I) Il Gerundo

This tense in Italian i the equivalent of “-ing” in English. It describes an action that is or was in

progress.

How to form it?

Step 1) conjugate the verb “stare” in accordance with the subject of the sentence

io sto Noi stiamo

Tu stai Voi state

lui/lei/Lei sta Loro stanno

Step 2) replace the verb ending “-are” with “-ando” at the end of the verb OR if the verb ends

with “-ere” or “-ire” replace the ending with “-endo”

Ex: I am talking = Io sto parlando

We are sleeping = Noi stiamo dormendo

Note: There are irregulars for some verbs which end in “-endo”...

- Bere = bevendo

- Dire = dicendo

- Fare = facendo

- Tradurre = traducendo

Ex: You are doing = Tu stai facendo

II) Il Passato Prossimo

The passato prossimo is the past tense for COMPLETED ACTIONS. It expresses an action

that began and ended at a definite point in the past (or an action that was repeated a SPECIFIC

number of times).

Note: When describing actions in the past with passato prossimo, you must use a “helping

verb”, a verb that comes before the past participle and is conjugated in the present tense.

There are two helping verbs to choose from: “avere” or “essere”. Certain verbs which you are

using in the past will use a certain helping verb. To know whether or not a verb in the past uses

“essere” or “avere”, you should ask yourself if the verb is something that has to do with

movement, change of state, change of place, or change of condition. If the verb you are using

in the past has something to do with movement, change of state, or change of place, chances

are you should use “essere” as the helping verb. Any verb which doesn’t have to do with

change of place, state, or condition will probably take “avere”. Let’s first look at using the

passato prossimo with avere:

How to form passato prossimo with avere:

Step 1) Conjugate avere in present tense with accordance with the subject:

Avere (present tense)

Io ho Noi abbiamo

Tu hai Voi avete

lui/lei/Lei ha Loro hanno

Step 2) Create/use the verb’s past participle. To create the past participle, if it’s a verb which

ends in -are change the ending to “ato”, if the verb ends in -ere change its ending to “uto”, and if

the verb ends in -ire change the ending to “ito”

Ex: I spoke = Io ho parlato

She finished = Lei ha finito

Note: Some past participles are irregular and don’t follow the “ato/uto/ito” rule listed in step 2.

Here are some irregular past participles which take avere as the helping verb:

Aprire (to open) = aperto

Bere (to drink) = bevuto

Chiedere (to ask for) = chiesto

Chiudere (to close) = chiuso

Correre (to run) = corso

Decidere (To decide) = deciso

Dipingere (to paint) = dipinto

Dire (to say) = detto

Fare (to do/make) = fatto

Leggere (to read) = letto

Mettere (to put) = messo

Offrire (to offer) = offerto

Perdere (to lose) = perso/perduto

Prendere (to take) = preso

Rispondere (to respond) = risposto

Rompere (To break) = rotto

Scrivere (to write) = scritto

Vedere (to see) = visto/veduto

Vincere (to win) = vinto

How to form passato prossimo with essere:

Step 1) Conjugate essere in accordance with the subject

essere
 Io sono Noi siamo

Tu sei Voi siete

lui/lei/Lei è Loro sono

Step 2) Create/use the verb’s past participle. To create the past participle, there are some

similarities to forming it with avere. If it’s a verb which ends in -are change the ending to “ato”, if

the verb ends in -ere change its ending to “uto”, and if the verb ends in -ire change the ending to

“ito”. HOWEVER, there is a difference in the rules. The endings of “ato/uto/ito” must agree with

gender and number of the subject.

Example: He goes = Lui è andato

She goes = Lei è andata

We (men) go = Noi siamo andati

We (women) go = Noi siamo andate

Note: There are also some irregular past participles when forming the passato prossimo with

essere. Remember that their ending must still agree with gender and number of the subject.

Morire (to die) = morto

Scendere (to go down) = sceso

Essere (to be) = stato

Nascere (to be born) = nato

Piacere (to be pleasing) = piaciuto

Rimanere (To stay, remain) = rimasto

Succedere (to happen) = successo

Venire (to come) = venuto

Vivere (to live) = vissuto

Note: All reflexive verbs in passato prossimo take essere.

Ex: I got up = io mi sono alzato

 She put on = lei si è messa

They got dressed = loro si sono vestiti

III) L’imperfetto

How to form it? - drop the -re of the infinitive ending for the verb and add:

-vo -vamo

-vi -vate

-va -vano

Ex: andare - io andavo, tu andavi, lui andava, noi andavamo, voi andavate, loro andavano

Note: there are irregular stems which have the endings added to them

Bere - beve__

Dire - dice__

Fare - face__

Tradurre - traduce__ (all verbs ending in -durre have this type of stem change)

Ex: dire - io dicevo, tu dicevi, lui diceva, noi dicevamo, voi dicevate, loro dicevano

Essere is also irregular - io ero, tu eri, lui era, noi eravamo, voi eravate, loro erano

When do you use the imperfect tense? - the imperfect tense is another way of forming the past

tense aside from the passato prossimo. You use the passato prossimo when describing a

completed action in the past that occured a specified amount of times. However, if you are

describing something in the past that you “used to do” (an unspecified number of times), your

age in the past, the time in the past, the weather in the past, or a description of something in the

past, you use l’imperfetto.

Ex: Today, I ran = Oggi, io ho corso

 I used to run = Io correvo

IV) Il Futuro

The future tense is used to describe something that “will” happen. To form the futuro semplice,

drop the last -e of the infinitive of the verb and add the ending:

ò emo

ai ete

à anno

Ex: I will take = io prenderò

He will sleep = lui dormirà

Note: With verbs ending in -are in the future tense, change the ending to -ere and then add the

ending.

Ex: I will sing = Io canterò

Note: With verbs ending in -care or -gare, put an -h after the -c or -g

Ex: I will play = Io giocherò

Note: Drop the -i of the stem in verbs ending in -ciare or -giare

Ex: She will eat = lei mangerà

There are also irregular future stems:

Avere = avr_

Essere = sar_

Venire = verr_

Vedere = vedr_

Andare = andr_

Vivire = vivr_
Bere = berr_

Sapere = sapr_

Potere = potr_

Dovere = dovr_

Volere = vorr_

Cadere = cadr_

Ex: She will have = Lei avrà

Note: dare, stare, and fare are all regular in the future tense but do NOT change to -ere

Ex: He will do = lui farà

V) Condizionale Presente

How to form it? - the same way as future tense only with different endings. Drop the last -e and

add the ending. Make sure that -are gets changed to -ere. Here are the endings:

ei emmo

esti este

ebbe ebbero

Ex: I would speak = io parlerei

I would eat = io mangerei

Note: Irregular stems in the conditional are the same as those in the future tense. Also

remember, with verbs ending in -care or -gare, put an -h after the -c or -g; also drop the -i of the

stem in verbs ending in -ciare or -giare

Ex: I would have = io avrei