The Italian present tense (presente) is happening right now. It's a simple tense—that is, the verb form consists of one word only. The present tense of a regular Italian verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem.

　　The present tense of a regular -are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending -are and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem (-o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano). See the table below for a sample conjugation of amare (to love).

　　

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF AMARE (TO LOVE)

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I

(io) amo (I love)

(noi) amiamo (we love)

II

(tu) ami (you love, familiar)

(voi) amate (you love, familiar)

III

(Lei) ama (you love, formal)

(Loro) amano (you love, formal)

(lui/lei) ama (he/she loves)

(loro) amano (they love)

The infinitive of first-conjugation Italian verbs (those ending in -are) and the conjugated forms of the present tense are pronounced like most Italian words: the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. The one exception is the third person plural form amano, which is pronounced AH-mah-noh, with stress falling on the first syllable. A few first-conjugation verbs are listed in the following table.

　　

COMMON FIRST-CONJUGATION VERBS

accendere

to put out, extinguish

arrivare

to arrive

ascoltare

to listen

aspettare

to wait

ballare

to dance

camminare

to walk

cantare

to sing

dimenticare

to forget

guidare

to drive

imparare

to learn

insegnare

to teach

lavorare

to work

nuotare

to swim

parlare

to speak

pranzare

to dine, to have lunch

suonare

to play (a musical instrument)

telefonare

to telephone

visitare

to visit

Italian verbs with infinitives ending in -ere are called second-conjugation (seconda coniugazione) or -ere verbs. The present tense of a regular -ere verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono) to the stem. For an example on how to conjugate a regular second-conjugation verb, take a look the following table.

　　

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SCRIVERE (TO WRITE)

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I

(io) scrivo (I write)

(noi) scriviamo (we write)

II

(tu) scrivi (you write, familiar)

(voi) scrivete (you write, familiar)

III

(Lei) scrive (you write, formal)

(Loro) scrivono (you write, formal)

(lui/lei) scrive (he/she writes)

(loro) scrivono (they write)

Second-conjugation (-ere) verbs account for approximately one-quarter of all Italian verbs. Although many have some sort of irregular structure, there are also many regular verbs (see the following table for examples) which are conjugated in the same way as scrivere.

　　

COMMON SECOND-CONJUGATION VERBS

accendere

to put out, extinguish

battere

to beat, to hit

cadere

to fall

chiedere

to ask

conoscere

to know

correre

to run

credere

to believe

descrivere

to describe

eleggere

to elect

leggere

to read

mettere

to put, to place

mordere

to bite

nascere

to be born

offendere

to offend

perdere

to lose

rimanere

to remain, to stay

ridere

to laugh

rompere

to break

vendere

to sell

sopravvivere

to survive

While the infinitive forms of both first- and third-conjugation Italian verbs always have the accent on the final -are or -ire, second-conjugation verbs are often pronounced with the accent on the third-to-last syllable, as in prendere (PREHN-deh-ray).

　　If there are first-conjugation and second-conjugation verbs, then it stands to reason there are third-conjugation verbs (terza coniugazione)! This final group contains verbs that end in -ire in the infinitive. The present tense of a regular -ire verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending and adding the appropriate endings (-o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono) to the resulting stem. Note that, except for the voi form, these endings are the same as for regular second-conjugation (-ere) verbs. For an example of how to conjugate a regular -ire verb, see the table below, which conjugates sentire (to hear, to feel, to smell).

　　

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION OF SENTIRE (TO HEAR, TO FEEL, TO SMELL)

PERSON

SINGULAR

PLURAL

I

(io) sento (I feel)

(noi) sentiamo (we feel)

II

(tu) senti (you feel, familiar)

(voi) sentite (you feel, familiar)

III

(Lei) sente (you feel, formal)

(Loro) sentono (you feel, formal)

(lui/lei) sente (he/she feels)

(loro) sentono (they feel)

Other common -ire third-conjugation regular verbs are listed below.

　　

COMMON THIRD-CONJUGATION VERBS

acconsentire

to agree, to acquiesce

assorbire

to soak

aprire

to open

bollire

to boil

coprire

to cover

cucire

to sew

dormire

to sleep

fuggire

to flee

mentire

to lie

morire

to die

offrire

to offer

partire

to leave

riaprire

to reopen

scoprire

to discover, to uncover

sequire

to follow

sentire

to hear, to feel, to smell

servire

to serve

sfuggire

to escape

soffrire

to suffer

vestire

to dress, to wear

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