Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 37
Domani vado a RomaTomorrow I'm going to Rome
Surprise: to talk about tomorrow you need no new tense. The present + a time word covers all of A1's future — domani vado, la settimana prossima parto, stasera mangiamo insieme. The future's words are this chapter's team: domani, dopodomani, prossimo/prossima, stasera, presto. The chapter also teaches NOT to overdo it: putting volere where the present suffices sounds like shouting to ask for the salt. The futuro semplice exists — you will meet it at level two — but everyday Italy plans with the present.
Dialogue
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I programmi per domani— Plans for tomorrow
- GiuliaMike, che programmi hai per domani?Mike, what plans do you have for tomorrow? (i programmi «plans», glossed — avere carries plans like it carries years.)
- MikeDomani voglio andare al mare, poi voglio mangiare con Marco, e la settimana prossima voglio partire per Napoli!Tomorrow I want to go to the sea, then I want to eat with Marco, and next week I want to leave for Naples! (THE SLIP: every plan is grammatical — but three volere in a row for plain plans sounds like demanding, not planning. Pattern: languages that need an extra will/want word for future.)
- GiuliaRespira! Per i programmi basta il presente: domani VADO al mare, poi MANGIO con Marco, la settimana prossima PARTO. La parola di tempo fa tutto il lavoro.Breathe! For plans the present is enough: domani VADO al mare, then MANGIO with Marco, next week PARTO. The time word does all the work. (The fix: present + domani/prossima = the whole A1 future; volere stays for real wishes.)
- MikeDomani vado al mare — e VOGLIO un gelato enorme. Quello è un desiderio vero!Tomorrow I'm going to the sea — and I WANT a huge gelato. That one is a real wish! (Mike sorts the two on his own: plans ride the present, desires keep volere; enorme «huge», glossed.)
Dialogue
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La settimana prossima— Next week
- MarcoGiulia, la settimana prossima vado a Napoli: due giorni di mare! Il treno parte venerdì alle sette.Giulia, next week I'm going to Naples: two days of sea! The train leaves Friday at seven. (Everything future, everything in the present — la settimana prossima and venerdì do the tense's work.)
- GiuliaChe bello! Ma deve prenotare l'albergo, signore — ad agosto Napoli è piena!How lovely! But you must book the hotel, sir — in August Naples is full! (deve prenotare — the attested CILS line, teased with a mock-Lei; piena «full»; ad agosto — the a takes a d before a vowel, receptive.)
- MarcoPrenoto stasera! E tu, che cosa fai il prossimo weekend? Come va il tuo viaggio a Firenze?I'll book tonight! And you, what are you doing next weekend? How's your Florence trip coming? (prenoto stasera — present for tonight's plan; il tuo viaggio — the attested CILS possessive phrase.)
- GiuliaParto sabato mattina presto e torno domenica sera. Dopodomani compro il biglietto — promesso!I leave Saturday morning early and come back Sunday evening. The day after tomorrow I buy the ticket — promise! (dopodomani «the day after tomorrow» — domani's big brother; a whole itinerary in plain present.)
Vocabulary
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- domani
adverbtomorrow (promoted from gloss to star: domani vado — the present's favorite passenger)
- dopodomani
adverbthe day after tomorrow (dopo + domani stacked — Italian builds it from parts you own)
- prossimo / prossima
adjectivenext (la settimana prossima, il prossimo weekend — scorso's forward-looking twin, chapter 33)
- il programma
n.m.the plan, the program (che programmi hai? — a Greek -ma word: masculine despite the -a, plural i programmi)
- il weekend / il fine settimana
n.m.the weekend (both live in Italian: the import il weekend and the homegrown il fine settimana — invariable either way)
- prenotare
verbto book (deve prenotare, puoi prenotare — BOTH attested CILS lines; prenoto l'albergo stasera)
- pieno / piena
adjectivefull (ad agosto Napoli è piena; the opposite is vuoto «empty»)
- il gelato
n.m.the gelato, ice cream (from chapter 4's gender starters to chapter 37's real wish — un gelato enorme)
- sperare
verbto hope (spero di sì «I hope so» — the little formula; regular -are)
Grammar
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The future with the present — domani vado
Explanation
Everyday Italian talks about the future with the PRESENT plus a time word: domani vado a Roma, stasera mangiamo insieme, la settimana prossima parto, il treno parte alle sette. The time word — domani, dopodomani, stasera, la settimana prossima, il mese prossimo, a settembre — does all the tense's work: the verb stays as it is. This is A1's future in full. Two mirror traps. Trap one: hunting for a future tense you don't own yet — the futuro semplice (andrò) exists but is level-two material; if you hear it, understand it and move on. Trap two: overloading volere — «domani voglio andare» is grammatical but states a desire, not a plan; for decided plans the present is more natural AND more polite. The test: already decided, with day and time? → present (domani vado). A craving, a dream, a request? → volere (voglio un gelato). Bonus: the present also covers timetable-future — il treno parte alle sette, il film comincia alle nove — exactly as train and cinema schedules do in many languages.
Examples
- Domani vado al mare; dopodomani torno.Tomorrow I go to the sea; the day after I come back. (Two plans, zero new tenses — the time words carry everything.)
- Il treno parte alle sette e arriva alle dieci.The train leaves at seven and arrives at ten. (Timetable future — the present is the ONLY natural tense here.)
- La settimana prossima parto per Napoli — e voglio vedere il mare ogni giorno!Next week I leave for Naples — and I want to see the sea every day! (Plan in the present, wish with volere — both machines in their right lanes; ogni «every», glossed.)
- A settembre Mike torna a casa? — Spero di no!In September is Mike going home? — I hope not! (a settembre — a + month names the future date; spero di no/di sì, the little hope formulas.)
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