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Italian Verb Conjugation

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Raчraч Ŋuɲa
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 Message 1 of 10
28 December 2010 at 8:02am | IP Logged 
I'm quite puzzled with this website that
claims Italian verbs conjugate for gender, saying :"type in an Italian verb in its
infinitive form and the Conjugator will produce the complete conjugation. and when we say
'complete' we mean it: you know Italian language discriminates gender also in verb
coniugation, and here you will have both forms." Even after googling, I can't find any
examples.

Can anyone who speaks Italian please elucidate further or give examples? Thanks a lot.
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numerodix
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 Message 2 of 10
28 December 2010 at 8:20am | IP Logged 
That's true in the minority of cases. Italian has two auxiliary verbs in avere and
essere that form compound tenses. Avere does not distinguish between genders, but
essere does. Essere is used less often, however, and the rules for when to use which
are a bit complicated.

Roughly speaking, any verb that does not describe motion (and a few other categories
too) takes avere:

"I have studied."
(Io) ho studiato.

No change in gender. Verbs taking essere however do distinguish:

"I went."
(Io) sono andato. (male)
(Io) sono andata. (female)
(Noi) siamo andati. (male-plural)
(Noi) siamo andate. (female-plural)

Then there is a large group of reflexive verbs in
Italian, and those always take essere.

"I have washed (myself)."
Mi sono lavato. (male)
Mi sono lavata. (female)

That's a rough introduction for you, but it takes a bit of practice to grasp all the
patterns.

Edited by numerodix on 28 December 2010 at 8:23am

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Raчraч Ŋuɲa
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 Message 3 of 10
28 December 2010 at 8:57am | IP Logged 
Thanks a lot!

Edited by Raчraч Ŋuɲa on 28 December 2010 at 9:30am

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numerodix
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 Message 4 of 10
28 December 2010 at 9:30am | IP Logged 
I don't know Spanish, but to the extent that your example looks identical to Italian in
form, then I would say that is a reasonable assumption to make.

EDIT: You removed the Spanish question lol.

Edited by numerodix on 28 December 2010 at 9:31am

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Raчraч Ŋuɲa
Triglot
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 Message 5 of 10
28 December 2010 at 9:39am | IP Logged 
Sorry, I created a new thread for it. Thanks again for the examples.
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canada38
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 Message 6 of 10
03 January 2011 at 3:13pm | IP Logged 
What numerodix has said is correct, but to elaborate:

Consider il passato prossimo (present perfect).
Transitive Verbs take the auxillary verb avere;
intransitive verbs take essere.

A transitive verb has a subject that takes an object, "He ate the apple." (subject=He,
object=apple), whereas an intransitive verb has no object, "He sleeps". There is no
object here because "He" is not "sleeping" someone.

When a transitive verb is conjugated, there is no regard for gender/number.
Lui ha parlato.
Lei ha parlato.
Loro hanno parlato.
However; when an intransitive verb is conjugated, these factors must be considered.
Lui è arrivato.
Lei è arrivata.
Loro sono arrivati.
Loro sono arrivate.

I'm still learning Italian myself, so if what I said is incorrect, someone please
correct me.
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numerodix
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 Message 7 of 10
03 January 2011 at 7:21pm | IP Logged 
You're on the wrong track here using transitivenesses as a decider. Look at what you
wrote:

A transitive verb has a subject that takes an object, "He ate the apple." (subject=He,
object=apple)


Then you used parlare, which is intransitive:

Lui ha parlato.
Lei ha parlato.

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canada38
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 Message 8 of 10
03 January 2011 at 9:34pm | IP Logged 
I see the problem, parlare can be transitive, but in my example it wasn't used that way.
I only meant to show the conjugation, but I see how without a complete example, that it
can be ambiguous.


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