Il sistema dei modi ci permette di esprimere la modalità di un’azione: se è un fatto (io cammino), un ordine (cammina!), un desiderio (camminerei volentieri), ecc.
Il sistema dei tempi ci permette di collocare l’azione nel tempo (passato, presente, futuro) e di definirne la durata: se l’azione è puntuale (oggi ho camminato un’ora), se è prolungata (mentre camminavo…) o se si ripete (cammino tutti i giorni).
The mood of a verb tells us how the action is viewed or perceived by the speaker. It indicates whether something is a fact, wish, opinion, command, suggestion, request, hypothesis (imaginary situation), or uncertainty. The tense of a verb generally indicates when an action occurred.
In Italian, there are four finite moods (indicative, conditional, subjunctive and imperative) and three indefinite moods (infinitive, participle and gerund). Each mood has more than one tense, except the imperative that only has a present tense. The tenses are simple or compound. Simple tenses are made removing the infinitive endings (-are, -ere, -ire) and adding the endings for the corresponding subject. Compound tenses are made of an auxiliary verb (to be or to have) and the past participle.
Conjugation means changing a verb to give some important information: who or what is performing the action (subject), when action is performed (tense) and how it is viewed or perceived by the speaker (mood).
Italian verb infinitives end in the letters -are, -ere or -ire.
Verbs with infinitives ending in -ARE are called first conjugation verbs.
Verbs with infinitives ending in -ERE are called second conjugation verbs.
Verbs with infinitives ending in -IRE are called third conjugation verbs.
The second conjugation also includes verbs ending in -arre, -orre, -urre which follow a peculiar pattern of conjugation.
To conjugate a verb, you need to remove the final three letters from the infinitive and add the appropriate ending.
To find the appropriate ending, you will need to consider which tense and mood you’re using and whether the verb is regular or irregular.
Regular verbs maintain their root and follow a conjugation pattern which depends on their infinitive endings (are, ere, ire).
Simple tenses are made removing the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate ending for the subject and the tense you need.
Verb ‘camminare’:
- simple present: (io) cammino
- present conditional: (io) camminerei
- imperative: (tu) cammina!
Compound tenses are made of an auxiliary verb (to be or to have) conjugated according to the subject and the past participle.
Verb ‘camminare’:
- present perfect: (io) ho camminato
- past conditional: (io) avrei camminato
Indefinite moods (infinitive, participle and gerund) lack person.
Verb ‘camminare’:
- compound (or past) infinitive > avere camminato
- simple (or present) gerund > camminando
- compound (or past) gerund > avendo camminato
Peculiarity
First conjugation (are)
Verbs in -care and -gare put ‘h’ before vowels ‘i’ and ‘e’:
- dimenticare > tu dimentichi
- allegare > tu alleghi
Verbs in -iare lost ‘i’ before another ‘i’:
- ampliare > tu ampli
However, avviare, deviare, espiare, fuorviare, inviare, obliare, ovviare, ravviare, rinviare, sciare, spiare, sviare, traviare do not lost the ‘i’:
- inviare > tu invii
Verbs in -ciare and -giare lost the ‘i’ also before ‘e’ (except sciare):
- abbracciare > tu abbraccerai
- sciare > tu scierai
Second conjugation (ere)
Verbs in -cere, -gere, -gliere, -gnere have a peculiar pattern in three tenses: simple present, present subjunctive, imperative.
Verbs in -arre, -orre, -urre also belong to the second conjugation and have a peculiar pattern of conjugation in all tenses.
Third conjugation (ire)
Most verbs in -ire add -ISC- between root and ending in three tenses: simple present, present subjunctive, imperative:
- capire > io capisco
Irregular verbs do not follow a regular conjugation pattern.
How many irregular verbs do we have?
About 4000 verbs belong to the first conjugation and only four of them are irregular: andare, dare, fare, stare.
About 500 verbs belong to the second conjugation. Here, we have about 25 irregular verbs in various tenses. The most important are: essere, avere, dovere, potere, volere, sapere, piacere, vedere.
About half of the second conjugation verbs are irregular in the past participle. So, you need to learn them if you want to use compound tenses!
Many verbs are also irregular in the simple past, which however is rarely used in spoken language.
A few verbs belonging to the third conjugation are irregular. The most important are: dire, uscire, venire.
Modi finiti
Indicativo
L’indicativo è il modo per esprimere un fatto nella sua realtà. Si distingue l’indicativo futuro semplice, con il quale possiamo fare promesse, previsioni, annunci, ecc.
| Tempo semplice | Tempo composto |
|---|---|
| Indicativo presente | Indicativo passato prossimo |
| io amo | io ho amato |
| - description of a situation in the present - action in the present - habitual action in the present - future action - facts that are always true | - completed action in the past that still affects the present |
| Indicativo imperfetto | Indicativo trapassato prossimo |
| io amavo | io avevo amato |
| - description of a situation in the past - habitual action in the past - action that was taking place when another action occurred in the past | - action that took place before another action in the past |
| Indicativo passato remoto | Indicativo trapassato remoto |
| io amai | io ebbi amato |
| - completed action in the past detached from the present - literary language | - action that took place before another action in the past (literary language) |
| Indicativo futuro semplice | Indicativo futuro anteriore |
| io amerò | io avrò amato |
| - action in the future - promise - prediction - supposition | - supposition about a completed action - action that will have been completed before another action in the future |
Condizionale
Il condizionale implica l’idea che quanto si dice dipenda da un condizionamento. Si usa per dare o chiedere un consiglio, per chiedere un favore, per riportare un’informazione non confermata, per esprimere meraviglia, gioia, desideri e opinioni.
