Page 50 - verbo italiano

40 / Webster’s New World 575+ Italian Verbs

See the “Reflexive Verbs” section for details of the position of the reflexive pronoun
and the imperative.

FORMAL IMPERATIVE

The formal Lei and Loro imperative forms are the correspondending forms of pres-
ent subjunctive—for example, Venga venga! (Come in!).

parlare scrivere partire finire
(Lei) (non) parli! (non) scriva! (non) parta! (non) finisca!
(Loro) (non) parlino! (non) scrivano! (non) partano! (non) finiscano!

For the irregular forms, see the irregularities of the present subjunctive.

The negative imperative is formed by inserting non before the affirmative form.
The object and reflexive pronouns are not attached to the polite Lei and Loro
forms. Pronouns must always precede the verb both in the affirmative and nega-
tive imperative.
Dott. Berge, non si preoccupi! Dr. Berge, don’t worry!
Signora, si accomodi! Madam, take your seat!

The formal Loro imperative forms are seldom if ever used:
Prego, si accomodino, signori . . . Please, take a seat, sirs . . . what would
cosa desiderano? you like to order?

The Nonpersonal Forms

The three verb moods that do not change to agree with the subject are called modi
indefiniti or forme implicite (“nonpersonal forms”). The nonpersonal forms are:
• The infinitive (infinito), present and past
• The gerund (gerundio), present and past
• The participle (participio), present and past

The past participle has already been discussed on page 12. Because the Italian
present participle has mainly an adjective or noun value, its form has not been
included in the verb charts. The best approach is to observe that adjectives and
nouns ending in –ante and –ente may be derived from verbs.
Questa è una storia divertente. This is an amusing story.

The adjective divertente in the preceding example derives from the verb divertire
(“to amuse”).