Italian Grammar Bank
ITALIAN PRESENT TENSE
The Italian present tense, which is called Indicativo presente, is one of the most used verbal tenses in Italian, and one of the easiest to learn.
Here’s our complete guide to using the Italian “Indicativo presente”, with lots of real-life examples
MEANINGS AND EXAMPLES
The present indicative is one of the simplest and most commonly used verb tenses in Italian. This verbal form is used to express different meanings:
- Actions taking place at the time of speaking:
- Habitual actions:
- Future actions: usually in informal contexts. The future setting is conveyed by time indications.
- General statements, or facts
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| L’acqua bolle a 100 gradi | Water boils at 100 degrees |
| Christian gioca a pallavolo | Christian plays volleyball |
| Non mi piace il calcio | I don’t like soccer |
- Something that happened in the past (this form is called historical present and can be used to make your story more entertaining. It can be used in informal contexts, to tell a personal story, or in formal contexts to talk about historical facts):
| ITALIAN | ENGLISH |
|---|---|
| Ieri torno a casa, apro la porta e… non ci crederai! | Yesterday I come home, open the door, and … you won’t believe it! |
| Ieri Paola mi chiama e inizia a urlare come una pazza. | Yesterday Paola calls me and starts screaming like crazy. |
| Napoleone muore il 5 maggio del 1821. | Napoleon dies on May 5, 1821. |
As you probably already know, in Italian there are 3 conjugations, according to the verb’s ending in its infinite form. Let’s now look at how to form the simple present in every conjugation (for regular verbs).
1ST CONJUGATION
Verbs belonging to the 1st conjugation are the ones that end in -are.
The present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending –are and adding the appropriate ending, according to the person.
| Indicativo Presente – 1st Conjugation |
|---|
| io parlo |
| tu parli |
| lui/lei parla |
| noi parliamo |
| voi parlate |
| loro parlano |
Verbs ending in -care or -gare maintain the same pronunciation of c and g that they have in the infinitive; to render this pronunciation, an h is added before the i:
| INFINITIVE | PRESENT TENSE | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Sporcare | noi sporchiamo | We get dirty |
| Pagare | tu paghi | You pay |
Verbs ending in -ciare, -giare, and -sciare lose the i in front of endings beginning with an i (there would be two i if that didn’t happen):
| INFINITIVE | PRESENT TENSE | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Mangiare | noi mangiamo | We eat |
| Lanciare | tu lanci | You throw |
| Lasciare | tu lasci | You leave |
2ND CONJUGATION
Verbs belonging to the 2nd conjugation are the ones that end in -ere.
The present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending –ere and adding the appropriate ending, according to the person.
| Indicativo Presente – 2nd Conjugation |
|---|
| io credo |
| tu credi |
| lui crede |
| noi crediamo |
| voi credete |
| loro credono |
Verbs ending in -cere and -gere change the pronunciation of c and g in front of desinences beginning with an o:
| INFINITIVE | PRESENT TENSE | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Vincere | io vinco | I win |
| Piangere | loro piangono | They cry |
| Crescere | loro crescono | They grow |
There are some exceptions, like:
| INFINITIVE | PRESENT TENSE | TRANSLATION |
|---|---|---|
| Piacere |
io piaccio
loro piacciono | I like They like |
| Tacere |
io taccio
loro tacciono | I am quiet They are quiet |
| Cuocere |
io cuocio
loro cuociono | I cook They cook |
3RD CONJUGATION
Verbs belonging to the 3rd conjugation are the ones that end in -ire.
The present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending –ire and adding the appropriate ending, according to the person.
| Indicativo Presente – 3rd Conjugation |
|---|
| io sento |
| tu senti |
| lui sente |
| noi sentiamo |
| voi sentite |
| loro sentono |
Many verbs of the 3rd conjugation, such as capire, finire, guarire, punire, agire, costruire, ferire, finire, fornire, impedire, preferire, rapire, tradire, insert -isc- between the root and the desinence of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd singular persons and the 3rd person plural of the indicative present:
| Indicativo Presente – 3rd Conjugation |
|---|
| io capisco |
| tu capisci |
| lui capisce |
| noi capiamo |
| voi capite |
| loro capiscono |
The present indicative tense is the most basic Italian verbal tense, but it’s also very versatile and can be used to convey different meanings.
Start practicing with some regular verbs, and in no time you’ll be able to say a lot of things in Italian!
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FAQs
When is the Italian present tense used?
It’s used to convey many different meanings: actions taking place right now, general statements or facts, as well as actions taking place in the future.
What differs between the 3 conjugations?
1st conjugation verbs end in -are, 2nd conjugation verbs end in -ere and 3rd conjugation verbs end in -ire. The 3 conjugations form the different tenses with different endings or desinences.
Is indicativo presente enough to speak Italian?
There are other verbal tenses you’ll need to know, but as a starting point, and since indicativo presente can be used to convey many different meanings, that’s a good starting point to make people understand you.
What are the most common irregular verbs?
The main irregular verbs you’ll need to learn are: essere, avere, dovere, andare, volere, and potere.
Why every person has a different desinence?
That’s because Italian derives from Latin. It’s surely much more complicated than English, but it’s important to learn the different desinences, especially because, in Italian, we tend to omit the subject: you’ll have to look at the desinence to understand the subject.
Can I learn Italian with LTL?
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