Learn Italian: Io leggo il giornale e tu scrivi una lettera. - I read the newspaper and you write a letter.

Io leggo il giornale e tu scrivi una lettera.

I read the newspaper and you write a letter.

Breakdown of Io leggo il giornale e tu scrivi una lettera.

Questions & Answers about Io leggo il giornale e tu scrivi una lettera.

How do we get the words leggo and scrivi from their dictionary forms?

They are both regular verbs that end in -ere in their dictionary form (leggere means to read, scrivere means to write). To match the person doing the action, you drop the -ere. For io (I), you add -o to get leggo. For tu (you), you add -i to get scrivi.

Do we have to use the words io and tu in this sentence?

No, you can usually leave them out! Because the verb endings (-o and -i) already tell us who is doing the action, you could perfectly say Leggo il giornale e scrivi una lettera. However, Italians often keep the pronouns when they want to contrast two different people, emphasizing that I am doing one thing while YOU are doing another.

Does the double 'g' in leggo sound the same as it does in leggere?

They actually sound quite different! In Italian, when a 'g' is followed by an 'e' or 'i' (as in leggere), it makes a soft sound, similar to the 'j' in 'jump'. But when it is followed by an 'a', 'o', or 'u' (as in leggo), it makes a hard sound, like the 'g' in 'go'.

I thought masculine words usually end in -o. Why does il giornale end in -e?