Author name: Vaikundamoni

Subject pronouns (personal pronouns)

Overview

Telling a story can get tiring pretty quickly if you have to keep saying every person´s name over and over. This is where personal pronouns (subject pronouns) come in pretty handy. Personal pronouns replace a subject noun or name and they are classified several different ways: number (singular, plural), person (1st, 2nd, 3rd person), gender (male, female), and formality (formal or informal). Luckily, there is a handy chart that holds all this information. For more detail on when and how to use each pronoun, see the notes below.

¡Cuidado! If in doubt, don’t use it! While personal pronouns can be used to replace a person’s name, advanced and native speakers of Spanish rarely use them since the verb ending tells you who the subject is. The words “I” “you” “he” “she” “we” “you-all” and “they” are called subject pronouns. Spanish has corresponding subject pronouns. Here’s a list of the English subject pronouns and their Spanish equivalents:

yo

I

usted

you

él

he

ella

she

nosotros

we

ustedes

you-all

ellos

they

Spanish subject pronouns are both similar to and different from their English counterparts. Let’s examine some of the differences. Look more closely at the English word “you.” You have just seen that this can be translated into Spanish as “usted.” But there is also a second way it can be translated. There are two ways the English word “you” can be expressed in Spanish:

usted

you

tú

you

Spanish has a formal and an informal form of the word “you.” “Usted” is more formal and is generally used to express respect. “Tú” is more familiar and is used among friends, coworkers, relatives, or when addressing a child.
Speaking to your boss: usted Speaking to your daughter: tú Speaking to your teacher: usted Speaking to your friend: tú
usted = you formal tú = you informal (familiar) This same distinction with regard to degree of formality occurs in the plural form as well. When referring to “you-all,” there are two choices in Spanish:
ustedes you-all formal vosotros you-all familiar
Once again, the difference lies in the degree of formality conveyed by the speaker. However, the vosotros form is used primarily in Spain. Throughout Latin America, “ustedes” is generally used in both formal and informal situations to refer to “you-all.”
Speaking to a group of children (in Spain): vosotros Speaking to a group of children (in Latin America): ustedes Speaking to a group of strangers (in Spain): ustedes Speaking to a group of strangers (in Latin America): ustedes
Note: usted can be abbreviated Ud. or Vd. ; ustedes can be abbreviated Uds. or Vds. In many ways, Spanish is more gender-specific than English. We find evidence of this in the subject pronouns. First, look at the word “nosotros.” This means “we” in the sense of a group containing at least one male. If the group contains only females, the word “nosotras” is used. So, in Spanish, there are two ways to say “we”:
nosotros we (masculine or mixed group) nosotras we (feminine)
This same idea applies to the English word “they”:
ellos they (masculine or mixed group) ellas they (feminine)
This same idea also applies to the “vosotros” form:
vosotros you-all familiar (masculine or mixed group) vosotras you-all familiar (feminine)
Note: These forms are used primarily in Spain, not Latin America. Finally, don’t get confused over the difference between talking to a group or talking about a group. Consider the following statement, which could have been made by your Spanish teacher, while standing before the class: “You-all need to study your Spanish. Those students in the other class don’t need to study Spanish. They are studying French. You-all can practice Spanish in Spain. They can practice French in France.” The teacher is talking to the Spanish students and about the French students. Talking to a group, use “you-all”:
ustedes vosotros vosotras
Talking about a group, use “they”:
ellos ellas
Here’s the complete list of Spanish subject pronouns:
Singular yo – I tú – you (familiar) él – he ella – she usted – you (formal)
Plural

nosotros

we (masculine or mixed gender)

nosotras

we (feminine)

vosotros

you-all (familiar, Spain, masculine or mixed gender)

vosotras

you-all (familiar, Spain, feminine)

ellos

they (masculine or mixed gender)

ellas

they (feminine)

ustedes

you-all (formal in Spain, formal and familiar in Latin America)

	Singular	Plural
1st person	yo (I)	nosotros (we, masculine) nosotras (we, feminine)
2nd person	tú (you, familiar) vos (you, familiar) usted (you, formal)	vosotros (you, masculine) vosotras (you, feminine) ustedes (you, formal)
3rd person	él (he) ella (she)	ellos (they, masculine) ellas (they, feminine)

yo (I)

As you can see, it is not necessary to capitalize “yo” in Spanish like you capitalize “I” in English. It is, of course, capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

tú (you, singular informal)

Spanish has two ways of speaking directly to someone: formally and informally. When you are talking directly to children, relatives, friends, peers, or pets, you should “tú,” the informal address.
Tú carries a tilde to distinguish it from the possessive adjective “tu” meaning “your.”

vos (you, singular informal)

Means the same thing as and is used instead of “tú”
Is used mainly in what is known as the Southern Cone of Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay), so don’t try to use it in Spain.

usted (you, singular formal)

Usted is used to directly address someone older, a person you do not know, a superior, or someone you would like to show a lot of respect.
You can abbreviate usted as “Ud.” It should always be capitalized and with a period in the abbreviated form.
While categorized as a 2nd person pronoun, verbs in the Ud. form are conjugated as if they are 3rd person singular. More on this in the verbs lessons.

él, ella (he, she)

Use these pronouns in place of a person’s name.
Él carries a tilde to differentiate it from the definite article “el” meaning “the.”
No special notes about “ella” except a reminder that is pronounced like a (eh-yah).

nosotros, nosotras (we)

Use nosotros/as when speaking about a group of which you are a part.
The only difference between nosotros and nosotras is in gender.
Nosotros is masculine and is used to refer to a group of men only or a group mixed of men and women. (Even if there are 99 women and 1 man, still use the masculine form.)
Nosotras is feminine and is only used when the entire group is female.

vosotros, vosotras (you, plural informal)

Vosotros/as is used to speak directly to a group of people you are very familiar with (see tú)
Vosotros is used as the informal, or familiar, form of “you” plural in Spain. Most other Spanish-speaking countries do not use vosotros.
Vosotros/as follows the same rules as nosotros: all men and mixed groups: vosotros, all women: vosotras.

ustedes (you, plural formal)

Since vosotros is only used in Spain, ustedes is used to speak directly to a group of people in both formal and informal situations.
Ustedes is commonly abbreviated as “Uds.”
While categorized as a 2nd person pronoun, verbs in the Uds. form are conjugated as if they are 3rd person plural. More on this in the verbs lessons.

ellos, ellas (they)

Ellos and ellas follow the same rules as nosotros and vosotros for gender: all men and mixed groups: ellos, all women: ellas
Use ellos/as when you are replacing more than one person’s name or are talking about a group of people

Subject Pronouns in Spanish

The subject pronouns in Spanish are:

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	yo	nosotros, nosotras
2nd Person	tú, usted	vosotros, vosotras, ustedes
3rd Person	él, ella	ellos, ellas

1st Person = the person who is speaking 2nd Person = the person you are speaking to or listening to 3rd Person = the person you are talking about An explanation of what each Personal Pronoun is:

Personal Pronoun		Situation
Yo	I	= it refers to yourself
Tú	You	= the person you are speaking to – informal (family or friend)
Vos	You	= you in Argentina
Usted	You	= the person you are speaking to – formal (respect, older people)
Él	He	= man or boy (another person)
Ella	She	= woman or girl (another person)
Nosotros *	We	= tú + yo OR Usted + yo
Nosotras *	We (fem)	= tú + yo OR Usted + yo (both are women / girls)
Vosotros	You	= tú + tú (this is not used much in Latin America)
Vosotras	You (fem)	= tú + tú (only women – this is not used much in Latin America)
Ellos **	They	= él + él OR él + ella
Ellas **	They (fem)	= ella + ella (only women or girls)
Ustedes	You	= Usted + Usted (= tú + tú in Latin America)

* Nosotros vs Nosotras

There are two ways of saying “We” in Spanish depending on who is speaking or in the “group”. If there is at least one man (or boy) in the “group” of people, then “We” will be Nosotros in Spanish. If there are only women (or girls) in the group, and no men, then “We” will be Nosotras in Spanish. You (man) + Man = Nosotros (= yo + él) You (man) + Woman = Nosotros (= yo + ella) You (woman) + Man = Nosotros (= yo + él) You (woman) + Woman = Nosotras (= yo + ella)

** Ellos vs Ellas

The same applies to “They” (ellos or ellos). If there is one or more men in the group, then it will be ellos. If everyone in the group is female, then you would use ellas.

Subject Pronouns in Spanish – Summary Charts

Subject Pronouns

Every sentence has a subject. The subject of the sentence is who or what is doing the action in the sentence or is being described. In English, the subject pronouns are I, you, he/she/it, we, they. In Spanish there are several other forms of these subject pronouns. As with many other grammatical forms, there are different gender forms of pronouns.

