🎙 Welcome to  We learn Italian step by step  / Impariamo l’italiano piano piano

🎧 Episode 11 - The Rebel Verbs: Mastering Italian's Irregular Commands

Introduction

Myra:
Benvenuti a Impariamo l’italiano piano piano! Sono Myra.

Antonio and I would  like to start with the comprehension questions from the last episode.

Ma prima, che ne dite se ascoltiamo ancora una volta la versione solo in italiano di questa parte della storia?
But first, how about we listen once more to the Italian-only version of this part of the story?

Myra:
Antonio? Sei nei paraggi?
Antonio? Are you around?

Antonio:
Eccomi! Stavo solo guardando Paolo che cercava di fare un tè… con la moka!
Here I am! I was just watching Paolo trying to make tea… with the moka pot!

Myra:
Un tè nella moka? Non oso immaginare!
Tea in the moka? I don’t even want to imagine!

Antonio:
Appunto! Altamente irregolare!
Exactly! Highly irregular!

Myra:
Irregular. Right. Speaking of which, there is one irregular command in this part of the story. 
Studenti Saggi, can you guess which one it is?  There is one command verb that does not follow the regular rules that we learned in the last episode.

Antonio:
Ma non è così ovvio!
But it’s not obvious!

Myra:
Già… ascoltiamo e vediamo se riuscite a trovarlo.
Right… let’s listen and see if you can find it.

Chapter  2 - Messages from Beyond Part 1B Review Italian Only

Antonio
 La stazione ferroviaria era fredda e poco accogliente.
 Mariella si è sistemata la sciarpa e ha iniziato a camminare verso il teatro, dove avrebbe potuto aspettare nell'atrio al caldo.
 Sentiva i suoi passi echeggiare nel silenzio della strada deserta.
 Quando ha raggiunto l'ingresso principale, ha visto una donna anziana sotto un lampione.
 La donna le ricordava sua nonna. Aveva un libro sotto un braccio e un anello molto brillante al dito che scintillava alla luce del lampione.
 Mariella si è avvicinata alla donna, e proprio mentre un vento improvviso ha iniziato a soffiare dal nulla, avrebbe giurato di aver sentito l'anziana donna dire, "Fidati del tuo istinto! Segui il tuo cuore e tutto ciò che desideri sarà tuo."
 La donna assomigliava moltissimo a sua nonna Maria per come lei la ricordava.
 Mariella stava per rispondere, ma poi ha detto, "Riprenditi! Te lo stai immaginando."
 Zina è arrivata con la sua macchina e ha gridato a Mariella, "Che cosa fai lì? Sali in macchina! Faremo tardi!"

Review of Commands in this part of the story

Let’s take a quick look at all the commands we just heard in this part of the story.
 There are four of them. Did you catch them all?

 Myra:
Trust your instinct!

Antonio:
Fidati del tuo istinto!

Myra:
Follow your heart!

Antonio:
Segui il tuo cuore!

Myra:
Pull yourself together! or Get a hold of yourself!

Antonio:
Riprenditi!

Myra:
Get in the car!

Antonio:
Sali in macchina!

Myra:
Excellent! Now that we’ve spotted all the commands in this part of the story, let’s make sure we also understand the details.

Let’s take a look at the comprehension questions.

Comprehension Q&A

Myra: Adesso, rispondiamo alle domande di comprensione dall’episodio scorso.

Antonio: Dove stava andando Mariella dopo essere uscita dalla stazione?
Where was Mariella going after leaving the station?

Antonio: Stava andando verso il teatro, dove avrebbe potuto aspettare nell’atrio al caldo.
She was going toward the theater, where she could wait in the warm atrium.

Myra: Chi ha visto sotto un lampione?
Who did she see under a streetlight?

Antonio: Ha visto una donna anziana sotto un lampione.
She saw an elderly woman under a streetlight.

Myra: Che cosa aveva in mano quella donna?
What was that woman holding in her hand?

Antonio: Aveva un libro sotto un braccio e un anello molto brillante al dito.
She had a book under one arm and a very bright ring on her finger.

Myra: Che cosa ha detto la donna misteriosa a Mariella?
What did the mysterious woman say to Mariella?

