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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank those authors and publishers who kindly gave permission for copyright material to be used in the Collins Corpus. We would also like to thank Times Newspapers Ltd for providing valuable data.

MANAGING EDITOR

Maree Airlee

CONTRIBUTORS

Francesca Logi

Janice McNeillie

FOR THE PUBLISHER

Gerry Breslin

Rachel Grocott

eBook Edition © May 2016

ISBN 9780008142070

Version: 2016-04-01

contents

Title Page

How to Use this Book

Abbreviations

Gender and Plural

air travel

animals

bikes

birds

body

calendar

camping

careers

cars

clothes

colours

computing and IT

countries and nationalities

countryside

describing people

education

environment

family

farm

fish and insects

food and drink

free time

fruit

furniture and appliances

geographical names

greetings and everyday phrases

health

hotel

house – general

house – particular

information and services

law

materials

music

numbers and quantities

personal items

plants and gardens

seaside and boats

shopping

sports

theatre and cinema

time

tools

town

trains

trees

vegetables

vehicles

the weather

youth hostelling

supplementary vocabulary

articles and pronouns

conjunctions

adjectives

adverbs and prepositions

nouns

verbs

About the Publisher

how to use this book

The Easy Learning Italian Vocabulary is designed for both young and adult learners. Whether you are starting to learn Italian for the very first time, revising for school exams or simply want to brush up on your Italian, the Easy Learning Italian Vocabulary offers you the information you require in a clear and accessible format.

This book is divided into 50 topics, arranged in alphabetical order. This thematic approach enables you to learn related words and phrases together, so that you can become confident in using particular vocabulary in context.

Vocabulary within each topic is divided into nouns and useful phrases which are aimed at helping you to express yourself in idiomatic Italian. Vocabulary within each topic is graded to help you prioritize your learning. Essential words include the basic words you will need to be able to communicate effectively, important words help expand your knowledge, and useful words provide additional vocabulary which will enable you to express yourself more fully.

Nouns are grouped by gender: masculine (“il”) nouns are given together, as are feminine (“la”) nouns, enabling you to memorize words according to their gender. In addition, all feminine forms of adjectives are shown, as are irregular, invariable and gender-changing noun plurals.

At the end of the book you will find a list of supplementary vocabulary, grouped according to part of speech – adjective, verb, noun and so on. This is vocabulary which you will come across in many everyday situations.

abbreviations

ABBREVIATIONS

adjadjectiveadvadverbconjconjunctionffeminineinvinvariablemmasculinem+fmasculine and feminine formnnounplpluralpl invinvariable, with no change to noun in the pluralprepprepositionqcqualcosaqnqualcunosbsomebodysingsingularsthsomething

The swung dash ~ is used to indicate no change to a word in the plural of a compound noun.

gender and plural

GENDER

In Italian, nouns are either masculine or feminine. Most masculine nouns take the article il. This article becomes l’ when the noun begins with a vowel and becomes lo when the noun begins with s+consonant (eg sc, sp, st), or begins gn, pn, ps, x, y or z.

Feminine nouns take la or l’ (when the noun begins with a vowel).

Many masculine nouns end in o; many feminine nouns end in a. Both masculine and feminine nouns can end in e.

PLURAL

Unlike English, where you generally add letters (s or es) to make nouns plural, in Italian you change the final letter.

o > i (il posto > i posti)

a > e (la pizza > le pizze)

e > i (il padre, la madre > i padri, le madri)

Articles change as follows:

masculine:il > il’ > glilo > glifeminine:la > lel’ > le

Nouns that are imported into Italian (such as bar, computer, menù, sport) stay the same in the plural (pl inv). They are generally masculine:

il bar > i bar, il computer > i computer, il menù > i menù, lo sport > gli sport.

