Present Tense (Presente)

Hey there! Welcome to one of the most important lessons in Italian - the present tense. This is your bread and butter for everyday conversations. Whether you’re talking about what you’re doing right now, your daily habits, or just stating facts, the present tense has got you covered!

When Do We Use the Present Tense?

The Italian present tense is super versatile! You’ll use it for:

• Actions happening right now: Mangio una pizza (I’m eating a pizza)
• Habitual actions: Vado in palestra ogni giorno (I go to the gym every day)
• General truths: Il sole sorge a est (The sun rises in the east)
• Near future: Domani parto per Roma (Tomorrow I’m leaving for Rome)

Regular Verbs

Italian verbs come in three families, based on their infinitive endings: -ARE, -ERE, and -IRE. Let’s meet them!

-ARE Verbs (e.g., parlare - to speak)

This is the biggest family! Most Italian verbs end in -ARE.

Person	Ending	Conjugation	Example
io	-o	parlo	I speak
tu	-i	parli	you speak
lui/lei	-a	parla	he/she speaks
noi	-iamo	parliamo	we speak
voi	-ate	parlate	you all speak
loro	-ano	parlano	they speak

More -ARE verbs to practice: amare (to love), studiare (to study), lavorare (to work), mangiare (to eat), ascoltare (to listen)

-ERE Verbs (e.g., credere - to believe)

The middle child of Italian verbs!

Person	Ending	Conjugation	Example
io	-o	credo	I believe
tu	-i	credi	you believe
lui/lei	-e	crede	he/she believes
noi	-iamo	crediamo	we believe
voi	-ete	credete	you all believe
loro	-ono	credono	they believe

More -ERE verbs: leggere (to read), scrivere (to write), prendere (to take), vedere (to see), vendere (to sell)

-IRE Verbs (e.g., dormire - to sleep)

Here’s where it gets interesting! -IRE verbs come in two types.

Type 1: Simple -IRE verbs

Person	Ending	Conjugation	Example
io	-o	dormo	I sleep
tu	-i	dormi	you sleep
lui/lei	-e	dorme	he/she sleeps
noi	-iamo	dormiamo	we sleep
voi	-ite	dormite	you all sleep
loro	-ono	dormono	they sleep

Type 2: -ISC verbs (e.g., capire - to understand)

These verbs add -isc- between the stem and the ending for io, tu, lui/lei, and loro:

Person	Conjugation	Example
io	capisco	I understand
tu	capisci	you understand
lui/lei	capisce	he/she understands
noi	capiamo	we understand
voi	capite	you all understand
loro	capiscono	they understand

Common -ISC verbs: finire (to finish), preferire (to prefer), pulire (to clean), costruire (to build), spedire (to send)

Common Irregular Verbs

Okay, time to meet the rebels! These verbs don’t follow the rules, but they’re super common, so you’ll want to memorize them.

Essere (to be)

Person	Conjugation
io	sono
tu	sei
lui/lei	è
noi	siamo
voi	siete
loro	sono

Avere (to have)

Person	Conjugation
io	ho
tu	hai
lui/lei	ha
noi	abbiamo
voi	avete
loro	hanno

Fare (to do/make)

Person	Conjugation
io	faccio
tu	fai
lui/lei	fa
noi	facciamo
voi	fate
loro	fanno

Andare (to go)

Person	Conjugation
io	vado
tu	vai
lui/lei	va
noi	andiamo
voi	andate
loro	vanno

Other Important Irregular Verbs

• Venire (to come): vengo, vieni, viene, veniamo, venite, vengono
• Dare (to give): do, dai, dà, diamo, date, danno
• Stare (to stay): sto, stai, sta, stiamo, state, stanno
• Dire (to say): dico, dici, dice, diciamo, dite, dicono
• Bere (to drink): bevo, bevi, beve, beviamo, bevete, bevono

Real-World Examples

Let’s see these verbs in action!

1. Io parlo italiano ogni giorno. - I speak Italian every day.
2. Tu mangi troppo velocemente! - You eat too fast!
3. Lei lavora in un ristorante. - She works in a restaurant.
4. Noi studiamo all’università. - We study at the university.
5. Voi capite la lezione? - Do you all understand the lesson?
6. Loro preferiscono il caffè al tè. - They prefer coffee to tea.
7. Io sono molto felice oggi. - I’m very happy today.
8. Tu hai una bella casa. - You have a beautiful house.
9. Marco fa colazione alle 7. - Marco has breakfast at 7.
10. Noi andiamo al cinema stasera. - We’re going to the cinema tonight.
11. Voi venite alla festa? - Are you all coming to the party?
12. I bambini bevono il latte. - The children drink milk.
13. Io leggo un libro interessante. - I’m reading an interesting book.
14. Tu scrivi una lettera? - Are you writing a letter?
15. Loro finiscono il lavoro presto. - They finish work early.

Usage Notes

💡 Subject pronouns are often omitted!

In Italian, you usually don’t need to say “io”, “tu”, etc., because the verb ending tells you who’s doing the action:

• ✅ Parlo italiano (I speak Italian)
• ❌ Io parlo italiano (also correct, but sounds redundant unless you’re emphasizing)

💡 Present tense for near future

Italians often use the present tense to talk about the near future:

• Domani vado dal dottore (Tomorrow I’m going to the doctor)
• La settimana prossima partiamo per le vacanze (Next week we’re leaving for vacation)

💡 Continuous actions

Unlike English, Italian doesn’t have a separate present continuous form. The simple present does it all:

• Cosa fai? = “What do you do?” OR “What are you doing?”

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Forgetting the -isc- in -ISC verbs

• Wrong: Io capo
• Right: Io capisco

❌ Using subject pronouns too much

• Sounds unnatural: Io mangio, io bevo, io dormo
• Better: Mangio, bevo, dormo

❌ Mixing up essere and avere

• Wrong: Io ho felice
• Right: Io sono felice (I am happy)

❌ Forgetting irregular stems

• Wrong: Io veno (from venire)
• Right: Io vengo

Practice Exercises

Ready to test yourself? Try conjugating these verbs!

1. Io _______ (parlare) con mia madre ogni sera.
2. Tu _______ (leggere) il giornale?
3. Lei _______ (capire) l’italiano molto bene.
4. Noi _______ (essere) studenti.
5. Voi _______ (avere) fame?
6. Loro _______ (andare) in vacanza domani.
7. Marco _______ (fare) sport ogni giorno.
8. Io _______ (preferire) il tè al caffè.
9. Tu _______ (venire) alla festa stasera?
10. Noi _______ (bere) acqua durante i pasti.

Answers

1. parlo
2. leggi
3. capisce
4. siamo
5. avete
6. vanno
7. fa
8. preferisco
9. vieni
10. beviamo

Great job! Keep practicing, and soon conjugating verbs will become second nature! 🎉