Antonio: Ha detto: “Fidati del tuo istinto! Segui il tuo cuore e tutto ciò che desideri sarà tuo.”
She said: “Trust your instinct! Follow your heart and everything you desire will be yours.”

Myra: Chi è arrivata alla fine con la macchina?
Who arrived at the end with the car?

Antonio: È arrivata Zina con la sua macchina.
Zina arrived with her car.

Which command was the irregular one?

Myra:
Bravissimi! E avete trovato il comando irregolare? Did you find the irregular command?
Excellent! And did you find the irregular command?

È alla fine della storia, quando Zina grida: “Sali in macchina!”
It’s at the end of the story, when Zina shouts: “Sali in macchina!”

Antonio:
Ma non sembra irregolare!
But it doesn’t sound irregular!

Myra:
Right. It’s an -IRE verb, and for the tu form, we expect it to end with the sound -i - and it does!

It’s not until we look at the rest of the conjugation of this verb that we notice the irregularity.

For the tu form, we already know it’s sali! - Get in!

Then, for Lei, the formal command, we would say salga!

Antonio:
Ah, ecco dove diventa irregolare! Quella “g” non c’era prima!
Ah, that’s where it becomes irregular! That “g” wasn’t there before!

Myra:
Exactly. Then for noi - let’s get in - saliamo!
And for voi - you all get in - salite!
So only some of the forms change. The tu, noi, and voi forms sound regular, but Lei and Loro take that extra “g.”

Giving Commands to Loro

Antonio:
Aspetta, Myra… ma chi darebbe mai un comando a loro?
Wait a minute, Myra… but who on earth gives a command to them?

Myra:
Hai ragione, Antonio. È vero — quasi nessuno!
You’re right, Antonio. It’s true — almost no one does!

Usually, the Loro form is only used in very formal or written contexts, like instructions or official announcements.

This form is  the formal equivalent of “voi” in the imperative.
Let them all come up immediately! / Everyone get in at once! 
Salgano tutti immediatamente!

Antonio:
Immagina dire a un gruppo: “Salgano tutti immediatamente!”
Imagine telling a group, “All of you, get in immediately!”

Myra:
Esatto! Meglio usare voi nella vita di tutti i giorni, ed è per questo che non ci concentriamo su loro.
Exactly! Much better to use voi in everyday life, and that’s why we’re not focusing on loro.

Antonio:
Che deviazione! Ci siamo un po’ persi per strada con tutta questa grammatica.
What a detour! We got a bit lost along the way with all this grammar.

Irregular Commands

Myra:
È vero! Torniamo in carreggiata – Let’s get back on track - con i veri protagonisti di oggi: i comandi irregolari.
So true! Let’s get back on track with today’s real stars — the irregular commands.

Antonio:
Ah, i miei preferiti! Quelli che non seguono nessuna regola.
Ah, my favorites! The ones that follow no rules at all.

Myra: OK, so let's start with the easiest group. There are five verbs that all behave in a similar way: fare, dare, stare, dire and andare.

Let’s go through the regular tu form from the present indicative tense for each of these.

Antonio: 

Fare - Fai;

Dare - dai;

Stare - stai;

Dire – dici;

Andare – vai.

Myra: Four of these verbs, fai, dai, stai, and vai can be used as commands as they are. However, all of these verbs have shortened, more colloquial versions that can also be used in the imperative.

For all but one, drop that final letter and add an apostrophe. Antonio?

Antonio: 

Fare - Fa'; 

Dare – da’;

Stare – sta’;

Dire – di’;

Andare – va’.

Myra: I don’t suppose you can see the apostrophe on the podcast, unless you’re looking at the transcript. but after each one of these commands, there is one. That apostrophe is just showing us that a letter got dropped. In the case of dire, two letters. These are commands that you'll hear in really common phrases. 

Everyday Examples of  Irregular Commands

Here are some examples.

Myra:
Go slowly! 

Antonio:
Fa' piano!

Myra: 
Pay attention! or Be careful! 

Antonio: 
Sta' attento! o Fa’ attenzione!

Myra:
And what happens with dare? Suppose I want to say “give me a hand”?

Antonio: 
Dammi una mano! 

Myra:
Give me a kiss

Antonio:
Aspetta... questo è per la lezione, vero?

