Present Tense Verbs
Present Tense Verbs
Regular Italian verbs fall into three families by their infinitive ending — -are, -ere, -ire — and each family conjugates in its own predictable pattern.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Three Verb Families, Three Patterns
parlare, prendere, dormire
to speak, to take, to sleep
An infinitive's last three letters tell you which conjugation pattern to use. -are is the largest and most regular family (parlare → parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano). -ere and -ire verbs follow their own endings, but all three families share the same underlying logic: strip the infinitive ending, add endings that mark person and number.
-ire Verbs Split Into Two Patterns
dormire → dormo, capire → capisco
to sleep → I sleep, to understand → I understand
Most -ire verbs conjugate directly off the stem, like dormire → dormo. A large second group instead inserts -isc- before the ending in the io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms (but not noi/voi): capire → capisco, capisci, capisce, capiamo, capite, capiscono. There's no way to predict which pattern a new -ire verb follows from its infinitive alone — it has to be learned per verb.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- I speak
- English
- you speak
- English
- he/she speaks
- English
- we speak
- English
- you all speak
- English
- they speak
- English
- I take
- English
- he/she takes
- English
- I sleep
- English
- he/she sleeps
- English
- I understand
- English
- we understand