Verbs

Italian verbs change form (conjugate) based on who's performing the action. Unlike English, Italian verb endings are so distinctive that you can often skip the subject pronoun entirely — "parlo" already means "I speak" without needing "io". Italian has three conjugation groups based on infinitive endings (-are, -ere, -ire), and once you learn the pattern for one verb in each group, you can conjugate hundreds of others the same way.

Subject pronouns

Italian has formal and informal forms of "you". Use tu with friends, family, and children; use Lei (capitalised) with strangers, elders, and in professional settings. Unlike French, Italian pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending already indicates the subject:

Italian	English
🔊 io	I
🔊 tu	you (informal)
🔊 lui/lei	he/she
🔊 Lei	you (formal)
🔊 noi	we
🔊 voi	you (plural)
🔊 loro	they

Regular -ARE verbs: parlare (to speak)

-ARE verbs are the largest group in Italian, making this the most important pattern to learn. To conjugate, remove the -are ending to get the stem (parl-), then add the appropriate ending. These endings are consistent across all regular -ARE verbs:

Pronoun	Conjugation
io	🔊 parlo
tu	🔊 parli
lui/lei/Lei	🔊 parla
noi	🔊 parliamo
voi	🔊 parlate
loro	🔊 parlano

Common -ARE verbs: 🔊 amare (love), 🔊 abitare (live), 🔊 lavorare (work), 🔊 mangiare (eat), 🔊 comprare (buy), 🔊 guardare (watch)

Regular -ERE verbs: vedere (to see)

-ERE verbs are the second conjugation group. They include many common verbs like leggere (read), scrivere (write), and prendere (take). The endings are similar to -ARE verbs but with -e- in several forms instead of -a-:

Pronoun	Conjugation
io	🔊 vedo
tu	🔊 vedi
lui/lei/Lei	🔊 vede
noi	🔊 vediamo
voi	🔊 vedete
loro	🔊 vedono

Common -ERE verbs: 🔊 leggere (read), 🔊 scrivere (write), 🔊 prendere (take), 🔊 vendere (sell)

Regular -IRE verbs: dormire (to sleep)

-IRE verbs are the third conjugation. Here's where Italian gets slightly tricky: some -IRE verbs conjugate like dormire below, but many others (including common verbs like capire and finire) add -isc- in certain forms. You'll need to learn which pattern each verb follows:

Pronoun	Conjugation
io	🔊 dormo
tu	🔊 dormi
lui/lei/Lei	🔊 dorme
noi	🔊 dormiamo
voi	🔊 dormite
loro	🔊 dormono

The -isc- verbs: Many -IRE verbs add -isc- before endings in io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms. This group includes capire (understand), finire (finish), preferire (prefer), and pulire (clean). Example with capire (to understand):

• 🔊 capisco, 🔊 capisci, 🔊 capisce, 🔊 capiamo, 🔊 capite, 🔊 capiscono

Essential irregular verbs

The most frequently used verbs in any language tend to be irregular — Italian is no exception. Essere (to be), avere (to have), andare (to go), and fare (to do/make) must be memorised individually. They also serve as auxiliaries for compound tenses, so you'll use them constantly.

Essere (to be)

Essere is the Italian equivalent of "to be". It's used for identity, characteristics, professions, nationality, origin, and time. It's also the auxiliary verb for past tenses with verbs of motion and change:

Pronoun	Form
io	🔊 sono
tu	🔊 sei
lui/lei	🔊 è
noi	🔊 siamo
voi	🔊 siete
loro	🔊 sono

Avere (to have)

Avere means "to have" and is used for possession, age (Italians say "I have 25 years"), and many expressions where English uses "to be" (hungry, thirsty, hot, cold). It's also the most common auxiliary for forming past tenses:

Pronoun	Form
io	🔊 ho
tu	🔊 hai
lui/lei	🔊 ha
noi	🔊 abbiamo
voi	🔊 avete
loro	🔊 hanno

Andare (to go)

Andare is essential for expressing movement and future plans. Like French aller, it can be used with an infinitive to express intention (🔊 Vado a mangiare = "I'm going to eat"):

Pronoun	Form
io	🔊 vado
tu	🔊 vai
lui/lei	🔊 va
noi	🔊 andiamo
voi	🔊 andate
loro	🔊 vanno

Fare (to do/make)

Fare is incredibly versatile, appearing in countless expressions: 🔊 fare colazione (have breakfast), 🔊 fare una passeggiata (take a walk), 🔊 fare una domanda (ask a question), 🔊 fare il bagno (take a bath). It's also used for weather (🔊 Fa caldo = "It's hot"):

Pronoun	Form
io	🔊 faccio
tu	🔊 fai
lui/lei	🔊 fa
noi	🔊 facciamo
voi	🔊 fate
loro	🔊 fanno

Potere (can), Volere (want), Dovere (must)

These three modal verbs express ability, desire, and obligation. They work with an infinitive: "Posso parlare" (I can speak), "Voglio mangiare" (I want to eat), "Devo andare" (I must go). All three are irregular and must be memorised:

Pronoun	potere	volere	dovere
io	🔊 posso	🔊 voglio	🔊 devo
tu	🔊 puoi	🔊 vuoi	🔊 devi
lui/lei	🔊 può	🔊 vuole	🔊 deve
noi	🔊 possiamo	🔊 vogliamo	🔊 dobbiamo
voi	🔊 potete	🔊 volete	🔊 dovete
loro	🔊 possono	🔊 vogliono	🔊 devono

Past tense (passato prossimo)

The passato prossimo (present perfect) is the main past tense in spoken Italian. Like French, it's formed with an auxiliary verb (avere or essere) plus a past participle. Most verbs use avere; verbs of motion and change use essere (and the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number). Learning to form past participles is essential for talking about anything that happened:

Infinitive	Participle
-are	-ato (parlato)
-ere	-uto (veduto/visto)
-ire	-ito (dormito)

• 🔊 Ho parlato — I spoke
• 🔊 Sono andato — I went (with essere, participle agrees)

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