Italian Basics: What You Need to Know About Verbs

When attending language classes, you may have noticed that verbs are a primary focus of the course.

The reason is simple enough: in most cases, verbs are the fundamental element of a sentence. Put differently, they are that single part without which the sentence would lack coherence. While all components in a sentence contribute to its overall meaning, there can be no sentence without a verb.

This omnipresence also means that many of the problems faced by learners will have something to do with verbs. They’re everywhere, and different languages approach and use them differently.

In this article, we’ll talk about the five most common struggles that learners have with Italian verbs. Hopefully, it’ll serve as a helpful guide you can refer back to as you progress along your Italian-learning journey.

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1. How to conjugate Italian verbs

Similarly to English, Italian features six subject pronouns, three for singular and three for plural:

Note: egli/ella/essi/esse are primarily used in literature, not in everyday life.

What differs, though, is that Italian conjugates its verbs for each and every one of these forms, so the verb takes a different form depending on who is “doing” the verb.

Take, for example, the regular verb lavorare (“to work”).

• Dictionary form: Lavorare is the infinitive form (what you see in the dictionary).
• Root and suffix: It consists of the root lavor- (the part of the word that gives it its meaning, “work”) and the suffix -are, one of Italian’s three infinitive particles, which translates to “to”.
• Conjugation: When conjugating verbs, you keep the root (in this case lavor-), and then replace the infinitive ending (in this case, -are) with the appropriate ending.

And this is further complicated by two things:

1. Each verb tense (i.e., future vs past) has a different set of endings. "I work" is lavoro, but "I will work" is lavorerò.
2. Each set of verb endings tend to have different conjugations. In the simple present tense, the "you (plural)" voi conjugation of -are verbs is -ate, of -ere verbs is -ete, and of -ire verbs is -ite. As such, you have to learn three separate sets of conjugations for each verb tense.

Nevertheless, the idea remains the same: keep the verb root, add on a set of endings.

— Italian Simple Present tense

For the simple present (presente semplice) tense, the endings are:

Putting these two things together, the simple present of the Italian verb lavorare is as follows:

How we made the present tense:

To form the presente semplice of verbs ending in -are, you keep the root of the verb and attach the endings -o, -ai, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano to it, respectively, depending on who is doing the action. As can be seen from this example, the conjugation results in six different forms.

— Italian simple future tense

The simple future (futuro semplice) is used to talk about things that will happen in the future. The verb comprare consists of the root compr- and the infinitive ending -are, so we'll take the root compre- and add appropriate future-simple endings to it (-erò, -erai, -erà, -eremo, -erete, -eranno).

See the table below:

🧠 Pro tip
As you look at more tables, you'll eventually notice some pattterns. For example, The noi form of the verb includes an -m-, and the tu form of the verb includes an -i. Nevertheless, the Simple Future verb endings aren’t quite the same as the simple present ones.

— More complex Italian tenses

Compound tenses follow the same logic, but involve one extra step.

1. Auxiliary verb: Conjugate an auxiliary "helping" verb (such as avere, “to have”) with the appropriate ending
2. Past participle: Attach the past-participle form of your main verb to the auxiliary verb (verb root + -ito, -ato, or -uto)

To make the present perfect (passato prossimo), for example, you would:

1. Conjugate avere into the present tense (I have, you have, etc)
2. Attach the past participle of a verb to it (danced, eaten, etc)

Below is a table showing how to use the passato prossimo form of dormire to say things like I've slept or they've slept:

— Verb conjugation summary

That was a lot of information. Here are some key points to remember:

• Italian has 16 verb tenses, and each tense has its own unique set of verb endings
• There are three classes of Italian verbs (those ending in -are, -ere, and -ire), and each verb class has its own set of conjugations for each tense
• Verb conjugation follows a consistent process: remove the ending of a verb to get the verb’s root, then add the appropriate verb endings to get your desired person + verb tense verb form

Repetition is key, here! By reciting these verb forms aloud frequently, they will gradually become intuitive. You’ll notice patterns like these:

• First person plural (we) verb conjugations usually include -m-
• First person singular (I) verb conjugations usually include -o-
• Third person plural (they) verb conjugations usually include -no

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2. Lack of a corresponding auxiliary for “do” / “does” / “did” in questions and negations

English is somewhat unique for its use of what’s called the “auxiliary do” — when we ask questions or make negations, we insert do/does/did, even though it isn’t really necessary. This makes it difficult for learners of both languages: English learners of Italian tend to include the word “fare” (to do) when it isn’t necessary, and Italian learners of English tend to omit it even when it is necessary.

