How do you use the verb mangia in Italian? What does it mean? How do you pronounce it?
In this lesson, we will look at how to use this word with the help of many audio recordings and example sentences. Read on to learn everything you need to know!
How to use mangia in Italian
Meaning of mangia in Italian
Mangia is a present tense conjugation of the verb mangiare, which means to eat. To be more precise, it’s the third-person present tense conjugation of mangiare, which translates as “he/she eats”.
Let’s hear how it is pronounced.
Mangia
He/she eats
Its pronunciation is close to mun-jah. If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.
Now, let’s see some example sentences with mangia in Italian, before we take a look at how to use the verb mangiare along with its other present tense conjugations as well.
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
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Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.
Giovanna mangia una fetta di torta al cioccolato.
Giovanna eats a slice of chocolate cake.
Il leone mangia la gazzella che ha ucciso.
The lion eats the gazelle he killed.
Quanto mangia un orso polare ogni giorno?
How much does a polar bear eat every day?
Il mio gatto non mangia quasi nulla.
My cat eats almost nothing.
Now let’s see where mangia in Italian comes from.
Use of mangia in Italian
You probably already know that the indicativo presente (present tense) conjugation for the pronoun io adds the ending -o to the root of the verb, or stem (see note for more info).
What’s the stem of a verb?
Italian infinitive verbs end in -ARE, -ERE and -IRE.
Cut off this part and you are left with the root verb.
Examples:
tremare ➡️ trem-
piovere ➡️ piov-
cucire ➡️ cuc-
Italian verb endings for each tense are added to these root forms of the verb.
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Now, how would you conjugate the present tense of mangiare, “to eat”?
Take away the infinitive ending -are and add -o!
Mangiare… ➡️ Mangi-… ➡️ Io mangio?
Correct!
That said, let’s see the present tense conjugation of mangiare along with its pronunciation.
Present tense conjugation for mangiare
| io | mangio |
| tu | mangi |
| lui, lei | mangia |
| noi | mangiamo |
| voi | mangiate |
| loro | mangiano |
For example, you could say…
Mangiamo carne rossa una volta alla settimana.
We eat red meat once a week.
Che cosa mangiate per cena?
What do you eat for dinner?
Lorenzo mangia un uovo strapazzato.
Lorenzo eats a scrambled egg.
I cani non mangiano mai la cioccolata.
Dogs never eat chocolate.
Mangi insieme a me stasera?
Will you eat with me tonight?
Mangia!
Finally, mangia is also an imperative verb in Italian, meaning eat!. You use this command to tell a person to eat up what is on their plate.
Mangia, Matteo, prima che si raffreddi!
Eat, Matteo, before it gets cold!
And that’s the end of our lesson on the meaning of mangia in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen how to use mangia in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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