PLURAL SPELLING CHANGES

Most nouns ending -co, -ca, -go and -ga often require an h inserting in the plural to retain the hard ‘kuh’ and ‘guh’ sounds:

il parco > i parchi, la banca > le banche

il lago > i laghi, la targa > le targhe

Where spelling changes occur in the plural we have included the plural ending.

air travel

ESSENTIAL WORDS (masculine)

unaereoplaneunaeroplanoaeroplaneunaeroportoairportunagente di viaggiotravel agentl’arrivoarrivalilbagaglioluggageilbagaglio a manohand luggageilbancodeskilbigliettoticketilcarrellotrolleyilcheck-incheck inildoganierecustoms officerl’imbarcoboardingilnoleggio autocar hireilnumeronumberunorariotimetableilpassaportopassportilpasseggeropassengerilprezzo del bigliettofareilritardodelayiltaxi (pl inv)taxiilturistatourist; holiday makerilviaggiatoretravellerilviaggiotripilvoloflight

USEFUL PHRASES

viaggiare in aereo to travel by plane

un biglietto di sola andata a one-way ticket

un biglietto di andata e ritorno a return ticket

prenotare un biglietto aereo to book a plane ticket

fare il check-in del bagaglio to check in luggage

l’aereo è decollato/atterrato the plane has taken off/landed

il tabellone degli arrivi/delle partenze the arrivals/departures board

il volo numero 776 proveniente da Roma/diretto a Roma flight number 776 from Rome/to Rome

ESSENTIAL WORDS (feminine)

un’agente di viaggiotravel agentlaborsabaglacancellazionecancellationlacarta d’identitàID cardlacarta d’imbarcoboarding cardlacoincidenzaconnectionladoganacustomsladoganieracustoms officerl’entrataentranceleinformazioniinformation desk; informationlapartenzadeparturelapasseggerapassengerlaprenotazionereservationlatariffafareletoilettetoiletslaturistatourist; holiday makerl’uscitaexit; gatel’uscita d’emergenzaemergency exitl’uscita d’imbarcodeparture gatelavaligia (pl -gie or -ge)bag; suitcaselaviaggiatricetraveller

USEFUL PHRASES

ho perso la coincidenza I missed my connection

ritirare la valigia to collect one’s luggage

“ritiro bagagli” “baggage reclaim”

passare per la dogana to go through customs

ho qualcosa da dichiarare I have something to declare

non ho niente da dichiarare I have nothing to declare

controllare il bagaglio to search the luggage

voli nazionali/internazionali domestic/international flights

IMPORTANT WORDS (masculine)

ilbiglietto elettronicoe-ticketilcorridoioaisleunelicotterohelicopterilfinestrinowindowunincidente aereoplane crashilmal d’ariaairsicknessilpilotapilot

USEFUL WORDS (masculine)

unassistente di voloflight attendantunatterraggiolandingicomandicontrolsilcontrollo di sicurezzasecurity checkilcontrollore del traffico aereoair-traffic controllerildecollotake-offidiritti di doganacustoms dutyunequipaggiocrewl’imbarco (pl -chi)boardingiljumbo (pl inv)jumbo jetilmetal detector (pl inv)metal detectorilnastro trasportatorecarouselunorariotimetableilparacadute (pl inv)parachuteilposto (a sedere)seatilradar (pl inv)radarilreattorejet engineloscalostopoverlosteward (pl inv)stewardilterminal (pl inv)terminalilvuoto d’ariaair pocket

USEFUL PHRASES

a bordo on board; “vietato fumare” “no smoking”

in ritardo delayed; in orario on time

“allacciare le cinture di sicurezza” “fasten your seat belts”

stiamo volando sopra Londra we are flying over London

ho la nausea I am feeling sick; fare un dirottamento aereo to hijack a plane

IMPORTANT WORDS (feminine)

lacintura di sicurezzaseat beltladuratalength; durationlamappamaplasala d’imbarcodeparture loungelavelocità (pl inv)speed

USEFUL WORDS (feminine)

un’alawingl’altezzaheightl’altitudinealtitudeun’assistente di voloflight attendantlabarriera del suonosound barrierun’elica (pl -che)propellerun’etichettalabellahostess (pl inv)air hostesslalinea aereaairlinelapista (d’atterraggio)runwaylarivistamagazinelascala mobileescalatorlascatola nerablack boxlatorre di controllocontrol towerlaturbolenzaturbulence

USEFUL PHRASES

“i passeggeri del volo AB251 con destinazione Roma sono pregati di procedere all’imbarco all’uscita 51” “flight AB251 to Rome now boarding at gate 51”

abbiamo fatto scalo a New York we stopped over in New York

un atterraggio d’emergenza an emergency landing

un atterraggio di fortuna a crash landing

animals

ESSENTIAL WORDS (masculine)

unagnellolambunanimaleanimalilbue (pl buoi)oxilcanedogilcavallohorseilcinghialewild boarilconigliorabbitilcricetohamsterilcucciolopuppyunelefanteelephantilgattinokittenilgattocatilgiardino zoologicozoouninsettoinsectilleonelionilmaialepigilpelocoat, hairilpescefishiltopomouseunuccellobirdilvitellocalflozoo (pl inv)zoo

