Intermediate Italian Level 1
Unit 1 - Review #2
Present Tense (regular)
In this lesson we review the conjugation of Italian verbs in the Present Tense. We will never
reach a higher level of fluency if we are not 100% confident with regular verbs in the Present
Tense.
The good news is that this is very achievable and, with a little practice, there won’t be a regular
verb you can’t use quickly and correctly!
When to use the Present Tense in Italian
- For general statements (sono italiano, l’Italia è bella)
- When English uses the continuous form (she is speaking to Marco > lei parla con Marco)
- For future statements (l’anno prossimo andiamo in Italia)
- In narrations (... poi Pinocchio incontra un gatto e una volpe)
Write some sample sentences
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
Italian Verb Groups
There are three main groups of verbs in Italian, identified by their ending:
- Verbs ending in -ARE
- Verbs ending in -ERE
- Verbs ending in -IRE
Write the Infinitive form of a few regular verbs from the three groups
It is important to remember to use the conjugated verbs when they have a subject.
Conjugating means changing the verb so that it is “personalizes” for the subject used.
Similar to the Present Tense of the English verb TO BE (I am, you are, she is - three distinct forms
for three different subjects), in Italian, each subject has its unique conjugated form of a verb.
I am 100% sure you already know this… but do you always apply your knowledge when speaking
Italian? Don’t worry, it’s normal to forget this at times, that is why we are reviewing it!
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
Italian Subject Pronouns
“Person” Subject Pronoun
First person singular
io used by the speaker
Second person singular
tu used when addressing a friend
Third person singular
lui used when the subject is a male
Third person singular
lei used when the subject is a female
Third person singular
? used when the subject is not human
Third person singular
Lei use when addressing a stranger
First person plural
noi used when the speaker and
someone else are the subject
Second person plural
voi used when addressing more than
one person
Third person plural
loro used when the subject is plural and
neither the speaker nor the listener
are part of it
Third person plural
? used when the subject is plural and
not human
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
How to conjugate Italian verbs
A common thing we do in Italian to conjugate a verb is take the verb in its Infinitive form
(dictionary entry), remove the ending (-ARE/-ERE/-IRE) and then attach subject and tense specific
endings to what is left (known as the stem of the verb).
INFINITIVE: PARLARE
ENDING: -ARE
STEM: PARL-
This is how most Italian tenses start being conjugated, so it’s good to be very quick and doing
this mentally!
Write the stem of all the verbs you wrote down in the previous box.
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
Group Specific Endings for Present Tense
“Person” Subject -ARE -ERE -IRE
Pronoun
First person
singular io -o -o -o
Second
person tu -i -i -i
singular
Third person
singular Lui / -a -e -e
lei /
Lei /
?
First person
plural noi -iamo -iamo -iamo
Second
person voi -ate -ete -ite
plural
Third person
plural loro / -ano -ono -ono
?
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
Now write down the Present Tense of the following verbs:
AFFITTARE (to rent) LUCIDARE (to polish) AZZERARE (to reset)
DECIDERE (to decide) RICEVERE (to receive) SVENDERE (to sell out)
DORMIRE (to sleep) COPRIRE (to cover) SENTIRE (to feel / to hear)
Did you have to go back to the previous page to look up the ending? If so, you really need to
spend a full day drilling down this conjugation! Don’t worry, it’s not punishment. It’s being smart!
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
General Tips
- Most Italian verbs belong to the -ARE group
- Most useful -ERE verbs are irregular
- Many -IRE verbs are irregular (“ISC” verbs)
This means that, in case you are not sure what group a verb belongs to (maybe you heard it
already conjugated by an Italian), it is safer and wiser to assume the verb is an -ARE verb, and
conjugate it accordingly. You might be wrong, for sure, but the chances of being right are much
higher!
The Italian word for IT is…
We don’t have it. We used to use ESSO / ESSA but now those forms are obsolete. Do not use
them please pr trust who tells you you should!
In most cases, Italians will just use the verb in the third person, without worrying about the
subject. We do it for people, why not do it for objects, right?
Other times, when we really need to be specific, we might use expressions like QUESTO /
QUESTA or name the object itself!
Your Notes
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Intermediate Italian Level 1
Conjugated Verbs
AFFITTARE (to rent) LUCIDARE (to polish) AZZERARE (to reset)
io affitto io lucido* Io azzero
tu affitti tu lucidi tu azzeri
lei/lui/Lei affitta lei/lui/Lei lucida lei/lui/Lei azzera
noi affittiamo noi lucidiamo noi azzeriamo
voi affittate voi lucidate voi azzerate
loro affittano loro lucidano loro azzerano
DECIDERE (to decide) RICEVERE (to receive) SVENDERE (to sell out)
io decido io ricevo io svendo
tu decidi tu ricevi tu svendi
lei/lui/Lei decide lei/lui/Lei riceve lei/lui/Lei svende
noi decidiamo noi riceviamo noi svendiamo
voi decidete voi ricevete voi svendete
loro decidono loro ricevono loro svendono
DORMIRE (to sleep) COPRIRE (to cover) SENTIRE (to feel / to hear)
io dormo Io copro Io sento
tu dormi tu copri tu senti
lei/lui/Lei dorme lei/lui/Lei copre lei/lui/Lei sente
noi dormiamo noi copriamo noi sentiamo
voi dormite voi coprite voi sentite
loro dormono loro coprono loro sentono
The verb LUCIDARE has the stress very early in the word. We say:
LUcido, LUcidi, LUcida
Then:
luciDIAmo, luciDAte
And finally:
LUcidano
