Conjugation of Italian verbs is a serious, voluminous topic, but not particularly difficult. Here, as in Russian, this part of speech is multifunctional. And most importantly - remember some of its features and learn the rules, then the process of mastering Italian will go much faster.
Verb specificity
This is the first thing I would like to talk about. Verbs in the Italian language form a whole class of certain words, and in sentences they usually act as a predicate. They have a face, a number, a pledge, time and, of course, mood. Having understood how all of the above affects the formation of words, you can begin to study such topics as conjugation of Italian verbs.
Returnable forms are distinguished by a “si” particle. Still verbs are intransitive and transitive - it all depends on their meaning. The second of the indicated ones have a direct complement, which gives an answer to indirect case questions (such as everyone except “what?” And “who?”). You also need to remember that in Italian often use nominal forms - gerund, communion and infinitive.
Present
It should be noted that conjugation of Italian verbs is so difficult because there are too many varied variations of forms. But in this language, as in Russian, there is only one present, and it is called Presente. It serves to indicate a state or action in the present tense. For example, “lei mangia” - “she eats”. Presente also defines something repetitive or familiar. Let's say, “Le lezioni iniziano alle 9:00” - “classes begin at 9:00”. The definition of form also includes events that will soon happen: “Mia mamma tornerà domani” - “my mother will be back tomorrow”. These turns are characteristic of everyday conversations. When it comes to the future, verbs are used to express what is supposed to be. For example, “Andiamo in un Negozio?” - “Will we go to the store?” And the last thing to learn about conjugation of Italian verbs in this case is the rule about Presente storico, about the historical present. Here is an example of the use of this rule: “Nel 1812 i francesi si avvicinano a Moscva”. Translated, this means a historical fact, i.e. “In the year 1812, the French approached Moscow.”
Infinitives
Conjugation of verbs in Italian also depends on which category this part of speech belongs to. They are divided into incorrect and correct - as in English, German, etc. You need to know them, because as you learn the language, more and more verbs are introduced, and you can’t do without them. By the way, pronouns are most often omitted. Based on this, the rule is determined - the end of the verb must be pronounced clearly. Depending on how the infinitive ends (that is, the part of the speech itself sounds like: “drink”, “eat”, “walk”, and not “I drink”, “we eat”, “you walk”), correct verbs also divided into three types. But the rule for them is one thing - you have to forget about the ending in an indefinite form, and put the necessary letter in its place. There may be several, it all depends on the face of the person who is speaking.
First conjugation
So, the conjugation table of Italian verbs can clearly explain how to correctly change a word. For example, “asperettare” is to wait. Everything is quite simple:
- Aspetto - I am waiting;
- Aspetti - you wait;
- Aspetta - he (a) is waiting;
- Aspettiamo - we are waiting;
- Aspettate - you wait '
- Aspettano - they are waiting.
Indeed, dealing with conjugation is pretty simple. It is enough to select the basis (in this case, “aspett”), and add the endings that are characteristic of one or another person.
Auxiliary verbs
There are only two of them - “to be” and “to have” (“essere” and “avere”, respectively). It should be noted that it is important to study this conjugation of Italian verbs. “Essere” can be taken as an example. In these two cases, the rule characteristic of the previous one does not apply (that is, with the selection of the base and the addition of the ending). Here you just need to remember everything:
- Sono discepolo (I am a student);
- Sei cuoco (you are a cook);
- Lui e medico (he is a doctor);
- Lei e tedesca (she is German);
- Noi siamo colleghi (we are colleagues);
- Voi siete italiani (you are Italians);
- Loro sono russie (they are Russian).
Second conjugation
This group includes those verbs whose infinitives end in “ere”. For example, “spendere” means “spend.” Again, it’s easier to present everything in a table:
- io spendo (I spend);
- tu spendi (you spend);
- egli spende (he spends);
- noi spendiamo (we spend);
- voi spendete (you spend);
- essi / loro spendono (they spend).
The principle is the same as in the case of the first conjugation - base + ending. The most important thing when studying this topic is to remember the golden rule, the essence of which is a clear and correct pronunciation. Otherwise, the Italian will be perplexed if he suddenly hears from the lips of his interlocutor “Io preferisci” (instead of “preferisco”) that he will understand how “I prefer”. In the endings, the whole point is, therefore, attention should be paid to them first of all.
Third conjugation
The last existing in this language. The third conjugation of Italian verbs (verbi italiani) in indefinite form has the ending “ire”. Take, for example, the verb “finire” (“end, end”). In this case, you will need to apply an additional syllable, sounding like “isc”. It should stand between the end of the word and its root, and in the singular persons without exception (she, he, you and me), as well as in the third - the plural (that is, they). Using the example of the proposed verb, it will look like this:
- Finisco - I am finishing;
- Finisci - you finish;
- Finisce - he (a) finishes;
- Finiamo - we are finishing;
- Finite - you finish;
- Finiscono - they are ending.
Irregular Verbs
They should be identified separately, as this is an important topic. The conjugation of irregular Italian verbs is to change the basis of the word - the endings remain the same. A few words should be given as an example. Andare - to come, fare - to do, bere - to drink, cuciere - to sew, sedere - to sit, and usciere - to go out. You can consider the first of the above, again presenting it sequentially:
- Io vado (I'm coming);
- Tu vai (you are coming);
- Lei / lui / lei va (he is coming);
- Noi andiamo (we are coming);
- Voi andate (you are coming);
- Loro vanno (they come).
That is, the formation of irregular verbs must be remembered, as in the case of auxiliary ones. Words, I must say, quite a lot, and have to work hard to memorize them all. The topic of irregular verbs is one of the most unloved by many people studying the Italian language (and any other, there are always plenty of them, and everything needs to be remembered), but inalienable. Indeed, in order to speak the language in such a way that a native of Italy can understand the speaker, it is necessary to possess it sufficiently. And without the irregular verbs used in everyday life constantly, there is no way to do it.
Pronunciation
And finally, a few words about pronunciation. It was said a little earlier that, in principle, the meaning of the sentence depends on how clearly the word and its ending were voiced. In fact, it is. In general, the Italian language in terms of pronunciation is quite simple. It lacks letters and sounds that might be unusual for a Russian person (unlike German or Polish), but there are some features. For example, consonants need to be voiced loudly and energetically. The Italian language does not tolerate “chewed” sounds; it is extremely accurate, clear, impulsive and expressive. Intonation should also be pronounced. By the way, the Italian language is also simple in that you do not need to study the specifics of building questions. It can be set by changing the intonation. For example, “Hai fame?” - “Hai fame!” - "Are you hungry?" - "Are you hungry!" In conclusion, I would like to say that it is possible for everyone to learn Italian, the most important thing is the desire and, of course, a sufficient amount of time to get acquainted with all the topics.