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To Know People and Facts
| Conoscere-to know, be acquainted with |
|
Sapere-to know (facts) |
| conosco |
conosciamo |
|
so |
sappiamo |
| conosci |
conoscete |
|
sai |
sapete |
| conosce |
conoscono |
|
sa |
sanno |
Note: Conoscere is used when you know people and places. It is conjugated regularly. Sapere is used when you know facts. Sapere followed by an infinitive means to know how.
Formation of Plural Nouns
If a word is masculine singular, change the last letter to an i. If a word is feminine singular, change the last letter to an e if it ends in a, or if it ends in e, change it to an i.
Singular to Plural Nouns
| Masculine |
| -o |
-i |
| -a |
-i |
| -e |
-i |
| Feminine |
| -a |
-e |
| -e |
-i |
Note: Some nouns ending in -co and -go may or may not insert an h before changing the o to i. There is no gerneral rule for it. All nouns ending in -ca and -ga insert an h before changing the a to e. Nouns ending in an accented vowel do not change for the plural. (la città (city) becomes le città) There are some masculine nouns that end -a, and these nouns change the -a to -i in the plural: il programma, il poeta, il pianete, il pilota, il poema, il sistema. The plural of l'uomo (man) is gli uomini, while the plural of la mano (hand) is le mani.
Possessive Adjectives
|
Masc. Sing. |
Fem. Sing. |
Masc. Pl. |
Fem. Pl. |
| my |
il mio |
la mia |
i miei (myeh-ee) |
le mie |
| your |
il tuo |
la tua |
i tuoi (twoh-ee) |
le tue |
| his/her |
il suo |
la sua |
i suoi (swoh-ee) |
le sue |
| our |
il nostro |
la nostra |
i nostri |
le nostre |
| your |
il vostro |
la vostra |
i vostri |
le vostre |
| their |
il loro |
la loro |
i loro |
le loro |
Note: You may leave off the il and la before family relation words in the singular. All other times, you must use them. Notice that loro does not change.
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