Free Italian grammar exercises: imperativo indiretto (Lei)

Here’s number six in our series of ten new Italian grammar exercises at A2 (pre-intermediate) level.

Today’s topic is the Lei (polite) form of the imperative – that is to say, the form you need when you want to tell someone politely to do something – ‘Come in!’, ‘Take a seat!’ and so on.

It’s complicated a little by the fact that so many Italian verbs are used in the reflexive form (‘Sit yourself down!’).

But if you want to be courteous with officials and rich old ladies, you’ll need to get the hang of it.

Or, like me, you could just guess at the grammar, knowing that you’ll be forgiven because you’ve a foreign accent and a winning smile…

To try today’s exercises on imperativo indiretto (Lei), click here.

See other exercises at this level here.

Find free Italian exercises at other levels, here.

P.S.

Gentlemen of a certain age will remember when barbers used to ask customers who were about to pay, ‘Something for the weekend, Sir?’, indicating the rack on the counter displaying packets of contraceptives.

And indeed, for many of us, weekends are the highlight of the week!

They are, for example, an excellent time to catch up with your Italian studies.

Don’t waste those precious hours getting dressed up and heading for the disco, or whatever the modern equivalent may be.

Instead, download a couple of ‘Italian easy reader’ audio/ebooks from our shop, and make some real progress with your Italian.

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