Italian Verbs - Irregular verb utility

by  A. Grace

ItalVerb allows you to look up the principal tenses of 62 irregular Italian verbs, plus examples of the three regular types of verbs. The program is multi-tasking and can thus be left on screen while other multi-tasking programs are running, such as a word processor. Using a utility such as TextAid would then enable you to transfer words directly from ItalVerb into the word processor.

Run the application by double-clicking on its icon in a directory viewer, or by clicking on its icon in the RISC User Menu program. An icon will be installed on the icon bar. Clicking on the icon bar icon opens a window which will show the chosen verb and its English translation, together with an indication of which tense is currently chosen, and the full conjugation for that tense.

To choose a verb to be displayed, you can either type its Italian infinitive into the writable icon on the right of the window, or you can cycle through all the verbs known to the program by using the arrow icons. Alternatively you can type an English verb into the left-hand writable icon. Note that this must be the full infinitive, e.g. "to turn" and not just "turn". Pressing Return in either of the writable icons will then activate the display, finding the correct translation for the other language and filling in all the information in the rest of the window. If a verb is entered which is not known to the program, the display is left blank except for a message which reads "Verb is unknown".

The remainder of the window is divided into three sections. On the left is a set of radio buttons allowing you to choose which tense is displayed. On the right is the complete conjugation for that tense for the chosen verb. At the bottom of the window are displayed the imperative and perfect forms of the verb.

If there are several meanings for a verb, the program will allow you to type in one meaning and display the others - e.g. if you type in "to do" it will be replaced by "to do/make".

The verb "to know" may be translated either by "sapere" or "conoscere". When either of these is given, text in red will appear suggesting the other as an alternative possibility. If you click on the red text the display changes to the other verb.

The verbs are held in DATA lines within !RunImage. These can easily be altered to allow the program to be modified for use with another language. You will also need to alter the Templates file.

 Copyright RISC User 1994