Myra:
Of course Antonio, just for the lesson. Give me a kiss.

Antonio:
Ma... Paolo non è qui, vero?

Myra: 
I think you told me he is in the kitchen right?

Antonio: Ah sì, è vero... è in cucina con la moka... allora, va bene... se è solo per la lezione... e Paolo non può sentire... Dammi un bacio, Myra...

Paolo: Antonio!

Antonio: Ah! Paolo!

Paolo: Sai dove sono i cucchiaini?

Antonio: Ah... i cucchiaini... sono nel cassetto a sinistra!

Myra: 
Mamma mia! 

By the way, did you notice how da' becomes dammi when you add "mi"? The apostrophe disappears. 

Let's keep going. Tell me!

Antonio: Dimmi! 

Myra: Tell me everything!

Antonio: Dimmi tutto! 

Aspetta... tutto tutto? Cosa intendi esattamente?
 Antonio Giovanni Maria di Rossi non dice mai tutto! 

Myra: Per favore, Antonio! Just a few more.

Antonio: Va bene, va bene... dimmi tutto!

Myra: Grazie! Now let's move on to stare. Be quiet! or Shut up!

Antonio: Sta' zitto!

Myra: "And finally, andare. Go away!

Antonio: "Va' via!" 

Myra: "Go home!" 

Antonio: "Va' a casa!"

Myra: And just to be sure, I want to emphasize that four of these shortened verbs could be replaced by their longer versions that we mentioned earlier. For example Fa’! is interchangeable with Fai!, Da’! with Dai!, Sta’! with Stai! and Va! with vai!. 

Essere and Avere Commands

Myra: Alright, now we have two verbs that change a bit more dramatically: essere and avere. These are probably the two most important irregular imperatives because you'll use them constantly. The tu imperative for essere is... Antonio?

Antonio: Sii.

Myra: Sii. S-I-I. It doesn't look anything like the present tense sei, right? And avere?

Antonio: Abbi.

Myra: Abbi. A-B-B-I. Again, totally different from hai. These you just have to memorize, but the good news is you'll hear them so often they are bound to stick. Let's hear them in context.

Be kind

Antonio: Sii gentile! 

Myra: Be patient! 

Antonio: Sii paziente! 

Myra: Be strong!

Antonio:
Sii forte!

Myra: And with avere;

Have patience!

Antonio: Abbi pazienza! 

Myra:
Take care!

Antonio:

Abbi cura!

Myra:

Have faith or trust! 

Antonio: Abbi fiducia! 

Myra: Did you notice both essere and avere have double letters? Sii—double i. Abbi—double b. That might make them easier to remember. 

Quick Review of Common Irregular Commands

Myra: OK, let's practice. Antonio how about you provide the infinitive of a command, pause and then say the tu imperative. Quando sei pronto.

Antonio: Fare → F a'!

Antonio: Dare → Da'!

Antonio: Dire → Di'!

Antonio: Stare → Sta'!

Antonio: Andare → Va'!

Antonio: Essere → Sii!

Antonio: Avere → Abbi!

Myra: 

And finally, we have venire — to come. This one might look regular at first glance, but take a look at the beginning, the stem.

The stem changes from ven- to vien-, just like in the present tense.
La radice cambia da ven- a vien-, proprio come nel tempo presente.

So, in the tu form, to say: Come here!

Antonio:
Vieni qui!

Myra:
And for the Lei form, Come!

Antonio:
Venga!

Myra:
Please come in, Madam!
Prego, venga, signora!

Myra:
Perfect. Venire is a great one to know because you’ll hear it all the time in everyday Italian; in entrances,  in shops, even when someone’s calling you over.

Now you’ve heard the eight most important irregular imperatives in Italian. I think you’ll start to recognize these now that you know about them, and hopefully say them, everywhere when you’re in Italy. And before long, they’ll become automatic, whenever you want to give a direct order, make a polite request or give advice. 

Irregular Formal Commands

Antonio:
E non dimentichiamo che ognuno ha anche la sua versione formale!
And let’s not forget - each one also has its formal version!

