Copyright 2007, 2001 by Barrons Educational Series, Inc. Dr.

John Colaneri is the author of 501 Italian Verbs, first edition, Copyright 1992 by Barrons Educational Series, Inc. Adapted from Italian Verbs by Vincent Luciani and John Colaneri Copyright 1990 by Barrons Educational Series, Inc. and 201 Italian Verbs by Vincent Luciani, Copyright 1996 by Barrons Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the copyright owner. All inquiries should be addressed to: Barrons Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge, New York 11788 www.barronseduc.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3553-8 (book only) ISBN-10: 0-7641-3553-8 (book only) ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-7982-2 (book/CD-ROM package) ISBN-10: 0-7641-7982-9 (book/CD-ROM package) Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 2006023483 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Colaneri, John, 19302003 501 Italian verbs / by John Colaneri and Vincent Luciani ; revised by Marcel Danesi. 3rd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3553-8 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7641-3553-8 (alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-7982-2 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-7641-7982-9 (alk. paper) 1. Italian languageVerb. I. Luciani, Vincent, 1906 II. Danesi, Marcel, 1946 III. Title. IV. Title: Five hundred one Italian verbs. V. Title: Five hundred and one Italian verbs. PC127.C65 2007 458.2421dc22 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Contents
Foreword Accents Essentials of Italian pronunciation Verbs conjugated with avere or essere Italian verb conjugations: An overview Essential 55 verb list Verbs requiring spelling changes Features in this book v v vi xi xiii xxxi xxxii xxxv

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Alphabetical listing of 501 Italian verbs fully conjugated in all the tenses Appendixes

1 557 559 572 574 581 583 603 605 608 625

1,500 Italian verbs conjugated like the 501 model verbs Index of irregular Italian verb forms identified by infinitive

Verbs used with prepositions

Concise general grammar review Italian-American conversion tables Italian proverbs Verb drills Answers to verb drills for the text

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Index of English-Italian verbs

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For my wife Ann and my son John, for their unswerving support and encouragement and to Professor Guy Famularo, for his computer assistance and constant support. With love and gratitude

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Foreword
This handy reference guide for students, business people, travelers, and anyone else interested in the Italian language presents the fully conjugated forms of over 500 commonly used Italian verbs. The verbs are arranged alphabetically, one to a page, so that you will find the complete conjugation for a verb on one page. The subject pronouns have been omitted, as they usually are in Italian, unless they are needed for some communicative or grammatical reason. Only the reflexive pronouns are given, since these are always required. Feminine forms of the verbs conjugated with essere have been omitted; however, they are shown in the section titled Compound Tenses. The forms next to the second person singular of the imperative indicate the negative, the only form that is different from the affirmative. Here are some of the new features pertinent to this edition. Irregular verbs are identified with an asterisk (*). A verb is marked as irregular if it is not conjugated in the regular fashion or if its participle or gerund is irregular. The top 55 verbs are identified with the phrase An Essential 55 Verb. A separate list of these verbs is also included. These are verbs that appear most frequently in common everyday conversation. These essential 55 verbs have a second page that features reasons why it is an essential verb, samples of basic verb usage, as well as words and expressions related to the given verb, and any other unique features about the verb.

In some cases, you will also find notes on conjugation pattern, usage, and/or comparisons with English under the heading Note. The number of other verbs conjugated like the model verbs has been increased to 1,500. You will also find a section called Concise General Grammar Review which, as its title suggests, provides you with a birds eye view of the basics of Italian grammar. And, finally, you will find a series of verb drills at the end of the book that give you an opportunity to practice your verbs. More of these drills are included on the accompanying CD-ROM.

Accents
Italian has seven vowels: a, i, u, open e and o, closed e and o. As a rule, Italian words bear no accent except on the final vowel. In this text only the final accents are shown, since they have a direct bearing on the meaning, for example, provo, I try; prov, he tried.

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In addition to the Samples of verb usage (which show the verb used in sentences) of the previous edition, you will find a new Extended uses/Related words and expressions at the bottom of the page. There you will find figurative and extended uses of the verbs or else nouns, adjectives, expressions, etc. that are related to the verb in some way.

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Verbs requiring spelling changes are identified with the phrase Spelling Pattern A, Spelling Pattern B, or Spelling Pattern C (see the Verbs Requiring Spelling Changes section for information on these spelling patterns).

