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How to Conjugate Italian Verbs in the Present Tense (The Easy Way That Actually Works)

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Hello and welcome back!

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to conjugate verbs in Italian in the present tense — but in a way that actually makes sense and doesn’t overload your brain with useless information.

We’re going to use Reverso.net — my favorite resource for verb conjugations. Here’s what I want you to do:

  1. Go to reverso.net.
  2. Click on Conjugation.
  3. Type mangiare (to eat), select it, and click on Conjugate.
  4. Open Reverso in another tab, type credere (to believe), and conjugate it.
  5. Open a third tab, type dormire (to sleep), and conjugate it.

Why these three?
Because in Italian we have three families of verbs:

  1. Those ending in -are (mangiare)
  2. Those ending in -ere (credere)
  3. Those ending in -ire (dormire)

Each family has its own slightly different conjugation pattern.

The present tense in Italian: the video

The Three Families of Italian Verbs

Example 1 – Mangiare (-are)

  • Io mangio
  • Tu mangi
  • Lui/Lei mangia
  • Noi mangiamo
  • Voi mangiate
  • Loro mangiano

Example 2 – Credere (-ere)

  • Io credo
  • Tu credi
  • Lui/Lei crede
  • Noi crediamo
  • Voi credete
  • Loro credono

Example 3 – Dormire (-ire)

  • Io dormo
  • Tu dormi
  • Lui/Lei dorme
  • Noi dormiamo
  • Voi dormite
  • Loro dormono

They look similar, but each family has subtle differences in the endings.

Why You Don’t Need to Repeat Pronouns in Italian

In English, you always say the pronoun:

“I eat”, “You eat”, “He eats”…

Why? Because most verb forms are the same and without the pronoun, chaos would ensue.

In Italian, every conjugated form is different, so the pronoun isn’t necessary:

  • Mangio pasta oggi → “I eat pasta today” (no “io” needed)
  • Mangiano pasta oggi → “They eat pasta today”

At the beginning, feel free to say the pronouns to practice, but know that in real conversations, Italians drop them most of the time.

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Memorization Tips That Stick

Write them down by hand – Use a table with the three families.

Highlight similarities in green (like the “-o” in first person singular).

Highlight differences in red (like “-a” vs “-e”).

Visualize – Seeing the patterns will help you guess conjugations even for new verbs.

A Note on Irregular Verbs

Some verbs, like volere (“to want”), don’t follow the standard patterns:

  • Io voglio
  • Tu vuoi
  • Lui/Lei vuole
  • Noi vogliamo
  • Voi volete
  • Loro vogliono

Don’t let these scare you. If you know the three families well, you’ll still get it right most of the time.

Key Takeaways:

Learn the three verb families (-are, -ere, -ire).

Drop pronouns most of the time.

Memorize patterns by writing and highlighting.

Don’t panic about irregular verbs — they’re the exception, not the rule.

I have been learning Italian with Filippo for 6 months now.

Filippo always comes prepared with a lesson plan but he is also very flexible if I have a concept that I want to go over again. I like that grammar concepts that were introduced in earlier lessons are built upon in later lessons – both to reinforce the knowledge and to build it so that I can make more complex sentences.

The lessons are fun and the hour always passes quickly. I would certainly recommend him to any native English speaker who wants to learn Italian!

Sondhya Ghedia, student from Sydney (check all the other reviews here)

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