Daniela teaches us the Italian way to say hello and goodbye, to both our friends and to people we don't know.

Daniela explains when to use the different forms of greetings in Italian: "buongiorno," "buonasera," "buonanotte," and "salve."

When two people meet, it's important to ask them how they are. Daniela explains the different ways to ask, and also how to answer.

What do you say when you meet someone for the first time? Daniela discusses introductions.

Join Daniela's class where we learn more about how to greet people in Italian.

In this lesson, Daniela talks about the two most important verbs in Italian: essere (to be) and avere (to have).

Daniela talks about the conjugation of the verb "to have," and gives us some important information about pronunciation.

When we speak of an unspecified quantity of food items, objects, etc. we use the indefinite or partitive article, which changes according to the gender of the noun in question (singular: del, della, dello, and plural: dei, delle, degli). In the second part of the lesson, you'll notice that Italian uses the equivalent of "of" or "of it" where English doesn't. Feel free to absorb the first part of this lesson before tackling the second part.

Daniela talks about verbs having to do with shops, and whether they close at lunchtime or not.

With her students, Daniela shows us how to conjugate the verbs aprire (to open) and chiudere (to close).

Daniela and her pupils compare the opening hours of shops in their country to those in Italy where, traditionally, the midday break has always had particular importance. Over the past ten years, tradition has gradually given way to convenience, and the rules governing opening hours have become less and less strict.

Daniela finishes explaining about the opening hours of shops, comparing those of Italy with those of Germany.

Daniela shows her class how to use the verb, rimanere(to remain, to stay) and she also conjugates this partly regular, partly irregular verb.

Daniela discusses with her class the opening hours of stores in different regions of Italy as well as Germany. They go on to talk about the differences in school systems between the two countries.

What's one of the first things you think of when talking about Italy? Food! Daniela tells us about the sagre (festivals) having to do with every kind of food imaginable.

Daniela tells her students about the masculine singular definite article in its three forms, "Il, L' and Lo."

There's still more to know about the masculine singular definite article. After IL and L with an apostrophe, there's a third kind, LO. Daniela explains two simple rules to follow.

If the masculine article seemed a bit complicated, rest easy. The feminine singular definite article is much simpler. Daniela will explain.

Daniela has already taught us the singular definite articles in Italian. Today she starts teaching us the masculine plural definite articles.

What are the rules for the masculine plural articles? Daniela explains them to her class, and to us!

Daniela explains how easy it is to form the plurals of feminine nouns, even if you don't know their meaning.

If you know the rules regarding masculine and feminine articles, word endings, and plurals in Italian, you'll get it right most of the time. But there are some important exceptions which Daniela addresses in this lesson. They just have to get memorized!

It can be challenging for non-native Italian speakers to really understand the difference between these three common words: bello (beautiful, nice, pretty), buono (good) and bene (well, fine). In this first part of three, Daniela explains the difference between bello and buono.

Daniela goes into more detail about the difference between bello (beautiful) and buono (good) and clears up any doubts you may have.

This lesson is about bene (well, fine). An important difference between bene and bello (beautiful) and buono (good) is that it's an adverb, and therefore doesn't have to agree with nouns. It always stays the same.

Daniela teaches us the difference between two questions: "Where are you from?" and "Where do you live?" She goes on to explain that, depending on whether we're talking about cities and towns, or countries, regions, and continents, the preposition in the response will change. Don't miss this important lesson!

It's important in speaking Italian, to address people using the right form of "you." Tu (you) is for people you know, and Lei (you) is for people you don't know, or people you address with respect. Daniela explains how to use these forms.

When you're getting to know someone, you ask them their name and where they're from. Join Daniela's class as her students ask their first questions in Italian.

Daniela takes us through the conjugation of verbs ending in "ere," and explains how easy it can be if we remember some simple rules.

It's important to know how to talk about what you like and what you don't like. Daniela explains how in this lesson, and if you remember that when you like something, it pleases you, you'll get it!