Myra:
Esatto. Ascoltate la differenza:
Exactly. Listen to the difference:

Myra (reading both):
Fare – tu Fa’! Lei Faccia!
Dare – tu Da’! Lei Dia!
Stare – tu Sta’! Lei Stia!
Dire – tu Di’! Lei Dica!
Andare – tu Va’! Lei Vada!
Essere – tu Sii! Lei Sia!
Avere – tu Abbi! Lei Abbia!
Venire – tu Vieni! Lei Venga!

Antonio:
 E qui ritorna il nostro vecchio amico: il congiuntivo!
And here comes our old friend again: the subjunctive!

Myra:
Esatto. Le forme di cortesia vengono proprio dal congiuntivo presente.
Exactly. The formal forms come straight from the present subjunctive.

Antonio:
E con un po’ di pratica, diventeranno naturali… come fare un buon caffè! Giusto, Paolo?
And with a bit of practice, they’ll feel natural… like making a good coffee! Right Paolo?

Paolo:
O forse un tè. Ora… dov’è il coperchio della moka?
Or maybe tea. Now where’s the lid to that moka pot?

Myra:
So, these are the most important irregular commands to know.

Ma non finisce qui! I’d say we’ve got another bonus episode on the horizon.

Antonio:
Ah, un Power-Up Episode! Mi piace!
Ah, a Power-Up Episode! I like that!

Myra:
Esatto. Sarà una piccola sfida per potenziare il vostro imperativo!
Exactly. It’ll be a little challenge to power up your command skills!

Role Play Exercise

But for now, how about a little role play exercise with these irregular commands that we’ve introduced so far?

Antonio, aiutiamo Paolo a preparare questo tè come si deve. Sei pronto?
Okay, Antonio, let’s help Paolo make this tea properly. Ready?

Antonio:
Pronto! Ma… dove si è cacciato?
Ready! But… where has he got to now?

Myra:
Eccolo lì, in cucina. Paolo! Attento! L’acqua sta per...
There he is, in the kitchen. Paolo! Careful! The water is about to...

Antonio:
…bollire! Bene, [PAUSE] — cosa dovremmo dirgli?
…boil! Good, [PAUSE] — what should we tell him?

Myra: You want to say, Be careful!

Antonio:
Sta’ attento!

Myra:
Bravi. Ora sta cercando di aprire la moka… dalla parte sbagliata!
Good. Now he’s trying to open the moka… from the wrong end!

Antonio:
Oh no. Presto — digli
Oh no. Quick — tell him 

Myra: You want to say, Pay attention (use Make instead of pay)

Antonio (answers):
Fa’ attenzione!

Myra:
Perfetto. Ora sta aggiungendo… foglie di tè?
Perfect. Now he’s adding… tea leaves?

Antonio:
Eh sì. E anche tanto zucchero. Tantissimo! Cosa diciamo?
Oh yes. And a lot of sugar. Way too much! What do we say? 

Myra: You want to say, Don’t overdo it! 

Antonio:
Non esagerare!

Antonio:
E adesso vogliamo che venga qui, così possiamo assaggiare il tè.
And now we want him to come here so we can try the tea. 

Myra: You want to say, Come here and bring the tea!

Antonio:
Vieni qui e porta il tè!

Paolo… dove sei andato adesso?
Paolo… where have you gone now?

Ne ho fin sopra i capelli, con questo Paolo!
I’ve had it up to here with this Paolo!

Commands with Double Pronouns

Myra:
Now that we’ve seen commands with one pronoun - like dimmi or dagli – I’d say we  can take it one step further.

In Italian, you can attach two pronouns to a positive command.

Antonio:
Ah, come nella cucina italiana - più ingredienti, più gusto!
Ah, just like in Italian cooking - more ingredients, more flavor!

Myra:
More ingredients, more flavor! Proprio così! 
But there’s a specific order to follow with double pronouns: the indirect pronoun (who it is to), goes before the direct one (the thing). Giusto?

Antonio:
Quindi prima mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi — e poi lo, la, li, le, ne,
So first mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi — and then lo, la, li, le, ne.

Myra:
Sentitiamo alcuni esempi:
Let’s listen to a few examples:

Give it to me! (or give to me it)
Dammelo! →

Tell it to us! (or tell to us it)
Diccelo! →

Bring it to her! (or bring to her it)
Portaglielo! →

Send it to me! (or send to me it)
Mandamelo! → 

Negative Commands with Double Pronouns

Antonio:
E se fosse un comando negativo?
And what if it’s a negative command?

