Meaning
to stammer, to stutter
- to speak with hesitation, repeating sounds or words; to stutter
- to utter something unclearly or hesitantly
In a sentence
Quando è agitato, Marco inizia a balbettare.
When he is nervous, Marco starts to stutter.
Ha balbettato qualcosa senza riuscire a farsi capire.
He stammered something without managing to make himself understood.
Perché balbetti invece di dirmi la verità?
Why are you stammering instead of telling me the truth?
Word forms (48)
| Word | Word forms |
|---|---|
| balbettare | infinitive |
| balbetto | indicative · present · singular · 1st person |
| balbetti | indicative · present · singular · 2nd person |
| balbetta | indicative · present · singular · 3rd person |
| balbettiamo | indicative · present · plural · 1st person |
| balbettate | indicative · present · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettano | indicative · present · plural · 3rd person |
| balbettavo | indicative · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| balbettavi | indicative · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| balbettava | indicative · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| balbettavamo | indicative · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| balbettavate | indicative · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettavano | indicative · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| balbettai | indicative · past · singular · 1st person |
| balbettasti | indicative · past · singular · 2nd person |
| balbettò | indicative · past · singular · 3rd person |
| balbettammo | indicative · past · plural · 1st person |
| balbettaste | indicative · past · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettarono | indicative · past · plural · 3rd person |
| balbetterò | indicative · future · singular · 1st person |
| balbetterai | indicative · future · singular · 2nd person |
| balbetterà | indicative · future · singular · 3rd person |
| balbetteremo | indicative · future · plural · 1st person |
| balbetterete | indicative · future · plural · 2nd person |
| balbetteranno | indicative · future · plural · 3rd person |
| balbetti | subjunctive · present · singular · 1st person |
| balbetti | subjunctive · present · singular · 2nd person |
| balbetti | subjunctive · present · singular · 3rd person |
| balbettiamo | subjunctive · present · plural · 1st person |
| balbettiate | subjunctive · present · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettino | subjunctive · present · plural · 3rd person |
| balbettassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 1st person |
| balbettassi | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 2nd person |
| balbettasse | subjunctive · imperfect · singular · 3rd person |
| balbettassimo | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 1st person |
| balbettaste | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettassero | subjunctive · imperfect · plural · 3rd person |
| balbetterei | conditional · present · singular · 1st person |
| balbetteresti | conditional · present · singular · 2nd person |
| balbetterebbe | conditional · present · singular · 3rd person |
| balbetteremmo | conditional · present · plural · 1st person |
| balbettereste | conditional · present · plural · 2nd person |
| balbetterebbero | conditional · present · plural · 3rd person |
| balbetta | imperative · singular · 2nd person |
| balbettiamo | imperative · plural · 1st person |
| balbettate | imperative · plural · 2nd person |
| balbettando | gerund |
| balbettato | past · participle |
Usage notes
- Takes 'avere' in compound tenses.
- Can be used intransitively (speaking with a stammer) or transitively (stammering out words).