{"id":11517,"date":"2022-05-02T19:39:01","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T19:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/contentoitaliano.com\/?p=11517"},"modified":"2022-05-02T19:39:37","modified_gmt":"2022-05-02T19:39:37","slug":"the-italian-verb-attendere-to-wait-to-await","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/contentoitaliano.com\/the-italian-verb-attendere-to-wait-to-await\/","title":{"rendered":"The Italian verb attendere (to wait, to await)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n

Written by Federica<\/a>  in Italian language<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

What is the meaning of attendere<\/em>?<\/h2>\n\n\n

The Italian verb attendere<\/em> means, primarily, to wait <\/em>or to await<\/em>. It is also used as to attend to<\/em>, although this latter meaning is less frequent and a little more antiquated. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When attendere <\/em>means to wait<\/em>, it <\/em>is a false friend for an English speaker, in that it resembles the English verb to attend<\/em>, but its meaning is different. More rarely, when attendere <\/em>means to attend to<\/em>, it is not a false friend for an English speaker. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verb to attend<\/em> in English and attendere <\/em>in Italian both have the same Latin origin: ad <\/em>+ tendere <\/em>(to stretch toward<\/em>). It is very common for English and Italian words which have a common Latin root<\/a> to be false friends, at least in one of their meanings, if they have a double meaning. <\/p>\n\n\n

What conjugation does attendere <\/em>belong to?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Attendere <\/em>belongs to the second Italian conjugation. Its infinitive form ends in -ere <\/em>(attendere<\/em>), the past participle form is atteso<\/em> (irregular) and the gerund ends in -endo <\/em>(attendendo<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n

Is attendere <\/em>regular or irregular?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Attendere <\/em>is an irregular verb, therefore its verb endings don’t follow a regular pattern throughout the conjugation, although the only irregularity of attendere <\/em>lies in the past participle, which is atteso <\/em>rather than attenduto<\/em>, as you would expect if attendere <\/em>were a regular verb. <\/p>\n\n\n

Does attendere <\/em>use an essere<\/em> or avere <\/em>auxiliary?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Italian compound tenses such as the present perfect (passato prossimo) require the main verb to be preceded by an auxiliary, essere <\/em>or avere<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verb attendere <\/em>takes the avere <\/em>auxiliary in compound tenses (for example hanno atteso le notizie tutto il pomeriggio<\/em> \u2013 they waited for the news all afternoon<\/em>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Italian, attendere <\/em>is both a transitive and intransitive verb. It is transitive when used with a direct object (for example attendiamo le notizie<\/em> – we are waiting for the news<\/em>) and intransitive when it means to attend to <\/em>(for example attendo ai miei doveri<\/em> – I attend to my duties<\/em>). In both cases, attendere <\/em>takes the avere <\/em>auxiliary. <\/p>\n\n\n

Uses of attendere <\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n

Attendere <\/em>is mainly used in formal contexts such as client-company relationships, public places (both in writing and speaking), offices, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some examples: <\/p>\n\n\n\n