100 Italian Verbs Face-Off (Part 1)

[A] to be | Copular powerhouse of Italian; its past participle is stato and it teams with essere to form passives. It also works as the auxiliary for many intransitives in compound tenses.

[A] to have | The go-to auxiliary for most compound tenses; Italians even “have” age (Ho 20 anni). Handy idioms include avere fame/sonno/freddo.

[D] to do | Means both do and make; you’ll see fare + noun everywhere (fare colazione, fare una foto). Present is irregular: faccio, fai, fa.

[C] to go | Irregular in the present (vado, vai, va) and loves the preposition a before an infinitive (andare a mangiare). It’s also your loud “Andiamo!” when it’s time to move.

[B] to be able to | Expresses ability or permission depending on context (posso entrare?). Present forms: posso, puoi, può. It pairs nicely with infinitives.

[B] to give | Beyond giving gifts, dare pops up in idioms like dare una mano (lend a hand) and dare del tu (address informally). Past participle: dato.

[A] to want | Want something politely? Try the conditional: vorrei un caffè. Note voler bene (to care for) vs amare (romantic love).

[A] to come | Useful for arrivals and origins (vengo da Roma). Past participle venuto; it can also form a dynamic passive with venire + participle.

[C] to have to | Signals duty or necessity (devo studiare) and can mean “to owe” in some contexts. Present: devo, devi, deve.

[D] to stay | Stare covers location and temporary states (Sto bene). It also forms the progressive: stare + gerund (Sto studiando).

[A] to say | Core for reported speech: Dice che… Present is irregular (dico, dici, dice). Great for quick clarifications in conversation.

[D] to know | Use sapere for facts/skills (So nuotare) and conoscere for familiarity. Fun twist: sapere di means “to taste like.”

[A] to see | Cognate with “video”; handy in Ci vediamo! (“See you!”). Past participle: visto/veduto, with visto far more common.

[B] to eat | Regular -are verb with tasty payoffs; conjugation keeps soft g before e/i (mangio, mangi). Italians take food seriously—prep for compliments.

[D] to speak | Default for talking—literally. Collocations include parlare di (talk about) and parlare con (speak with). Straightforward -are endings.

[D] to go out | Irregular present (esco, esci, esce) and loves compagnia: uscire con means to go out with. “Uscita” is the exit sign you’ll spot everywhere.

[D] to take | Great with transport and orders: prendere il treno, prendere un caffè. Past participle preso; also “to catch.”

[A] to like | It flips English logic: Mi piace la pizza (the pizza pleases me). Verb agrees with the thing liked; plural is Piacciono.

[B] to read | Past participle letto (not *leggiuto). Perfect for bookworms and street signs alike; keep those double consonants crisp.

[D] to love | Stronger than voler bene; Ti amo is for romance. In songs and films you’ll meet amore everywhere.

[D] to drink | Irregular present (bevo, bevi, beve) and shows up in bar talk hourly. Pro tip: Un bicchiere d’acqua, per favore.

[D] to finish | One of the -isc- crew (finisco, finisci); use finire di + infinitive to say you’ve finished doing something. Past participle: finito.

[D] to understand | Another -isc- regular (capisco, capisci); useful with di for understanding something fully. It also works with che-clauses.

[A] to arrive | Arrival cues: arrivare a/in for cities and countries. The related noun arrivo marks arrivals at stations and airports.

[D] to write | Past participle scritto; write to someone with scrivere a. Expect it in every inbox and sticky note.

[D] to leave | Use partire per + place when heading out. Train boards show Partenze for departures—don’t miss yours!

[D] to put | Mettere fuels tons of idioms (mettere in ordine, mettersi d’accordo). Past participle messo is everywhere.

[B] to remain | Often interchangeable with restare; present has a surprise N (rimango). Past participle: rimasto.

[D] to sleep | An -ire verb without -isc- inserts (dormo, dormi, dorme). Idiom: dormire come un ghiro—sleep like a dormouse.

[D] to live | Vivo in Italia vs Abito a Roma for living vs residing nuances. From the same root you get vivace and la dolce vita.