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Italian A1 — Core Vocabulary flashcards

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One hundred A1 words: twenty-eight verbs beginners use most with their key forms, sixty everyday nouns and time words by theme with article and gender, and twelve adjectives with their forms, plus the spelling traps and false friends that catch English speakers.

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Learn deck · part of Italian A1–A2 · written against: CEFR A1–A2; standard Italian; the vocabulary is 600 of the most frequent everyday words of an OpenSubtitles 2018 frequency list, since no Italian exam publishes a word list. Updated 2026-10-10.

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  1. essere (v.) (io sono, noi siamo)
    to be

    Siamo di Torino. — We are from Turin.

    Watch out: Full present: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono. Io sono and loro sono look the same; the context (or the pronoun) tells them apart.
    Essential verbs
  2. aprire (v.) (io apro, noi apriamo)
    to open

    Marta apre la lettera della nonna con le forbici. — Marta opens her grandmother's letter with scissors.

    Watch out: Past participle aperto (also the adjective open). The opposite is chiudere, past participle chiuso.
    Everyday verbs
  3. chiamarsi (v.) (io mi chiamo, noi ci chiamiamo)
    to be called (have the name)

    Come ti chiami? — Mi chiamo Giulia. — What's your name? — My name is Giulia.

    Watch out: Reflexive: the pronoun matches the subject. Not reflexive, chiamare means to call (Ti chiamo stasera = I'll call you tonight).
    People & family
  4. mangiare (v.) (io mangio, noi mangiamo)
    to eat

    In ufficio mangiate alla mensa o al bar? — At the office, do you eat in the canteen or at the café?

    Watch out: The i only softens the g, so it is not doubled: tu mangi, noi mangiamo (never "mangii", "mangiiamo").
    Food & shopping
  5. uscire (v.) (io esco, noi usciamo)
    to go out, to leave (a place)

    Stasera esco con Bea e Gianni dopo la lezione di yoga. — Tonight I'm going out with Bea and Gianni after yoga class.

    Watch out: The stem changes: esco, esci, esce, usciamo, uscite, escono. In the present only noi and voi keep usc-.
    Town & travel
  6. il giorno (n.m.)
    day

    Il nonno resta in ospedale ancora un giorno per gli esami. — Grandpa is staying in hospital one more day for tests.

    Watch out: la giornata is the day as a stretch of time you live through: Buona giornata! = Have a nice day!
    Time & weather
  7. lavorare (v.) (io lavoro, noi lavoriamo)
    to work (a person)

    La zia di Ugo lavora in un negozio di scarpe a Bari. — Ugo's aunt works in a shoe shop in Bari.

    Watch out: For a machine that works, use funzionare: Il telefono non funziona. The noun is il lavoro (work, job).
    Work & study
  8. piacere (v.) (mi piace, mi piacciono)
    to be pleasing to → to like

    Mi piace la pizza, ma non mi piacciono le olive. — I like pizza, but I don't like olives.

    Watch out: The thing liked is the subject: one thing or an infinitive takes piace, plural things take piacciono.
    Feelings & character
  9. parlare (v.) (io parlo, noi parliamo)
    to speak, to talk

    Parli italiano? — Do you speak Italian?

    Watch out: The model -are verb: parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano. Stress parlano on the first syllable: PAR-la-no.
    Talking & thinking
  10. bello / bella (adj.)
    beautiful, nice; handsome (bello / bella / belli / belle)

    Che bella giornata! — What a beautiful day!

    Watch out: Before a noun it changes like the article: un bel ragazzo, un bell'albero, un bello zaino, dei bei fiori, dei begli occhi.
    Describing words

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More Italian A1–A2 decks

Core Words: Adjectives, Numbers & Small WordsCore Words: Everyday VerbsCore Words: People, Feelings & IdeasCore Words: Time, Places, Food & Free TimePhrases & Core GrammarIn Context: Core WordsPractice QuestionsCore Vocabulary, Part 1Core Vocabulary, Part 2In Context: Core Words

← All Italian A1–A2 decks, with the study guide and topic outline.

About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • Checked against the Vocabolario Treccani (treccani.it), the De Mauro dictionary, the Garzanti Italian and Italian–English dictionaries (garzantilinguistica.it), the Cambridge Italian–English dictionary, the coniugazione.it conjugation tables, the Accademia della Crusca language-advice pages, word counts from the OpenSubtitles 2018 Italian list (hermitdave/FrequencyWords: word lists CC BY-SA 4.0, code MIT) and Google Books Ngram, and the Council of Europe CEFR A1 descriptors for level placement (reference only; no text copied). All example sentences are original.

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