Daniela shows us how to ask people if they like something. And don't forget: the thing you like is the subject of the sentence and will govern the conjugation of the verb "piacere."

Daniela teaches us how to talk about liking something in each of the persons, using the verb piacere (to please, to be pleasing). Don't miss this very important lesson! And don't forget that spaghetti is the plural of spaghetto. Spago means string, so spaghetti are little strands of string! Italians will use the plural when talking about spaghetti.

Daniela talks about the latest trend regarding l'aperitivo (cocktails) in Italy. To learn more about some of the items she mentions, click! spritz, aperol, prosecco.

Daniela teaches us something very important! When you have two verbs in the infinitive, one after another, they get connected by the preposition "a" (to). Most of the time one of those verbs is andare (to go). She gives us some examples.

What are the words we use in Italian to talk about regular actions? Daniela takes you through them.

Daniela explains some very important rules about conjugating verbs. There are three types of endings. "are," "ire," and "ere."

Daniela finishes taking us through the conjugation of verbs ending in -are like mangiare (to eat).

Daniela does a quick review of definite articles in Italian, and goes on to introduce the indefinite articles.

Daniela helps us understand how the feminine singular indefinite article works. Not to be missed!

In the previous two segments, both the masculine and feminine indefinite articles were introduced. In this segment, Daniela has her students supply the correct indefinite article for a series of nouns.

Daniela makes it easy to learn how to conjugate verbs ending in "ire," such as dormire (to sleep).

Daniela finishes showing us how to conjugate verbs that end in "ire," like "finire." Get the whole story!

This is the beginning of a very important series of lessons because possessive pronouns or adjectives work a little differently in Italian. You need to add an article before the possessive pronoun. Daniela will explain it all.

Daniela continues with the possessive adjective, and gives examples of the masculine and feminine singular. Remember that, unlike English, Italian puts an article before the possessive adjective.

After having covered the possessive adjectives in the masculine and feminine singular, Daniela goes on to explain how the masculine plural works.

Daniela continues to address the very sticky subject of possessive adjectives, and explains some very important rules. Little by little, you'll get it.

Daniela explains a very important exception to the rule about possessive adjectives. Don't miss out!

Daniela has already explained about leaving out the article when talking about one's family members, but attenzione! This only holds for the singular. She explains how things work in the plural.

Daniela has her students do some exercises to make sure they've understood the use of articles with possessive adjectives. You'll see that being part of family or not makes quite a difference, as does being just one or more than one!

The important theme for today is "adjectives." In this first part, Daniela will teach you about "positive" adjectives. Find out what she means by that!

Daniela continues explaining how to use adjectives in Italian. This time she focuses on so-called neutral adjectives.

To conclude this three-part lesson on positive and neutral adjectives, Daniela talks about neutral adjectives in the plural.

Daniela teaches us the colors and how to use them as adjectives. There are three different categories, so pay close attention!

We've gotten to the third category of colors, where they behave like positive adjectives. Attenzione! These colors have four different possible endings.

In this final video on colors as adjectives, Daniela's students practice using all three types (static, positive and neutral) in sentences. As you'll see, it can be tough putting all the pieces together, but little by little, you'll get it!

Daniela works on reflexive verbs, the verbs distinguished by their si ending. The si lets us know that the action involves the self. For clarity, the English translation is also given in a reflexive form, to aid in the understanding, even though English doesn't use it.

Daniela shows us how to conjugate reflexive verbs. It's not really any different than conjugating normal verbs, so don't worry!

Modal verbs in Italian are potere (to be able to) volere (to want to) and dovere (to have to). Daniela explains how they work!

Daniela takes us through the steps to construct the passato prossimo (present perfect) of verbs. Attenzione! Even though it looks similar to the English present perfect tense, the passato prossimo is used for actions completed at a specific time in the past, so in many cases it corresponds to the simple past in English, not the present perfect!

Daniela teaches us about conjugating one of the past tenses, the passato prossimo, for action verbs.

