English / Italiano

Parts of speech

A part of speech is a category of word, based on the job the word does in a sentence. Traditional Italian grammar divides words into nine parts of speech (le parti del discorso). Each is defined below in plain terms, with a test for spotting it. The colours are the ones used on every other page.

All nine in one sentence

Each line joins an English word to the Italian word doing the same job, so the two share a colour. All nine parts of speech appear in both sentences. Where lines cross, the word order differs:

English says often eat. Italian puts the adverb after the verb: mangiamo spesso.
English says new restaurant. Italian puts the adjective after the noun: ristorante nuovo.
English uses two words, at the. Italian combines them into one: al.

Parts that change their ending

Italian grammar sorts the nine parts into two groups. These five are the parti variabili: their endings change to show gender, number, person or tense. This is where Italian asks for more than English does.

Parts that never change

These four are the parti invariabili. Learn the word once and it stays the same.

One word, more than one part of speech

A part of speech describes what a word is doing in this sentence, not the word for all time. The same spelling can do different jobs.

Word	Sentence	Part of speech here
water	The water is cold.	noun: it names a thing
water	I water the plants.	verb: it says what I do
fast	A fast car.	adjective: it describes the car
fast	She drives fast.	adverb: it describes the driving
that	I know that.	pronoun: it stands for a thing
that	I know that he left.	conjunction: it joins two clauses
la	La casa è grande.	article: it comes before a noun
la	La vedo.	pronoun: it stands for “her” or “it”
molto	È molto bella.	adverb: it never changes
molto	Ho molte amiche.	adjective: it agrees with the noun
che	Il libro che leggo.	pronoun: “which”, standing for the book
che	So che è vero.	conjunction: “that”, joining two clauses

The Italian cases matter most: lo, la, li, le are articles before a noun and pronouns before a verb.

Part of speech is not the same as role

A part of speech says what kind of word it is. A role says what that word is doing in one particular sentence. For example, the noun Giulia is the subject in “Giulia reads” and the object in “I see Giulia”. The diagrams on this site draw roles. The colours show parts of speech.

Subject il soggetto: Who or what does the action, or who the sentence is about. The verb’s ending matches it. Giulia reads a book.
Verb il predicato: What the subject does or is. It is both a part of speech and a role. Giulia reads a book.
Direct object il complemento oggetto: Who or what directly receives the action. Ask “what?” or “whom?” after the verb. Giulia reads a book.
Indirect object il complemento di termine: Who receives the direct object. Ask “to whom?” or “for whom?”. Giulia gives Carlo a book.
Complement il nome del predicato: A word after “be”, “seem” or “become” that describes or renames the subject. The house is big.
Modifier: Any word that adds detail to another word. Adjectives modify nouns. Adverbs modify verbs. The red house.
Prepositional phrase: A preposition together with the noun after it, working as one unit. The book is on the table.

See these drawn out: Diagrams

Words used to describe endings

Grammar explanations lean on these terms. Each one is defined here once.

Gender il genere: Every Italian noun is either masculine or feminine. For objects this is a grammatical label with no connection to sex. il libro, la casa
Number il numero: Singular (one) or plural (more than one). libro, libri
Person la persona: Who the verb is about. First person is the speaker (I, we). Second is the one spoken to (you). Third is anyone else (he, she, it, they).
Agreement l’accordo: Matching endings. An adjective takes the gender and number of its noun. A verb takes the person and number of its subject. casa rossa, case rosse
Conjugation la coniugazione: The full set of forms a verb takes. To conjugate a verb is to give it the ending that fits the subject and the tense. parlo, parli, parla
Tense il tempo: When the action happens: past, present or future. parlavo, parlo, parlerò
Mood il modo: The speaker’s stance toward the action: stating a fact (indicative), giving an order (imperative), saying what would happen (conditional), or expressing a wish or doubt (subjunctive).
Infinitive l’infinito: The basic form of a verb, with no subject or tense. It is the form listed in a dictionary. to speak, parlare
Helper verb l’ausiliare: A verb that helps build a tense of another verb. English uses “have”, “be”, “do” and “will”. Italian uses avere and essere. I have eaten, ho mangiato
Participle il participio: The verb form that follows a helper verb. It can also work as an adjective. eaten, mangiato
Transitive and intransitive: A transitive verb takes a direct object (“I eat an apple”). An intransitive verb cannot (“I arrive”). In Italian this affects which helper verb is used.
Reflexive riflessivo: A verb whose object is the same person as its subject. I wash myself, mi lavo
Clause la proposizione: A group of words with its own subject and verb. A sentence has one or more. [I know] [that he left].
Phrase: A group of words that works as one unit but has no subject and verb of its own. the red house, on the table

More: Tenses, Reflexives, Past tenses

Verb forms with no subject

Three verb forms are not tied to a person. They are forms of the verb, not separate parts of speech.

Form	Italian	English	What it does
infinitive infinito	parlare	to speak	The dictionary form. Follows another verb or a preposition, and can act as a noun: Parlare è facile.
past participle participio passato	parlato	spoken	Builds the compound tenses with a helper verb: ho parlato. Also works as an adjective: la porta chiusa.
gerund gerundio	parlando	speaking	With stare for an action in progress: sto parlando. On its own it can express “while” or “by” doing something: Parlando si impara.

English -ing covers several jobs that Italian splits up.

English -ing	Italian	Form used
I am speaking.	Parlo. / Sto parlando.	present, or stare + gerund
Speaking is easy.	Parlare è facile.	infinitive
I like speaking.	Mi piace parlare.	infinitive
before speaking	prima di parlare	preposition + infinitive
an interesting book	un libro interessante	adjective

More: Tenses, Infinitives

Where the two grammars label words differently

The words behave the same. Only the label changes, which matters when a textbook or a teacher uses the Italian term.

Word	English grammar often says	Italian grammar says
my, mio	possessive determiner	aggettivo possessivo
this, questo + noun	demonstrative determiner	aggettivo dimostrativo
the, il	determiner, or article	articolo, a part of speech of its own
two, due + noun	numeral, or determiner	aggettivo numerale
to, before a verb	infinitive marker	no equivalent: the infinitive is one word

This site colours my and mio as adjectives and two and due as nouns when they stand alone, which keeps the two languages lined up.