Tense for effect
Sometimes you choose a tense not for its time but for its effect. Two cases are especially common in Italian: the presente storico, which tells past events in the present, and the imperfetto di cortesia, which moves a wish into the past so it sounds less pressing.
Presente storico
Timelines, biographies, documentaries and school books often tell history in the present. The events come close, and the text reads like a series of milestones. The date says when it happened, so the verb no longer has to.
The same fact, two angles
Passato remoto: finished, at a distance
Nel 1946 gli italiani scelsero la repubblica.
In 1946 Italians chose the republic.
Presente storico: close, as if live
Nel 1946 gli italiani scelgono la repubblica.
In 1946 Italians choose the republic.
What happens later goes into the future in such texts. It looks ahead from the moment being told, even though everything is long over. English timelines do this too, but Italian uses it far more widely, in museum texts and biographies alike.
A short timeline
Nel 1492 Colombo arriva in America.
In 1492 Columbus reaches America.
Dante nasce a Firenze nel 1265 e morirà in esilio a Ravenna.
Dante is born in Florence in 1265 and will die in exile in Ravenna.
The future looks ahead from the year of his birth.
Nel 1865 la capitale si trasferisce a Firenze, ma sei anni dopo passerà a Roma.
In 1865 the capital moves to Florence, but six years later it will move on to Rome.
In speech, too, you switch to the present once an anecdote gets exciting, just like English So I'm sitting there and he walks in. The frame is usually set in the imperfetto or passato prossimo, then the scene runs in the present.
Ieri ero in riunione, a un certo punto entra il capo e mi dice: «Vieni un attimo.»
Yesterday I was in a meeting, and all of a sudden the boss walks in and says, "Come here a minute."
Imperfetto di cortesia
With the imperfetto you present a wish as if you had formed it earlier, so it sounds less demanding. It is typical at the counter, in shops and on the phone, with verbs like volere, cercare and desiderare. English has the same idea in I was wondering and I wanted to ask, but in Italian it also works for a plain order.
Requests and enquiries
Buongiorno, volevo un caffè e un cornetto.
Good morning, I'd like a coffee and a croissant.
Cercavo un paio di scarpe da trekking.
I'm looking for a pair of hiking boots.
In a shoe shop.
Volevo sapere se il ristorante è aperto anche lunedì.
I was wondering whether the restaurant is open on Mondays too.
On the phone.
Volevo chiederti un favore.
I wanted to ask you a favour.
Compared with vorrei, volevo sounds a little more relaxed and everyday; compared with voglio, it is clearly more polite. At a bar both volevo and vorrei are completely normal.
