The present simple is used to talk about habits and recurrent actions, and yet in Italian, there are also many other uses of the present that you don’t find in English. For instance, did you know we can use the present simple to talk about the near future? Mind-blowing, right? Well then, wait until you see that the present simple is also used to talk about past, historical events. The present simple is truly versatile!
In this post, we’ll first review the uses of the simple present and then we’ll show you how to form it. Shall we dive in? Let’s go!
Like the English simple present tense (e.g. “he runs”), the Italian present simple tense is used to talk about habits and things we do often. Yet, you are soon to find out about some very important differences!
So, when my students ask me, “How do we use the present simple in conversations?,” I usually draw a timeline on the whiteboard that looks like this:
Let’s go through all those different situations. We’ll start with the uses of the present simple in the present (since those will be the most familiar), then we’ll look at how it’s used to talk about the past and the future.
The present can also be used to express different shades of the present.
In Italian, we use the present simple to describe an action occurring as you speak.
Suona il campanello.
The bell is ringing.
Yes! Unlike in English, you can use the present simple to describe actions and events happening right now or those in progress.
Note that there is also an Italian present progressive (also called “present continuous”), which more directly corresponds to the “be + verb-ing” form in English. Thus, “The bell is ringing” can actually be translated two ways:
with the present simple →
Suona il campanello
with the present progressive →
Il campanello sta suonando
Both options are fine!
Just like in English, the Italian present simple expresses habitual actions. Often, in this use, the verb is accompanied by an adverb of frequency, like “often,” “sometimes,” etc.
Vediamo spesso i nostri amici del liceo.
We see our high school friends often.
Check out this list of common Italian adverbs of frequency to see more words you can use to accompany habitual actions!
As in English, the Italian present simple can express a permanent present, that of unchanging actions or facts, such as scientific ones.
L’acqua bolle a cento gradi.
Water boils at one hundred degrees celsius.
La terra gira intorno al sole.
The earth rotates around the sun.
As in English, the Italian present simple is also used in mottos, proverbs, and figures of speech.
Una mela al giorno toglie il medico di torno.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The present simple can be used to make the past feel alive. This applies to two main situations:
We use the present simple to talk about facts that happened in the past and make them feel closer to us in time, by using the so-called historic present or narrative present.
Leonardo da Vinci nasce nel 1452.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452.
In English, the present is occasionally used when speaking about historical events to add immediacy to your story. You might hear it in an interview given within a documentary, for instance: “And then in 1066, the Normans invade England, and everything changes.” But in English, history is almost always narrated in the past, especially in writing.
On the other hand, in Italian, the historic present is used quite often to talk about historical events, even in writing. You can find a whole text about the life of Leonardo da Vinci, for example, all in present tense:
Leonardo disegna / scrive / elabora / muore…
Leonardo designed / wrote / elaborated / died...
You can also resort to the present simple to talk about something that started in the past and is still happening.
Martina suona il piano da tre anni.
Martina has been playing the piano for three years.
Sono tre giorni che il portiere non risponde al telefono.
The doorman hasn't answered the phone for three days.
Please note that this use is very different from English. In English, you would use “have/has + been + verb-ing” (e.g. “Martina has been playing”) or “have/has + verb-ed” (e.g. “The doorman hasn’t answered”). But in Italian, you just use the simple present!
Finally, the present simple can be used to talk about the immediate future.
Especially in colloquial settings, we use the present simple (instead of the future simple) to talk about plans in the short term.
Torniamo all’università ad agosto.
We are going back to college in August.
Non preoccuparti. Prendo un taxi.
Don’t worry. I will take a cab.
Il treno parte fra un’ora.
The train is leaving in one hour.
Arrivo presto!
I’m coming soon!
Or to make an offer, a prediction, a suggestion.
Lo mangio io!
I’ll eat it!
Se piove, non andiamo al mare.
If it rains, we won’t go to the sea.
Prendiamo un caffè insieme oggi pomeriggio?
Shall we have coffee together in the afternoon today?
To form the Italian present simple, remove the infinitive ending of the verb and add a new present simple ending based on the person of the subject.
To form tenses in Italian we need to take into account that every verb has two parts. For example the verb amare(to love)has two parts am- and -are :
The first part of the verb that doesn’t change when you it. This is called the stem or the root.
The second part of the verb is the ending or suffix, which changes as the verb is conjugated
So let’s go though those steps a bit more slowly. Imagine you want to say “I speak” in Italian:
Start with the form of the verb:
parlare(to talk, to speak)
Remove the characteristic ending of the infinitive form
parlare → parl-
Finally add the characteristic ending of the present simple for the first person lo(I), which is -o.
parl- + -o = parlo(I speak)
The steps above can help conjugate most verbs in the present simple. However, take note:
In Italian there are three conjugation groups:
verbs whose infinitive ends in -are
verbs whose infinitive ends in -ere
verbs whose infinitive ends in -ire
Each group will have slightly different endings.
In each conjugation group, there are irregular verbs, which are named as such because they diverge from the patterns of their conjugation group. Some are so unique that they need to be memorized. For example, important verbs like essere(to be) and avere(to have) are irregular.
