Subjektpronomen

Italian subject pronouns map onto the English ones with two twists: Italian has a separate word for "you" when you talk to several people, and it has a polite "you" for strangers that looks like "she".

Io is written with a small i, unlike English "I", except at the start of a sentence.

Usually you leave the pronoun out

The verb ending already says who is acting: parlo can mean "I speak" and nothing else, parliamo is "we speak". So Italians drop the pronoun most of the time:

• Parlo italiano. - I speak Italian.
• Siamo di Bologna. - We're from Bologna.
• Dove abiti? - Where do you live?

English needs "I", "we", "you" in every sentence, so English speakers tend to say Io parlo... io abito... io lavoro.... It is not wrong, but every io adds stress, and a string of them sounds as if you are insisting on yourself. Keep the pronoun for contrast or emphasis: Io parlo italiano, tu parli inglese. - I speak Italian, you speak English. Paga lui. - He's paying (not me).

Everyday Italian has no subject word for "it" either: Piove. - It's raining. È tardi. - It's late.

Tu, Lei and voi

Tu is for friends, family, children and, these days, most people your own age. Lei is the polite form for an adult you do not know, a shop assistant, a doctor, your landlady. It takes the same verb form as "he/she": Lei parla inglese? - Do you speak English? (literally "does she speak English?"). In letters and formal writing it is often given a capital L to tell it apart from lei "she".

Voi is the plural "you", the Italian "you guys" or "y'all": Voi venite stasera? - Are you (all) coming tonight? Use it whenever you address more than one person, friends or strangers.

A practical rule for a visitor: start with Lei and switch when the other person offers Diamoci del tu! - Let's say tu to each other.