Passato remoto

		singular			plural
1st person		ebbi	I was		avemmo	we were
2nd person		avesti	you were (singular)		aveste	you were (plural)
3rd person		ebbe	he/she/it was		ebbero	they were

A tense with very irregular inflections, where all accents fall on penultimate syllables, except in ebbero, whose antepenultimate syllable is stressed (pronounced "eh'bbehroh"). Although the past perfect of the verb essere (discussed in the previous paragraph) has some differences, accents and many of the inflections work in the same way. Remember that this tense expresses ceased actions, no longer active:

l'uomo ebbe un incidente = the man had an accident (the accident itself did not last in time) avemmo una grande fortuna = we had a great luck (we were lucky on that occasion) ebbero due figli = they had two sons (in Italian this sounds like "their two sons were born", as a non-lasting action, while the imperfect tense avevano due figli would express the fact that during their lives "they had two sons", as a continuous condition).

.5 VERBS OF THE 1st CONJUGATION PART I SIMPLE INDICATIVE TENSES

Verbs whose infinitive tense has the inflection ...are, belong to the 1st conjugation. Most verbs belonging to this conjugation are regular. Tenses will be discussed by using the verb parlare (= to speak, to talk). Sample sentences will also use these other few regular verbs:

lavorare = to work	tirare = to pull	cantare = to sing
ascoltare = to listen	cucinare = to cook	comprare = to buy
pagare = to pay	attaccare = to attack	mangiare = to eat
fischiare = to whistle	pescare = to fish	pagare = to pay
portare = to carry, to bring	sbirciare = to peep	strisciare = to creep
saltare = to jump	cambiare = to change	scappare = to escape, to run away

Comparing them with the two irregular verbs essere and avere already discussed, you will surely find that many inflections are similar (but many others are different).

Presente

		singular			plural
1st person		parlo	I talk		parliamo	we talk
2nd person		parli	you talk (singular)		parlate	you talk (plural)
3rd person		parla	he/she/it talks		parlano	they talk

As in all previous verbs, accent falls on the penultimate syllable, except for the 3rd plural person, whose antipenultimate syllable is stressed (pronounced "pahrlahnoh").

parla bene = he or she speaks well tiro una fune = I pull a rope gli uccelli cantano = the birds sing

--- PHONETIC CHANGES ---

When the last letter of the verb's root is c or g, for phonetic reasons the inflections of the 2nd singular person and 1st plural person (...i and ...iamo) need an h :

		singular			plural
1st person		gioco	I play		giochiamo	we play
2nd person		giochi	you play (singular)		giocate	you play (plural)
3rd person		gioca	he/she/it plays		giocano	they play

note the h in the 2nd singular and the 1st plural persons: it enables consonant c to keep a "hard" sound (English sound: "johkyh", "johkyahmoh"); without an h, the pronounciation would be "johchyh", "johchahmoh". pago = I pay, paghi = you pay (not pagi), paghiamo = we pay (not pagiamo) attacco = I attack, attacchi = you attack, attacchiamo = we attack

When the root of the verb ends with vowel i, the 2nd singular person and the 1st plural person drop this vowel:

		singular			plural
1st person		mangio	I eat		mangiamo	we eat
2nd person		mangi	you eat (singular)		mangiate	you eat (plural)
3rd person		mangia	he/she/it eats		mangiano	they eat

note how the root of verb mangiare is mangi..., but the 2nd singular and the 1st plural persons lose the i; sbircio = I peep, sbirci = you peep (not sbircii), sbirciamo = we peep (not sbirciiamo) striscio = I creep, strisci = you creep (not striscii), strisciamo = we creep (not strisciiamo)