Daniela has her students practice conjugating a verb of movement in the passato prossimo (present perfect). There are plenty of details to watch out for: plural or singular, masculine or feminine, "to be" or "to have" as helping verbs.

Daniela teaches us the essential verbs and phrases for asking directions in Italy.

Daniela goes over the very important words and phrases that help you to understand directions and navigate around Italy. She covers verbs such as "to cross," and adjectives such as "opposite," and "behind," as well as the simple and articulated prepositions used with place names.

You won't want to miss this lesson, where Daniela introduces direct object pronouns, as in: I buy the book - I buy it.

Daniela concludes this very important lesson about direct object pronouns. This time she explains about the feminine singular, and the plurals of both genders: Did you eat the apples? Yes, I ate them.

The first of Daniela's four segments on the future tense. She explains when it's used and how the present tense is sometimes used in its place.

For more on using the future tense for probability, see this lesson.

Daniela's lesson on future tense verbs ending in: -are, -ere, and -ire.

Daniela moves on to some naughty irregular verbs that are also very common, verbs such as andare (to go) and avere (to have).

Daniela covers irregular verbs in this last segment on the future tense. The rolling of the "r" and accented "ò" make the verb endings fun to pronounce.

In this first of three segments on the infinitive, Daniela covers conjugated verbs followed directly by verbs in the infinitive, without the use of prepositions.

Daniela continues with more conjugated verbs that are immediately followed by verbs in the infinitive. The lesson covers the very commonly used verbs: piacere (to like), desiderare (to want), and occorrere (to need).

Daniela talks about combining verbs in the infinitive with conjugated verbs where no preposition is needed in between them. She also talks about using the conjugated verb "to be" followed by an adjective plus a verb in the infinitive, again, with no need for a preposition in the middle. For more on this, with examples, see this lesson.

Daniela talks about verbs that require the preposition di (to) before another verb in the infinitive.

Daniela covers the verbs: ricordare (to remember), dimenticare (to forget), decidere (to decide), and dubitare (to doubt), showing how the preposition "di" is placed between conjugated and infinitive verbs.

Pregare (to beg, to ask) and sapere (to know) are the last two verbs on Daniela's list of verbs that take the preposition di (of) and a verb in the infinitive.

Daniela and her class work on conjugated verbs followed by infinitive verbs that require the preposition a [to] between them.

Daniela talks about more verbs that take the preposition a (to, in) when followed by a verb in the infinitive: provare (to try), riuscire (to succeed), and abituarsi (to get accustomed).

Daniela's lessons involves the often paired words, sta per, followed by a verb in the infinitive, as in "it's about to rain."

In this first segment on the conditional mood, Daniela shows us how to conjugate -are verbs, focusing on parlare [to speak].

Daniela works on present conditional tense verbs that end in are. She uses the verbs parlare [to speak] and mangiare [to eat] as examples in this form that best translates to would in English.

Daniela discusses the irregular conjugation of the conditional tense for these verbs: dovere, potere, sapere, vedere, and avere.

Daniela's fourth segment on the present conditional tense covers the important, and irregular, verbs: dovere, potere, sapere, vedere, & avere.

Daniela continues with conditional verbs. This time she focuses on the key verbs: essere [to be], avere [to have], stare [to stay], rimanere [to remain], and dare [to give].

In today's lesson on the conditional tense, Daniela covers the verbs: tenere [to keep], venire [to come], and sentire [to feel], among others. Modal verbs, as in volere [to want, would like] in the conditional are also discussed.

Daniela continues with the conditional, showing how it's used to express a desire, provide advice, or express possibility.

Daniela recaps the modal verbs: potere [can], volere [want], and dovere [must], which are placed immediately before infinitive verbs. Modal verbs are also known as auxiliary verbs or helping verbs.

Daniela covers three modal or auxiliary verbs that are followed by nouns and not by the usual infinitive verbs. The verbs are: voglio [want], potere [can], and dovere [must].

Daniela focuses on the present subjunctive and provides tips on how to recognize the subjunctive tense.

