The Historical Present Tense in Italian

In the English language, with some exceptions, history is told in the past. The historical present does exist, however. In English grammar, the historical present is the use of a verb phrase in the present tense to refer to an event that took place in the past. In narratives, the historical present may be used to create an effect of immediacy. It’s also called the historic present, dramatic present, and narrative present.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

But in Italian and other romance languages the historical present is commonly used to recount events in the past, especially when referring to history.

 

Context is very important, and translating can present some challenges.

 

Here’s an example of how Italian uses the historical present for something that clearly happened in the past. In English, it would sound a bit strange in the present tense, and the first phrase would be well nigh impossible to express in the present tense.

 

Pitrè nasce nel milleottocentoquarantuno a Palermo,

Pitrè was born in eighteen hundred forty-one in Palermo,

in una famiglia di pescatori.

in a family of fishermen.

Il padre, un povero marinaio del rione di Santa Lucia,

The father, a poor sailor from the Santa Lucia district,

è costretto, come tanti, ad emigrare in America,

was forced, like many, to emigrate to America,

dove muore di febbre gialla.

where he died of yellow fever.

Captions 28-32, Dottor Pitrè - e le sue storie

 Play Caption

 

In the documentary about Fascism currently available on Yabla, the historical present is used in several instances. Sometimes it makes sense to use it in English, too, as in the following example. By using the historical present, we set the scene. We seem to observe the events from close up, as they happen.

 

Sono gli anni delle campagne di stampa contro le parole straniere.

These are the years of the publishing campaigns against foreign words.

Parole straniere e borghesia sono mali da estirpare.

Foreign words and the bourgeoisie are evils to be rooted out.

Captions 5-6, Me Ne Frego - Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana

 Play Caption

 

La "Gazzetta del Popolo" di Torino

Turin's “Gazzetta del Popolo” [The People's Gazzette]

inaugura la rubrica "Una parola al giorno".

launches the feature “Una Parola Al Giorno” [A Word a Day].

Captions 14-15, Me Ne Frego - Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The use of the historical or narrative present in Italian is just something to be aware of. Deciding whether or not to maintain the same tense in translation is a subjective one, based on the tone to be set, or based on clarity. Much of the time, using the past tense in English will be preferred, but not always.

Signup to get Free Italian Lessons sent by email



Caption 32, 31, 30, 29, 28
Adv-Intermediate

When O's Become U's - Welcome to Sicily

One of Yabla’s current offerings is about Sicily. The Giuseppe Pitrè videos are peppered with phrases in the Sicilian dialect. As a matter of fact, although we call it a dialect, it’s actually a language all its own.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The Italian State was born only in 1861. Textbooks began being uniformly published in the Italian language as late as 1928. Before that, different regions in what later became Italy had wildly different ways of expressing themselves, and in many cases still do.

 

Even now there are still plenty of people, mostly pensionati (retirees) by now, who have had only minimal schooling and never learned Italian, let alone to read and write. If they had children, the children became bilingual in order to both go to school and be able to communicate with their parents. So these languages are still alive, thanks also to folk traditions of theater and poetry, such as the ones described in the above-mentioned videos.

 

When you’re learning the language, it's hard enough to follow someone speaking Italian, let alone someone speaking in dialect, as in the Pitrè videos. Remember, though: You don’t need to actually learn Sicilian or any other regional language. But being in the know about some of a dialect's characteristics can enable you to enjoy the differences (and understand something) rather than being overwhelmed by them. Italy's linguistic diversity is part of what makes the country so interesting.

 

From these Pitrè videos, you’ll notice for example, that the “o” in Italian often becomes “u” in Sicilian. The “e” often  becomes “ie.”

 

Signuri mei, vi cuntu di Giufà [Signori miei, vi racconto di Giufà],

My gentlemen, I'll tell you about Giufà,

ca una ni pienza e milli ni fa [che una ne pensa e mille ne fa].

who thinks of one thing and does a thousand of them.

Captions 30-31, Dottor Pitrè - e le sue storie - Part 4

 Play Caption

 

Vai Giuseppe, curri [corri]! Curri [corri], fratello!

Go Giuseppe, run! Hurry up, brother!

Caption 51, Dottor Pitrè - e le sue storie - Part 2

 Play Caption

 

In the examples above, the pronunciation is decidedly different, but the words are the same as or similar to Italian.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Sometimes, though, vocabulary changes completely, or almost completely. One Sicilian word that comes to mind is picciotto (young man or boy). Just picking out that one word (and variants of it) can allow you to feel like you're in the know.

 

E ddu picciotto, un avennu né piccioli [E quel ragazzo, non avendo nemmeno soldi]

And that young man, having no money even

pi manciari, ci rissi [per mangiare, gli disse]:

for food, told him,

se, cietto ca mi vogghiu mettiri in 'sta scummissa [sì, certo che voglio fare questa scommessa]!

"Yes, of course I want to make a bet!"

Captions 39-41, Dottor Pitrè - e le sue storie - Part 4

 Play Caption

 

When the boy speaks, you’ll notice that, as mentioned above, the “e” in certo (of course) becomes “ie.” In addition, the “r” disappears altogether and it becomes cietto.

The more you listen to Italians speaking, the more you'll notice regional differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax, as well as in general inflection. It can be fun to guess where someone is from!

Signup to get Free Italian Lessons sent by email



Caption 41, 40, 39, 31, 30
Adv-Intermediate