Learn Italian

Italian, built on essere and avere.

A 1,000-word frequency course. Almost every Italian tense is assembled from two irregular verbs, so this course drills essere and avere before it teaches anything elegant.

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Quick taster

3-word session

A quick mix of exercises - recognise, recall, type and build each word. Miss one and it comes back round until it sticks.

Graded reader

Tutto va bene

Only words the course has taught

. : . .

The uncle is at home. A man says: everything is fine. But I have no time.

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Read Italian from the first week.

46 graded readers, each written only from words the course has already taught. Italian frequency is steep, so the first few hundred words go further here than you would expect.

Browse Italian stories

Grammar that treats you like an adult.

Sono andato is right and ho andato is wrong, and the reason is not arbitrary. Which auxiliary a verb takes tracks whether its subject acts or is acted upon.

Explore Italian grammar

Present tense

essere

to be - Irregular, and unavoidable

io: sono
tu: sei
lui / lei: e
noi: siamo
voi: siete
loro: sono

Essere is irregular in every person, and almost every Italian compound tense is built from it. There is no way around learning it cold.

Built for Italian, specifically

Not one course photocopied six times. Each language gets the tools its own difficulties actually call for.

1,000 words by frequency

Di, e, il, che, la, non, un, essere, avere, fare: the function words and core verbs that carry most of a simple Italian page.

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Essere and avere, drilled cold

The two verbs every compound tense is built from, conjugated until they are automatic rather than looked up.

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Why il becomes lo

Il, lo, la, i, gli, le and the indefinites. The variation is phonetic, not grammatical, which is why it stops needing memorisation once you hear it.

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Regular verbs in three families

The -are, -ere and -ire patterns that cover the large regular majority, plus the irregulars you meet too often to avoid.

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Graded readers under a strict ceiling

Every story uses only words the course has taught, so nothing in it sends you to a dictionary.

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Italian by the numbers

Counted from the course, not rounded up for the brochure.

words in the course: 1000
grammar guides: 46
graded readers: 46

Or wander in sideways

The course is the spine, but every part of it stands on its own.

Stories Grammar Games Word lists Pronunciation Teaching resources Books Leaderboard Tools Essere and avere The Italian articles Start the course

Chapters 1 and 2 free

Keep the Italian you learn

An account remembers every word you know, builds your daily review, and syncs progress across devices.

Chapters 1 and 2 free, forever. Plus: 7 days free, then $5 a month for all ten languages.

Start learning free

Start Italian at word one.

Every lesson is free to read, and stays that way. Plus is what remembers them for you: free for a week, then $5 a month - one subscription for every course on the site, not just Italian.

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