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Italian Recipes Learn Travel Italian Blog Learn Italian FREE! Advanced Italian Language Blogs, Cultural Notes, and Italian Recipes MenuConversational Italian for Travelers Books How to Use the Imperfetto Subjunctive for Italian Past Tense (Parts 1-3) How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Parts 1-3) Italian Cultural Notes for Travelers Italian Hypothetical Phrases: How to Use the Italian Subjunctive Mood (Parts 4-5) Italian Lessons: Speak Italian! All about… Series Italian Recipes – 2020 Italian Recipes 2015 -2017 Italian Recipes 2018 Italian Recipes 2019 Learn Italian! – Purchase Conversational Italian Books More WALKS of France Tours More WALKS of Italy Tours Privacy Policy for Learn Travel Italian Writing Italian Emails: Italian Subjunctive Mood Practice Search for: Use Prendere” to Speak Italian Like a Native Sticky October 9, 2021 Let's Learn Italian! Conjugate Italian verbs , Conjugate Prendere in Italian , Conversational Italian , Conversational Italian for Travelers books , How to conjugate prendere , How to use prendersi , How to use the past participle preso , How use prendere in the past tense , Italian Language , Italian verbs , learn Italian , Learn Italian language , Meanings of Prendere , Past participle of Prendere , Prendere in conversation , Prendere in Italian conversation , Speak Italian , Stella Lucente , The many meanings of Prendere Kathryn Occhipinti Use Prendere” to Speak Italian Like a Native Speak Italian like a native when you use the Italian verb Prendere”! In this blog, Use ‘Prendere’ to Speak Italian Like a Native,we will focus on how and when to use the Italian verb prendere during daily conversation. This is the second topic in a new series, and I will try to post an in-depth analysis of a different Italian verb every few months. The heart of any language is its verbs. Too often, language teachers focus on verb conjugation drills and provide a few example sentences, assuming that the student then has the tools he or she needs to communicate. Although many Italian verbs have similar meanings to those in English, and it is sometimes easy to transition between English and Italian during conversation, other times the use of an Italian verb will vary from its English counterpart. I believe that to speak fluently in any language it is important to have an in-depth understanding of how each verb is used in real life situations. In which situation will one verb commonly be chosen over another? How will the point one is making change depending on the verb chosen? How will the meaning of the chosen verb change with use of the reflexive counterpart of the verb? This information must be studied and understood so it can be easily accessible when it comes time to have a conversation. Since this information is not commonly found in text books, I have decided to make it the focus of a blog series. Prendere,” the Italian verb that means to take” and is one of those verbs that is important to take seriously” if one wants to use it correctly. Enjoy the second topic in this series: Use Prendere” to Speak Italian Like a Native. —Kathryn Occhipinti Special thanks to Italian instructor Maria Vanessa Colapinto. Parts of this blog have been reposted from Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day! – The Many Uses of the Italian Verb Prendere” from Conversational Italian! a blog by the same author. Speak Italian Like a Native: Italian Verb Prendere Prendere most commonly means to take,” but can also be translated as to bring,” to pick up,” to get,” or to buy/acquire.” The past participle preso can also be used to describe liking someone or something a lot. This use stretches the meaning of prendere a bit, but there is a similar expression in English — being taken with” someone — that also expresses the same idea. In its reflexive form, prendersi is used to convey how a person can catch/come down with” an illness. When you are able to visit Italy, use prendere when ordering food in a restaurant to really sound like a native! Prendere is also commonly used by Italians in reference to earning money, taking medicine, or being overtaken” by an emotional or physical condition. Finally, the Italian expressions for to tease” and to sunbathe” use prendere. As you can see, this verb is used in many ways in Italian! The present tense, familiar imperative (command) tense, and future tenses of prendere have a regular conjugation, and are used frequently in daily conversation. Prendere is also commonly used in the past tense in order to describe what we took,” brought,” picked up,” got,” or caught.” To describe a one-time event that occurred in the past with prendere, we will most often use the helping verb avere (to have) with the irregular past participle preso. For conversation, we will focus on the io and tu forms . We can begin a statement with the io form, such as, Ho preso…” for I took…” We can ask questions with the tu form by simply stating, Hai preso…?” In the expressions that describe the subject liking,” or being taken with” a person or a thing, essere (to be) is used as verb that links the subject with the past participle preso. The passato prossimo for the reflexive verb prendersi needs the helping verb essere, as do all reflexive Italian verbs. Remember to leave out the subject pronoun io when you want to say, Mi sono preso un raffredore ieri.” ( I caught a cold yesterday. ) And, of course, when using essere as the helping verb with prendere, remember our usual rule for past participles: if you are female, or your subject is a group of people, make sure to change the past participle preso to presa, presi, or prese! Examples follow below for the many ways to use the Italian verb prendere: 1. Use prendere to describe the act of taking,” bringing” or picking up” something In order to direct someone to take something and put it in a different place, use prendere. This includes when the object is on the ground or resting on another object, and you must literally pick it up” from that place. When directing someone to take something in Italian, it is important to use the command form of prendere, which has the same i” ending as the tu form in the present tense. (To use the familiar command form, just use the present tense subjunctive mood ending. The familiar command form will not be used in our examples, but more information can be found at Italian Subjunctive (Part 7): Italian Subjunctive Commands ). Remember that for events in the recent future, Italians use the present tense. To emphasize that something will happen for sure in the recent future or well into the future, use the future tense. Notice that in the past tense we must use avere as the helping verb with the irregular past participle preso to describe what we took,” brought,” or picked up.” Prendi quella roba che nessuno vuole e metti la lì!” Take that stuff that no one wants and put it there!” Prendi il vino a tavola per cena!” (Porta il vino a tavola.) Take/Bring the wine to the table for dinner!” Quando faccio la spesa domani, prendo la tua macchina. Non voglio camminare con troppi bagagli pesanti. When I go grocery shopping tomorrow, I (will take) your car. I don’t want to walk with so many heavy bags. Prenderò tante cose da portare alla famiglia quando viaggerò in America tra cinque anni. I will take many things to bring to the family when I travel to America in 5 years. Prendi il piatto che tu hai lasciato cadere per terra! Pick up the plate that you let drop on the floor!” Prendo tutta la spazzatura nella tua stanza e la butto via domani.” ” I will pick up all the garbage in your room and throw it out tomorrow.” Hai preso il vino da portare alla nonna per la cena?” Did you take the wine to bring to grandma for dinner ieri?” Si, ho preso una buona bottiglia di vino specialmente per la nonna ieri sera.” Yes, I took/brought a nice bottle of wine especially for grandma last night.” 2. Use prendere to describe picking...