Daniela continues her lesson on the present subjunctive, using the verbs parlare [to speak], vedere [to see], and partire [to leave].

Daniela homes in on the present subjunctive of the auxiliary verb essere [to be].

Daniela covers the present subjunctive for the following verbs: avere [to have], andare [to go], fare [to do], and bere [to drink],

Daniela covers the present subjunctive of these three verbs: rimanere [to remain, to stay], venire [to come], and dire [to say].

Daniela provides a list of verbs that always come before the subjunctive mood verbs. We'll see, however, that English doesn't follow the same rules.

Daniela provides a nice long list of the so-called perception verbs and expressions that always precede the present subjunctive.

Daniela highlights two verbs that do not call for the present subjunctive—the verbs vedere [to see] and sentire [to sense, to hear, to feel].

Daniela continues with verbs that require the present subjunctive, calling attention to the all-important verb sperare [to hope].

Daniela focuses on verbs and expressions that express uncertainty or doubt, and require the use of the subjunctive.

Daniela talks about a special case scenario in which a verb in the infinitive may replace the subjunctive form in the subordinate clause. Learning this rule can make using certain verbs easier. She goes on to talk about impersonal forms of verbs where we need the subjunctive. This scenario is quite different from English, so we need to pay close attention.

Daniela works on the expressions where the verb essere [to be] is followed the subjunctive in the subordinate clause. The expressions include: È una fortuna [It's a bit of luck] and È un peccato [It's a shame].

The previous lesson ended with the verb essere (to be) plus adjectives. Now, Daniela goes on to tell us about the verb essere plus adverbs and then teaches us about a great shortcut for avoiding the subjunctive when using the word basta [it's enough, just]. Normally, basta signals the need for the subjunctive, but Daniela offers up some examples where the infinitive verb works best.

There are some special conjunctions that take the subjunctive and then che (that). There are several of them but they're quite similar to one another. Little by little, as you hear them used, they'll become part of your vocabulary.

Daniela goes over words or expressions that trigger the use of the subjunctive, including affinché (so that), a meno che (unless), and senza che (without).

Daniela covers comparative sentences that require the use of the subjunctive.

Daniela wraps up the lessons on the subjunctive with some sentences that begin with che (that), calling for the subjunctive. She also discusses some cases in which we can either use the subjunctive mood or the future tense.

Daniela, in the first part of a two-part series, shows us how to express need in a personal way with the noun bisogno [need].

Daniela continues her lesson on necessity or need, providing examples with an impersonal subject. In English the impersonal can be expressed with "one" in the third person: "one needs," or by using the passive voice:"Something needs to be done." And in informal speech, we might use "you" or "we.": "you need to..."

Daniela discusses the imperfect tense for verbs ending in -are, -ere, and -ire.

Daniela concentrates on the modal verbs essere [to be] and avere [to have] in the imperfect tense.

Daniela discusses how the imperfect is used to describe actions in the past that are happening contemporaneously.

Daniela shows us how to conjugate the imperfect tense of the following irregular verbs: dire (to say), fare (to make, to do), bere (to drink), condurre (to drive), and porre (to pose). She gives us a helpful tip for remembering how.

Daniela starts her four-part series on the passato remoto [remote or absolute past] verb tense. This tense is broadly used in the south of Italy, and infrequently in the north.

Daniela discusses the verbs finire [to finish] and essere [to be] in the remote past tense.

Daniela explains how to conjugate the remote past of the verbs avere (to have) and prendere (to take).

Daniela explains three situations in which the remote past may be used and gives us examples of each situation. But don't worry, this tense is not mandatory and Daniela suggests the passato prossimo (present perfect) as a valid alternative. Note: The passato prossimo is constructed like the English present perfect tense (with a helping verb and past participle), but is used more like the English past simple.

In this lesson we start looking at the comparative forms of adjectives. Unlike English, where we have a dedicated comparative and superlative form, Italian makes use of adverbs più "more" or meno "less" and the prepositions or conjunctions di (of, than) or che (than, that) in addition to the adjective itself. Daniela shows us how this works.

