The present indicative tense, or the present simple tense, is an important and commonly used tense in Italian.
But first, we need to learn about the infinitive. Verbs in their infinitive form in Italian have one of three endings: “-are,” “-ere,” or “-ire.” When conjugated, these endings are replaced with different conjugation suffixes based on the subject.
Conjugation
In English, verb conjugation in the present tense is quite simple. For example, the verb “to break” is conjugated as follows: I/you/we/they break, he/she/it breaks. Thus, there are only two conjugation forms of the verb “to break” in the simple present tense, which are “break” and “breaks.”
In Italian, it is a little more complicated. Regular verbs in the present indicative tense follow the conjugation rules shown in the following table, with an example from each verb group: “-are,” “-ere,” and “-ire.” First, the stem is formed by removing the final “-are,” “-ere,” or “-ire.” Then, the conjugation ending is added depending on the personal pronoun.
“-ire” Verbs: Type I vs. Type II
Notice that there are two types of “-ire” verbs. Type II requires the addition of “-isc-” between the stem and the conjugation suffix normally used with Type I for all forms except “noi” and “voi.”
Unfortunately, only practice and a good dictionary can help you determine the type of an “-ire” verb.
Dropping the Subject Pronoun
In Italian, unlike in English, we generally drop the subject pronoun because the conjugation is usually sufficient to indicate the subject.
For instance, we could say “Io parlo italiano” or “Parlo italiano” (I speak Italian). Both are considered perfect speech and grammatically correct. It even sounds more native to drop the subject pronoun in informal speech.
Opting to use the subject pronoun can sound less natural in some contexts, because it can indicate an emphasis on the subject rather than the verb.
Irregular Verbs
Not all verbs are regular in the present indicative tense in Italian. For example, the verbs “essere” (to be) and “avere” (to have) are two important verbs in Italian used to form sentences and as auxiliary verbs. Both are completely irregular and are conjugated as follows:
| essere (to be) | avere (to have) | |
| io | sono | ho |
| tu | sei | hai |
| lui/lei | è | ha |
| noi | siamo | abbiamo |
| voi | siete | avete |
| loro | sono | hanno |
We will learn more about irregular verbs in the present indicative tense in Level II, Lesson 2.
Indicative Mood vs. Subjunctive Mood
It is important to note that the present tense we have discussed so far is also called the present indicative tense to distinguish it from the present subjunctive tense. The indicative and the subjunctive are two different moods. You do not have to worry about the difference for now.
We cover the subjunctive mood in Level IV, Lesson 5, and Level V, Lesson 5.
As we progress with more advanced tenses in the levels to come, refer to Italian Verb Conjugation Chart to use the provided verb conjugation chart as a cheat sheet and gain perspective on the different moods and tenses in Italian.
Other lessons in Level I:
