NOTES
(from Duolingo)

The verb “mancare” when referring to people, works like “piacere“: the indirect object misses the subject.

  • Io [subject] non le [indirect object] manco. (She does not miss me.)

NOTES
(by DuoItalian)

We experience modal verbs (or “helper verbs”) for the first time in this lesson.  These are verbs which precede the infinitive of another verb, thus indicating a mode. They can take on different meanings in different tenses:

POTERE (as learned in a previous lesson meaning “to be able to” or “can”)

  • Posso uscire? (May I go out?)
  • Posso suonare la chitarra. (I can play the guitar.)
  • Ho potuto spedire il pacco. (I was able to mail the package.)
  • Non sono potuti venire più presto. (They could not come earlier, but they tried.)

VOLERE (as learned in a previous lesson meaning “to want”)

  • Luca vuole imparare l’inglese. (Luca wants to learn English.)
  • Ho voluto farlo. (I wanted to do it. -OR- I decided to do it.)
  • Marco non ha voluto finirlo. (Mark didn’t want to do it. -OR- Mark refused to do it.)

DOVERE (as learned in a previous lesson meaning “to have to” or “must”)

  • Che cosa devo fare? (What should I do?)
  • Dovrei finire i miei compiti. (I should/ought to finish my homework.)

TIPS: While the verb provare (to try) is most commonly used, you will occasionally come across the nearly identical tentare (to attempt). The subtle differences between the two are far too negligible to debate here.

However, it could be useful to know that when used with a second verb in the infinitive, the former takes the preposition a and the latter takes the preposition di.

  • Ho provato a aprire la scatola. (I tried to open the box.)
  • Ho tentato di aprire la scatola, ma … (I attempted to open the box, but …)

The Italian prefix ri- sometimes corresponds to the English re-, which when combined with a verb means to repeat something.

  • ripagare (to repay)
  • ridire (to say again)
  • rileggere (to reread)
  • riscrivere (to rewrite)
  • ricontrollare (to check again)

VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
giocareto play
unireto unite, combine
provareto try
cambiareto change
perdereto lose, misplace
offrireto offer
costruireto construct, build
rispondereto respond, answer
indicareto indicate
succedereto happen
chiudereto close
aiutareto help
amareto love
scegliereto select, choose
aggiungereto add
mancareto miss, lack
ricevereto receive
guidareto drive
dimostrareto demonstrate, show
significareto mean
incontrareto encounter, meet
pagareto pay
crescereto grow
spiegareto explain
cadereto fall
colpireto hit
fermareto stop
studiareto study
controllareto check, verify
mandareto send
correreto run
girareto turn
ritornareto return
invitareto invite
salvareto save
vendereto sell
descrivereto describe
dimenticareto forget
scusareto excuse
tirareto pull
attraversareto cross
imparareto learn
preferireto prefer
bastareto be enough
durareto endure, last
cercareto search for
contareto count
creareto create

Study and Test Yourself