CONTENTS Introduction vii List of signs and abbreviations viii 1 Nouns: gender and number 1 2D e fi nite and inde fi nite articles 9 3 Adjectives; possessive and demonstrative pronouns 17 4 The present tense of  essere  and  avere 28 5 The present tense of regular (and some irregular) verbs 36 6 Adverbs 46 7 Direct object pronouns (1) 52 8 Prepositions 57 9 Questions 68 10 Indirect object pronouns (1) 74 11 Piacere  and similar verbs 79 12 The present perfect tense 84 13 Direct and indirect object pronouns (2) 94 14 Direct and indirect object pronouns (3: stressed forms) 99 15 Relative pronouns 104 16 The imperfect tense 111 17 The pronouns  ne  and  ci 120 18 The future tense 129 19 The past perfect tense 137