Easy Learning Italian Grammar (2011)
VERBS
3. The present simple tense
1 How to make the present simple tense of regular –are verbs
Verbs that have an infinitive ending in –are, such as parlare, abitare and studiare have a particular pattern of endings.
To make the present simple tense of regular –are verbs take off the –are ending to get the stem of the verb.
Infinitive |
Meaning |
Stem (without –are) |
parlare |
to speak |
parl- |
abitare |
to live |
abit- |
studiare |
to study |
studi- |
Then add the correct ending for the person you’re talking about.
Here are the present simple endings for regular –are verbs:
Present simple endings |
Present simple of parlare |
Meaning: to speak |
|
–o |
(io) parlo |
I speak/am speaking |
|
–i |
(tu) parli |
You speak/are speaking |
|
–a |
(lui/lei) parla |
he/she/it speaks/is speaking |
|
–iamo |
(noi) parliamo |
we speak/are speaking |
|
–ate |
(voi) parlate |
You speak/are speaking |
|
–ano |
(loro) parlano |
they speak/are speaking |
|
Parli inglese? |
Do you speak English? |
||
Chi parla? |
Who’s speaking? |
||
Parlano bene italiano. |
They speak good Italian. |
||
Tip
When you are talking about a male, a female or a thing, or are using lei as the polite word for you, you use the same verb form.
For more information on How to say ‘you’ in Italian, see page 42.
Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.
Parla italiano lui? |
Does he speak Italian? |
Lei parla bene inglese, ma lui no. |
She speaks good English, but he doesn’t. |
Loro non parlano mai. |
They never speak. |
When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.
Vedi l’autobus? – Sì, arriva. |
Can you see the bus? – yes, it’s coming. |
Vuole queste? – No, costano troppo. |
Do you want these? – No, they cost too much. |
For more information on Subject pronouns, see page 41.
Key points
If you take the –are ending off the infinitive of a regular verb you get the stem.
you add one of these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –a, –iamo, –ate or –ano.
you only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.
2 How to make the present simple tense of regular –ere verbs
Verbs that have an infinitive ending in –ere, such as credere, ricevere and ripetere have their own pattern of endings.
To make the present simple tense of regular –ere verbs take off the –ere ending to get the stem and then add the correct ending for the person you’re talking about.
Infinitive |
Meaning |
Stem (without –ere) |
credere |
to believe |
cred- |
ricevere |
to receive |
ricev- |
ripetere |
to repeat |
ripet- |
The io, tu and noi endings you add to the stem of –ere verbs are the same as –are verb endings. The other endings are different.
Here are the present simple endings for regular –ere verbs:
Present simple endings |
Present simple of credere |
Meaning: to believe |
|
–o |
(io) credo |
I believe |
|
–i |
(tu) credi |
You believe |
|
–e |
(lui/lei) crede |
he/she believes |
|
–iamo |
(noi) crediamo |
we believe |
|
–ete |
(voi) credete |
You believe |
|
–ono |
(loro) credono |
they believe |
|
Non ci credo. |
I don’t believe it. |
||
Credi ai fantasmi? |
Do you believe in ghosts? |
||
Lo credono tutti. |
They all believe it. |
||
Tip
When you are talking about a male, a female or a thing, or are using lei as the polite word for you, you use the same verb form.
Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.
Lui non ci crede. |
He doesn’t believe it. |
Lei crede ai fantasmi, io no. |
She believes in ghosts, I don’t. |
Loro lo credono tutti. |
They all believe it. |
When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.
La minestra? Non sa di nulla. |
The soup? It doesn’t taste of anything. |
Le piante? Crescono bene. |
The plants? They’re growing well. |
For more information on Subject pronouns, see page 41.
Tip
Remember that you never use a pronoun in Italian to translate it at the beginning of a sentence.
Dipende. |
It depends. |
Piove. |
It’s raining. |
Key points
If you take the –ere ending off the infinitive of a regular verb you get the stem.
you add one of these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –e, –iamo, –ete or –ono.
you only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.
3 How to make the present simple tense of regular –ire verbs
Most verbs that have an infinitive ending in –ire, such as finire (meaning to finish), pulire (meaning to clean) and capire (meaning to understand) follow one pattern of endings in the present. Some common verbs such as dormire and servire have a different pattern.
To make the present simple tense of all –ire verbs take off the –ire ending to get the stem of the verb.
Infinitive |
Meaning |
Stem (without –ire) |
finire |
to finish |
fin- |
pulire |
to clean |
pul- |
capire |
to understand |
cap- |
dormire |
to sleep |
dorm- |
servire |
to serve |
serv- |
Here are the present simple endings for regular –ire verbs:
Present simple endings |
Present simple of finire |
Meaning: to finish |
|
–isco |
(io) finisco |
I finish/am finishing |
|
–isci |
(tu) finisci |
You finish/are finishing |
|
–isce |
(lui/lei) finisce |
he/she/it finishes/is finishing |
|
(lei/Lei) finisce |
You finish/are finishing |
||
–iamo |
(noi) finiamo |
we finish/are finishing |
|
–ite |
(voi) finite |
You finish/are finishing |
|
–iscono |
(loro) finiscono |
they finish/are finishing |
|
Il film finisce alle dieci. |
The film finishes at ten. |
||
Finiscono il lavoro. |
They’re finishing the work. |
||
Non pulisco mai la macchina. |
I never clean the car. |
||
Preferisci l’altro? |
Do you prefer the other one? |
||
Non capiscono. |
They don’t understand. |
||
Note that in Italian there’s often no need to use a subject pronoun such as io (meaning I) or tu (meaning you) because the verb ending makes it clear who is doing the action. However, when you’re talking about people you can use the pronouns lui, lei or loro with the verb for the sake of emphasis or to make things clearer.
Lui non pulisce mai la macchina. |
He never cleans the car. |
Lei mi capisce sempre. |
She always understands me. |
Loro preferiscono l’altro. |
They prefer the other one. |
When you’re talking about things you ALWAYS use the verb by itself, with no pronoun.
Il primo treno? – Parte alle cinque. |
The first train? It goes at five. |
Le lezioni quando finiscono? – |
When do lessons finish? |
Finiscono alle quattro. |
They finish at four. |
Some common –ire verbs do not add –isc– to the stem. The most important ones are dormire (meaning to sleep), servire (meaning to serve), aprire (meaning to open), partire (meaning to leave), sentire (meaning to hear) and soffrire (meaning to suffer).
The endings of these verbs are as follows:
Present simple endings |
Present simple of dormire |
Meaning: to sleep |
–o |
(io) dormo |
I sleep/am sleeping |
–i |
(tu) dormi |
You sleep/are sleeping |
–e |
(lui/lei) dorme |
he/she/it sleeps/is sleeping |
(lei/Lei) dorme |
You sleep/are sleeping |
|
–iamo |
(noi) dormiamo |
we sleep/are sleeping |
–ite |
(voi) dormite |
You sleep/are sleeping |
–ono |
(loro) dormono |
they sleep/are sleeping |
Note that these endings are the same as –ere verb endings, except for the second person plural (voi).
Dormo sempre bene. |
I always sleep well. |
A che cosa serve? |
What’s it for? |
Quando partite? |
When are you leaving? |
Soffrono molto. |
They are suffering a lot. |
Tip
When you are talking about a male, a female or a thing, or are using lei as the polite word for you, you use the same verb form.
Key points
Take the –ire ending off the infinitive of a regular verb to get the stem.
For most –ire verbs the endings you add to the stem are: –isco, –isci, –isce, –iamo, –ite or –iscono.
A few common –ire verbs add these endings to the stem: –o, –i, –e, –iamo, –ite, –ono.
you only use a pronoun with the verb for emphasis or to be specially clear, but only when talking about people.
4 Infinitives that end in –rre
All regular verbs have infinitives ending in –are, -ere, or –ire.
A few common irregular verbs have infinitives ending in –rre. For example:
comporre |
to compose |
condurre |
to lead |
porre |
to put |
produrre |
to produce |
proporre |
to propose |
ridurre |
to reduce |
supporre |
to suppose |
tradurre |
to translate |
Here are the present simple forms of comporre:
Present simple of comporre |
Meaning: to compose |
|
(io) |
compongo |
I compose/I am composing |
(tu) |
componi |
You compose/you are composing |
(lui/lei) |
compone |
he/she/it composes/is composing |
(lei/Lei) |
compone |
You compose/are composing |
(noi) |
componiamo |
we compose/are composing |
(voi) |
componete |
You compose/are composing |
(loro) |
compongono |
they compose/are composing |
Here are the present simple forms of produrre:
Present simple of produrre |
Meaning: to produce |
|
(io) |
produco |
I produce/I am producing |
(tu) |
produci |
You produce/you are producing |
(lui/lei) |
produce |
he/she/it produces/is producing |
(noi) |
produciamo |
we produce/are producing |
(voi) |
producete |
You produce/are producing |
(loro) |
producono |
they produce/are producing |
The present tense of all verbs ending in –porre follow the pattern of comporre, and all verbs ending in –durre follow the pattern of produrre.
