Enhanced Beginner's Italian Level 1 - Lesson # 6

Irregular ARE verbs and idiomatic expressions

After this class you should;
be able to conjugate and use the verbs dare (to give) fare (to do or make) and andare (to go).
know and be able to identify and use 24 various useful idiomatic expressions.

Grammar

Below is the present tense conjugation of the irregular Italian ARE verbs fare, dare & andare

These verbs do not follow the regular conjugation patterns of the Italian ARE verbs and thus will be looked at separately here. These are not the only irregular ARE verbs but these three are extremely important to know as they can be used often in everyday conversation.

Fare
Subject Pronoun	Fare conjugated	English
Io	Faccio	I make
Tu	Fai	You make
Lui/Lei	Fa	He/She makes
Noi	Facciamo	We make
Voi	Fate	Y’all make
Loro	Fanno	They make

Thus;
Io faccio = I make / Tu fai = You make
Lui fa = He makes / Lei fa = She makes
Noi facciamo = we make / Voi fate = Y'all make
Loro fanno = They make

Dare
Dare conjugated	English
Do	I give
Dai	You give
Dà	He/She gives
Diamo	We give
Date	Y’all give
Danno	They give

Thus;
Io do = I give / Tu dai = You give
Lui dà = He gives / Lei dà = She gives
Noi diamo = we give / Voi date = Y'all give
Loro danno = They give

Andare
Andare conjugated	English
Vado	I go
Vai	You go
Va	He/She goes
Andiamo	We go
Andate	Y’all go
Vanno	They go

Thus;
Io vado = I go / Tu vai = You go
Lui va = He goes / Lei va = She goes
Noi andiamo = we go / Voi andate = Y'all go
Loro vanno = They go

Idiomatic Expressions using Fare, Dare, Stare and Avere

Idiomatic expressions in Italian can be quite different than those in English. For instance in many cases where we use the verb to be they use "Avere" which is to have. We say I am hungry where as they say "ho fame" or I have hunger.

You will notice in the list below you have an infinitive form of a verb and then the rest of the expression. For instance "Fare (infinitive) una passeggiata". This is translated as "to take a walk". To use this expression you need to conjugate the infinitive verb. Below are a few examples;

Faccio una passeggiata (I take a walk)
Fai una passeggiata (you take a walk)
Fanno una passeggiata (they take a walk)

Printable Homework

Basic Exercise on irregular ARE verbs

Exercise conjugating ARE irregulars (Italian to English)

Exercise conjugating ARE irregulars (English to Italian)

Vocabulary

fare una passeggiata
fare le spese
fare la spesa
fare il bagno
fare la doccia
fare colazione
fare un viaggio
fare una domanda
fare una foto
dare un esame
dare una stretta di mano
stare attento

to take a walk
to go shopping
to go grocery shopping
to take a bath
to take a shower
to have breakfast
to take a trip
to ask a question
to take a picture
to take a an exam
to shake hands
to pay attention

stare zitto
stare bene
stare male
avere fame
avere sete
avere sonno
avere paura (di)
avere bisogno (di)
avere caldo
avere freddo
avere ragione
avere torto

to keep quiet
to be well
to be ill
to be hungry
to be thirsty
to be sleepy
to be afraid (of)
to need
to be hot
to be cold
to be right
to be wrong

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

Buon giorno Giovanni.
Buon giorno Carlo, come stai?
Bene, grazie, e tu?
Molto Bene. Grazie. Che cosa fai?
Studio italiano.
Studi sempre italiano?
No, non sempre ma studio spesso.
E tu, studi inglese spesso?
No, Io studio raramente.
E tu Giovanni, che cosa fai?
Faccio colazione poi faccio una passeggiata.
Dove fai una passeggiata?
A Charleston, vuoi fare una passeggiata con me?
Che cosa significa della parola “vuoi”?
Significa: “Do you want”.
Come si dice “I can’t” e “tomorrow” in italiano?
I can’t si dice “Non posso” e tomorrow si dice “domani”.
Io non posso fare una passeggiata.
Perché non puoi fare una passeggiata?
Perché domani diamo un esame ed ho bisogno di studiare.
Buona fortuna con l’esame.
Grazie Giovanni.
Prego Carlo e Arrivederci.
Arrivederci.

Printable Video Dialog

Printable Practice Sheets 1

Printable Practice Sheets 2

printable crossword

Useful Italian question;
Dove ... ?
Where ... ?

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 persons in class.

Person #1 – Hi _________,
Person #2 – Hi __________, how are you?
Person #1 – Excellent! And you? How are you?
Person #2 - I am well, thank you. What are you doing “oggi”?
Person #1 – What does “oggi” mean?
Person #2 – “Oggi” means “today”.
Person #1 – Thank you, I am going for a walk today.
Person #2 – where are you going for a walk?
Person #1 – I am going shopping.
Person #2 – Do you go shopping often?
Person #1 – How do you say gift in Italian?
Person #2– You say “un regalo”.
Person #1 – Thank you, I rarely go shopping but I need a gift for my sister. And you what are you doing today?
Person #2– I need to study English today.
Person #1 – Do you study English often?
Person #2 – No. I am taking an exam soon.
Person #1 – I am sorry but I need to go.
Person #2– Goodbye _______.
Person #1 – Goodbye _______.

printable class dialog

You can learn more about Italian irregular ARE verbs and idiomatic expressions on these pages of the following books.

83 - 85 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao" by Carla Federici & Carla Larese Riga, copyright 1986.
315 - 322 of the book "Italian Grammar Drills" by Paola Nanni-Tate, copyright 2007.
11, 12, 124 - 128 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

“Italy is a volcanically active country, containing the only active volcanoes in mainland Europe. The country's volcanism is due chiefly to the presence, a short distance to the south, of the boundary between the Eurasian Plate and theAfrican Plate. The magma erupted by Italy's volcanoes is thought to result from the upward forcing of rocks melted by the subduction of one plate below another. Three main clusters of volcanism exist: a line of volcanic centres running northwest along the central part of the Italian mainland (see Campanian volcanic arc); a cluster in the northeast of Sicily; and another cluster around theMediterranean island of Pantelleria. " -
Source - wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanism_of_Italy

Have you heard? - Some good Italian Music

Having begun to explore the mellower side of Italian Music even an old rocker like me would be remiss to not listen to something a little closer to the classic styles that brought Italian music to the forefront so long ago. While this next song is definitely a contemporary hit, it is performed closer to it's traditional roots. Sit back, relax and appreciate Andrea Bocelli accompanied by Laura Pausini.

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

Here are the song's lyrics,
read along while you listen to Vivo Per Lei and listen to the pronunciation of the words you see!

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