Thursday

Quick vocab: il caffè e la Moka

Those who understand the importance of il caffè (coffee) will immediately recognize the meaning of the following expression:

l'amore vero - true love adapted from linenandlavender.net for viaoptimae.com

Nothing like getting up in the morning and realizing all you have to do is turn on the burner.  Forget the moon hitting your eye… that's amore!


Alex on www.viaoptimae.com


If we were in Italy, instead of ready to go, the tag might read montata which means "assembled" or "put together". (It's in the feminine because it refers to the stovetop coffee maker, la Moka)


Saturday

Italian present tense: -IRE verbs

Regular -IRE verbs, ISC verbs marked with asterisks by ab for viaoptimae.com


Today, we're going to look at the Simple Present Tense and in particular, -IRE verbs: 

Also from this series:  
  (1) How Italian verbs work(Intro to verbs & grammar terms)
  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs
  (3) Italian present tense: -ERE verbs



-IRE verbs are divided into two groups:

The first group is "normal":  drop the infinitive ending (-IRE) and add the present tense -IRE endings:
Present tense -IRE endings in Italian: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono; by ab for viaoptimae.com



So, if I wanted to conjugate the regular -IRE verb 'dormire' (to sleep) in the first person singular or 'io' it would look like this:


dormire -> dorm -> dormo : dormire -> dorm -> dormo : Conjugation of DORMIRE (to sleep) in Simple Present tense by ab for viaoptimae.com




Dormo 
I sleep

Dormo di lato.
I sleep on my side.


Applying the same conjugation process to all the other subjects, I end up with this chart:


Conjugating an -IRE verb with stem and endings, by ab for www.viaoptimae.com






Dormire (to sleep) Simple Present Conjugation table: io dormo,tu dormi, lui/lei dorme, noi dormiamo, voi dormite, loro dormono; by ab for viaoptimae.com



-Dormi di lato?
Do you sleep on your side?
-Sì, dormo di lato.
Yes, I sleep on my side.


-Dormono di lato?
Do they sleep on their side?
-No, dormono a pancia in giù.
No, they sleep on their stomach.

Using the above examples as clues, how would you say:  "We sleep on our side" ? ("We" is "noi", review subject pronouns if needed in: How Italian Verbs Work)

[Highlight below to reveal answer]

Dormiamo di lato.


Here are some other regular in the present tense -IRE verbs:


sentire - to sense (esp. hear)
aprire - to open
offrire - to offer


Can you write out the present tense conjugations for each?  
Present tense -IRE endings in Italian: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono; by ab for viaoptimae.com



I recommend writing out conjugations in 2x3 tables so you can refer back to them easily.  Make your own, or use Via Optimae's:

Italian present tense: -IRE verbs Worksheet, available on pages 8 and 9 of the digital Beginner's Workbook*: (with easily printable pages!)
 *not currently available on mobile devices, please try on a regular computer!

ITALIAN: Workbooks Beginner's Workbook, Part One, from Via Optimae, www.viaoptimae.com


~


You can verify your answers or look up the conjugation for any verb/tense in Word Reference's handy conjugator:
.Screenshot of Word Reference's Italian verb conjugator as seen on didattichiamo.blogspot.com.
The simple present tense is the first column of the first row labeled "presente."

~
The second group of -IRE verbs take -ISC- What does that mean?  You just add an -ISC- after the stem of the verb and before the -IRE present tense endings.  This is done for all of the subjects, except noi and voi.


So, to conjugate one of the -ISC- verbs, 'finire' in the 1st person "io", I drop the -IRE, add -ISC- and then add the "io" present tense ending "o."


finire-> fin -> finisc -> finisco How to conjugate -IRE verbs that take -ISC- by ab for viaoptimae.com

Finisco 
I finish

Finisco di lavorare presto.
I finish work early.


The same process is done for all the other subjects, except noi and voi which don't take the -ISC:



Present tense of FINIRE, shows forms that take -ISC- :  finisco, finisci, finisce, finiamo, finite, finiscono by ab for viaoptimae.com
The subjects that take -ISC- are inside the blue "boot."




-Finisci di lavorare presto?
Do you finish work early?
-Sì, finisco di lavorare presto.
Yes, I finish work early.


-Finiscono di lavorare presto?
Do they finish work early on Tuesdays?
-No, non finiscono di lavorare presto.
No, they don't finish work early.


Using the above examples as clues, how would you say:  "We finish work early." ? ("We" is "noi", review subject pronouns if needed in: How Italian Verbs Work)

[Highlight below to reveal answer]

Finiamo di lavorare presto.


Here are some other -IRE verbs that take -ISC-:


capire - to understand
pulire - to clean


Can you write out the present tense conjugations for each?  


Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if an -IRE verb takes -ISC- just by looking… You'll just have to memorize which is which… All the verbs in the image at the beginning of the post are regular— the ones marked with asterisks (*) take -ISC-.  Look them up in a dictionary if necessary and use them to practice!



