Page 11 - Italina-American Herald - January 2025

ITALIAN-AMERICAN HERALD
JANUARY 2025 | ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM 11
LO SAPEVI CHE? (DID YOU KNOW?)
Mnemonic tricks can help students master finer points of Italian grammar
By Lou Thomas
Did you know
that “a very prude
man” helps you
remember passato
prossimo, or the past
perfect tense, the
most challenging concept to learn in Italian
grammar?
This tense is usually taught after the
student has mastered the present tense
and all the conjugations. Passato prossimo
describes a past event that happened only
once opposed to the imperfetto tense that
describes continuous past action.
Since there is no comparison in English,
I often use mnemonics as a tool to teach the
students.
Passato prossimo uses both auxiliary verbs
essere (to be) and avere (to have). I am sure
you are even more confused now. What are
auxiliary verbs? Auxiliary verbs are known
as helping verbs to distinguish between the
tenses. That’s why I use mnemonics.
The mnemonic “a very prude man” is
used with the verb essere.
Let me illustrate:
A = andare = to go
V = venire = to come
E = essere = to be
R = ritornare = return
Y = N/A in Italian alphabet
P = partire = to leave
R = restare = to stay
U = Uscire = to exit
D = diventare = to become
E = entrare = to enter
M = morire = to die
A = arrivare = to arrive
N = nascere = to be born
The bolded words indicate movement and
the others indicate change of status.
Passato prossimo is a complex verb. It
consists of the present tense of essere + the
past participle of the verb – i.e, andare =
andato/a
When you use the verb essere it is always
gender/number agreement = male/female or
singular/plural.
Mario went to Italy.
Mario e’ andato in Italia / maschile= O
Maria went to Italy.
Maria e’ andata in Italia / feminile = A
The second past tense I will illustrate is
imperfetto which describes events continuous
in the past.
The mechanics are the same for all three
conjugations: ARE/ERE/IRE
The endings for all verbs are the same
vo,vi,va,vamo,vate,vano.
Andavo, andavi, andava, andavamo,
andavate and andavano.
The application and when to use it is a
sfida (challenge). Thus I created a memory
trick when to use it in conversation. If you
intend to express specific feelings remember
CELATE.
Caratteristica fisica / physical
characteristic
Emozioni / emotions
L’ora / time
Abbitudine / habits
Tempo / weather
Eta’ / age
ADOBE
Ogni estate Mario andava in Italia. / Every
Summer Mario went to Italy.
Ogni estate Maria andava in Italia. / Every
Summer Maria went to Italy.
Notice there is no gender/number
agreement. The same verb form is used for
both Mario and Maria. IAH
Lou Thomas was born and raised in
Philadelphia, in a family with origins in
Abruzzo. He is a Temple graduate who has
been teaching Italian for 20 years at all levels.
He attained a master’s degree in teaching
Italian from Rutgers University. The sounds
of Vivaldi and Jovanotti fill his classroom.
His favorite quote is “Il vino e’ la poesia della
terra.” Reach him at ltluigi3@gmail.com
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