In the second lesson we learned how to conjugate regular Italian verbs and the verb essere – to be. Now let’s meet the other irregular verbs you will use every day. The bad news: their forms don’t follow the regular pattern, so you have to memorize them. The good news: these verbs are so common that after a couple of weeks of practice they memorize themselves.
AVERE – to have
| Io ho | I have |
| Tu hai | You have |
| Lui, Lei ha | He, she has |
| Noi abbiamo | We have |
| Voi avete | You have |
| Loro hanno | They have |
Remember from the first lesson: the letter H is always silent. “Ho” sounds like [o], “hanno” like [anno]. The H is only there to distinguish these forms in writing: ho (I have) vs o (or), hanno (they have) vs anno (year).
ANDARE – to go
| Io vado | I go |
| Tu vai | You go |
| Lui, Lei va | He, she goes |
| Noi andiamo | We go |
| Voi andate | You go |
| Loro vanno | They go |
FARE – to do, to make
| Io faccio | I do |
| Tu fai | You do |
| Lui, Lei fa | He, she does |
| Noi facciamo | We do |
| Voi fate | You do |
| Loro fanno | They do |
Italians use FARE everywhere: fare colazione (to have breakfast), fare una foto (to take a photo), fare una domanda (to ask a question), fare la spesa (to do the grocery shopping).
STARE – to stay, to be (about state)
| Io sto | I am / I stay |
| Tu stai | You are / you stay |
| Lui, Lei sta | He, she is / stays |
| Noi stiamo | We are / we stay |
| Voi state | You are / you stay |
| Loro stanno | They are / they stay |
STARE is the verb from the question “Come stai?” – How are you? The answer: “Sto bene, grazie” – I’m fine, thanks. We will meet STARE again in the lesson about progressive tenses.
DARE – to give
| Io do | I give |
| Tu dai | You give |
| Lui, Lei dà | He, she gives |
| Noi diamo | We give |
| Voi date | You give |
| Loro danno | They give |
DIRE – to say
| Io dico | I say |
| Tu dici | You say |
| Lui, Lei dice | He, she says |
| Noi diciamo | We say |
| Voi dite | You say |
| Loro dicono | They say |
VENIRE – to come
| Io vengo | I come |
| Tu vieni | You come |
| Lui, Lei viene | He, she comes |
| Noi veniamo | We come |
| Voi venite | You come |
| Loro vengono | They come |
USCIRE – to go out
| Io esco | I go out |
| Tu esci | You go out |
| Lui, Lei esce | He, she goes out |
| Noi usciamo | We go out |
| Voi uscite | You go out |
| Loro escono | They go out |
BERE – to drink
| Io bevo | I drink |
| Tu bevi | You drink |
| Lui, Lei beve | He, she drinks |
| Noi beviamo | We drink |
| Voi bevete | You drink |
| Loro bevono | They drink |
BERE looks scary in the infinitive, but its present tense is actually regular if you know the trick: the old form of the verb was “bevere”, and Italians conjugate it from the stem BEV-.
Verbs like FINIRE – the ISC group
One more group before we finish. Many -IRE verbs insert -ISC- between the stem and the ending, in every form except noi and voi:
| Io finisco | I finish |
| Tu finisci | You finish |
| Lui, Lei finisce | He, she finishes |
| Noi finiamo | We finish |
| Voi finite | You finish |
| Loro finiscono | They finish |
The most useful verbs of this group: capire – to understand (capisco – I understand), preferire – to prefer (preferisco), pulire – to clean (pulisco), spedire – to send (spedisco). “Non capisco” (I don’t understand) might be your most used phrase in the first weeks of learning, so it’s worth memorizing today.
Examples
Dove vai? – Where are you going?
Vado a casa – I’m going home
Ho due fratelli – I have two brothers
Che cosa fai stasera? – What are you doing tonight?
Facciamo una foto! – Let’s take a photo!
Come sta, signora Rossi? – How are you, Mrs. Rossi? (formal)
Perché non vieni con noi? – Why don’t you come with us?
Esco con gli amici il sabato – I go out with friends on Saturdays
Gli italiani bevono molto caffè – Italians drink a lot of coffee
Che cosa dici? – What are you saying?
Ti do il mio numero – I give you my number
Vocabulary
| avere – to have
andare – to go fare – to do, to make stare – to stay, to be dare – to give dire – to say venire – to come uscire – to go out bere – to drink |
casa – house, home
fratello – brother sorella – sister stasera – tonight sabato – Saturday caffè – coffee foto – photo numero – number con – with |
Exercises
Use the correct form of the verb in the present tense
- Io ______________ una sorella (AVERE) – I have a sister
- Dove tu ______________? (ANDARE) – Where are you going?
- Noi ______________ colazione al bar (FARE) – We have breakfast at the cafe
- Come ______________ i tuoi genitori? (STARE) – How are your parents?
- Loro ______________ molta acqua (BERE) – They drink a lot of water
- Perché non ______________ con noi? (VENIRE, tu) – Why don’t you come with us?
- Io non ______________ mai il venerdì (USCIRE) – I never go out on Fridays
- Che cosa ______________ il professore? (DIRE) – What does the professor say?
- Voi ______________ troppi compiti (DARE) – You give too much homework
- Marco e Anna ______________ al cinema (ANDARE) – Marco and Anna go to the cinema
- Tu ______________ ragione (AVERE) – You are right (literally: you have reason)
- Io ______________ sport tre volte alla settimana (FARE) – I do sports three times a week
Answers:
1: ho; 2: vai; 3: facciamo; 4: stanno; 5: bevono; 6: vieni; 7: esco; 8: dice; 9: date; 10: vanno; 11: hai; 12: faccio