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Italian
Lesson 7
Gerund in Italian
The gerund is easy to form, for (~are)
verbs just add ~ando to their stem, for (~ere, ~ire) verbs add ~endo
to their stem.
Parlare: parlando
(talking), credere: credendo (believing), partire: partendo (going).
Present continuous/ Past continuous/ Future continuous can
be formed easily with the verb “stare” + verb + gerund.
To form a continuous action you need to add the verb “stare”
and not “essere”
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Italian Gerund
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Present continuous (I’m …ing)
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Past continuous (I was ...ing)
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Future continuous (I will be
...ing)
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sto
pensando/ credendo
stai
pensando/ credendo
sta
pensando/ credendo
stiamo pensando/ credendo
state pensando/ credendo
stanno pensando/ credendo
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stavo pensando/ credendo
stavi pensando/ credendo
stava pensando/ credendo
stavamo pensando/ credendo
stavate pensando/ credendo
stavano pensando/ credendo
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starò pensando/ credendo
starai pensando/ credendo
starĂ pensando/ credendo
staremo pensando/ credendo
starete pensando/ credendo
staranno pensando/ credendo
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Che cosa stavi
pensando? non stavo pensando.(what were you
thinking? I wasn’t thinking)
There are however some rare cases where the gerund is
irregular like: dire (dicendo), fare (facendo), porre (ponendo), tradurre
(traducendo).
Che cosa stai
facendo? Sto credendo (what are you doing? I’m
thinking).
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Italian Imperative
It’s easy to form the imperative especially with “tu” and
“Lei”, you just need to switch them in the case of (~are) verbs, for example in
the present tense we say:
“tu parli” informal of (you speak) and (Lei parla) formal of
(you speak), in the imperative you just need to switch them.
“parla!” means “speak!” informal, “parli!” means “speak!”
formal.
For (~ere, ~ire) the affirmative second person
singular is identical to the second person singular form of the present tense.
For all conjugations (are/ere/ire), the
second person plural (voi) is identical to the second person plural form of the
present tense.
Check out the table below, it will explain it
all:
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Italian Imperative
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parlare
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vendere
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aprire
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finire
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tu
Lei
noi
voi
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parla
parli
parliamo
parlate
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vendi
venda
vendiamo
vendete
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apri
apra
apriamo
aprite
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finisci
finisca
finiamo
finite
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Negative commands are usually expressed in Italian with non
followed by the infinitive verb. For example:
Don't eat! (non mangiare!)
No smoking! (non fumare!)
Adverbs in Italian
(avverbi)
An adjective can be made into an adverb by
simply adding -mente to the adjective example: veloce "quick" becomes
velocemente "quickly”.
There are exceptions that are easy to
understand:
Adding “mente” to adjectives that their feminine singular is ending with “a”, example: lenta "slow" becomes lentamente "slowly".Â
If an adjective ends in -ale, -ile,
or -are, the adverb is formed with the root of the adjective plus the ending -mente.
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Italian Adverbs
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Adjectives (general)
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Adjective (feminine)
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Adverb
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veloce
lento
gentile
facile
speciale
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veloce
lenta
gentile
facile
speciale
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velocemente (quickly)
lentamente (slowly)
gentilmente (kindly)
facilmente (easily)
specialmente (specially)
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The table below contains adverbs that don’t come from
adjectives; they’re used very often so try to memorize them.