English Subject Singular Pronoun	Spanish Subject Singular Pronoun	English Subject Plural Pronoun	Spanish Subject Plural Pronoun
I	yo	We	nosotros (masculine or mixed gender group) nosotras (feminine)
you	tú (familiar form used with friends, co-workers, children) ustede (formal form used with superiors, strangers, children to adults)	you (as in all of you)	ustedes (used in Latin American countries for both formal and informal, used in Spain for formal) vosotros (informal masculine and mixed gender groups -used in Spain) vosotras (informal feminine – used in Spain)
he she	él ella	they	ellos (masculine or mixed gender group) ellas (feminine group)

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Italian Classroom-Modal Verbs

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Modal verbs

Italian modal verbs are called “VERBI SERVILI“. They have irregular forms. They are: POTERE (can) VOLERE (to want, to wish, to need) DOVERE (must, to have to, ought to, should) Watch the following examples: 1. Mi puoi telefonare domani? (Can you call me tomorrow?) 2. Voglio andare a Roma (I want to go to Rome) 3. Aspettami, devo parlarti (Wait, I have to talk to you!) Modal verbs work as a support to other verbs and indicate possibility, will, need and duty. Verb SAPERE (can) becomes a modal verb when it means “ESSERE CAPACE DI” “to be able to”. example: So suonare il piano (I can play the piano) Modal verbs can be used with atomic personal pronouns that can stand before the modal verb( 1.) or after the infinitive (3.) Modal verbs are directly added to the infinitive of a verb without any prepositions. POTERE can be used: – with the meaning of “forse” (=perhaps, maybe): “Posso essermi sbagliato, ma non so esattamente” (=I could be wrong, but I don’t know exactly) – as a permission (may I?) : Posso uscire? (May I go out?) – as a capability: Quest’anno possiamo vincere il campionato (This year we can win the championship) – in the polite form: Potresti prestarmi il tuo libro? (Could you lend me your book?) DOVERE can be used: – with the meaning of probability: Deve essergli successo un incidente (He must have had an accident) – as an obligation, a need: Se vuoi migliorare il tuo italiano, devi fare i compiti. ( If you want to improve your italian, you must do your homework)

Modal Verbs – Present Tense

Io posso
Tu puoi
Egli può
Noi possiamo
Voi potete
Essi possono

Io voglio
Tu vuoi
Egli/ella vuole
Noi vogliamo
Voi volete
Essi vogliono

Io devo
Tu devi
Egli/ella deve
Noi dobbiamo
Voi dovete
Essi devono

In Italian as in English these modals verbs (verbi servili) are easy to identify. Modal verbs in Italian indicate a “must,” “capability” or a “wish.” These words can be used alone, as in “Vorrei una pizza” (“I’d like a pizza”), or as modal verbs in conjunction with another verb in the infinitive tense. For example, “Vorrei camminare un pò di più” (“I’d like to walk a little bit more.”) “Volere” for instance can be used with nouns and infinitives (“Voglio partire” or “Voglio una pizza.”) “Potere” and “dovere” can be used with infinitives only (“Non posso lavorare” or “Devomangiare ora.”) In the negative form you have only to put only NON in front of the modal:

Non puoi capire
Non devi partire
Non vuoi lasciarmi vero?

With the compound tenses, the modal verbs take the auxiliary plus the infinitive that follows. For example:

Claudio HA DOVUTO lasciare il suo lavoro. (dovere richiede AVERE)
Maria HA DOVUTO studiare. (studiare richiede AVERE)
Maria E’ DOVUTA uscire (uscire richiede essere)
Maria HA POTUTO parlare con lui (potere richiede avere)
Maria E’ POTUTA venire alla festa (venire richiede essere)
Maria HA VOLUTO mangiare (mangiare richiede volere)
Maria E’ VOLUTA VENIRE al cinema con me (venire richiede essere)

The auxiliary verb “to be” is used in the following examples:

Compound tenses and with many intransitive verbs like “sono partita“, “mio fratello è uscito.”
With impersonal verbs: piove (it’s raining), fa freddo (it’s cold), fa caldo (it’s warm)
With reflexive verbs: “Maria si è lavata le mani e si è messa il tovagliolo prima di mangiare.” (“Maria washed her hands and put out the table cloth before eating.”)

volere – to want (to)	potere – to be able to	dovere – to have to
io voglio	io posso	io devo
tu vuoi	tu puoi	tu devi
Lei vuole	Lei puo’	Lei deve
lui/lei vuole	lui/lei puo’	lui/lei deve
noi vogliamo	noi possiamo	noi dobbiamo
voi volete	voi potete	voi dovete
loro vogliono	loro possono	loro devono

Volere can be used with nouns and infinitives (dictionary form). Voglio una birra. Voglio mangiare. Potere and dovere are used with infinitives only. Non posso studiare. Devo uscire. To negate a modal (to say you don’t want to, can’t or must not), just put non in front of it.

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Italian Classroom-Essential Vocabulary

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Useful Words in Italian:

and	e	eh	always	sempre	sehm-preh
or	o	oh	often	spesso	speh-soh
but	ma	mah	sometimes	qualche volta	kwal-keh vohl-tah
not	non	nohn	usually	usualmente	oo-zoo-al-mehn-teh
while	mentre	mehn-treh	especially	specialmente	speh-chee-al-mehn-teh
if	se	seh	except	eccetto	eh-cheh-toh
because	perché	pehr-kay	book	il libro	lee-broh
very, a lot	molto	mohl-toh	pencil	la matita	mah-tee-tah
also, too	anche	ahn-keh	pen	la penna	pehn-nah
although	benché	behn-keh	paper	la carta	kar-tah
now	adesso, ora	ah-deh-so, oh-rah	dog	il cane	kah-neh
perhaps, maybe	forse	for-seh	cat	il gatto	gah-toh
then	allora, poi	ahl-loh-rah, poy	friend (fem)	l’amica	ah-mee-kah
there is	c’è	cheh	friend (masc)	l’amico	ah-mee-koh
there are	ci sono	chee soh-noh	woman	la donna	dohn-nah
there was	c’era	che-rah	man	l’uomo	woh-moh
there were	c’erano	che-rah-no	girl	la ragazza	rah-gat-sah
here is	ecco	ehk-koh	boy	il ragazzo	rah-gat-soh

Common places and locations

It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary for some of the common places or locations that you might need or want while traveling in Italy.

banca (bank)

città (city)

il consolato Americano (American consulate)

il ristorante (restaurant)

in campagna (in the country)

in città (in the city)

in montagna (in the mountains)

l‘albergo (hotel)

l‘ospedale (hospital)

la casa (house)

la polizia (police)

la stazione dei treni (train station)

metropolitana (subway)

museo (museum)

negozio (store)

paese (country)

spiaggia (beach)

stato (state)

ufficio (office)

Question Words in Italian:

Who	Chi	kee
Whose	Di chi	dee kee
What	Che cosa	keh koh-sah
Why	Perché	pehr-keh
When	Quando	kwahn-doh
Where	Dove	doh-veh
How	Come	koh-meh
How much	Quanto	kwahn-toh
Which	Quale	kwah-leh

Days of the week:

Monday	lunedì	loo-neh-dee
Tuesday	martedì	mahr-teh-dee
Wednesday	mercoledì	mehr-koh-leh-dee
Thursday	giovedì	zhoh-veh-dee
Friday	venerdì	veh-nehr-dee
Saturday	sabato	sah-bah-toh
Sunday	domenica	doh-men-ee-kah
yesterday	ieri	yer-ee
day before yesterday	avantieri / l’altroieri (m)	ah-vahn-tyee-ree
last night	ieri sera	yer-ee seh-rah
today	oggi	ohd-jee
tomorrow	domani	doh-mahn-ee
day after tomorrow	dopodomani	doh-poh-doh-mahn-ee
day	il giorno	eel zhor-noh

To say on Mondays, on Tuesdays, etc., use il before lunedì through sabato, and la before domenica.

Months of the year:

January	gennaio	jehn-nah-yoh
February	febbraio	fehb-brah-yoh
March	marzo	mar-tsoh
April	aprile	ah-pree-leh
May	maggio	mahd-joh
June	giugno	joo-nyoh
July	luglio	loo-lyoh
August	agosto	ah-goh-stoh
September	settembre	seht-tehm-breh
October	ottobre	oht-toh-breh
November	novembre	noh-vehm-breh
December	dicembre	dee-chem-breh
week	la settimana	lah sett-ee-mah-nah
month	il mese	eel meh-zeh
year	l’anno	lahn-noh

Days and months are not capitalized. To express the date, use È il (number) (month). May 5th would be È il 5 (or cinque) maggio. But for the first of the month, use primo instead of 1 or uno. To express ago, as in two days ago, a month ago, etc., just add fa afterwards. To express last, as in last Wednesday, last week, etc., just add scorso (for masculine words) or scorsa (for feminine words) afterwards. una settimana fa – a week ago la settimana scorsa – last week un mese fa – a month ago l’anno scorso – last year ]]>

Italian Classroom-Prepositions

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Italian Prepositions Prepositions are words that show position in relation to space or time, or that introduce a complement. Some prepositions that are important to know in Italian are listed below: Preposition Italian English di: La casa di Paola Paola’s house a: Io vado a casa I go (to) home da: Il treno viene da Milano The train comes from Milan in: La mamma è in Italia The mother is in Italy con: Io vivo con Paola I live with Paola su: La penna è sul tavolo The pen is on the table per: Il regalo è per te The gift is for you

ITALIAN SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS

Preposizioni Semplici
di (d’)	of, from
a	at, to, in
da	from, by
in	in
con	with
su	on
per	for
tra, fra	between

Examples: Vive Roma. (She lives in Rome.) L’aereo arriva da Londra. (The airplane arrives from London.) Abita in California. (He lives in California.) Parlo con Andrea. (I’m talking with Andrea.) I libri sono su un banco. (The books are on a desk.) La penna è tra i quaderni. (The pen is between the notebooks.) La chiamata è per Teresa.

(The call is for Teresa.)

