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### Formal commands (Lei)

When you need to give instructions or commands in a professional setting—like at city hall, at a bank, or when speaking to someone you address as **Lei** (formal "you")—you must use the formal imperative.

To form a formal command, take the stem of the verb and add the formal imperative ending. Notice that these endings are "swapped" compared to the regular present tense:

| Verb ending | *Lei* command ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -are | -i | presentare -> presenti |
| -ere / -ire | -a | attendere -> attenda |

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### Spelling changes for -care and -gare verbs

Just like in the regular present tense, verbs that end in **-care** and **-gare** (like *pagare* or *allegare*) need an **h** before the **-i** ending to maintain their hard sound.

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### Negative formal commands

Unlike informal commands (which use *non* + infinitive), making a formal command negative is completely straightforward: just place **non** immediately before the conjugated formal command.

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### Plural formal commands (Loro)

If you are addressing a group of people formally (**Loro**), you use the plural formal imperative. To form it, simply add **-no** to the *Lei* command form.

| Verb ending | *Loro* command ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -are | -ino | presentare -> presentino |
| -ere / -ire | -ano | attendere -> attendano |

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Formal commands (Lei, Loro)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to present, to submit	presentare
the certificate	il certificato
Submit this certificate to the director.	Presenti questo certificato al direttore.
the fee, the tax	la tassa
the permit	il permesso
Pay the fee for the permit, please.	Paghi la tassa per il permesso, per favore.
to attach, to enclose	allegare
the photocopy	la fotocopia
Attach a photocopy of the document.	Alleghi una fotocopia del documento.
to wait (formal)	attendere
the counter, the desk	lo sportello
Madam, wait at the second counter.	Signora, attenda al secondo sportello.
the stamp	il timbro
Sign and put the stamp here.	Firmi e metta il timbro qui.
Wait for the certificate in the room.	Attenda il certificato nella stanza.
Ladies and gentlemen, submit the permit at the entrance.	Signore e signori, presentino il permesso all'ingresso.
Attach these photocopies to the project.	Alleghi queste fotocopie al progetto.
Gentlemen, pay the fee at the counter.	Signori, paghino la tassa allo sportello.
Did you take the form? Sign here, please.	Ha preso il modulo? Firmi qui, per favore.
Wait for the stamp on this letter.	Attenda il timbro su questa lettera.
Do not submit the photocopy, I want the original document.	Non presenti la fotocopia, voglio il documento originale.
the signature	la firma
Sir, put the signature on the form.	Signore, metta la firma sul modulo.
Wait for the signature here, gentlemen.	Attendano la firma qui, signori.
the male	il maschio
My sister's dog is a male.	Il cane di mia sorella è un maschio.
the female	la femmina
"Is it a male or a female?" "It is a male."	È un maschio o una femmina? È un maschio.
The cow is a female, the pig is a male.	La mucca è una femmina, il maiale è un maschio.
Write here: male or female?	Scriva qui: maschio o femmina?
the sex (male or female)	il sesso
I write my sex on the form.	Scrivo il mio sesso sul modulo.
The form asks for the name and the sex.	Il modulo chiede il nome e il sesso.

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