Basic syntax

Look at these examples:

Tamara parla bene l'italiano.	Tamara speaks Italian well.
Tamara parla bene l'italiano?	Does Tamara speak Italian well?
Tamara non parla bene l'italiano.	Tamara doesn't speak Italian well.

Remarks

The main difference concerns interrogative and negative sentences. These require an auxiliary verb or at least the "dummy operator do/does/did" in Eng. whereas It.:
- changes the tone of voice - a final rise instead of a fall - to obtain an interrogative sentence, without any changes in the word-order; see more on intonation here
- inserts "non" before the verb to obtain a negative sentence. Notice "before": is not non è.

The order subject-verb-object is basically similar, however It. allows variations that are not acceptable in Eng. - in the examples above, placing an adverb of manner, "bene", between the verb and the direct object (called "complemento oggetto" in It.). Other cases concerning pronouns are described here

Another major difference is found in those sentences that have a "double object" in Eng., like "I gave George a book". In It. the direct object comes first and the indirect object follows, in the form of "complemento di termine o favore": "Ho dato un libro a Giorgio." Another example:
"She's buying her daughter a blouse" "Sta comperando una camicetta per sua figlia."
More details and examples here

The subject-verb order can be reversed if the "given + new" sequence so requires. For example:

If we are waiting for Patrizia, the first person who sees her may say "Sta arrivando" or "Patrizia sta arrivando." Patrizia is "given" and her arriving is "new".
Instead, if I hear the noise of somebody's arrival but do not know who it is, the person who knows may say "Sta arrivando Patrizia" - arriving is "given" and Patrizia is "new."