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Main rules and peculiarities
(for foreigners)
Definite Article: el, la , pl. i , le. Before a vowel it becomes l' : l'amigo, l'amiga
Indefinite Article: un , na. Before a vowel it becomes n' : n'àlbaro , n'altro , n'altra
Fem. Personal Article: la. Always precedes feminine proper names de la Maria, a la Maria, la Maria la vien qua (save in the vocative case: Maria, vien qua!)
Prepositions de, a, co, su join only the masc.def.article : al, ai, del, dei, col, coi, sul, sui
Prep. par can become pa' : par el --» pa'l , par i --» pa'i , par na --» pa' na
Prep. in becomes 'nte (inte) before all articles : 'ntel, 'ntei, 'nte la, 'nte le, int'un, 'nte na
In the singular, words end in -o, -a, -e ; -n, -r, -l (as venez., trevig., bellun., veron.)
Esempio : tóxo, tóxa, porta, vernixe, saco, cavalo ; can, paron, mar, vocal, giornal, faxol, fiol...
So do verbs: parlar, saver, finir, móvar(e), bévar(e)
Plural feminins : -a , -e --» -e. E.g.: tóxa -> tóxe, gata -> gate, ciave -> ciave, fòrbexe-> fòrbexe
Plural feminins : -conson. --» --. E.g.: la man -> le man, la soluzsion -> le soluzsion...
Plural masculins : -i. E.g.: capitan -> capitani, mar -> mari, goto -> goti, giornal -> giornali
There is vowel change, too (as in padovano-vicentino-rovigotto)
-ó (on last position -o) --» -u : tóxo -> tuxi, cónto -> cunti, paron -> paruni, fiol -> fiuli...
-é only on penultimate pos. --» -i : méxe -> mixi, ségno -> signi, dixégno -> dixigni...
the series -o-ó --»-u-u : moróxo -> muruxi , boton -> butuni , dotor -> duturi...
the series -o-é --»-u-i : moménto -> muminti, argoménto -> arguminti...
(forms like cantùi, parùi... are used even in some belunese areas)
Adjectives follow the same rules as nouns:
adject. with 4 forms : stran, strana, strani, strane ; lóngo, lónga, lunghi, lónghe ; stréto, stréta, striti, stréte
adject.i with 2 forms : inteligente (m/ f) -> inteligenti ; particolar -> particolari ; nazsionale -> nazsionali
Venetan verbs sometimes require pronouns, as in french and in english but differently from italian:
in the 2ª p. sg. : te sculti = tu ecoutes = you listen (it. ascolti)
in the 3ª p. sg. : el scólta = il ecoute = he listens (it. ascolta) ; la scólta = elle ecoute = she listens (it. ascolta)
in the 3ª p. pl. : i scólta = ils ecoutent (it. ascoltano) ; le scólta = elles ecoutent (it. ascoltano)
in the other not: scólto = j'ecoute = I listen ; scoltémo = nous ecoutons = we listen ; scoltè = vous ecoutez = you listen ; bevì = you (pl.) drink, finì = you finish
This rules applies in every tense and mood: past, future, subjuntive, conditional...
In questions the pronoun is always necessary, as in english or french and differently form italian and is suffixed to the verb:
scóltoi ? = do I listen? it. ascolto ?
scùltito ? = do you (sg.) listen ? it. ascolti ?
scóltelo ? , scóltela ? = does he/she listen? it. ascolta (lui/lei)?
scoltémoi ? = do we listen ? it. ascoltiamo ?
scoltèo ? = do you (pl.) listen? it. ascoltate ?; bevìo ? = dou you drink ? ; finìo ? = do you finish?
scólteli ? , scóltele ? = do they (m/f) listen? it. ascoltano (essi/esse/loro)?
scoltarìselo ? = would he listen? it. ascolterebbe ?
Verbs, when end in -i without stress, can have vowel change (as Pd-Vi-Ro)
present : 1° scoltar -> scólto -> te sculti ; 2° bévar -> bévo -> te bivi -> bevì ; móvar -> móvo -> te muvi
imperf.: scoltava -> te scoltavi -> scoltavi ; bevéa -> te bevivi -> bevivi ; movéa -> te muvivi -> muvivi
subjunt. pass.: scoltase -> te scoltasi -> scoltasi ; bevése -> te bevisi ->bevisi ; movése -> te muvisi...
future 2ª sg. : te...-rè (as Vr,Pd-Vi-Ro) : scoltar -> te scoltarè, saver -> te savarè ; finir -> te finirè
future 2ª pl. : ...-rè (as Ve,Vr,Bl,Tv) : scoltar -> scoltarè, saver -> savarè ; finir -> finirè
condiz.: scoltarìa -> te scoltarisi -> el / i scoltarìa -> scoltarìsimo -> scoltarisi ; finirìa -> te finirisi...