5 Where to put the stress when saying the infinitive
When you say the infinitives of –are and –ire verbs the stress goes on the a, or i of the ending:
Non vuole parlare. |
He doesn’t want to speak. |
Non riesco a dormire. |
I can’t sleep. |
When you say the infinitive of most –ere verbs the stress goes on the syllable that comes before the ending.
Devono vendere la casa. |
They’ve got to sell their house. |
Può ripetere? |
Could you repeat that? |
However, there are a number of very important irregular –ere verbs which have the stress on the first e of the ending.
–ere verb |
Meaning |
avere |
to have |
cadere |
to fall |
dovere |
to have to |
persuadere |
to persuade |
potere |
to be able |
rimanere |
to remain |
vedere |
to see |
Fa’ attenzione a non cadere. |
Mind you don’t fall. |
Non puoi avere il mio. |
You can’t have mine. |
For more information on the Infinitive, see page 138.
6 How to make the present simple tense of common irregular verbs
There are many verbs that do not follow the usual patterns. These include some very common and important verbs such as avere (meaning to have), fare(meaning to do or to make) and andare (meaning to go).
Here are the present simple forms of avere:
Present simple of avere |
Meaning: to have |
||
(io) |
ho |
I have/have got |
|
(tu) |
hai |
You have |
|
(lui/lei) |
ha |
he/she/it has |
|
(noi) |
abbiamo |
we have |
|
(voi) |
avete |
You have |
|
(loro) |
hanno |
they have |
|
Ho due sorelle. |
I’ve got two sisters. |
||
Hai abbastanza soldi? |
Have you got enough money? |
||
Abbiamo tempo. |
We’ve got time. |
||
Hanno i capelli biondi. |
They have blonde hair. |
||
Here are the present simple forms of fare:
Present simple of fare |
Meaning: to do, to make |
|
(io) |
faccio |
I do/am doing, I make/am making |
(tu) |
fai |
You do/are doing, you make/are making |
(lui/lei) |
fa |
he/she/it does/is doing, he/she/it makes/is making |
(noi) |
facciamo |
we do/are doing, we make/are making |
(voi) |
fate |
You do/are doing, you make/are making |
(loro) |
fanno |
they do/are doing, they make/are making |
Faccio troppi errori. |
I make too many mistakes. |
|
Cosa fai sta sera? |
What are you doing this evening? |
|
Fa caldo. |
It’s hot. |
|
Fanno quello che possono. |
They’re doing what they can. |
Here are the present simple forms of andare:
Present simple of andare |
Meaning: to go |
||
(io) |
vado |
I go/am going |
|
(tu) |
vai |
You go/are going |
|
(lui/lei) |
va |
he/she/it goes/is going |
|
(noi) |
andiamo |
we go/are going |
|
(voi) |
andate |
You go/are going |
|
(loro) |
vanno |
they go/are going |
|
Ci vado spesso. |
I often go there. |
||
Dove vai? |
Where are you going? |
||
Va bene. |
That’s okay. |
||
Vanno tutti al concerto. |
They’re all going to the concert. |
||
For other irregular verbs in the present simple tense, see Verb tables in the supplement.
7 How to use the present simple tense in Italian
The present simple tense is often used in Italian in the same way as in English, but there are also some important differences.
As in English, you use the Italian present simple to talk about:
things that are generally true
La frutta fa bene. |
Fruit is good for you. |
current situations
Vivono in Francia. |
They live in France. |
what people and things usually do
Litigano sempre. |
They always quarrel. |
Si blocca spesso. |
fixed arrangements
Comincia domani. |
It starts tomorrow. |
Unlike in English, the Italian present simple is used to talk about:
what is happening right now
Arrivo! |
I’m coming! |
Non mangi niente. |
You’re not eating anything. |
what you are going to do
È rotto, lo butto via. |
It’s broken, I’m going to throw it away. |
Ci penso io. |
I’ll see to it. |
predictions
Se fai così lo rompi. |
If you do that you’ll break it. |
offers
Pago io. |
I’ll pay. |
In English the perfect tense is used to say how long someone has been doing something, or how long something has been happening. In Italian you use da and the present simple tense for this kind of sentence.
Aspetto da tre ore. |
I’ve been waiting for three hours. |
Da quanto tempo studi l’italiano? |
How long have you been learning Italian? |
For more information on the use of tenses with da, see page 174.
Key points
The present simple tense in Italian is used as in English, and has a few additional uses.
Use the present simple with da to talk about how long something has been going on.