Italian 2.2. Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

In this lesson, we will cove irregular verbs in the present indicative tense in Italian. Let us first review regular verbs.

You can also refer to the cheat sheet of irregular verbs in Italian for a summary.

Regular Verbs

As we discussed in Level I, Lesson 6, regular verbs in the present indicative tense follow the conjugation rules shown in the table:

Some verbs deviate from the general conjugation rules in the present indicative tense. Some of these deviations are simple and easy to apply, while others may require some practice. You could also use Anki cards to practice more examples until you master this lesson. In addition, you can use the summary in the cheat sheets in Appendix B as a quick reference.

Irregular Verbs

Let us examine five groups of irregular verbs in the present indicative tense.

#1: Completely Irregular Verbs

The first group contains 14 verbs that are common, yet completely irregular, that is, they do not follow a particular pattern of conjugation. These verbs should be practiced and memorized.

Notice that the verb “stare” can also mean “to be” in some contexts, e.g., “Come stai?” (How are you?), “Sto bene” (I am well), etc.

In addition to these 14 verbs, any verb that is derived from or written similar to these verbs uses the same conjugation patterns. For example, the verb “rifare” (to redo or remake) is conjugated like the verb “fare,” and the verb “riuscire” (to succeed) is conjugated like the verb “uscire.”

#2: Add “g” to the Stem in “io” and “loro” forms

The second group adds a “g” to the stem of the verb in the “io” and “loro” forms. There are four common verbs in this group:

Notice that the verbs “venire” and “tenere” also change the stem in the “tu” and “lui/lei” forms from “ven-” and “ten-” to “vien-” and “tien-,” respectively.

Verbs that derive from the four verbs in this group are conjugated similarly. For example, the verbs “contenere” (to contain) and “intervenire” (to intervene) follow the same conjugation patterns of the verbs “tenere” and “venire,” respectively.

#3: Other Minor Stem Changes

The third group includes verbs with relatively minor stem changes. For example, the verb “apparire” (to appear) changes the stem from “appar-” to “appai-” when conjugated in the “io” and “loro” forms, whereas the verb “udire” (to hear) changes the stem from “ud-” to “od-” in all forms except “noi” and “voi.” In general, the “noi” and “voi” forms remain unchanged in this group of verbs. Here are four common verbs in this group:

[2] Another accepted irregular conjugation of the “loro” form is “seggono.”

In addition to these four verbs, similar verbs follow the same conjugation patterns. For example, the verbs “comparire” (to appear or become visible), “riapparire” (to reappear), “scomparire” (to disappear), “sparire” (to disappear or vanish), and “trasparire” (to transpire) follow the same conjugation patterns of the verb “apparirie,” and the verb “possedere” (to possess) follows the same conjugation patterns of the verb “sedere.”

#4: Orthographic Changes

The fourth group includes verbs that are regular in essence but change spelling to maintain proper pronunciation. These are the verbs ending in “-care,” “-gare,” “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare.”

1. Verbs ending in “-care” and “-gare” add an “h” to the stem in the “tu” and “noi” forms before the “-i” and “-iamo” endings, respectively.

Examples include: “cercare” (to search), “pagare” (to pay), “giocare” (to play), “praticare” (to practice), “negare” (to deny or refuse), “caricare” (to load), “pregare” (to pray or beg), “sporcare” (to make dirty), and “litigare” (to argue).

2. Verbs in “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare” drop the “i” from the stem in the “tu” and “noi” forms before the “-i” and “-iamo” endings, respectively, to avoid the double “i.”

Examples include: “cominciare” (to start or begin), “mangiare” (to eat), “baciare” (to kiss), “lasciare” (to leave), “strisciare” (to crawl), “arrangiare” (to arrange), “viaggiare” (to travel), “tagliare” (to cut), and “sbagliare” (to make a mistake).

3. Most other verbs that end in “-iare,” that is, excluding “-ciare,” “-giare,” and “-gliare,” follow the same pattern and drop the “i” from the stem in the “tu” and “noi” forms before the “-i” and “-iamo” endings, respectively, to avoid the double “i.”

Some examples are: “abbreviare” (to abbreviate), “cambiare” (to change), “copiare” (to copy), “iniziare” (to begin), “studiare” (to study), and “variare” (to vary).

However, the exception to the rule is that some verbs drop the “i” from the stem only in the “noi” form and maintain the double “i” in the “tu” form, e.g., “avviare” (to start), “fuorviare” (to mislead), “inviare” (to send), “obliare” (to forget), “rinviare” (to postpone), “sciare” (to ski), and “spiare” (to spy).

Finally, keep in mind that verbs ending in “-cere” and “-gere” do not undergo any spelling change, but instead change the pronunciation to the hard sounds “k” (as in “kit”) and “g” (as in “get”) in the “io” and “loro” forms before the “-o” and “-ono” endings, respectively, e.g., “conoscere” (to know), “piangere” (to cry), and “vincere” (to win).

Here is a summary in the context of some examples:

#5: Contracted Infinitive Verbs with “-rre” Endings

Finally, the fifth group includes some special, but not so common, verbs that end in “-arre,” “-orre,” and “-urre.” These verbs did not initially appear under the three main verb types in Italian with “-are,” “-ere,” and “-ire” endings. These verbs belong to a group of verbs called contracted infinitive verbs. In these verbs, the stem of the infinitive is shorter than that of the conjugated verb.

For instance, the verb “tradurre” (to translate) is conjugated in the “io” form as “traduco.” Notice that the stem of the infinitive is “trad-,” whereas the stem of the conjugated verb is “traduc-.” The reason for that often goes back to the Latin origin of the verb, which is “traducere.”

This explains the irregular conjugation of many Italian verbs, some of which even belong to the three main verb types. For example, “dire” (to say, Latin: “dicere”), “fare” (to do or make, Latin: “facere”), and “porre” (to put, Latin: “ponere”).

In general, verbs in this group are considered “-ere” verbs because they lost an internal “-e-” when derived from their Latin origin.

Let us examine some conjugation examples of contracted infinitive verbs that end with “-arre,” “-orre,” and “-urre.”

Other examples include:

Next: Possessive Adjectives & Pronouns

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