Italian Language Learning Reviews

Score: (not yet rated)/10

Pros:
I haven’t yet acquired a copy to review fully – post your comments below, particularly if you’ve used this book before.

Cons:
As mentioned above, I haven’t yet purchased or found a copy to review. Please write a comment below if you have anything to add.

Soluzioni!: A Practical Guide to Italian Grammar by Denise de Rôme presents all the major topics of Italian grammar in an organized reference book. This guide includes explanations of each grammatical point, along with examples that illustrate each point (including real-life sample sentences from Italian literature & media). Many of the explanations focus on tougher or more intricate topics that help hone students’ grammar skills, making this a recommended resource for intermediate or more advanced learners. The author includes a number of exercises, allowing students to practice each topic.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
covers every major topic of beginner-intermediate Italian grammar; keeps explanations short & relevant; examples are easy to read, understand & correlate to the topics they highlight; typical but relevant exercises in each lesson; chapter theme ties dialogues, examples & vocabulary together; one set of audio CD/cassettes complements the book as you read, while another allows you to listen to lessons without the book; lots of audio exposure allowing you to hear nearly all the Italian in the book read out loud

Cons:
some lengthy vocabulary lists can burden the memory; course spends time on one-off topics (as specific as the present tense of bere) rather than covering top-level linguistic rules; especially on the audio-only set of CDs/tapes, you’ll have to rewind to give yourself time to process some info

With Ultimate Italian: Basic-Intermediate, Living Language offers a book and CD set to potential Italian learners. In 40 lessons, the course tackles Italian grammar, pronunciation, and conversation skills.

The course begins with an Italian pronunciation guide. This guide lists letters, gives an ad hoc English equivalent, and transliterates Italian examples (such as “neutro NEHOO-troh”). I found it fortunate and atypical that this transliteration system stays in the guide and doesn’t clutter the lessons. The CDs/cassettes do a more graceful job of guiding you to pronounce Italian natively.

The bulk of the book is made up of 40 lessons. Each lesson follows a set pattern: dialogo (dialogue), grammatica e suoi usi (grammar and its uses), vocabolario (vocabulary), esercizi (exercises), nota culturale (cultural note), chiave per gli esercizi (key to the exercises). Earlier chapters also include pronuncia (pronunciation) sections after the dialogues to teach you the intricacies of pronouncing Italian.

The dialogues involve roughly a dozen lines of conversational exchange between unknown individuals in expected social situations. Each dialogue appears in Italian first, then is translated into English.

The grammar sections that follow the dialogues tackle potentially difficult topics with short explanations and clear examples. This method supports inductive learners who will easily understand what’s going on and apply that knowledge to other situations. Boxes and tables also highlight key grammar patterns and paradigms. Most of these sections stick to grammar topics: verb tenses, pronoun cases, etc. Sometimes, grammar sections cover more functional topics like telling time or using certain idiomatic expressions.

As the course promises, you will cover a wide range of grammar and language use – including topics like superlatives, double object pronouns and the present & imperfect subjunctive.

After studying grammar, you’ll find a vocabulary list of about a page in length. I rarely recommend studying such lists out of context, but these lists at least repeat words found in the dialogue and grammar examples, which make for good reference.

Exercises are of the unimpressive but practical type. You’ll fill in the blanks, rewrite sentences with small changes, and translate into Italian. Although you’ll find these practice activities short (too short?), there’s often a strong connection between the material discussed in each chapter and the exercises.

Lessons end with a paragraph-long “nota culturale” (cultural note) along with answers to that lesson’s exercises. Cultural notes give typical travel-book-style snippets of info about Italian culture, society, history, regions of Italy. I found those that focus on practical institutions and daily life (like going to the grocery store or caffè) to be more helpful, but all merely scratch the surface.

A few appendixes round out the book’s offerings. The first presents two pages of vocabulary for countries, cities and languages. The second appendix summarizes Italian grammar, focusing on nouns, pronouns and adjectives. The third presents a fairly robust selection of regular and irregular verb charts, along with the auxiliary verbs “essere” and “avere”. The last appendix gives examples of letter writing to help with your formal written Italian.

A typical Italian-English & English-Italian vocabulary glossary ends the book. There’s a short reference index listing mostly grammar topics on the very last page, and, more important, a lengthy, detailed table of contents at the beginning. While not the most thoroughly cross-referenced manual, it helps you find what you’re after.

