Future Tense

Italian future tenseIn English, we use the modal “will” plus a verb to talk about actions that will take place in the future, but in Italian there’s a future tense with a full set of conjugations for every verb. The uses of these two constructions are very similar.

   

Imperative Mood

Italian imperativeIt’s imperative to understand the imperative mood if you want to give orders, make requests, express desires, provide recommendations, offer advice, and prohibit actions.

   

Imperfect

Italian imperfectThey say practice makes perfect, so how can one of the most common Italian past tenses be imperfect? In grammatical terms, “perfect” means “complete,” so the imperfect tense is used to describe an incomplete or ongoing action or state of being.

   

Past Participle

Italian past participleThe past participle is essential in the creation of compound verb tenses/moods and the passive voice, and it can also be used as an adjective.

   

Reciprocal Verbs

Italian reciprocal verbsReciprocal verbs use a reflexive pronoun to indicate that the action of the verb is exchanged between two or more subjects acting upon each other.

   

Reflexive Verbs

Italian reflexive verbsFor reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun indicates that the subject of the verb is performing the action on him/her/itself, rather than on someone or something else. The majority of reflexive verbs have to do with one’s body, clothing, or relationships.