilla seal le phoque la focaegg l'œuf l'uovo shark le requin lo squalo

elephant l'éléphant (m) l'elefante (m) sheep la mouton la pecora

feather la plume la penna shrimp la crevette il gamberetto / il gambero

fin la nageoire la pinna skin le peau la pellefish le poisson il pesce slug la limace la lumacaflea la puce la pulce snail l'escargot (m) la chiocciolafly la mouche la mosca snake le serpent / la

couleuvreil serpente / la biscia

fox le renard la volpe sole la sole la sogliolafrog la grenouille il ranocchio sparrow le moineau il passerofur la fourrure la pelliccia spider l'araignée (f) il ragnogill la branchie la branchia squid le calmar il calamarogiraffe la girafe la giraffa squirrel l'écureuil (m) la scoiattologoat la chèvre la capra starfish l'étoile de mer la stella di maregoose l'oie (f) l'oca stork la cigogne la cicogna

gorilla le gorille il gorilla swallow l'hirondelle (f) la rondinegrasshopper la sauterelle la cavalletta swan le cygne il cignohamster le hamster il criceto tadpole le têtard il girinohare le lièvre la lepre tail la queue la codahedgehog le hérisson il riccio tiger le tigre la tigrehen la poule la gallina toad le crapaud il rospoheron le héron l'airone (m) trout la truite la trotaherring la hareng l'aringa tuna le thon il tonnohoof le sabot lo zoccolo turkey le dindon il tacchinohorn la corne il corno turtle la tortue la tartarugahorse le cheval il cavallo wasp la guêpe la vespahummingbird le colibri il colibrì weasel la belette la donnolaiguana l'iguane l'iguana whale la baleine la balenainsect l'insecte (m) l'insetto wing l'aile (f) l'alajellyfish la méduse la medusa wolf le loup il lupokitten le chaton il gattino worm le ver il vermeladybug la coccinelle la coccinella zebra le zèbre la zebralamb l'agneau (m) l'agnello

Nature & Geography

English French Italian English French Italianair l'air (m) l'aria (f) rain la pluie la pioggia

archipelago l'archipel l'arcipelago (m) rainbow l'arc-en-ciel

(m)l'arcobaleno (m)

bank la rive la riva river la fleuve il fiumebay la baie la baia rock le rocher lo scogliobarn la grange la stalla root la racine la radicebeach la plage la spiaggia rose la rose la rosabranch la branche il ramo sand le sable la sabbiabridge le pont il ponte sea la mer il marebud le bouton il bocciolo shadow l'ombre (f) l'ombrabush le buisson l'arbusto (m) sky le ciel il cielo

cape le cap il capo / promontorio snow la neige la neve

cave la caverne la caverna soil la terre il terrenocity la ville la città south le sud il sudclimate le climat il clima spring (water) la source la sorgente

cloud le nuage la nube / nuvola star l'étoile la stella

coast la côte la costa stem la tige il gambo

comet la comète la cometa storm l'orage (f) / la tempête il temporale

constellation la constellation la costellazione strait le détroit lo stretto

country le pays il paese stream le ruisseau il ruscellocountry(side) la campagne la campagna street la rue la stradacurrent le courant la corrente sun le soleil il soledaffodil la jonquille il narciso sunflower le tournesol il girasoledaisy la marguerite la margherita thaw la fonte il disgelodarkness l'obscurité l'oscurità (f) thunder le tonnerre il tuonodesert le désert il deserto tornado la tornade il turbinedew la rosée la rugiada tree l'arbre l'alberodust la poussière la polvere trunk le tronc il troncoearth la terre la terra tulip la tulipe il tulipanoeast l'est (m) l'est (m) valley la vallée la vallefarm la ferme la tenuta view la vue la vistafield le champ il campo water l'eau (f) l'acquaflower la blume il fiore fresh water l'eau douce l'acqua dolcefoam l'écume (f) la schiuma salt water l'eau salée l'acqua salatafog le brouillard la nebbia watering can l'arrosoir l'annaffiatoiofoliage le feuillage il fogliame waterfall la cascade la cascata

