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Guía · Unidad 2 · A1
First Words
Articles, greetings, numbers and adjectives
- 1
Il, lo, la: articles and gender
Every noun is masculine or feminine — and the article also depends on the first letter of the next word.
Abrir lección- Nouns in -o are mostly masculine, in -a mostly feminine; learn -e nouns with their article.
- “The”: il / lo / l' (m), la / l' (f); plural i / gli (m), le (f).
- Lo, gli, uno before s + consonant, z, gn, ps: lo studente, gli zaini.
- Before a vowel: l'amico, gli amici, un amico — but un'amica, with an apostrophe.
- Plurals change the last vowel: -o → -i, -a → -e, -e → -i.
- 2
Bello, grande, felice: describing things
Adjectives that agree with their noun, where they go in the sentence, and how to say “very”.
Abrir lección- Adjectives agree: -o types have four forms (piccolo, piccola, piccoli, piccole).
- -e types have two (grande, grandi) — same for masculine and feminine.
- Most adjectives follow the noun: una casa bianca. Some short ones can go before: una bella casa.
- A mixed group takes the masculine plural: Marcos e Luana sono simpatici.
- Molto + adjective, or the ending -issimo, means very: molto bella, bellissima.
- 3
Da uno a venti: numbers
Count from 1 to 20, ask how many and how much — and hear why double consonants matter.
Abrir lección- 1–10: uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci.
- 11–16 end in -dici; 17–19 start with dici-; 20 is venti.
- Quanti / quante? — how many? It agrees with the noun.
- Quanto costa? / Quanto costano? — euro never changes: dieci euro.
- Double consonants are held longer: nonno ≠ nono.
- 4
La cena di benvenuto: courtesy
Please, thank you, sorry and goodbye — the polite phrases that carry you through an evening with friends.
Abrir lección- Per favore to ask, grazie to thank, prego to answer grazie (and much more).
- Scusa to a friend, Scusi with Lei; mi dispiace for a real apology.
- Goodbyes: ciao, arrivederci, a presto, a domani, buona serata.
- Buonanotte only at bedtime — in the evening, it's buonasera.
- Benvenuto / benvenuta / benvenuti / benvenute agrees with who you welcome.