Instantly Italy

Italian speaking practice and grammar tutoring

[Italian Grammar] The Conditional and How to Express the Future in the Past in Italian

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It’s time for a new grammar lesson and this time it is about the conditional in Italian.

As I always do when I select topics for this section of my blog, I have picked this specific aspect of the Italian language because I have noticed some of my students struggle with it a little bit, especially with the use of the conditional to express the future in the past.

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[Advent Calendar] Italian verbs to be used at Christmas

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Instantly Italy’s Advent Calendar is almost over and it’s been a blast!

I started the tradition of the Advent Calendar last year with a series of videos about the Italian traditions for Christmas: it was so much fun that I simply had to do it again. The topic I chose for this year is Italian verbs that could be used during the Christmas season.

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[Italian Grammar] How To Use Bene, Buono, Bravo and Bello

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I have been helping students practice their Italian for quite a while now.  

And by doing so, I have noticed some recurring patterns: students tend to make the same mistakes and usually struggle with more or less the same grammar topics.

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[Italian Vocabulary] Common Latin Phrases Used in Everyday Italian

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My husband has developed a small obsession with Latin, lately.

He is not a scholar nor has any knowledge of the language, he just finds that Latin is a more elegant and austere language than Italian so he throws Latin words here and there, in his conversation.

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[Italian Grammar] The difference between conoscere and sapere

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Sometimes the trickiest grammar topics are the ones that seem really simple. 

For example, the use of imperfetto and passato prossimo is taught towards the beginning of the Italian grammar learning experience but, as I have tried to explain in an old post of mine, it is one of the trickiest aspects of Italian.

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What Is Italiano Mordi e Fuggi?

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Do you remember Pausa Caffè?

Back in February, I launched a challenge to help people overcome their fear of speaking Italian. It was called Pausa Caffè and it required participants to answer an Italian question a day for a month.

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[Italian Grammar] How To Use Ne In Italian

Subscribe to the Vespa rides and get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of language learning materials that you can use to practice Italian.

I have written a blog post about the use of the Italian particle ci a while ago, and now it’s time to focus on its friend: the particle ne.

As I said in that blog post about ci, the use of these two particles in Italian can be a bit frustrating, so I am writing these blog posts hoping to help students who struggle with this aspect of Italian grammar.

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[Italian Grammar] How To Use Ci In Italian

Subscribe to the Vespa rides and get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of language learning materials that you can use to practice Italian.

Ci and Ne are two little particles that can be quite frustrating, at times. 

I have noticed that some of my students have a hard time with how to use ci and ne properly because – let’s admit it – they are a bit tricky, so I have decided to write this blog post to see if I can make things easier for people struggling with this topic as well.

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