Living Language’s Ultimate Italian offers a compelling compromise between conversation-driven programs, replete with dialogues, exercises & examples, and a serious study of Italian grammar. The extensive audio accompaniment and reasonable price only serve to sweeten my recommendation.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
plentiful advanced readings in Italian; Italian language used for all instructions & examples; themed by region of Italy for a fuller picture of the country and the Italian language; plenty of exercises & activities related to the texts; can listen to “ascoltiamo!” sections online; grammar appendix does a great job of relating to readings & offering further exercises; uniquely, suggests further Italian internet resources in each chapter; glossary

Cons:
for later intermediate & advanced learners; primarily helps with reading & writing without making this focus clear; intended for classroom use (still mostly useful to individual learners); no index; price

Parola a te! presents itself as a journey through Italy’s multifarious regions in textbook form. At its heart, though, it’s an intermediate/advanced language reader, with reading comprehension selections along with questions and exercises that complement those readings.

In each chapter, you will learn about a different region of Italy. Readings – all in Italian – range from overviews of the society and culture of a region to perspectives on specific cities, people or aspects of Italian life (like cars). The depth of regional Italian culture gives the course a lot to draw from, but expect the readings to sound a bit “standard” (stale?) and newspaper/textbookish.

The interspersed exercises support students well as you read through the book. Some test your reading skills, others listening comprehension, some build vocabulary, and still others give you a sense of Italy’s immense diversity. From instructions to answers, these are all in Italian. Consistent prompts to work “in gruppi” suggest a classroom situation, whereas many of us are learning da solo.

An exceptional grammar appendix, the “appunti grammaticali”, links Italian grammar topics to each chapter, includes verb & pronoun tables, and offers additional exercises to test your understanding of each grammar point.

Unfortunately, you’ll find no index, but the table of contents is detailed enough to help you find specific readings. A short Italian-English vocabulary glossary will help with the readings, but you’re probably working with a good Italian dictionary at this point, right?

To be frank, the best way to learn (and conquer!) advanced Italian is to get out there, read and listen to things on your own. Still, for a structured, themed reading experience with activities and well-organized support, Parola a te! provides a good way to continue your Italian studies.

Score: 9/10

Pros:
fully conjugates 555 verbs; examples of every verb in use; notes whether verb is transitive/intransitive, any spelling changes the verb undergoes & which auxiliary used with each verb; clean, uncluttered, easy-to-read verb tables; intro explains the whole Italian verb system; three very useful verb indices allow you to cross-reference any verb, quickly identify which verbs are irregular & conjugate an additional 2,700 verbs; low price

Cons:
bulk of the information is regular & repetitive if you understand the pattern (true of any verb book like this); no assistance with pronunciation issues, such as verbs with varying open & close “e”/”o” and verb forms with ante-penultimate stress

The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs competes with several other verb conjugation books vying for your attention as an Italian language student. Basically, like Barron’s 501 Italian Verbs or 2000+ Essential Italian Verbs, this hefty reference guide conjugates a number of Italian verbs. But with more fully conjugated verbs than all of the above, and a lengthy introduction on how to use Italian verbs, perhaps it’s worth your consideration.

The introduction includes more than thirty pages explaining the grammar of Italian verbs. That section first explains the basics of conjugation, and then covers all tenses and moods, including instructions and examples for each.

After that, the bulk of the book presents 555 verbs, one verb per page, one page at a time. The verbs are arranged in table-like rows and columns on the page. That organization and the large page size makes the verb tables clean and easy to search through, and keeps the presentation from looking cluttered. Each verb is conjugated in all tenses and moods, of course, with participles, infinitives, transitivity and participial auxiliary (avere or essere) given as well. To top it off, there are examples of each verb used in Italian phrases and sentences.

At the end of the book, there are three good indexes that will help you make the most out of this resource. First, an English to Italian verb index helps you find the Italian equivalent of an English verb, with references to page numbers. Second, an irregular verb index allows you to find which verbs are irregular, and then reference their irregular conjugation in the body of the book. The last index adds a very nice feature: the ability to look up any one of thousands of Italian verbs and find a verb conjugated like it in this book.

The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs builds itself into a great resource for anyone struggling with the toughest part of Italian grammar: Italian verbs. If you can’t juggle your irregular passato remoto with your regular futuro anteriore, this is among the best resources available to store on your shelf. Students looking for pronunciation help will find that the book fails to indicate irregular accent and open versus close “e” and “o”, which can be trouble for some learners – Barron’s Italian Verbs (the little book, not the 501…) helps with that, but without some of the finer additions found in Big Green. All in all, I recommend this book to any beginner or intermediate students who write in Italian or translate into Italian – it will help you get your verbs straight.