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List of Italian Adverbs
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Above: sopra
Against: contro
Already: giĂ
Always: sempre
Around: attorno
Badly: male
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Behind: dietro
Beyond: oltre
in, inside: dentro
Moreover: inoltre
Nearby: vicino
Outside: fuori
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Soon: presto
Still: ancora
Then: dopo
Together: insieme
Below: sotto
Well: bene
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This is a list of some very important verbs in
Italian:
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Italian Expressions
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to abandon oneself
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abbandonarsi
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to accept
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accettare
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to admit
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ammettere
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to affirm
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affermare
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to agree
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convenire
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to agree
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accondiscéndere
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to announce
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annunciare
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to apply oneself to
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méttersi
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to appreciate
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gradire
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to ask
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chiedere
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to ask
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domandare
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to aspire
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aspirare
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to assure
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assicurare
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to attempt
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tentare
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to avoid
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evitare
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to avoid
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tralasciare
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to be able to
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essere in grado
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to be able to, can
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potere
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to be about
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accìngersi
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to be ashamed
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averevergogna
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to be ashamed of
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vergognarsi
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to be concerned with
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occuparsi
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to be eager for
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anelare
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to be exhausted
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non poterne piĂą
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to be happy
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essere lieto
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to be happy
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essere contento
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to be happy
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essere felice
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to be in a hurry
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avere fretta
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to be in the position of
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essere nella posizione
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to be interested in
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interessarsi
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to be late
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tardare
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to be on the point of
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avviarsi
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to be proud
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essere fiero
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to be saddened
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dispiacersi
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to be sorry
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dolersi
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to begin
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iniziare
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to believe
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credere
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to believe
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ritenere
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to carry on
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proseguire
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to come
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venire
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to communicate
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comunicare
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to compel
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obbligare
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to complain
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lamentarsi
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to condemn
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condannare
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to confess
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confessare
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to confirm
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confermare
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to consent
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acconsentire
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to continue
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continuare
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to convince
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persuadere
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to dare
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osare
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to dare
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arrischiarsi
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to decide
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decidere
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to decide
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decìdersi
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to declare
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dichiarare
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to defend
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sostenere
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to delude oneself
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illudersi
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to demonstrate
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dimostrare
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to devote oneself
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darsi
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to do one's best
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ingegnarsi
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to doubt
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dubitare
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to dream
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sognare
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to encourage
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incoraggiare
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to encourage
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incoraggiare
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to end by
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finire
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to establish
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stabilire
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to exclude
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escludere
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to expect
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aspettarsi
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to fantasize
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fantasticare
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to fantasize
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fantasticare
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to fear
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avere paura
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to feel
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avere l'impressione
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to feel like
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sentirsela
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to force
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costrìngere
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to force
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obbligare
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to forget
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dimenticare
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to forget about something
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lasciar perdere
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to get ready
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apprestarsi
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to get ready
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dispĂłrsi
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to get tired of something
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stancarsi
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to get tired of
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stancarsi
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to get used to
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abituarsi
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to go
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andare
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to go back
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tornare
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to go on
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seguitare
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to guess
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indovinare
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to have a good time
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divertirsi
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to have difficulty
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stentare
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to have in mind
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ripromettersi
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to have the right
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avere il diritto
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to have to
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dovere
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to hazard
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azzardare
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to hazard
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azzardarsi
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to help
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aiutare
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to hint
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accennare
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to hope
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augurarsi
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to hope
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sperare
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to hurry up
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affrettarsi
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to hurry up
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sbrigarsi
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to ignore
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ignorare
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to inform
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informare
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to insist
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insìstere
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to intend
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avere intenzione
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to intend
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intendere
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to invite
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invitare
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to invite
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invitare
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to know
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sapere
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to know
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sapere
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to learn
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apprèndere
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to learn
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imparare
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to limit oneself
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limitarsi
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to long for
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ambire
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to love
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amare
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to narrate
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narrare
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to need
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avere bisogno
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to need, to feel like
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avere voglia
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to negate
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negare
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to neglect
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trascurare
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to oblige
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costrìngere
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to offer
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offrire
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to pass
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passare
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to persist
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ostinarsi
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to persist
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persìstere
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to plan
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proporsi
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to prefer
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preferire
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to prepare oneself
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acconciarsi
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to prepare oneself
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prepararsi
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to pretend
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fingere
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to promise
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promettere
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to propose
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proporre
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to realize
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accòrgersi
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to realize
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rendersi conto
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to recognize
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riconoscere
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to refuse
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rifiutarsi
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to regret
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pentirsi
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to regret
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rimpiangere
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to remember
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ricordare
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to remember
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ricordarsi
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to renounce
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rinunciare
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to repeat
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ripetere
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to report
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riferire
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to resign oneself
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rassegnarsi
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to risk
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rischiare
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to run
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cĂłrrere
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to say
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dire
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to scream
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spolmonarsi
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to send
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mandare
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to start
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attaccare
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to start
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cominciare
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to start
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incominciare
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to start
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prèndere
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to start over
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riprèndere
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to stay
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stare
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to stop
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smettere
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to stop
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cessare
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to stop
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smettere
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to stop
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fermarsi
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to stop, to end
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finire
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to succeed
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riuscire
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to suffer
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soffrire
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to suppose
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supporre
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to suspect
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sospettare
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to swear
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giurare
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to tell
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raccontare
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to tend
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tèndere
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to thank
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ringraziare
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to think
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pensare
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to think
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avere idea
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to think of
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pensare
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to threaten
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minacciare
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to to be a question of
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trattarsi
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to try
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cercare
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to try
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provare
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to try
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provarsi
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to understand
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capire
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to undertake
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intraprèndere
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to value, to care
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tenérci
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to wait
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attendere
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to wait
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aspettare
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to want
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volere
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to wish
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desiderare
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to wonder
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meravigliarsi
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to wonder
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stupirsi
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to worry
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preoccuparsi
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to yearn for
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agognare
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