Leggere (to read) is conjugated almost entirely like a regular -ere verb. Its two irregularities are exactly the same shape as in scrivere: a -ssi passato remoto (lessi) and a -tto past participle (letto). What makes leggere distinctive is its spelling — the digraph gg changes pronunciation depending on the vowel that follows, but the spelling itself stays put. This is automatic and predictable: once you understand the rule, you never have to think about it again.
Leggere is also one of the verbs you will conjugate constantly while learning Italian itself, since "to read" is the basic action of language study. Drilling its full paradigm pays back immediately in everyday classroom speech.
Indicativo presente
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| io | leggo | /'lɛɡɡo/ — hard g |
| tu | leggi | /'lɛddʒi/ — soft g |
| lui / lei / Lei | legge | /'lɛddʒe/ — soft g |
| noi | leggiamo | /led'dʒamo/ — soft g (the i is silent, just a marker) |
| voi | leggete | /led'dʒete/ — soft g |
| loro | leggono | /'lɛɡɡono/ — hard g |
Notice that leggo and leggono (before o) are pronounced with a hard /ɡɡ/, while leggi, legge, leggiamo, leggete (before e or i) are pronounced with a soft /ddʒ/. The spelling never adds an h — that's only needed when you want to force a hard sound before e or i (as in spaghetti or paghi). Leggere doesn't need it because the soft sound is exactly what we want before e and i.
In leggiamo, the i is purely orthographic — it tells you the gg is soft, but you don't actually pronounce a separate i vowel. The form is three syllables (leg-già-mo), with the stress on the second.
Leggo un libro al mese, più o meno.
I read about one book a month.
Cosa leggi di bello?
What are you reading these days?
In casa nostra leggiamo molti gialli.
At our place we read a lot of crime novels.
I miei figli non leggono mai i libri di scuola.
My kids never read their school books.
Imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | leggevo |
| tu | leggevi |
| lui / lei / Lei | leggeva |
| noi | leggevamo |
| voi | leggevate |
| loro | leggevano |
All forms have soft /ddʒ/ because every ending begins with e. Fully regular.
Da bambino leggevo solo fumetti.
As a child I only used to read comics.
Mentre leggevamo, è entrato il professore.
While we were reading, the professor came in.
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | lessi |
| tu | leggesti |
| lui / lei / Lei | lesse |
| noi | leggemmo |
| voi | leggeste |
| loro | lessero |
Same -ssi pattern as scrivere. The 1sg, 3sg, and 3pl take the contracted less- stem (note: the gg digraph has collapsed to ss — no g at all); the other three persons keep the full legg- stem with regular endings.
This 1-3-3 alternation is why this group is called irregular passato remoto with double consonant — the -ss- in lessi is the diagnostic. Notice the pronunciation: lessi is /'lɛssi/ with no g at all.
Lessi 'Il deserto dei tartari' a sedici anni e mi cambiò la vita.
I read 'The Tartar Steppe' at sixteen and it changed my life.
I monaci medievali lessero e copiarono i testi classici per secoli.
Medieval monks read and copied classical texts for centuries.
Futuro semplice
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | leggerò |
| tu | leggerai |
| lui / lei / Lei | leggerà |
| noi | leggeremo |
| voi | leggerete |
| loro | leggeranno |
Regular, with the thematic vowel preserved (leggere → legger-ò). All forms have soft /ddʒ/ because the future endings all start with e.
Leggerò il tuo manoscritto questo weekend, te lo prometto.
I'll read your manuscript this weekend, I promise.
Condizionale presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | leggerei |
| tu | leggeresti |
| lui / lei / Lei | leggerebbe |
| noi | leggeremmo |
| voi | leggereste |
| loro | leggerebbero |
Note again the double m in leggeremmo — the universal -ere conditional trap.
Leggerei volentieri qualcosa di divertente, hai dei consigli?
I'd happily read something fun — any recommendations?
Congiuntivo presente
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | legga |
| (che) tu | legga |
| (che) lui / lei | legga |
| (che) noi | leggiamo |
| (che) voi | leggiate |
| (che) loro | leggano |
Watch the pronunciation: legga and leggano (before a) are hard /ɡɡ/, while leggiamo and leggiate (before i) are soft /ddʒ/. Same digraph, different sound — driven entirely by the following vowel.
Voglio che leggiate questo articolo prima della prossima lezione.
I want you to read this article before the next class.
Spero che lui legga le mie note.