forest la forêt il bosco / la foresta wave la vague /

l'onde (f) l'onda (f)

frost la gelée il gelo weather le temps il tempograss l'herbe (f) l'erba (f) west l'ouest (m) l'ovest (m)gulf la golfe il golfo wind le vent il ventohail la grêle la grandine world le monde il mondohay le foin il fieno high tide la marée haute l'alta marea North Pole le pôle Nord il Polo Nordhill la colline la collina South Pole le pôle Sud il Polo Sud

ice la glace il ghiaccio Northern Hemisphere

l'hémisphère nord

l'emisfero settentrionale

island I'île (f) I'isola (f) Soutern Hemisphere

l'hémisphère sud

l'emisfero meridionale

isthmus l'isthme l'istmo (m) Arctic Circle la cercle polaire

il circolo polare artico

jungle la jungle la giungla equator l'équateur (m) l'equatore (m)

lake le lac il lago Arctic Ocean l'océan Arctique l'Oceano Artico

leaf la feuille la foglia Atlantic Ocean l'océan Atlantique

l'Oceano Atlantico

light la lumière la luce Pacific Ocean l'océan Pacifique

l'Oceano Pacifico

lightning l'éclair (m) il fulmine / lampo Indian Ocean l'océan Indien l'Oceano

Indiano

lily le lis il giglio Caribbean Sea la mer des Antilles

il Mar dei Caraibi

low tide la marée basse la bassa marea Mediterranean Sea

la Méditerranée

il Mar Mediterraneo

meadow le pré il prato North Sea la mer du Nord il Mare del Nord

moon la lune la luna Red Sea la mer Rouge il Mar Rossomountain la montagne la montagna Black Sea la mer Noire il Mar Neromountain range

la chaîne de montagnes

la catena montuosa

mouth (river) l'embouchure (f) l'imboccatura Mercury Mercure Mercurio

mud la vase il fango Venus Vénus Venerenature la nature la natura Earth Terre Terranorth le nord il nord Mars Mars Martepeninsula la péninsule la penisola Jupiter Jupiter Giove

plain la plaine il piano / la pianura Saturn Saturne Saturno

planet la planète il pianeta Uranus Uranus Uranioplant la plante la pianta Neptune Neptuno Nettunopond l'étang (m) lo stagno Pluto Pluton Plutonepot (for plants) le pot à fleurs il vaso da fiori

Indefinite Pronouns & Adjectives

English French Italian English French Italianeach chacun ciascuno / ognuno some quelque alcuno

each / every chaque ogni as much / many autant de altrettanto

everyone tout le monde tutti other autre altro

everything tout tutto some / certain certain certo

everywhere partout dappertutto / ovunque a lot of beaucoup

de molto

someone quelqu'un qualcuno not one / none aucun nessuno

something quelque chose qualcosa several plusieurs parecchiosomewhere quelque part da qualche parte few peu de poco / pochino one personne nessuno some quelque(s) qualchenothing rien niente / nulla such a tel tale / tali

nowhere nulle part da nessuna parte so much/many tant de tanto

whoever n'importe qui / quiconque chiunque too much trop de troppo

which/whatever

n'importe quel / quelconque

qualunque / qualsiasi everything tout tutto

wherever n'importe où dovunque various différents vario / vari

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are slightly easier to learn in Italian than French.

French Italianwho / that (subject) qui chewho / that (object) que cheabout which / whom dont di cui whose dont il/la/i/le cui from where d'où da cui preposition + whom prep. + qui prep. + cui preposition + which prep. + form of lequel prep. + cui

Notice that cui remains invariable at all times; however, when translating whose in Italian, you must change the article before cui to agree with the noun and not the antecedent. Il quale can always replace cui, but it does agree with the gender and number of its antecedent (comparable to how lequel agrees in French). Plus you have to remember to use the prepositional contractions with the article before quale, so in general, it is easier to just use cui in everyday speech. Il quale is preferred in formal writing.

