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Day 5: simple present
Jan. 31st, 2023 11:12 pmI’ve been reinforcing the new words I’ve learned, adding a few new verbs like dovere (to have to, must), some nouns (un cavallo = a horse, un gato = a cat, un cane = a dog) because if I’m learning like a toddler then animals should definitely be early on the list. 😂 Also I just like talking (parlare = to talk) about animals.
The big development today was that the verb tense that you use for simple present (as in “I’m about to do something right now” or tell someone to do something, like “I eat” or “you help”) came up in my lessons. Italian verbs, as you may have already noticed, generally end in one of three ways: with a suffix of -are, -ire, or -ere. Verbs are conjugated by dropping that suffix and sticking something else on the end based on both the pronoun used and whether it’s an -are, -ere, or -ire.
Four of the pronouns are simpler, because they’re the same regardless of suffix: “io” uses -o (parlare becomes parlo - I talk), tu uses -i (leggere becomes leggi - you read), and noi uses -iamo (dovere becomes doviamo - we have to). Voi drops the R in the suffix and replaces it with T. (Officially it drops all the suffix and uses -ate for -are verbs, -ete for -ere verbs, and -ite for -ire verbs, but it’s easier for me to just think “swap the last R for a T to conjugate voi”).
But from there it’s more complicated. For lui/lei/Lei, it uses -a if it’s an -are verb, or -e if it’s an -ere or -ire verb. Loro uses -ano for -are verbs and -ono for -ere and -ire verbs.
Well, this is where memorization comes in. Learning like a toddler doesn’t mean never memorizing things and learning rules; it just means to pick things up naturally as you need them, practice by using them, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
What I can do now:
Ciao, mi gato. Tu mangi, bambino. Noi vidiamo a bella gato mangio.
Translate: “Hello, my cat. You eat, child. We see a beautiful cat eat.”
The big development today was that the verb tense that you use for simple present (as in “I’m about to do something right now” or tell someone to do something, like “I eat” or “you help”) came up in my lessons. Italian verbs, as you may have already noticed, generally end in one of three ways: with a suffix of -are, -ire, or -ere. Verbs are conjugated by dropping that suffix and sticking something else on the end based on both the pronoun used and whether it’s an -are, -ere, or -ire.
Four of the pronouns are simpler, because they’re the same regardless of suffix: “io” uses -o (parlare becomes parlo - I talk), tu uses -i (leggere becomes leggi - you read), and noi uses -iamo (dovere becomes doviamo - we have to). Voi drops the R in the suffix and replaces it with T. (Officially it drops all the suffix and uses -ate for -are verbs, -ete for -ere verbs, and -ite for -ire verbs, but it’s easier for me to just think “swap the last R for a T to conjugate voi”).
But from there it’s more complicated. For lui/lei/Lei, it uses -a if it’s an -are verb, or -e if it’s an -ere or -ire verb. Loro uses -ano for -are verbs and -ono for -ere and -ire verbs.
Well, this is where memorization comes in. Learning like a toddler doesn’t mean never memorizing things and learning rules; it just means to pick things up naturally as you need them, practice by using them, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
What I can do now:
Ciao, mi gato. Tu mangi, bambino. Noi vidiamo a bella gato mangio.
Translate: “Hello, my cat. You eat, child. We see a beautiful cat eat.”
