Log inSign up

Il cameriere vuole lasciare il menu qui.

Il cameriere vuole lasciare il menu qui.
The waiter wants to leave the menu here.
From Lesson 57:The verb to want (volere)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il cameriere vuole lasciare il menu qui.

Where does the word vuole come from?
It is the "he/she/it" form of the verb volere (to want). Volere is a highly irregular verb, which means its forms don't follow the normal pattern and look quite different from the dictionary form! Here, it is conjugated to match il cameriere (the waiter).
Why does lasciare end in -are instead of being conjugated to match the waiter?
Lasciare is in its infinitive (dictionary) form, meaning "to leave". When you use a modal verb like volere (to want), only the first verb changes to match the subject (vuole). The second verb stays in the infinitive. It works just like English: "he wants (conjugated) to leave (infinitive)."
Can I use lasciare to say the waiter is leaving to go home?
No. Lasciare specifically means "to leave an object somewhere" (like a menu) or "to leave a person". If you want to say someone is departing or going away, you would use a different verb, such as partire (to depart) or andare via (to go away).
Cameriere ends in -e. How do we know it's a masculine noun?
We can tell it's masculine because of the article il. While most beginner masculine nouns end in -o, there is a large group of Italian nouns ending in -e that can be either masculine or feminine. It's always best to learn these -e nouns with their articles! (For a female waitress, you would say la cameriera).
Why doesn't menu have a typical Italian ending?
Menu is a borrowed word from French. In Italian, foreign words usually keep their original spelling and are almost always treated as masculine (which is why it takes il). You might also see it written with an accent mark at the end (menù)—both spellings are correct and very common!

Learn Il cameriere vuole lasciare il menu qui and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →