1. Il presente (The Present Tense)

2. First of all, we need the subject pronounsIo I tu
you (singular)
lui/lei
he/she
Lei
you (formal)
noi we
voi
you (plural)
loro
they

3. In Italian the “Present Tense” is used for :
repeated or habitual actions in the present
e.g. Mangiamo sempre la frutta a pranzo
We always eat fruit at lunch

4. Actions that take place at the moment of speaking
e.g. “Che cosa fai?” “Studio italiano”
“What are you doing?”I’m studying Italian”

5. actions with a future meaning
e.g. Visitiamo Venezia domani
We are visiting Venice tomorrow

6. How to form the Present Tense
The starting point is the infinitive
In English you have “to” before the verbs in the infinitive
e.g. to sing to read to sleep

7. In Italian you have the ending “-are”, “-ere” or “-ire”
cantare
leggere
dormire

8. Verbi in -are

9. Step 1
Take off the –are ending
parl – are to speak
becomes
PARL

10. Step 2
Add the endings

11. io
- o tu -i
lui/lei/Lei -a
noi
-iamo
-ate
voi
loro
-ano

12. The verb becomes parlo io I speak tu parli you speak
you speak (formal)
Lei
parla
he/she speaks
lui/lei
parla
parliamo
we speak
noi
voi
parlate
you speak
loro
parlano
they speak