#089: Present indicative in Italian / Presente indicativo in italiano
In Italian, the present indicative in Italian (il presente indicativo) corresponds to the following in English:
Leggo la rivista.
I am reading the magazine. –present progressive
I read the magazine. –simple present
I do read the magazine. –present intensive
Uses of the Present Indicative in Italian:
- An action that is happening at this moment
Prendo un caffè.
I am having a coffee.
Vado al supermercato.
I am going to the supermarket.
- To describe people, places, and things:
Il cane abbaia sempre quando ritorniamo a casa.
The dog always barks when we return home.La sua casa è piccola, ma ci piace molto.
Her house is small, but we like it a lot.
- A habitual action that repeats regularly:
L’autobus parte da questa fermata alle 8.20 ogni mattina.
The bus leaves from this stop at 8.20 every morning.
- To make invitations or proposals:
Vuoi andare al cinema?
Do you want to go to the movies.No, mi dispiace. Non posso. La mia famiglia mi viene a trovare stasera.
No, I’m sorry. I cannot. My family is visiting me tonight.
- An action that is about to happen in the very near future with a high degree of certainty:
Domani vedo il nuovo film.
Tomorrow I will see the new film.Presto il programma comincia.
Soon the program will begin.
- With statements of fact or universal truths (also for proverbs):
Idrogeno è il primo elemento chimico della tavola periodica.
Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table.
- Historic present : when telling a story or relating events or facts in the past in order to give more immediacy and priority to events:
Verdi è un compositore italiano e molto famoso alla fine del secolo XIX.
Verdi was a very famous Italian composer at the end of the 19th century.
- To convey an action that has begun in the past and continues to the present day. There are two methods:
present-tense + da + time expression*:
Studio tedesco da sei anni.
I have been studying German for six years.
È or sono + time expression + che + present-tense:
Sono tre mesi che vado in palestra.
I have been going to the gym for three months.
*NB: Please use this construction with care as it is used only when the action began in the past and continues to the present. If the action is no longer being done, then a past tense is used. Click here to read more on this construction.
These following articles might be helpful to you:
Conjugating -are verbs, Conjugating -ere verbs, Conjugating – ire verbs
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First of all thanks for all these notes. I’m studying Italian as a foreign language and I found your blog a great help.
However verbs are still givin’ me a bit of a hard time and was wondering if you could tell me the difference between the stare + gerundio form and the present? (for ex. between ‘Prendo un caffè.’ and ‘Sto prendendo un caffè.’
Thanks =]
Hi there!
Stare + gerundio is used to describe actions that are currently in progress or something that you (or another subject) is in the process of doing. It is not used to describe actions that may happen in the future — for those instances use the future or the present.
Check out
this post.
[...] Italian in Italy « #089: Present indicative in Italian / Presente indicativo in italiano #012: Possessives / I possessivi [...]
[...] is irregular in the present tense, as seen [...]