Page 26 - verbo italiano

16 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

The Italian present tense accompanied by the preposition da + “a time expression”
corresponds to the English present perfect tense (“I have worked,” “I have been
working for/since” + time expression). It is used to
• Express an action or state that began in the past and continues in the
present. Present tense + da + time expression to express length of time:

Lavoro qui da dieci anni. I have been working here for ten years.
Abitano a Roma dal 2001. They have been living in Rome since
2001.

• Ask how long something has been going on: da quanto tempo or quanto
tempo è che + present:
Da quanto tempo studi italiano? How long have you been studying Italian?
Studio italiano da un anno. I have been studying Italian for one year.

Regular forms

The present tense of a regular verb is formed by dropping the infinitive endings –
are, –ere, and –ire and adding the appropriate ending (see Table 7) to the remaining
stem. Note that, unlike English, in Italian the ending is different for each person.
In the present indicative, –ire verbs fall into two groups. The endings are the same
but in the second pattern –isc– is inserted between the stem and the ending in all
forms but noi and voi.

Table 7 The Present Tense of Regular Verbs
Drop – are –ere –ire (1) –ire (2) (–isc)
(io) -o -o -o -isco
(tu) -i -i - i -isci
(lui/lei/Lei) -a -e -e -isce
(noi) -iamo -iamo -iamo -iamo
(voi) -ate -ete -ite -ite
(loro) -ano -ono -ono -iscono

For example:
parlare: parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano
vivere: vivo, vivi, vive, viviamo, vivete, vivono
dormire: dormo, dormi, dorme, dormiamo, dormite, dormono
capire: capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono

Here are some examples of verbs conjugated in present tense:
Tu parli italiano. You speak Italian.
Lei vive a Roma. She lives in Rome.
Voi dormite molto. You sleep a lot.