Breakdown of Presenti questo certificato al direttore.
questo
this (masculine)
a
to / at
il direttore
manager / director
presentare
to present, to submit
Questions & Answers about Presenti questo certificato al direttore.
Why does presentare end in -i here if it is a regular -are verb?
This is the formal imperative, used to give a polite command to someone you address as Lei. For regular -are verbs like presentare, the formal command ending swaps to -i. If you were giving this command to a friend, you would use the informal tu form, which ends in -a and would be presenta.
Wait, doesn't presenti also mean "you present" for the informal tu?
Yes, it does! In the regular present tense, tu presenti means "you present". However, the imperative (command) mood uses different rules where the endings flip. Because this is an instruction, presenti acts as the formal Lei command. Context usually makes it clear whether a person is stating a fact or giving a polite instruction.
Why do we use al before direttore instead of just a?
The verb presentare takes the preposition a when you present something to someone. In Italian, you must combine a (to) with the definite article il (the) for the masculine noun direttore. The words a and il merge into the combined preposition al (to the).
How would I change this command if I were speaking formally to a group of people?