The preposition di expresses possession as well as place of origin: Di chi è questa rivista?—È di Lucia. Whose magazine is this?—It’s Lucia’s. Di dov’è James?—È di Miami. Where is James from?— He’s from Miami. The English to and in are translated by the Italian preposition a when used with the name of a city or a small island. Vado a Venezia. (I am going to Venice.) Abitano a Venezia. (They live in Venice.) Vanno a Capri. (They are going to Capri.) Abitano a Ischia. (They live in Ischia.)

Italian Prepositions

Learning the Italian Prepositions displayed below is vital to the language. Italian prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:

English Prepositions	Italian Prepositions
Prepositions	Preposizioni
inside the house	all’interno della casa (or)dentro la casa
outside the car	al di fuori della vettura (or)fuori dalla vettura
with me	con me
without him	senza di lui
under the table	sotto il tavolo
after tomorrow	dopo domani
before sunset	prima del tramonto
but I’m busy	ma ho da fare

Notice the structure of the Prepositions in Italian.

List of Prepositions in Italian

Below is a list of the Time place and demonstrative pronouns in Italian placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Italian vocabulary.

English Prepositions	Italian Prepositions
about	riguardo (a)
above	sopra
across	attraverso
after	dopo
against	contro
among	tra
around	intorno a
as	come
at	a
before	prima
behind	dietro
below	sotto
beneath	al di sotto
beside	accanto a
between	tra
beyond	al di là di
but	ma
by	da
despite	nonostante
down	giù
during	durante
except	ad eccezione di (or)eccetto
for	per
from	da
in	in
inside	dentro
into	in
near	vicino
next	prossimo
of	di
on	su
opposite	opposto
out	fuori
outside	al di fuori (or)fuori
over	sopra
per	per (or) ogni
plus	più
round	intorno a
since	poiché
than	poi
through	attraverso
till	fino
to	a
toward	verso
under	sotto
unlike	a differenza di
until	fino a quando
up	su
via	tramite
with	con
within	all’interno
without	senza

two words	due parole
according to	secondo (or)a seconda di
because of	a causa di
close to	nei pressi di
due to	a causa di
except for	fatta eccezione per
far from	lontano da
inside of	entro, prima della fine di
instead of	invece di
near to	vicino a
next to	accanto a
outside of	al di fuori di
prior to	prima di

three words	tre parole
as far as	fino a
as well as	come pure, in aggiunta
in addition to	oltre
in front of	di fronte a
in spite of	nonostante
on behalf of	a nome di
on top of	sopra

demonstrative pronouns	preposizioni dimostrative
this	questa
that	quello/quella
these	questi/queste
those	quelli/quelle

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Italian Classroom-Reflexive Verbs

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Reflexive Verbs

This lesson is about reflexive verbs! A reflexive verb is used when the subject and object of the verb are the same. For example, “kill yourself”. Reflexive verbs are more common in Italian than in English – verbs which in English are too “obvious” to be used in the reflexive form (wake up, get up, wash, clean your teeth, and so on..) do need the reflexive form in Italian. So, for example, in Italian you might “suicide yourself”, absurd as it sounds in English! Many Italian verbs have reflexive forms. You can recognise them because they end in “-si”. For example: alzarsi (get yourself up) svegliarsi (wake yourself up) vestirsi (dress yourself) lavarsi (wash yourself) riposarsi (rest yourself) mettersi (put yourself) fermarsi (stop yourself) sedersi (sit yourself) When you use a reflexive verb you have to put the correct reflexive pronoun before the verbs. The reflexive pronouns are: io – mi tu – ti lui/lei/Lei – si noi – ci voi – vi loro – si Here are two examples of the conjugation of reflexive verbs in Italian: svegliarsi – to wake yourself up (io) mi sveglio (tu) ti svegli (lui/lei/Lei) si sveglia (noi) ci svegliamo (voi) vi svegliate (loro/Loro) si svegliano alzarsi – to get yourself up (io) mi alzo (tu) ti alzi (lui/lei/Lei) si alza (noi) ci alziamo (voi) vi alzate (loro/Loro) si alzano

Reflexive Verbs in the Present Perfect Tense Since all reflexive verbs use essere as the auxiliary verb, the past participle must agree with the subject. The word order is reflexive pronoun + essere + past participle. Mi sono divertita. I had fun. Si è sentito male. He felt bad. Prepositions & adverbs of place

at, to	a	over / above	sopra
in	in	under / below	sotto
on / up	su	inside	dentro
from, by	da	outside	fuori
of	di	around	intorno a
with	con	between	tra
without	senza	among	fra
for	per	near	vicino a
next to	accanto a	far	lontano da
behind	dietro	before	prima (di)
in front of	davanti a	after	dopo (di)
across	attraverso	against	contro
down	giù	toward	verso

Reflexive Verbs:

Reflexive verbs express actions performed by the subject on the subject. These verbs are conjugated like regular verbs, but a reflexive pronoun precedes the verb form. This pronoun

always agrees with the subject. In the infinitive form, reflexive verbs have -si attached to them with the final e dropped. Lavare is to wash, therefore lavarsi is to wash oneself. (Note that some verbs are reflexive in Italian, but not in English.)

Reflexive Pronouns
mi	ci
ti	vi
si	si

Common reflexive verbs:

to be satisfied with	accontentarsi di	to graduate (from college)	laurearsi
to fall asleep	addormentarsi	to wash up	lavarsi
to get up	alzarsi	to put on	mettersi
to be bored	annoiarsi	to get organized	organizzarsi
to get angry	arrabbiarsi	to make a reservation	prenotarsi
to be called	chiamarsi	to remember to	ricordarsi di
to forget to	dimenticarsi di	to make a mistake	sbagliarsi
to graduate (from high school)	diplomarsi	to feel (well, bad)	sentirsi (bene, male)
to have a good time	divertirsi	to specialize	specializzarsi
to shave (the face)	farsi la barba / radersi	to get married	sposarsi
to stop (oneself)	fermarsi	to wake up	svegliarsi
to complain about	lamentarsi di	to get dressed	vestirsi

Io mi lavo. I wash myself. Noi ci alziamo presto. We get up early. Si sveglia alle sette. She wakes up at seven.

The plural reflexive pronouns (ci, vi, si) can also be used with non-reflexive verbs to indicate a reciprocal action. These verbs are called reciprocal verbs and are expressed by the words each other in English.

to embrace	abbracciarsi	to run into	incontrarsi
to help	aiutarsi	to fall in love with	innamorarsi
to kiss	baciarsi	to greet	salutarsi
to understand	capirsi	to write to	scriversi
to meet	conoscersi	to phone	telefonarsi
to exchange gifts	farsi regali	to see	vedersi
to look at	guardarsi

Ci scriviamo ogni settimana. We write to each other every week. Vi vedete spesso? Do you see each other often?

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Italian Classroom- Italian Verbs and Conjugations

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

The Three Groups Of Regular Verbs

This lesson is about the three groups of Italian regular verbs. All Italian regular verbs can be divided into three groups, as classified according to the ending of their infinitive forms. Verbs in the first group or first conjugation end in – are, such as abitare, mangiare or lavare. Abitare – to live io abito tu abiti lui/lei/Lei abita noi abitiamo voi abitate loro/Loro abitano Verbs in the second group or second conjugation end in – ere, such as perdere and correre. Perdere – to lose io perdo tu perdi lui/lei/Lei perde noi perdiamo voi perdete loro/Loro perdono Verbs in the third group or third conjugation end in – ire, such as dormire and aprire. The main characteristic of the third group is that some verbs, such as preferire, add the suffix –isc between the root and the declination. Dormire – to sleep io dormo tu dormi lui/lei/Lei dorme noi dormiamo voi dormite loro/Loro dormono Preferire – to prefer io preferisco tu preferisci lui/lei/Lei preferisce noi preferiamo voi preferite loro/Loro preferiscono It’s important to learn the conjugations for these three groups as early as you can!

Mi piace leggere. (‘Reading pleases me.’) Non gli piace studiare. (‘Studying doesn’t please him.’) Ci piace mangiare al ristorante. (‘Eating at the restaurant pleases us.’)

