The Three Regular Verb Families

Three families, three patterns

You already know the -are family: parlo, parli, parla, parliamo, parlate, parlano. The other two regular families, -ere and -ire, share most of those endings. All three keep -o for io and -iamo for noi.

The -ere family (vedere): vedo, vedi, vede, vediamo, vedete, vedono. The -ire family (dormire): dormo, dormi, dorme, dormiamo, dormite, dormono. The only visible difference between -ere and -ire in the present tense is the voi form: -ete versus -ite.

The stress pattern is also identical in all three families: the stress falls on the stem for io, tu, lui/lei and loro (VÈ-do, DÒR-mo) and on the ending for noi and voi (ve-DIA-mo, dor-MI-te).

• Vedo il mare. I can see the sea. Listen Slow
• Prendiamo il treno. We are taking the train. Listen Slow
• Dormono molto. They sleep a lot. Listen Slow

Spelling changes that protect the sound

Verbs like giocare and pagare end in -care and -gare, where c and g are hard sounds. Before the letter i, Italian adds a silent h to keep that hard sound: tu giochi, noi giochiamo, tu paghi, noi paghiamo. The h changes nothing you say — it only fixes the spelling.

Verbs like mangiare and cominciare end in -giare and -ciare. Here the g and c are already soft, so the extra i is not written: tu mangi (never mangii), io mangio, tu cominci. The sound stays the same; only one i survives.

• Giochi a calcio? Do you play football? Listen Slow
• Non mangio carne. I do not eat meat. Listen Slow
• Paghiamo noi. We will pay. Listen Slow

Direct object pronouns: small words, big power

When you do not want to repeat a noun, Italian replaces it with a small pronoun: mi (me), ti (you), lo (him, it — masculine), la (her, it — feminine), ci (us), vi (you, plural), li (them — masculine), le (them — feminine).

The pronoun goes directly before the conjugated verb: Vedo Marco becomes Lo vedo. In a negative sentence, non still comes first: Non lo vedo.

Choose lo or li for masculine nouns and la or le for feminine nouns — the pronoun keeps the gender and number of the noun it replaces. Before a vowel, lo and la shrink to l': L'hai visto?

• Lo vedo. I can see him. Listen Slow
• Non la sento. I cannot hear her. Listen Slow
• Le chiamo domani. I will call them tomorrow. Listen Slow

Eight past participles to memorise

In Lesson 1 you built the past with ho + parlato. Regular verbs form the participle mechanically: -are becomes -ato, -ere becomes -uto, -ire becomes -ito (dormire → dormito). But some of the most useful verbs are irregular, and you simply learn their participles as words in their own right.

fare → fatto, dire → detto, scrivere → scritto, leggere → letto, aprire → aperto, chiudere → chiuso, prendere → preso, vedere → visto. Put them after ho, hai, ha and the sentence is done: Ho fatto. Hai letto? Abbiamo preso il treno.

• Ho visto un bel film. I saw a great film. Listen Slow
• Cosa hai detto? What did you say? Listen Slow
• Hanno chiuso il negozio. They have closed the shop. Listen Slow

Age and numbers up to one thousand

English says I am thirty; Italian says I have thirty years: Ho trent'anni. Always use avere plus anni for age. To ask, say Quanti anni hai? (informal) or Quanti anni ha? (formal).

You already know numbers up to one hundred. The hundreds are regular: cento, duecento, trecento, quattrocento, cinquecento, seicento, settecento, ottocento, novecento — then mille (one thousand). Cento never changes its form; just attach the rest of the number and write it as one word: centodieci (110), trecentoquarantadue (342), novecentonovantanove (999).

• Ho trent'anni. I am thirty years old. Listen Slow
• Mia sorella ha venticinque anni. My sister is twenty-five. Listen Slow
• Costa trecento euro. It costs three hundred euros. Listen Slow