Indicativo presente

Verbi regolari

In Italian, the infinitives (the basic, not conjugated forms) of regular verbs end in –are, –ere, or –ire.

To form the presente indicativo:

• drop the infinitive endings (-are, –ere, –ire)
• add the appropriate endings to the remaining stems:

Key Points:

1. 1. -iare verbs drop the “i” from the stem before the ending -i (tu) only if the “i” is not stressed in the first person singular; e.g.: studio → studi; but invio → invii.
   2.  Verbs ending in -ciare, -giare, –sciare, and –gliare drop the “i” from the stem before the endings -i (tu) and -iamo (noi); e.g.:

incominciare → incominci-o, incominc-i, incominc-iamo
mangiare → mangi-o, mang-i, mang-iamo
lasciare → lasci-o, lasc-i, lasc-iamo
sbagliare → sbagli-o, sbagl-i, sbagl-iamo

1. 3. -care and -gare verbs insert an “h” before the endings -i (tu) and       -iamo (noi) in order to retain the original sound of the stem (hard c or g); e.g. giochi, giochiamo.
   4. *The majority of -ire verbs insert -isc- before the endings -o (io), -i (tu), -e (lui/lei), -ono (loro). Below see the lists of verbs that follow the pattern of either “finire” or “partire”.

Verbi irregolari

• The most common irregular verbs in Italian are avere (to have) and essere (to be):

• There are only four irregular verbs ending in -are:

• Most irregular verbs end in -ere and -ire.

• Some irregular verbs have similar patterns. The following add -g to the stem in the 1st person singular and in the 3rd person plural:

• The following verbs are usually followed by the infinitive:

• The conjugation of bere, tradurre, and dire is based on the Latin stems: bev-, dic-, traduc– plus the regular endings of the -ere and -ire verbs (with the exception of dite):

Uso dell’indicativo presente

The present indicative is used when the action:

1. Takes place habitually:

D’estate di solito vado in vacanza.
In the summer I usually go on vacation.

2. Is taking place at the moment of speaking:

– Che fai?              – Vado al mare.
  What are you doing?   I am going to the beach.

3. Has a future meaning (when the action is considered certain):

Quest’estate studio in Italia.
This summer I’ll be studying in Italy.

4. With da and a time expression to indicate an action or state that began in the past and continues in the present. It indicates for how long or since when something has been going on. Da expresses both for and since:

– Da quanto tempo studi qui?
  How long have you been studying here?
          – Studio qui da un anno.
            I’ve been studying here for one year.

– Da quanto tempo conosci Lucia?
  How long have you know Lucia?  
          – Conosco Lucia da molto tempo.
            I’ve known Lucia for a long time.

– Da quanto tempo non vai in ferie?
How long has it been since you have taken a vacation?
          – Non vado in ferie dall’anno scorso.
            I have not taken a vacation since last year.

• • There are other ways of expressing how long or since when something has been going on:

– Quanto tempo è che studi qui?   
         – È un anno che studio qui.
         – Sono due anni che studio qui.
         – È da un anno/due anni che studio qui.
         – È da agosto che studio qui.