In this lesson you will study the impersonal form with ‘si’, which is more or less the Italian equivalent of the passive form in English.
For example, in English:
In Bologna people eat a lot of meat. (active form)
In Bologna a lot of meat is eaten. (passive form)
The same effect is achieved in Italian using the “impersonal si” and the third person singular or third person plural.
You need to choose singular or plural according to the object of the verb (meat, in my example).
Look at these examples:
Singular
A Bologna la gente mangia molta carne.
A Bologna si mangia molta carne.
“molta carne” – is singular so we use “mangia”
Plural
A Bologna la gente mangia molti gelati.
A Bologna si mangiano molti gelati.
“molti gelati” – is plural so we use “mangiano”
Further examples:
In Italia quando si mangiano gli spaghetti (plural), si usa solo la forchetta (singular).
Dopo i pasti non si beve il cappuccino (singular).
Il salame non si compra (singular).
I vini rossi non si bevono freddi (plural).
A colazione non si mangiano i salumi (plural).
La vera pizza si prepara (singular) con la mozzarella.
La domenica si mangia molto (singular).
Il sabato si dorme a lungo.
Back to Italian lesson on: the impersonal form with ‘si’
