Hi everyone, this is Mara from MosaLingua. Welcome to our Italian grammar hacks
series to learn Italian quickly.
Today's topic is how to use the present tense.
Learning the present is the best way to start speaking a language right away.
First, let’s look at some examples of the present.
"Io studio l'italiano" (I study Italian)
"io mangio una pizza" (I eat a pizza) "io leggo un libro" (I read a book).
Did you notice that in these 3 sentences, the first person of the verb always ends with a -o?
In Italian, there are 3 types of verbs: ones whose infinitive ends in -are,
ones whose infinitive ends in -ere and ones whose infinitive ends in -ire.
To conjugate these verbs using their infinitive form,
you just have to change the last part of the word, called the "desinenza" (desinence, or ending).
The nice thing is that very often these endings are the same for all 3
types of verbs, so memorizing them won’t be difficult.
Below you’ll find all the details about learning how to memorize verb conjugations.
For now I suggest that you focus on the first person (io),
the second person (tu), and the third person (lui/lei). Let’s look at some
examples of these three types of verbs. First, let's conjugate a verb
ending in -are. For the verb imparare (to learn): "io imparo l'italiano", "tu impari l'italiano", "lui/lei
impara l'italiano". For our second conjugation, we'll take a verb ending in -ere.
For the verb leggere (to read): "io leggo un libro", "tu leggi un libro",
"lui/lei legge un libro". And for our third conjugation, we'll take a verb that ends in -ire.
For the verb partire (to leave): "io parto domani", "tu parti domani",
"lui/lei parte domani". And now let's talk about some hacks to make your life easier
when it comes to verbs. Most of the time, you will use the first and second
person of a verb, that is "io" and "tu". The good news is that first and
second person work the same way for all the 3 kinds of verbs,
as you may have noticed. The first person plural,
"noi", is also the same for every case. Here are some examples:
"noi leggiamo" (we read), "noi partiamo" (we leave), "noi scriviamo" (we write).
So, to sum that all up, persons that
you'll need to put in a bit more effort to memorize are "lui/lei", "voi", and "loro".
Only what we call "first-conjugation" verbs, those that end in -are, have
a different vowel for the third person singular, "lui/lei", and third person plural,
"loro". The second and third types of verbs stay the same.
Examples: "lei lavora", "loro lavorano". The other two
conjugations: "lui legge", "loro leggono", and similarly
"lei parte", "loro partono". "Voi", second person plural,
is different for every conjugation but it is seldom used. With these tips,
learning conjugations will be much easier. Remember that with these
three forms alone you can communicate in many situations.
I still have some useful hacks for you. In Italian, you cannot
put the subject in your sentence (io/tu lei/il cane/il gatto and son on),
while in many other languages, like English and French, it is mandatory.
The third person also allow you to speak formally when you don't know someone well.
In Italian it’s called “dare del lei” (to address somebody as lei).
So you can say “lei impara l'italiano?” Or “lei
parte oggi?” Easy, right? Of course there are some irregular verbs, too, but
we’ll see later that there are some recurring patterns
that make them easier to learn. In another video I’ll teach you the
most useful irregular verbs to know. The present is the best way to
start talking. If you don’t remember how to conjugate a verb just use
the infinitive, your goal is to transfer a message. If I say “io
andare al cinema di pomeriggio,” the sentence is grammatically incorrect but people
will get the message all the same and that is what matters. Don't give up!
If you take it one step at a time, practicing and speaking as much as possible,
you’ll be able to learn and remember all the verbs and their conjugations. Use all of the
resources you have. They’ll increase over time and you’ll see that
in no time you’ll know how to use the present
perfectly. Thanks a lot for watching this video.
If you want to know more about how to learn and improve your
Italian, see below. And if you haven't yet,
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Alla prossima, buon apprendimento!