Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook

[Pages:205]BASIC ITALIAN: A GRAMMAR AND WORKBOOK

Basic Italian: A Grammar and Workbook comprises an accessible reference grammar and related exercises in a single volume. This workbook presents 23 individual grammar points in lively and realistic contexts. Each unit consists of jargon-free explanations and comparisons with English, targeting the more common difficulties experienced by learners of Italian. Grammar points are followed by examples and exercises selected to make use of contemporary Italian. Basic Italian introduces Italian culture and people through the medium of the language used today, providing readers with the basic tools to express themselves in a wide variety of situations. Features include: ? examples in both Italian and English ? grammar tables for easy reference ? full exercise answer key ? glossary of grammatical terms Basic Italian is the ideal reference and practice book for beginners and also for students with some knowledge of the language. Stella Peyronel is a lecturer at the University of Turin, Italy. She has taught Italian to foreigners for over 20 years and is the author of several Italian grammars. Ian Higgins is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of St Andrews and is co-author of Thinking Italian Translation.

Other titles available in the Grammar Workbooks series are:

Basic Cantonese Intermediate Cantonese

Basic Chinese Intermediate Chinese

Basic German Intermediate German

Basic Polish Intermediate Polish

Basic Russian Intermediate Russian

Basic Welsh Intermediate Welsh

Titles of related interest published by Routledge:

Colloquial Italian, Second Edition by Sylvia Lymbery

Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Second Edition by Anna Proudfoot and Francesco Cardo

Modern Italian Grammar Workbook, Second Edition by Anna Proudfoot

BASIC ITALIAN: A GRAMMAR AND WORKBOOK

Stella Peyronel and Ian Higgins

First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005. "To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge's collection of thousands of eBooks please go to eBookstore.tandf.co.uk."

? 2006 Stella Peyronel and Ian Higgins

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-64007-1 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0?415?34717?3 (Print Edition)

CONTENTS

Introduction

vii

List of signs and abbreviations

viii

1 Nouns: gender and number

1

2 Definite and indefinite articles

9

3 Adjectives; possessive and demonstrative pronouns

17

4 The present tense of essere and avere

28

5 The present tense of regular (and some irregular) verbs

36

6 Adverbs

46

7 Direct object pronouns (1)

52

8 Prepositions

57

9 Questions

68

10 Indirect object pronouns (1)

74

11 Piacere and similar verbs

79

12 The present perfect tense

84

13 Direct and indirect object pronouns (2)

94

14 Direct and indirect object pronouns (3: stressed forms)

99

15 Relative pronouns

104

16 The imperfect tense

111

17 The pronouns ne and ci

120

18 The future tense

129

19 The past perfect tense

137

vi Contents

20 Reflexive pronouns

143

21 The imperative

149

22 The pronoun si

157

23 The present conditional

162

Key to exercises

168

Glossary of technical terms

187

Index

191

INTRODUCTION

If you are an English-speaking learner preparing GCSE, Scottish Standard Grade (credit level) or similar examination, or simply learning the language for everyday use, this grammar and workbook is for you. You will typically be either following a course at school, college or evening class, or teaching yourself from a published course. This book is not itself a course, but a self-help reference/revision grammar, with exercises designed to reinforce your grasp of the points dealt with, unit by unit. You will find it a help to have access to a good Italian?English dictionary when working through the book.

Since this is not a self-contained course, the grammar points are usually given on their own, out of context. Of course, this is artificial, because, in everyday life, when we say or write something it is always in a situation or context. To compensate for this artificiality, the grammar points are illustrated with abundant examples, which are often reused, with variations, under different headings. This is partly to strengthen your grasp of grammar and vocabulary, but mostly to help you learn how to manipulate the Italian language in a wide range of situations. Giving plenty of examples is a more effective way of helping you develop the ability to communicate in Italian than giving you lists of rules with just one or two examples.

At the end of each unit, there are several sets of exercises. If you work through these, you will find that they consolidate your understanding of the various points introduced in the unit, and also that they give you the confidence to have a go at expressing yourself in a range of situations and contexts.

The aim of the examples and exercises is to strengthen awareness of the specific points dealt with in the unit; they are not intended to cover all the possible uses of a given word or grammatical structure.

At the end of the book, there is a key to all the exercises, and a glossary of grammatical terms, with examples.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download