意大利語現在時

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