Taking Action in Italian
Using Regular ARE Verbs
What are Infinitives?
In English, infinitives are the words
To + a verb, such as:
to play
to read
to study
What is conjugation?
Conjugation is the act of changing an
infinitive to a verb used with a
subject.
For example:
To speak
Parlare
We speak
Noi parliamo
Conjugating Italian Verbs
Step 1:
Find the stem of the verb, using the
following formula:
Infinitive – ARE = Stem
Parlare – ARE = Parl
Conjugating Italian Verbs
Step 2:
Bring down the stem to each pronoun.
io
tu
parl
parl
lui, lei, Lei parl
noi
parl
voi
parl
loro, Loro parl
Conjugating Italian Verbs
Step 3:
Add the correct endings to the stems
io parlo
noi
parliamo
tu
voi
parlate
parli
lui, lei, Lei parla
loro, Loro parlano
Important points to
remember
• Do NOT translate the word do in
Italian verbs it’s already understood:
tu parli- you speak, you do speak,
you are speaking
• When making sentences negative, put
the word non directly in front of the
verb:
tu non parli- you don’t speak, you
are not speaking
Important Points to
Remember
• When writing questions, the verb
comes before the subject:
Parli tu l’italiano?
Do you speak Italian?
Un po’ di prattica!
Translate the following in your notes!
We study French.
I travel a lot.
He explains the lesson.
They speak German.
-ERE Verbs
Examples of –ERE
Infinitives
Perdere – to lose
Vivere – to live
Prendere – to take
Vedere- to see
Conoscere – to know
Ricevere – to receive
Rispondere – to respond
Step 1: Find the STEM
Remove the –ERE from the
INFINITIVE to isolate the
STEM
Examples:
leggere  legg
prendere  prend
scrivere  scriv
Step 2: Add a new
ending
Add a new ending to the
STEM, depending on WHO is doing
the action:
Singular
(I) Io  -o
(you - informal) tu
 -i
(he/she) lui/lei  -e
(you-informal) Lei
 -e
Plural
(we) noi  -iamo
(you all - informal)
voi  -ete
(they) loro  -ono
(You all- formal) 
-ono
LEGGERE – To
read
1. What is the STEM?
LEGG
2. What are the different forms of
LEGGERE?
Io
leggo
noi leggiamo
tu
leggi
lui/lei/Lei legge
voi
leggete
loro/Loro leggono
-IRE Verbs
Verbi -ire
• What are the –ire endings?
-o
-iamo
-i
-ite
-e
-ono
 What do you notice about –ire and –ere
Paragoniamo (Let’s compare!)
• Vediamo (Let’s see):
-ere
vs.
-o
-iamo
-o
–ire
–iamo
-i
-ete
-i
–ite
-e
-ono
-e
-ono
Sono simili! (They’re similar!)
• -ere and –ire endings are almost all the
same EXCEPT in the “voi” form.
–ere verbs have –ete
–ire verbs have –ite
Not so fast!
Some –ire verbs add an –isc before the
ending we are used to adding on.
For example : pulisco, pulisce, finisco,
finisci, capisci, preferiscono…
-isc with -ire
• These are sometimes called “boot
verbs” because the –isc is added
into all the forms except “noi” and
“voi”.
Esempio: capire – to
understand
Capiamo
Capisco
Capisci
5 letter test
• Look at the –ire verb in its infinitive form.
Let’s take “pulire” – “to clean”.
Start at the END of the word, on the “e”.
Count back 5 letters. Do we land on a
vowel?
1:e , 2:r, 3:i, 4:l, 5:u
YES!
5 letter test
• Since we landed on a vowel, we know to
add in “isc” for all our forms EXCEPT noi
and voi.
Pulisco Puliamo
Pulisci Pulite
Pulisce Puliscono
We still have to add our normal endings,
too!