In Italian, negations are expressed by the simple addition of non (“not”) before the verb and after the subject (when the subject is stated). Non cannot be contracted, making it relatively easy to identify even in rapid oral exchanges, for which Italians are renowned:

• Di solito non esco dopo il lavoro, sono troppo stanca.
  I do not usually go out after work, I’m too tired.
  (Note: Note that the word “fare” (to do) wasn't used in the original Italian. A more literal translation would be: Usually, I not go out after work I’m too tired.)

To make Italian questions, then, you simply add a question mark to a normal sentence and raise the pitch of your voice. This might make it difficult to recognize Italian questions at first: they are not grammatically marked! You don’t need to insert a special word (like do) or change the word order as you do in English.

Here’s an example:

• Noi stiamo andando a prendere un caffè, vuoi venire anche tu?
  We’re going to get a coffee, do you want to come with?
  More literally: We’re going to get a coffee, you want come with?

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3. The auxiliaries avere and essere: to be (and when not to be)

Much like English, Italian also uses the auxiliaries avere (“to have”) and essere (“to be”) to produce compound verbal forms – that is, verb forms made up of more than one word. For example, the present perfect (which we discussed at the end of section 1) in English consists of the auxiliary to have plus a past participle (a verb ending in ~ed or ~n: I have danced / eaten).

While both auxiliaries exist in both languages, there’s a key difference in their usage:

• English uses “to have” with perfect tenses and to be with passive structures
• Italian uses both avere with some verbs and essere with others — it’s the verb that matters, not the type of grammar you're using

Generally speaking, the auxiliary avere (to have) will be used with most verbs.

Below are a few types of verbs that take the auxiliary essere (to be) instead:

—(A) Motion verbs

Verbs that involve some sort of movement. The usual suspects include: arrivare (“to arrive”), venire (“to come”), salire (“to go up,” “to climb”), scendere (“to go down”), andare (“to go”), tornare (“to come back,” “to return”) and the like. See them in action:

• Sono andata diverse volte in Francia per lavoro.
  I have been to France several times for work.

• Sono tornato per aiutarla.
  I have come back to help her.

Again, note how the Italian sentence uses sono (from essere, "to be") while the English sentences instead use have.

— (B) Change-of-state verbs

Communicate that something is passing from one state to another, such as crescere (“to grow up”) and morire (“to die”). See:

• Sara ha preso un giorno di ferie per lutto: purtroppo suo nonno è morto.
  Sarah has taken a bereavement leave day: unfortunately, her Grandfather has died.

Here, too, note how the Italian sentence uses è (from essere, "to be") while the English sentences instead use has.

— (C) Reflexive verbs

Verbs in which the subject of an action and the object of an action are the same. Many "normal" verbs can be turned into reflexive verbs by appending si ("oneself") to the end of them.

While reflexive verbs are not used very commonly in English, but you can likely understand them logically: when you are showering, you are actually showering yourself. In Italian, a reflexive verb is indicated by the presence of the reflexive pronoun si — and reflexive verbs are used in many places where they wouldn't be used in English, such as getting dressed.

• L’autrice si è espressa molto bene.
  The author has expressed herself very well.

• Si è svegliato tardi ancora e si è vestito in fretta.
  He has woken up late again and has dressed himself quickly.

In addition to the same point to observe about how essere (to be) is used in Italian vs has in English, note the location of si in Italian vs himself/herself in English.

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4. The imperfetto tense

Aside from the passato remoto (the simple past, as in I ate it, which is becoming outdated in standard Italian) and the passato prossimo (the present perfect, as in I have eaten), Italian has a third main manner of expressing the past: the imperfetto (I was eating/I used to eat). The first two tenses line up pretty well with their English counterparts, but learners often struggle with the imperfetto, so let’s look at it in a bit more detail.

