Taking Action in Italian

Using Regular ARE Verbs

What are Infinitives?

In English, infinitives are the wordsTo + a verb, such as:

to play

to read

to study

What is conjugation?

Conjugation is the act of changing an infinitive to a verb used with a subject.

For example:

To speak We speak

Parlare Noi parliamo

Conjugating Italian Verbs

Step 1:

Find the stem of the verb, using the following formula:

Infinitive – ARE = Stem

Parlare – ARE = Parl

Conjugating Italian Verbs

Step 2:

Bring down the stem to each pronoun.

io parl noi parl

tu parl voi parl

lui, lei, Lei parl loro, Loro parl

Conjugating Italian Verbs

Step 3:

Add the correct endings to the stems

io parlo noi parliamo

tu parli voi parlate

lui, lei, Lei parla loro, Loro parlano

Important points to remember

• Do NOT translate the word do in Italian verbs it’s already understood:

tu parli- you speak, you do speak,

you are speaking

• When making sentences negative, put the word non directly in front of the verb:

tu non parli- you don’t speak, you are not speaking

Important Points to Remember

• When writing questions, the verb comes before the subject:

Parli tu l’italiano?

Do you speak Italian?

Un po’ di prattica!

Translate the following in your notes!

We study French.

I travel a lot.

He explains the lesson.

They speak German.

-ERE Verbs

Examples of –ERE InfinitivesPerdere – to loseVivere – to livePrendere – to takeVedere- to seeConoscere – to knowRicevere – to receiveRispondere – to respond

Step 1: Find the STEM Remove the –ERE from the

INFINITIVE to isolate the STEMExamples: leggere legg prendere prend scrivere scriv

Step 2: Add a new ending Add a new ending to

the STEM, depending on WHO is doing the action:

Singular Plural

(I) Io -o (we) noi -iamo

(you - informal) tu -i

(you all - informal) voi -ete

(he/she) lui/lei -e

(they) loro -ono

(you-informal) Lei -e

(You all- formal) -ono

LEGGERE – To read

1. What is the STEM?LEGG

2. What are the different forms of LEGGERE?

Io leggo noi leggiamo

tu leggi voi leggete lui/lei/Lei legge

loro/Loro leggono

-IRE Verbs

Verbi -ire

• What are the –ire endings?-o -iamo

-i -ite

-e -ono What do you notice about –ire and –ere

Paragoniamo (Let’s compare!)

• Vediamo (Let’s see): -ere vs. –

ire -o -iamo -o

–iamo

-i -ete -i –ite

-e -ono -e -ono

Sono simili! (They’re similar!)• -ere and –ire endings are almost all the same EXCEPT in the “voi” form.

–ere verbs have –ete

–ire verbs have –ite

Not so fast!

Some –ire verbs add an –isc before the ending we are used to adding on.

For example : pulisco, pulisce, finisco, finisci, capisci, preferiscono…

-isc with -ire

• These are sometimes called “boot verbs” because the –isc is added into all the forms except “noi” and “voi”.

Esempio: capire – to understand

Capisco Capiamo

Capisci Capite

Capisce Capiscono

5 letter test

• Look at the –ire verb in its infinitive form. Let’s take “pulire” – “to clean”.

Start at the END of the word, on the “e”. Count back 5 letters. Do we land on a vowel?

1:e , 2:r, 3:i, 4:l, 5:u

YES!

5 letter test

• Since we landed on a vowel, we know to add in “isc” for all our forms EXCEPT noi and voi.

Pulisco Puliamo

Pulisci Pulite

Pulisce Puliscono

We still have to add our normal endings, too!