As you're studying Italian, either on your own or in a course, keep this Cheat Sheet handy for a quick reference on articles, personal pronouns, tenses, and more.Definite and indefinite articles, and the partitiveIn Italian, articles vary in gender, number, and spelling. They’re the best predictor of a noun’s gender.

Planning a trip to Italy? Learn some basic Italian to make it more fulfilling. Get to know Italian greetings, question words, numbers, and the days of the week. Also, be sure to know how to ask for help in Italian so you're prepared for emergencies. And something very important: how to order food and drink!Italian greetingsKnowing Italian greetings can make a good impression, whether you’re speaking Italian for business or while traveling.

Of all the vocabulary needed to speak a language, nothing is nearly as valuable as verbs. Without them, your language is stagnant and incapable of showing action. To make the most of Italian verbs, you can add prefixes and suffixes or the occasional adverb or pronoun and expand your Italian vocabulary exponentially.

The Italian language is adapting to the rhythms of modern life with the introduction of new idioms and the construction of simpler, more concise sentences and paragraphs. The basic rules of the Italian language, however, stay the same. Despite the ongoing transformation of the language, these rules remain the foundation that stabilizes it.

By mastering the basics of conversation in Italian, you put yourself and the person you're talking to at ease. Everyone should learn essential Italian conversational words and phrases before traveling to Italy. These words and expressions are sure to come up in most everyday conversations. Courteous phrases Being polite is just as important in Italy as anywhere else in this world.

Whether you're on a short visit to an Italian-speaking country or you're planning to take up residence in Italy itself, knowing how to order food in Italian is essential. Eating out can be a lot of fun, especially if you know some basic vocabulary. The Italian bar is really what Americans would call a café. There you can get breakfast (coffee and a pastry), snacks, sandwiches, and salty snacks to accompany your before-dinner drink.

Hand gestures, non-verbal Italian, are used a good deal — but you must be careful with them. Many Italian hand gestures can't be used in polite society. Here are five useful, everyday hand gestures to emphasize a point you are making, or to ask a waiter for a check, or simply to comment on something, or someone.

Business contacts with people in other countries continues to increase in importance. Because modern technology supports the quick exchange of information over vast distances, you may have to talk to foreign business partners — or even travel to their countries. If you happen to have business contacts with Italian companies, knowing some basic Italian business vocabulary may be useful.