Score: 6/10

Pros:
deals with nearly every major grammar topic in beginning-intermediate Italian; engaging, informal, even funny text; explanations can be verbose, but rarely wander or distract – they stay focused; author intersperses Italian words in her explanations to ease transition to your new language; chapters combine grammar topics with everyday themes; extra notes give tips & info; multiple useful appendixes; glossary & index

Cons:
modest number of practice exercises in view of bulk of material presented; no audio CDs, tapes or sound files to help you pronounce the language; no dialogues, readings, or language immersion – focus on snippets of vocabulary and sentences; students looking for a conversation-based methods should consider this only as a supplement; long vocabulary lists without much context strain the memory; pronunciation key (transliteration) is the only pronunciation help you’ll get, and it’s mediocre

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Learning Italian approaches the Italian language with the series’ trademark casual humor, extensive musings & hand-holding, and scattered note boxes with tips and information. In many ways, the book is a standard, themed course in Italian grammar, but done in the Idiot’s style.

The first few chapters give you helpful tips for learning the language, understanding a bit more about Italian and Italy, an intro to the Italian alphabet, and cognates (words in common) between Italian and English. The ad hoc pronunciation key taught with the alphabet accompanies all new vocabulary words in the rest of the lessons. While it’s not too accurate, you will learn to pronounce, say, “abbastanza bene” as ah-bah-stahn-zah beh-neh.

That brings us to chapter five. From here on out, chapters are structured around grammar topics, paired with real-life themes (hence titles like “Using the Modal Verbs at l’Hotel“, “Buon Viaggio: Travel Terms and the Imperative”, and “Made in Italia: Using Object Pronouns and Shopping”).

Sections within chapters introduce concepts in explanatory paragraphs. Tables of vocabulary lists or grammatical forms are mixed with these explanations, and some explanations are highlighted by example sentences. The author peppers her lighthearted explanations with Italian words, which, like the example sentences, are in italics.

Simple exercises follow some sections, often involving filling in blanks with the correct form, although you’ll probably wish the book offered more chances to practice along the way. Answers to the exercises are found in the first appendix.

As well as skimping on the exercises, these lessons contain less in the way of conversational material. Dialogues are nonexistent, vocabulary lists are often presented without much context and with the expectation that you memorize lists of terms. In fact, the only fluent Italian you’ll read that’s relevant to the chapter themes is found in the sample sentences that complement grammar and language explanations.

The consistent use of notes is helpful, although some provide mild distractions when they stray from the topic at hand. Notes clarify or emphasize important language topics, offer further guidance or simply share musings about Italian.

One appendix lists regular and irregular verbs in a slightly crowded but fully-formed table. Another gives four pages of idiomatic expressions in Italian, and even some tongue twisters for fun. A third appendix summarizes non-verb grammar topics in charts, and the fourth lists pages of Italian synonyms.

At the very end, you’ll find a somewhat lengthy English-Italian and Italian-English vocabulary glossary, and a useful index of grammar, language and thematic topics (so you can look up things like verb tenses, idiomatic expressions or banking). The table of contents also fully spells out chapters, sections and subsections with their titles and page numbers. The only thing missing, especially for such a comparatively long Idiot’s Guide, is page numbers next to vocabulary words in the glossary.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Learning Italian certainly has some notable features, and a semi-unique style that characterizes the course. If you’re looking for a way to study Italian grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary, this isn’t a bad way to go. True beginners might find the course demanding at times and soft at others (unevenly paced), overabundant in vocabulary lists, and lacking in practice exercises, pronunciation, and conversation drills. Students more comfortable with more conversation-driven methods should look elsewhere.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
covers all major topics in beginning & intermediate Italian grammar; lots of exercises relate directly to specific grammar topics; the structure of the book, the examples & charts all present information in an organized fashion; regular & irregular verb tables in appendix; organized by part of speech, making it easy for students to reference and work on specific problem areas; rigid outline format makes overall layout straightforward, and the table of contents easy to use; audio CD reads exercises out loud for pronunciation help

Cons:
chapter & section length vary greatly, offer little guidance for pacing yourself through the book; rigid outline will distract certain learners & won’t compensate for varied length & use of explanations; sometimes uneven distribution of exercises; no index of any kind

Interactive Italian Grammar Made Easy provides students who find themselves struggling with Italian grammar just under 200 pages of explanations and exercises. The book covers the whole range of beginner and intermediate Italian, and is organized into chapters by part of speech. If you’re looking for a resource to help you hone your grammatical skills, read on. If you’re brand new to the language, this course isn’t necessarily aimed at you, but it’s clear and approachable enough to warrant consideration.

