Stem plus ending
Italian infinitives, the base form you find in a dictionary, end in -are, -ere or -ire. The -are family is the largest, and new verbs such as chattare and cliccare almost always join it.
parlare (to speak)
| Person | Form | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | parlo | I speak |
| tu | parli | you speak |
| lui/lei | parla | he/she speaks |
| noi | parliamo | we speak |
| voi | parlate | you (pl.) speak |
| loro | parlano | they speak |
Present tense of parlare
One Italian form covers both English ones: parlo means “I speak” and “I am speaking”. There is no “do” in questions either: Parli inglese? means “Do you speak English?”.
parlare in a sentence
Parlo un po' di italiano.
I speak a little Italian.
Parli inglese?
Do you speak English?
Mia madre parla anche francese.
My mother also speaks French.
Parliamo molto a cena.
We talk a lot at dinner.
More -are verbs
Common -are verbs
These verbs in a sentence
Abito a Milano.
I live in Milan.
Dove abitate?
Where do you (pl.) live?
Mio fratello lavora in un ristorante.
My brother works in a restaurant.
Stasera guardiamo un film insieme.
Tonight we are watching a film together.
Spelling rules: h and i
Italian is spelled the way it sounds. To keep the sound of the stem the same, some verbs change their spelling, but only before -i and -iamo, that is with tu and noi.
Verbs in -care and -gare (cercare, pagare) add an h before -i and -iamo. Without the h, c and g would turn soft: “ch” and “j” instead of k and g.
Verbs like mangiare, cominciare and studiare already have an i at the end of the stem. Before -i and -iamo it drops out, so you never get two i’s in a row.
cercare (to look for) and mangiare (to eat)
| Person | cercare | mangiare |
|---|---|---|
| io | cerco | mangio |
| tu | cerchi | mangi |
| noi | cerchiamo | mangiamo |
Spelling with io, tu and noi
Che cosa cerchi?
What are you looking for?
Paghiamo con la carta, va bene?
We’ll pay by card, is that OK?
Mangi qualcosa con noi?
Are you eating something with us?
Cominciamo alle nove.
We start at nine.
Where the stress falls
In four of the six forms the stress is on the stem; only noi and voi are stressed on the ending. With loro the stress is also at the front, even in longer verbs: abitano, telefonano. The ending -ano stays weak.
Listen to the stress
parlo
[ˈparlo]
I speak
parliamo
[parˈljaːmo]
we speak
parlate
[parˈlaːte]
you (pl.) speak
parlano
[ˈparlano]
they speak
