Basics 2
To be or not to be?
Here's something to help with the verb to be in Italian.
| subject | verb (essere) |
| io I | sono am |
| tu you | sei are |
| lui / lei he / she | è is |
| noi we | siamo are |
| voi you all | siete are |
| loro they | sono are |
Like in English, you can use to be to describe people or things.
Noi siamo donne, loro sono uomini.
We are women, they are men.
From now on, we'll use you for the singular tu and you all for the plural voi.
Gli uomini e le donne
In Italian, to talk about many things vs. one thing, you have to use different endings. Usually, masculine nouns (like ragazzo) end in ‑i in the plural, and feminine nouns (like ragazza) end in ‑e.
| singular | plural |
| il ragazzo | i ragazzi |
| la ragazza | le ragazze |
| l'uomo | gli uomini |
The plural of il is i, and the plural of la is le. The plural of l’ is gli for the masculine and le for the feminine.
You might have also come across lo. Lo is used before masculine nouns that begin with some specific letters: z, x, y, ps, gn, or s + consonant.
Io mangio lo zucchero.
I eat sugar.
Happy endings
Remember that Italian verbs have different endings depending on whether it’s io, tu, lei, etc.
| subject | verb (leggere) |
| io I | leggo read |
| tu you | leggi read |
| lui / lei he / she | legge reads |
| noi we | leggiamo read |
| voi you all | leggete read |
| loro they | leggono read |
Other verbs that end in ‑ere, like scrivere, will follow a similar pattern. But keep in mind that sometimes there will be exceptions. For example, bere (to drink) and essere (to be), are special verbs in Italian.