La Desinenza

With desinenza we indicate the last part of a word; it could be the last one, two or three letters of
the word.
If we talk about verbs, the last three letter of every verb in italian is the deisnenza.
We have three main desinenza in Italian:
1) -ARE
2) -ERE
3) -IRE
Why is so important this desinenza for us? Because if we properly change the desinenza, we can
use the verb in the italian tenses (e.g. Past, Present, Future and so on).

Presente Indicativo (Simple Present)

The Presente Indicativo is the most simple present tense that we have in italian. Its use, is the same
of the Simple Present in English.

How do we form the Presente Indicativo?

Subject + Verb in the Presente Indicativo Conjugation + Object

E.g.

IO

SONO

UN RAGAZZO

Wich is the Presente Indicativo Conjucation?

To conjugate a verb in the presente indicativo, we need, at first, to erase the original desinenza and,
then, to replace it with another desinenza. This new desinenza has to be in according to the
original one and to the subject.

Let's have a look to the rules!

SUBJECT

DESINENZA

-ARE

-ERE

-IRE

IRE/ISC*

IO

-O

-O

-O

-ISCO

TU

-I

-I

-I

-ISCI

LEI/LUI/ESSO/ESSA

-A

-E

-E

-ISCE

NOI

-AMO

-IAMO

-IAMO

-IAMO

VOI

-ATE

-ETE

-ITE

-ITE

LORO/ESSI

-ANO

-ONO

-ONO

-ISCONO

*Some of the verbs with -IRE desinenza, need to get an additional suffix before the -IRE
conjugation. This suffix is -ISC.

Now let's have an example:

Verb: MANGIARE
We want to say: I eat an apple.
1) ERASE the original desinenza -ARE. We have: MANGI
2)Which is the subject of the sentence? IO (I)
3)Look the table, IO + ARE is -O
4)PUT the new desinenza in the verb. We have MANGIO
Now we can form our sentence!
Io mangio una mela
BE CAREFUL! Unfortunately, not every verbs are regular, we have some verbs that are iregular.
More rules for these verbs will be given in the following lessons

When do we use the Presente Indicativo?

events happening in the present (e.g. Io mangio una mela) [I eat an apple]
habitual actions (e.g. Io vado a scuola tutti i giorni) [I go to school every day]
current states of being and conditions (e.g. Io ho trent'anni) [I'm 30 years old]
facts that are true for scientific reasons (e.g. La terra rotonda) [The Earth is round]

Now, try to conjugate the verbs below. Do not care if you don't know what the verb means, the exercise is to
understand how to conjugate a verb, you don't need to understand the meaning to conjugate properly! :)
MANGIARE

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi
SOGNARE
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

DANZARE
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

SUONARE
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi

Loro/Essi

VEDERE
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

CADERE
Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

MORDERE

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

DORMIRE

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

APRIRE

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

FINIRE

Io
Tu
Lui/Lei/Esso
Noi
Voi
Loro/Essi

Now, try to write some sentences (at least one per each verb, but more if you want!). If you don't
know the meaning of a verb, use the table at the end of this file.

 ARE

ERE

IRE

aiutare

to help, aid

avere

to have, own

aprire

to open

amare

to love

bere

to drink

Capire (isc)

to understand

andare

to go

cadere

to fall

dire

to say, tell

arrivare

to arrive, come to

chiedere

to ask

dormire

to sleep

ascoltare

to listen, hear

chiudere

to close

Finire (isc)

to finish, end

aspettare

to wait

conoscere

to know, meet

partire

to leave, go away

cambiare

to change

correre

to run

morire

to die

camminare

to walk

credere

to believe, think

Preferire (isc)

to prefer

cercare

to look for, search for

decidere

to decide

salire

to get on

chiamare

to call

dovere

to have to, must

sentire

to feel

cominciare

to begin, start

essere

to be

Uscire (isc)

go out, come out

comprare

to buy, purchase

leggere

to read

venire

To come

costare

to cost

mettere

to put, place, set

Danzare

To dance

Mordere

To bite

dare

to give

nascere

to born

dimenticare

to forget

piacere

to like

diventare

to become

potere

to be able, can

entrare

to enter, go in

prendere

to catch, take, get

fare

to do, make

prerdere

to lose

giocare

to play (a game)

rimanere

to stay, remain

guardare

to look at, watch

ripetere

to repeat

imparare

to learn

rispondere

to answer, reply

lavorare

to work

rompere

to break

mangiare

to eat

sapere

to know

pagare

to pay

scegliere

to choose

parlare

to talk, speak

scendere

to get off, go down

pensare

to think

scrivere

to write

portare

to bring, carry

vedere

to see

provare

to try

vendere

to sell

ricordare

to rimember, remind

vivere

to live

sperare

to hope

volere

to want

stare

to stay, stand

studiare

to study

suonare

to play (an instrument),

ring

tornare

go back, come back

trovare

to find

usare

to use

viaggiare

to travel

visitare

to visit

volare

to fly