Italian questions, connectors and quantity
Join ideas, ask precise questions, compare choices and communicate numbers, dates and durations accurately.
Exam scope and assessment notes
All Italian passages, prompts, model answers, listening scripts and tasks are original StudyForA material, not Cambridge assessment content. Cambridge's separate 2028 vocabulary spreadsheet is linked through its subject page but has not been reconciled word by word. Grammar groups need item-by-item specialist checking, and an Italian-language teacher should review the original Italian before publication is described as complete. Browser speech synthesis is not Cambridge audio and cannot guarantee a regional accent, natural pace or pronunciation. Speaking is rehearsal and self-review, not a centre assessment or examiner mark; writing answers are self-checked, not Cambridge-marked. No complete timed specimen or 130-hour course is included. Confirm your exam year, entry option and centre availability with Cambridge and your school. Use the 2025–2027 or 2028–2030 paper lesson that matches your exam year.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
Which sentence clearly compares travel time?
What you will learn
- Use common adverbs and comparative or superlative forms.
- Join clauses to show addition, contrast, cause, time, condition and purpose.
- Form questions and use prepositions, including articulated forms.
- Express numbers, amounts, dates, times and duration with da, fa and fra/tra.
Connect the relationship between ideas
Use «e» for addition, «ma» for contrast, «perché» for a reason, «quando» for time, «se» for a condition, and «anche se» for concession. Choose the relationship before choosing the connector.
Comparisons include «più/meno ... di/che», «tanto ... quanto», «così ... come», «migliore/peggiore», «il più ...» and «-issimo». Use «meglio/peggio» as adverbs; compare like with like.
Ask, locate and measure
Question words include «chi», «che cosa», «quale», «quanto», «dove», «quando», «come» and «perché». Combine prepositions and articles where required: «a + la» becomes «alla», «di + il» becomes «del».
Use «da due anni» for a duration continuing to now in common contexts, «due anni fa» for a point in the past, and «fra due anni» for a future interval. Include units with measurements; Italian commonly writes decimal commas, such as «2,5 km».
Sources for this lesson
- Cambridge IGCSE Italian - Foreign Language 0535 subject page
- Cambridge IGCSE Italian 0535 syllabus for exams in 2025–2027 · Version 3
- Cambridge IGCSE Italian 0535 syllabus update for 2025–2027
- Cambridge IGCSE Italian 0535 syllabus for exams in 2028–2030
- Cambridge IGCSE Italian 0535 2028 vocabulary list
Pause and explain
Which phrase means ‘two years ago’?
Worked example
A notice says: «Il centro è a 2,5 km. L'autobus è più veloce del treno, ma parte ogni ora. A che ora devi arrivare?» Summarise the distance, comparison and constraint.
Show the worked solution
- Attach 2,5 km to the centre.
- Compare the travel time and read the contrast after «ma».
- Notice the final question asks for a target arrival time.
Answer The centre is 2.5 km away. The bus is faster than the train but leaves only once an hour. The notice asks what time the traveller needs to arrive.
From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Compare two travel options using time, price and one departure constraint.
Give me a hint
Use «più/meno ... di» and «ma» or «anche se».
Compare my reasoning
- State which option is faster.
- Compare a second feature.
- Add the schedule constraint.
Example: «L'autobus impiega meno tempo del treno e costa meno, ma parte ogni ora. Se dobbiamo arrivare prima delle nove, controlliamo l'orario.»
Look for these in your work
- Makes a comparison
- Includes another criterion
- Connects the constraint to an action
Read: «Vivo in questa città da tre anni. La biblioteca, vicino al fiume, apre alle 9:30. Quanto tempo resta aperta?» What duration is stated, and what does the last question ask?
Give me a hint
Keep the residence duration separate from opening hours.
Compare my reasoning
- Find how long the writer has lived there.
- Locate the library.
- Translate the last question and check whether its answer is given.
The writer has lived in the city for three years. The library opens at 9:30. The final question asks how long it remains open, which the notice does not say.
Look for these in your work
- Reports three years
- Finds the library location
- Recognises the missing closing time
Ask a classmate three Italian questions about when, where and why they study, then summarise only the answers they give.
Give me a hint
Use «quando», «dove» and «perché».
Compare my reasoning
- Ask a time question.
- Ask where and why.
- Join the answers without inventing information.
Example: «Quando studi? Dove studi? Perché studi lì?» Summary frame: «Studia ... nel pomeriggio e studia ... perché ...». Fill the gaps using the classmate's actual answers.
Look for these in your work
- Forms clear questions
- Uses the right question words
- Does not invent answers
Common mistakes
- Confusing «da», «fa» and «fra/tra»
- Using a comparison without naming the compared quality
- Dropping a unit from a measurement
- Forgetting the article in an articulated preposition
What can you explain now?
What does «Studio italiano da due anni» usually mean?
Compare with the explanation
I have studied Italian for two years and still do
«Da» introduces a duration continuing to the present in this context.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Before leaving italian questions, connectors and quantity, explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint and name one point to practise again.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.