28 REGULAR VERBS: THE THREE CONJUGATIONS
regularsverbs
Rossella Pescatori
Learning Objectives
Verbs of the three regular conjugations
Studiamo !
The regular Italian verbs are classified in three Conjugations -are, -ere, -ire (and -isc).
For example : the verb amare belongs to the 1a coniugazione –are; the verb mettere belongs to 2a coniugazione –ere (and all the verbs in –rre as porre, tradurre, trarre; the verb dormire belongs to the 3a coniugazione –ire (the verb finire belongs to the 3a coniugazione -ire, type “isc”).
To conjugate, coniugare comes from lat. “coniugare” to join together “stem” and “ending” , we are able to conjugate a verb when we are able to recognize its paradigm, pattern and attaching to it the correct endings, which variate from person to person, to time, and mood and to “group verbs.
Each conjugation has particular thematic vowels: a for -are; e for ere; i for ire.
|
1 coniugazione: FAMILY VERB 1 es. Lavor-ARE to work |
2 coniugazione: FAMILY VERB 2 es. Legg-ERE to read |
3 coniugazione: FAMILY VERB 3 a es. Dorm-IRE to sleep |
3 Coniugazione (tip: you have to count 5 letters from the end and if the fifth is a vowel verbs in IRE will be ISC verbs) as FAMILY VERB 3b fin-IRE to finish |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Io lavor-O I work |
Io legg-O I read |
Io dorm-O I sleep |
Io finISCO I finish |
|
Tu lavor-I you work |
Tu legg-I you read |
Tu dorm-I you sleep |
Tu finISCI you finish |
|
Lui/lei lavor-A he/she work you formal: you work |
Lui/Lei legg-E he/she reads you formal: You read |
Lui/lei dorm-E he/she sleeps you formal: You sleep |
Lui/Lei finISCE he/she finishes you formal: You finish |
|
Noi lavor-IAMO we work |
Noi legg-IAMO we read |
Noi dorm-IAMO we sleep |
Noi finIAMO we finish |
|
Voi lavor-ATE you plur work |
Voi legg-ETE you plur read |
Voi dorm-ITE you plur sleep |
Voi finITE you plur finish |
|
Loro lavor-ANO they work |
Loro legg-ONO they read |
Loro dorm-ONO they sleep |
Loro finISCONO they finish |
What is a verb? And how to coniugate verbs?
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Verbs ending in –are, –ere, –ire in the present tense
The present tense indicates activities that you normally do, i.e.: canto in un coro [I sing in a choir]. In Italian the present tense also indicates:
- Activities that are taking place right now, i.e.: mangio un panino [I’m eating a sandwich].
- Activities that will take place in the near future, i.e.: domani parto per la Svezia [Tomorrow I’m leaving for Sweden].
There are three groups of verbs in Italian:
| Verbs ending in -are | Verbs ending in -ere | Verbs ending in –ire |
| ordinare [to order] | prendere [to have; to take] | aprire [to open] |
Ordinare, prendere and aprire are in the infinitive form. The infinitive is the base form of the verb, the form that you would find in the dictionary (analogous to the English to order; to take; to open). To conjugate the verb according to the subject that performs the action, dropthe–are, –ere, or–ire from the infinitive form and add the following endings:
| ordinare | prendere | aprire | finire* |
| [io] ordino | [io] prendo | [io] apro | [io] finisco |
| [tu] ordini | [tu] prendi | [tu] apri | [tu] finisci |
| [lui, lei, Lei] ordina | [lui, lei, Lei] prende | [lui, lei, Lei] apre | [lui, lei, Lei] finisce |
| [noi] ordiniamo | [noi] prendiamo | [noi] apriamo | [noi] finiamo |
| [voi] ordinate | [voi] prendete | [voi] aprite | [voi] finite |
| [loro] ordinano | [loro] prendono | [loro] aprono | [loro] finiscono |
* Some –ire verbs add –isc– to the io, tu, lui, lei and loro forms: preferire [to prefer] capire [to understand] pulire [to clean] obbedire [to obey] restituire [to return something]
- Some verbs, like mangiare [to eat] and studiare [to study], have an i in the stem that is pronounced. You do not need an additional i in the tu and noi forms:
| mangiare |
| [io] mangio |
| [tu] mangi [not: mangii] |
| [lui, lei, Lei] mangia |
| [noi] mangiamo [not: mangiiamo] |
| [voi] mangiate |
| [loro] mangiano |
Sciare [to ski] is an exceptional case: it adds i in the tu form: tu scii.
- Verbs ending in –care and –gare add an h to the tu and noi forms for phonetic reasons (to maintain the same sound):
| cercare | pagare |
| [io] cerco | [io] pago |
| [tu] cerchi | [tu] paghi |
| [lui, lei, Lei] cerca | [lui, lei, Lei] paga |
| [noi] cerchiamo | [noi] paghiamo |
| [voi] cercate | [voi] pagate |
| [loro] cercano | [loro] pagano |
- Pay attention to how the pronunciation of c and g changes in the verbs leggere: io leggo, tu leggi; conoscere: io conosco, tu conosci.
