Italian word of the day
What is voglio?
| Pronunciation | |
| English translation | I want |
| Origin | Voglio is a present tense conjugation of the verb volere, which means to want |
Examples
| Voglio ridipingere la cameretta dei bambini. | I want to repaint the nursery. |
| Voglio andare in vacanza a New York per Natale. | I want to go on vacation to New York for Christmas. |
| Non voglio che il cane salga sul divano. | I don’t want the dog to get on the couch. |
| Voglio un nuovo giocattolo, mamma! | I want a new toy, mommy! |
Use of voglio 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.
Now, how would you conjugate the present tense of volere, “to want”?
Take away the infinitive ending -ere and add -o!
Volere… ➡️ Vol-… ➡️ Io volo?
That’s… not quite right.
You may be be surprised to learn that the correct conjugation for volere is actually io voglio. Io volo means I fly. This is because volere, as said, is an irregular verb.
That said, let’s look at the present tense conjugation of volere along with its pronunciation.
| Present tense conjugation of volere |
| io | voglio |
| tu | vuoi |
| lui, lei | vuole |
| noi | vogliamo |
| voi | volete |
| loro | vogliono |
For example, you can say…
| Voglio che porti le tue cose fuori da questa stanza. | I want you to take your things out of this room. |
| Vuoi fermarti a mangiare in un ristorante? | Do you want to stop and eat in a restaurant? |
| Vuoi un passaggio fino a casa? | Would you like a ride home? |
| Vogliamo andare in vacanza in Thailandia l’anno prossimo. | We want to go on vacation in Thailand next year. |
And that’s the end of our lesson on how to use voglio in Italian!
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