Can you tell me whether or not I can use the pronunciation of the infinitive (as this (pronunciation is indicated in the dictionary) as a guide to determine the correct pronunciation of the conjugated verb forms.
For example: My dictionary indicates that the “e” in the first syllable of “vendere” is an “open e”. Does this mean that the “e” in the first syllable of each conjugated verb form is also “open”?
I am trying to ask whether or not I can consider the “e” in the first syllable of the conjugated verbs “vendo”, “vendi”, “vende”, “vendiamo”, “vendete”, and “vendono” to be all “open” because the dictionary states that the “e” in the first syllable of the infinitive form - “vendere” is “open”.
And, since the dictionary shows the “e” in the second and third syllable of “vendere” to be closed does this mean that the “e” in the” last syllable” of “vende” is closed and that the “e” in the second and third syllable of “vendete” is also closed?
If this is true for “vendere”, can I use this as a general rule for all verbs: the pronunciation of the conjugated verb forms is based on the pronunciation of the infinitive?
Anyway I’m repeating it below and hope you receive it now.
Best regards,
Maria
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Dear Rich,
generally speaking, you can use the pronunciation of the infinitive (as this pronunciation is indicated in the dictionary) as a guide to determine the correct pronunciation of the conjugated verb forms.
Therefore when the dictionary indicates that the “e” in the first syllable of “lèggere” e.g. is "an open e”, this means that the “e” in the first syllable of each conjugated verb form is also “open”, and then you must say “lèggo”, “lèggi”, “lègge”, in the present or “io lèssi” in the past, etc.
This is always true only for the first vowel in the first syllable, but it cannot be true for the other vowels in the same verb.
For example, we say ”io lèggo”, “tu lèggi ”, “egli lègge” with an
"open e" in the 1st.,2nd.,3rd. person singular of the present, but “voi leggéte” with the “closed e” in the 2nd.person plural of the same present, and “tu leggésti” with the “closed e” in the 2nd.person singular of the past tense(passato remoto).
The same happens in “vendere”, where I have to tell you that the “e” in the first syllable is not “an open e”, but “a closed e”, i.e. “véndere” and then we say” véndo”, “véndi”, ”vénde”, etc., but e.g. “io vendèi” with an “open e” in the 2nd.syllable of the “passato remoto”.
To sum up, the rule of the pronunciation of the infinitive as a guide to determine the correct pronunciation in the conjugated verb forms is effective only in the pronunciation of the first vowel of the verb, but not always for the pronunciation of the other syllables in the conjugated forms.
