Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses in Italian - Exercises

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Ben è (pause with a tap of the finger) a usare il computer.

bravo

Ben è bravo a usare il computer.

"Ben is good at using the computer."

We use bravo in this sentence because Ben is a singular masculine subject. In Italian, the adjective bravo must agree with the gender and number of the subject. Since Ben is one male, we use the masculine singular form bravo.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Le mie amiche non sono (pause with a tap of the finger) a cantare.

brave

Le mie amiche non sono brave a cantare.

"My friends are not good at singing."

We use brave in this sentence because le mie amiche refers to a group of female friends. In Italian, adjectives like bravo change to match both gender and number. For a group of females, we use the feminine plural form brave.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence.

Imagine a group of male and female friends. Ready?

Siamo (pause with a tap of the finger) a suonare la chitarra.

bravi

Siamo bravi a suonare la chitarra.

"We are good at playing the guitar."

We use bravi in this sentence because the verb siamo, from essere, "to be," shows that the subject is noi ("we"). This means the speaker is talking about themselves together with at least one other person. For a mixed group of men and women, we use the masculine plural form bravi.

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

Mio

Mio padre

Mio padre è

Mio padre è bravo

Mio padre è bravo a

Mio padre è bravo a guidare.

"My father is good at driving."

Mio padre è bravo a guidare.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Luca non è (brave or bravo) a ballare.

bravo

Luca non è bravo a ballare.

"Luca is not good at dancing."

Bravo is used here because Luca is a singular masculine subject.

Brave doesn't work because it is the feminine plural form, used for groups of women.

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Le ragazze sono (brave or bravi) a disegnare.

brave

Le ragazze sono brave a disegnare.

"The girls are good at drawing."

Brave is used here because le ragazze refers to a group of girls.

Bravi doesn't work because it's the masculine plural form, used for groups of men or mixed-gender groups.

Let's translate some sentences into Italian.

Translate "I'm good at making desserts." into Italian.

Consider the case of a masculine singular speaker.

Sono, the present tense of essere for io, meaning "am,"

followed by

bravo, the masculine singular adjective meaning "good/skilled," agreeing with the masculine speaker,

a, a preposition meaning "at" or "to,"

followed by

fare, the infinitive verb meaning "to make,"

i dolci, meaning "desserts."

Bravo is used here because the speaker is a man, so we choose the masculine singular form of the adjective. Italians often drop the subject pronoun io. You can also simply say Sono bravo a fare i dolci, which is the more natural everyday form.

Sono bravo a fare i dolci.

"I'm good at making desserts."

Translate "You are good at telling stories." into Italian.

Imagine a feminine singular speaker.

Sei, the present tense of essere for tu, meaning "are,"

followed by

brava, the feminine singular adjective meaning "good/skilled," agreeing with a female subject,

a, a preposition meaning "at" or "to,"

followed by

raccontare, the infinitive verb meaning "to tell,"

storie, meaning "stories."

Brava is used here because we are talking to a woman, so the adjective needs to be feminine singular.

Sei brava a raccontare storie.

"You are good at telling stories."

Translate "My cousins are not good at cooking." into Italian.

Now, let's consider how this works for plural speakers, both male and female.

I miei cugini, the subject, meaning "my cousins," masculine plural,

followed by

non sono, the negation non and the present tense of essere for loro, meaning "are not,"

bravi, the masculine plural adjective meaning "good/skilled," matching cugini,

followed by

a, a preposition meaning "at" or "to,"

cucinare, the infinitive verb meaning "to cook."

Bravi is used here because i miei cugini is a masculine plural subject. Since the sentence is negative, we also include non before sono.

I miei cugini non sono bravi a cucinare.

"My cousins are not good at cooking."

Listen to me as I speak. Which conjugation of bravo is used in the sentences?

Ben è bravo a usare il computer.

Let's listen one more time.

Ben è bravo a usare il computer.

Did you hear, bravo? Bravo, meaning "good/skilled," matches a singular male subject.

How about...?

Siamo bravi a suonare la chitarra.

Let's listen one more time.

Siamo bravi a suonare la chitarra.

Did you hear, bravi? Bravi agrees with a mixed or all-male group.

Next…

Le ragazze sono brave a disegnare.

One more time.

Le ragazze sono brave a disegnare.

Did you hear, brave? Brave agrees with a feminine plural subject.

And...

Sei brava a raccontare storie.

One more time.

Sei brava a raccontare storie.

Did you hear, brava? Brava matches a singular female subject.

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to say whether someone is good or not good at doing something in Italian.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

A presto!

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