Ready to see how it all works? Let’s start from the present simple of regular verbs (those that follow the typical pattern), and then we’ll look at what to do about the irregular verbs!
To form the present simple of verbs in Italian you’ll add the following endings to the stem:
Subject Pronoun | Infinitive in –are parlare(to speak) | Infinitive in –ere scrivere(to write) | Infinitive in –ire aprire(to open) |
io(I) | parl-o | scriv-o | apr-o |
tu(you) | parl-i | scriv-i | apr-i |
lui/lei(he/she)Lei(you, polite) | parl-a | scriv-e | apr-e |
noi(we) | parl-iamo | scriv-iamo | apr-iamo |
voi(you, pl.) | parl-ate | scriv-ete | apr-ite |
loro(they) | parl-ano | scriv-ono | apr-ono |
The first column in the table above contains the personal pronouns io, tu, lui/lei(I, you, he/she), etc. These can be left out in Italian because the verb endings, like -o, -i, -iamo, etc. identify who the speaker is.
In all three groups, the endings for verbs with io(I), tu(you), and noi(we) are the same: -o, -i, and -iamo.
In both the -ere and -ire groups, the ending for lu/lei(he/she) is -e.
In both the -ere and -ire groups, the ending for loro(they) is -ono.
To see some more examples, check out this list of common Italian regular verbs divided by group!
When forming the present simple, there are a couple tips you should keep in mind.
Verbs ending in -care and -gare:
Verbs such as cercare(to look for, to search) and pagare(to pay, to pay for) add an h with tu(you) and noi(we) to keep the original pronunciation.
Cerchi nel posto sbagliato.
You are looking in the wrong place.
Noi paghiamo il caffè oggi.
We are paying for coffee today.
Verbs ending in -iare:
Verbs such as cominciare(to begin), mangiare(to eat), and studiare(to study) drop the i from the base with tu(you) and noi(we). It is ✅ cominci and ✅ cominciamo, and not ❌ comincii or ❌ cominciiamo.
Tu cominci domani, mentre noi cominciamo sabato.
You start tomorrow, while we start Saturday.
To form the present simple of irregular verbs in Italian, you’ll usually not only change the endings when you conjugate, but also make some changes to the stem of the verb (the first part of the verb). Though some irregular verbs just take slightly irregular endings, most are irregular because the stem changes through its conjugation.
Check out these examples of three common irregular verbs in Italian, from the -are, -ere, and -ire groups:
Subject Pronoun | Infinitive in –are andare(to go) | Infinitive in –ere volere(to want) | Infinitive in –ire venire(to come) |
io(I) | vad-o | vogli-o | veng-o |
tu(you) | va-i | vuo-i | vien-i |
lui/lei(he/she)lei(you, polite) | v-a | vuoi-e | vien-i |
noi(we) | and-iamo | vogli-amo | ven-iamo |
voi(you, pl.) | and-ate | vol-ete | ven-ite |
loro(they) | v-anno | vogli-ano | veng-ono |
For many irregular verbs, you will just need to memorize the stem changes in each case. Have a look at our chart of common Italian irregular verbs to start learning.
But there are a few patterns that can help you learn to conjugate Italian irregular verbs. Have a look!
Some verbs ending in -ire like finire(to finish), capire(to understand), and spedire(to send) take -isc with io, tu, lui/lei(I, you, he/she) and loro(they).
So, the verb finire looks like this:
Subject Pronoun | finire(to end) |
io(I) | finisc-o |
tu(you) | finisc-i |
lui/lei(he/she)lei(you, polite) | finisc-e |
noi(we) | fin-iamo |
voi(you, pl.) | fin-ite |
loro(they) | finisc-ono |
Finisco di lavorare alle 19.
I finish working at 7 p.m.
A volte spediscono con DHL.
Sometimes they ship with DHL.
Lui mi capisce sempre.
He always understands me.
Some verbs ending in -rre also need some attention. These are verbs like porre(to place), trarre(to draw, to pull), and all their compound forms, as well as all the compound forms ending in Phrase. Have a look at this list of the most common Italian verbs ending in -rre for more examples.
Subject Pronoun | porre(to place) | trarre(to draw) | tradurre(to translate) |
io(I) | pong-o | tragg-o | traduc-o |
tu(you) | pon-i | tra-i | traduc-i |
lui/lei(he/she)lei(you, polite) | pon-e | tra-e | traduc-e |
noi(we) | pon-iamo | tra-iamo | traduc-iamo |
voi(you, pl.) | pon-ete | tra-ete | traduc-ete |
loro(they) | pong-ono | tragg-ono | traduc-ono |
The Italian present simple tense is quite versatile! It’s not only used to talk about present actions, but also past actions that are still happening and actions in the so-called “historical present,” as well as actions in the immediate future.
We also went over how to form regular and irregular verbs in the present tense. Here is some advice to recap:
If you get the endings for the three groups (-are, -ere, -ire) of regular verbs down, and focus on the common irregulars, you are on the right path!
Beware of the tricky conjugations for -ire that change some of the persons to -isc.
Look out for the spelling of some verbs that end in -rre.
Now, follow the link to practice the Italian present tense!
