The following sections will help you to formulate basic sentences and questions. You've already learned about articles and nouns. Verbs form the foundation of any language. Here you will learn the basics about the simple present tense and simple past tense.

Verbs in the Present Tense

Most all Italian verbs fall into one of three categories — first conjugation verbs, second conjugation verbs, and third conjugation verbs. In order to determine in which category a particular verb belongs, we must look at the infinitive form of the verb. The infinitive is the unconjugated form of the verb (to run, to eat, etc.). First conjugation verbs end in –are; second conjugation verbs end in –ere; and third conjugation verbs end in –ire. Some examples follow:

–are verbs (first conjugation)

–ere verbs (second conjugation)

–ire verbs (third conjugation)

The first step in conjugating a verb is to identify the subject — I, you, he, Marco, John and I, etc. With the correct subject pronoun, you can correctly conjugate the verb.