My Studies

Talking about your subjects in Italian

This topic asks you to say which subjects you study and what you think of them. The words are the easy half, and several of them will look familiar. The half that costs marks is the opinion, because in Italian the verb for liking agrees with the THING you like rather than with you. Get that right and a simple sentence about history reads as accurate Italian rather than as English with Italian words in it.

Six subjects in Italian

Six subjects from the list this specification uses. They are written here without the word for the, which changes in front of some of them.

Match the subject

Which one is science?

Which Italian word means science?

• scienza
• chimica
• informatica
• materia

One subject or several

Here is the thing that separates an accurate sentence from a nearly-right one. The verb changes depending on how many things you like, not on how many people are doing the liking.

Four more subjects

Pick the correct sentences

Select the TWO sentences where the verb agrees correctly with the subject being liked.

• Mi piace la geografia
• Mi piacciono le lingue straniere
• Mi piacciono la matematica
• Mi piace le lingue straniere

The agreement that catches everyone

In English you are the one doing the liking, so the sentence never changes shape. Italian works the other way round: the subject of the verb is the thing being liked. That is why one subject takes mi piace and more than one takes mi piacciono. In this topic only one word on your list is plural, lingue straniere, so it is the one to watch. If you can say why the verb changed, rather than just remembering that it did, you will get it right under pressure.

Subjects and opinions in Italian

To say that you like history, you write mi _____ la storia. To say that you like foreign languages, the verb changes and you write mi _____ le lingue straniere. The word for a school subject in general is _____. The verb meaning to study is _____. To join a reason onto your opinion, use _____.

Build the opinion

Put these four pieces in order to build the sentence Mi piace la storia perché è interessante, which means I like history because it is interesting.

• Mi piace
• la storia
• perché
• è interessante

Piace or piacciono?

You want to say that you like foreign languages. Which form of the verb do you need, and why?

• Piacciono, because lingue straniere is plural and the verb agrees with it
• Piace, because there is only one person doing the liking in the sentence
• Either form, because both are understood and the meaning does not change
• Piace, because languages are studied together as a single school subject

An opinion, marked

Question: write two or three sentences in Italian about the subjects you study. Model answer: Studio la storia e la geografia. Mi piace la storia perché è interessante. Mi piacciono le lingue straniere. Non mi piace la chimica. Look at what earns the marks. Two different subjects are named, so the vocabulary is being shown rather than repeated. The verb is singular for storia and plural for lingue straniere, which is the agreement point. One opinion carries a reason attached with perché, and one opinion is negative, which shows you can do more than say you like things. Four short accurate sentences will beat two long ones with the verb wrong.

Find the subjects

Four Italian words are shown below. Select the ONE that is NOT the name of a school subject.

• matematica
• studiare
• geografia
• informatica

Choosing what to say

You are writing a short paragraph in Italian about your subjects. Work through the choices.

• You want to open by saying which subjects you study. Which verb do you need?
• You now want to say that you like art. Which form is correct?
• You want to add that you like foreign languages too. What has to change?
• You have room for one more thing. What would add the most to your marks?

Write about your subjects

Write three or four sentences in Italian about the subjects you study and what you think of them. Use only words from this module.

• Say which subjects you study, using studiare
• Say one subject you like, using mi piace
• Say that you like foreign languages, using mi piacciono
• Attach a reason to one of your opinions using perché