The 103 Most Common Words in Italian

It would be nice if we can learn Italian the way computers can learn any language on earth.

Unfortunately for us plain humans, picking up a language still takes a little elbow grease.

But what many people don’t realize is that you can quickly begin using any language—Italian included.

Below are 103 of the most common words in Italian that will allow you to build simple yet common sentences and begin communicating immediately.

They cover all the basic parts of a sentence, allowing you to get across thousands of different ideas. Plus, they come with simple sample sentences to help you practice.

Let’s get started!

Contents

• Italian Articles
• Common Italian Nouns
• Common Italian Pronouns
• • Italian Personal Pronouns
  • Italian Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives
• Common Italian Verbs
• Common Italian Adjectives
• Common Italian Adverbs
• And One More Thing...

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Italian Articles

Perhaps the most commonly used words are also the shortest and most unassuming. Articles in Italian are paired with nouns and match the nouns in gender and number.

For example, because  bagno (bathroom) is masculine, it takes the masculine articles il (the) and  un (a). Masculine nouns often end with the letter “o.”

Feminine nouns, such as  camicia (shirt), take the feminine  la (the) and  una (a). Feminine words most often end with the letter “a.”

Some words end in neither “o” nor “a,” so their gender must be memorized (such as caffè , which is masculine).

Generally, the article for a noun, as well as how the noun ends, changes when it becomes plural. Masculine nouns that start with a consonant other than “s” or “z” take  i for “the.” Feminine nouns use le . Masculine plural nouns often end in i, while plural feminine nouns end with e.

Here are all the Italian articles:

We’ve skipped the examples for these because there will be plenty as we move on with our list of common Italian words.

Master tip #1: Why are there a few versions for the masculine singular and plural articles? It depends on what letter the next word begins with.

It’s a good idea to become familiar with Italian articles and their oddities as soon as possible, because you’ll be seeing them a lot in your studies!

Common Italian Nouns

A noun is a word that refers a person, place, thing or idea. They can help you talk about an ever-growing collection of topics.

Here are examples of masculine and feminine nouns. Note how the articles are used in the example sentences for each type of noun.

Master tip #2: You can always add to this list of nouns or double-check the articles used with them by consulting an online English-Italian dictionary, such as LexiLogos.

Common Italian Pronouns

There are a number of different kinds of pronouns, but a good place to start is by learning the personal ones.

Italian Personal Pronouns

These pronouns are used to replace nouns and names. They allow you to make simple statements about yourself and other people without being repetitive.

Master tip #3: Need some help remembering these? Pair your learning with a language learning app like FluentU.

On FluentU, you can hear all these words (and many more) used by native Italian speakers, so you can get a good sense of how and when each word is used.

Plus, you can save any word to your vocabulary list for later review through fill-in-the-blank quizzes and video-enhanced flashcards.

It’s a natural (and fun!) way to learn new Italian words!

In addition, FluentU Italian has a YouTube channel. It will teach you Italian from scratch in an immersive way. You’ll get clips from movies transformed into language lessons, grammar tips and vocabulary lists, among other interesting stuff.

One example is the following video, catered to complete beginners who are just starting their Italian language adventure:

Italian Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

Possessive pronouns and adjectives let you talk about ownership (my/mine, your/yours, etc.). The basic difference between a possessive pronoun and a possessive adjective is whether there’s a noun following it.

For example, this sentence shows a possessive adjective because the word  mio is modifying the word caffè :

Il mio caffè è caldo. — My coffee is hot.

This sentence, on the other hand, shows a possessive pronoun because mio replaces the word caffè, which is now only implied:

Il mio è caldo. — Mine is hot.

As you’ve probably already noticed from the examples above, the definite article (aka “the”) is required to form the possessive: il, la, i or le. The noun that follows or is being replaced determines which article to use, and the form the possessive pronoun or adjective takes.

All possessives must agree in number as well as gender. For example, if you’re talking about your bathroom, you might say: il mio bagno , but if you’re describing both bathrooms in your house, it would be i miei bagni .

One final plot twist: one of the few exceptions in which an article isn’t needed with possessives is nouns of family members. Hence, it’s Tuo padre è basso (Your father is short) instead of Il tuo padre è basso. 

Learning the following words will help you reference ownership and expand the complexity of your sentences quite a bit!

Master tip #4: Once you master these, you can move on to other types of Italian pronouns. From there, there’s a whole world to be discovered, from subject pronouns to direct object pronouns and beyond!

Correctly using pronouns in any language can really help you sound more natural, so it’s worth spending some time mastering them.

Common Italian Verbs

Of all the Italian verbs below, you’ll want to pay close attention to  essere (to be) in particular. As you might have noticed from the example sentences in this post, this little word can take you a long way!

Master tip #5: Note that the above conjugations are in the present tense. You can learn more about each of these verbs here and how to conjugate them here.

Common Italian Adjectives

Adjectives describe whatever you’re talking about and are an easy way to further bump up the complexity of your sentences.

Keep in mind that, like possessive pronouns, adjectives must also agree in number and gender. For example:  Il bambino è alto (The child is tall) vs.  I bambini sono alti (The children are tall).

Also remember that, unlike in English, an Italian adjective often follows the noun it’s describing instead of preceding it. For example:  Il bambino alto è felice (The tall child is happy).

Master tip #6: Find a language exchange buddy to practice conjugating Italian adjectives. You can use sites such as italki to find a partner to practice common Italian phrases you use when traveling, for example.

Knowing someone else who’s learning the language (or is a native Italian speaker learning your native language) is a great way to stay motivated, while making new friends at the same time.

Common Italian Adverbs

Whereas adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, adverbs describe everything else—verbs, adjectives and even other adverbs!

For example, when turning an Italian adjective into an adverb, you do one of two things. If the feminine form of the adjective ends in -o, change it to the suffix -mente. If the adjective ends in -e, you only need to add -mente without changing the spelling.

Here are other common Italian adverbs according to their respective categories:

Master tip #7: To practice and master Italian adverbs, quiz yourself on websites like Online Italian Club and One World Italiano. These will test your ability to conjugate into the right form and use them in the appropriate context, respectively.

While there are no shortcuts to becoming fluent in a language, don’t make the mistake of waiting until you’ve memorized 1,000 words. Instead, fast track your progress and become an Italian speaker in just a few days by learning—and using—these 103 most common words in Italian.

These basics are the building blocks to a lifetime of conversation!

And One More Thing...

If you're as busy as most of us, you don't always have time for lengthy language lessons. The solution? FluentU!

Learn Italian with funny commericals, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU helps you get comfortable with everyday Italian by combining all the benefits of complete immersion and native-level conversations with interactive subtitles. Tap on any word to instantly see an image, in-context definition, example sentences and other videos in which the word is used.

Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and review words and phrases with convenient audio clips under Vocab.

Once you've watched a video, you can use FluentU's quizzes to actively practice all the vocabulary in that video. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

FluentU will even keep track of all the Italian words you’re learning, and give you extra practice with difficult words. Plus, it'll tell you exactly when it's time for review. Now that's a 100% personalized experience!

The best part? You can try FluentU for free with a trial.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)