Il presente: -are verbs

1. ABITARE :		to live
Io:	abito	Noi:	abitiamo
Tu:	abiti	Voi:	abitate
Lui:	abita	Loro:	abitano

2. ARRIVARE :		to arrive
Io:	arrivo	Noi:	arriviamo
Tu:	arrivi	Voi:	arrivate
Lui:	arriva	Loro:	arrivano

3. ASPETTARE :		to wait for
Io:	aspetto	Noi:	aspettiamo
Tu:	aspetti	Voi:	aspettate
Lui:	aspetta	Loro:	aspettano

4. CAMMINARE :		to walk
Io:	cammino	Noi:	camminiamo
Tu:	cammini	Voi:	camminate
Lui:	cammina	Loro:	camminano

5. COMINCIARE :		to begin
Io:	comincio	Noi:	cominciamo
Tu:	cominci	Voi:	cominciate
Lui:	comincia	Loro:	cominciano

6. CUCINARE :		to cook
Io:	cucino	Noi:	cuciniamo
Tu:	cucini	Voi:	cucinate
Lui:	cucina	Loro:	cucinano

7. GUARDARE :		to watch
Io:	guardo	Noi:	guardiamo
Tu:	guardi	Voi:	guardate
Lui:	guarda	Loro:	guardano

8. IMPARARE :		to learn
Io:	imparo	Noi:	impariamo
Tu:	impari	Voi:	imparate
Lui:	impara	Loro:	imparano

9. LAVORARE :		to work
Io:	lavoro	Noi:	lavoriamo
Tu:	lavori	Voi:	lavorate
Lui:	lavora	Loro:	lavorano

10. MANDARE :		to send
Io:	mando	Noi:	mandiamo
Tu:	mandi	Voi:	mandate
Lui:	manda	Loro:	mandano

11. NUOTARE :		to swim
Io:	nuoto	Noi:	nuotiamo
Tu:	nuoti	Voi:	nuotate
Lui:	nuota	Loro:	nuotano

12. PENSARE :		to think
Io:	penso	Noi:	pensiamo
Tu:	pensi	Voi:	pensate
Lui:	pensa	Loro:	pensano

13. PORTARE :		to bring
Io:	porto	Noi:	portiamo
Tu:	porti	Voi:	portate
Lui:	porta	Loro:	portano

14. TORNARE :		to return
Io:	torno	Noi:	torniamo
Tu:	torni	Voi:	tornate
Lui:	torna	Loro:	tornano

Il presente: -ere verbs

1. CADERE :		to fall
Io:	cado	Noi:	cadiamo
Tu:	cadi	Voi:	cadete
Lui:	cade	Loro:	cadono

2. CHIEDERE :		to ask
Io:	chiedo	Noi:	chiediamo
Tu:	chiedi	Voi:	chiedete
Lui:	chiede	Loro:	chiedono

3. CHIUDERE :		to close
Io:	chiudo	Noi:	chiudiamo
Tu:	chiudi	Voi:	chiudete
Lui:	chiude	Loro:	chiudono

4. CREDERE :		to believe
Io:	credo	Noi:	crediamo
Tu:	credi	Voi:	credete
Lui:	crede	Loro:	credono

5. LEGGERE :		to read
Io:	leggo	Noi:	leggiamo
Tu:	leggi	Voi:	leggete
Lui:	legge	Loro:	leggono

6. METTERE :		to put
Io:	metto	Noi:	mettiamo
Tu:	metti	Voi:	mettete
Lui:	mette	Loro:	mettono

7. PERDERE :		to lose
Io:	perdo	Noi:	perdiamo
Tu:	perdi	Voi:	perdete
Lui:	perde	Loro:	perdono

8. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

9. RICEVERE :		to receive
Io:	ricevo	Noi:	riceviamo
Tu:	ricevi	Voi:	ricevete
Lui:	riceve	Loro:	ricevono

10. RIPETERE :		to repeat
Io:	ripeto	Noi:	ripetiamo
Tu:	ripeti	Voi:	ripetete
Lui:	ripete	Loro:	ripetono

11. RISPONDERE :		to answer
Io:	rispondo	Noi:	rispondiamo
Tu:	rispondi	Voi:	rispondete
Lui:	risponde	Loro:	rispondono

12. SCRIVERE :		to write
Io:	scrivo	Noi:	scriviamo
Tu:	scrivi	Voi:	scrivete
Lui:	scrive	Loro:	scrivono

13. SPENDERE :		to spend (money)
Io:	spendo	Noi:	spendiamo
Tu:	spendi	Voi:	spendete
Lui:	spende	Loro:	spendono

14. VEDERE :		to see
Io:	vedo	Noi:	vediamo
Tu:	vedi	Voi:	vedete
Lui:	vede	Loro:	vedono

15. VIVERE :		to live
Io:	vivo	Noi:	viviamo
Tu:	vivi	Voi:	vivete
Lui:	vive	Loro:	vivono

Il presente: -ire verbs

1. APRIRE :		to open
Io:	apro	Noi:	apriamo
Tu:	apri	Voi:	aprite
Lui:	apre	Loro:	aprono

2. DORMIRE :		to sleep
Io:	dormo	Noi:	dormiamo
Tu:	dormi	Voi:	dormite
Lui:	dorme	Loro:	dormono

3. MENTIRE :		to lie
Io:	mento	Noi:	mentiamo
Tu:	menti	Voi:	mentite
Lui:	mente	Loro:	mentono

4. OFFRIRE :		to offer
Io:	offro	Noi:	offriamo
Tu:	offri	Voi:	offrite
Lui:	offre	Loro:	offrono

5. PARTIRE :		to leave
Io:	parto	Noi:	partiamo
Tu:	parti	Voi:	partite
Lui:	parte	Loro:	partono

6. SEGUIRE :		to follow
Io:	seguo	Noi:	seguiamo
Tu:	segui	Voi:	seguite
Lui:	segue	Loro:	seguono

7. SENTIRE :		to hear
Io:	sento	Noi:	sentiamo
Tu:	senti	Voi:	sentite
Lui:	sente	Loro:	sentono

8. SERVIRE :		to serve
Io:	servo	Noi:	serviamo
Tu:	servi	Voi:	servite
Lui:	serve	Loro:	servono

9. VESTIRE :		to dress
Io:	vesto	Noi:	vestiamo
Tu:	vesti	Voi:	vestite
Lui:	veste	Loro:	vestono

Il presente: all verbs

1. ANDARE :		to go
Io:	vado	Noi:	andiamo
Tu:	vai	Voi:	andate
Lui:	va	Loro:	vanno

2. AVERE :		to have
Io:	ho	Noi:	abbiamo
Tu:	hai	Voi:	avete
Lui:	ha	Loro:	hanno

3. CONOSCERE :		to know
Io:	conosco	Noi:	conosciamo
Tu:	conosci	Voi:	conoscete
Lui:	conosce	Loro:	conoscono

4. DARE :		to give
Io:	do	Noi:	diamo
Tu:	dai	Voi:	date
Lui:	dà	Loro:	danno

5. DEDICARE :		to dedicate
Io:	dedico	Noi:	dedichiamo
Tu:	dedichi	Voi:	dedicate
Lui:	dedica	Loro:	dedicano

6. DIRE :		to say or tell
Io:	dico	Noi:	diciamo
Tu:	dici	Voi:	dite
Lui:	dice	Loro:	dicono

7. DOVERE :		to must or have to
Io:	devo	Noi:	dobbiamo
Tu:	devi	Voi:	dovete
Lui:	deve	Loro:	devono

8. ESSERE :		to be
Io:	sono	Noi:	siamo
Tu:	sei	Voi:	siete
Lui:	è	Loro:	sono

9. FARE :		to make or do
Io:	faccio	Noi:	facciamo
Tu:	fai	Voi:	fate
Lui:	fa	Loro:	fanno

10. INSEGNARE :		to teach
Io:	insegno	Noi:	insegniamo
Tu:	insegni	Voi:	insegnate
Lui:	insegna	Loro:	insegnano

11. METTERSI :		to put on
Io:	mi metto	Noi:	ci mettiamo
Tu:	ti metti	Voi:	vi mettete
Lui:	si mette	Loro:	si mettono

12. PERDERSI :		to get lost
Io:	mi perdo	Noi:	ci perdiamo
Tu:	ti perdi	Voi:	vi perdete
Lui:	si perde	Loro:	si perdono

13. POTERE :		to be able
Io:	posso	Noi:	possiamo
Tu:	puoi	Voi:	potete
Lui:	può	Loro:	possono

14. PRENDERE :		to take
Io:	prendo	Noi:	prendiamo
Tu:	prendi	Voi:	prendete
Lui:	prende	Loro:	prendono

15. PREPARARSI :		to get ready
Io:	mi preparo	Noi:	ci prepariamo
Tu:	ti prepari	Voi:	vi preparate
Lui:	si prepara	Loro:	si preparano

16. PROIBIRE :		to forbid
Io:	proibisco	Noi:	proibiamo
Tu:	proibisci	Voi:	proibite
Lui:	proibisce	Loro:	proibiscono

– See more at: http://linguaworld.in/italian-lessons/#sthash.VYY8MtPY.dpuf How to Conjugate Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense

In Italian, the present indicative tense works much like the present tense in English. To conjugate Italian verbs in the present indicative tense, you first need to understand that Italian infinitives (the “to” form, as in to die, to sleep, to dream) end in one of three ways — and that you conjugate the verb based on that ending:

Verbs that end in -are
Verbs that end in -ere
Verbs that end in -ire The endings of regular verbs don’t change. Master the endings for each mode and tense, and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that verbs agree with subjects and subject pronouns (io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, noi, voi, loro/Loro):

Common Regular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Lavorare (to work)*	*Prendere (to take; to order)*	*Partire (to leave)*	*Capire (to understand)*
io	lavoro	prendo	parto	capisco
tu	lavori	prendi	parti	capisci
lui/lei/Lei	lavora	prende	parte	capisce
noi	lavoriamo	prendiamo	partiamo	capiamo
voi	lavorate	prendete	partite	capite
loro/Loro	lavorano	prendono	partono	capiscono

Unfortunately, there are also irregular verbs, which you have to memorize. You’ll find that the more you practice them, the easier it is to use them in conversation:

Common Irregular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Andare (to go)*	*Bere (to drink)*	*Dare (to give)*	*Fare (to do)*	*Stare (to stay)*	*Venire (to come)*
io	vado	bevo	do	faccio	sto	vengo
tu	vai	bevi	dai	fai	stai	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	va	beve	dà	fa	sta	viene
noi	andiamo	beviamo	diamo	facciamo	stiamo	veniamo
voi	andate	bevete	date	fate	state	venite
loro/Loro	vanno	bevono	danno	fanno	stanno	vengono

ESSERE (to be)

AVERE (to have)

VOLERE (to want)

FARE (to make)

Io sono

Tu sei

Lui/Lei è

Noi siamo

Voi siete

Loro sono

Io ho

Tu hai

Lui /Lei ha

Noi abbiamo

Voi avete

Loro hanno

Io voglio

Tu vuoi

Lui/Lei vuole

Noi vogliamo

Voi volete

Loro vogliono

Io faccio

Tu fai

Lui/Lei fa

Noi facciamo

Voi fate

Loro fanno

BERE (to drink)