Daniela talks more about when to use che (that, than) or di (of, than) as comparative words.

When two like things are compared, as in the sentence "You are as old as I am," it's called a comparison of equality. Daniela explains how this works in Italian.

Daniela continues with examples of how tanto and quanto are used together in comparisons, as well as the pairing of così and come. She also provides examples involving quantities, where the word sets are not interchangeable.

Daniela explains how adverbs tanto and quanto are always used together in comparisons. Likewise, così and come are always paired together. “Billy is as tall as Tom” would be an equivalent construction in English. She also focuses on adjectives that have 2 comparative forms like buono (good), cattivo (bad, nasty), and grande (big).

Daniela explains how some adverbs, depending on how they are used, will be regular or irregular in the comparative form.

Daniela delves into the absolute superlative for adjectives, and covers the wonderfully fun ending, -issimo.

Daniela illustrates other ways of forming the absolute superlative for adjectives in Italian. These include repeating an adjective twice, the placement of a prefix before an adjective, and a list of words, such as "exceedingly," used in conjunction with an adjective.

Daniela discusses how journalists and the mass media often tack on -issimo to nouns and adverbial expressions, something which is not strictly correct but is prevalent nonetheless.

With the relative superlative, we compare one element with an entire group, as for example, "She is the most beautiful of all." In English we distinguish between "more" and "most," but in Italian, the presence of the article before the noun or before the comparative word is what makes the difference.

Relative pronouns — such as "who," "that," and "which" — connect a main clause to a subordinate clause, which in this case, is a relative clause. Here, relative pronouns function as pronouns and conjunctions at the same time. In Italian, some relative pronouns vary according to gender and number, and others don't. Daniela guides us through.

Daniela shows us how to use the relative pronoun che. In English this can be translated as either "that," "which," or "who," depending on various English grammatical factors.

Daniela introduces the relative pronoun "which." It's handy to know because it doesn't change according to gender or number.

Daniela introduces relative pronouns il quale, la quale, i quali and le quali (that, who, which) that are a bit tricky to use because they have to agree with the gender and number of the nouns they refer to. We need them when, otherwise, the sentence would be ambiguous.

These relative pronouns can be very tricky for English speakers. Daniela gives us some good reasons (with examples) to prefer the more difficult, but more specific il quale, la quale, i quali and le quali, which can all mean "that, "which," "who," or "whom," depending on the context.

To finish up about relative pronouns, Daniela illustrates how we can use the adverb dove (where) to replace the relative pronoun in cui or nel quale, both of which mean "in which."

Daniela explains how to turn a positive statement into a negative one, and how to form a negative question and its negative answer. The magic word is non (not).

In the last lesson we learned to place non (not) before the verb in a negative sentence, but when there are other words involved, it gets a bit more complicated, especially when we have object pronouns in the mix.

To express negation, the adverb non (not) can precede not only nouns, but verbs, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, and adverbs, as well. Daniela shows us how.

Double negatives are, in fact, allowed in Italian. And Daniela shows us how there can be multiple negations in one phrase. In English, where double negatives are not allowed, we have extra words to get around this rule. We use, for example, "it's not anything" or" not ever," instead of the incorrect "not nothing" or "not never." But it's important to be able to manage all these negatives in perfect tenses where we have a conjugated auxiliary verb and a past participle, and that is what Daniela explains in this lesson.

Daniela concludes this lesson about double negatives explaining that in some cases, when using double negatives with compound verbs — in other words, auxiliary verbs with past participles — there are some exceptions to be aware of.

Daniela lays out the basics of direct and indirect object pronouns combined together. The indirect object undergoes a transformation when together with a direct pronoun.

Daniela shares a table of compound pronouns and their position in a sentence when they have to do with verbs in the indicative, subjunctive and conditional.

Daniela shows us more examples of combining direct and indirect object pronouns, and goes on to give us some examples in the subjunctive and conditional moods, which work the same way.

