English · italiano
English–Italian parallel texts
Read Italian books with English alongside, or English books with Italian alongside: the original and the translation side by side, paragraph by paragraph.
C’era una volta…
Once upon a time there was…
— Un re! — diranno subito i miei piccoli lettori.
“A king!” my little readers will say at once.
No, ragazzi, avete sbagliato. C’era una volta un pezzo di legno.
No, children, you are wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.
Reading Italian with English alongside
Italian is a pleasure to read. It is spelled as it sounds, and much of its vocabulary has a Latin cousin in English, so the page gives you more than you might expect from the start.
What trips readers up is literary Italian: the passato remoto of storytelling, pronouns that combine and attach to verbs, and a relaxed word order. A parallel text keeps you in the book while those patterns settle in.
Reading English books with Italian alongside
For Italian speakers, reading English books with the Italian alongside smooths over idioms and colloquial dialogue, so the story never stalls.
Families who read in both languages can share the same book, each following the side they read most comfortably.
Where a parallel text helps most in Italian
The passato remoto
Italian narrative often uses the passato remoto (disse, venne, fu), a tense many speakers rarely use in conversation. Beside the English, its irregular forms become familiar quickly.
Pronouns that stack
Forms like gliel’ho or dàmmelo pack several words into one. The translation shows who is giving what to whom.
Flexible word order
Italian can move the subject after the verb for emphasis. Reading paragraph by paragraph keeps the meaning clear while your ear gets used to it.
Free English–Italian stories
English classics with the Italian translation side by side. They open in the browser, with no account needed.
EN → IT
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry
The Gift of the Magi
O. Henry · English–Italian · 15 min
EN → IT
The Last Leaf
O. Henry
The Last Leaf
O. Henry · English–Italian · 15 min
EN → IT
The Open Window
Saki
The Open Window
Saki · English–Italian · 10 min
EN → IT
The Necklace
Guy de Maupassant
The Necklace
Guy de Maupassant · English–Italian · 20 min
EN → IT
The Tell-Tale Heart
Edgar Allan Poe
The Tell-Tale Heart
Edgar Allan Poe · English–Italian · 15 min
EN → IT
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe
The Cask of Amontillado
Edgar Allan Poe · English–Italian · 15 min
EN → IT
The Monkey’s Paw
W.W. Jacobs
The Monkey’s Paw
W.W. Jacobs · English–Italian · 25 min
EN → IT
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Ambrose Bierce
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Ambrose Bierce · English–Italian · 25 min
EN → IT
The Happy Prince
Oscar Wilde
The Happy Prince
Oscar Wilde · English–Italian · 25 min
EN → IT
The Selfish Giant
Oscar Wilde
The Selfish Giant
Oscar Wilde · English–Italian · 10 min
EN → IT
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman · English–Italian · 40 min
EN → IT
Belling the Cat
Aesop
Belling the Cat
Aesop · English–Italian · 5 min
EN → IT
The Lion and the Mouse
Aesop
The Lion and the Mouse
Aesop · English–Italian · 5 min
EN → IT
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Aesop
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Aesop · English–Italian · 5 min
Italian classics to read in parallel
Long out of copyright and easy to find as EPUBs. Any of them makes a good first Italian–English parallel text:
- Le avventure di Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi
- I promessi sposi, Alessandro Manzoni
- Novelle rusticane, Giovanni Verga
- Cuore, Edmondo De Amicis
Or use a book you already own: the method works best with something you actually want to read. See how to read a parallel text to get the most from it.