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Avere is regular in the imperfect, but essere, bere, dire and fare are
irregular. The stem of essere becomes er- for io, tu, lui/lei and loro, and it
does not take the v, while the stem for noi and voi is era- and it does take
the v. The stems for bere, dire, fare, porre and tradurre are slightly
irregular: beve-, dice-, face-, pone-, and traduce- but they take the regular
endings of the imperfect.
essere - to be bere - to drink dire - to say / tell
ero eravamo bevevo bevevamo dicevo dicevamo
eri eravate bevevi bevevate dicevi dicevate
era erano beveva bevevano diceva dicevano
43. GERUNDS
Gerunds are formed by dropping the ending of the infinitive, and adding the
following endings to the stem:
Gerunds
-are -ando
-ere -endo
-ire -endo
52. TO WEAR
mettersi - to wear, put on (clothing)
mi metto ci mettiamo
ti metti vi mettete
si mette si mettono
Past participle: si è messo
You don't use possessive pronouns when referring to parts of the body or
clothing, but you do use the definite article.
Mi metto la maglia. I'm wearing my sweater.
→ The future tense is commonly used after quando (when), appena (as soon
as), dopo che (after), and se (if) even though the present tense is often used in
English. In addition to expressing the future, this tense in Italian can also express
probability; but in English, the words probably, can or must are used.
Non vedo Maria da molto tempo. Dove sarà? I haven't seen Maria in a long time.
Where could she be?
Sarà ammalata o in vacanza. She must be sick or on vacation.
→ Notice that Italian uses the future tense after se in hypothetical statements,
whereas in English the present tense is used.
Se domani farà bel tempo, andrò alla spiaggia. If the weather is good tomorrow, I'll
go to the beach.
→ The future perfect (futuro composto) is formed with the future of avere or essere
plus a past participle. The translation in English is will have + past participle. It must
be used when there are two actions in the future that do not happen at the same time.
Alle sei, avremo già mangiato. By six, we will have eaten already.
Farà un viaggio dopo che avrà superato gli esami. He will go on a trip after he will
have passed his exams.
If they go after the noun, then they can be formed in the usual way. The
above forms are only for when they go before the noun. Be aware
that grande can have alternate forms before nouns too. Grande can
become gran before masculine or feminine nouns beginning with a
consonant. Or it could contract to grand' before masculine or feminine
nouns beginning with a vowel. But you do not have to use the alternate
forms, whether or not you place the adjective before or after the noun.
Some adjectives have two forms, others have four. Francese (french) has
two: francese and francesi. Nuovo (new) has four: nuovo, nuova, nuovi, and
nuove.
57. ADVERBS
Most adverbs are formed by adding -mente to the feminine singular form of
the adjective. Adjectives ending in -le or -re drop the final -e before adding -
mente, if the l or r is preceded by a vowel.
Adjective (feminine
Adverb
form)
recente recentemente recently
comoda comodamente comfortably
finale finalmente finally
regolare regolarmente regularly
59. TO PLAY
Giocare-to play
gioco joh-koh giochiamo joh-kee-ah-moh
giochi joh-kee giocate joh-kah-teh
gioca joh-kah giocano joh-kahn-oh
Past participle: giocato