5 common Italian learner mistakes

Speaking a language is not easy. Ci vogliono pazienza, motivazione e costanza. You need patience, motivation and perseverance. And with a little more attention you could avoid doing common mistakes.

Vediamo più in dettaglio 5 errori comuni:

1) Qualche ragazzi (wrong)
This is a very common mistake. Anyway, the rule is clear and, when rules are clear (it's not often with the Italian language), you only have to apply them.
"Qualche" è un aggettivo indefinito invariabile che si usa solo al singolare. We use it only with singular nouns (masculine and feminine).

Esempio: Qualche ragazzo Qualche ragazza

As an alternative, you can use "alcuni/alcune" with the same meaning. "Alcuni/alcune" è un aggettivo indefinito che si usa solo al plurale. We use it only with plural nouns.

Esempio: Alcuni ragazzi Alcune ragazze


2) La gente dicono (wrong)
Another common mistake. From my teacher experience, many students use the word "gente" as a plural noun. E, per questo motivo, usano il verbo alla terza persona plurale. Niente di più sbagliato. Nothing could be more wrong. When you use this word as subject, you must use third person singular.

Esempio: La gente dice ...

As an alternative, you can use the word "le persone" with the same meaning. Esempio: Le persone dicono ...


3) Vivo in Londra (wrong)
It's never easy to use the prepositions "a" and "in" as prepositions of place. Anyway, there's definitely something in here: when you want to indicate a motion/direction or a state, you usually have to use "a" with cities and "in" with countries, geographical regions, continents.

Esempio: Vivo a Londra Fra una settimana vado a Londra
Vivo in Francia Fra una settimana vado in Francia

4) Io piace la pizza (wrong)
Una cosa deve essere chiara: il verbo "piacere" e il verbo "to like" hanno due costruzioni diverse. They have two different logical structures. If i say "Giovanni likes pizza", "Giovanni" is the subject and "pizza" is the direct object. In Italian you say "A Giovanni piace la pizza". But, in this case, "la pizza" is the subject and "a Giovanni" is the indirect object.

Esempio: A Marco e a Luca piace andare a ballare (Marco and Luca like going dancing)
Mi piacciono gli spaghetti (I like spaghetti)
Mi piaci (I like you)


5) Studio italiano per tre mesi (wrong)
When you use prepositions of time, "da" and "per" can make trouble. If you want to state something that began in the past and still lasts, you have to use the present tense (or, in some cases, the continuous present tense) and the preposition "da". If you want to state something that began and ended in the past, you have to use the past tense (il passato prossimo) and the preposition "per".

Esempio: Studio italiano da tre mesi
Ho studiato italiano per tre mesi



2018年11月6日
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Clemente Lepore

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意大利语
globe
意大利
time
4
:
英语
C1
,
西班牙语
B1
,
德语
A2
Hi there, my name is Clemente. I am a certified Italian teacher and I work as Italian teacher. I also work as freelance journalist and cooperate with some online Italian magazines. I have been working as offline/online Italian teacher for more than two years. My lessons are structured according to language proficiency levels set by the European framework. But, beyond that, methodology, approach and the relationship between teacher and student are all that matters. Language isn't just grammar. Language is a communicative act and grammar plays a fundamental role in order to learn a language. It can't be, however, the only way to "achieve the objective". I think you can learn languages if you don't get bored. As to you, if you really want to learn a language, motivation and consistency are the winning secrets
Flag
意大利语
globe
意大利
time
4
:
英语
C1
,
西班牙语
B1
,
德语
A2
Hi there, my name is Clemente. I am a certified Italian teacher and I work as Italian teacher. I also work as freelance journalist and cooperate with some online Italian magazines. I have been working as offline/online Italian teacher for more than two years. My lessons are structured according to language proficiency levels set by the European framework. But, beyond that, methodology, approach and the relationship between teacher and student are all that matters. Language isn't just grammar. Language is a communicative act and grammar plays a fundamental role in order to learn a language. It can't be, however, the only way to "achieve the objective". I think you can learn languages if you don't get bored. As to you, if you really want to learn a language, motivation and consistency are the winning secrets
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