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Verb Drills 2 - Lesson 4

The Conditional Tense

After this class you should;
Know and identify 48 Italian verbs with the infinitive ARE ending
Understand what the three conjugations are
Understand what it means to conjugate a verb
Identify the most common Italian personal subject pronouns
Conjugate regular Italian ARE verbs in the present tense

Grammar

Before we actually talk about conjugating verbs lets review subject pronouns. A subject is the person or thing in a sentence that is doing or being what ever the verb of the sentence conveys. Hence in English in the sentence "Bob throws the ball" Bob is the subject. A subject pronoun is simply a pronoun that takes the place of the subject. Here are the most common subject pronouns in English with their Italian counterparts:

I
you
he/she/it
we
you (plural)
they
io
tu
lui/lei/Lei
noi
voi
loro

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

To Conjugate – “…To inflect (a verb) in its forms for distinctions such as number, person, voice, mood, and tense.”

The definition of conjugate taken from thefreedictionary.com

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
Printable Homework

basic online exercise
advanced online exercise

Vocabulary

abitare
aiutare
arrivare
ascoltare
aspettare
ballare
cambiare
camminare
cantare
cominciare
contare
dimenticare
domandare
giocare
girare
guidare
gustare
imparare
insegnare
lavare
to live
to help
to arrive
to listen
to wait
to dance
to change
to walk
to sing
to start
to count
to forget
to ask
to play
to turn
to drive
to taste
to learn
to teach
to wash
lavorare
litigare
mandare
mostrare
notare
nuotare
pagare
pensare
portare
provare
raccontare
ricordare
riposare
ritornare
saltare
spiegare
studiare
suonare
tagliare
trovare
viaggiare
volare
work
quarrel
send
show
notice
swim
pay
think
bring
try
narrate
remember
rest
return
jump
explain
study
play
cut
find
travel
fly


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
(Italian to English)
(English to Italian)
printable crossword

Comprehension

Ciao Bianca.
Ciao Carlo, come stai?
Sto bene, grazie, e tu? Come stai?
Sto molto bene.
Bianca, tu canti?
No, io non canto. Ricordi Marcello?
Sì, io ricordo Marcello.
Lui canta bene.
Eh, tu balli?
No, io non ballo. Ricordi Dottore Andretti?
Sì, ricordo Dottore Andretti.
Lui balla molto bene!
I bambini ballano molto bene.
I bambini giocano. Tu giochi?
No, Io non gioco. Io studio, io lavoro, io insegno e io imparo. Tu studi?
Sì, studio con Maria. Studiamo oggi.
Che cosa studiate?
Studiamo il pianoforte.
Suonate il pianoforte?
No, io non suono il pianoforte ma lei suona il pianoforte.
Lei insegna il piano forte?
No lei non insegna il piano forte.
Tu nuoti?
Nuoti? Sì, io nuoto e io cammino. Tu guidi?
Sì io guido una macchina. Adesso, ritorno al lavoro. Ciao Bianca.
Ciao Carlo

Printable Video Dialog
Printable Practice Sheets
printable comprehension crossword



useful Italian phrase;

Quanto tempo!
Long time no see!

Class Dialog

Using only the vocabulary we have learned so far, learn how to say everything below in Italian (except anything that may be 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 _________. How are you?
Person #2 – Hi _________, I am well, thank you. And you? How are you?
Person #1 – Not too bad. Do the boys drive?
Person #2 – No, the boys don’t drive. Maria drives.
Person #1 – Does Maria dance?
Person #2 – Yes Maria dances well!
Person #1 – Thank you. Let’s have lunch!
Person #2 – What do you eat?
Person #1 – Don’t you remember? I eat cake!
Person #2 – I always forget. Do you remember Mario and Sergio?
Person #1 – Yes I remember Sergio and Mario. Why do you ask if I remember Mario and Sergio?
Person #2 – They return from Italy today.
Person #1 – Do they study Italian?
Person #2 – Yes. They speak Italian very well! Do you speak Italian?
Person #1 – No, I don’t speak Italian. Do you play the violin (il violino)
Person#2 – No, Maria plays the violin. I listen to the violin. Do you travel?
Person#1 – No, I don’t travel. I don’t fly, I don’t drive and I don’t walk. I rest.
Person#2 – You rest? Do you help Luisa?
Person #1 – Luisa teaches Italian. She explains many things (molte cose). I do not teach. Do you teach?
Person#2 – No, I don’t teach. I learn. Do you remember Paolo and Paola?
Person#1 – No I don’t remember Paolo and Paola. Do they play soccer (a calcio)?
Person#2 – No, they swim. Goodbye.

printable class dialog


You can learn more about regular ARE verbs in the present tense on these pages of the following books.

42 - 49, 61 - 62 of the book "English Grammar for Students of Italian" by Sergio Adorni and Karen Primorac, copyright 1995.
66 - 68 (page #'s may vary as I have an older edition) of "Ciao" by Carla Federici & Carla Larese Riga, copyright 1986.
107 of the book "Complete Italian Grammar" by Marcel Dansesi, copyright 1976.
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?

" Lazio is a region in central Italy, lying on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its capital is Rome, which is also the capital of the country. Other cities include Tarquinia, Viterbo, Rieti, Aprilla, Latina, Frosinone and Formia.

Lazio is bordered by Campania, Molise and Abruzzo on the east, Umbria and Marche on the north, Tuscany on the northwest and the Tyrrhenian Sea on the southwestern coastline.

The Apennine mountain chain runs along the eastern part of Lazio (Monti Sabini, Monti Ernici, Monti Lepini), the highest point of which is Mount Gorzano at 2458 meters above sea level, at the norhern corner of Lazio. The most important river is the Tevere, flowing through Rome, the capital."

This information about Lazio obtained from http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/italy/political.html


Have you heard?

E Da Qui by Nek rapidly became one of my favorite Italian songs with simple and uplifting lyrics and a modern but temperate beat. A song I believe anybody could appreciate. Listen closely and see how much of this song you can understand the first time listening!

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

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