AIUTARE (to help)

MANGIARE (to eat)

Io bevo

Tu bevi

Lui /Lei beve

Noi beviamo

Voi bevete

Loro bevono

Io aiuto

Tu aiuti

Lui /Lei aiuta

Noi aiutiamo

Voi aiutate

Loro aiutano

Io mangio

Tu mangi

Lui/Lei mangia

Noi mangiamo

Voi mangiate

Loro mangiano

Reflexive Verbs

Italian modal verbs are called “VERBI SERVILI“. They have irregular forms. They are: POTERE (can) VOLERE (to want, to wish, to need) DOVERE (must, to have to, ought to, should) Watch the following examples: 1. Mi puoi telefonare domani? (Can you call me tomorrow?) 2. Voglio andare a Roma (I want to go to Rome) 3. Aspettami, devo parlarti (Wait, I have to talk to you!) Modal verbs work as a support to other verbs and indicate possibility, will, need and duty. Verb SAPERE (can) becomes a modal verb when it means “ESSERE CAPACE DI” “to be able to”. example: So suonare il piano (I can play the piano) Modal verbs can be used with atonic personal pronouns that can stand before the modal verb( 1.) or after the infinitive (3.) Modal verbs are directly added to the infinitive of a verb without any propositions. POTERE can be used: – with the meaning of “forse” (=perhaps, maybe): “Posso essermi sbagliato, ma non so esattamente” (=I could be wrong, but I don’t know exactly) – as a permission (may I?) : Posso uscire? (May I go out?) – as a capability: Quest’anno possiamo vincere il campionato (This year we can win the championship) – in the polite form: Potresti prestarmi il tuo libro? (Could you lend me your book?) DOVERE can be used: – with the meaning of probability: Deve essergli successo un incidente (He must have had an accident) – as an obligation, a need: Se vuoi migliorare il tuo italiano, devi fare i compiti. ( If you want to improve your italian, you must do your homework)

Modal Verbs – Present Tense

Io posso
Tu puoi
Egli può
Noi possiamo
Voi potete
Essi possono

Io voglio
Tu vuoi
Egli/ella vuole
Noi vogliamo
Voi volete
Essi vogliono

Io devo
Tu devi
Egli/ella deve
Noi dobbiamo
Voi dovete
Essi devono

Non puoi capire
Non devi partire
Non vuoi lasciarmi vero?

With the compound tenses, the modal verbs take the auxiliary plus the infinitive that follows. For example:

Claudio HA DOVUTO lasciare il suo lavoro. (dovere richiede AVERE)
Maria HA DOVUTO studiare. (studiare richiede AVERE)
Maria E’ DOVUTA uscire (uscire richiede essere)
Maria HA POTUTO parlare con lui (potere richiede avere)
Maria E’ POTUTA venire alla festa (venire richiede essere)
Maria HA VOLUTO mangiare (mangiare richiede volere)
Maria E’ VOLUTA VENIRE al cinema con me (venire richiede essere)

The auxiliary verb “to be” is used in the following examples:

Compound tenses and with many intransitive verbs like “sono partita“, “mio fratello è uscito.”
With impersonal verbs: piove (it’s raining), fa freddo (it’s cold), fa caldo (it’s warm)
With reflexive verbs: “Maria si è lavata le mani e si è messa il tovagliolo prima di mangiare.” (“Maria washed her hands and put out the table cloth before eating.”)

volere – to want (to)	potere – to be able to	dovere – to have to
io voglio	io posso	io devo
tu vuoi	tu puoi	tu devi
Lei vuole	Lei puo’	Lei deve
lui/lei vuole	lui/lei puo’	lui/lei deve
noi vogliamo	noi possiamo	noi dobbiamo
voi volete	voi potete	voi dovete
loro vogliono	loro possono	loro devono

Conjugate “skriva” – Swedish conjugation

Infinitive: skriva (skrev|har skrivit)

“skriva” conjugation

Presens
jag	skriver
du	skriver
han/hon/den/det	skriver
vi	skriver
ni	skriver
de	skriver

Preteritum
jag	skrev
du	skrev
han/hon/den/det	skrev
vi	skrev
ni	skrev
de	skrev

Perfekt
jag	har skrivit
du	har skrivit
han/hon/den/det	har skrivit
vi	har skrivit
ni	har skrivit
de	har skrivit

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Italian Classroom-Italian Personal Pronouns

Classroom - Italian / By Vaikundamoni

Italian Personal pronouns

Once you’ve mastered the common pleasantries, the next important thing to learn is how to refer to people. The most common way is by using personal pronouns. In Italian, the pronouns (you and they) are complicated by gender and formality. You’ll use slightly different variations of these words depending to whom you are referring and how well you know them.

Io (I)

lui (he)

lei (she)

noi (we)

tu (you [singular])

lei (you [singular/formal])

voi (you (plural/informal])

loro (you (plural/formal])

loro (they)

Use the informal tu (singular you) and voi (plural you) for friends, relatives, younger people, and people you know well. Use the formal lei (singular you) when speaking to people you don’t know well; in situations such as in stores, restaurants, hotels, or pharmacies); and with professors, older people, and your friends’ parents.

The formal loro (plural you) is rarely used and is gradually being replaced by the informal voi when addressing a group of people.

References to people

When meeting people in Italy, be sure to use the appropriate formal title. Italians tend to use titles whenever possible. Use the Lei form when using any of the following titles. A man would be called Signore, which is the same as Mr. or Sir. An older or married woman is called Signora and a young lady is called Signorina. It is also helpful to know the correct vocabulary term for referring to people based on their age, gender, or relationship to you.

uomo (a man)

donna (a woman)

ragazzo (a boy)

ragazza (a girl)

bambino [M]; bambina [F] (a child)

padre (a father)

madre (a mother)

figlio [M]; figlia [F] (child)

fratello (a brother)

sorella (a sister)

marito (a husband)

moglie (a wife)

amico [M]; amica [F] (a friend)

In Italian, there are four words to cover the English indefinite articles a and an. For masculine words, you would use uno if the word begins with a z or an s and a consonant and you would use un for the rest. For feminine words, you should use ‘un for words beginning with a vowel and una for words beginning with a consonant.

Italian Nouns

All Italian nouns are masculine or feminine in gender. With very few exceptions, nouns which end in -o, -ore, a consonant, or a consonant followed by -one, are masculine. The names of the days of the week (except Sunday), lakes, months, oceans, rivers, seas, sport teams, and names which denote males are masculine. Words imported from other languages are regarded as masculine regardless of their spelling. With a few exceptions, singular nouns which end in -a, -à, -essa, -i, -ie, -ione, -tà, -trice, or -tù are feminine. The names of cities, continents, fruits, islands, letters of the alphabet, states, and names which denote females are feminine. In Italian grammar, if a word refers to a group of people, the masculine form is used: bambini children amici friends In a some cases, the gender of a noun is determined by its article. For example, uno studente to denote a male student, or una studente to denote a female student. All words which end in –nte or -ista are treated in this way. un cliente a male client una cliente a female client un pianista a male pianist una pianista a female pianist

Italian Pronouns

Pronouns are words that are used in place of a noun. They can stand in for the subject, Io mangio (I eat), the object, Paola mi ama (Paola loves me), or the complement, Io vivo perlei (I live for her). There are many kinds of pronouns in Italian grammar, including personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite. Io mangio I eat Paola mi ama Paola loves me Io vivo per lei I live for her

Italian Subject Pronouns / Pronomi personali

io	ee-oh	I	noi	noy	we
tu	too	you (informal singular)	voi	voy	you (informal plural)
lui, lei	lwee/lay	he, she	loro	loh-roh	they
Lei	lay	you (formal singular)	Loro	loh-roh	you (formal plural)

The Lei form is generally used for you (singular), instead of tu, unless you’re referring to kids or animals. Loro can also mean you, but only in very polite situations. If you need to specify an inanimate object as “it” you can use esso (masculine noun) and essa (feminine noun), but since subject pronouns are not commonly used in Italian, these words are somewhat rare.

Personal pronouns are the only part of the sentence in which Italian makes a distinction between masculine/feminine and neuter. Neuter gender is used for objects, plants and animals except man. How to Conjugate Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense

Verbs that end in -are
Verbs that end in -ere
Verbs that end in -ire The endings of regular verbs don’t change. Master the endings for each mode and tense, and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that verbs agree with subjects and subject pronouns (io, tu, lui/lei/Lei, noi, voi, loro/Loro):

Common Regular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Lavorare (to work)*	*Prendere (to take; to order)*	*Partire (to leave)*	*Capire (to understand)*
io	lavoro	prendo	parto	capisco
tu	lavori	prendi	parti	capisci
lui/lei/Lei	lavora	prende	parte	capisce
noi	lavoriamo	prendiamo	partiamo	capiamo
voi	lavorate	prendete	partite	capite
loro/Loro	lavorano	prendono	partono	capiscono

Unfortunately, there are also irregular verbs, which you have to memorize. You’ll find that the more you practice them, the easier it is to use them in conversation:

Common Irregular Italian Verbs in the Present Indicative Tense
Subject Pronoun	*Andare (to go)*	*Bere (to drink)*	*Dare (to give)*	*Fare (to do)*	*Stare (to stay)*	*Venire (to come)*
io	vado	bevo	do	faccio	sto	vengo
tu	vai	bevi	dai	fai	stai	vieni
lui/lei/Lei	va	beve	dà	fa	sta	viene
noi	andiamo	beviamo	diamo	facciamo	stiamo	veniamo
voi	andate	bevete	date	fate	state	venite
loro/Loro	vanno	bevono	danno	fanno	stanno	vengono

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS A direct object is the direct recipient of the action of a verb. Direct object pronouns replace direct object nouns. In Italian the forms of the direct object pronouns (i pronomi diretti) are as follows:

Person	Singular	Plural

1st. person	mi » me	ci » us
2nd. person familiar	ti » you	vi » you
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Li » You (m.)
2nd. person polite*	La » you (m. and f.)	Le » You (f.)
3rd. person	lo » him, it	li » them (m.)
3rd. person	la » her it	le » them (f.)

