-ere verbs
The second verb family: leggere, prendere, scrivere — with endings of their own.
Regular -ere verbs take the endings -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono: prendere → prendo, prendi, prende, prendiamo, prendete, prendono.
The endings differ from -are verbs only in three places: lui/lei takes -e (prende, not prenda), voi takes -ete, and loro takes -ono. The other three forms behave like -are verbs.
Common -ere verbs include leggere (to read), scrivere (to write), vedere (to see), vivere (to live), chiedere (to ask) and ricevere (to receive). Their past participles are often irregular — letto, scritto, visto — which matters for the passato prossimo.
Examples
- Leggo un libro. I am reading a book.
- Prendi il treno? Are you taking the train?
- Lei scrive molte email. She writes a lot of emails.
- Vediamo un film stasera. We are watching a film tonight.
- Vivono in campagna. They live in the countryside.
Common mistake
Giving lui/lei the -are ending: lui prenda is wrong — the -ere third person is -e: lei legge, lui prende.