Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 17
Il lunedì lavoroOn Mondays I work
Seven days, two rules, zero prepositions. The days of the week — lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì, sabato, domenica — are written lowercase and used BARE: Lunedì c'è il mercato («this Monday»). With the article they become a habit: Il lunedì lavoro («every Monday»). Many languages lean a preposition against their days; Italian does not. Plus: almost all the days are masculine, but la domenica is feminine.
Dialogue
i
Study this section in the Bookverse app
- Spaced repetition schedules your reviews
- Practice tasks with pass tracking
- A teacher on every study screen
- Progress saved across chapters and devices — laptop and phone
- Audio playback for dialogues and words
- Speaking practice with feedback
- Search dictionaries and chat with AI, all inside the app
Sign up and start studying in the Bookverse app.
You will be asked to register first.
Lunedì c'è il mercato— The market's on Monday
- GiuliaMike, quando c'è il mercato?Mike, when is the market on?
- MikeIl mercato c'è… lunedì! E il sabato e la domenica?The market is on… Monday! And Saturdays and Sundays?
- GiuliaIl sabato c'è la passeggiata — e la domenica… la famiglia!Saturdays it's the passeggiata — and Sundays… the family!
Dialogue
i
Study this section in the Bookverse app
- Spaced repetition schedules your reviews
- Practice tasks with pass tracking
- A teacher on every study screen
- Progress saved across chapters and devices — laptop and phone
- Audio playback for dialogues and words
- Speaking practice with feedback
- Search dictionaries and chat with AI, all inside the app
Sign up and start studying in the Bookverse app.
You will be asked to register first.
La settimana di Marco— Marco's week
- GiuliaMarco, quando sei qui?Marco, when are you here?
- MarcoIl lunedì e il martedì la mattina; il mercoledì e il giovedì il pomeriggio.Mondays and Tuesdays in the morning; Wednesdays and Thursdays in the afternoon.
- GiuliaE il venerdì?And Fridays?
- MarcoIl venerdì sono qui tutto il giorno! E domani? Domani è sabato: alle sei, passeggiata!Fridays I'm here all day! And tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday: at six, passeggiata!
Vocabulary
i
Study this section in the Bookverse app
- Spaced repetition schedules your reviews
- Practice tasks with pass tracking
- A teacher on every study screen
- Progress saved across chapters and devices — laptop and phone
- Audio playback for dialogues and words
- Speaking practice with feedback
- Search dictionaries and chat with AI, all inside the app
Sign up and start studying in the Bookverse app.
You will be asked to register first.
- lunedì
n.m.Monday (accented -ì, never changes; lowercase like all days)
- martedì
n.m.Tuesday
- mercoledì
n.m.Wednesday (a cousin of mercato hides inside)
- giovedì
n.m.Thursday (soft g — «jo-ve-DI»)
- venerdì
n.m.Friday
- sabato
n.m.Saturday (stress on the FIRST syllable: SA-ba-to)
- la domenica
n.f.Sunday — the only feminine day (stress: do-ME-ni-ca)
- la settimana
n.f.the week (built on sette — seven days)
- il giorno
n.m.the day (buongiorno's second half, finally on its own)
- domani
adverbtomorrow (a domani = see you tomorrow, from chapter 2)
Grammar
i
Study this section in the Bookverse app
- Spaced repetition schedules your reviews
- Practice tasks with pass tracking
- A teacher on every study screen
- Progress saved across chapters and devices — laptop and phone
- Audio playback for dialogues and words
- Speaking practice with feedback
- Search dictionaries and chat with AI, all inside the app
Sign up and start studying in the Bookverse app.
You will be asked to register first.
The days: bare for once, with the article for always
Explanation
The seven days: lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì — all masculine, all accented on the final ì, all invariable — then sabato (stress on the FIRST syllable: SAbato) and la domenica, the only feminine one. They are written lowercase: no capitals. The two usage rules. One: for ONE specific time, the day goes BARE — Lunedì c'è il mercato = this Monday. No preposition: if your language leans an «at» or «on» against its days, here it comes off. Two: for the HABIT, the article arrives — Il lunedì lavoro = every Monday; La domenica c'è la famiglia = every Sunday. It is the same habit-article as the day parts (la mattina lavoro). The rest is already yours: quando asks for the day (Quando c'è il mercato? — Giovedì), domani answers for the near future, and la settimana holds it all together — seven days, like sette.
Examples
- Lunedì c'è il mercato. Il lunedì lavoro.On Monday there's the market. On Mondays I work.
- lunedì, martedì… — SAbato, la doMEnicaMonday, Tuesday… — Saturday, Sunday
- Quando c'è il mercato? Giovedì!When is the market on? Thursday!
- Domani è sabato: alle sei, la passeggiata!Tomorrow is Saturday: at six, the passeggiata!
Want to actually learn this — with audio, spaced repetition and progress tracking?
Study in the app →