These pronouns are used as follows:

They stand immediately before the verb or the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses. Examples:

Li ho invitati a cena » I have invited them to dinner
L’ho veduta ieri » I saw her yesterday
Ci hanno guardati e ci hanno seguiti » They watched us and followed us

In a negative sentence, the word non must come before the object pronoun.

Non la mangia » He doesn’t eat it
Perchè non li inviti? » Why don’t you invite them?

The object pronoun is attached to the end of an infinitive. Note that the final –e of the infinitive is dropped.

È importante mangiarla ogni giorno » It is important to eat it every day
Volevo comprarla » I wanted to buy it

The Object pronouns are attached to ecco to express here I am, here you are, here he is, and so on.

Dov’è la signorina? – Eccola! » Where is the young woman? – Here she is!
Hai trovato le chiavi? – Sì, eccole! » Have you found the keys? – Yes, here they are!

The pronouns lo and la are often shortened to l’.

(*) Note that second person polite form pronouns are capitalized. INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS While direct object pronouns answer the question what? or whom? Indirect object pronouns answer the question to whom? or for whom? Also, they’re the same as the Direct Object Pronouns except for the pronouns in the Third Person (i.e. to him; to her; to them).

Singolare	Singular	Plurale	Plural
mi	(to/for) me	ci	(to/for) us
ti	(to/for) you (informal)	vi	(to/for) you (informal)
gli	(to/for) him, it	loro	(to/for) them (m. & f.)
le	(to/for) her, it
Le	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)	Loro	(to/for) you (formal f. & m.)

The direct object is governed directly by the verb, for example, in the following statement: Romeo loved her. The Indirect Object in an English sentence often stands where you would expect the direct object but common sense will tell you that the direct object is later in the sentence, e.g.: Romeo bought her a bunch of flowers. The direct object — i.e. the thing that Romeo bought is “a bunch of flowers”; Romeo didn’t buy “her” as if she were a slave. So the pronoun her in the sentence actually means “for her” and is the Indirect Object.

Examples: » Qulacuno mi ha mandato una cartolina dalla Spagna Someone (has) sent me a postcard from Spain. » Il professore le ha spiegato il problema The teacher (has) explained the problem to her. » Voglio telefonargli I want to phone him. » Il signor Brambilla ci ha insegnato l’italiano Mr Brambilla taught us Italian. » Cosa gli dici? What are you saying to him/to them? » Lucia,tuo padre vuole parlarti! Lucia, your father wants to speak to you! » Non gli ho mai chiesto di aiutarmi I (have) never asked him to help me. » Non oserei consigliarti I would not dare to advise you » Le ho regalato un paio di orecchini I gave her a present of a pair of earrings

Possessive Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Possessive Pronouns:

Maschile singolare	Maschile plurale	Femminile singolare	Femminile plurale
il mioil tuoil suo il nostro il vostro il loro	i mieii tuoii suoi i nostri i vostri i loro	la miala tuala sua la nostra la vostra la loro	le miele tuele sue le nostre le vostre le loro

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Dutch Classroom-Simple Dialogues in Dutch

Classroom - Dutch / By Vaikundamoni

Telling Time in Dutch

What time is it?	Hoe laat is het?
It’s 1:00	Het is een uur.
2:00	Het is twee uur.
3:30	Het is half vier.
5:45	Het is kwart voor zes.
7:03	Het is drie (minuten) over zeven.
at 9:30	om half tien
noon	twaalf uur ‘s middags
midnight	twaalf uur ‘s nachts / middernacht
In the morning	‘s ochtends
During the day	‘s middags
In the evening	‘s avonds
At night	‘s nachts

Minuten can be omitted, just as in English.

How to talk about the weather in Dutch

ow’s the weather today?	Wat voor weer is het vandaag?
It’s cold	Het is koud
beautiful	Het is mooi
hot	Het is heet
clear	Het is helder
icy	Het is ijzig
warm	Het is warm
windy	Het is windig
cloudy	Het is bewolkt
hazy	Het is mistig
muggy	Het is drukkend / benauwd
humid	Het is vochtig
foggy	Het is mistig
It’s snowing	Het sneeuwt
It’s raining	Het regent
It’s freezing	Het vriest

Basic Dutch Phrases

Good Morning	Goedemorgen	khoo-duh-mawr-ghuh
Good Day	Goedemiddag	khoo-duh-mih-dahkh
Good Evening	Goedenavond	khoo-duh-nah-fohnt
Good Night	Goedenacht	khoo-duh-nahkht
Hi / Bye	Hoi / Hallo / Daag / Doei	hoy / hah-loh / dahk / doo-ee
Goodbye	Tot ziens	toht zeens
See you later (in the same day)	Tot straks	toht straks
See you soon	Tot zo	toht zoh
Please	Alstublieft / Alsjeblieft	ahlst-ew-bleeft / ahl-shuh-bleeft
Thank you	Dank u wel / Dank je wel	dahnk-ew-vehl / dahnk-yuh-vehl
Thank you very much	Hartelijk bedankt	hahr-tuh-lik buh-dahnkt
You’re welcome (don’t mention it)	Graag gedaan	khrahkh khuh-dahn
I’m sorry / Excuse me	Sorry	saw-ree
Pardon me (didn’t understand)	Pardon, wat zei u?	pahr-dohn, vat zay ew
Yes / No	Ja / Nee	yah / nay
How are you? (formal)	Hoe gaat het met u?	hoo khaht ut meht ew
How are you? (informal)	Hoe gaat het?	hoo khaht ut
Fine / Very well	Goed / Heel goed	khoot / hayl khoot
So so / Bad	Het gaat / Slecht	uht khaht / slehkht
I’m tired / sick.	Ik ben moe / ziek	ik ben moo / zeek
I’m hungry / thirsty.	Ik heb honger / dorst	ik heb hohng-ur / dohrst
What’s your name? (formal)	Hoe heet u?	hoo hayt ew
What’s your name? (informal)	Hoe heet je?	hoo hayt yuh
My name is (I’m called)…	Ik heet…	ik hayt…
I am…	Ik ben…	ik ben
Nice to meet you.	Aangenaam (kennis te maken)	ahn-guh-nahm (ken-nis tuh mah-kuh)
Mister / Misses / Miss	meneer / mevrouw / mejuffrouw	muh-nayr / muh-frow / muh-yuh-frow
Where are you from? (formal)	Waar komt u vandaan?	vahr kawmt ew fun-dahn
Where are you from? (informal)	Waar kom je vandaan?	vahr kawn yuh fun-dahn
I am from the Netherlands.	Ik kom uit Nederland.	ik kawm owt nay-der-lant
Where do you live? (formal)	Waar woont u?	vahr vohnt ew
Where do you live? (informal)	Waar woon je?	vahr vohn yuh
I live in America.	Ik woon in Amerika.	ik vohn in ah-meh-ree-kah
How old are you? (formal)	Hoe oud bent u?	hoo owt bent ew
How old are you? (informal)	Hoe oud ben je?	hoo owt ben yuh
I am ____ years old.	Ik ben … jaar (oud).	ik ben … yahr owt
Do you speak Dutch? (formal)	Spreekt u Nederlands?	spraykt ew nay-der-lahnds
Do you speak English? informal)	Spreek je Engels?	sprayk yuh ehng-uhls
I [don’t] speak…	Ik spreek [geen]…	ik sprayk [khayn]
I don’t speak … very well.	Ik spreek niet zo goed…	ik sprayk neet zoh khood
I [don’t] understand.	Ik begrijp het [niet.]	ik buh-khraip ut neet
I [don’t] know.	Ik weet het [niet.]	ik vayt ut [neet]
How much is it?	Wat kost het?	vat kohst ut
I’d like…	Ik wil graag…	ik vil khrahk
Cheers!	Proost!	prohst
Have fun!	Veel plezier!	fayl pleh-zeer
Good luck!	Veel succes!	fayl suk-sehs
Be careful!	Wees voorzichtig!	vays fohr-zikh-tikh
That is great / terrible!	Dat is geweldig / vreselijk!	dat is khuh-vehl-duhkh / fray-zuh-likh
I love you. (informal)	Ik hou van je.	ik how fahn yuh
I love you (all).	Ik hou van jullie.	ik how fahn juh-lee
How funny / odd!	Wat vreemd!	vaht fraymt
What a pity!	Wat jammer!	vaht yah-mer
What is this / that?	Wat is dit / dat?	vut iss dit / dut

In the pronunciations, kh denotes a uvular guttural sound. Meneer, mevrouw and mejuffrouw are all written with a small letter when they precede a name. When typing, de Heer is used instead of meneer and Dhr. is used on envelopes. Mevrouw and mejuffrouw are abbreviated as Mevr. and Mej. In addition, Mw. can be used as an equivalent of the English Ms. ]]>

