Italian Demystified. A self-Teaching Guide
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Che cosa stava facendo tua sorella What was your sister doing yesterday,
ieri, mentre tu eri in centro? while you were downtown?
Non stava facendo niente. She was not doing anything.
Written Practice 3
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate imperfect progressive forms of the indicated
verbs.
1. Signor Marchi, che cosa ieri al
bar? Mr. Marchi, what were you drinking yesterday at the coffee shop?
un espresso. I was drinking an
espresso.
2. Che cosa tu e tuo fratello ieri? What
were you and your brother reading yesterday?
Noi non niente. We were not reading
anything.
3. Che cosa ieri, mentre io leggevo
il giornale? What were they saying yesterday, while I was reading the
newspaper?
Loro non niente. They were not
saying anything.
4. Che cosa tuo fratello e tua sorella
ieri? What were your brother and sister doing yesterday?
Mentre lui la sua macchina, lei
. While he was cleaning his car, she was
reading.
5. Che cosa tu ieri, mentre io ero in
centro? What were you doing yesterday, while I was downtown?
Non niente. I was not doing
anything.
6. Marco, che cosa tu, mentre tua sorella
? Mark, what were you doing, while
your sister was getting dressed?
Anch’io . I was also getting dressed.
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258 Italian Demystifi ed
More About Demonstratives and Possessives
In Chapter 8 demonstratives were discussed when used as adjectives (if you need to,
review the demonstratives in that chapter now). However, demonstratives can also
be used as pronouns.
Demonstrative pronouns replace noun phrases that are constructed with demon-
stratives. For example:
Quel ragazzo è italiano. That boy is Italian.
Quello è italiano. That one is Italian.
Questa ragazza è americana. This girl is American.
Questa è americana. This one is American.
The demonstrative pronouns retain the gender and number of the demonstratives
they replace. However, there are a few changes to be made to their forms. Here are
all the possibilities:
Masculine Demonstratives
Singular Form Corresponding Pronoun Form
questo ragazzo this boy questo this one (referring to ragazzo)
quest’amico this friend questo this one (referring to amico)
quel ragazzo that boy quello that one (referring to ragazzo)
quello zio that uncle quello that one (referring to zio)
quell’amico that friend quello that one (referring to amico)
Plural Form Corresponding Pronoun Form
questi ragazzi these boys questi these ones (referring to ragazzi)
questi amici these friends questi these ones (referring to amici)
quei ragazzi those boys quelli those ones (referring to ragazzi)
quegli zii those uncles quelli those ones (referring to zii)
quegli amici those friends quelli those ones (referring to amici)
Feminine Demonstratives
Singular Form Corresponding Pronoun Form
questa ragazza this girl questa this one (referring to ragazza)
quest’amica this friend questa this one (referring to amica)
quella ragazza that girl quella that one (referring to ragazza)
quell’amica that friend quella that one (referring to amica)
Plural Form Corresponding Pronoun Form
queste ragazze these girls queste these ones (referring to ragazze)
queste amiche these friends queste these ones (referring to amiche)
quelle ragazze these girls quelle those ones (referring to ragazze)
quelle amiche these friends quelle those ones (referring to amiche)
Similarly, a possessive pronoun replaces a noun phrase containing a possessive
adjective. The Italian possessive pronouns correspond to the English pronouns
mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.
La mia amica è simpatica, e la tua? My friend is nice, and yours?
Ecco la nostra macchina. Dov’è Here is our car. Where is yours?
la vostra?
The defi nite article is always used with possessive pronoun forms, even when the
noun phrase replacements contain singular, unmodifi ed, kinship nouns.
Sua sorella è simpatica. His/her sister is pleasant.
La sua non è simpatica. His/hers is not pleasant.
Vostro zio è italiano. Your uncle is Italian.
Il nostro è americano. Ours is American.
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Chi sono quei due ragazzi? Who are those two boys?
Questo è mio fratello e quello This one is my brother and that one is
è mio cugino. my cousin.
Chi sono quegli uomini? Who are those men?
Questi sono i miei zii e quelli sono These ones are my uncles and those ones
i miei cugini. are my cousins.
