Verbs are 'action words'! The verb is the element that conveys information on what the subject does or is and what actions he/she/it accomplishes or undergoes.

 

The past conditional has the same function of the present conditional but it refers to the past. It suggests, proposes, expresses a desire, a doubt, a gentle request or it expresses an action that could have occured "on condition that...".
The past conditional is often used when reporting a rumor, or in an indirect discourse after verbs of "feeling, knowing, saying..." in the past.
The past conditional is also used to express the future in the past.

"Avrei voluto... Si sarebbe insinuato che... Disse che l'indomani avrebbe finito il lavoro." (I would have liked... One would have suggested that... He said the following day he would have finished the work).

 

The "condizionale passato" is a "compound tense" (like the "passato prossimo") because it is formed with one of the auxiliary verbs ("essere" or "avere") plus the past participle of a verb. Whether it requires "essere" or "avere", depends on the verb.

If the verb is a transitive verb, it requires the auxiliary "avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it requires the auxiliary "essere".

 

CONDIZIONALE PASSATO of TRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson i_8

 

Transitive verbs may be followed by an object to complete their meaning "leggo la lettera" (I read the letter) I read what? I read the letter.

 

The past conditional of transitive verbs is formed with the present conditional of "AVERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Mangiare, Leggere, Aprire" - Condizionale passato

 

Pronoun	Mangiare	Leggere	Aprire
io	avrei mangiato (I would have eaten)	avrei letto (I would have read)	avrei aperto (I would have opened)
tu	avresti mangiato	avresti letto	avresti aperto
lui	avrebbe mangiato	avrebbe letto	avrebbe aperto
lei	avrebbe mangiato	avrebbe letto	avrebbe aperto
Lei	avrebbe mangiato	avrebbe letto	avrebbe aperto
noi	avremmo mangiato	avremmo letto	avremmo aperto
voi	avreste mangiato	avreste letto	avreste aperto
loro	avrebbero mangiato	avrebbero letto	avrebbero aperto

 

 

CONDIZIONALE PASSATO of INTRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson i_8

 

Intransitive verbs don't need an object to complete their meaning.

 

The past conditional of most intransitive verbs is formed with the present conditional of "ESSERE" + the past participle of the verb (if you are not sure whether a verb requires "essere" or "avere" check the dictionary.) With "essere", the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb.

 

"Andare, Rimanere, Venire" - Condizionale passato

 

Pronoun	Andare	Rimanere	Venire
io	sarei andato/a (I would have gone)	sarei rimasto/a (I would have remained)	sarei venuto/a (I would have come)
tu	saresti andato/a	saresti rimasto/a	saresti venuto/a
lui	sarebbe andato	sarebbe rimasto	sarebbe venuto
lei	sarebbe andata	sarebbe rimasta	sarebbe venuta
Lei	sarebbe andato/a	sarebbe rimasto/a	sarebbe venuto/a
noi	saremmo andati/e	saremmo rimasti/e	saremmo venuti/e
voi	sareste andati/e	sareste rimasti/e	sareste venuti/e
loro	sarebbero andati/e	sarebbero rimasti/e	sarebbero venuti/e

 

Essere	Avere
io sarei stato/a (I would have been) tu saresti stato/a...	io avrei avuto (I would have had) tu avresti avuto...

 

Remember:

• "dormire"(to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho viaggiato, ho vissuto...")
• verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the auxiliary "essere"
• verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere"
• reflexive verbs require the verb "essere"
• the verb "piacere" requires the auxiliary "essere"
• for the position of the pronouns with compound tenses, please refer to the pronouns section

 

The imperative is used to order, command or exhort. It does not present the first and third singular persons ("io, lui, lei"): "Scrivi quella lettera!" (Write that letter!) With the polite forms "Lei" and "Loro" it is used mostly as an exhortation: "Signora, scriva quella lettera!" (Madame, write that letter!)

 

MODO IMPERATIVO Dà ordini, esorta

ama! (love!) amiamo! ...

 

 

IMPERATIVO of REGULAR VERBS Lesson i_10

 

The imperative of regular verbs is formed by replacing the ending of the infinitive with the endings of the imperative.