Myra:
Ottima domanda! In negative commands, the double pronouns don’t attach. They come before the verb.

Per esempio:
 For example:

Don’t tell me!
 Non me lo dire!

Don’t give it to her!
 Non glielo dare!

Don’t bring it to me!
 Non me lo portare!

Myra:

You might have noticed something interesting - sometimes the pronouns combine into one word, like glielo, and sometimes they stay separated, like me lo. If you’re just listening, you might not hear this difference. But when you see it written you’ll know what we mean.

This happens because gli (to him/to her) always combines with direct object pronouns into one word: glielo, gliela, glieli. 

But mi, ti, ci, vi stay as two words when they're followed by lo, la, li, le:
me lo, te lo, ce lo, ve lo.

But when you hear it pronounced it does quite often sound like one word.

Antonio:
Myra… forse ti stai un po’ lasciando trasportare.
Myra… maybe you’re getting a little carried away.

Salviamo questa parte per un altro episodio, che ne dici?
Let’s save this part for another episode, what do you think?

Myra:
You are right Antonio. Let’s put those combined pronouns on simmer a while.

Antonio:
Sì… come il tè alla moka di Paolo!
Yes… like Paolo’s moka tea!

Myra:

So for today, we’re done with irregular commands. But there are a couple of other things I’d like to talk about.

ISC Commands

Antonio:
Eh… però ci sono dei verbi che non sono proprio irregolari, ma a volte restano un po’… ai margini.
Well… there are some verbs that aren’t exactly irregular, but sometimes they’re left out on the sidelines.

Myra:
Left out on the sidelines? What do you mean?
Ai margini? Che cosa intendi?

Antonio:
Parlo dei verbi in -isc! I comandi con i verbi come “capire”, “finire”, “preferire”…
I’m talking about -isc verbs! Commands with verbs like capire, finire, preferire…

Myra:
Ah, the famous -isc verbs. Those little verbs that like to change things up just a bit.
Ah, i famosi verbi in -isc. Quei piccoli verbi che amano cambiare un po’ le regole.

Antonio:
Esatto. Ma solo al presente! E quindi anche nei comandi.
Exactly. But only in the present tense - and that includes commands!

Myra:
So verbs like capire, finire, and preferire all add that -isc in most forms, including the tu command.
Before we try some examples, let’s take a quick look at how these -isc commands are formed.

They follow the same pattern as regular -ire verbs, but with that extra -isc- that slips in after the stem.

So for capire, the stem cap- becomes capisc-, and then we just add the same endings we used for the other regular -ire verbs.
  

tu → Capisci!
Lei → Capisca!

Same idea for finire:

tu → Finisci!
 Lei → Finisca!

and preferire:

tu → Preferisci!
Lei → Preferisca!

Have I ever told you my little trick for remembering how to pronounce certain consonants depending on the vowel that follows?

First of all, do you remember the order of the first 4 vowels that you were taught as a kid? A, E, I, O.
 Now, imagine a nice loaf of Italian bread, sliced right down the middle. The letter A is baked into the top crust, the letters E and I are tucked into the soft middle, and the letter O is baked into the bottom crust.
So when a consonant is followed by A or O, think of it as hard and crusty — like the crust of the bread. But when it’s followed by E or I, it’s soft and squishy, the inside of the bread.

Let’s go over those ‘isc sounds once again.

Tu: Capisci!
 So it’s the consonant ‘c’ followed by the letter ‘i’ which is in the soft and squishy part of the loaf.

So the ‘c’ is pronounced ‘sh’. Capisci!

Whereas Lei, we have the letter ‘c’ followed by the letter ‘a’ or the sound ‘a’. 
 So it becomes Capisca!

The same idea for Finisci!
 We have the consonant ‘c’ followed by the vowel ‘i’, so it’s going to be soft, Finisci!

And the Lei form, the letter ‘c’ followed by the letter ‘a’, or the sound ‘a’, the consonant becomes a hard sound and we end up with Finisca!

