Some languages use one word to say something, another might need two or more to say the same thing. In the case of "living together," Italian has a word that sums it up nicely: la convivenza as a noun, or convivere as a verb. In modern English, we call it "living together," but a more official but perhaps outdated noun would be "cohabitation."  The question comes up in the TV movie Sposami, where a young couple is having trouble planning their marriage in a way that will satisfy both sets of parents.

La convivenza  as opposed to marriage

Perché non pensi a una bella convivenza, eh? Dai!

Why not think about just living together, huh? Come on!

Caption 58, Sposami - EP 1 - Part 18

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Taking apart this verb and noun makes it easy to understand:

vivere (to live) + con (with) = convivere (to live with, to live together)

Convivere is not always about people living together

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The verb convivere is used to mean "to coexist." So not necessarily "together," but at the same time, in the same space.

Ora, i resti dell'antico tempio e della primitiva cattedrale sono

Now, the remains of the ancient temple and the early cathedral are

incastonati all'interno e all'esterno:

built-in on the inside and the outside:

elementi pagani e cristiani che si fondono, convivono...

pagan and Christian elements that fuse together, that coexist...

Captions 9-10, Itinerari Della Bellezza - Basilicata

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We also use convivere when we have to bear, endure, tolerate, accept, or live with a situation or condition. Right now people are "living with" the presence of the coronavirus.

Si convive (one lives with it).

Dovremo convivere con il coronavirus per parecchio tempo ancora (we will have to live with the coronavirus for some time yet).

Convivente: what kind of word is it? (for grammar nerds)

People who are living together may be called conviventi. It describes the state

La parete divisoria è abusiva,

The dividing wall is illegal,

quindi per lo Stato noi siamo già conviventi.

so for the State, we're already living together.

Captions 6-7, La Tempesta - film - Part 16

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Conviventi is actually the present participle of convivere. We don't think about the present participle in English much, but it does exist. It is part of the present continuous or progressive tense and ends in "-ing." It looks just like a gerund but works differently.

We could put the previous example in the present continuous, but we would need a different verb (stare instead of essere, both translating to "to be").

La parete divisoria è abusiva, quindi per lo Stato noi stiamo già convivendo.

The dividing wall is illegal, so for the State, we are already living together.

Here's the difference:

A gerund is a form of a verb used as a noun, whereas a participle is a form of verb used as an adjective or as a verb in conjunction with an auxiliary verb. In English, the present participle has the same form as the gerund, and the difference is in how they are used.

Why is this important to know? In English it doesn't matter much--we know how to use these words and we don't much care what they are called. But it can help us understand the Italian present participle, which, unlike English, does have a different form, and often causes confusion for learners.

If you look at a conjugation chart, at the top you will see something like this:

convivere

It is conjugated like: vivere

infinite: convivere

gerundio: convivendo

participio presents: convivente

participio passato: convissuto

forma pronominale: (n/a)

For those of you following Daniela's lessons, there is one about participles. 

Il participio anche ha due tempi,

The participle has two different tenses,

il presente e il passato.

the present and the past.

Al presente, il participio è "andante"

In the present, the participle is "going"

e al passato sarebbe "andato".

and in the past it would be "gone."

Captions 7-10, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Modi Indefiniti

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That's it for this lesson. We hope you have learned something useful, and we encourage you to write to us with questions, doubts or ideas. newsletter@yabla.com.

When we look at the verb assistere, and its noun form, l’assistenza, we naturally think of the English verb, “to assist.” We’re right only part of the time.

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But here’s the trick. When assistere is transitive, that is, having a direct object, it means much the same as the English “to assist,” “to help.” But when assistere is intransitive, with no direct object, it means something entirely — or almost entirely —  different. If you’re not privy to this little detail, it can cause confusion.

Normally when assistere is intransitive, we will see a proposition after it, as in the following example.

Stiamo parlando di Federico Fellini

We're talking about Federico Fellini

che ci ha invitati qui ad assistere alla ripresa de "La dolce vita",

who has invited us here to watch the filming of "La Dolce Vita,"

Captions 11-12, Fellini Racconta - Un Autoritratto Ritrovato

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When intransitive, assistere is about being present, so someone might say:

Ho assistito ad un incidente grave in autostrada.

Before looking at the translation, let’s look at the sentence in Italian. Let’s look for a direct object to see if it’s transitive, or a preposition to see if it’s intransitive.

Well, there happens to be a nice preposition right after assistito, a (with a d after it since there’s a vowel after that) so we know right away that the speaker did not necessarily help anyone, but that he or she was indeed present, and saw the accident. Assistere often implies more than just seeing it from afar as you whiz by in the fast lane. It gives the idea of being present, or close by. We might translate it as follows:

I witnessed a serious accident on the super highway.

Assistere is often used when talking about shows or events. We could say:

Ho visto uno spettacolo (I saw a show).

But it’s very common to say:

Ho assistito ad uno spettacolo (I attended a performance, I was present at a show).

Assistenza, one of the nouns associated with assistere, is often used in conjunction with health care. Assistenza sanitaria is the national health care system in Italy. There’s also la pubblica assistenza  (the [local] public health station) where you can get first aid or an ambulance. It’s often a structure where people go to see their assigned doctor. Waiting may be long and there are no appointments, but seeing the doctor is free.

Un assistito is the beneficiary of health care, legal aid, or social services: someone who is in care.

Italian also has the noun un assistente, which is much the same as the English “assistant,” but it is also used in job titles, as in the following example.

Ecco, questo è proprio il modo in cui non ti devi esprimere

There, this is exactly the way you should not express yourself

davanti all'assistente sociale, per favore.

in front of the social worker, if you please.

Captions 61-62, La Tempesta - film

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See this WordReference entry for more jobs using assistente.

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And there you have it: assistere.