Forms of lequel and il quale

French Italianmasc. sing. lequel il quale fem. sing. laquelle la quale masc. plural lesquels i quali fem. plural lesquelles le quali

Sample Sentences

La fille qui parle est sympathique.La ragazza che parla è simpatica. The girl who is talking is nice.

La femme que je rencontre s'appelle Lorenza. La donna che incontro si chiama Lorenza.

The woman that I'm meeting is named Lorenza.

Les livres dont je parle sont d'Elsa.I libri di cui parlo sono di Elsa.

The books about which I'm talking are Elsa's.

L'homme dont les cheveux sont blancs est mon grand-père.L'uomo i cui capelli sono bianchi è mio nonno.

The man whose hair is white is my grandfather.

Les personnes à qui je pense sont loin.Le persone a cui penso sono lontane.

The people about whom I'm thinking are far away.

La maison dans laquelle je vis est très grande.La casa in cui vivo è grande. =La casa nella quale vivo è grande.

The house in which I live is very big.

Verbs: Passive Voice

Only verbs that can take a direct object can be made passive in French and Italian. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive sentence (expressed by par in French and da + contractions in Italian), and the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The verb becomes a form of be (in the same tense as in the active sentence) + a past participle, which agrees with the subject of the passive sentence. Remember that you can avoid the passive voice by using on / si as explained earlier (especially for verbs that only take indirect

objects). The passive voice is used more often in English than in French or Italian, and it is usually best to avoid it in formal writing.

Active Passive

English

The cat eats the mouse. (present) The cat ate the mouse. (past) The cat has eaten the mouse. (pres. perf.)The cat will eat the mouse. (future)

The mouse is eaten by the cat.The mouse was eaten by the cat.The mouse has been eaten by the cat.The mouse will be eaten by the cat.

French

Le chat mange la souris.Le chat mangeais la souris.Le chat a mangé la souris. Le chat mangera la souris.

La souris est mangée par le chat.La souris étais mangée par le chat.La souris a été mangée par le chat.La souris sera mangée par le chat.

Italian

Il gatto mangia il topo.Il gatto mangiava il topo. Il gatto ha mangiato il topo. Il gatto mangerá il topo.

Il topo é mangiato dal gatto. Il topo era mangiato dal gatto. Il topo é stato mangiato dal gatto.Il topo sará mangiato dal gatto.

Faire / Fare Causative

You can use the verbs faire / fare + an infinitive to the express the idea of having or getting something done or having or making someone do something (instead of doing it yourself.) If the object of the verb is a noun, it is placed after the infinitive. If it is a pronoun, then it is placed before faire or fare (except for loro, which is always placed after the infinitive).

In the present perfect tense, the past participle does not agree with the preceding direct object as it normally would in French, but it does in Italian.

Je fais réparer la voiture. / Faccio riparare la macchina. I'm having the car fixed.Je la fais réparer. / La faccio riparare. I'm having it fixed.Je l'ai fait réparer. / La ho fatta riparare. I had it fixed. [No agreement with preceding direct object in French only.]

The reflexive verbs se faire / farsi can also be used in this way when expressing having something done or made for oneself. Remember that être / essere are used as the auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

Je me fais couper les cheveux. / Mi faccio tagliare i capelli. I'm getting my hair cut.Je me suis fait couper les cheveux. / Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli. I got my hair cut.

Italian only: When a causative sentence has two objects, the person being made to do something becomes the indirect object. In Italian, the indirect object is introduced by a.

Il maestro fa leggere lo studente. The teacher makes the student read.Il maestro fa leggere la lettura allo studente. The teacher makes the student read the passage.

To avoid ambiguity with the indirect object, the preposition da instead of a can be used. The sentence Abbiamo fatto mandare il pacco a Maria can mean two things: 1) We had Mary send the package or 2) We had the package sent to Mary. If the first meaning is intended, then da can replace a.

Verbs followed by Prepositions before an Infinitive

Many verbs require the prepositions à / a or de / di before an infinitive. In French, de contracts to d' before an infinitive beginning with a vowel. In Italian, a becomes ad before infinitives beginning with a-. Before infinitives beginning with other vowels, either a or ad may be used.