Chi sono quelle due ragazze? Who are those two girls?
Questa è mia sorella e quella è This one is my sister and that one is my
mia cugina. cousin.
Chi sono quelle donne? Who are those women?
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260 Italian Demystifi ed
Queste sono le mie zie e quelle These ones are my aunts and those ones
sono le mie cugine. are my cousins.
Mia sorella è alta, e la tua? My sister is tall, and yours?
Anche la mia è alta. Mine is also tall.
La sua macchina è nuova, e His car is new, and yours?
la vostra?
Anche la nostra è nuova. Ours is also new.
La mia amica è americana, e My friend is American, and theirs?
la loro?
La loro è italiana. Theirs is Italian.
Written Practice 4
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate pronoun forms of either the demonstrative or
the possessive, as necessary.
1. Chi sono quelle due persone? Who are those two people?
è mio fratello e è mio cugino. This one
is my brother and that one is my cousin.
2. Chi sono queste persone? Who are these people?
sono i miei zii e sono i miei
cugini. These ones are my uncles and those ones are my cousins.
3. Chi sono quelle due persone? Who are those two people?
è mia sorella e è mia cugina. This one
is my sister and that one is my cousin.
4. Chi sono quelle persone? Who are those people?
sono le mie zie e sono le mie
cugine. These ones are my aunts and those ones are my cousins.
5. Mia sorella è simpatica, e ? My sister is nice, and yours?
Anche è simpatica. Mine is also nice.
6. La sua giacca è nuova, e ? His jacket is new, and yours
(plural)?
Anche è nuova. Ours is also new.
7. La mia amica è italiana, e ? My friend is Italian, and
theirs?
è francese. Theirs is French.
QUIZ
Fill in the blanks with the indicated forms of the imperfect tense. For example:
(io) cantare
io cantavo
1. (io) leggere
(io) capire
(tu) mangiare
(tu) vedere
(lui) cominciare
(lei) avere
(noi) pagare
(noi) sapere
(voi) mangiare
(voi) potere
(loro) arrivare
(loro) avere
Circle the letter of the appropriate present perfect, imperfect, or progressive imper-
fect verb form that best completes each sentence.
2. Quando mia sorella era giovane, il pianoforte.
(a) ha suonato
(b) suonava
(c) stava suonando
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262 Italian Demystifi ed
3. Da giovane, lei i capelli lunghi.
(a) ha avuto
(b) aveva
(c) stava avendo
4. Ieri, mentre mio fratello dormiva, io la televisione.
(a) ho guardato
(b) guardavo
(c) stavo guardando
5. Ieri tutta la giornata (all day long).
(a) ho dormito
(b) dormivo
(c) stavo dormendo
Fill in the blanks with the missing demonstratives or possessives, as necessary.
6. Chi sono quelle due persone?
qui vicino è mio fratello e è mio
padre. This one right here is my brother and that one is my father.
7. Chi sono quelle altre persone?
qui vicini sono amici e sono le nostre
zie. These ones right here are friends and those ones are our aunts.
8. Mia sorella si chiama Paola, e ? My sister’s name is
Paula, and yours?
si chiama Sara. Mine is called Sara.
9. I nostri zii vivono in America e ? Our uncles live in
America and yours (plural)?
Anche vivono in America. Ours too live in America.
Personal Matters! Answer the question appropriately.
10. Che cosa dovevi fare di solito da bambino/a?
.
263
CHAPTER 14
Using the
Pluperfect and Past
Absolute Tenses
Here’s what you will learn in this chapter:
Pluperfect Tense
Past Absolute Tense
Irregular Verbs in the Past Absolute Tense
Transportation
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264 Italian Demystifi ed
Pluperfect Tense
Lui mi ha detto che aveva già parlato al professore. He told me that he had
already talked to the professor. The tense used in the verb form aveva parlato is
called the pluperfect. It corresponds exactly to the English pluperfect: I had spoken,
you had gone, and so on.
The pluperfect is a compound tense. As such, it is conjugated with an auxiliary
verb, which is either avere or essere, plus the past participle of the action verb.
