Verbs: Present Tense

01

When to Use the Present Tense

The present tense is used to describe several types of situations.

1. Actions happening at the moment of speaking.

This is equivalent to the English present progressive ("-ing").

• Cosa leggi?

  What are you reading?

• Scrivo un messaggio a mia madre.

  I'm writing a message to my mother.

2. Habits, routines, and repeated actions.

This is for actions that happen regularly.

• Prendo il caffè ogni mattina.

  I have coffee every morning.

• Andiamo in palestra il lunedì e il mercoledì.

  We go to the gym on Mondays and Wednesdays.

3. General truths and scientific facts.

These are statements that are always true.

• La terra gira intorno al sole.

  The earth revolves around the sun.

• I gatti non amano l'acqua.

  Cats don't like water.

4. Events in the near future.

In informal speech, the present tense is often used for planned future events, especially when a time expression (like "tomorrow" or "tonight") is included.

• Domani partiamo per le vacanze.

  Tomorrow we leave for vacation.

• Stasera ceniamo al ristorante.

  Tonight we're having dinner at the restaurant.

02

Forming the Present Tense

To form the present tense of regular verbs, you start with the infinitive (the "to" form of the verb). Infinitives end in one of three ways: -are, -ere, or -ire.

The process is:

1. Remove the infinitive ending (-are, -ere, or -ire) to find the verb's stem.

2. Add the correct present tense ending to the stem, depending on the subject.

03

Regular -ARE Verbs

For verbs ending in -are, like parlare (to speak), you remove -are to get the stem parl- and add the following endings:

• io (I): -o (parlo)
• tu (you, informal): -i (parli)
• lui/lei/Lei (he/she/you, formal): -a (parla)
• noi (we): -iamo (parliamo)
• voi (you all): -ate (parlate)
• loro (they): -ano (parlano)

• Lavoro in un grande ufficio.

  I work in a big office.

• Voi guardate troppa televisione.

  You all watch too much television.

Spelling Changes with -CARE and -GARE Verbs

To maintain the hard 'c' (/k/) or 'g' (/g/) sound, verbs ending in -care (like cercare, to look for) and -gare (like pagare, to pay) add an -h- in the tu and noi forms.

• Tu cerchi le chiavi?

  Are you looking for the keys?

• Noi paghiamo il conto.

  We are paying the bill.

04

Regular -ERE Verbs

For verbs ending in -ere, like vendere (to sell), you remove -ere to get the stem vend- and add these endings:

• io: -o (vendo)
• tu: -i (vendi)
• lui/lei/Lei: -e (vende)
• noi: -iamo (vendiamo)
• voi: -ete (vendete)
• loro: -ono (vendono)

• Prendiamo il treno delle otto.

  We are taking the eight o'clock train.

• Lui non risponde mai al telefono.

  He never answers the phone.

05

Regular -IRE Verbs

Verbs ending in -ire fall into two main groups.

Group 1: Standard -IRE Verbs

These verbs, like dormire (to sleep) and partire (to leave), follow a simple pattern.

• io: -o (dormo)
• tu: -i (dormi)
• lui/lei/Lei: -e (dorme)
• noi: -iamo (dormiamo)
• voi: -ite (dormite)
• loro: -ono (dormono)

• Apriamo la porta.

  We open the door.

• I bambini dormono molto.

  The children sleep a lot.

Group 2: -IRE Verbs with -ISC-

This is a very common pattern. These verbs add the infix -isc- to the stem for the io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, and loro forms. The noi and voi forms are conjugated like Group 1 verbs. A common example is finire (to finish).

• io: -isco (finisco)
• tu: -isci (finisci)
• lui/lei/Lei: -isce (finisce)
• noi: -iamo (finiamo)
• voi: -ite (finite)
• loro: -iscono (finiscono)

There is no rule to know which verbs take -isc-; they must be memorized. Other common verbs in this group include capire (to understand) and preferire (to prefer).

• Non capisco questa parola.

  I don't understand this word.

• Loro preferiscono il tè.

  They prefer tea.

06

Omitting Subject Pronouns

Because the verb ending already specifies who is performing the action, the subject pronoun (io, tu, noi, etc.) is usually dropped in everyday speech. It is only included for emphasis or to avoid ambiguity.

• Parlo italiano.

  I speak Italian. (The ending -o makes "io" clear)

• Andiamo al cinema?

  Shall we go to the cinema? (The ending -iamo makes "noi" clear)

• Io lavoro qui, ma lei lavora in centro.

  I work here, but she works downtown. (Pronouns used for contrast)