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 mangia | Chiara eats |
Marco è stato espulso | Mark was expelled |
Davide è inciampato | David has stumbled |
Ariel è una sirena | Ariel is a mermaid |
C’è la pioggia | There 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 | |
Presente | Passato |
io porto | io ho portato |
tu porti | tu hai portato |
egli porta | egli ha portato |
noi portiamo | noi abbiamo portato |
voi portate | voi avete portato |
essi portano | essi hanno portato |
Imperfetto | Trapassato prossimo |
io portavo | io avevo portato |
tu portavi | tu avevi portato |
egli portava | egli aveva portato |
noi portavamo | noi avevamo portato |
voi portavate | voi avevate portato |
essi portavano | essi avevano portato |
Passato remoto | Trapassato remoto |
io portai | io ebbi portato |
tu portasti | tu avesti portato |
egli portò | egli ebbe portato |
noi portammo | noi avemmo portato |
voi portaste | voi aveste portato |
essi portarono | essi ebbero portato |
Futuro semplice | Futuro anteriore |
io porterò | io avrò portato |
tu porterai | tu avrai portato |
egli porterà | egli avrà portato |
noi porteremo | noi avremo portato |
voi porterete | voi avrete portato |
essi porteranno | essi 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 | |
Presente | Passato |
io temo | io ho temuto |
tu temi | tu hai temuto |
egli teme | egli ha temuto |
noi temiamo | noi abbiamo temuto |
voi temete | voi avete temuto |
essi temono | essi hanno temuto |
Imperfetto | Trapassato prossimo |
io temevo | io avevo temuto |
tu temevi | tu avevi temuto |
egli temeva | egli aveva temuto |
noi temevamo | noi avevamo temuto |
voi temevate | voi avevate temuto |
essi temevano | essi avevano temuto |
Passato remoto | Trapassato remoto |
io temetti (temei) | io ebbi temuto |
tu temesti | tu avesti temuto |
egli temette (temé) | egli ebbe temuto |
noi tememmo | noi avemmo temuto |
voi temeste | voi aveste temuto |
essi temettero (temerono) | essi ebbero temuto |
Futuro semplice | Futuro anteriore |
io temerò | io avrò temuto |
tu temerai | tu avrai temuto |
egli temerà | egli avrà temuto |
noi temeremo | noi avremo temuto |
voi temerete | voi avrete temuto |
essi temeranno | essi 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 | |
Presente | Passato |
io parto | io sono partito |
tu parti | tu sei partito |
egli parte | egli è partito |
noi partiamo | noi sono partiti |
voi partite | voi siete partiti |
essi partono | essi sono partiti |
Imperfetto | Trapassato prossimo |
io partivo | io ero partito |
tu partivi | tu eri partito |
egli partiva | egli era partito |
noi partivamo | noi eravamo partiti |
voi partivate | voi eravate partiti |
essi partivano | essi erano partiti |
Passato remoto | Trapassato remoto |
io partii | io fui partito |
tu partisti | tu fosti partito |
egli partì | egli fu partito |
noi partimmo | noi fummo partiti |
voi partiste | voi foste partiti |
essi partirono | essi furono partiti |
Futuro semplice | Futuro anteriore |
io partirò | io sarò partito |
tu partirai | tu sarai partito |
egli partirà | egli sarà partito |
noi partiremo | noi saremo partiti |
voi partirete | voi sarete partiti |
essi partiranno | essi 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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