{"id":551,"date":"2010-11-17T19:06:37","date_gmt":"2010-11-17T19:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=551"},"modified":"2013-12-03T10:26:48","modified_gmt":"2013-12-03T10:26:48","slug":"presente-o-futuro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/presente-o-futuro\/","title":{"rendered":"Presente o Futuro?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some time ago I wrote an article dealing with the future tense <\/font>I Propositi per l’Anno Nuovo<\/strong><\/font><\/a>. However, as I often receive comments from readers asking why we use the present tense a lot in Italian when we are talking about the future, I’m going to explain in this blog how to know when to use the present or the future tense. <\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Tempo Presente<\/strong> (The Present tense)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Very often in Italian we use the present tense where you would normally use the future tense in English, and this tends to be a great source of confusion for English speaking students of Italian. As a general rule we use the present tense instead of the future tense in the following cases:<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>when we are talking about something that will definitely happen, e.g.:<\/em><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/font><\/span>Parto<\/span> domani e torno<\/span> gioved\u00ec <\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nI’m leaving tomorrow and coming back on Thursday<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mario: <\/em>"Hai gi\u00e0 comprato il biglietto?"
Giorgio: <\/em>"No, lo compro<\/span> domani mattina"<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\n		Mario:<\/em> "Have you already bought the ticket?"
Giorgio: <\/em>"No, I’ll buy it tomorrow morning"<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Allora d’accordo, ci vediamo<\/span> alle due davanti al bar.<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nThat’s OK then, I’ll see you in front of the bar at two o’clock.<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> when we say what we are about to do, e.g.:<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pago<\/span> io<\/font><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nI’ll pay<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Io prendo<\/span> un cappuccino<\/font><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nI’ll have a cappuccino<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Manca il pane. Vado<\/span> a prenderlo<\/font><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nThere’s no bread. I’ll go and get it<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Non ti preoccupare, ci pensiamo<\/span> noi<\/font><\/span><\/strong><\/td>\nDon’t worry, we’ll sort it out<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/strong><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

3. <\/strong>in a question that uses "shall … ?" in English, e.g.:<\/em><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/font><\/span>Vado<\/span> io?<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nShall I go?<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cosa facciamo<\/span>?<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nWhat shall we do?<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dove lo metto<\/span>?<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nWhere shall I put it?<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

So, when do we use the future tense?<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

Tempo Futuro<\/strong> (The Future Tense)<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

We normally use the future tense in the following cases:<\/font><\/p>\n

1.<\/strong> in linked sentences after se<\/strong> (if), quando<\/strong> (when), and appena<\/strong> (as soon as), where in English the present tense is used, e.g.:<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/font><\/span>Se avr\u00f2<\/span> tempo domani passer\u00f2<\/span> da te<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nIf I have time tomorrow I’ll come round to see you<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Quando sar\u00f2<\/span> grande far\u00f2<\/span> il medico<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nWhen I’m grown up I’m going to be a doctor<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Appena arriveremo<\/span> a Roma ti telefoneremo<\/span><\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nAs soon as we arrive in Rome we will phone you<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Note that we usually use the future tense in both halves of the sentence.<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>to express disbelief, uncertainty, or probability, i.e. as the equivalent of ‘may\/might be’, ‘could’, ‘must’ or ‘probably’, <\/strong>e.g.:<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/font><\/span>Saranno<\/span> le nove<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nIt must be nine o’clock<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hanno suonato alla porta, sar\u00e0<\/span> Mario?<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nThe doorbell rang, could it be Mario?<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Avr\u00e0<\/span> anche sessant’anni, ma non li dimostra davvero!<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nHe may well be sixty, but he certainly doesn’t look it!<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Saranno andati al cinema<\/font><\/strong><\/td>\nThey have probably gone to the cinema<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Adesso vado a dare da mangiare ai gatti! <\/strong>(Now I’m going to feed the cats!) Arrivederci a presto!<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some time ago I wrote an article dealing with the future tense I Propositi per l’Anno Nuovo. However, as I often receive comments from readers asking why we use the present tense a lot in Italian when we are talking about the future, I’m going to explain in this blog how to know when to…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[12483,731,12484,12485],"class_list":["post-551","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-grammar","tag-futuro-semplice","tag-italian-future-tense","tag-italian-present-tense","tag-tempo-presente"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t