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Day 8 Premium

Family, jobs & small talk.

Today's lesson opens up Italian social life — family vocabulary (with the article-drop rule), studies and jobs (sono ingegnere, NOT sono un ingegnere), hobbies (mi piace vs mi piacciono), and the small-talk lubricants that keep Italian conversations warm.

Estimated time20 minutesGoalHold a 5-minute Italian small-talk conversation
Day 8 · 4 focused lessons

Your four lessons today

  1. Family members

    Padre, madre, fratello, sorella. The article-drop rule for singular close family.

    Start lesson 17–9 min
    Family members
  2. Studies & jobs7–9 min
  3. Hobbies & free time7–9 min
  4. Small talk7–9 min
India bridge

Possessive adjectives drop the article with family

Italian drops the definite article before close family in singular: mio padre (not il mio padre), mia madre, mio fratello, mia sorella, mio marito, mia moglie. But: il mio papà (affectionate), i miei genitori (plural keeps the article). This is the one exception to the article rule.

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Next upDay 9 — Essere, avere & -are verbs