There are two ways to position the combined pronoun in relation to the verb in some cases, and Daniela shows us how it's done. She gives examples of this with the infinitive, the imperative and the gerund.

Daniela sums up about compound pronouns and explains what a partitive pronoun is. An example of a partitive pronoun is the particle ne (of it, of them).

Daniela focuses on the partitive ne when joined to combined pronouns in the third person singular, masculine or feminine. In this case, the indirect pronoun aspect stays the same in both the masculine and feminine, singular and plural.

In this last segment, Daniela focuses on when the past participle of a verb in the present perfect has to agree (in number and gender) with the direct object pronoun when using compound pronouns. It's a bit tricky.

Daniela explains how to use the demonstrative adjectives questo and quello [this and that]. She also tells us about a third demonstrative adjective that, these days, is used only in Tuscany: codesto.

Demonstrative adjectives can also be used as demonstrative pronouns. Daniela explains how that works, and also discusses how to use an apostrophe when the noun following the demonstrative adjective starts with a vowel.

To finish up about demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, Daniela gives us some more examples and a summary.

Daniela introduces the topic of indefinite adjectives and starts with quantitative adjectives (think: some, several, etc.). In Italian, not only do we need to think about singular and plural, but also masculine and feminine, just as with other adjectives, so put on your seat belts!

Daniela talks about some very common indefinite adjectives, the equivalents of "much," "many," "little," and "few." An important detail to keep in mind is that some of the words she talks about can be either adjectives or adverbs depending on the context. Adjectives (the subject of this video) have variable endings but adverbs don't.

Daniela shows us some additional indefinite adjectives that have to do with quantity. When used as adjectives, they need to agree, in gender and number, with the nouns they describe. Some of these words can also be used as adverbs, and in this case, they don't change.

Listen carefully to this lesson because the rules for these indefinite adjectives are a little quirky. These are about totality — all or nothing — and work differently from English, especially when they're in the negative. We're talking about tutto, nessuno, and alcuno.

In this lesson, Daniela discusses indefinite adjectives that refer to units or multiples. We're talking about adjectives such as "each," every," and "certain." Some have variable endings and others do not.

Here are three more indefinite adjectives. The third one altro (another, next, last, different) is very common and can mean several things, so context is key.

Here is the last group of indefinite adjectives: qualunque, qualsiasi, and qualsivoglia (whichever, any). Luckily for us, they are generally interchangeable and invariable.

It's time to talk about particelle (particles). These short, two or three-letter words, such as ci and ne have many functions as well as meanings, and can even represent an indirect object pronoun plus its preposition. Particles can be freestanding or attached to a verb, depending on how the verb is conjugated (or not). Let's see how they work.

Ci is such a tiny word, but it has a lot of power. It can replace a direct object pronoun or an indirect pronoun + preposition, and means other things as well. You won't want to miss this lesson.

We learn even more about the particle ci. This short word can stand for a preposition (such as "on," "about," "with," or "to") + an indirect object.

Daniela talks about an unusual but common way we use the particle ci. In this segment she discusses volerci (to need, to take) and metterci (to employ, to put in). In English we use "it takes" and "it takes me/you/us/him/her/them" with an impersonal "it," so translating might very well create more problems than it solves. To help you understand how these particular verbs work, we have attempted, where possible, to use alternate translations to illustrate the grammatical structure of the sentences Daniela uses as examples.

Daniela gives us some more examples of how the particle ci is used. Lots of times it's superfluous and could technically be omitted but hardly ever is.

Daniela gives us plenty of examples of how to use ne and ci, those tricky little particles that mean so many different things and which can be quite a challenge for English speakers.

Daniela tackles a verb that is tricky for English speakers: piacere (to delight, to please). Although when someone says mi piace, he or she is, in essence, saying "I like [it/him/her/them]," the verb piacere doesn't strictly mean "to like." Since, as you will see, this verb works so differently than "to like," we have used the verb "to delight" as a translation in some cases, not for its exact meaning, but in order to match the construction with that of piacere.