 

"Cantare, Leggere, Dormire" - Imperativo

 

Pronoun	Cantare	Leggere	Dormire
io	_ _	_ _	_ _
(tu)	cant-a! (sing!) non cantare! (don't sing!)	legg-i! (read!) non leggere! (don't read!)	dorm-i! (sleep!) non dormire! (don't sleep!)
(lui)	_ _	_ _	_ _
(lei)	_ _	_ _	_ _
(Lei)	cant-i!	legg-a!	dorm-a!
(noi)	cant-iamo!	legg-iamo!	dorm-iamo!
(voi)	cant-ate!	legg-ete!	dorm-ite!
(Loro)	cant-ino!	legg-ano!	dorm-ano!

 

Remember:

• The polite form "Loro" is rarely used.
• In the negative form, the second singular person uses "non + infinitive": "(Tu) non parlare!" The other persons (Lei, noi, voi, Loro) maintain a regular negative form: "(Lei) non legga!", "(Noi) non leggiamo!", "(Voi) non leggete!"
• With the first person plural and the second persons, the pronouns follow the imperative and are attached to it: "(Noi) compriamole un regalo!", "Tu, leggimi la lettera!", "Voi, cantatemi una canzone!"
• In a formal approach, with "Lei" or "Loro", the pronoun remains in front of the verb: "Signora, mi mandi due righe!"

 

IMPERATIVO of IRREGULAR VERBS Lesson i_10

 

Some verbs may be irregular in the imperative but not in the present (or viceversa).

 

To help you memorizing some of them, we created four categories:

 

"Andare, Avere, Essere" - Imperativo

 

This category presents a change in the stem

 

And-are	Avere	Essere
_ _ va' (vai) (go) vad-a and-iamo and-ate vad-ano	_ _ abb-i (have) abbi-a abb-iamo abb-iate abb-iano	_ _ sii (be) si-a s-iamo s-iate s-iano

 

 

"Rimanere, Tenere, Venire" - Imperativo

 

This category presents a contraction and a change of stem

 

Riman-ere	Ten-ere	Ven-ire
_ _ riman-i (stay) rimang-a riman-iamo riman-ete rimang-ano	_ _ tien-i (keep) teng-a ten-iamo ten-ete teng-ano	_ _ vien-i (come) veng-a ven-iamo ven-ite veng-ano

 

 

"Dare, Dire, Fare, Stare" - Imperativo

 

This category presents a contraction

 

Da-re	Di-re	Fa-re	Sta-re
_ _ da' (dai) (give) di-a d-iamo d-ate d-iano	_ _ di' (dici) (say) dic-a dic-iamo d-ite dic-ano	_ _ fa' (fai) (do) facci-a facc-iamo f-ate facc-iano	_ _ sta' (stai) (stay) sti-a st-iamo st-ate st-iano

 

IMPORTANT: whenever a pronoun is attached to the familiar singular form (tu) of the imperative of "dare, dire, fare, stare" the initial consonant is doubled (e.g. "di'+mi = dimmi; di'+ci = dicci; fa'+le = falle; fa'+ci = facci...").

The pronominal particles "ne" and "ci" follow the same rule ("da'+ne = danne, sta'+ci = stacci...") The only pronoun that does not double is "gli" (e.g. "da'+gli = dagli").

 

"Dimenticare, Pagare" - Imperativo

 

The category of verbs whose infinitive end with "c+are" or "g+are" ("hard sound" as Karl, Carlo), adds an "h" in front of "i" (to maintain the "hard sound effect")

 

Dimenti-c-are	Pa-g-are
_ _ dimentic-a (forget) dimentich-i dimentich-iamo dimentic-ate dimentich-ino	_ _ paga (pay) pagh-i pagh-iamo pag-ate pagh-ino

 

Remember:

• The polite form "Loro" is rarely used.
• In the negative form, the second singular person uses "non + infinitive": "(Tu) non parlare!" The other persons (Lei, noi, voi, Loro) maintain a regular negative form: "(Lei) non legga!", "(Noi) non leggiamo!", "(Voi) non leggete!"
• With the first person plural and the second persons, the pronouns follow the imperative and are attached to it: "(Noi) compriamole un regalo!", "Tu, leggimi la lettera!", "Voi, cantatemi una canzone!"
• In a formal approach, with "Lei" or "Loro", the pronoun remains in front of the verb: "Signora, mi mandi due righe!"

 

The present infinitive is the form of the verb presented in dictionaries and it expresses the meaning of a verb (e.g.: "ballare" = to dance).

 

The infinitive" has a present form (infinito presente) and a past form (infinito passato). The characteristic of the infinitive, as well as the "gerundio", is that it doesn't change form: "Mi piace mangiare" (I like to eat). "Dopo avere mangiato lavo i denti" (After eating I brush my teeth).

