I guess I can say most languages on this planet have exceptions, and most people are discouraged by the large amount of exceptions. Some of my students even told me that English is a very difficult language! And my response was,
"Do you know how complicated are some other European languages?"
When I was studying Italian, the beginner level was already killing lots of my brain cells. For example, the present tense for regular verbs already looks like this:
- Conjugation 1 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ARE
- Conjugation 2 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ERE
- Conjugation 3 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -IRE
| 1 PARLARE | 2 SCRIVERE | 3 DORMIRE | 3 CAPIRE | |
| 1st pers. sing. I | parlo | scrivo | dormo | capisco |
| 2nd pers. sing. you | parli | scrivi | dormi | capisci |
| 3rd pers. sing. he, she, it | parla | scrive | dorme | capisce |
| 1st pers. plur. we | parliamo | scriviamo | dormiamo | capiamo |
| 2nd pers. plur. you | parlate | scrivete | dormite | capite |
| 3rd pers. plur. they | parlano | scrivono | dormono | capiscono |
So, when in English, when we say, "I/you/we/they speak; He/she/it speaks", in Italian, everyone will spell differently. In English, at most, you need to worry about using 's' or 'es' after the verbs, but in Italian, sorry! It's 7 x 4 = 28 different look. Imagine the Chinese art of Bian Lian, or face changing (This will take you to information of Bian Lian.)
Well, don't get too excited and think it is that easy! The regularity of the irregular verbs goes as such:
avere | to have | essere | to be | |
| 1 | ho | I have | sono | I am |
| 2 | hai | you have | sei | you are |
| 3 | ha | he/she/it has | è | he/she/it is |
| 1 | abbiamo | we have | siamo | we are |
| 2 | avete | you have | siete | you are |
| 3 | hanno | they have | sono | they are |
| avere = to have | essere = to be | venire = to come | uscire = to go out | andare = to go | dare = to give |
ho | sono | vengo | esco | vado | do |
hai | sei | vieni | esci | vai | dai |
ha | è | viene | esce | va | dà |
abbiamo | siamo | veniamo | usciamo | andiamo | diamo |
avete | siete | venite | uscite | andate | date |
hanno | sono | vengono | escono | vanno | danno |
fare= to do; make | sapere = to know | stare = to stay; be | potere = can | dovere = must | volere = to want |
faccio | so | sto | posso | devo | voglio |
fai | sai | stai | puoi | devi | vuoi |
fa | sa | sta | può | deve | vuole |
facciamo | sappiamo | stiamo | possiamo | dobbiamo | vogliamo |
fate | sapete | state | potete | dovete | volete |
fanno | sanno | stanno | possono | devono | vogliono |
And you think that's all? You have yet to see the past tenses, future tenses, etc.
If you want to know how lucky you are, please visit this great website to learn Italian:
(all tables above are kindly provided by the above website)
Guess what, Italian is already considered as one of the easier languages to learn because it is a syllable-timed language, just like Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese!!!
As a learner of a language, you should always 'stay cool' and 'chill out' in terms of facing difficulties in the process of learning. I understand that sometimes it can really get frustrating, but you can look at the obstacles from a positive point of view.
Maybe in the past, you will tell yourself, "Learning English is so difficult."
Now you can ask yourself, "Is learning English that difficult?"
Then answer yourself, "Lucky that I don't need to learn XXX language."
And you should immediately feel better.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) is a key in learning English, as it is also in any other parts of our life.
"Learn to cure yourself, and be willing to be cured, and you will be cured." -- Locky
It is just another Litmus test on "Is the glass half empty or half full?" situation.
Coming soon: More on the term 'Litmus Test'.
Reply to comments & readers:
- I would like to thank Phy for the care and support. I will sleep more.
- I expect all readers to take note of or check meanings of the words in bold.
