The present indicative tense in Italian is used much like the present tense in English ... for actions happening now, habitual actions, and statements of fact. Italians also use the present for actions which started in the past and continue into the present (that English translates with "has been ___ing").

It is formed by dropping the infinitive ending ("are" for "-are" verbs) and adding the appropriate ending to the stem:

• -o
• -i
• -a
• -iamo
• -ate
• -ano

To make the simple future tense of an "-are" verb ... take the vowel "a" and change it to "e":

• Parlare → Parlere
• Then add the appropriate future tense ending:
• • ò
  • ai
  • à
  • emo
  • ete
  • anno

This table shows future tense conjugations for the verb parlare.

Past tenses of the verb parlare can be seen in the table.

There are two tenses for the remote past in Italian. These tenses are used in writing about the distant past and are spoken only in Tuscany and southern Italy.

This table shows conjugations for the verb parlare.