Bere (to drink) is a small but important member of a class of Italian verbs that linguists call hidden-stem verbs or verbi a infinito sincopato — verbs whose modern infinitive is a short, contracted form that hides a longer historical stem. The infinitive bere comes from Latin bibere, and although the -bi- syllable was lost from the infinitive itself, the longer stem bev- survives in nearly every conjugated form: bevo, beveva, bevuto, bevevamo. The future and conditional, by contrast, are doubly contracted to berr- — like vorr- from volere and terr- from tenere.
The same hidden-stem pattern shows up in dire (stem dic-: dico, dicevo), fare (stem fac-: facevo, facevano), and a few others. Once you internalise that bere is really bev-ere in disguise, the paradigm stops looking irregular and starts looking systematic.
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | bevo |
| tu | bevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | beve |
| noi | beviamo |
| voi | bevete |
| loro | bevono |
The presente is completely regular once you accept the bev- stem — it conjugates exactly like a regular -ere verb (credere, vendere, prendere). The only "irregularity" is the mismatch between the short infinitive bere and the longer stem bev- that appears in every conjugated form.
Bevo sempre un bicchiere d'acqua appena sveglio.
I always drink a glass of water as soon as I wake up.
Bevi qualcosa? Ho appena fatto il caffè.
Do you want something to drink? I just made coffee.
Mio padre non beve alcolici da vent'anni.
My father hasn't drunk alcohol in twenty years.
A cena beviamo sempre un bicchiere di vino rosso.
At dinner we always have a glass of red wine.
Ragazzi, bevete piano, non avete fretta.
Guys, drink slowly, you're not in a hurry.
I bambini bevono troppe bibite zuccherate.
Kids drink too many sugary drinks.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | bevevo |
| tu | bevevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | beveva |
| noi | bevevamo |
| voi | bevevate |
| loro | bevevano |
The imperfetto is built straight from bev- with the standard -evo, -evi, -eva endings — exactly as if the infinitive were bevere. Every form is predictable.
Da giovani bevevamo solo birra, mai vino.
When we were young we only drank beer, never wine.
Mio nonno beveva un caffè ogni mattina alle sette in punto.
My grandfather had a coffee every morning at seven sharp.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | bevvi / bevetti |
| tu | bevesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | bevve / bevette |
| noi | bevemmo |
| voi | beveste |
| loro | bevvero / bevettero |
A textbook "1-3-3" passato remoto with parallel forms. The "strong" set in bevv- (with the characteristic Latin double consonant from bibi) is by far the more common, especially in literary use: bevvi, bevve, bevvero. The "weak" set in bevett- is also correct but rarer. As with potere and dovere, both sets are valid; pick one and stay consistent within a passage.
Bevvero un brindisi alla salute degli sposi.
They drank a toast to the health of the newlyweds.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | berrò |
| tu | berrai |
| lui / lei / Lei | berrà |
| noi | berremo |
| voi | berrete |
| loro | berranno |
The future stem berr- is doubly contracted: the v and e of bever- drop, and the resulting cluster collapses into double rr. This is the same process that produces vorr- from volere and terr- from tenere. Don't write beverò or berò — both are non-forms.
The future of bere doubles as conjecture: Berrà di sicuro un caffè dopo pranzo ("He'll definitely have a coffee after lunch / He probably has one"). And it expresses firm intention: Stasera berrò solo acqua ("Tonight I'll drink only water").
Domani berremo lo spumante per festeggiare.
Tomorrow we'll drink prosecco to celebrate.
Non berrò più caffè dopo le sei di sera.
I won't drink coffee after six in the evening anymore.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | berrei |
| tu | berresti |
| lui / lei / Lei | berrebbe |
| noi | berremmo |
| voi | berreste |
| loro | berrebbero |
The conditional uses the same contracted berr- stem. Berrei is the polite "I'd drink" / "I'd have" — the standard way to ask for a beverage politely (alongside vorrei un caffè): Berrei volentieri una cosa fredda ("I'd love to have something cold to drink"). The double m in berremmo distinguishes it from the future berremo (single m).
Berrei volentieri un bicchiere di vino bianco.
I'd happily have a glass of white wine.
Berresti qualcosa? Posso offrirti un caffè.
Would you like something to drink? I can offer you a coffee.
Senza zucchero non berrebbe mai il caffè.
Without sugar she would never drink coffee.
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | beva |
| (che) tu | beva |
| (che) lui / lei | beva |
| (che) noi | beviamo |
| (che) voi | beviate |
| (che) loro | bevano |
Built from bev- with the standard -ere subjunctive endings (-a, -a, -a, -iamo, -iate, -ano). The three singular forms collapse into beva — context disambiguates. The noi form beviamo is identical to the indicative.
Voglio che tu beva più acqua durante la giornata.
I want you to drink more water during the day.
Spero che non bevano troppo alla festa.