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Accents

Essentials of Italian pronunciation

There are two basic kinds of sound in any language: vowels and consonants. The letters that represent the Italian vowels are a, e, i, o, u. Generally, Italian vowels are pronounced in a pure fashion: that is to say, there is no gliding of the vowels as in English sale, send, sift, soft, sure. Below is a chart summarizing the Italian vowels. Alphabet Letters a e i o u Pronunciation Similar to the a sound in father, or to the exclamation ah! Similar to the e sound in bet, or to the exclamation eh! Similar to the i sound in machine, or to the exclamation eek! Similar to the o sound in boat, or to the exclamation oh! Examples casa / house amica / friend bene / well esame / exam vini / wines indirizzi / addresses otto / eight oro / gold uva / grape gusto / taste

i = y (as in yes), u = w (as in way) ieri / yesterday piatto / plate uomo / man buono / good

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Speakers in different regions of Italy might tend to pronounce e and o slightly differently. In some regions, they are pronounced with the mouth relatively more open; in others, they are pronounced with the mouth relatively more closed. In many areas of Italy today, however, both pronunciations are used. The letter i can also stand for semivowel sounds similar to those represented by the y in yes and say. The letter u can also stand for semivowel sounds similar to those represented by the w in way and how.

This pronunciation feature occurs when the i or the u is next to another vowel and both vowels are pronounced rapidly together. The syllable is called a diphthong. If there is a slight pause between the two vowels, then i and u are pronounced in the normal way, as in the words zio / uncle and suo / his, her. The remaining sounds in a language are called consonants. With minor adjustments in pronunciation with respect to corresponding English consonants, the consonants represented by the letters b, d, f, l, m, n, p, q, r, t, v always represent the same sounds in Italian. Differences between English and Italian are indicated in the chart below.

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Essentials of Italian pronunciation

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i = y (as in say), u = w (as in how) mai / ever, never poi / then causa / cause laurea / degree (university)

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Similar to the oo sound in boot, or to the exclamation oo!

Alphabet Letters b d

Pronunciation Identical to the b sound in boy. Like the d sound in day, but with the tongue touching the upper teeth. This is true even when followed by r; in English, the tongue is raised a bit more, as in drop. Identical to the f sound in fun. Identical to the l sound in love. In English, the back of the tongue is raised when the l is at the end of a syllable or of a word, as in bill. This feature is not found in Italian pronunciation.

Examples bello / beautiful bravo / good dopo / after ladro / thief forte / strong frutta / fruit latte / milk alto / tall

f l

Alphabet Letters m n p q

Pronunciation Identical to the m sound in more. Identical to the n sound in nose.

Examples matita / pencil mondo / world naso / nose nono / ninth porta / door prezzo / price quanto / how much quinto / fifth rosso / red raro / rare tardi / late treno / train

Identical to the q sound in quick. It is always followed by u. Similar to the rolled r sound in some Scottish dialects. It is pronounced by flapping the tongue against the upper gums. Pronounced like the t sound in fat, but with the tongue against the upper teeth. This is true even when followed by r; in English, the tongue is raised a bit more, as in train. Identical to the v sound in vine.

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Identical to the p sound in price.

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vino / wine vero / true

The remaining consonant sounds in Italian are not that much different from English ones. However, various letters or combinations of letters are used to represent them, and this can be a source of confusion.

Essentials of Italian pronunciation

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Letters c

Pronunciation Similar to the English k sound in kit and cat. Used in front of a, o, u, and any consonant.

Examples cane / dog come / how cuore / heart classe / class cravatta / tie che / what chi / who chiesa / church cena / dinner cinema / movies ciao / hi, bye cioccolata / chocolate gatto / cat gola / throat guanto / glove gloria / glory grande / big, large spaghetti / spaghetti ghiaccio / ice gente / people giro / turn, tour giacca / jacket giorno / day giugno / June scala / staircase scopa / broom scuola / school scrivere / to write scherzo / prank schifo / disgust scena / scene sciocco / unsalted sciopero / labor strike sciupare / to waste

ch

Represents the same k sound. Used in front of e and i. Similar to the English ch sound in church. Used in front of e and i. Represents the same ch sound in front of a, o, u. Similar to the English g sound in good. Used in front of a, o, u, and any consonant.

c ci g

g gi

sch sc sci

Represents the same sk sequence in front of e and i. Represents the sh sound in front of e and i. Represents the same sh sound in front of a, o, u.

The sound represented by gli is similar to the lli sound in million; and the sound represented by gn is similar to the ny sound of canyon: figlio / son luglio / July sogno / dream giugno / June

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Essentials of Italian pronunciation

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sc

Represents the sound sequence sk in front of a, o, u, or any consonant.

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gh

Represents the same g sound. Used in front of e and i. Similar to the English j sound in just. Used in front of e and i. Represents the same j sound. Used in front of a, o, u.