Table of Contents

• : Meet the author
• : Only got a minute?
• : Only got 5 minutes?
• : Only got 10 minutes?
• : How to use this book
• : Sounding right: pronunciation and spelling
• 1: Good stress and bad stress
• 2: Soft and hard sounds
• 3: Say it like you write it
• 4: Euro, spaghetti bolognese and più, può, poi
• 5: Accent deficit disorder
• 6: Monday, January, English: NO CAPITALS PLEASE!
• 7: Drop the dead vowel
• 8: Word liposuction
• 9: Learn to count
• : Getting the structure right
• : Adverbs
• 10: Strategic positioning of the adverb
• 11: Use and abuse of anche
• 12: Was the meal well, good or beautiful?
• : Comparatives and superlatives
• 13: Compare and contrast
• 14: Don’t go over the top!
• : Prepositions
• 15: Learn to do without di
• 16: Is it ‘on’ Monday?
• : Pronouns
• 17: Keep your subjects under control
• 18: Don’t be direct with your indirect pronouns
• 19: Quel or quello? Demonstrate your point!
• 20: Che: the big forgotten one
• : Articles
• 21: The definite article: one in English, six in Italian
• : Number and gender
• 22: The rules of plurality
• 23: Some people are singular
• 24: The gender of the problem
• : Possessives
• 25: Mio marito, that’s all you need
• : Adjectives
• 26: Orders must be followed!
• : Agreement
• 27: Italian is an agreeable language
• 28: Many, few and near: do they agree?
• 29: Verbal agreements
• : Verbs
• 30: Essere o avere? That is the question
• 31: Perfect vs imperfect
• 32: Live in the present, look to the future
• 33: Reflect on reflexives
• 34: Piacere: put it back to front
• : Choosing the right words
• 35: Careful with what you enjoy!
• 36: Prendere: don’t take it for granted
• : False friends
• 37: Going shopping at night
• 38: Don’t fail to say how to succeed!
• 39: ‘In-pressive’ mistakes
• 40: Eventually, earlier and possibly – plus some information and advice
• 41: How do you ‘stay’?
• 42: Do you visit your friends or examine them?
• 43: Travel and drive, but don't get too excited!
• : Cultural awareness
• 44: Please – to be used sparingly please
• 45: Have you got a title?
• : Miscellaneous
• 46: Don’t mix c’è with è
• 47: Do you ‘prefer’ or do you ‘favour’?
• 48: Time is of the essence
• 49: Sei single?
• 50: Work, age, and finally …!
• : Glossary of grammatical terms
• : Index

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About the Author

Valeria Malandra is a native speaker with extensive experience of teaching, translating and interpreting Italian. She currently teaches at the University of Surrey.

Reviews

If you're learning Italian you'll find a wealth of advice here to help hone your language skills - Italia!The ideal grammar reference - Italia!