The pluperfect is formed with the imperfect form of the auxiliary verb plus the
past participle of the verb showing the action, in that order.
The following are the complete conjugations of one verb conjugated with avere,
another with essere, and one refl exive verb.
parlare to speak
(io) avevo parlato I had spoken
(tu) avevi parlato you (familiar) had spoken
(Lei) aveva parlato you (polite) had spoken
(lui/lei) aveva parlato he/she had spoken
(noi) avevamo parlato we had spoken
(voi) avevate parlato you (familiar plural) had spoken
(Loro) avevano parlato you (polite plural) had spoken
(loro) avevano parlato they had spoken
partire to leave
(io) ero partito/a I had left
(tu) eri partito/a you (familiar) had left
(Lei) era partito/a you (polite) had left
(lui) era partito he had left
(lei) era partita she had left
(noi) eravamo partiti/e we had left
(voi) eravate partiti/e you (familiar plural) had left
(Loro) erano partiti/e you (polite plural) had left
(loro) erano partiti/e they had left
mettersi to put on
(io) mi ero messo/a I had put on
(tu) ti eri messo/a you (familiar) had put on
(Lei) si era messo/a you (polite) had put on
(lui) si era messo he had put on
(lei) si era messa she had put on
(noi) ci eravamo messi/e we had put on
(voi) vi eravate messi/e you (familiar plural) had put on
(Loro) si erano messi/e you (polite plural) had put on
(loro) si erano messi/e they had put on
The pluperfect tense (literally, “more than perfect” or “more than past”) allows
you to express an action that occurred before a simple past action.
Dopo che era arrivata, ha telefonato. After she had arrived, she phoned.
Oral Practice
Practice saying the following sentences out loud.
Che cosa avevi mangiato ieri, What had you eaten yesterday, Mary,
Maria, prima di uscire? before going out?
Non avevo mangiato niente. I had not eaten anything.
A che ora hanno chiuso? At what time did they close?
Avevano già chiuso quando sono They had already closed up when I
arrivato. arrived.
A che ora avete fi nito di studiare? At what time did you fi nish studying?
Avevamo già fi nito di studiare We had already fi nished studying when
quando siete venuti. you came.
Ha fatto delle spese ieri tuo fratello? Did your brother do some shopping
yesterday?
No, aveva già fatto delle speso il No, he had already done some shopping
giorno prima. the day before.
Dove eri andato Marco ieri, quando Where had you gone yesterday, Mark,
ho chiamato? when I called?
Ero già andato in centro. I had already gone downtown.
Dove era tuo fratello quando Where was your brother when I called?
ho chiamato?
Lui era già uscito. He had already gone out.
Siete venuti anche voi alla festa? Did you also come to the party?
Sì, infatti, eravamo venuti prima Yes, in fact, we had come before you.
di te.
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266 Italian Demystifi ed
Lei si è messa un costume per la She wore a costume for the party, right?
festa, vero?
Sì, e si era messa lo stesso costume Yes, and she had put on the same costume
l’anno scorso. last year.
Written Practice 1
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate pluperfect forms of the indicated verbs.
1. Che cosa ieri, Maria, prima di uscire? What had
you done yesterday, Mary, before going out?
già tutto il libro. I had
already studied the whole book.
2. A che ora hanno aperto? At what time did they open up?
già , quando sei
arrivato. They had already opened up when you arrived.
3. A che ora avete cominciato a studiare? At what time did you start
studying?
già a studiare, quando
hai chiamato. We had already started studying when you called.
4. Ha comprato la macchina ieri tuo fratello? Did your brother buy the car
yesterday?
No, già la macchina il
giorno prima. No, he had already bought the car the day before.
5. Dove , Maria, ieri, quando ho chiamato? Where
had you gone yesterday Mary, when I called?
già al cinema. I had
already gone to the movies.
6. Dove era tuo sorella quando ho chiamato? Where was your sister when I
called?
Lei già . She had
already gone out.
7. Siete tornati anche voi alla festa? Did you also go back to the party?
Sì, infatti, prima di te. Yes, in fact, we had come
back before you.