Italian present tense A1

The first step to take if you’re learning Italian is mastering the simple present tense of REGULAR verbs. In Italian, every verb in its ”dictionary form” is called infinitive and ends in one of three ways: -ARE, -ERE, -IRE.

This ending tells you a lot about how the verb will behave when you conjugate it, they represent the ”family” of the verb, and have a SET OF SUFFIXES that must be added to the stem of the infinitive verb. In Italian, the verb changes for every single pronoun; the verb ending IS the subject. Once you memorise the endings, you can understand a sentence without the subject.

HOW DOES CONJUGATION WORK?

The first thing you’re gonna do is REMOVE the infinitive suffix, FIND the STEM, then ADD a NEW ENDING that matches the subject.

In Italian, the ending of an infinitive verb tells you the set of suffixes you must use to conjugate it. There are three groups of infinitive verbs:

• -Those ending with -ARE

• -Those ending with -ERE

• -Those ending with -IRE

ARE verbs

EX. PARLARE (to speak)

1 remove the end of the word: PARL…

2 add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	parlo	I speak	ending: –O
tu	parli	you speak	ending: –I
lui\lei	parla	he\she speaks	ending: –A
noi	parliamo	we speak	ending: –IAMO
voi	parlate	you all speak	ending: –ATE
loro	parlano	they speak	ending: –ANO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -ARE.

ERE verbs

EX. SCRIVERE

1 Remove the end of the word: SCRIV…

2 Add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	scrivo	I write	ending: –O
tu	scrivi	you write	ending: –I
lui\lei	scrive	he\she writes	ending: –E
noi	scriviamo	we write	ending: –IAMO
voi	scrivete	you all write	ending: –ETE
loro	scrivono	they write	ending: –ONO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -ERE.

IRE verbs

EX. DORMIRE

1 Remove the end of the word: DORM…

2 Add new endings :

pronoun	stem+ending	meaning	note
io	dormo	I write	ending: –O
tu	dormi	you write	ending: –I
lui\lei	dorme	he\she writes	ending: –E
noi	dormiamo	we write	ending: –IAMO
voi	dormite	you all write	ending: –ITE
loro	dormono	they write	ending: –ONO

These are the endings you have to use if the infinitive verb ends with -IRE.

WHEN DO WE USE THE PRESENT TENSE?

”Presente indicativo” is a versatile and covers several situations at once:

ACTIONS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

Mangio una pizza – ”I’m eating a pizza”

HABITS AND ROUTINES

Studio ogni sera – ”I study every evening”

GENERAL TRUTHS AND FACTS

Il sole sorge a est – ”The sun rises in the east”

NEAR FUTURE PLANS

Domani parto per Roma – ”Tomorrow I leave for Rome”

The fastest way to internalise conjugation is to use verbs in real sentences, fill the gaps with the correct verb:

1 (io) ______ (lavorare) in un ristorante – I work in a restaurant

2 (tu) ______ (leggere) molto? – Do you read a lot?

3 Marco ______ (partire) domani – Marco leaves tomorrow

4 Voi ______ (mangiare) troppo – You all eat too much

5 Loro ______ (scrivere) una mail – They are writing an email