Italian Grammar Bank

ITALIAN VERBS CONJUGATION

In Italian each verb is composed of several elements and among these are its conjugations, of which there are three: -are, -ere, -ire.

These conjugations do not apply to all verbs, but we will see this in detail in the future. In this lesson, we will learn what a verb is and what its conjugations are and the cases in which they can vary!

WHAT IS A VERB

A verb is a variable part of speech, which can indicate several things:

•  an action that has been performed, by someone or something;
•  an action that has been undergone, by someone or something;
•  a situation in which someone or something finds itself;
•  a way of being of someone or something;
•  the existence of someone or something.

Here are some examples of verbs that indicate precisely these elements:

Chiara mangiaChiara eats
Marco è stato espulsoMark was expelled
Davide è inciampatoDavid has stumbled
Ariel è una sirenaAriel is a mermaid
C’è la pioggiaThere is rain

THE PARTS OF THE VERB

What does a verb look like? Here are all the necessary “ingredients”:

•  the root, which contains the meaning of the verb [parl- for parlare (to speak)];

•  the thematic vowel, which tells us the conjugation. Together with the root, it forms the verb’s theme (parla-);

•  the desinence, the variable part that contains the grammatical information (-are for parlare).

THE THREE CONJUGATIONS

Italian verbs are classified into three conjugations on the basis of the ending of the infinitive:

•  the first conjugation is that of verbs in -are;
•  the second conjugation includes verbs in -ere;
•  the third conjugation is that of verbs in -ire.

Actually, as you see, the distinguishing element is not the desinence, but the thematic vowel:
-a for verbs of the first conjugation, -e for those of the second and -i for those of the third.

There are, however, exceptions concerning the second conjugation:

Verbs in -rre

Verbs in –rre such as trarre (to draw), porre (to place) and condurre (to lead) belong to the second conjugation due to their Latin origin (trahere, ponere, conducere);

Dire & Fare

dire (to say) and fare (to do) are two verbs derived from the Latin dicere and facere. This is why they can be treated as irregular verbs of the second conjugation, although many prefer to attribute them to the third and first conjugation respectively on the basis of the termination.

Most Italian verbs belong to the first conjugation.

Knowing the conjugation of a verb, in general, is important because it allows us to know how all its modes and tenses are formed, following a fixed pattern of behaviour.

THE FIRST CONJUGATION -ARE

Let’s have a look at the first conjugation with the verb PORTARE (to bring) as an example.

INDICATIVO
PresentePassato
io portoio ho portato
tu portitu hai portato
egli portaegli ha portato
noi portiamonoi abbiamo portato
voi portatevoi avete portato
essi portanoessi hanno portato
ImperfettoTrapassato prossimo
io portavoio avevo portato
tu portavitu avevi portato
egli portavaegli aveva portato
noi portavamonoi avevamo portato
voi portavatevoi avevate portato
essi portavanoessi avevano portato
Passato remotoTrapassato remoto
io portaiio ebbi portato
tu portastitu avesti portato
egli portòegli ebbe portato
noi portammonoi avemmo portato
voi portastevoi aveste portato
essi portaronoessi ebbero portato
Futuro sempliceFuturo anteriore
io porteròio avrò portato
tu porteraitu avrai portato
egli porteràegli avrà portato
noi porteremonoi avremo portato
voi porteretevoi avrete portato
essi porterannoessi avranno portato

Verbs of the first conjugation are those with the infinitive in -are, such as parlare.

However, there are some peculiarities to bear in mind:

•  verbs in –care (giocare, to play) and –gare (pagare, to pay) retain the hard C and G even in forms with a desinence beginning with E or I by adding an H between the root and the desinence (gochiamo, pagherò)

•  verbs in –ciare (baciare, to kiss) and –giare (mangiare, to eat) lose the I if the desinence begins with E (bacerò, mangerei)

•  verbs in –eare (creare, to create) retain the E even before another E (creeremo).