I hope they don't drink too much at the party.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | bevessi |
| (che) tu | bevessi |
| (che) lui / lei | bevesse |
| (che) noi | bevessimo |
| (che) voi | beveste |
| (che) loro | bevessero |
Standard -ere imperfect subjunctive endings on the bev- stem. Used in hypotheticals and after past-tense subjunctive triggers.
Se bevessi meno caffè, dormirei meglio.
If I drank less coffee, I'd sleep better.
Pensavo che bevessero solo vino bianco.
I thought they only drank white wine.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | bevi |
| Lei (formal) | beva |
| noi | beviamo |
| voi | bevete |
| loro (formal pl.) | bevano |
The imperative follows the standard pattern: tu and voi borrow the indicative, Lei and loro borrow the subjunctive. Bevi! is the everyday "drink!" you'd hear at a bar offering hospitality, while Beva! is the formal version (to a guest you address with Lei).
Bevi questo, ti farà bene.
Drink this, it'll do you good.
Beviamo alla salute di Marco!
Let's drink to Marco's health!
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | bere |
| Infinito passato | avere bevuto / aver bevuto |
| Gerundio presente | bevendo |
| Gerundio passato | avendo bevuto |
| Participio passato | bevuto |
Note that the gerundio is bevendo — built from the bev- stem like a regular -ere verb, never berendo. The participio passato bevuto is also predictable from the long stem.
Compound tenses
Bere is a transitive verb and uses avere as its auxiliary. The participle bevuto does not normally agree with the subject — but it does agree with a preceding direct-object pronoun: l'ho bevuta (la birra), li ho bevuti (i vini), le ho bevute (le bibite).
| Tense | io | noi |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | ho bevuto | abbiamo bevuto |
| Trapassato prossimo | avevo bevuto | avevamo bevuto |
| Trapassato remoto | ebbi bevuto | avemmo bevuto |
| Futuro anteriore | avrò bevuto | avremo bevuto |
| Condizionale passato | avrei bevuto | avremmo bevuto |
| Congiuntivo passato | abbia bevuto | abbiamo bevuto |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | avessi bevuto | avessimo bevuto |
Ho bevuto solo un caffè stamattina.
I've only had a coffee this morning.
L'ho bevuta tutta d'un fiato.
I drank it all in one gulp. (la birra, fem.)
Se non avessero bevuto così tanto, non staremmo qui a discuterne.
If they hadn't drunk so much, we wouldn't be here arguing about it.
Idiomatic usage
A few common patterns and idioms:
- bere un caffè / un bicchiere — Italian generally says bere un caffè ("to have a coffee"), even though English uses "have." Prendere un caffè is also extremely common and slightly more conversational.
- bere come una spugna — to drink like a fish (literally "like a sponge")
- darla a bere a qualcuno — to put one over on someone (literally "to give it to someone to drink")
- berci sopra — to drink to forget, to drink on it (a problem or news)
Andiamo a bere qualcosa dopo il lavoro?
Shall we go for a drink after work?
Non darmela a bere — so benissimo cosa è successo.
Don't try to put one over on me — I know perfectly well what happened.
Common mistakes
❌ Io berò un caffè.
Incorrect — the future stem doesn't keep the v; it contracts to berr-.
✅ Io berrò un caffè.
Correct — double r in berrò.
❌ Lui beveva ieri sera troppo.
Awkward word order; also imperfect doesn't fit a one-time past event.
✅ Ieri sera ha bevuto troppo.
Correct — passato prossimo for a completed past event.
❌ Voglio che tu bevi più acqua.
Incorrect — voglio che triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Voglio che tu beva più acqua.
Correct — beva is the congiuntivo presente.
❌ Domani noi berremmo lo spumante per festeggiare.
Incorrect for a definite plan — berremmo (double m) is the conditional 'we would drink'.
✅ Domani noi berremo lo spumante per festeggiare.
Correct — berremo (single m) is the simple future 'we will drink'.
❌ Hai visto la birra? — Sì, l'ho bevuto.
Incorrect — la birra is feminine; the participle must agree.
✅ Hai visto la birra? — Sì, l'ho bevuta.
Correct — bevuta agrees with the elided la.
Key takeaways
Bere is a hidden-stem verb: the short infinitive masks the longer bev- stem that appears in every conjugated form except the future and conditional, where it contracts further to berr-.
Three points to internalise:
The bev- stem is everywhere. Bevo, bevevo, beva, bevendo, bevuto — once you mentally treat bere as if its infinitive were bevere, the paradigm becomes regular.
berr- is a doubly contracted future stem. Like vorr- from volere and terr- from tenere. Always two r's: berrò, berrai, berrà, berremo, berrete, berranno.
Avere is the auxiliary, and the participle agrees with a preceding direct-object pronoun: l'ho bevuta, li ho bevuti. The conditional berremmo has a double m; the future berremo has a single m.
Once bere is solid, look at the other hidden-stem verbs — dire (dic-: dico, dicevo) and fare (fac-: facevo, facciamo) — they follow the same logic of a short infinitive concealing a long stem.
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