VI. Ten Things to Know about Verb Tenses in Italian.

 

In this section we will rarely use any pronunciation guides except for indicating in boldface the stressed syllable for inflected verb forms. This is necessary because in some verb forms the stress shifts from the usual second-from-the-end syllable to the third from the end (cantano, finiscono), and in a few tenses the stress falls on the final syllable (cantò, finì). For an explanation of the phonetics of the Pronunciation Guide, click here.

 

   
1. Present tense.
For regular first conjugation verbs (those with infinitives ending in -are, like cantare, to sing), the present tense is formed by adding the personal endings -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano to the root of the verb, which is the infinitive minus -are. Here are the present tense forms of cantare, with stressed syllables indicated in boldface:
canto   I sing cantiamo   we sing
canti you (singular) sing cantate you (plural) sing
canta he (she, it) sings cantano they sing
Note that in all cases the stress is on the second from the last syllable, except for the third person plural form (cantano) where the stress falls on the syllable third from the last.
 
For second conjugation verbs (infinitives ending in -ere) the personal endings are -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono. Examples, from vendere (to sell): vendo, I sell, vendi, you sell, vende, he sells, etc.
 
For third conjugation verbs (infinitives ending in -ire) the personal endings are -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono. Examples, from partire (to leave): parto, I leave; parti, you leave; parte, he leaves, etc.
 
Many third conjugation verbs like finire (to finish) insert the syllable -isc- in some forms of the present tense: finisco, finisci, finisce, finiamo, finite, finiscono. Remember that in Italian the letter c is "hard" before a, o, or u, "soft" before i or e: finisco (I finish) is pronounced fee-nee-skoh, finisci (you finish) is fee-nee-shee, and finisce (he finishes) fee-nee-shay.
 

 

   
2. Imperfect tense.
The imperfect tense indicates a continuing action in the past (often translated into English with the auxiliary “was” or “were,” as in “I was carrying," “we were watching," etc.). For first conjugation verbs the imperfect is formed by adding the personal endings -avo, -avi, -ava, -avamo, -avate, -avano to the root. Examples, with stressed syllables indicated in boldface:
cantavo   I was singing cantavamo   we were singing
cantavi you were singing cantavate you were singing
cantava he was singing cantavano they were singing
Note that in all cases the stress falls on the second from the last syllable, except in the third person plural (cantavano) where it falls on the third from the last.
 
For second conjugation verbs the imperfect tense endings are -evo, -evi, etc. Examples: credevo, credevamo.
 
For third conjugation verbs the imperfect tense endings are -ivo, -ivi, etc. Examples: finivo, finivamo.
 

 

   
3. Past definite tense.
The Past Definite Tense, sometimes called the Preterite or Passato Remoto, indicates a single completed action in the past, and is usually translated into English as the simple past (I went, I watched, I spoke, etc.). For first conjugation verbs the personal endings are -ai, -asti, -ò, -ammo, -aste, -arono. Examples, with stressed syllables indicated in boldface:
cantai   I sang cantammo   we sang
cantasti you sang cantaste you sang
cantò he sang cantarono they sang
Note that the third person singular (cantò) stresses the last syllable because of the accented vowel.
 
The Past Definite is common in written Italian but is not often found in ordinary discourse or conversation, where the Present Perfect or “Conversational Past Tense” is used instead.
 
For second conjugation verbs, the Past Definite endings are: -ei, -esti, -è, -emmo, -este, -erono. Examples: credei, credè, credemmo.
 
For third conjugation verbs, the Past Definite endings are: -ii, -isti, -ì, -immo, -iste, -irono. Examples: finii, finì, finimmo.
 
A number of common verbs, like essere and avere, are irregular in the Past Definite and these forms you will need to learn by heart.
 

 

   
4. Future tense.
The future is formed by adding the future endings -ò, -ai, -à, -emo, -ete, -anno to the infinitive form of the verb, after dropping the final -e. For first conjugation verbs the a of the infinitive ending -are is changed to e. Examples, from cantare, with the stressed syllables in boldface:
canterò   I will sing canteremo   we will sing
canterai you will sing canterete you will sing
canterà he will sing canteranno they will sing
For second and third conjugation verbs the same endings are used, attached to the infinitive after dropping the final e. Examples: crederò, I will believe; finiranno, they will finish.
 

 

   
5. Conditional tense.
The conditional tense indicates an action that might or could take place if something else were to happen. It is often translated into English with the auxiliary verb “would”: we would go if they invited us. In Italian the conditional tense is commonly accompanied by a clause beginning with the conjunction ma, "but," or se, "if": Andrei in Italia se avessi il denaro, I would go to Italy if I had the money. Correremmo, ma siamo troppo stanchi, we would run but we’re too tired.
 
The endings for the conditional are -ei, -esti, -ebbe, -emmo, -este, -ebbero, and these are placed on the same verb form as the future tense. Here is the conditional of cantare, with the stressed syllables in boldface:
canterei   I would sing canteremmo   we would sing
canteresti you would sing cantereste you would sing
canterebbe he would sing canterebbero they would sing
Verbs of the second and third conjugation use these same endings for the conditional tense. Examples: crederei, I would believe; partirebbe, he would leave.
 

 

   
6. Present perfect tense.
The present perfect or Passato Prossimo is a compound tense, combining the present tense of the auxiliary verb avere (to have) or essere (to be) with the past participle, much like the English present perfect tense with its auxiliary “have,” as in “I have seen,” “he has finished,” “they have given,” etc.
 
