How do you use the verb morde 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!
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How to use morde in Italian
Meaning of morde in Italian
Morde is a present tense conjugation of the verb mordere, which means to bite. To be more precise, it’s the third-person present tense conjugation of mordere, which translates as “he/she/it bites”.
Let’s hear how it is pronounced.
Morde
He/she/it bites
Its pronunciation is close to mor-deh. If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.
Now, let’s see some example sentences with morde in Italian, before we take a look at how to use the verb mordere 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.
La vipera morde il fungaiolo alla mano.
The viper bites the mushroom picker in the hand.
La bambina si morde le unghie.
The child bites her nails.
(mordersi, reflexive verb)
Il cane morde la gamba di un passante.
The dog bites the leg of a passerby.
Now let’s see where morde in Italian comes from.
Use of morde 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 mordere, “to eat”?
Take away the infinitive ending -are and add -o!
Mordere… ➡️ Mord-… ➡️ Io mordo?
Correct!
That said, let’s see the present tense conjugation of mordere along with its pronunciation.
Present tense conjugation for mordere
| io | mordo |
| tu | mordi |
| lui, lei | morde |
| noi | mordiamo |
| voi | mordete |
| loro | mordono |
For example, you could say…
I labrador non mordono quasi mai.
Labradors hardly ever bite.
Non sapendo come rispondere, lo studente si morde il labbro.
Not knowing how to reply, the student bites his lip.
Non parlarmi, perché oggi mordo!
Don’t talk to me, because I’m biting today!
And that’s the end of our lesson on the meaning of morde in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen how to use morde in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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