 

MODO INFINITO Contiene la radice del verbo e per questo offre "infinite possibilità" di esprimersi
Tempo Presente	Tempo Passato
amare (to love)	avere amato (to have loved)

 

 

INFINITO PRESENTE Lesson i_10

The infinitive may end in "are", "ere" or "ire", the three classes of Italian verbs: first class: verbs ending with "are" (e.g.: "ballare" = to dance); second class: verbs ending with "ere" (e.g.: "ridere" = to laugh); third class: verbs ending with "ire" (e.g.: "dormire" = to sleep.)

Remember: "avere, essere, dire, bere, fare" have an irregular infinitive.

 

"Cantare, Ridere, Dormire" - Infinito presente

 

Cantare

Ridere

Dormire

 

Remember, the present infinitive can be used also:

• as a noun; "mangiare bene è importante" (it is important to eat well)
• to express an order or an instruction instead of the imperative; "versare il latte e cuocere per due minuti" (pour the milk and cook for two minutes)
• to express a negative command; "non fare così!" (don't do that!)
• following another verb in a dependent clause; "desidero scrivere una lettera" (I'd like to write a letter.) The present infinitive in this case indicates that the action of the dependent clause happens at the same time or subsequently to the action of the main clause
• With the infinitive, (dropping its last vowel), the pronouns follow the verb ("lavarmi, scrivergli, parlarci...")

 

INFINITO PASSATO of TRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson a_2

 

The "infinito passato" of transitive verbs is formed with the "infinito" of "AVERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Cantare, Ridere, Dormire" - Infinito passato

 

Avere cantato

Avere riso

Avere dormito

 

 

INFINITO PASSATO of INTRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson a_2

 

The "infinito passato" of INtransitive verbs is formed with the "infinito" of "ESSERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Andare, Rimanere, Venire" - Infinito passato

 

Essere andato/a/i/e

Essere rimasto/a/i/e

Essere venuto/a/i/e

 

Remember, the past infinitive can be used:

• following another verb in a dependent clause; "mi sarebbe piaciuto avere scritto una lettera" (I would have liked to write a letter.) The past infinitive in this case indicates that the action of the dependent clause happens prior to the action of the main clause

 

In a sentence, the "gerundio" expresses the time, cause or condition of an action that happens at the same time or prior to the action expressed by the main verb. The subject of the "gerundio" must be the same as the one expressed by the other verb; "io, andando a scuola, ho incontrato il mio amico" (while I was going to school I met my friend).

 

MODO GERUNDIO Indica un'azione in corso (dal latino "gerendus" = agire)
Tempo Presente	Tempo Passato
amando (loving)	avendo amato (having loved)

 

 

GERUNDIO PRESENTE Lesson a_2

The "gerundio presente" of regular verbs is formed by replacing the ending of the infinitive with the endings of the "gerundio presente." The "gerundio presente" expresses an action that happens at the same time of the action expressed by the main verb.

 

"Cantare, Ridere, Dormire" - Gerundio presente

 

Cant-ando

Rid-endo

Dorm-endo

 

 

 

GERUNDIO PASSATO Lesson a_2

 

The "gerundio passato" expresses an action that happens prior to the action expressed by the main verb.

 

GERUNDIO PASSATO of TRANSITIVE VERBS

 

The "gerundio passato" of transitive verbs is formed with the "gerundio" of "AVERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Cantare, Ridere, Dormire" - Gerundio passato

 

Avendo cantato

Avendo riso

Avendo dormito

 

 

GERUNDIO PASSATO of INTRANSITIVE VERBS

 

The "gerundio passato" of INtransitive verbs is formed with the "gerundio" of "ESSERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Andare, Rimanere, Venire" - Gerundio passato

 

Essendo andato/a/i/e

Essendo rimasto/a/i/e

Essendo venuto/a/i/e

 

Remember:

• "avere, essere, dire, bere, fare" are irregular and have the following form of "gerundio presente": "avendo, essendo, dicendo, bevendo, facendo"
• With the "gerundio" the pronouns follow the verb ("lavandomi, parlandomi...")

 

Il "passato remoto" (remote-past tense) is rarely used in conversation (except for some regions). It expresses an action completed in the past, that no longer has reference in the present: "Leonardo da Vinci nacque nel 1452" (Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452). Mostly, it is a past tense widely used in writing for historical or literary narrations.

