3

First conjugation of regular verbs

The infinitives of these verbs end in —are, and the present tense endings are –o, –i, –a, –iamo, –ate, –ano. These endings are attached to the stem of the infinitive (the stem is the infinitive minus —are).

parlare (to speak, or to talk); stem: parl–

parlo             parliamo

parli              parlate

parla             parlano

This category (–are) constitutes by far the largest group of Italian verbs. Each present-tense form has three possible translations: parlo may be translated by “I speak,” “I am speaking,” or “I do speak,” depending on the context.

The following are some fairly common first-conjugation verbs. Note that several are easily recognizable cognates; the others should be learned.

accompagnare      to accompany            fumare      to smoke

accusare          to accuse                          guardare    to look (at)

amare             to love                                 lavorare    to work

ascoltare         to listen (to)                      presentare  to present

aspettare         to wait (for)                      spiegare    to explain

cantare           to sing                                studiare    to study

cercare           to look (for)                       trovare     to find

cominciare        to begin                          usare       to use

comprare          to buy

Verbs like cercare and spiegare, whose stem ends in c or g, add an h before verb endings that begin with i: (noi) cerchiamo; (tu) spieghi. Verbs like cominciare and studiare, with infinitives that end in –iare, add nothing in the 2nd person singular and only –amo in the 1^st person plural: (tu) cominci; (noi) studiamo.

VOCABULARY