Possessives
Oh my!
In English we say my dog, my cake, etc., but in Italian you'd say il mio cane and la mia torta.
That's because torta is feminine and cane is masculine. The same goes for your, his, her, its, our, and their.
| masculine | feminine |
| il mio pomodoro my tomato | la mia torta my cake |
| il tuo biscotto your cookie | la tua patata your potato |
| il suo riso his/her/its rice | la sua cucina his/her/its kitchen |
| il nostro cuoco our cook | la nostra pasta our pasta |
| il vostro panino your sandwich | la vostra banana your banana |
| il loro pranzo their lunch | la loro cena their dinner |
When you talk about more than one thing, you need to use different words. But don't worry! You've already seen how to change some of them.
| masculine | feminine |
| i miei pomodori my tomatoes | le mie torte my cakes |
| i tuoi biscotti your cookies | le tue patate your potatoes |
| i suoi libri his/her/its books | le sue mele his/her/its apples |
| i nostri cuochi our cooks | le nostre case our houses |
| i vostri panini your sandwiches | le vostre banane your bananas |
| i loro pranzi their lunches | le loro cene their dinners |
Have you noticed? Loro never changes!
la tua torta
your cake
Italian sounds
In Italian, sc sounds just like English sh when followed by e or i.
pesce
pesce (as in shed)
scimmia
scimmia, pesci (as in ship)
In all other cases, sc sounds like sk in English.
biscotto
biscotto, scrivere, mosca (as in desk)
Mine, mine, mine
In English, we can say This is my cat or The cat is mine. It's the same in Italian!
È il mio gatto.
It's my cat.
Il gatto è mio.
The cat is mine.
As you can see, in Italian the only difference is that you have to include il or la before words like mio, tuo, and suo to say my, your, her, etc.
Usually, you don't do that when you want to say mine, yours, hers, etc.
Usually, you don't do that when you want to say mine, yours, hers, etc.
È il tuo cane.
It’s your dog.
Il cane è tuo.
The dog is yours.