Lesson #2 easy Italian verbs

Italian verbs in the present tense are reasonably easy, for the most part it's about memorising a pattern. Because the personal pronoun (I, you, he, etc) can usually be left out, the verb ending carries the information as to WHO is doing the action. Its important to get these endings right to get the right message across, so here is a little guide;

In the infinitive (the form found in dictionaries) Italian verbs end in one of 3 ways; -ARE, -ERE, -IRE.

The endings you use when conjugating the present tense will in some part depend on which of the 3 classes the verb belongs to. 

Here are 3 easy examples;

Verb Endings;

Io​O

Tu​I

Lui/lei​A or E

Noi​IAMO

Voi​ATE, ETE or ITE 

Loro​ANO or ONO

 

Mangiare – to eat

 

Io mangio

Tu mangi

Lui/Lei mangia

Noi mangiamo

Voi mangiate

Loro mangiano

 

Bere – to drink

 

Io bevo

Tu bevi

Lui/Lei beve

Noi beviamo

Voi bevete

Loro bevono

 

 

Dormire – to sleep

 

Io dormo

Tu dormi

Lui/Lei dorme

Noi dormiamo

Voi dormite

Loro dormono

 

It’s always the same pattern, once you learn it you can use any verb and it's really pretty easy, you'll get used to it quite quickly.