Mishandled, distorted, and oversimplified. The Italian language is often regarded as a cultural heritage, yet the everyday reality tells a different story: it’s not uncommon to encounter “qual’è” with an apostrophe, “propio” missing the second “r”, or “avvolte” instead of “a volte”. Mistakes that make some chuckle, while others feel a shiver of pain down their spine every time nearly seven out of ten Italians stumble over grammatical rules.
Most common blunders
It’s not just carelessness, but a nightmare habit revealed by a survey conducted by Libreriamo, the digital media promoting reading and culture. From old SMS to chats and social networks, the way we write has changed, with abbreviations like “tt” for “tutto” or “nn” for “non”, while “k” replaces “ch” (“ke fai?”), and “x” stands for “per”. A compressed and simplified language that, when carried over to formal writing, turns into a catalog of blunders.
The most frequent errors involve the misuse of apostrophes (62%), subjunctive mood (56%), punctuation (39%), and verb conjugation (50%). The apostrophe is the number one enemy: “qual è” should always be written without an apostrophe. Yet, “qual’è” continues to be widely used. Everywhere. The same goes for “un po’”, which requires an apostrophe due to the truncation of “poco”: yet, the spelling “un pò” with an accent is extremely widespread, even in press releases. The subjunctive remains historically the most critical and dreaded element of grammar: “l’importante è che hai superato l’esame” is incorrect, the correct form is “l’importante è che tu abbia superato l’esame”. Yet, this oversight is heard with terror even on television. Pronouns are not far behind: “gli ho detto che era molto bella” referring to a woman is incorrect, the right form is “le ho detto”.
Nightmarish verbs and punctuation
Verb conjugation is a minefield. Mixing up auxiliary verbs is a classic: “ho andato al cinema” instead of “sono andato”. Or the incorrect use of tenses: “venirono a casa mia” instead of “vennero”. These small slips become habits passed down over time.
Another chapter involves confusion between C and Q. Here’s a sample of mistakes: “evaquare” instead of “evacuare”, “profiquo” instead of “proficuo”, “squotere” instead of “scuotere”, “innoquo” instead of “innocuo”. Horrors that seem to come from elementary school, but persist among adults. Punctuation, then, is often used haphazardly. Commas placed everywhere, semicolons forgotten, colons used just because they fit well. Each mark has a specific function: commas mark the rhythm and colons introduce explanations or lists. Yet, in the chaos of digital writing, these rules are ignored.
How to turn things around
But how can we turn things around? Experts suggest going back to basics: reading regularly, returning to writing by hand, reducing the use of AI chatbots, limiting neologisms and Anglicisms, because reading enriches vocabulary and solidifies rules, while manual writing forces one to think and strengthens word awareness. Another effective tool is gaming. Training the mind with dedicated books, like 501 quiz sulla lingua italiana, the book-game by Saro Trovato, founder of Libreriamo, allows for reviewing rules and trivia without boredom: through retrieval practice, i.e., the active retrieval of information, memory is strengthened making knowledge more enduring.
Trovato reminds us that Italian is “a symbolic place that welcomes us beyond geographical, social, and generational differences”. Defending the language means defending our cultural identity. And to do so, it’s not enough to be outraged by a “propio” or an “avvolte”, but a bit more effort is required. Errors that mishandle and distort the language can elicit a smile, but when they become a habit, they impoverish the linguistic heritage. Rediscovering reading and practicing writing are actions that can restore the Italian language to its rightful place, that of cultural excellence.
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