Learn the key pattern to talk about your nationality
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| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ms. Erba asks, |
| "Are you Italian?" |
| Sei italiana? |
| First is sei, "[you] are." Sei. Sei. |
| Note: sei is a shortened form of tu sei, "you are." In Italian, tu, "you," can be omitted when it is understood from context. |
| Sei is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere. |
| After this is italiana, "Italian." Italiana. Italiana. |
| Note: italiana is feminine. |
| Ms. Erba uses a feminine adjective, italiana, to refer to Ms. Palmieri. |
| If Ms. Erba was referring to a male, she would use the masculine adjective, italiano, to refer to him. As in Sei italiano? "Are you Italian?" Sei italiano? |
| All together, Sei italiana?, "Are you Italian?" |
| Sei italiana? |
| Let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Patrizia Palmieri says, |
| "Yes, I'm Italian." |
| Sì, sono italiana. |
| This starts with the expression, sì, meaning "yes." Sì. Sì. |
| It answers Ms.Erba's yes-or-no question, "Are you Italian?" |
| Sei italiana? |
| Next is sono. "[I] am." Sono. Sono. |
| Note: in this sentence, sono is a shortened form of io sono, "I am." In Italian, io, "I," is usually omitted, as it's understood from context. |
| Sono is from the verb essere, meaning "to be." Essere. |
| After this is italiana, "Italian." Italiana. |
| All together, Sì, sono italiana. "Yes, I'm Italian." |
| Sì, sono italiana. |
| The pattern is |
| Sono NATIONALITY. |
| I'm NATIONALITY. |
| Sono NATIONALITY. |
| Simply replace the {nationality} placeholder with your nationality. |
| Note: the placeholder is an adjective, and its gender will depend on the speaker — in this case you. |
| Imagine you're Ms. Erba, and you're American. The word for an "American" woman is americana. Americana. Americana. |
| Say |
| "I'm American." |
| Ready? |
| Sono americana. |
| "I'm American." |
| Sono americana. |
| In the conversation, the response to the yes-no question was "yes." |
| In case the answer was "no," the corresponding Italian response would be no, meaning, "no." |
| No. No. |
| For example, if Ms. Palmieri was asked |
| Sei americana? |
| "Are you American?" |
| She could have answered |
| No, sono italiana. |
| "No, I'm Italian." |
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