Preferire: We have the letter ‘c’ followed by the soujnd ‘i’ or the letter ‘i’. 
 Soft and squishy,  Preferisci!

Lei, the consonant ‘c’ followed by the vowel ‘a’, hard and crusty, Preferisca!

Antonio:
Ah, ecco perché mi viene fame ogni volta che parli di pronuncia!
Ah, that’s why I get hungry every time you talk about pronunciation!

Myra:
Ah is that why? But before we all run off for a snack, and with any luck, some tea, there’s one more thing I want to show you about these -isc verbs;  how they behave in negative commands.

Myra:
Just like before, when we make -isc verbs into negative commands with tu, we go back to the infinitive.

Myra: Don’t finish now!
Antonio: Non finire adesso!

Myra: Don’t prefer that one!
Antonio: Non preferire quello!

Myra: And with pronouns, in the tu form:

Myra: Understand me!
Antonio: Capiscimi!

Myra: Understand us!
Antonio: Capiscici!

Myra: Finish it!
Antonio: Finiscilo!

Myra: Finish them!
Antonio: Finiscili!

Myra: Prefer it!
Antonio: Preferiscilo!

Myra: Prefer them!
Antonio: Preferiscili!

Myra:
How about with pronouns in the negative, again we’re talking about the tu form.

Myra: Don’t understand me!
Antonio: Non mi capire!

Myra: Don’t understand us!
Antonio: Non ci capire!

Myra: Don’t finish it!
Antonio: Non lo finire!

Myra: Don’t finish them!
Antonio: Non li finire!

Myra: Don’t prefer it!
Antonio: Non lo preferire!

Myra: Don’t prefer them!
Antonio: Non li preferire!

Myra:
And just to complete the picture, the noi and voi forms don’t change at all — they stay regular.
E per completare il quadro, le forme noi e voi non cambiano: restano regolari.

Myra: Let’s understand
Antonio: Capiamo!

Myra: You all understand!
Antonio: Capite!

Myra: Let’s prefer!
Antonio: Preferiamo!

Myra: You all prefer!
Antonio: Preferite!

Myra: Let’s finish!
Antonio: Finiamo!

Myra: You all finish!
Antonio: Finite!

Wrap-up

Antonio:
 Direi che abbiamo dato agli Studenti Saggi abbastanza da digerire.
Speaking of wrapping up here, I’d say we’ve given our wise students plenty to digest.

Myra:
You’re right, as always, Antonio, this is probably plenty to digest, but there are still a couple of things I’d like to talk about.

We haven’t yet touched on negative reflexives. And I think the studenti saggi could benefit from a few more practice exercises. We neehttps://open.spotify.com/episode/4vHjQwdIsJ2kxXdducyTiN?si=57715ebc12d84633d to make sure they can put into use the concepts we’ve covered so far.

·        First of all we had regular command forms using tu, Lei, noi and voi.

·        Then there were negative commands in the formal and informal.

·        We talked about using both single and double pronouns with commands.

·        We even paid a visit to -isc command verbs 

Speaking of digesting… whatever happened to Paolo and his tea in a moka pot?

Paolo:
Non giudicate prima di averlo assaggiato!
Don’t judge before you’ve tried it!

*Traduzioni inglesi e riflessivi negativi? Meglio affrontarli… dopo un buon tè!**

English translations and negative reflexives? Better tackle those… after a good cup of tea! 

Myra:
Oh… wow. That smells incredible!
Oh… wow. Che profumo incredibile!

Paolo:
*Piano, piano… forse è meglio se ti siedi!
Steady now… maybe you should have a seat!

Antonio:
Mmm… ma è magnifico!
Mmm… but it’s magnificent!

Myra:
Who knew something this irregular could go down so well?
Chi l’avrebbe mai detto che qualcosa di così irregolare potesse essere così buono?

Antonio:
Allora sì… finiamo qui.
Then yes… let’s finish here.

Myra:
… you have to tell us how you did it.
Paolo… devi dirci come hai fatto.

Antonio:
Eh sì, vogliamo la ricetta!
Yes, we want the recipe!

Paolo:
Uno chef non rivela *mai* i suoi segreti.
A chef never reveals his secrets.

Myra:
Until the next time!

Paolo and Antonio:
Alla prossima!