After a page generally introducing parts of speech, you’ll find seven chapters, each one dedicated to one part of speech. The first (and by far longest) such chapter deals with verbs. The book takes a rigid outline approach to formatting, so you’ll see sections like 3.2 (direct object pronouns), 3.3.2 (the pronoun ne), capital letters A, B, C, etc. to break down larger subsections, and Roman numerals indicating exercises. The length of such sections varies greatly, and the organization, uneven distribution and inconsistent length of explanations, examples, charts and exercises relaxes that sense of rigidity. At the same time, this inconsistency makes it harder to read the book straight through, as if it were a series of well-planned lessons.

Within each sections, explanations are kept brief, comprehensible and relevant. They’re rarely lively, but rarely off-topic. Example words and sentences highlight many explanations of grammar points. A consistent, if typical, use of charts helps flesh out key information visually, and exercises occur within many of the subsections.

Topics and their explanations sometimes cover grammar from a different perspective than is conventional. For instance, the section on present indicative verbs begins with a subsection on io (first person singular) forms – and only io forms – of verbs in the present tense (regular, irregular, reflexives and more), then moves onto tu forms, then onto lui/lei, etc. It’s your call if these differences mark a positive shift in perspective or just stand out as a nuisance.

Plenty of practice exercises give you the chance to apply language functions as you learn. Often, these activities involve translating, filling in blanks or matching. The audio CD included with the book has sound files that read exercises aloud, which goes a little ways to further your ability speak and comprehend Italian. Answers to all exercises are found in the back.

The book ends with an appendix holding charts of regular and irregular verbs and, as mentioned above, answers to the practice activities. Although the table of contents lists all chapters, sections and subsections, there’s no index at the back of the book.

Interactive Italian Grammar Made Easy makes a strong effort to offer students grammar lessons, a workbook and an audio CD all in one course. Students struggling with certain grammar concepts can find solid assistance in this book. Certainly, the drawbacks mentioned above are largely limited to the format and organization, not so much the content. Consider this book recommended for review and further exercises, but not as a primary, routine way to learn all of Italian grammar. Used correctly, this text will be a good resource for beginners and intermediate students.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
300 of the most common Italian verbs fully conjugated; all forms in all tenses & moods listed; indicates irregular stress accent & vowel pronunciation for all verb forms; two examples of each verb in use; great index in both Italian & English, with page numbers & further verbs conjugated like those in the book; inexpensive

Cons:
introduction not as helpful as other Italian verb books; format not as tabular and clean as larger verb books; small font & limited print space make text harder on the eyes

Aside from a short introduction explaining accents, helping verbs and regular verb conjugation, Italian Verbs dedicates itself entirely to verb charts. You’ll find in its pages about 300 regular and irregular Italian verbs, fully conjugated, and with two example sentences containing each verb.

Each page of this small volume deals with a single verb. On the top, verbs are given in bold, along with the gerund and past participle. Below a dividing line, tenses and moods are abbreviated on the left hand side of the page, then verb forms are given on the right, separated by commas. Each tense-mood has two rows, with singular forms on the top and plural on the bottom. The end result looks like this:

Pres. Ind. corrèggo, corrèggi, corrègge;
Pres. Ind. correggiamo, correggete, corrègono

Irregular stress is marked with an accent, and open and close “e” and “o” are differentiated (open è and ò versus close é and ó). These aren’t features of Italian spelling, but help students pronounce verbs correctly.

The book ends with an index of Italian verbs covered in the book, as well as those not covered, but conjugated like the 300 here. There’s also an English-Italian index, allowing you to search for verbs by their meaning. Also, since the body of this guide alphabetizes the verbs, you should be able to locate words rather quickly.

The pocket-sized Barron’s Italian Verbs makes a fine, cheap on-the-go addition to your Italian grammar repertoire. It’s small, with small print and limited space for verb tables, making longer verbs clutter the pages, but lots of verbal information is all packed into this small book. At the very least, this is a better recommendation than 501 Italian Verbs, though not as robust as The Big Green Book of Italian Verbs.

