意大利语现在时

意大利语现在时

The Italian present tense (presente) is happening right now. It's a simple tense —that is, the verb form consists of one word only. The present tense of a regular Italian verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem.

The present tense of a regular -are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem (-o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano). See the table below for a sample conjugation of amare (to love). PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF AMARE (TO LOVE)

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I

(io) amo (I love)

(noi) amiamo (we love)

II

(tu) ami (you love, familiar)

(voi) amate (you love, familiar)

III

(Lei) ama (you love, formal)

(Loro) amano (you love, formal)

(lui/lei) ama (he/she loves)

(loro) amano (they love)

The infinitive of first-conjugation Italian verbs (those ending in -are) and the conjugated forms of the present tense are pronounced like most Italian words: the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. The one exception is the third person plural form amano, which is pronounced AH-mah-noh, with stress falling on the first syllable. A few first-conjugation verbs are listed in the following table. COMMON FIRST-CONJUGATION VERBS

accendere

to put out, extinguish

arrivare

to arrive

ascoltare

to listen

aspettare

to wait

ballare

to dance

camminare

to walk

cantare

to sing

dimenticare

to forget

guidare

to drive

imparare

to learn

insegnare

to teach

lavorare

to work

nuotare

to swim

parlare

to speak

pranzare

to dine, to have lunch

suonare

to play (a musical instrument)

telefonare

to telephone

visitare

to visit

Italian verbs with infinitives ending in -ere are called second-conjugation (seconda

coniugazione) or -ere verbs. The present tense of a regular -ere verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono) to the stem. For an example on how to conjugate a regular second-conjugation verb, take a look the following table.

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SCRIVERE (TO WRITE)

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I

(io) scrivo (I write)

(noi) scriviamo (we write)

II

(tu) scrivi (you write, familiar)

(voi) scrivete (you write, familiar)

III

(Lei) scrive (you write, formal)

(Loro) scrivono (you write, formal)

(lui/lei) scrive (he/she writes)

(loro) scrivono (they write)

Second-conjugation (-ere) verbs account for approximately one-quarter of all Italian verbs. Although many have some sort of irregular structure, there are also many regular verbs (see the following table for examples) which are conjugated in the same way as scrivere.

COMMON SECOND-CONJUGATION VERBS

accendere

to put out, extinguish

battere

to beat, to hit

cadere

to fall

chiedere

to ask

conoscere

to know