Italian · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 18
Parlo un po' d'italianoI speak a little Italian
The course's engine starts: conjugation. So far you have had essere and avere; today comes Italy's biggest family, the -are verbs: parlare, lavorare, abitare, studiare, mangiare. One root, six endings — parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano — and the ending says WHO, exactly as with sono and ho. With them, the first true irregular: fare (faccio, fai, fa…), the verb that does everything in Italy. Mike talks about his day: oggi studio l'italiano.
Dialogue
i
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Studio l'italiano!— I'm studying Italian!
- MarcoMike, che cosa fai oggi?Mike, what are you doing today?
- MikeOggi studio l'italiano! E Giulia? Lei studia o lavora?Today I'm studying Italian! And Giulia? Does she study or work?
- MarcoGiulia studia — e io lavoro: faccio i cappuccini!Giulia studies — and I work: I make the cappuccinos!
Dialogue
i
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Abito, lavoro, parlo— I live, I work, I speak
- GiuliaMarco, dove abiti?Marco, where do you live?
- MarcoAbito qui vicino — e lavoro qui! La mattina faccio i cornetti.I live nearby — and I work here! In the morning I make the cornetti.
- GiuliaIo studio la mattina — e il pomeriggio parlo con Mike: lui studia l'italiano, io parlo italiano!I study in the morning — and in the afternoon I talk with Mike: he studies Italian, I speak Italian!
- MarcoE la sera mangiate qui?And in the evening, do you (both) eat here?
- GiuliaSì, mangiamo qui — la pizza di Marco è grande!Yes, we eat here — Marco's pizza is big!
Vocabulary
i
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- parlare
verbto speak, to talk (io parlo)
- lavorare
verbto work (io lavoro)
- abitare
verbto live, to reside (io abito — stress on A: Abito)
- studiare
verbto study (io studio)
- mangiare
verbto eat (io mangio; tu mangi — one i, not two: the spelling keeps the soft g and nothing more)
- fare
verbto do, to make — the first true irregular: faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno
- il lavoro
n.m.the work, the job (lavorare's noun)
- un po' di…
phrasea little (bit of) — parlo un po' d'italiano; the apostrophe marks a cut word (poco)
- lui / lei
pronounhe / she
Grammar
i
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The -are verbs: one root, six endings
Explanation
The recipe is simple: take the infinitive (parlare), remove -are, the root remains (parl-), and attach the six endings: -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano. Parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano. As you already know from essere and avere, the ending says WHO — so no pronoun: Parlo italiano. Lavori oggi? It works identically for lavorare, abitare, studiare, mangiare and for hundreds of verbs you will meet. Two honest details: mangiare does not double its i (tu mangi, noi mangiamo — the i is already in the root); and the loro stress does NOT move: PARlano, Abitano — the -ano ending never attracts it (the next chapter's sounds lesson trains your ear for this). And then there is fare — faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno — irregular because it is ancient and used for everything: fare colazione, fare una domanda, fare una foto, che tempo fa. With essere, avere and the -are family, you already talk about your whole world: where you live, what you do, when you eat.
Examples
- parl-are → parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlanoto speak → I speak, you speak, he/she speaks, we speak, you (all) speak, they speak
- Dove abiti? Abito qui vicino, e lavoro al bar.Where do you live? I live nearby, and I work at the bar.
- faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno — che tempo fa?I do, you do, he/she does, we do, you (all) do, they do — what's the weather like?
- PARlano, MANgiano, laVOranothey speak, they eat, they work
- Oggi studio l'italiano.Today I'm studying Italian.
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