Score: 8/10

Pros:
good pacing& use of old material to build understanding of new; lots of exposure to Italian through dialogues, readings & examples; solid coverage of most all beginner/intermediate Italian grammar; culture notes are relevant, focusing on language in context; well organized, methodical workbook & cassette tapes match the course text; extras include great introduction to Italian pronunciation, easy-to read regular & irregular verb tables; among the clearest and most approachable Italian language lesson books available to new students; very helpful, searchable table of contents & index

Cons:
intended for classroom use, so many readings don’t offer translation help; later instructions only in Italian; no answers to exercises (at least in this student edition); chapter/unit themes are mostly generic, sometimes failing to tie chapters together; modular presentation tough on students who get bogged down in parts; price

Basic Italian is one of those hardcover textbooks you might expect to see students use in an Italian language class. Since this site leans towards self-taught learners, keep in mind that you’re not this book’s intended audience. That said, as far as introductory Italian courses go, this one’s worth your consideration.

Over 400 pages hold thirty lessons covering a range of conversational topics. Each unit, and every section within units, has large-print titles and headers in blue, clear formatting throughout the body of the text, and pictures scattered across the pages to add visual appeal to the topics.

Units begin with dialogues or readings. These fit well with the generic nature of chapter themes. After reading, you’ll find a vocabulary list to study, compiled from words in the dialogues. “Note linguistiche e culturali” shed some light on Italian culture in a way that’s relevant to your language learning.

In each unit, a few pages treating grammar follow the reading/dialogue. Grammar topics are arranged into short, bullet-point-like paragraphs. A couple of sentences explain each point in English; below that are few Italian examples of the feature in use. The outline format reads clearly, but might prove too rigid for certain learners. Still, it’s fundamentally tied to the vocabulary and theme of each unit, giving some sense of a uniting thread.

Then, practice exercises (“esercizi”) put your skills to the test. Questions ask you to fill in blanks, translate, or arrange sentences to make sense. A second practice section, called “Come si dice?”, helps you express ideas in Italian, then apply those expressions to a variety of situations. Every few chapters, you’ll run into a review test, which works a lot like the exercises, as well as a longer prose reading with questions.

One appendix fully conjugates regular verbs, the auxiliary (“helping”) verbs avere & essere, and 50 irregular verbs in nine-column charts. A two way glossary of vocabulary words from the course and a clear index of grammar and conversation topics ends the book. A detailed table of contents, coupled with the index, makes the book a useful at-hand resource even after completion.

The thirteen page pronunciation guide in the introductory lesson is among the most descriptive and thorough I’ve found in any beginner’s Italian course book. Further, every irregularly stressed word in Italian has a small dot under the stressed vowel – and that’s true of all words in the book, from cover to cover.

I can find reasons for self-taught Italian students to choose another course: no answers to exercises, much use of Italian with few full translations, cost compared to cheaper Italian books. Still, if you’re looking to learn Italian with a book-and-audio method that deals with grammar and conversation, consider this highly recommended. If you can keep up with this book, and finish, you will “not only be able to survive in an Italian-speaking environment, but will also be able to understand and appreciate Italian culture and traditions” (from the preface).

Score: 9/10

Pros:
solid way to get immersion-style exposure to the Italian language from native Italian speakers; the conversations are presented in short chunks for you to digest and make associations between words; lots of cues allow you to respond to questions directed at you; plenty of audio practice activities interspersed throughout each lesson; entirely devoted to teaching you how to speak and understand spoken Italian; lessons are really more like long audio exercises, consistently prompting you to think and participate in the language

Cons:
leaves a set amount of time for you to answer questions, which is crucial for the exercises, but those pauses won’t be long enough for some students; you won’t learn to read or write the language; if you’ve already had exposure to beginner Italian, best move up to Italian level II

Over the course of 30 lessons, Pimsleur’s Comprehensive Italian covers a lot of ground – from the meaning of words to the structure and grammar of the language – all in context of everyday Italian conversations. If you’re new to Pimsleur, you’ll notice that the method is entirely audio. I’ll explain what that means for you as a language learner.

Pimsleur provides a highly regarded method that’s somewhat different from the other language guides sitting on bookstore shelves. The biggest difference is the audio-only format of these Italian. The course includes a number of CDs, but no course book to complement them.