USEFUL PHRASES

mi piacciono i gatti, odio i serpenti, preferisco i cani I like cats, I hate snakes, I prefer dogs

in casa abbiamo 12 animali we have 12 pets in our house

non abbiamo animali in casa we have no pets in our house

gli animali selvatici wild animals

gli animali domestici pets

il bestiame livestock

mettere un animale in gabbia to put an animal in a cage

liberare un animale to set an animal free

ESSENTIAL WORDS (feminine)

lacagnadog (female)lagattacat (female)lamucca (pl -che)cowlapecoraewelapelliccia (pl -ce)furlascimmiamonkeylatartaruga (pl -ghe)tortoiselatigretigerlavolpefox

IMPORTANT WORDS (feminine)

lacacciahuntinglacodataillagabbiacagelazampapaw

USEFUL PHRASES

il cane abbaia the dog barks; ringhia it growls

il gatto miagola the cat miaows; fa le fusa it purrs

mi piace l’equitazione or andare a cavallo I like horse-riding

a cavallo on horseback

“attenti al cane” “beware of the dog”

“è vieteato introdurre cani” “no dogs allowed”

“a cuccia!” (to dog) “down!”

i diritti degli animali animal rights

andare a caccia to go hunting

USEFUL WORDS (masculine)

unartiglioclaw (of lion, tiger)unasinodonkeyilcammellocamelilcangurokangarooilcanilekennelilcapronebilly goatilcarapaceshell (of tortoise)ilcervodeer, stagilcoccodrillocrocodileilcornohornilguinzagliodog leadunippopotamohippopotamusillupowolfilmaialepigilmarsupiopouch (of kangaroo)ilmulomuleilmusomuzzle; snoutilnegozio di animalipet shopunorsobearunorso polarepolar bearilpipistrellobatilpony (pl inv)ponyilporcellino d’indiaguinea pigilpuledrofoalilrattoratilricciohedgehogilrinoceronterhinocerosilrospotoadloscoiattolosquirrelilserpentesnakelosqualosharkiltorobulllozoccolohoof

USEFUL WORDS (feminine)

labalenawhalelabiscia (pl -sce)snakelabocca (pl -che)mouthlacapra(nanny) goatlacavallamarelacaviaguinea piglacervadoelecornaantlers; hornslacrinieramanelafoca (pl -che)seallagiraffagiraffelagobbahump (of camel)laleonessalionesslalepreharelalucertolalizardlamulamulelapellehide (of cow, elephant etc)laproboscidetrunk (of elephant)laranafroglestriscestripes (of zebra)latalpamolelatigretigresslatrappolatraplaviperaviper; adderlavolpefoxlazannatusklazebrazebra

bikes

ESSENTIAL WORDS (masculine)

ilcasco (pl -chi)helmetilciclismocyclingilciclistacyclistilfanalelampilfrenobrake

IMPORTANT WORDS (masculine)

ilpedalepedalilsellinosaddle

USEFUL WORDS (masculine)

ilcambioderailleur; gearsilcampanellobellilcatarifrangentereflectorilcestinopannierilGiro d’ItaliaTour of Italyilkit (pl inv) per riparare le gommepuncture repair kitillucchettopadlockilmanubriohandlebarsilmozzohubilparafango (pl -ghi)mudguardilportapacchi (pl inv)carrierilraggiospokeiltelaioframeiltubolaretyre

USEFUL PHRASES

andare in bici(cletta) to go by bike, to cycle

sono venuto in bici(cletta) I came by bike

pedalare to pedal

a tutta velocità at full speed

cambiare marcia to change gear

fermarsi to stop

frenare bruscamente to brake suddenly

ESSENTIAL WORDS (feminine)

labici (pl inv)bikelabiciclettabicyclelaciclistacyclistlacity bike (pl inv)city bikelamountain bike (pl inv)mountain bikelasellasaddle

IMPORTANT WORDS (feminine)

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