A verb in the imperfetto is made up of 3 parts:

1. Root of the verb. Some examples: giocare → gioc- (“to play"), lavorare → lavor- (“to work”), dormire → dorm- (“to sleep”), correre → corr- (“to run”).

2. The vowel that is typical of the conjugation class that the verb belongs to:

   • verbs of the 1st conjugation (ending in -are, such as giocare and lavorare) take the vowel -a-;
   • verbs of the 2nd conjugation (ending in -ere, such as correre) take the vowel -e-;
   • verbs of the 3rd conjugation (ending in -ire, such as dormire) take the vowel -i-.

3. The suffixes: -vo, -vi, -va, -vamo, -vate, -vano, depending on the subject of the verb (regardless of whether it's an -are, -ire, or -ere verb)

Here’s a common -are, -ere, and -ire verbs conjugated into the imperfetto:

The imperfetto has two main functions.

1. The first is to express a past habit. English renders this idea with a more complex construction, “used to”:

   • Quando eravamo piccoli, giocavamo sempre da mia nonna dopo la scuola.
     When we were little, we used to play at my Grandma’s after school.
   • Lavoravo come avvocato.
     I used to work as a lawyer.

2. The second is to describe ongoing actions in the past or set the scene in past narratives; in this case, it reflects the use of English's past continuous tense:

   • Ho sentito un rumore strano mentre mio marito dormiva.
     I heard a strange noise while my husband was sleeping.
   • Era una giornata di sole ed i bambini correvano in giardino.
     It was a sunny day and the children were running in the yard.

🧠 Pro tip:
The word “perfect” doesn't mean "flawless" or "excellent", as we commonly use it today. Instead, it comes from Latin im- meaning “not,” -per- meaning “completely,” and facere meaning “to do.” As such, the original meaning of the "imperfect" tense is closer to "incomplete" or "unfinished" — as opposed to a verb in the simple past which is tied to a moment in the past when the action was finished.

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5. The Subjunctive: an overview

The subjunctive is by far the most complicated tense. (Actually, it's what's called a mood, but it works basically like a tense does.) Even Italians dread it. Its auxiliaries and suffixes result in intricate forms that native speakers themselves sometimes get wrong.

Having said that, there are only two things you need to remember in order to figure out when you should be using the subjunctive:

1. The indicative mood (such as the simple present and imperfective, discussed above) expresses facts and the state of things; the subjunctive is used to express concepts and ideas more subjective in nature, such as wishes, desires, judgements, possibilities, requests and similar notions.

2. The Subjunctive is mostly used in dependent clauses, so it comes after another verb (whose meaning it completes). Look at the below examples and note that they basically all follow the same formula: main clause with subject 1 + che + dependent clause with subject 2.

   • Ho chiesto che estendesse la scadenza.
     I asked him to extend the deadline.
   • Ho bisogno che tu mi faccia un favore.
     I need you to do me a favour.
   • Mi dispiace che tu sia ancora disoccupato.
     I am sorry you are still unemployed.
   • Dubito che chiunque sappia come navigare su quel sito.
     I doubt anyone knows how to navigate that website.

Note that the subjunctive conjugations differ from their indicative counterparts. While the “you” form of the simple (indicative) present tense for fare is fai, the “you” form of the present (subjunctive) tense, shown above, is different: faccia.

Conclusion

Verbs stand as the backbone of every sentence, and mastering the proper verbal form in context is undoubtedly one of our primary language learning objectives — perhaps the most challenging to master, yet the most crucial. While the Italian verbal system is certainly complex and multifaceted, encompassing distinct forms for various moods, tenses, and grammatical subjects, learners can come to discern patterns within the system, facilitating comprehension and fluency. With consistent practice and dedicated memorization, mastery of the complex Italian grammar is definitely achievable.

Learning Italian? You might also be interested in:

1. Italian Prepositions: Everything You Need to Know
2. Some Italians Don't Even Speak Italian?
3. Exploring The Humorous Side Of the Italian Language: Six Expressions To Amuse Your Interlocutors
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