Present tense
|
verbs |
PARLARE |
PRENDERE |
DORMIRE |
CAPIRE |
|
io |
PARLO |
PRENDO |
DORMO |
CAPISCO |
|
|
I speak |
I take |
I sleep |
I understand |
|
tu |
PARLI |
PRENDI |
DORMI |
CAPISCI |
|
|
You speak |
You take |
You sleep |
You understand |
|
lui, lei |
PARLA |
PRENDE |
DORME |
CAPISCE |
|
|
He / she speaks |
He / she takes |
He / she sleeps |
He/she understands |
|
noi |
PARLIAMO |
PRENDIAMO |
DORMIAMO |
CAPIAMO |
|
|
We speak |
We take |
We sleep |
We understand |
|
voi |
PARLATE |
PRENDETE |
DORMITE |
CAPITE |
|
|
You speak |
You take |
You sleep |
You understand |
|
loro |
PARLANO |
PRENDONO |
DORMONO |
CAPISCONO |
|
|
They speak |
They take |
They sleep |
They understand |
negative: (io) non parlo
Present tense of reflexive verbs
The same endings apply for the reflexive verbs, but the reflexive pronoun precedes the verb. It is not necessary to express the subject pronouns, of course.
|
Lavarsi – to wash oneself |
More examples of reflexive verbs |
||
|
(io) mi lavo |
I wash myself |
grattarsi |
to scratch oneself |
|
(tu) ti lavi |
you wash yourself |
ammazzarsi |
to kill oneself |
|
(lui) si lava |
he washes himself |
vestirsi |
to dress oneself |
|
(lei) si lava |
she washes herself |
esprimersi |
to express oneself |
|
(noi) ci laviamo |
we wash ourselves |
svegliarsi |
to wake up |
|
(voi) vi lavate |
you wash yourselves |
bruciarsi |
to get burned |
|
(loro) si lavano |
they wash themselves |
ricordarsi |
to remember |
Notes on the formation
- 1st conjugation - vowel -a (stressed) in the infinitive
- 2nd conjugation - vowel -e (in the majority of verbs unstressed) in the infinitive
- 3rd conjugation - vowel -i (stressed) in the infinitive
- the accent (the underlined vowel) is normally on the second syllable (the syllables are counted from the right, not from the left, so the second syllable of the verb par-lo is par)
- in the 3rd person plural, the accent is on the third syllable – par-la-no, pren-do-no, dor-mo-no, ca-pis-co-no
- the use of the subject pronouns is not obligatory since each person is distinguished by the ending
- 2nd person singular is used for informal addressing
- 3rd person singular is used for formal addressing
- 2nd person plural is used for addressing more than one person
for more information on forms of address click on Properties of Italian verbs
The use of the present tense
The present tense in Italian stands for present simple, present continuous, or present perfect continuous in English.
Compare:
|
Italian: |
English: |
|
Ti aspetto da venti minuti. |
I have been waiting for you for twenty minutes. |
|
Scriviamo un test la prossima settimana. |
We are writing a test next week. |
|
Di solito esco il sabato. |
I usually go out on Saturdays. |