18

Present tense of the verbs andare, dare, fare, stare

Of the verbs with infinitives ending in –are (first conjugation), all but four are regular. Memorize the present indicative of the four exceptions.

andare – to go                                fare – to do, to make

vado        andiamo                         faccio (or: fo)         facciamo

vai           andate                             fai                           fate

va            vanno                              fa                            fanno

dare – to give                                 stare – to stay, to stand, to be (referring to health)

do          diamo                               sto                         stiamo

dai         date                                  stai                        state

dà          danno                               sta                         stanno

NOTE:

When andare is used reflexively, along with the particle ne, it has the meaning of “to leave” or “to go away.” In the infinitive form, the reflexive pronoun and ne are attached to the end of the verb: andarsene. (Si becomes se before ne; similarly, mi, ti, ci, and vi become me, te, ce, and ve before ne.) Thus, me ne vado = “I am leaving” or “I am going away”; te ne vai = “you are leaving/going away”; etc.

Stare is frequently used with the present participle (the form of a verb, ending in -ing in English, which is used in forming continuous tenses) of another verb to form a present progressive tense, and to insist that an action is (or was) in progress. Thus sto lavorando may mean “I am in the process of working” or “I am in the act of working”; this gives the action a sense of immediacy and of being in the moment, much more so than the simple present lavoro (“I work,” “I am working,” “I do work”).

The present participles of all regular –are verbs, and those of andare, dare, and stare, and in –ando (parlando, andando, etc); those of fare and of –ere and –ire verbs end in –endo (facendo, vendendo, sentendo, etc.)

For uses of the present participle, see Unit 9.

VOCABULARY