12 Best Italian Grammar Books for Beginners and Beyond

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Italian is in my humble opinion one of the most beautiful languages in the world — and luckily I don’t seem to be alone here.

A bunch of you can’t wait to become fluent in it, but to accomplish that goal you’ll need the right tools for your learning needs. That’s why this list of the best Italian grammar books on the market will make all the difference.

I’ve structured it around three levels of language (beginners, intermediate, and advanced learners) so you’ll know exactly where to look.

Shall we?

Best Italian grammar books for beginners

1. English Grammar for Students of Italian

This fantastic guide for self-teaching students comes to its third edition full of updates. Each chapter is divided into an explanation in English, relating a concept to how it’d be naturally understood by native English speakers, and another section elaborating on the topic at hand in Italian.

Lessons will focus on either a part of speech (e.g. verb, noun, adjective), the function of a word within a sentence (subject, object), or a grammar term like gender, agreement, and verb conjugation.

If you purchase this book, you’ll get access to an online review booklet as well as a guide to matching its chapters to the Oggi in Italia textbook, which is perfect if you want to avoid going over the same content twice.

What I like about this book:

• It’s fully bilingual;
• The diagrams and charts are extremely clear;
• Grammar points are distinctly explained first, then cross-referenced throughout the book.

2. Italian Grammar for Beginners

Despite the name, this is not your regular Italian grammar for beginners; it’s rather an extremely engaging study guide, complete with 25 lessons and over 250 Italian grammar exercises that will make you become an intermediate-level speaker sooner than you expect.

It was developed by the specialized publisher Talk in Italian, which has other grade-A releases and hosts a blog with awesome tips for learning Italian too.

The coolest thing about this book is that its grammar lessons (which are always straight to the point) are illustrated by short stories that come with matching audio tracks.

What I like about this book:

• There are 250+ exercises for you to practice with;
• It includes short stories that make grammar lessons easier to understand;
• The focus is on making you conversational asap.

3. Italian Grammar in Use

Developed by the 150-year-old publisher Hoepli and written by Loredana La Cifra, who specializes in writing books for students of Italian as a second language, this is hands down one of the best Italian grammar books on the market.

Each of the 62 two-page lessons covers a key topic, which is rounded off by an appendix with all the main grammar rules. Explanations are presented in English, and all examples are bilingual, which is exactly what beginners need.

Italian Grammar in Use also features hundreds of exercises and mock tests in case you’re looking to get a CELI certificate from the Università per Stranieri di Perugia.

What I like about this book:

• All grammar explanations are in English;
• It’s meant specifically for self-teaching students;
• Intermediate learners will benefit enormously as well.

4. Italian Verb Drills

Conjugating verbs in Italian may turn out to be overwhelming for folks coming from English (or other languages that don’t make that big of a deal out of verbs). Cue in this book and your troubles are magically gone!

It presents all tenses for each verb pattern (because there is indeed some reasoning behind the apparent chaos), then offers lots of exercises to help you memorize them.

Better yet, editors didn’t miss the fact we often can’t afford the time to grab an actual book: you’ll be given access to an extra set of online exercises that will ensure you master all the conjugations in no time.

Even native speakers are giving Italian Verb Drills rave reviews!

What I like about this book:

• Every single tense (there’s a ton of them!) is conjugated here;
• It’s not about conjugations only: you’ll learn about verb usage too;
• There’s an index at the end where all verbs are translated into English.

5. Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide

This is as much an Italian grammar for beginners as a great guide for learners of all levels. Published by the renowned Routledge, it was rewritten for its third edition based on readers’ suggestions.

Modern Italian Grammar emphasizes contemporary usage and provides multiple examples for each concept. All explanations are written in English, but exercises are entirely in Italian.

The Modern Italian Grammar Workbook is a perfect match for this book. It will quench your thirst for putting what you’ve learned into practice.

What I like about this book:

• Each explanation is followed by plenty of examples;
• Teaching users the nuances of spoken Italian is the main goal of this book;
• It’s structured around two main sections: parts of speech (verbs, pronouns, adjectives,…) and language functions (asking/answering, describing, expressing preferences,…).

6. Practice Makes Perfect: Complete Italian Grammar

Featuring 250+ exercises, complete with a detailed answer key, this book actually lives up to its title. I like how it also highlights cultural aspects where it’s fitting, which does make learning grammar a tad more fun.

For each lesson, you’ll get matching audio tracks and flashcards that are meant to turn the whole experience of studying Italian into a far more engaging journey.

