Maria è triste perché la vacanza è finita Maria is sad because the holiday is finishedĪlessia e Daniela sono arrabbiate con Gloria perché è sempre in ritardo Alessia and Daniela are angry with Gloria because she’s always late Sono contento di stare a Firenze I’m happy to be in Florence The verb “to be” in Italian is “essere” and it is completely irregular:Ĭommon Italian expressions using “ESSERE”: Voi contribuite alla raccolta fondi di beneficenza? Are you going to contribute to the charity collection? To be – Il Verbo Essere Noi finiamo il corso di italiano a Settembre, voi quando lo finite? We finish the Italian course in September, when do you finish it? Io preferisco la pasta, tu cosa preferisci? I prefer pasta, what do you prefer?ĭi solito Luca dimagrisce molto durante l’estate Luca usually slims down a lot in the summer Other verbs that take -ISC are: alleggerire, preferire, pulire, costruire, contribuire, dimagrire, ferire, garantire, trasferirsi, unire, stupire, colpire, proibire, punire, fallire, ferire, impedire, incuriosire, obbedire, restituire. Lots of verbs ending in -IRE also need to add -ISC for every form except for the 2nd and the 3rd plural persons “noi” and “voi”, which behave regularly.

Io pago la spesa per il pranzo, tu paghi quella per la cena I pay the lunch bill, you pay the dinner one Verbs with – IRE ending – Verbi che terminano in – IRE Tu cerchi un appartamento in centro, mentre Marco lo cerca in periferia You look for an apartment in the centre, while Marco looks for one in the outskirts Verbs belonging to the first conjugation ending in -CARE (for example “cercare, giocare”) and -GARE (for example “pagare, pregare”) behave slightly differently, adding the letter “H” between the stem and the end for the 2nd person singular “TU” and the 1st person plural “NOI”, so that the hard sound can be kept. Verbs ending in – CARE and – GARE – Verbi che terminano in – CARE e – GARE Nel 1861 l’Italia diventa uno Stato unitario In 1861 Italy became a united state Michelangelo Buonarroti nasce nel 1475 Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475 Sometimes the present tense is used instead of the past to give past actions a sense of immediacy, to make it feel as though they were happening right now. Lavoro in questo ufficio da due mesi I have worked in this office for 2 months Vivo a Firenze da tre anni I have lived in Florence for 3 years In spoken Italian, we also use it to express an action that is going to happen in the near future when there is a time expression in the phrase:Īrrivo domani pomeriggio I'll arrive tomorrow afternoonĬeniamo insieme venerdì prossimo? Shall we have dinner together next Friday?Īctions begun in the past which continue in the present, using VERB + DA (Preposition) + period of time:

Tutte le mattina mangio un cornetto con la marmellata Every morning I eat a croissant with jam Mrs, Miss, Mr.) Tip: to make it easier, just remember, no matter what the verb type is, “IO” always ends in – O “TU” always ends in – I and “noi” always ends in -IAMO. *lui = he (masculine) * lei = she (feminine) *Lei = formal form for both he and she (e.g. To form the Simple Present we have to take -ARE, -ERE or -IRE off and add the appropriate ending to the stem of the verb, according to the group it belongs to. Those ending in -IRE (dormire, aprire, sentire) Those ending in -ERE (leggere, scrivere, ridere) Those ending in -ARE (mangiare, ascoltare, lavorare) The Italian language has three groups of verbs, and three conjugations: Switch language: DEU ENG ESP Français ITA

Italian verb moods