Professor Dave here, let’s learn about the modal verbs.
In Italian, there are certain verbs called verbi servili.
They have this name because they actually serve the verb that follows them.
We use these in English when we say things like: you have to sleep.
To sleep is in the form of the infinitive, so it doesn’t give any specifics about who
is sleeping or when.
But you can find that information easily in “you have to”.
It is you that we are talking about, and the time is now, because you have is in the present tense.
We could change the action to refer to the past by saying “you had to”, or the future
by saying “you will have to”.
In all cases, these words serve the verb “to sleep”.
Let’s look at the same sentence in Italian.
Devi is from the verb dovere.
This represents the idea of necessity, as in I must, or I have to.
There is also potere, which represents the idea of ability, as in I am able to, or I can.
Lastly there is volere, which represents the idea of will, as in I want to.
These verbs are all highly irregular, and must be memorized, so let’s go through the
forms for all three.
Some of these may seem strange, but you will get used to them through repetition, so let’s
try some examples.
Notice that in this sentence there are three ideas and two infinitives.
The subject is clarified in io voglio, non posso, and devo, which are all in the present
tense and first person singular, while the specific meaning of necessity, will, or ability
is added by the infinitives they precede.
Let’s try a few more.
Makes sense, right?
If so, let’s check comprehension.