Happy Conjugating!
Alex on www.viaoptimae.com


Want more conjugation practice?
Try these free online -IRE verb conjugation exercises:



Ready to move on to the next lesson in this series?
TRY:  La negazione - Negation


All lessons in the Beginner's Italian series:
  (1) How Italian verbs work(Intro to verbs & grammar terms)
  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs — CURRENT PAGE
  (5) La negazione - Negation
  (6) Ogni quanto? Quante volte? (Adverbs of frequency)
  (7) C'è & Ci sono (There is & There are)

Friday

Italian present tense: -ERE verbs

Italian -ERE verbs, all regular in present tense by ab for viaoptimae.com


Today, we're going to look at the Simple Present Tense and in particular, -ERE verbs: 

In case you missed the previous posts in this series, start there first:  
  (1) How Italian verbs work(Intro to verbs & grammar terms)
  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs




Today, we're going to look at the Simple Present Tense and in particular, -ERE verbs: 



To conjugate -ERE verbs in the simple present tense, just drop the -ERE from the infinitive form, and add one of the following endings:
 -ERE present tense verb endings: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono,  by ab for viaoptimae.com


So, if I wanted to conjugate the regular verb: 'credere' (to believe) in the first person singular or 'io' it would look like this:


credere -> cred- -> credo : CREDERE conjugated in the 1st person singular present tense by ab for viaoptimae.com



Credo 
I believe


Credo nei miracoli.
I believe in miracles.




Applying the same conjugation process to all the other subjects, I end up with this chart:

Formula for conjugating an -ERE verb in the present tense by ab for viaoptimae.com





CREDERE in present tense: credo, credi, crede, crediamo, credete, credono by ab for viaoptimae.com



-Credi nei miracoli?
Do you believe in miracles?
-Sì, credo nei miracoli.
Yes, I believe in miracles.



-Credono nei miracoli?
Do they believe in miracles?
-No, non credono nei miracoli.
No, they don't believe in miracles.



Using the above examples as clues, how would you say:  "We believe in miracles." ? ("We" is "noi", review subject pronouns if needed in: How Italian Verbs Work)

[Highlight below to reveal answer]

Crediamo nei miracoli.




Here are some other regular -ERE verbs:


prendere - to take
scrivere - to write
vivere - to live


Can you write out the present tense conjugations for each?  

 -ERE present tense verb endings: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono,  by ab for viaoptimae.com





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I recommend writing out conjugations in 2x3 tables so you can refer back to them easily.  Make your own, or use Via Optimae's:

Italian present tense: -ERE verbs Worksheet, available on pages 6 and 7 of the digital Beginner's Workbook*: (with easily printable pages!)
 *not currently available on mobile devices, please try on a regular computer!

ITALIAN: Workbooks Beginner's Workbook, Part One, from Via Optimae, www.viaoptimae.com




~


You can verify your answers or look up the conjugation for any verb/tense in Word Reference's handy conjugator:
.Screenshot of Word Reference's Italian verb conjugator as seen on didattichiamo.blogspot.com.
The simple present tense is the first column of the first row labeled "presente."
~

A note on consonant sound changes

In Italian present tense: -ARE verbs we talked about how the letter /h/ is added to certain conjugations so that the verb maintains its original consonant sound in all the forms.

-ERE verbs are a bit different, and seem to like consonant sound changes. So if you're conjugating and find that when you add the new ending, the consonant changes, it's probably correct as is. 

This change in consonant sound occurs in verbs with stems that end in the "g" or "c." Let's look at some examples:

leggere  /ˈlɛddʒere/
to read
In the infinitive, the g's are followed by the letter /e/ which means you pronounce it "soft" (like the /j/ in the English "jester").

When you conjugate it into the 1st person, you add an "o" and that changes the sound of the /g/ from "soft" to "hard" (like the /g/ in the English "go".)

For -ERE verbs, this consonant sound change is okay!  Let's look at all the forms of "leggere"


 LEGGERE present tense conjugations: leggo, leggi, legge, leggiamo, leggete, leggono by ab for viaoptimae.com




conoscere  /koˈnoʃʃere/
to know, be familiar with

In the infinitive, the /sc/ is followed by an /e/ which means you pronounce it "soft", like the "sh" in the English "share".

When you conjugate it into the 1st person, you add an "o" and that changes the sound of the /sc/ from "soft" to "hard", it becomes like the "sk" in the English  "ski".

Again, the consonant sound change happens in both the "io" and the "loro" forms:


CONOSCERE (to know) Present tense conjugation table: io conosco, tu conosci, lui/lei conosce, noi conosciamo, voi conoscete, loro conoscono; by ab for viaoptimae.com




As you can see, 'leggere' and 'conoscere' are both conjugated completely regularly. You don't need to worry about any spelling changes for them.

Full pronunciation of all present tense forms of "leggere" and "conoscere" available through RhinoSpike (Special thanks to native speaker Gabriella for doing the recording!)



That's it for now on -ERE verbs... keep practicing your conjugation until it becomes natural to you! (You can use the words in the image at the beginning of the post they're all regular!)



Happy Conjugating!
Alex on www.viaoptimae.com



Want more conjugation practice?
Try this free online -ERE verb conjugation exercise:


Ready to move on to the next lesson in this series?
All lessons in the Beginner's Italian series:
  (1) How Italian verbs work(Intro to verbs & grammar terms)
  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs — CURRENT PAGE
  (5) La negazione - Negation
  (6) Ogni quanto? Quante volte? (Adverbs of frequency)
  (7) C'è & Ci sono (There is & There are)

See also:

Frasi celebri su Via Optimae

Frasi celebri su Via Optimae
Acque del sud (To Have and Have Not) original: "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and… blow."