Dutch Pronunciation

Classroom - Dutch, Learn Dutch / By Vaikundamoni

Dutch Pronunciation

Dutch letters	English sound
ch / g	guttural sound, made at back of mouth
sch	s followed by guttural ch sound
w	like v before r, otherwise like w but with bottom lip against top teeth
v	like v, but sometimes closer to f
r	either rolled or guttural
j	y as in yes
sj	sh as in ship
tj	ch as in chip
aa	ah as in father, but longer
ee	ay as in hail, but shorter
ie	ee as in neat, but shorter
oo	oh as in boat
oe	oo as in pool, but shorter
eu	ur as in hurt, but with lips rounded
uu	ew, but with lips rounded (sound not found in English)
a	ah as in father, but shorter
e	eh as in bed
i	ih as in bit
o	aw as in paw, with lips rounded
u	ir as in dirt, but very short
ei / ij	between the sounds in “light” and “late”
aai	combination of aa and ie
oei	combination of oe and ie
ooi	combination of oo and ie
ou / au	like ow, as in house
eeuw	combination of ee and oe
ieuw	combination of ie and oe
uw	combination of uu and oe
ui	combination of a and uu

The consonants s, f, h, b, d, z, l, m, n, and ng are pronounced the same way in Dutch as in English. P, t, and k are pronounced without the puff of air (called aspiration.) Sometimes the g is pronounced like zh in words borrowed from French. One last vowel sound is found in various Dutch spellings. It is pronounced like uh, as in along or sofa. For example, this sound is found in de (the), een (a), aardig (nice), and vriendelijk (kind). ]]>

German A1, A2 Exam Preparation:Speaking

Classroom - German, General, Learn German / By Vaikundamoni

Preparation for A1, A2 German Exams in Coimbatore

German Speaking Test Modal Exam Video German Language Course for Beginners (Level A1) Level A1 (Basic User 1) of the Common European Framework for Reference of Languages. The curriculum for the A1 German language course includes:

introducing oneself and others
asking for someone’s name and origin
greeting someone
spelling in German
starting a conversation
stating and understanding figures, quantities, time and prices
ordering and paying in a restaurant
naming and asking for things/objects
analysing simple graphs
describing a flat or house
describing a geographical location
speaking about countries, cities, their languages
making an appointment
describing ones holiday
talking about hobbies
describing people, the clothes they wear
understanding weather reports and describing the weather
understanding short written messages, public notices and classified advertisements
filling in personal details and basic information on forms
writing brief personal messages/ Emails,
formulating and responding to common everyday queries and requests.
answering simple questions relating to everyday life,
understanding what one hears in everyday situations, such as simple questions,
instructions and messages, as well as messages on an answerphone, public
announcements and brief conversations.

How to prepare for the A1 Level Sprechen part?

In the speaking part of the A1 German Examination as the introductory part the participants are led by two teachers who organise the Sprechen part . The exam session may consist of four to five participants. The first part of the speaking test consists of the following framework for the participants to introduce themselves one by one following an example by the presenter who normally may be from Goethe Institut.

1.Name?

2.Alter?

3.Land?

4.Wohnort?

5.Sprachen?

6.Beruf?

7.Hobby?

The participant has to start with giving his name and go on with how old he or she is , where he comes from, where he lives, what languages he speaks, what his profession is and finally what his hobbies are. Well, it is as simple as that! What does A1 mean? It means the proficiency level you have to be at in German, as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Language. You would have reached the A1 proficiency level when you are able to:

Understand familiar, concrete expressions necessary to carry out the basic needs of day-to-day life.
Introduce yourself to people and give personal details.
Maintain limited communication with another person, provided he or she understands your limitations.

So you should be able to do things like ask and tell time, buy goods, order meals, and ask for simple directions. With both the Goethe Exams, there are two portions of the A1 exam:

A written examination that tests your listening, reading, and writing skills, which lasts 65 minutes.
An oral examination that tests your speaking skills, which lasts 10 to 15 minutes.

So you should be able to do the following at an A1 level namely listening, reading, writing, and speaking. To reach the A1 level, plan for about 75 to 100 total hours of studying. This means that if you study two hours a day, you could be ready in six to eight weeks. When you’re in a German-speaking country, you’re bound to find yourself in a number of situations where you need to ask a lot of questions as you find your way around — for example, where the nearest bank is or how long the train will be delayed — or you may simply need to ask someone to speak more slowly. You many find the following vocabulary useful in various situations. These expressions can help you get the attention of someone, excuse yourself, or ask someone to repeat himself:

Entschuldigung! (I’m sorry./Excuse me.)
Entschuldigen Sie, bitte! (Excuse me, please./I beg your pardon.)
Entschuldigung? (Pardon?)
Verzeihung bitte. (Excuse me./Pardon me.)
Verzeihung! (Sorry!)
Wie bitte? (Pardon?/Sorry?/I beg your pardon?) You use this phrase when you don’t understand what someone has said.

After you get the person’s attention, you may need to follow up with a request for help. The following are some common requests for getting help and asking someone to repeat himself or to speak more slowly:

Könnten Sie mir bitte helfen? (Could you help me, please?)
Könnten Sie das bitte wiederholen? (Could you repeat that, please?)
Könnten Sie bitte langsamer sprechen? (Could you please speak more slowly?)

In a restaurant, you can get service with the following expressions. Just remember to start with Entschuldigen Sie, bitte! (Excuse me, please!)

Was würden Sie zum Essen empfehlen? (What would you recommend to eat?)
Bringen Sie mir/uns bitte die Speisekarte/die Rechnung. (Please bring me/us the menu/check.)
Könnten Sie bitte einen Löffel/eine Serviette bringen? (Could you bring a spoon/a napkin, please?)
Ich hätte gern . . . (I’d like . . .) When ordering food or drink, add the item from the menu to the end of this phrase.

When you’re shopping in a department store or other large store, the following may help you navigate it more easily:

Wo ist die Schmuckabteilung/Schuhabteilung? (Where is the jewelry/shoe department?)
Wo finde ich die Rolltreppe/die Toiletten? (Where do I find the escalator/restrooms?)
Haben Sie Lederwaren/Regenschirme? (Do you carry leather goods/umbrellas?)
Wie viel kostet das Hemd/die Tasche? (How much does the shirt/bag cost?)
Könnten Sie das bitte als Geschenk einpacken? (Could you wrap that as a present, please?)

When you’re walking around town and need directions on the street, the following questions can help you find your way:

Wo ist das Hotel Vierjahreszeiten/Hotel Continental? (Where is the Hotel Vierjahreszeiten/Hotel Continental?)
Gibt es eine Bank/eine Bushhaltestelle in der Nähe? (Is there a bank/bus stop near here?)
Könnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wo die Post/der Park ist? (Could you tell me where the post office/park is, please?)

These questions come in handy when you’re taking public transportation:

Wo kann ich eine Fahrkarte kaufen? (Where can I buy a ticket?)
Wie viele Haltestellen sind es zum Bahnhof/Kunstmuseum? (How many stops is it to the train station/art museum?)
Ist das der Bus/die U-Bahn zum Haydnplatz/Steyerwald? (Is this the bus/subway to Haydnplatz/Steyerwald?)
Wie oft fährt die Straßenbahn nach Charlottenburg/Obermenzing?(How often does the streetcar go to Charlottenburg/Obermenzing?)
Ich möchte zum Hauptbahnhof. In welche Richtung muss ich fahren?(I’d like to go to the main train station. In which direction do I need to go?)
Von welchem Gleis fährt der Zug nach Köln/Paris ab? (Which track does the train to Cologne/Paris leave from?)

Dialogue

Read and listen to the following dialogue between two students:

Dialogue: What’s your name? (1st Part) — Wie heißt du? (1. Teil)
Franz	Hallo, ich bin Franz. Wie heißt du?
Greta	Hallo, Franz. Ich heiße Greta. Wie geht’s?
Franz	Es geht mir gut. Kennst du den Lehrer?
Greta	Ja, er heißt Herr Weiß.
Franz	Oh, danke, Greta. Bis dann!
Greta	Wiedersehen!

Now try to understand the dialogue with the help of the following list of vocabulary.

Vocabulary: What’s your name? (1st Part) — Wie heißt du? (1. Teil)
English	German
Hello!	Hallo!
I	ich
I am…	Ich bin …
how	wie
you	du
Your name is…	Du heißt …
What is your name?	Wie heißt du?
My name is…	Ich heiße …
it	es
it goes	es geht
How is it going?	Wie geht’s? (Longer: Wie geht es?)
me	mir
good	gut
I’m good.	Es geht mir gut. (Shorter: Mir geht’s gut. Even shorter: Gut.)
you know	du kennst
Do you know…?	Kennst du …?
teacher	Lehrer
yes	ja
he	er
His name is…	Er heißt …
Mr.	Herr
oh	oh
thanks	danke
until	bis
then	dann
See you!	Bis dann!
on	auf
again	wieder
(to) see	sehen
Goodbye!	(Auf) Wiedersehen!