Important ! In venetan the simple past is replaced by the present perfect (pasà conposto):
el scólta = ascolta (egli) --> el ga scoltà = He has listened = He listenedla dixe = dice (lei) --> la ga dito = He has said = He said...
But some varieties still have the pasà bi-conposto (passé surcomposé):
cato = I find --> go catà = I have found = I found --> go bù catà = I have [had] found
How to use pronouns. Some examples:
me vardo = je me regarde = I look at myself
te vardo = je te regarde = I look at you
te me vardi = tu me regardes = You look at me
te te vardi = tu te regardes = You look at yourself
el ne varda = il nous regarde = He looks at us. Not *el ce varda!! It's a dialectal italian form coming from ci !
el se varda = il se regarde = He looks at himself
se vardémo = We look at ourselves (non ne vardémo!!)
When the subject precedes the verb or emphasis is on the verb, then the normal pronominal forms are used in plain declarative sentences. (Often in this case the particle "wa" is required in Japanese).la porta la se ga verto = the door [has] opened (it is not closed any longer!)
i amisi de Marco i xe rivài = Marco's friend have come (They are not on the way now!)
Giorgio el parla ben = Giorgio parla bene
On the contrary, if the subject follows the verb or bears emphasis, the verb has no pronouns and shows an invariable semi-impersonal form (in this case Japanese would use the particle "ga"). In compound tenses, the auxiliary "to be" can appear without any pronouns (xe) or with an espletive (gh' è) recalling the engl. "there".
se ga verto la porta = the door has opened
xe rivà i amisi de Marco = There [have] come Marco's friends (not Martha's!)
Also in the passive, which is built with the auxiliaries vegner "become/get" in simple tenses and èser "to be" in compound tense, pronominal forms are normally employed:
£a porta la vien verta = The door is opened (by someone)
£a porta la xe stà verta / £a porta l'è stà verta = The door has been (was) opened
£e carte le xe stàe bruxàe / £e carte le è stàe bruxàe = The papers have been burned
I amisi de M. i xe stài copài tuti / I amisi de M. i è stài copài tuti = All M.'s friends have been killed
Passive verbs have also an impersonal passive form. Here too the auxiliary "to be" can appear without pronouns (xe) or with an espletive (gh' è) recalling the engl. "there".
Xe stà bruxà le carte / Gh' è stà bruxà le carte = lit. (There) have been burned the papers
Xe stà copà... / Gh' è stà copà tuti i amisi de M. = lit. (There) were killed all M.'s friends
Xe stà fato... / Gh'è stà fato tante robe = lit. (There) have been done many things
In Vèneto, there is also an intransitive passive form built with intransitive verbs. As always, the auxiliary "to be" can appear without pronouns (xe) or with an espletive (gh' è).
Xe stà telefonà a Marco / Gh'è stà telefonà a Marco = lit. (There) has been phoned [to] Marco
Xe stà parlà co Toni / Gh'è stà parlà co Toni = lit. (There) has been spoken with/to Tony
Xe stà lavorà tanto = lit. (There) has been worked a lot
How to use the negation; it comes before atonic (i.e. clitic) pronouns:
no vardo (mìa) = je ne regarde pas = non guardo
no te vardi (mìa) = tu ne regardes pas = non guardi|
no 'l varda (mìa) = il ne regarde pas = non guarda (egli,lui)
no la varda (mìa) = elle ne regarde pas = non guarda (ella,lei)
no te me vardi (mìa) = tu ne me regardes pas = non mi guardi
no te te vardi (mìa) = tu ne te regardes pas = non ti guardi
no 'l lo varda (mìa) = il ne le regarde pas = non lo guarda (egli,lui)
no la lo varda (mìa) = elle ne le regarde pas = non lo guarda (ella,lei)
no 'l ghe parla (mìa) = il ne lui/eux parle pas = non gli/le parla , non parla a loro
no 'l ne ga vardà (mìa) = il ne nous a pas regardé = non ci ha guardato (guardati)
no se vardémo (mìa) = nous ne nous regardons pas = non ci guardiamo
but: mi no vardo (mìa) = moi je ne regarde pas = io, non guardo
Negation "no" comes before clitic pronouns since in modern venetan the verb and its
pronouns always go together as they were one word and nothing can be inserted between them. (Indeed, week pronouns beahve as endings and prefixes)
The forms "mia/miga/mina" (no vardo mìa/miga) are emphatic negative forms like the catalan
construction no vindré pas in comparison with the normal negation no vindré.
After the words chi, cósa, come, 'ndo, quando / co, mentre you must add che : come che te vien, de chi che te parli, có che la ride, so 'ndo che i xe ndài... The che particle indicates that a sentence follows while, chi, come, quando, etc... specificate which sentence it is.