LANGUAGE
From written signs to everyday conversation.
Mandarin Chinese / Taiwan
Bopomofo / Zhuyin
注音符號A set of phonetic symbols used to show Mandarin pronunciation. Syllables are assembled from an initial, a medial or final, and a tone.
The first version was created in 1913 and released in 1918. It remains a practical reading, dictionary, and keyboard tool in Taiwan.
- SYMBOLS
- 37
- TONES
- 5
- ALSO CALLED
- Zhuyin / Zhuyin Fuhao
Initials
21Medials
3Finals
13Tones
5ITALIAN / FOUNDATIONS
Italiano
Start with the words you need.
Build your own sentences.
The words for everyday life.
Find a situation, read the phrase, or show the native text. Learn common replies as well as questions.
Pronunciation & how to use these phrases
Start with the writing charts, then listen to complete words. Device speech depends on installed voices and may use a different regional accent. Spelling and sound do not match one-to-one.
An ordinary caffè is typically an espresso. Specify another drink if that is what you want. Ask whether the posted price applies at the counter or at a table. Learning path: recognise words and phrases → build simple sentences → practise questions and replies → expand tense and connected speech → read and discuss longer texts. These foundation lessons are available now; later stages will grow with the collection.
24 phrases
Basics
Communication
Bathrooms
Food & ordering
Shops & payment
Taxi & transport
Airport
Help
Listen for
Reply
Hotels
ITALIAN / GRAMMAR REFERENCE
8 chaptersForms, rules & structure
Standard Italian; subject pronouns are often omitted and spoken regional usage varies.
Grammar terminology
- Noun
- A word used to name or classify an entity: person, place, object, substance, idea.
- Adjective
- A word that describes a property; its form and position depend on the language.
- Pronoun
- A form used to refer to a participant or entity without repeating a full noun phrase.
- Determiner
- A word such as an article, demonstrative or possessive that helps specify a noun phrase.
- Verb
- A word heading a predicate, often describing an action, event or state.
- Conjugation
- A pattern of verb forms expressing grammatical distinctions such as person, tense or mood.
- Declension
- A pattern of noun, pronoun or adjective forms, often marking case, number and gender.
- Case
- A distinction marking a noun phrase’s grammatical role or its relationship to a governing word.
- Gender
- A grammatical classification of nouns; it need not match sex or have a transparent meaning.
- Agreement
- A form changes to match features of another expression, such as person, number, gender or case.
- Tense
- A grammatical way of locating a situation relative to a time of reference.
- Aspect
- How a situation is viewed: for example ongoing, habitual, completed or prior to a reference point.
- Mood
- A grammatical distinction associated with assertion, possibility, commands, wishes or other clause functions.
- Finite form
- A verb form that can serve as a clause’s main inflected verb, contrasting with infinitives and participles. The precise criteria vary by language.
- Participle
- A verb-derived form used in constructions such as modifiers, compound tenses or passives; its roles vary by language.
- Infinitive
- A nonfinite verb form in languages that have one; it is not automatically equivalent to English “to + verb”.
- Subject / object
- Grammatical relations in a clause, not universal synonyms for “doer” and “receiver”.
- Clitic
- A short grammatical form that depends phonologically on a neighboring word.
- Transitive
- Describes a verb construction that takes a direct object.
- Register
- A variety of expression associated with context, relationship or level of formality.
Nouns, gender & article forms
- Nouns are masculine or feminine. Common patterns are -o → -i, -a → -e and -e → -i; learn gender with every noun.
- Article choice also depends on the next sound. Masculine lo/uno appears before s + consonant, z and certain other initial clusters; l’ occurs before vowels.
| Noun type | Singular definite | Plural definite | Indefinite |
|---|---|---|---|
| ordinary masculine | il libro | i libri | un libro |
| special initial | lo studente | gli studenti | uno studente |
| masculine vowel | l’amico | gli amici | un amico |
| feminine consonant | la casa | le case | una casa |
| feminine vowel | l’amica | le amiche | un’amica |
Worked examples
Gli studenti leggono i libri.
The students read the books.
How it works: Studente selects lo/gli; libro selects il/i.
Requests
Posso + infinitive asks permission.
Posso pagare con la carta?Can I pay by card?
Read the model, complete the gap, then change one word and explain what changes.
Try it yourself
1 / 1 · 0 correctComplete the model using the rule.
Posso ___ con la carta?
All words · vocabulary quiz
1 / 20 · 0 correctChoose the English meaning.
acqua
acquawater
acquawater
cibofood
cibofood
lattemilk
lattemilk
panebread
panebread
caffècoffee
caffècoffee
tètea
tètea
risorice
risorice
bagnobathroom
bagnobathroom
aeroportoairport
aeroportoairport
stazionestation
stazionestation
bigliettoticket
bigliettoticket
uscitaexit
uscitaexit
sinistraleft
sinistraleft
destraright
destraright
oggitoday
oggitoday
domanitomorrow
domanitomorrow
unoone
unoone
duetwo
duetwo
trethree
trethree
aiutohelp
aiutohelp
Between the words
Mi scusi and può use polite Lei forms. Ciao is informal; buongiorno is a safer opening with an unfamiliar adult.
Buongiorno.
Polite distanceMi scusi and può use polite Lei forms. Ciao is informal; buongiorno is a safer opening with an unfamiliar adult.
Buongiorno.
An ordinary caffè is typically an espresso. Specify another drink if that is what you want. Ask whether the posted price applies at the counter or at a table.
Read the situation
1 / 1 · 0 correctRecall the opening greeting from this collection.
Practice scores last for this visit.Italian audio is unavailable on this device. All exercises work without audio.