Books and writings aren’t something the Pimsleur method lacks, since its main goal is to teach you to speak and understand spoken Italian. Writing, both historically and linguistically, is secondary to spoken language. On those grounds, Pimsleur argues that their auditory course isn’t missing written text – if anything, it’s a more natural way to learn Italian.

The lessons engage Italian students directly. In many ways, they’re like one long audio exercise, and the narrator advises you to finish one each day. Every new lesson presents you with new words and phrases, while building on older ones. The lessons don’t go quickly, but spend time dealing with elements of the language. You’ll be consistently prompted with “How do you say …?” or “How do you ask…?”, instead of simply reading through dialogues and expecting you to follow along.

The speakers on the audio CD take the time to repeat new words and phrases. The speakers even break down tougher words and pronunciation points until you can pronounce words together to form longer sentences. You’ll find many pauses that give you time to repeat along and answer questions. Still, if you need time to think, you’ll have to backtrack by rewinding the CDs or tapes. That need is especially acute if you’re a slower auditory learner, or plan to multitask by listening to the course while driving or exercising.

By the end of Pimsleur Comprehensive Italian I, you’ll listen to longer conversations and participate in more complicated exercise drills. If you would like even more practice, Pimsleur offers you the opportunity to move up to Italian level 2 and level 3 courses.

Pimsleur also cuts these thirty lessons down to the first ten in Basic Italian and the first sixteen in Conversational Italian. Comprehensive Italian (don’t get confused – it’s the one reviewed on this page) allows you to progress more smoothly throughout all thirty lessons, and to build progressively and evenly on earlier material. You’ll tackle a wide range of conversations on dozens of everyday topics. More importantly, you’ll have many hours of exposure to spoken Italian under your belt – a huge head start wherever you plan to go from here.

It’s not easy to find such an immersive Italian course, especially if you’re an auditory learner, and you want to learn to speak Italian. At first, the price might seem too high. But know that this program is among the most effective approaches to speaking Italian available. If you’re looking to read and write the language, you can supplement this course with books about grammar, writing and pronunciation.

Score: 9/10

pros:
loads of usage examples show off modern Italian in context; grammar & explanations are descriptive and register sensitive; clear division between first half of the book, which discusses meaning, and second half, which discusses function; helps make sense of a complicated array of Italian words, phrases & expressions; examples really clarify grammar use; two great cross-referenced indexes make this book readily searchable

cons:
navigating the charts and info isn’t the most intuitive process; best if used by more advanced students; sometimes devolves into mere vocabulary lists

Kinder & Savini’s Using Italian: A Guide to Contemporary Usage noticeably separates itself from the majority of bookstore resources available to language learners. For starters, it’s aimed at late intermediate students, advanced students and teachers of Italian. Second, because it’s focused on use and function, it’s example heavy. In many ways, the book is a reference guide to Italian vocabulary and phrases, framed by explanations of their use, and topicalized based on meaning or function.

I read this book as if it has two parts. The first 200 pages discuss words and their meanings. There you’ll find lists of words including false friends, synonyms, idioms, proverbs, cities & countries, acronyms, names, political organizations, grammatical terms, numbers, weight and time. All lists are tabular, detailed and lengthy. They include Italian words in bold, English translations, and some indication of the function of each word or phrase. Take, for instance, this example from the “synonyms” section on page 128:

POLICEMAN

The list continues to give more general terms, specific terms for types of police, as well as derogatory terms. The R1-R3 allude to registers, which, as the introduction explains, rest on a scale of formal (R3) to familiar (R1) and even vulgar (R1*).

The second part of the book deals with language use as framed by grammar rather than meaning. Chapters and sections tackle topics like “pronouns and verbs”, “impersonal objects”, “noun and adjective” and loads of prepositions in Italian. You’ll read through more explanations in this part, but the authors still focus on sample Italian sentences and phrases.

The explanations in this grammar are descriptive, relating how Italian is used in Italy, and by modern Italians. The book ends with a list of interjections and filler words, and two great indices: an index of every Italian word discussed in the book, and an index of grammar topics.

Sophisticated and advanced language learners will find this Italian grammar refreshingly relevant. Linguists, even those with little knowledge of Italian, also stand to benefit. Using Italian puts so many examples of tricky Italian usage at your fingertips. It’s sound, pertinent, well organized, hard-hitting Italian. Highly recommended if you could use such a resource.