Here are the present perfect forms for cantare, with the stressed syllables indicated in boldface:
ho cantato   I have sung abbiamo cantato   we have sung
hai cantato you have sung avete cantato you have sung
ha cantato he has sung hanno cantato they have sung
For third and fourth conjugation verbs the present perfect tense is formed in a similar way, combining their past participles with the present tense of avere. Examples: ho creduto, I have believed; abbiamo finito, we have finished. See paragraph 4 in Section V of the Grammar Guru for information on how to determine the past participle of a verb.
 
As explained in Grammar Section V the auxiliary for the present perfect and other compound tenses is essere for verbs that are intransitive (commonly verbs of motion or change), like arrivare, to arrive, or partire, to leave. In this case the past participle must agree in number and gender with the subject, as if it were an adjective: siamo arrivati, we have arrived; lei è partita, she has left.
 
Since the Passato Prossimo is used as the simple past tense in normal conversation instead of the Past Definite, a phrase like Lucia ha cantato can be translated as "Lucia sang," as well as its literal meaning “Lucia has sung.”
 

 

   
7. Past perfect and preterite perfect tenses.
The Past Perfect or Pluperfect tense indicates an action that took place prior to the action of another verb in the past tense. It is usually translated into English with some form of the auxiliary “had”: Abbiamo già mangiato quando sono arrivati gli ospiti, we had already eaten when the guests arrived. Gino ha fatto un reclamo perché non aveva ricevuto il suo denaro, Gino made a complaint because he had not received his money.
 
The past perfect is made by combining the imperfect tense of the auxiliary avere or essere with the past participle. Here are examples from cantare, with the stressed syllables in boldface:
avevo cantato   I had sung avevamo cantato   we had sung
avevi cantato you had sung avevate cantato you had sung
avevi cantato he had sung avevano cantato they had sung
For intransitive verbs like arrivare and partire, the auxiliary is the imperfect tense of essere. Examples: ero arrivato, I had arrived; eravano partiti, they had left.
 
A variation on the Past Perfect is the Preterite Perfect in which the Preterite or Past Definite tense of avere or essere is used instead of the imperfect: ebbi portato, I had carried; fu arrivato, he had arrived. The Preterite Perfect is only found in literary contexts, usually after a time expression like quando (when) or appena (as soon as). Example: Appena la ebbe visto, Marco uscì dalla sala, as soon as he had seen her, Marco left the room.
 

 

   
8. Future perfect and conditional perfect tenses.
In the Future Perfect we combine the future form of the auxiliary verb avere or essere with the past participle. Not commonly used in ordinary conversation, the Future Perfect is more likely to be found in formal discourse or writing. As in English, this tense indicates an action prior to another verb in the future, and is usually translated with the phrase “will have”: Avranno venduto tutto, quando noi li arriveremo, they will have sold everything when we arrive there.
 
The Conditional Perfect combines the conditional form of the auxiliary avere or essere with the past participle, and indicates something that could or would have taken place in the past: Avrei scritto più spesso se avessi avuto il tempo, I would have written more often if I had had the time.
 

 

   
9. Progressive tense.
Here the forms of the verb stare, meanting “to stand” or “stay,” are combined with the gerund to create an equivalent of the English progressive tense (he is working, I am thinking, we are going, etc.). Examples: sto mangiando, I am eating; stiamo pensando, we are thinking. For the rules for creating the gerund of a verb, see paragraph 6 in section V, “Ten Things to Know about Verb Rules and Forms.”
 
Here are examples of the progressive tense for cantare, with the stressed syllables in boldface:
sto cantando   I am singing stiamo cantando   we are singing
stai cantando you are singing state cantando you are singing
sta cantando he is singing stanno cantando they are singing
The progressive past tense is constructed with the imperfect of stare: Stava scrivendo quando lo abbiamo trovato, he was writing when we found him.
 

 

   
10. Imperative Mood.
The three “moods” of a verb are indicative, subjunctive, and imperative. The imperative indicates command and is normally found in the second person singular and plural (“Mark, come here,” “Boys, send this message”), and in the first person plural (“let’s go,” “let’s eat,” etc.).
 
For verbs of the first conjugation, like cantare and portare, the second person singular imperative is formed by adding the ending -a to the root: canta, Gina! sing, Gina! Porta questo, caro mio, carry this, my dear. In the second and third conjugation (scrivere, finire) the second person singular imperative is the same as the indicative: scrivi la lettera, Roberto, write the word, Robert. Elena, finisci il tuo lavoro stasera, Ellen, finish your work this evening.
 
For most Italian verbs the imperatives for the first person plural and second person plural are the same as the present indicative forms: mangiamo, let’s eat; ragazzi, guardate questo, boys, look at this.
 
The negative imperative for the second person singular is non combined with the infinitive of the verb: non partire, figlio, do not leave, son; non fare niente, do not do anything; non fumare qui, do not smoke here. For the other persons just add non to the regular imperative: non mangiamo là, let's not eat there; non venite tardi, studenti, do not come late, students.
 
Some of the common irregular verbs take irregular imperatives in the second person singular: Caterina, fa' questo, Catherine, do this (from fare); da' il denaro, give the money (from dare); va' subito, go at once (from andare).
 
When object pronouns are used with the second person singular imperative they are attached to the verb: scrivila, write it (the letter); dagli il denaro, give him the money; guardami, look at me; non mangiarlo, do not eat it.
 
When addressing people with the "polite" or formal third-person forms, we use the present subjunctive of the verb instead of the imperative: venga subito, Signora, come at once, ma'am; guardino questo quadro, Signori, look at this painting, gentlemen. The rules governing the Subjunctive can be found in Section VIII of the Grammar Guru.
 

 

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