 

PASSATO REMOTO of REGULAR VERBS Lesson a_5

The "passato remoto" (remote past) of regular verbs is formed by replacing the ending of the infinitive with the endings of the "passato remoto".

 

"Amare, Temere, Dormire" - Passato remoto

 

Pronoun	Amare	Temere	Dormire
io	am-ai (I loved)	tem-ei ("tem-etti") (I feared)	dorm-ii (I slept)
tu	am-asti	tem-esti	dorm-isti
lui	am-ò	tem-ette	dorm-ì
lei	am-ò	tem-ette	dorm-ì
Lei	am-ò	tem-ette	dorm-ì
noi	am-ammo	tem-emmo	dorm-immo
voi	am-aste	tem-este	dorm-iste
loro	am-arono	tem-erono ("tem-ettero")	dorm-irono

 

 

PASSATO REMOTO of IRREGULAR VERBS Lesson a_5

 

Some verbs may be irregular in the "passato remoto" but not in the present conjugation (or viceversa.)

 

In order to help you memorize some of them, we created six categories:

 

"Chiedere, Chiudere, Correre, Decidere, Perdere, Piangere, Ridere, Rimanere, Sorridere, Vincere" - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category changes the last consonant of the stem into "s" before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Chied-ere	Chiud-ere	Corr-ere	Decid-ere	Perd-ere
chies-i (I asked) chied-esti chies-e chied-emmo chied-este chies-ero	chius-i (I closed) chiud-esti chius-e chiud-emmo chiud-este chius-ero	cors-i (I ran) corr-esti cors-e corr-emmo corr-este cors-ero	decis-i (I decided) decid-esti decis-e decid-emmo decid-este decis-ero	pers-i (I lost) perd-esti pers-e perd-emmo perd-este pers-ero

 

Piang-ere	Rid-ere	Riman-ere	Sorrid-ere	Vinc-ere
pians-i (I cried) piang-esti pians-e piang-emmo piang-este pians-ero	ris-i (I laughed) rid-esti ris-e rid-emmo rid-este ris-ero	rimas-i (I stayed) riman-esti rimas-e riman-emmo riman-este rimas-ero	sorris-i (I smiled) sorrid-esti sorris-e sorrid-emmo sorrid-este sorris-ero	vins-i (I won) vinc-esti vins-e vinc-emmo vinc-este vins-ero

 

"Piovere, Tenere, Venire, Volere" - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category doubles the last consonant of the stem before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Piov-ere	Ten-ere	Ven-ire	Vol-ere
piovve (it rained) piovv-ero	tenn-i (I kept) ten-esti tenn-e ten-emmo ten-este tenn-ero	venn-i (I came) ven-isti venn-e ven-immo ven-iste venn-ero	voll-i (I wanted) vol-esti voll-e vol-emmo vol-este voll-ero

 

"Accendere, Prendere, Rispondere" - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category changes the consonant "nd" of the stem into "s" before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Accend-ere	Prend-ere	Rispond-ere
acces-i (I switched on) accend-esti acces-e accend-emmo accend-este acces-ero	pres-i (I took) prend-esti pres-e prend-emmo prend-este pres-ero	rispos-i (I answered) rispond-esti rispos-e rispond-emmo rispond-este rispos-ero

 

"Dire, Leggere, Scrivere, Vivere" - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category changes the last consonant or consonants of the stem into "ss" before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Dire (Dic-ere)	Legg-ere	Scriv-ere	Viv-ere
diss-i (I said) dic-esti diss-e dic-emmo dic-este diss-ero	less-i (I read) legg-esti less-e legg-emmo legg-este less-ero	scriss-i (I wrote) scriv-esti scriss-e scriv-emmo scriv-este scriss-ero	viss-i (I lived) viv-esti viss-e viv-emmo viv-este viss-ero

 

"Nascere, Piacere" - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category changes stem and adds a "q" before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Nasc-ere	Piac-ere
nacqu-i (I was born) nasc-esti nacqu-e nasc-emmo nasc-este nacqu-ero	piacqu-i (I liked/was liked) piac-esti piacqu-e piac-emmo piac-este piacqu-ero

 

"Avere, Bere, Conoscere, Dare, Fare, Mettere, Sapere, Spegnere, Stare, Vedere " - Passato remoto

 

In the first person singular and third persons, this category changes stem before adding the endings of the "passato remoto"

 