Problems: Working with the dialogue

Hellos and Goodbyes

There are many ways of saying hello and goodbye in German; some of them are:

Vocabulary: Greetings — Grüße
English	German
Hello!	Hallo!*
	Servus! (used in southern Germany and eastern Austria, informal)
	Moin! (used in northern Germany)
Good morning!	Moin Moin! (used in northern Germany)
	Guten Morgen!*
	Morgen! (shorter)
Good day!	Guten Tag!*
Good day!	Tag! (used in Germany, shorter)
Good evening!	Guten Abend!*
Hello!	Grüß Gott! (used in southern Germany, Austria and South Tyrol)
Goodbye!	Auf Wiedersehen!*
Goodbye!	Wiedersehen! (shorter)
Bye!	Tschüss!*
	Tschau! (also spelled “ciao” as in Italian)
	Servus! (used in southern Germany and eastern Austria, informal)
See you later!	Bis später!*
See you!	Bis dann!*
See you!	Bis bald!*
See you soon!	Bis gleich!
Good night!	Gute Nacht!*

*You will need to know each expression with an asterisk (*) after it. The others, of course, would be useful to know if you are traveling to regions where they are used. (As you can see, the different German-speaking regions often have their own ways of saying hello and goodbye. However, you will not be required to know any of these less common phrases for any problems or tests.) The more formal phrases are guten Morgen, guten Tag, and auf Wiedersehen. The less formal ones are tschüss, Tag, servus, and ciao. The others are somewhat neutral on the formal-informal scale.

Mr. and Mrs.

In German, Herr and Frau are used instead of Mr. and Mrs. before a last name; e.g., Mr. Schwarz – Herr Schwarz.

Vocabulary: Mr. & Ms. — Herr und Frau
English	German
Mr.	Herr
Mrs.	Frau

Frau is used for married and unmarried women. Some people still use Miss – Fräulein in spoken German but it is no longer used in written German since it is considered an inappropriate discrimination of unmarried women. Literally, der Herr means the gentleman and die Frau means the woman. If you use these words without a last name after them, you have to use an article before them; e.g., der Herror die Frau. This is actually just like in English. For example:

The woman’s name is Mrs. Weiß – Die Frau heißt Frau Weiß.

Note also that the German translation of the man is der Mann and the lady should be translated to die Dame. Thus, without last names you would rather use these pairs:

man and woman – Mann und Frau
men and women – Männer und Frauen
lady and gentleman – Dame und Herr
ladies and gentlemen – Damen und Herren

Replies to Wie geht’s?

There are many ways to reply to the question Wie geht’s? Here are some of them:

Vocabulary: How are you? — Wie geht’s?
English	German
How are you?	Wie geht’s? (longer: Wie geht es dir?)*
great	prima
good	gut
very good	sehr gut
miserable	miserabel
bad	schlecht
not (so) good	nicht (so) gut
O.K.	ganz gut
all right	Es geht so. (Or shorter: Geht so.)

*The more formal form is Wie geht es Ihnen? After replying to the question, you could continue with:

And how are you? — Und wie geht es dir? (formal: Und wie geht es Ihnen?)

Or shorter:

And you? — Und dir? (or: Und selbst?; or formal: Und Ihnen?)

Lesson I.2: Wie heißt du? (2. Teil)The dialogue of this lesson is a conversation between two persons: Franz and Mr. Schwarz. While Franz uses the formal Sie to address Mr. Schwarz, the latter uses the informal du to address Franz. We also discuss some grammar: subject pronouns and some important verbs in the present tense.

Dialogue

In this short dialogue Mr. Schwarz uses the informal form you – du. while Franz uses the formal translation of you – Sie. When listening to the dialogue, try to find out how the wordSie is pronounced.

Dialogue: What’s your name? (2nd Part) — Wie heißt du? (2. Teil)
Franz	Guten Morgen. Sind Sie Herr Weiß?
Herr Schwarz	Nein, ich bin Herr Schwarz. Wie heißt du?
Franz	Ich heiße Franz. Danke, Herr Schwarz. Ich bin spät dran.
Herr Schwarz	Bitte, Franz. Ich bin auch spät dran. Bis später!
Franz	Auf Wiedersehen!

Problems: Listen carefully!

Vocabulary: What’s your name? (2nd Part) — Wie heißt du? (2. Teil)
English	German
Good morning.	Guten Morgen.
you (formal)	Sie
You are… (formal)	Sie sind …
Are you…? (formal)	Sind Sie …?
no	nein
late	spät
I am late.	Ich bin spät dran.
You’re welcome.	Bitte.
also	auch
later	später
See you later.	Bis später.

Sie and du

Why is Franz using the formal form of you — Sie while Mr. Schwarz is using the informal ofyou — du? First of all you should realize that Franz addresses Mr. Schwarz with his last name while Mr. Schwarz addresses Franz with his first name. This is probably the most important rule: if you (would) address someone with his or her last name, you should use the formal Sie. On the other hand, if you are using the first name, you should use du. Anything else would sound funny. Sie is the polite form. It is used to foreign people, and in order to testify respect against the interlocutor, for people you would address with Mr and Mrs. So, when do Germans address other people with their first name and say du?

Some cases are very clear: children, relatives, and friends are always addressed with du. (Mr. Schwarz uses du because Franz is still a child. Otherwise Mr. Schwarz would either use Sie or Franz would also use du.)
Students (at universities etc.) usually say du to other students and everyone else who is of their age or younger.
The situation is not so clear for colleagues in companies. Fortunately, there is another rule for grown-ups: any two grown-ups address each other in the same way, either withdu or Sie, but never does only one of them use du and the other Sie. Thus, if in doubt, you can just copy how the other person addresses you.
In all other situations you should use Sie. If a German thinks that it would be more appropriate to say du, he or she will be happy to suggest to use du. On the other hand, it is almost always considered impolite to go from du to Sie; thus, you shouldn’t put someone in a position where he or she wants to suggest to use Sie instead of du.
Note that mostly the polite form is easier to use. You just have to learn a few forms of auxiliary and modal verbs. The main verb is usually the infinitive. With the familiar address you unfortunately have to consider many more irregular verbs.

Subject Pronouns

A noun is a word that describes a thing or being, e.g. “apple”, “woman”, “man”, etc. Pronounsare the little words that refer to previously mentioned nouns, e.g. “it”, “she”, “he”, or even “we”, “him”, etc. The subject of a sentence is the noun or pronoun that the sentence is about. Usually it is the most active thing or being of the sentence. For example, in the sentence “The woman ate an apple.”, both “woman” and “apple” are nouns, but “woman” is the subject of the sentence because the sentence is about the action performed by the woman. (If you are curious: “apple” is the direct object of the sentence.) If we replace the nouns of the example by pronouns, the sentence becomes: “She ate it.” In this example, “she” and “it” are pronouns. The subject of this sentence is the pronoun “she” and therefore this kind of pronoun is called a subject pronoun. Now that you know about the English subject pronouns, here is a table of them with their German counterparts. Note that you corresponds to three different words in German, depending on whether you address one or more persons and whether you are using a more formal or more familiar way of addressing them.

Grammar: Subject Pronouns — Subjekt-Pronomina
		English	German
singular	1st person	I	ich
	2nd person	you	du, Sie*
	3rd person	he, she, it	er, sie, es
plural	1st person	we	wir
	2nd person	you	ihr, Sie*
	3rd person	they	sie

*Sie is the formal (polite) version of du and ihr.

Names

To say the name of someone or something you can use to be called — heißen. You have already seen some forms of the verb heißen. Here is a more systematic table with all the forms in the present tense. Note that the subject pronouns are capitalized because they start the sentences.

Grammar: Names — Namen
English	German
My name is…	Ich heiße …
His/Her/Its name is…	Er/Sie/Es heißt …
Their names are…	Sie heißen …
Our names are…	Wir heißen …
Your name is…	Du heißt …
Your names are…	Ihr heißt …
What is your name?	Wie heißt du?*
What are your names?	Wie heißt ihr?*

*Remember, the formal way to ask someone’s name is to ask Wie heißen Sie? Note: There are possessive pronouns (e.g. “my”, “your”, “his”, her”, …) in German, they just don’t apply here. For instance, native speakers usually don’t say Mein Name ist … (My name is…).

Important Verbs

Verbs are the words that describe the action of a sentence, e.g. (to) run, (to) call, (to) be, etc.Conjugation refers to changing the form of a verb depending on the subject of a sentence. For example, the verb to be – sein has several different forms: (I) am…, (you) are…, (he) is…, etc. Most English verbs, however, have only two forms in the present tense, e.g.,(I/you/we/they) run and (he/she/it) runs. German verbs, on the other hand, have usually several forms in the present tense. You have already learned the forms of one German verb: to be called – heißen.

Verb: to be called — heißen
		English	German
singular	1st person	I am called	ich heiße
	2nd person	you are called	du heißt
	3rd person	he/she/it is called	er/sie/es heißt
plural	1st person	we are called	wir heißen
	2nd person	you are called	ihr heißt
	3rd person	they are called	sie heißen*

*The form of verbs for you (polite) — Sie is exactly the same as for the plural, 3rd person pronoun they — sie. Two extremely common verbs are to be — sein and to have — haben. They are conjugated like this:

Verb: to be — sein
		English	German
singular	1st person	I am	ich bin
	2nd person	you are	du bist
	3rd person	he/she/it is	er/sie/es ist
plural	1st person	we are	wir sind
	2nd person	you are	ihr seid
	3rd person	they are	sie sind*

*Don’t forget that the form for you (polite) — Sie is the same as for the plural, 3rd person pronoun they — sie.

Verb: to have — haben
		English	German
singular	1st person	I have	ich habe
	2nd person	you have	du hast
	3rd person	he/she/it has	er/sie/es hat
plural	1st person	we have	wir haben
	2nd person	you have	ihr habt
	3rd person	they have	sie haben*

*This is also the form for you (polite) — Sie.

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