Page 16 - verbo italiano

6 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

Note the following about the use of subject pronouns and their corresponding verb
forms:
• Note that io (“I”) is not capitalized unless it begins a sentence. In case of
coordinated subjects, if a third person is conjoined with io or noi, the noi
form of the verb must be used as in the last example below:

Io abito a Firenze, e tu? I live in Florence, what about you?
Noi abitiamo a New York. We live in New York.
Io e Carlo abitiamo a Roma. Carlo and I live in Rome.

• When speaking to someone there are four ways to express the English
“you” according to how many people are being addressed and the level of
formality:
• • When addressing one person, use:
Tu and/or its corresponding verb form in an informal setting, including
relatives, friends, fellow students, children, and people with whom you
are on a first-name basis. For example:
Tu sei fantastico. You are terrific.
Lei in a formal situation for a person (male or female) you do not know
well or a person to whom you wish to show respect. The corresponding
verb form for polite form, Lei, is the third-person singular (lei), the same
as “she.” Lei means, therefore, both “you (formal)” (male or female)
and “she.” In writing the polite form, Lei is often capitalized in order to
distinguish it from lei (“she”).
Marta, anche tu studi l’italiano? Marta, do you study Italian too?
Signora Rossi, anche Lei Mrs. Rossi, do you study Italian too?
studia l’italiano?
Signor Rossi, anche Lei Mr. Rossi, do you study Italian too?
studia l’italiano?
Anche lei studia l’italiano. She, too, studies Italian.

• • When addressing two or more people, use:
Voi both in formal and informal situations.
Che cosa prendete (voi)? What are you having?
The use of Loro to address two or more people in a formal way is
restricted to extremely formal situations and is rarely used today.
• Lui and lei mean “he” and “she,” respectively. In formal literary language,
the forms egli (“he”) and ella (“she”) can be used.
The subject pronoun “it” (and the plural form “they” when the reference is
to animal and inanimate things) usually is not stated in Italian.
È vero. It is true.
I quadri di Marsha? Sono bellissimi! Marsha’s paintings? They’re beautiful!