Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
After summing up about the passive voice, Daniela goes on to talk about some other related constructions. It's important to remember that the passive is formed with transitive verbs only. But when we don't have a named subject or agent, we have a few other ways to make a sentence passive-like. One way uses the famous particella (particle) si. Si is used for so many things in Italian that it is bound to create confusion for learners, even advanced learners. Don't worry, part 3 of the lesson will explain further. Another way uses the verb andare (to go) to indicate something that must be done. Here too, the stress is on the action, not the subject or agent.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
Although the si passivante (passivizing si) is a kind of si impersonale, it has some very specific differences. Daniela explains them and provides some examples.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
In a sentence, the main clause can stand on its own, but there can also be a subordinate or dependent clause. Today's lesson addresses the causal subordinate clause, which gives the reason for the action in the main clause. Conjunctions such as perché (because) dato che (given that) are used to join the two clauses.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
Daniela talks about explicit and implicit causal subordinate clauses.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
Another kind of subordinate clause is the temporal subordinate. One way we introduce it is with conjunctions having to do with time, such as "while," "when," and "as long as." There are other ways to form a temporal subordinate clause, and Daniela explains them.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
There is a certain kind of subordinate clause, called a "clause of purpose," that basically answers the question, "to what end?" Italian has a number of conjunctions that can be translated as "so that," and they take the subjunctive in most cases. So this kind of subordinate clause can be tricky.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Don't be scared off by fancy names of clauses and parts of speech. Daniela is just showing us different ways of saying the same thing, but sometimes one way is clearer than the other, especially when the subject changes from main to subordinate clause.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Italian has an amazingly long list of conjunctions or locutions that mean "although," "despite," and similar words. Daniela explains what a concession subordinate clause is and gives us several examples.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Daniela explains further about constructing explicit subordinate clauses and gives some examples to clarify.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
To conclude the lesson on concessive subordinate clauses, we look at those constructed using the past participle of a verb or the gerund and introductory locations such as benché (though) and pure (despite), among others.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Daniela talks about two kinds of relative subordinate clauses — restrictive and explanatory — and how we punctuate them differently.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Daniela explains the relative pronouns used in forming a relative subordinate clause. She starts out with the explicit kind.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
In this lesson, we look at implicit relative subordinate clauses, and how they are introduced. One of their main characteristics is that they use the infinitive of a verb, rather than a conjugated one.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
Daniela tells us about comparatives used in subordinate clauses. There are three kinds: majority, minority, and equality.
Difficulty: Beginner
Italy
In this part of the lesson about subordinate clauses, Daniela talks about analogies or hypothetical situations. The English equivalent would be when we say, "as if..."
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