B. Certain verbs require spelling changes in the present indicative.

1. Verbs ending in -care and -gare, such as cercare (to look for) and pagare (to pay), add -h-
between the stem and endings that begin with -i- (second-person singular and first-person
plural) in order to retain the original sound of the stem (hard c or g).
cerc-o, cerc-h-i, cerc-h-iamo
pag-o, pag-h-i, pag-h-iamo

2. Verbs ending in -ciare, -giare, and -sciare, such as incominciare (to begin), mangiare
(to eat), and lasciare (to leave), drop the -i- of the stem when the verb ending begins with
-i- (second-person singular and first-person plural).
incominci-o, incominc-i, incominc-iamo
mangi-o, mang-i, mang-iamo
lasci-o, lasc-i, lasc-iamo

3. Verbs ending in -gliare, such as sbagliare (to be mistaken), also drop the -i- of the stem in the
same two cases.
sbagli-o, sbagl-i, sbagl-iamo

4. Verbs ending in -iare, such as studiare (to study) and inviare (to send), drop the -i- of the
stem in the second-person singular only if the -i- is not stressed in the first person singular.
studio, stud-i
invio, invi-i

Uso dell’indicativo presente

A. The indicativo presente corresponds to three forms in English:
I work
lavoro
{ I am working
I do work
The indicativo presente is also used to express an action in the future that is considered certain.
There are usually other words in the sentence that indicate a future time.
Arrivano fra un’ora. Quest’estate studio in Inghilterra.
They’ll arrive in an hour. This summer I’ll be studying in England.

B. The indicativo presente accompanied by da + a time expression indicates an action or state that
began in the past and continues in the present; that is, it indicates for how long or since when
something has been going on. Da expresses both for and since. English uses the present perfect
tense (I have worked, I have been working) to express this idea.
da quanto tempo + presente + ?
presente + da + time expression
—Da quanto tempo lavori? —Lavoro da due mesi.
How long have you been working? I have been working two months.
—Da quanto tempo conosci Laura? —Conosco Laura da un anno.
How long have you known Laura? I have known Laura for a year.
—Da quanto tempo non andate in ferie? —Non andiamo in ferie dal 2003.
How long has it been since you have We have not taken a vacation since
not taken a vacation? 2003.

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