What I like about this book:

• It’s complete with audio recordings and flashcards;
• The focus is on vocabulary native speakers use most often;
• The last chapter is a comprehensive review of all the units.

Best Italian grammar books for intermediate learners

7. Collins Italian Dictionary and Grammar

I wanted to include different book formats here because I know the learning needs of each of you are unique. With this title, you’ll get more of a bilingual dictionary rather than an ordinary grammar book.

It does include 120,000 translations and 90,000 references, which is impressive for a medium-sized book. While the grammar explanations are squeezed into the second part of the book, they’re enough to make an above-average reference guide that’ll answer every single one of your grammar questions.

What I like about this book:

• It’s both a dictionary and a conventional grammar guide;
• The grammar points target contemporary casual usage;
• It’s quite appealing, visually speaking.

8. Italian Tutor: Grammar and Vocabulary Workbook

I’m a fan of Italian Tutor because it’s more than a grammar guide; it’s virtually an Italian textbook in its own right. Although all grammar explanations are thorough and clear, it also covers vocabulary, reading, writing, and conversation skills.

Plus, you’ll get 200 exercises spread throughout the book and plenty of visual input to help you take all the content in. And unlike most other books of this kind, lessons are short enough for you to go through them in a single day of study.

What I like about this book:

• It includes all aspects of the language you should focus on;
• More complex rules are clearly laid out;
• Units are perfectly sized for you to cover each within a day.

9. Italiano per inglesi. Manuale di grammatica italiana con esercizi

This book‘s mission is clear from its title, and I love it. “Italian for English speakers” (the literal translation oddly means “Italian for the English”) just knows where you might have a harder time and is there to give you a hand.

Besides the consistently bilingual explanations, one of its finest features is the glossary you’ll find at the end of every chapter. On top of that, the guide boasts a verb guide and a short dictionary as well, following its 22 exercise-filled lessons.

What I like about this book:

• This is another completely bilingual guide;
• It is meant specifically for native English speakers;
• It was published by Hoepli, an extremely reliable publisher founded in 1870.

Best Italian grammar books for advanced learners

10. 100 Dubbi di Grammatica Italiana: Spiegazioni e Esercizi

Let’s start off this section with the one book you need to own if you really want to become fluent in Italian. After all, not making silly mistakes anymore is basically what sets apart advanced learners from beginners.

That said, 100 Dubbi di Grammatica Italiana aims at students of all levels: the earlier you learn the tiny little rules and exceptions discussed here, the better. But you may want to concentrate on the bigger stuff before moving to stuff like the nuances of tu and te (i.e. “you” as a subject and as an object).

What I like about this book:

• It’ll help advanced learners sound basically native;
• Each of the 100 common mistakes the book covers is followed by a batch of exercises;
• It’s part of a series with other entries about things like conjunctions and past tenses.

11. Grammatica Avanzata della Lingua Italiana

Grammatica Avanzata della Lingua Italiana is a bridge between two worlds: one inhabited by students of Italian as a second language and another belonging to native speakers. Both will benefit from its holistic explanations about tricky aspects you don’t typically see in other guides.

Yet foreign students soon realize how amazing the exercise sections are. The only caveat is that there’s no English within this book. So make sure you’re ok with going through grammar lessons in Italian!

What I like about this book:

• It’s written entirely in Italian;
• Still, foreign students are its main target;
• It sheds a light on grammar aspects that other books may overlook.

12. Grammatica Italiana per Tutti

Learning a language is sometimes more about mastering the exceptions than knowing the rules, and this grammar is among the strongest in that regard. Beautifully designed and superbly well-written, this is the book you’re looking for if you’re ready to take the next step with Italian.

Bear in mind Grammatica Italiana per Tutti targets tutti (i.e. everyone) — who already speaks the language. If your goal is simply to interact with locals on your next trip, this may be a bit much for you. In case you want to be able to write an academic essay in Italian, then absolutely go for it.

What I like about this book:

• It’s more of a guide rather than a textbook, as it doesn’t have that many lessons followed by exercises;
• The layout is brightly colored to make memorizing easier;
• All the trickiest grammar topics are covered.

Conclusion

Grammar guides are among the essential kinds of books to learn Italian you should rely on as you study the language.

Of course, you’ll also have to count on tools like Italian learning apps as well if you’re really on a mission to become fluent, yet for a Romance language like Italian knowing your way around grammar is a must.

Let me know in the comments which of these entries you ended up picking or if you’d add some other book to our list!