Italian All-in-One For Dummies (142 page)

Sometimes, to be particularly emphatic, you use a pronoun:
Oggi pago io
(
Today, I'm paying
). Another variation is to use
anche
(
too; also
):
Anche Lei?
(
You, too?
) or
Anch'io
(
Me, too
).

To express more complicated thoughts and actions, you need a few basic
conjunctions
— words that join two or more parts of a sentence. To begin, you can use the most prevalent Italian conjunctions shown here.

e
(
and
)

ed
(
and;
used before a vowel)

ma
(
but
)

o
(
or
)

perché
(
because
)

Combining pronouns takes practice. If you're referring to yourself and someone else,
Mario ed io
(
Mario and I
), but don't want to name names, you may use
noi
(
we
). Remember that the verb conjugation must agree with this double subject.
Mario ed io mangiamo insieme ogni giorno
(
Mario and I eat together every day
) is the same as
Noi mangiamo insieme ogni giorno
(
We eat together every day
).

Here are some other examples of double or compound subjects:

tu e Giuseppe cantate
(
you and Giuseppe
=
voi
)

voi ed io parliamo
(
you and I
=
noi
)

Marco, Beppe, e Margherita scrivono
(
Marco, Beppe, and Margherita
=
loro
)

When you see double or compound subjects, the verb needs a plural ending.

Until you're comfortable with the conjugations, you may want to use the personal subject pronouns. You'll notice, however, that you use them less and less frequently as your command of Italian grows.

Chapter 2

Talking in the Present Tense with Irregular Verbs

In This Chapter

Understanding how irregular verbs work

Conjugating common irregular verbs in the present tense

Using irregular verbs in idiomatic expressions

I
rregular verbs work the same way regular verbs do: You use them to tell, question, evaluate, and comment. They reflect actions (immediate, ongoing, or habitual). They enable you to state facts and opinions. In short, you need them to communicate.

Like all verbs, you conjugate irregular verbs so that the subject and verb agree in number. The difference is, irregular verbs aren't particularly straightforward about their conjugations, as are their regular verb counterparts (see
Chapter 1
in Book IV). Although you can often trace the linguistic genealogy of irregular verbs, you frequently can't assign any logic to their formations. You could say that irregular verbs aren't entirely user-friendly, but they can be conquered with practice, repetition, and memorization.

Moreover, in Italian, irregular verbs frequently show up in idiomatic expressions.
Idiomatic expressions
are those language constructions that make little to no sense if translated word for word but that collectively convey an idea or make an allusion. For example, the English idiom “having a long face” means nothing if translated literally to another language, but English speakers know it means someone looks unhappy.

Idiomatic expressions are as common in Italian as they are in most languages. Recognizing them allows you to sound more Italian and, perhaps more important, to understand what's being said to you. Idioms can also provide witty insights into the culture.

This chapter explores common irregular verbs and shows you how to conjugate them. You pick up some idiomatic expressions that contain irregular verbs (as well as a dash of Italian culture) and get to know the most commonly used irregular verbs and how they team up with phrases and other words to make idiomatic speech possible.

To Be or Not to Be: Conjugating Essere

The most fundamental of verbs,
essere
(
to be
), is always irregular, across languages and across tenses. And, along with several other irregular verbs introduced later in this chapter,
essere
allows you to say almost anything. It will prove a mainstay in your linguistic wardrobe.

The following table shows the conjugation of
essere
in the present tense.

The verb
essere
is a good example of why you don't need personal subject pronouns all the time. The only duplicate form in the conjugated
essere
is
sono
(
I am; they are
), but context often makes its meaning clear.

You use
essere
to form compound verb tenses, of which there are seven in Italian.

No separate word for the English subject
it
exists in Italian.
È
means
it is,
the
it
being understood.
It,
however, does have a gender in Italian. For example:
È bello. È bella.
The first refers to a masculine subject; the second, to a feminine subject.

È lunedì.
(
It is Monday.
)

È una giornata splendida.
(
It's a gorgeous day.
)

Other basic expressions that include the invisible
it
are
Quanto è?
(
How much is it?
);
Dov'è?
(
Where is it?
); and
Chi è?
(
Who is it?
).

Essere
appears in many idiomatic expressions in Italian. See the section “
Using Irregular Verbs in Idiomatic Expressions
,” later in this chapter, for examples.

To Have and to Hold: Conjugating Avere

Avere
(
to have
) rivals
essere
(
to be
) for being ubiquitous. In fact, it's used in many expressions that allow it to do double duty because it can also mean
to be.
Find out more about that later in this section. First, have a look at the conjugation of
avere.

Also, as with
essere,
it
is included in the verb. For example:
Ha un aspetto meraviglioso
(
It has a great look to it
). This expression is frequently used to comment on a dish being served at table.

When accompanied by certain specific nouns,
avere
forms part of little units that, taken in their entirety, change its meaning from
to have
to
to be.
Table 2-1
shows some of these expressions.

Table 2-1 Using Avere as to Be

One rule for knowing whether to use
essere
or
avere
to mean
to be
is that
essere
generally accompanies permanent states of being:
sono carini
(
they are nice
);
è alta
(
she is tall
);
siamo americani
(
we are American
).
Avere
tends to refer to temporary situations:
ho fame e sete
(
I'm hungry and thirsty)
;
ha fretta
(
she is in a hurry
);
abbiamo freddo
(
we're cold
)
.