Italian verbs fall into 3 types, depending on the vowel in the infinitive.
We hae already studied the first two types of verbs. Now we will be adding a third type - Let's also review the frist two you learned.
- Conjugation 1 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ARE
- Conjugation 2 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -ERE
- Conjugation 3 contains verbs with an infinitive ending in -IRE
| |
1 PARLARE |
2 SCRIVERE |
3 DORMIRE
|
3 CAPIRE |
| 1st pers. sing. I |
parlo
|
scrivo |
dormo |
capisco |
| 2nd pers. sing. you |
parli |
scrivi |
dormi |
capisci |
| 3rd pers. sing. he, she, it |
parla |
scrive |
dorme |
capisce |
| 1st pers. plur. we |
parliamo |
scriviamo |
dormiamo |
capiamo |
| 2nd pers. plur. you |
parlate |
scrivete |
dormite |
capite |
| 3rd pers. plur. they |
parlano |
scrivono |
dormono |
capiscono |
Don't let a table like this put you off; look for all the similarities, not
the differences; for example:
All verbs use the ending -o for the first person singular — i.e.
if you want to say I do something.
All verbs use the ending -i for the second person singular — i.e.
if you want to say you do something.
All verbs use the ending -iamo for the first person plural — i.e.
if you want to say we do something.
English has three forms of the present tense and Italian has only one. In English
we can say I speak or I am speaking but in Italian there is only
the form parlo. To ask a question in English we would use the phrase
do you speak? but in Italian you can only indicate a question by the
tone of your voice or by writing a question mark — parli?
- You'll see that there are two examples of a 3rd conjugation verb, dormire
and capire and they behave differently. Most verbs behave like dormire
but a small number insert the syllable -isc- before the personal endings.
There is no rule about which do and which don't, you just have to learn as
you meet them. The commonest ones which insert -isc- are:-
- finire (to finish)
- preferire (to prefer)
- pulire (to clean)
- punire (to punish)
- spedire (to send)
