A1 · The present tense
Dropping the subject pronoun
Putting io in is what English does by saying it louder.
At a glance
- Remember
- The pronoun goes in only when it says something.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
The present — What holds at the moment, what is under way, or what is always the case.
- Form
- Parlo italiano.I speak Italian.
- Signal words
- io
- tu
- lui
- lei
- noi
- voi
- Trap
- Wrong:Io abito a Roma e io lavoro a Milano.Right:Abito a Roma e lavoro a Milano.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) person ending negation
| I speak Italian. | Parlo italiano. |
| I speak Italian (I do, not he). | Io parlo italiano. |
| Where do you live? | Dove abiti? |
| He works, she studies. | Lui lavora, lei studia. |
| We do not know. | Non lo sappiamo. |
| They are coming tomorrow. | Vengono domani. |
| I live | (io) abito |
| you live | (tu) abiti |
| he, she lives; you live (formal) | (lui, lei, Lei) abita |
| we live | (noi) abitiamo |
| you live (plural) | (voi) abitate |
| they live | (loro) abitano |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The subject pronoun stays out unless it is being stressed.
Abito a Roma.I live in Rome.
It appears where two things are set against each other.
Io prendo un caffè, tu che prendi?I am having a coffee, what are you having?
With lui and lei it appears more often, since the form is the same.
Lui non viene, lei sì.He is not coming, she is.
A question manages without the pronoun too.
Capisci?Do you understand?
Example sentences
Abito a Firenze da tre anni.I have lived in Florence for three years.
Parli inglese? — Sì, un po’.Do you speak English? — Yes, a bit.
Io resto qui, voi andate pure.I am staying here, you go ahead.
Non sappiamo dove sono.We do not know where they are.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Leaving the pronoun out is not carelessness and putting it in is not an error — but it changes what the sentence says. Io pago in front of a bill means I am paying, not you. Somebody who puts it in from habit, because English requires a subject, is emphasising in every sentence and therefore in none.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Parlo italiano is I speak Italian. There is no word for I, and none is needed: -o can only be the first person.
So what is io for? It is the emphasis. Io pago means I am paying — not you. English does that job in two ways, neither of which involves adding a word to the sentence: by stressing the pronoun with the voice, or by pushing in do — I DO pay, I'm the one paying. Italian does it by putting the pronoun in, and that is the whole of its function.
The pronoun therefore appears where two things are set against each other: Io lavoro, tu dormi. With lui and lei it turns up more often, because the form is the same for both and the context does not always separate them.
An Italian sentence that drags a pronoun along in front of every verb is grammatically correct and still sounds wrong — it emphasises something in every clause, and therefore emphasises nothing. This is the single most persistent English habit to break here.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: prendere · essere · andare · venire · parlare · sapere · capire · abitare