Italian adjectives, like Italian nouns, have four forms based on the two genders and plurality.
| Masculine | Singular | -o | -e |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plural | -i | -i | |
| Feminine | Singular | -a | -e |
| Plural | -e | -i |
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An adjective can be made into a modal adverb by adding -mente (from Latin "mindly", ablative of "mens" (mind), feminine noun) to the ending of the feminine singular form of the adjective. E.g. lenta "slow (feminine)" becomes lentamente "slowly". Adjectives ending in "-re" or "-le" lose their "e" before adding -mente (facile "easy" becomes facilmente "easily", particolare "particular" becomes particolarmente "particularly"). There is also a plethora of temporal, local, modal and interrogative adverbs, mostly derived from Latin (e.g: "quando, dove, come, perché..." [when, where, how, why/because...]).
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Like English, Italian has two types of articles, definite (the) and indefinite (a). However, unlike English, Italian articles also have gender and plurality which "agree" with what they refer to in terms of both number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine). Thus whereas in English the article in the girl and the cats are the same, in Italian it would be la regazza and i gatti.
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Nouns in Italian have gender (masculine or feminine, but no neuter), and number (singular or plural). The gender and number is always shown by the leading article (definite or indefinite), and usually by the final vowel.
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The prepositions in Italian are classically nine. Classically because many adverbs can be used as prepositions, alone or in conjunction with a real preposition (e.g: sopra il tavolo [upon the table], prima di adesso [before now]). In modern Italian there's no more difference between tra and fra (the former meaning "between" and the latter meaning "among"): they are interchangeable: the only rule is euphony: tra fratelli (among brothers) vs. fra i tralicci (between the power pylons).
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In Italian, personal subject pronouns in the nominative case are generally not used because the conjugation is usually enough to determine who is the subject of the verb. They are used when some emphasis is needed: Sono italiano (I am Italian), Io sono italiano (I -- and not you or anybody else here -- am Italian).
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Italian verbs are one of the most complex areas of Italian grammar. The Italian verb system is separated into 8 distinct tenses, referring to both time and mood.
Italian verbs are conjugated in four categories known as moods: indicative, subjunctive, imperative and non-personal forms, which contains the three non-finite forms that every verb has: an infinitive, a gerund, and a past participle. This past participle can agree for number and gender, giving it four possible forms and be considered to an adjective derived from the verb.
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