The Italian verb essere (to be) is strongly irregular but also very important, because it is one of the two auxiliary verbs used in forming compound tenses with all other verbs.
Furthermore, essere is also used for nominal sentences, i.e. the ones in which to be is followed by an adjective or by a noun, thus forming a copula (or nominal predicate). For instance I am old; this is plastic; they were nice; we were lazy etc., in which to be expresses a condition, a quality, not a direct object which receives a real action.
Therefore, before discussing regular verbs, it is important for the student to become confident with the verb
essere.
PRESENTE
singular plural
1st person (io) sono I am (noi) siamo we are
2nd person (tu) sei you are (singular) (voi) siete you are (plural) 3rd person (egli / ella) è he/she/it is (essi / esse) sono they are
A first important thing to remember is that in spoken Italian the verbs are not necessarily introduced by a personal pronoun, as they are in English, because the different persons (singular and plural) have a specific inflection for each of them, with very few exceptions. So, when the subject of a sentence is a personal pronoun, in spoken language it is frequently omitted, while in written language it is often more correct to mention it.
This page, as well as the following ones, will show personal pronouns in brackets: it is useful for the student to practice them, yet remembering that their use is not compulsory in everyday's speech.
Without a pronoun, the sentence might look as if it had no subject, because in English it is always mentioned; but in Italian the specific inflection of the verb is enough to understand who carries out the action, i.e. who is the subject of the sentence.
In the case of the present tense, only inflection sono refers to two persons, 1st singular and 3rd plural, and could be mistaken. But also in this case, there is no need to use a pronoun when the other parts of the sentence make it clear to whom sono refers:
(io) sono alto = I am tall (alto is singular, therefore sono can only be 1st singular person)
(essi) sono giovani = they are young (giovani is plural, therefore sono is 3rd plural person) Another example:
(io) sono brava = I am clever (feminine)
(esse) sono brave = they are clever (feminine)
When the remaining part of the sentence does not make clear who the subject is, a pronoun is used to avoid any doubt:
sono a letto = either I am in bed or they are in bed io sono a letto = I am in bed
essi sono a letto = I am in bed
But sometimes the subject has already been mentioned, in which case the pronoun may be dropped again:
dove sei? sono a letto = where are you? I am in bed
dove sono i bambini? sono a letto = where are the kids? they are in bed
Pronouns, though, may be used on purpose to give the sentence a certain emphasis, or to show a contrast. Focus this case:
sei un uomo = you are a man tu sei un uomo = you are a man
The second sentence may carry a meaning of you are a man, not me, nor her, giving a certain stress to "you".
Also when the sentence expresses a contrast, personal pronouns may be used for the same reason explained above:
io sono un uomo e tu sei una donna = I am a man and you are a woman noi siamo veloci, voi siete lenti = we are fast, you are slow
But if no emphasis is required, the spoken language often omits the pronoun, and sometimes the written language too does:
sono magro (alternatively, io sono magro) = I am thin sei un uomo (alternatively, tu sei un uomo) = you are a man siete ragazzi (alternatively, voi siete ragazzi) = you are boys
è un vecchio libro (alternatively, esso è un vecchio libro) = it's an old book
è una brava insegnante (alternatively, ella è una brava insegnante) = she is a good teacher sono vecchie (alternatively, esse sono vecchie) = they are old (feminine)
So, there is no need to worry about the choice of pronouns, unless you wish to use them for practice or to emphasize the pronoun itself.
When the latter is used, it has to match the verb by gender and number.
Plural forms will obviously be told by the same verb inflection:
(tu) sei alto = you are tall (masculine)
(voi) siete alti = you are tall (plural)
(io) sono giovane = I am young
(noi) siamo giovani = we are young
IMPERFETTO
singular plural
1st
person (io) ero I was
(noi)
eravamo we were
2nd
person (tu) eri
you were
(singular) (voi) eravate
you were (plural) 3rd
person
(egli / ella)
era he/she/it was
(essi / esse)
erano they were
Accent falls on the penultimate syllable of each of them, except for erano, whose stressed syllable is the antipenultimate (pronounced "ehrahnoh").
Imperfect tense is usually translated with English simple past, although it expresses the concept of an action carried out in the past which has not necessarily come to an end. In many cases, the English form "I used to be" could be used instead of "I was"; since Italian has no such form, you may translate imperfect tense with both English forms:
ero bravo = I was clever or I used to be clever (the fact of being clever is a condition lasting throughout the
time the sentence refers to)
era un cattivo studente = he/she was a bad student or he/she used to be a bad student (again, a condition,
erano quattro uomini = they were four men (again, a condition lasting throughout the period which the
sentence refers to, although the form "they used to be..." would not be proper in this case)
FUTURO
singular plural
1st
person (io) sarò I shall be (noi) saremo we shall be 2nd
person (tu) sarai
you will be
(singular) (voi) sarete
you will be (plural) 3rd person (egli / ella) sarà he/she/it will be (essi / esse)
saranno they will be
All accents fall on the penultimate syllable of each inflection, except sarò and sarà which have an accent on the last syllable (pronounced "sahroh", "sahrah").
In a few cases, Italian future tense might have a meaning of probability, or chance: for example, if the phone rings, the expression sarà Carlo translates the English form it might be Charles.
PASSATO REMOTO
singular plural
1st
person (io) fui I was (noi) fummo we were 2nd
person (tu) fosti
you were
(singular) (voi) foste
you were (plural) 3rd person (egli / ella) fu he/she/it was (essi / esse)
furono they were
Accents fall on penultimate syllables, except in fu (only one syllable), obviously carrying stress, and
furono, where the antipenultimate syllable is stressed (pronounced "fwrohnoh").
Notice that fu does not have an accented u because there is no other way of pronouncing the word.
This tense expresses the fact that the action has ended time ago, and is no longer in progress:
fu un brutto incidente = it was a bad accident (the fact happened long ago, and it is now over) fu un grande musicista = he was a great musician (in the past, meaning "...now he is dead")
furono bravi a vincere = they were clever to win (on that specific occasion, not as a lasting condition).