Av-ere	Bere	Conosc-ere	Dare	Fare
ebbi (I had) av-esti ebbe av-emmo av-este ebbero	bevv-i (I drank) bev-esti bevv-e bev-emmo bev-este bevv-ero	conobb-i (I knew/learned) conosc-esti conobb-e conosc-emmo conosc-este conobb-ero	died-i (I gave) d-esti died-e d-emmo d-este died-ero	fec-i (I did/made) fac-esti fec-e fac-emmo fac-este fec-ero

 

Mett-ere	Sap-ere	Spegn-ere	St-are	Ved-ere
mis-i (I put) mett-esti mis-e mett-emmo mett-este mis-ero	sepp-i (I knew/learned) sap-esti sepp-e sap-emmo sap-este sepp-ero	spens-i (I switched off) spegn-esti spens-e spegn-emmo spegn-este spens-ero	stett-i (I stayed) st-esti stett-e st-emmo st-este stett-ero	vid-i (I looked/whatched) ved-esti vid-e ved-emmo ved-este vid-ero

 

"Essere" - Passato remoto

 

This verb changes stem in the "passato remoto"

 

Ess-ere

fui (I was) fo-sti fu fu-mmo fo-ste furono

 

 

The "trapassato remoto" expresses an action that happened prior to the one expressed by another past tense: "Garibaldi, dopo che ebbe radunato gli uomini, partì per la Sicilia" (After Garibaldi had grouped the men, they all left for Sicily).

 

The "trapassato remoto" is a "compound tense" (like the "passato prossimo") because it is formed with one of the auxiliary verbs ("essere" or "avere") plus the past participle of a verb. Whether it requires "essere" or "avere", depends on the verb.

If the verb is a transitive verb, it requires the auxiliary "avere". If the verb is intransitive (like most verbs that express movement or state of being) or if the verb is reflexive, it requires the auxiliary "essere".

 

TRAPASSATO REMOTO of TRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson a_5

Transitive verbs may be followed by an object to complete their meaning "leggo la lettera" (I read the letter) I read what? I read the letter. The "trapassato remoto" of transitive verbs is formed with the "passato remoto" of "AVERE" + the past participle of the verb.

 

"Mangiare, Leggere, Aprire" - Trapassato remoto

 

Pronoun	Mangiare	Leggere	Aprire
io	ebbi mangiato (I had eaten)	ebbi letto (I had read)	ebbi aperto (I had opened)
tu	avesti mangiato	avesti letto	avesti aperto
lui	ebbe mangiato	ebbe letto	ebbe aperto
lei	ebbe mangiato	ebbe letto	ebbe aperto
Lei	ebbe mangiato	ebbe letto	ebbe aperto
noi	avemmo mangiato	avemmo letto	avemmo aperto
voi	aveste mangiato	aveste letto	aveste aperto
loro	ebbero mangiato	ebbero letto	ebbero aperto

 

 

TRAPASSATO REMOTO of INTRANSITIVE VERBS Lesson a_5

 

Intransitive verbs don't need an object to complete their meaning.

The "trapassato remoto" of most intransitive verbs is formed with the "passato remoto" of "ESSERE" + the past participle of the verb (if you are not sure whether a verb requires "essere" or "avere" check the dictionary.) With "essere", the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb.

 

"Andare, Nascere, Venire" - Trapassato remoto

 

Pronoun	Andare	Venire
io	fui andato/a (I had gone)	fui venuto/a (I had come)
tu	fosti andato/a	fosti venuto/a
lui	fu andato	fu venuto
lei	fu andata	fu venuta
Lei	fu andato/a	fu venuto/a
noi	fummo andati/e	fummo venuti/e
voi	foste andati/e	foste venuti/e
loro	furono andati/e	furono venuti/e

 

Remember:

• "dormire"(to sleep), "rispondere" (to answer), "viaggiare" (to travel), "vivere" (to live) though intransitive require the auxiliary "avere" ("ho dormito, ho risposto, ho viaggiato, ho vissuto...")
• verbs that express movement, like "venire" (to come), "andare" (to go), "uscire" (to go out)... require the auxiliary "essere"
• verbs that express state of being, like "essere" (to be), "stare" (to stay), "rimanere" (to remain), "nascere" (to be born)... require the auxiliary "essere"
• reflexive verbs require the verb "essere"
• the verb "piacere" requires the auxiliary "essere"
• for the position of the pronouns with compound tenses, please refer to the pronouns section

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