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The Italian modal verbs dovere, potere and volere, respectively express necessity, possibility or a wish (AKA if you must do something, if you can do something or if you want to do something). These verbs are also used to do things like asking permission, making requests and offers and so forth.
Dovere, potere and volere are known as “modal verbs“.
The most important rule about the Italian modals verbs is that, they always precede the infinitive verb of another verb. We can also put it differently and say that the modal verbs are always followed by a non- conjugated verb (AKA infinitive).
Examples
Voglio andare al supermercato (modal verb + infinitive + object) – I want to go to the grocery. store
Devo comprare della cioccolata (modal verb + infinitive + object) – I need to buy some chocolate
Non posso aspettarti (modal verb + infinitive ) – I can’t wait for you
Let’s see now how to use the Italian modal verbs in-depth…
HOW TO USE DOVERE
Dovere + infinitive: must, to have to, to need to
Devo andare in palestra – I must (need, have to) go to the gym
Dovere is also used as a non-modal verb. In this case dovere has a different meaning and a noun follows it (not an infinitive verb) .
Dovere + noun: to owe
Ti devo 5 euro per la piazza – I owe you 5 euros for the pizza
Dovere has not a single translation in English. When English uses the verbs need, should, must, have to , Italian uses dovere. To find out how to correctly use dovere in Italian, check how to use dovere, avere bisogno and servire in Italian.
HOW TO USE POTERE
Potere means can or may when asking for permission or being allowed (or not allowed) to do something.
Posso uscire un momento? – Can I leave for a second?
I bambini non possono guardare la tv di sera tardi – Children are not allowed to watch TV late
Potere does not express the ability to do something, like in English.
Instead, in Italian, you should use the verb “sapere” to say that you can do something.
So cantare – I can sing
Sai cucinare? – Can you cook?
Sapete parlare russo? – Can you guys speak Russian?
Avoid the typical mistake of using potere in these types of sentences. If you ask someone – puoi cucinare? – you are actually requesting him or her to cook.
HOW TO USE VOLERE
Volere: to want, to wish
Voglio mangiare giapponese – I want to eat Japanese
Voglio il shushi e la tempura – I want sushi and tempura
Do you want to practice your Italian modal verbs? Use these drills!
Italian modal verbs in compound tenses
A compound tense is a verb resulting from the combination of an auxiliary verb and a past participle (e.g. condizionale passato, passato prossimo, futuro anteriore, congiuntivo passato, etc..)
Conjugating modal verbs in the passato prossimo (and other compound tenses) needs a special construction.
The helping verb (or auxiliary) does not depend on the modal verbs, but on the infinite verbs following.
If you want to say in the past – voglio uscire – in order to choose the correct helping verb you need to take into consideration the second verb (the infinitive one), that is to say – uscire.
As you know, the helping verb of uscire is essere, so that, you will use essere as an auxiliary.
Sono voluta uscire – I wanted to leave
If you wanted to say – voglio mangiare – in the past, the result would be:
Ho dovuto mangiare – I wanted to eat
The usage of the auxiliary avere depends on the fact that the verb mangiare use avere as a helping verb.
Let’s see another example…
Ho dovuto preparare la cena – I had to prepare the dinner
Preparare is one of those verbs using avere as a helping verb, for such reason the auxiliary of dovere is avere.
Non ho potuto preparare la cena – I could not prepare the dinner
Non sono potuta andare a pranzo – I could not go to the lunch
Note that if the auxiliary preceding the modal verb is essere, the past participle of the verbs dovere, potere and volere agree with the gender and number of the subject.
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