Italian Verbs
Verbs are doing words, and with Italian verbs, just like in English, they're used to denote an action performed by someone or something.
Anything you or anyone else does needs a verb so that you can do it. You can't run without verbs, you can't sing without verbs. Let's face it, without verbs you just can't do anything at all.
Love, breathe, live... All verbs.
Resources for further reading:
So let's hear it for the mighty verb, and let's find out more about exactly how verbs work in Italian...
Italian verbs are divided into three patterns of conjugation, according to the ending of the infinitive form:
Italian verbs ending in the infinitive with - ARE:
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cantare
to sing
ballare
to dance
sognare
to dream
Italian verbs ending in the infinitive with - ERE:
correre
to run
vedere
to see
temere
to fear
Italian verbs ending in the infinitive with - IRE:
Regular verbs have always the same stem, but most of the Italian verbs are irregular, which means that they use more stems, according to their Latin origin. For ex. the verb andare (to go) has the following stems: and-, v-, vad- .
The verbs are divided into 2 forms, for a total of 7 moods
- the personal form, which is related to a noun or a pronoun (indicative, subjunctive, imperative, conditional), and
- the impersonal form (infinitive, gerund and participle).
Simple and Compound Tenses
The Italian verbs have 21 tenses, divided in two classes: simple tenses (one word in the active form, two words in the passive form) or compound tenses (two words in the active form, three words in the passive form).
The compound tenses express an action that has happened before the corresponding simple tense form.
Dopo che ho fatto i compiti, posso mangiare
After I have done my homework, I can eat
The imperative has just a simple tense form.
The compound tenses are built with the auxiliary verb of the corresponding simple tense + the past participle. In the active form, the transitive verbs use the auxiliary avere, while the intransitive ones the auxiliary essere.
The following verbs also require the auxiliary essere:
- verbs meaning movement: (andare, to go; venire, to come; etc.): io sono andato, I went.
Please note: camminare (to walk), nuotare (to swim) and sciare (to ski) require avere.
andare
to go
venire
to come
io sono andato
I went
camminare
to walk
nuotare
to swim
sciare
to ski
- reflexive verbs (alzarsi, stand up): io mi sono alzato, I stood up
alzarsi
stand up
io mi sono alzato
I stood up
- piacere (like): mi è piaciuto, I liked it
piacere
like
mi è piaciuto
I liked it
The past participle with essere follows the usual adjective agreement rules concerning genre and number.
Practice phrases containing compound forms:
Active compound tense:
Luigi ha mangiato il pollo
Luigi has eaten the chicken
Passive compound tense:
Il pollo è stato mangiato da Luigi
The chicken has been eaten by Luigi
Intransitive compound tense:
Luigi è andat-o
masculine, singular
Luigi e Paolo sono andat-i
masculine, plural
Lucia è andat-a
feminine, singular
Lucia e Catia sono andat-e
feminine, plural
Scheme of connection between simple and compound tenses
Indicativo
Simple tense | Compound tense |
Io canto | Io ho cantato |
I sing (Presente) | I have sung (Passato Prossimo) |
Io cantavo | Io avevo cantato |
I used to sing (Imperfetto) | I had sung/I had used to sing (Trapassato Prossimo) |
Io cantai | Io ebbi cantato |
I sang (Passato Remoto) | I had sung (Trapassato Remoto) |
Io canterò | Io avrò cantato |
I will sing (Futuro Semplice) | I will have sung (Futuro Anteriore) |
Condizionale
Simple tense | Compound tense |
Io canterei | Io avrei cantato |
I would sing (Presente) | I would have sung (Passato) |
Congiuntivo
Simple tense | Compound tense |
che io canti | che io abbia cantato |
that I sing (Presente) | that I have sung (Passato) |
che io cantassi | che io avessi cantato |
that I sang (Imperfetto) | that I had sung (Trapassato) |
Infinito
Simple tense | Compound tense |
cantare | avere cantato |
to sing (Presente) | to have sung (Passato) |
Gerundio
Simple tense | Compound tense |
cantando | avendo cantato |
singing (Presente) | having sung (Passato) |
Participio
Simple tense | Compound tense |
cantante | cantato |
singing (Presente) | sung (Passato) |
Practice phrases about simple and compound tenses
Simple tense: Presente - Compound tense: Passato Prossimo
Esco, dopo che ho mangiato
I go out, after I have eaten
Simple tense: Imperfetto - Compound tense: Trapassato Prossimo
Ero famoso, perché avevo ucciso il re
I was famous, because I had killed the king
Simple tense: Passato Remoto - Compound tense: Trapassato Remoto
Imparai l’italiano, dopo che ebbi sposato Luisa
I learned Italian, after I married Luisa
Simple tense: Futuro Semplice - Compound tense: Futuro Anteriore
Io mangerò, dopo che avrò fatto i compiti
I will eat, after I will have done my homework
Anything else important about Italian verbs
The verbs are the core of the Italian language. Any tense has its own meaning and function inside the sentences.
This is particularly relevant in the past tense.
For example, while the passato prossimo (io ho mangiato - I have eaten) is commonly used instead of the passato remoto (io mangiai - I ate) in the daily language, the two tenses have different meanings:
- the first indicates the recent past,
- the second the historic past.
Although a compound tense, the passato prossimo, which is the present perfect in English, is also commonly used as a simple tense. Otherwise this form cannot be used when the verb is related to an action repeated more than once.
In that case, it is used the imperfetto.
Quando ero bambino, avevo sempre la febbre
When I was a kid, I always had a fever
Quando ero bambino, ho avuto la varicella
When I was a kid, I had the chickenpox (it can happen only once)
Italian verbs summary
- Three patterns of conjugation, following the infinitive forms: - ARE, -ERE, -IRE.
- Regular verbs have one stem, while irregular verbs are built with more stems, following their Latin origin.
- The tenses can be referred to a noun - personal forms - or not - impersonal forms -.
- Seven moods: indicative, conditional, subjunctive, imperative, infinitive, participle, gerund.
- There are 21 tenses in the Italian language and all of them are commonly and currently used.
- Simple and compound tenses are strictly connected and related.
- The auxiliary verbs are avere and essere and they are used in order to build the compound tenses.
- In the modern Italian language the passato prossimo is commonly used as the past form in substitution of the passato remoto.
- Don't confuse the passato prossimo/passato remoto (the fact happened once) with the imperfetto (the fact happened more times).
- The Italian verbs are the core of the Italian language.
For more on Italian grammar check out these lessons!
- Understand describing words with this lesson on Italian adjectives.
- Learn the correct way to use Italian articles here.
- This lesson is all about Italian nouns!
A presto!
Maria Di Lorenzi: Rocket Italian
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