The verb is the most important part of a sentence. In the verb we find information relating to the subject, the time in which the expressed facts take place and how the speaker perceives them.
- Andiamo a casa!
- Let’s go home!
- Facemmo festa.
- We had a party.
- Avete capito tutto?
- Have you understood everything?
- Amare la vita.
- To love life.
In a verb we can distinguish:
- La radice (the root): an invariable element that contains the meaning of the verb.
- (am-) in amare (to love)
- (ved-) in vedere (to see)
- (dorm-) in dormire (to sleep)
- La vocale tematica (thematic vowel): identifies the three conjugations of the verb.
- (a) for the first conjugation (am-a-re)
- (e) for the second conjugation (ved-e-re)
- (i) for the third conjugation (dorm-i-re).
- La desinenza (the ending): a variable part, placed after the root (la radice). It conveys all the grammatical information relating to mood, time, person, and number of the verb.
- (-iamo) in amiamo, is the ending of the 1st person plural of the present indicative.
- La tema (the theme): the root and the thematic vowel, together, give rise to the theme:
- guarda– is the theme of guardare (to watch)
- legge– is the theme of leggere (to read)
- parti– is the theme of partire (to leave)
Next lesson:
Tipi di verbi / Types of verbs.