In quanto che, per il fatto che, dal momento che, (since)

poichè, giacchè, siccome, ora che (now that)

Non esco perchè sono stanco. (I'm not going out because I'm tired.)

Dal momento che il tempo era così brutto, decidemmo di non uscire. (Since the weather was so bad, we decided not to go out.)

Ora che il progetto è completato, posso prendermi due giorni di vacanza. (Now that

the project is completed, I can take a few days off.)

Come arriva lâinverno, passiamo meno tempo fuori. (As it is winter now, we spend less time outside.)

Fintanto che sei libero, puoi portare la lettera allâufficio postale per me? (As long as you are free, can you take the letter to the post office for me?)

Eâ così sensibile che ogni piccola cosa lo disturba. (He is so emotional that every little thing upsets him.)

Aveva passato la settimana scorsa allâospedale, ragion per cui era piuttosto debole quando tornò a casa. (He spent the last week in the hospital, so he was quite weak when he came back home.)

If the subject of the main clause coincides with the subject in the adverbial clause, adverbial clauses of causes and effect can also be expressed by a present or past gerund or past participle:

Avendo finito di studiare, il ragazzo potè finalmente uscire. (Since he had completed his homework, the boy could finally go out.)

Conditional clauses:

Statements with real conditions express different kinds of conditional meanings.

Possibility:

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Se piove, cosa faremo? (If it rains, what will we do?)

Se hai bisogno di qualcosa, fammelo sapere. (If you need anything, please let me know.)

I lavoratori in sciopero torneranno al lavoro, se raggiungeranno l'accordo con l'amministrazione. (The strikers will go back to work if they reach the agreement with the administration.)

Supposition:

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Se sarai nominato, ti opporrai alle sue misure? (If you are elected, will you oppose his measures?)

Note that in Italian if the action will take place in the future (the main clause verb is in the future), the verb in adverbial clause is also in the future.

Se farà bel tempo andremo al picnic. (If the weather is nice, we will go on a picnic.)

Se domani avrà abbastanza tempo, mi chiamerà. (If she has enough time tomorrow, she will call me.)

Comparative clauses:

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Adverbial clauses of comparison are usually introduced by comparative words, such as:

come (as)

piuttosto che (rather than)

che (than)

di quanto (than)

una volta che (once)

fintanto che (as long as)

allorquando (when)

L'esame è stato difficile proprio come prevedevo. (The test was as hard as I thought it would be.)

Finì molto più presto di quando avevamo calcolato. (It ended much sooner than we planned.)

La nuova macchina non è tanto più efficiente di quanto lo sia quella vecchia. (The new machine is not more efficient than the old one.)

Comparative clauses can also be expressed in Italian with piuttosto di plus infinitive:

Piuttosto di stirare tutta quella biancheria , laverei i piatti tutto il giorno. (Rather than iron all that linen, I would wash dishes all day long.)

Punctuation differences:

In almost all cases, Italian punctuation is the same as punctuation in English. Following are some exceptions:

Periods in abbreviations :

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Often the period is in the middle of an abbreviation

Sig. Signor (Mr.)

Sig.ra Signora (Mrs.)

Sig.na Signorina (Miss)

Egr. Egregio (distinguished)

C.V. curriculum vitae (resume)

Spett.le Spettabile (respectable)

All. allegato (enclosures)

v. vedi (see)

Since the dawn of the internet, the English word "dot" has entered Italian with the meanings:

period, decimal point, and "dot" (as in "netscape.com" = netscape dot com).

Comma in expressions of time:

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In Italian, expressions of time are written with a comma instead of a colon:

8,30 di mattina 8:30 a.m.

10, 45 di sera 10:45 p.m.

11,15 di notte 11:15 p.m.

Quotation marks (le virgolette):

enclose the direct quotation, that is the repetition of someone's exact words. Frequently in Italian they appear in this manner: << >>

L'avvocato disse: <<Lei è disoccupato?>> (The lawyer said: "You are unemployed?")

Prefixes and suffixes:

Common Prefixes

Top of Pageante (before) antefatto (antecedents)

con (with) condividere (to divide between)

contra (against) contrattacco (counterattack)

de/di (from) deviare (to deviate)

in (in, as a negative) inesperto (inexpert)

in (in, used in forming verbs) infiammare (to inflame)

pre (before) preavviso (forewarning)

trans/tras (across) Transatlantico (transatlantic)

Latin prefixes

a/ab from/out of abrogazione (abrogation)

bi/bis (twice) bisnonno (great-grandfather)

inter (between) interporre (to interpose)

pos (after) posdomani (the day after tomorrow)

pro (forward) proporre (to put forward)

per (through/for/because of) perlustrare (to reconnoiter)

re/re (again) reazione (reaction)

semi (half) semicerchio (semicircle)

e/ex (out) eccetto (except)

Greek Prefixes

anti (against) anticomunista (anti communist)

peri (around) periscopio (periscope)

sin (with) sincronico (synchronous)

common suffixes (Many from Latin)

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-tore -man pescatore (fisherman)

-ia -y gloria (glory)

-ibile -ible incredibile (incredible)

-ismo -ism feminismo (feminism)

-ista -ist socialista (socialist)

-ice -ess actrice (actress)

-ore -or venditore (vendor)

-orio -ory migratorio (migratory)

x-oso -ous geloso (jealous)

Numbers:

Cardinal Numbers:

Top of Page0 zero 10 dieci 20 venti

1 uno/una 11 undici 21 ventuno 10 dieci 100 cento 1.000 mile

2 due 12 dodici 22 ventidue 20 venti 200 duocento 2.000 duemila

3 tre 13 tredici 23 ventitre 30 trenta 300 trecento 3.000 tremila

4 quatro 14 quattordici 24 ventiquatro 40 quaranta 400 quatrocento 4.000 quatromila

5 cinque 15 quindici 25 venticinque 50 cinquanta 500 cinquecento 5.000 cinquemila

6 sei 16 sedici 26 ventisei 60 sessanta 600 seicento 6.000 seimila

7 sette 17 dicasette 27 ventisette 70 settanta 700 settecento 7.000 settemila

8 otto 18 dicotto 28 ventotto 80 ottanta 800 ottocento 8.000 ottomila

9 nove 19 diciannove 29 ventinove 90 novanta 900 novacento 9.000 novemila

10 dieci 20 venti 30 trenta 100 cento 1.000 mile 10.000 diecimila

101 cent(o)uno 1.100 millecento 11.000 undici mila

Cardinal numbers are used in Italian to count, to indicate quantities, and for giving all dates except the first of every month (which is always "il primo".)

Milione, miliardo, bilione, trilione, etc.

are nouns in italian and must be preceded by the indefinite article un or any other number and must be fillowed by the preposition di when used before another noun:

$1.000.000 = un milione di dollari

$2.ooo.ooo = Due milione di dollari

IL1.000.000.000 = un miliardo di lire (Equivalent to the U.S. billion)

IL2.ooo.ooo.ooo = due miliardi di lire (note that miliardi is plural)

Bilione, trilione, etc. are ambiguous:

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Bilione, for example, now most often means 1,000,000,000 (one thousand million, the same as miliardo and the U.S. billion) although it still sometimes means 1,000,000,000,000 (one thousand thousand million).

Trilione now usually means 1,000,000,000,000 (one thousand thousand million, the same as the U.S. trillion) although it still sometimes means 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 (one thousand thousand thousand thousand million. If your talking about large amounts of money, especially your own money, it is best to show the amount you mean in written figures.