| Tempo semplice | Tempo composto |
|---|---|
| Condizionale presente (condizionale semplice) | Condizionale passato (condizionale composto) |
| io amerei | io avrei amato |
| - request (to ask politely) - wish - suggestion - unconfirmed information | - wish in the past - unconfirmed information in the past - future action from a past viewpoint |
Congiuntivo
Il congiuntivo si usa per esprimere esortazioni, desideri, speranze, dubbi, opinioni e in un gran numero di subordinate.
| Tempo semplice | Tempo composto |
|---|---|
| Congiuntivo presente | Congiuntivo passato |
| che io ami | che io abbia amato |
| Congiuntivo imperfetto | Congiuntivo trapassato |
| che io amassi | che io avessi amato |
| - wish - doubt - exhortation - dependent clauses: - I demand that everyone have an opportunity to speak > chiedo che tutti abbiano la possibilità di parlare - I wish you were here > vorrei che fossi qui | |
Imperativo
L’imperativo è il modo per agire sull’interlocutore attraverso ordini, esortazioni, richieste, consigli.
| Tempo semplice | |
|---|---|
| Imperativo presente | |
| ama tu | |
| - give an order, advice, instructions | |
Modi indefiniti
I cosiddetti modi indefiniti non esprimono una modalità dell’azione ma sono al tempo stesso forme verbali e forme nominali del verbo.
Infinito
L’infinito esprime il semplice significato del verbo.
| Tempo semplice | Tempo composto |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | Infinito passato |
| amare | avere amato |
| - after modal and other verbs - dependent clauses - negative imperative | |
Gerundio
Il gerundio esprime il significato del verbo in relazione a un altro evento.
| Tempo semplice | Tempo composto |
|---|---|
| Gerundio presente | Gerundio passato |
| amando | avendo amato |
| - progressive tenses (stare + gerund) - dependent clauses | |
Participio
Il participio esprime il significato del verbo come qualità del soggetto.
| Tempo semplice | |
|---|---|
| Participio presente | |
| amante | |
| - mainly used as an adjective or a noun | |
| Participio passato | |
| amato | |
| - compound tenses - passive voice - dependent clauses - also used as an adjective or a noun | |
Traduzioni
| Italiano | English | Français | Español | Deutsch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coniugazione dei verbi | Verbs conjugation | Conjugaison des verbes | Conjugación verbales | Konjugation von verben |
| Verbi regolari | Regular verbs | Verbes réguliers | Verbos regulares | Regelmäßige Verben |
| Verbi irregolari | Irregular verbs | Verbes irréguliers | Verbos irregulares | Unregelmäßige Verben |
| Modi e tempi dei verbi | Verbs moods and tenses | Modes et temps des verbes | Modos y tiempos verbales | Verben zeiten und modi |
| Indicativo | Indicative | Indicatif | Indicativo | Indikativ |
| presente | present | présent | presente | präsens |
| passato prossimo | present perfect or past simple | passé composé | pretérito perfecto compuesto | perfekt |
| imperfetto | used to or past simple | imparfait | pretérito imperfecto | |
| trapassato prossimo | past perfect | plus-que-parfait | pretérito pluscuamperfecto | plusquamperfekt |
| passato remoto | past simple | passé simple | pretérito perfecto simple | präteritum |
| trapassato remoto | passé antérieur | pretérito anterior | ||
| futuro semplice | future (will) | futur simple | futuro simple | futur I |
| futuro anteriore | future perfect | futur antérieur | futuro perfecto | futur II |
| Condizionale | Conditional | Conditionnel | Condicional | Konditional |
| presente | simple (would) | présent | simple | |
| passato | perfect | passé | compuesto | |
| Congiuntivo | Subjunctive | Subjonctif | Subjuntivo | Konjunktiv |
| presente | présent | presente | präsens | |
| passato | passé | pretérito perfecto | perfekt | |
| imperfetto | imparfait | pretérito imperfecto | präteritum | |
| trapassato | plus-que-parfait | pretérito pluscuamperfecto | plusquamperfekt | |
| Imperativo | Imperative | Impératif | Imperativo | Imperativ |
| presente | present | présent | presente | |
| Infinito | Infinitive | Infinitif | Infinito | Infinitiv |
| presente | zero infinitive to-infinitive gerund | présent | simple | |
| passato | passé | compuesto | ||
| Gerundio | Gérondif | Gerundio | ||
| presente | present participle (-ing form) | présent | simple | |
| passato | perfect participle | passé | compuesto | |
| Participio | Participe | Participio | Partizip | |
| presente | présent | presente | ||
| passato | past participle | passé | pasado |