French verbs + à + infinitive Italian verbs + a + infinitive

aider à to help abituarsi a to get used toapprendre à to learn aiutare a to helparriver à to manage andare a to be going to chercher à to look for apprendere a to learncommencer à to begin aspettare a to waitconsister à to consist cominciare to begincontinuer à to continue consentire a to agreedemander à to ask to continuare a to continuedonner à to give convincere a to convinceencourager à to encourage correre a to runenseigner à to teach dare a to givehésiter à to hesitate decidersi a to decideinciter à to incite divertirsi a to have funinsister à to insist esitare a to hesitateinviter à to invite fare bene a to do wellobliger à to force to fare in tempo a to be on timeparvenir à to succeed fare meglio a to be better offpersister à to persist in fare presto a to hurry uppousser à to push forzare a to forceprovoquer à to provoke giocare a to playrenoncer à to give up godere a to enjoyréussir à to succeed imparare a to learns'acharner à to be bent on insegnare a to teachs'amuser à to have fun invitare a to invites'appliquer à to apply oneself to mandare a to sends'apprêter à to prepare to mettersi a to begin tos'attacher à to become attached passare a to go ons'attendre à to expect to pensare a to think ofse décider à to decide persuadere a to persuadese mettre à to begin to preparare a to preparese plaire à to enjoy procedere a to proceedse préparer à to get ready provare a to try

se refuser à to refuse to restare a to stayse résigner à to resign oneself to rimanere a to remainse résoudre à to resolve to rinunciare a to give upse risquer à to risk ritornare a to come backs'employer à to use riuscire a to succeedservir à to be useful for salire a to go ups'exercer à to practice/learn scendere a to come downs'habituer à to get used to seguitare a to keep ons'obstiner à to insist servire a to be good forsonger à to consider stare a to stay, standtarder à to be slow to stare attento a to be carefultendre à to tend to tardare a to be latetenir à to be anxious to temere a to be afraid toveiller à to look after tornare a to return

viser à to aim venire a to come to

French verbs + de + infinitive Italian verbs + di + infinitive

accepter de to accept accettare di to acceptarrêter de to stop ammettere di to admitavoir envie de to feel like aspettare di to wait foravoir honte de to be ashamed aspettarsi di to expectavoir peur de to be afraid augurare di to wishavoir raison de to be right avere bisogno di to needavoir tort de to be wrong avere il piacere di to have the pleasure

cesser de to stop avere intenzione di to intend

choisir de to choose avere paura di to be afraidconseiller de to advise avere voglia di to feel likeconvenir de to agree upon avvertire di to warn, cautioncraindre de to fear cercare di to trydécider de to decide cessare di to ceasedéfendre de to forbid chiedere di to askdemander de to ask comandare di to commanddésespérer de to despair credere di to believedire de to say decidere di to decidedissuader de to dissuade dimenticare di to forgetempêcher de to prevent dire di to say, tell

entreprendre de to undertake dispensare di to excuseenvisager de to contemplate domandare di to askessayer de to try dubitare di to doubtêtre heureux de to be happy fingere di to pretendêtre obligé de to be required finire di to finishéviter de to avoid lamentarsi di to complainfinir de to finish mancare di to lackinterdire de to forbid minacciare di to threatenmenacer de to threaten offrire di to offernégliger de to neglect ordinare di to orderoublier de to forget pensare di to planpermettre de to permit permettere di to permitpersuader de to persuade proibire di to prevent, prohibitprier de to beg promettere di to promisepromettre de to promise rendersi conto di to realizerecommander de to recommend ricordare di to rememberrefuser de to refuse sapere di to knowregretter de to regret sbagliare di to make a mistakeremercier de to thank scrivere di to writereprocher de to reproach scusarsi di to apologizerêver de to dream smettere di to stop, ceaserisquer de to risk sognare di to dreamse dépêcher de to hurry up sperare di to hopese garder de to keep oneself suggerire di to suggests'étonner de to astonish tentare di to try, attempts'excuser de to apologize tratarre di to bargain

venir de to have just