“Who’s that at the door?”
“That’ll be Daniel. He said he’d pop by with some material on future tenses…”
Today’s free Italian grammar lesson is on the Italian future simple form.
Click here to go straight to it, or bear with me for a ‘teachery’ moment of explanation.
The problem with learning (or teaching) a new tense is that people seem to think that they have to use the new form, even when it might not be appropriate.
That, often mistaken, impression can be aggravated by grammar labels like ‘future’.
By which I mean that while, until now, you may have got along just fine saying ‘Tomorrow I go’, once you’ve learned ‘Tomorrow I will go’ you’ll likely insist on using it.
Go have fun with your shiny new tense. But remember these two things:
1. Often you don’t need the future tense at all, the present will do just fine (this is true in English too.)
2. Sometimes the future tense is exactly what you need, but you’ll use it to refer to a present event rather than a future one, as in my example above. The effect is ‘I know this but I don’t actually see it.’
Here’s another example:
“I haven’t seen you for decades! How are your little ones? But they‘ll be all grown up by now… They’ll have families of their own, I expect.”
But in any case, as with most Italian tenses, the main problem is not the meaning but conjugating the verbs correctly.
Today’s lesson covers that in some detail.
There’s an explanation of the grammar, some listening practice, and lots of lovely conjugation exercises!
Here’s the link to the new lesson, and to the homepage where you’ll find earlier ones in the series:
News!
Here’s something you won’t have already heard: on Monday we’ll be publishing a new easy reader, ‘Un’indagine molto privata’ (A Very Private Investigation’).
It’s the story of a woman who suspects her partner might be having an affair and who therefore decides to investigate.
The level is intermediate (+), so quite challenging. Yesterday I did the final proof-reading and listened to the audio all the way through.
And though I say it myself (but shouldn’t), I confess that I was very pleased with it!
It’s by the same writers, Emanuele and Michela, who also did Cena con delitto (A1/2), L’amore ai tempi del supermercato (A2), Un viaggio nel tempo (A2/B1), La casa dei fantasmi (B1/2), and the recent Segreti e polpette (B1/2).
They just get better and better, so watch out for the free sample chapter and special launch offer on Monday.
P.S.
And finally a reminder that our current discount code easter monday 20% flash offer is valid for just a few more days.
Our regular students know what a great saving is on offer, and so have been stocking up on online Italian lessons and e-books.
We’ve had some new faces too, which is great – welcome!
Use the discount code above to save 20% on anything in our online shop:
- take online lessons with a pro Italian teacher
- get e-books for learning Italian
- improve your reading/listening with our easy Italian readers.
But remember, the coupon code expires on Monday. The next offer won’t be until the summer, so make the most of it while it lasts!
Copy and paste easter monday 20% flash offer in the box in your shopping cart.
Use the discount code as often as you wish until Monday.
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