Enhanced Beginner's Italian Level 1 - Lesson # 5

Regular ARE verbs and adverbs

After this class you should;
Conjugate and use regular ARE verbs.
be able to read, write, speak, understand and know how to use 15 handy adverbs.

Grammar

Conjugating regular Italian verbs ending with ARE in the present tense

Infinitive – “…A verb form that functions as a substantive while retaining certain verbal characteristics, such as modification by adverbs, and that in English may be preceded by to, as in To go willingly is to show strength or We want him to work…” 1

There are three main categories of Italian Verbs known as 1st, 2nd and 3rd conjugation. Here is the most obvious, initial difference;

1st Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with the letters ARE in the infinitive form.
2nd Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with the letters ERE in the infinitive form.
3rd Conjugation verbs are verbs that end with the letters IRE in the infinitive form.
(These ending are “Infinitive endings”)

To illustrate how to conjugate an ARE verb, I like to use a math equation as an example but first here are the conjugated endings for ARE verbs;

Subject Pronoun

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro

Ending

o
i
a
iamo
ate
ano

To conjugate = infinitive verb – infinitive ending = verb stem + conjugated ending = conjugated verb. Example;
Parlare (To Speak) - are = Parl + iamo (ending for we) = Parliamo (We speak)

Parlare conjugated in the present tense

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei
Noi
Voi
Loro

Parlo
Parli
Parla
Parliamo
Parlate
Parlano

I speak
You speak
He/She/It speaks
We speak
Y'all speak
They speak

1 The definitions or portions thereof were taken from thefreedictionary.com

Some Italian Adverbs that deal with time

Generally the adverbs follow the verbs such as in "Parlo raramente" (I rarely speak) or "Ho mangiato spesso a Roma." (I often ate in Rome.)

There are some adverbs, when used with compound tenses are placed in between the conjugated verb and the past participle such as; "Non ho mai mangiato i piselli." (I have never eaten peas.) These include

gia
non ... ancora
non ... mai
non ... più

Printable Homework

basic online exercise

Exercise on regular ARE verbs

Vocabulary

cantare
abitare
lavorare
aspettare
ballare
volare
ascoltare
appena
dopo
gia
di solito

to sing
to live
to work
to wait
to dance
to fly
to listen
just
after
already
usually

spesso
mai
presto
raramente
sempre
lentamente
rapidamente
ancora
non ... mai
non ... più
non ... ancora

often
ever
soon
rarely
always
slowly
quickly
still or yet
not ... never
not ... more
not ... yet

Printable Vocabulary

Printable large flash cards (English Side)

Printable large flash cards (Italian Side)

Printable small flash cards (English Side)

Printable small flash cards (Italian Side)

Downloadable Podcast

basic online exercise

Exercise (Italian to English)

Exercise (English to Italian)

printable crossword

Comprehension

Ciao Giovanni.
Ciao Carlo, come stai?
Benissimo, grazie, e tu?
Bene. Grazie. Tu abiti qui?
Sì, io, mia moglie e mia madre abitiamo qui.
I tuoi figli abitano qui?
No, i miei figli non abitano qui.
Che cos'è quella?
Come si dice “a song“ in italiano?
Si dice una canzone.
Tu canti?
Sì, io canto spesso. E tu?
No, io non canto mai. Tu canti bene?
No, io non canto bene. Io canto male. Ascolta.

No, Grazie.
No?
No, io non ascolto musica.
Ah, come si scrive canzone?
Non lo sai?
Che cosa significano le parole “non lo sai”?
You don’t know?
No I don’t, che cosa significano le parole “non lo sai”?
Le parole “non lo sai” significano “you don’t know”?
Allora, no, non lo so. Come si scrivi canzone?
C a n z o n e
Grazie.
Prego. Arrivederci.
Arrivederci.

Printable Video Dialog

Printable Practice Sheets

printable crossword

Useful Italian question;
Come si scrive … in italiano?
How do you write ... in Italian?

Class Dialog

Using only the vocabulary we have learned so far, learn how to say everything below in Italian (except what is in " "), print out and bring the printable form of this dialog and be prepared to say the dialog below for one of the person's in class.

Person #1 – Hello _________,
Person #2 – Hello __________, how are you?
Person #1 – So, so? And you? How are you?
Person #2 - I am well, thank you. Is that a “canzone”?
Person #1 – What does “canzone” mean?
Person #2 – “Canzone” means “a song”.
Person #1 – How do you spell “Canzone”?
Person #2 – “C – A – N – Z – O – N – E”
Person #1 – Yes, this is a song.
Person #2 – Do you sing often?
Person #1 – No, I never sing. I listen to the songs and I usually dance.
Person #2– I often sing when I fly. I don’t dance anymore.
Person #1 – How do you say with in Italian?
Person #2– You say “con”.
Person #1 – I always dance with Mary. We dance often.
Person #2 – Who is Mary?
Person #1 – I work with Mary.
Person #2– Does she ever sing?
Person #1 – She always sings. She lives in Italy and they always sing in Italy.
Person #2– ok, bye
Person #1 - bye

printable class dialog

You can learn more about regular ARE verbs and adverbs on these pages of the following books.

136 - 138 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995.
66 - 68 and 121 - 123 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao" by Carla Federici & Carla Larese Riga, copyright 1986.
107 and 199 - 202 of the book "Complete Italian Grammar" by Marcel Dansesi, copyright 1976.
175 - 176 and 201 - 206 of the book "Italian Grammar Drills" by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2007.
3 - 10 of the book "Italian Verb Drills" (Third Edition) by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2011.

If you do not own these books, don't worry, it is not mandatory that you do unless you were instructed to buy them at the beginning of the class. However, they can be very useful in a lot of ways and if you would like to know more about these books and where to buy them, simply go to our online bookstore or quicker yet, just click on the appropriate book below.

Did you know? - A bit of Italian Trivia

“There are thousands of traditional and regional Italian desserts. However, the most famous one abroad, the tiramisù, was only invented in the 1970's. The name literally means "pick-me-up" (metaphorically, "make me happy"), due to two of its ingredients : coffee and cocoa." -
Source - eupedia.com
http://www.eupedia.com/italy/trivia.shtml

Have you heard? - Some good Italian Music

Ok, Not all Italian contemporary music in the genres of Pop, Rock, etc is Ear popping, bone rattling dance music. In fact, one of my all time favorite passionate and slow songs is performed by a woman who has become one of my favorite Italian music artists, Giorgia. So....take a glass of wine, sit back, close your eyes and just become lost in this next song.

This and many other
great songs are available on --->

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