Fractions

Italian fractions work exactly as in English:

due terzi = two thirds = ²/₃ un settimo = one seventh = ¹/₇ cinque ottavi = five eighths = ⁵/₈ dodici quarantacinquesimi = twelve forty-fifths = ¹²/₄₅

Number 1 always has the 'short' form un, according to the general phonetic rules of uno, either as a number or as an indefinite article:

un terzo = one third = ¹/₃ un decimo = one tenth = ¹/₁₀ un novantesimo = one ninetieth = ¹/₉₀

Fractions whose denominator is 2 read this number as mezzo (half) or mezzi (halves).

un mezzo = one half = ¹/₂ quattro mezzi = four halves = ⁴/₂ cinque ottavi = five eighths = ⁵/₈ dodici quarantacinquesimi = twelve forty-fifths = ¹²/₄₅

When a fraction is used to state a quantity, the noun to which it refers is introduced by preposition di (of):

due quinti di alcool = two fifths of alcohol cinque ottavi di pollice = five eighths of an inch notice how Italian does not use an indefinite article before inch (or other measures) tre quarti di litro = three fourths of a liter cinquanta centesimi di dollaro = fifty hundredths of a dollar (actually: fifty cents)

This last example shows how the word centesimi (hundredths) is also used for cents, to indicate small change of any decimal system currency. When the object of the fraction is introduced by a definite article (two thirds of the members, etc.), a compound preposition made of di + article will have to be used, instead of di alone. Compound prepositions will be dealt with further on, in paragraph 5.2. Ordinal numbers always have the masculine form, also when the numbered object is feminine:

un quarto di torta = one fourth of cake = ²/₃ tre quinti di farina = three fifths of flour = ⁵/₈

.1 PERSONAL PRONOUNS USED AS SUBJECTS

In chapter 4 we will start discussing verbs, but in order to build actual sentences with them it is better to introduce personal pronouns first. Since in Italian these pronouns have two forms, one when they are used as subjects and one when they are used for any other part of the sentence (as direct object, in dative case, etc.), only the former case will be dealt with by this paragraph.

		singular			plural
1st person		io	I		noi	we
2nd person		tu	you (singular)		voi	you (plural)
3rd person		egli ella esso essa	he she it (masculine) it (feminine)		essi esse	they (masculine + neutre) they (feminine)

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between masculine/feminine and neutre. Neutre gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man; but this distinction does not cause any important change, because all other parts of the sentence (nouns, verb inflections, adjectives, etc.) do not have neutre gender, which is simply handled by using either masculine or feminine. So you only need to be aware of neutre gender in singular personal pronouns used as subjects. Before turning page, be sure to memorize them well.

.2 INDICATIVE TENSES OF ITALIAN VERBS

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The Italian word for tense is tempo, which also means time, suggesting that tenses are inflections which show whether actions are carried out in the present, in the past, or in the future. As in most western languages, also Italian verbs are indicated with their infinitive tense, called tempo infinito or simply infinito (omitting the word for tense). According to the infinitive tense, verbs can be divided into three main groups, called coniugazioni (= conjugations):

1. verbs ending with ...are, like andare (to go), mangiare (to eat), camminare (to walk)

2. verbs ending with ...ere, like avere (to have), vedere (to see), essere (to be), decidere (to decide)

3. verbs ending with ...ire, like dormire (to sleep), venire (to come), coprire (to cover)

In conjugations 1 and 3, the infinitive tense of all verbs has an accent on the penultimate syllable, thus stressing the verb's inflection (in the following examples, the stressed syllable is shown in italics style and in lighter blue colour): andare (1st), mangiare (1st), dormire (3rd), venire (3rd), etc. But in the 2nd conjugation (...ere), stress may sometimes fall on the antepenultimate syllable (i.e. one syllable before the infinitive's inflection), so this conjugation may be split into two further groups: verbs whose penultimate syllable carries the stress (as in conjugations 1 and 3): avere, vedere, etc. verbs whose stress is carried by an earlier syllable, as essere, decidere, etc.