THE SECOND CONJUGATION -ERE

Let’s have a look at the first conjugation with the verb TEMERE (to fear) as an example.

INDICATIVO
PresentePassato
io temoio ho temuto
tu temitu hai temuto
egli temeegli ha temuto
noi temiamonoi abbiamo temuto
voi temetevoi avete temuto
essi temonoessi hanno temuto
ImperfettoTrapassato prossimo
io temevoio avevo temuto
tu temevitu avevi temuto
egli temevaegli aveva temuto
noi temevamonoi avevamo temuto
voi temevatevoi avevate temuto
essi temevanoessi avevano temuto
Passato remotoTrapassato remoto
io temetti (temei)io ebbi temuto
tu temestitu avesti temuto
egli temette (temé)egli ebbe temuto
noi tememmonoi avemmo temuto
voi temestevoi aveste temuto
essi temettero (temerono)essi ebbero temuto
Futuro sempliceFuturo anteriore
io temeròio avrò temuto
tu temeraitu avrai temuto
egli temeràegli avrà temuto
noi temeremonoi avremo temuto
voi temeretevoi avrete temuto
essi temerannoessi avranno temuto

The second conjugation includes verbs with the infinitive in –ere or in –rre. However, attention must be paid to some particularities:

•  Verbs in –cere (vincere, to win) and –gere (piangere, to weep) usually have a soft sound before -E or -I (vinci, piangere), while they take on the hard sound before -A and -O (vinca, piangere).

Exceptions are verbs such as cuocere that retain the soft sound of the infinitive even before the vowels -A and -O with the insertion of an I between root and desinence (cuocio);

• In verbs such as tenere the thematic vowel -E becomes a diphthong (-IE) in tonic position, i.e. accented (tieni, teniamo).

THE THIRD CONJUGATION -IRE

Let’s have a look at the first conjugation with the verb PARTIRE (to leave) as an example.

INDICATIVO
PresentePassato
io partoio sono partito
tu partitu sei partito
egli parteegli è partito
noi partiamonoi sono partiti
voi partitevoi siete partiti
essi partonoessi sono partiti
ImperfettoTrapassato prossimo
io partivoio ero partito
tu partivitu eri partito
egli partivaegli era partito
noi partivamonoi eravamo partiti
voi partivatevoi eravate partiti
essi partivanoessi erano partiti
Passato remotoTrapassato remoto
io partiiio fui partito
tu partistitu fosti partito
egli partìegli fu partito
noi partimmonoi fummo partiti
voi partistevoi foste partiti
essi partironoessi furono partiti
Futuro sempliceFuturo anteriore
io partiròio sarò partito
tu partiraitu sarai partito
egli partiràegli sarà partito
noi partiremonoi saremo partiti
voi partiretevoi sarete partiti
essi partirannoessi saranno partiti

Verbs of the third conjugation have the infinitive in –ire.

Many verbs, however, add the suffix -isc to the root in the three singular persons and the third plural of the indicative (capire capisco) and the present subjunctive (capisci).

The suffix derives from Latin where it indicated the incoative aspect: don’t let the big word scare you off, it just means that it was used to give the verb the meaning of cominciare (begin to).


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FAQs

How many verb conjugations are there in Italian?

Italian verbs are divided into three main conjugation groups based on their infinitive endings: -are (e.g., parlare – to speak), -ere (e.g., credere – to believe), and -ire (e.g., dormire – to sleep).

What difference between regular and irregular verbs in Italian?

Regular verbs follow predictable conjugation patterns depending on their endings (-are, -ere, -ire). Irregular verbs, however, do not follow standard patterns and must be memorized individually (e.g., essere – to be, fare – to do).

What are the main Italian verb tenses to know?

Some key Italian verb tenses include the present (presente), past (passato prossimo, imperfetto), future (futuro semplice), conditional (condizionale), and subjunctive (congiuntivo).

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