The Italian present tense (presente) is happening right now. It’s a simple tense—that is, the verb form consists of one word only. The present tense of a regular Italian verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem.
The present tense of a regular -are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem (-o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano). See the table below for a sample conjugation of amare (to love).
PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF AMARE (TO LOVE)
PERSON
SINGULAR
PLURAL
I
(io) amo (I love)
(noi) amiamo (we love)
II
(tu) ami (you love, familiar)
(voi) amate (you love, familiar)
III
(Lei) ama (you love, formal)
(Loro) amano (you love, formal)
(lui/lei) ama (he/she loves)
(loro) amano (they love)
The infinitive of first-conjugation Italian verbs (those ending in -are) and the conjugated forms of the present tense are pronounced like most Italian words: the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. The one exception is the third person plural form amano, which is pronounced AH-mah-noh, with stress falling on the first syllable. A few first-conjugation verbs are listed in the following table.
COMMON FIRST-CONJUGATION VERBS
accendere
to put out, extinguish
arrivare
to arrive
ascoltare
to listen
aspettare
to wait
ballare
to dance
camminare
to walk
cantare
to sing
dimenticare
to forget
guidare
to drive
imparare
to learn
insegnare
to teach
lavorare
to work
nuotare
to swim
parlare
to speak
pranzare
to dine, to have lunch
suonare
to play (a musical instrument)
telefonare
to telephone
visitare
to visit
Italian verbs with infinitives ending in -ere are called second-conjugation (seconda coniugazione) or -ere verbs. The present tense of a regular -ere verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono) to the stem. For an example on how to conjugate a regular second-conjugation verb, take a look the following table.
PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SCRIVERE (TO WRITE)
PERSON
SINGULAR
PLURAL
I
(io) scrivo (I write)
(noi) scriviamo (we write)
II
(tu) scrivi (you write, familiar)
(voi) scrivete (you write, familiar)
III
(Lei) scrive (you write, formal)
(Loro) scrivono (you write, formal)
(lui/lei) scrive (he/she writes)
(loro) scrivono (they write)
Second-conjugation (-ere) verbs account for approximately one-quarter of all Italian verbs. Although many have some sort of irregular structure, there are also many regular verbs (see the following table for examples) which are conjugated in the same way as scrivere.
COMMON SECOND-CONJUGATION VERBS
accendere
to put out, extinguish
battere
to beat, to hit
cadere
to fall
chiedere
to ask
conoscere
to know
correre
to run
credere
to believe
descrivere
to describe
eleggere
to elect
leggere
to read
mettere
to put, to place
mordere
to bite
nascere
to be born
offendere
to offend
perdere
to lose
rimanere
to remain, to stay
ridere
to laugh
rompere
to break
vendere
to sell
sopravvivere
to survive
While the infinitive forms of both first- and third-conjugation Italian verbs always have the accent on the final -are or -ire, second-conjugation verbs are often pronounced with the accent on the third-to-last syllable, as in prendere (PREHN-deh-ray).
If there are first-conjugation and second-conjugation verbs, then it stands to reason there are third-conjugation verbs (terza coniugazione)! This final group contains verbs that end in -ire in the infinitive. The present tense of a regular -ire verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono) to the resulting stem. Note that, except for the voi form, these endings are the same as for regular second-conjugation (-ere) verbs. For an example of how to conjugate a regular -ire verb, see the table below, which conjugates sentire (to hear, to feel, to smell).
PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SENTIRE (TO HEAR, TO FEEL, TO SMELL)
PERSON
SINGULAR
PLURAL
I
(io) sento (I feel)
(noi) sentiamo (we feel)
II
(tu) senti (you feel, familiar)
(voi) sentite (you feel, familiar)
III
(Lei) sente (you feel, formal)
(Loro) sentono (you feel, formal)
(lui/lei) sente (he/she feels)
(loro) sentono (they feel)
Other common -ire third-conjugation regular verbs are listed below.
COMMON THIRD-CONJUGATION VERBS
acconsentire
to agree, to acquiesce
assorbire
to soak
aprire
to open
bollire
to boil
coprire
to cover
cucire
to sew
dormire
to sleep
fuggire
to flee
mentire
to lie
morire
to die
offrire
to offer
partire
to leave
riaprire
to reopen
scoprire
to discover, to uncover
sequire
to follow
sentire
to hear, to feel, to smell
servire
to serve
sfuggire
to escape
soffrire
to suffer
vestire
to dress, to wear