I hope he reads my notes.
Congiuntivo imperfetto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (che) io | leggessi |
| (che) tu | leggessi |
| (che) lui / lei | leggesse |
| (che) noi | leggessimo |
| (che) voi | leggeste |
| (che) loro | leggessero |
Regular. All forms soft /ddʒ/.
Se leggessi di più, scriveresti meglio.
If you read more, you'd write better.
Imperativo
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | leggi |
| Lei (formal) | legga |
| noi | leggiamo |
| voi | leggete |
| loro (formal pl.) | leggano |
The negative tu form uses the infinitive: non leggere ad alta voce! ("don't read aloud!"). Notice that legga (formal singular) and leggano (formal plural) are hard /ɡɡ/ — these are the forms a server might use with you in a refined restaurant when handing you a menu: Legga pure con calma ("Take your time reading").
Leggi questo paragrafo ad alta voce, per favore.
Read this paragraph out loud, please.
Leggete attentamente le istruzioni prima di iniziare.
Read the instructions carefully before starting.
Forme non finite
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Infinito presente | leggere |
| Infinito passato | aver(e) letto |
| Gerundio presente | leggendo |
| Gerundio passato | avendo letto |
| Participio passato | letto |
The participle letto is irregular in the same way as scritto, fatto, detto, rotto, cotto — the -tto class. The expected regular legguto simply does not exist. Letto is also a noun meaning "bed" — context resolves the ambiguity instantly.
Ho letto un bel romanzo a letto ieri sera.
I read a nice novel in bed last night.
Compound tenses
Leggere takes avere as its auxiliary. The participle does not agree with the subject but agrees with a preceding direct-object pronoun.
| Tense | io | noi |
|---|---|---|
| Passato prossimo | ho letto | abbiamo letto |
| Trapassato prossimo | avevo letto | avevamo letto |
| Trapassato remoto | ebbi letto | avemmo letto |
| Futuro anteriore | avrò letto | avremo letto |
| Condizionale passato | avrei letto | avremmo letto |
| Congiuntivo passato | abbia letto | abbiamo letto |
| Congiuntivo trapassato | avessi letto | avessimo letto |
Hai mai letto qualcosa di Calvino?
Have you ever read anything by Calvino?
Le istruzioni? Le ho lette tre volte e ancora non capisco.
The instructions? I've read them three times and I still don't understand.
In the second example, lette agrees with the preceding pronoun le (feminine plural).
A note on stress
Italian words have lexical stress that is not marked in writing (except on final-stressed words). For leggere, the stress falls on the first syllable in: lèggo, lèggi, lègge, lèggono, lèggano, lèggi (imp.), lègga, lèssi, lèsse, lèssero. It moves to the second syllable in: leggiàmo, leggéte, leggévo (and most other forms). Getting the stress right matters — léggono sounds confident and Italian; leggóno sounds Spanish-influenced and immediately marks you as a beginner.
Common mistakes
❌ Ho leggiuto il libro.
Incorrect — leggere has an irregular participle.
✅ Ho letto il libro.
Correct — letto with -tt-.
❌ Loro leggono /led'dʒono/.
Incorrect pronunciation — before o, gg is hard /ɡɡ/.
✅ Loro leggono /'lɛɡɡono/.
Correct — hard g before o.
❌ Lui legghe il giornale.
Incorrect — leggere doesn't add an h before e.
✅ Lui legge il giornale.
Correct — gg before e is naturally soft, no h needed.
❌ Manzoni leggé i classici latini.
Incorrect — leggere is irregular in the passato remoto.
✅ Manzoni lesse i classici latini.
Correct — lesse with -ss-.
❌ Penso che tu leggi troppo.
Incorrect — penso che triggers the subjunctive.
✅ Penso che tu legga troppo.
Correct — legga is the congiuntivo presente.
Key takeaways
Leggere is regular everywhere except in the passato remoto (lessi/lesse/lessero — the -ssi pattern with the gg collapsing to ss) and the participle (letto — the -tto pattern). The spelling gg stays constant; the sound flips automatically between hard /ɡɡ/ and soft /ddʒ/ based on the following vowel.
The same -ssi/-tto pattern governs scrivere and other verbs in the irregular double-consonant passato remoto class. Drilling these together pays off — they form one of the largest groups of "irregular" -ere verbs in the language.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Scrivere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of scrivere (to write) — a regular -ere verb in most tenses, with the diagnostic -ssi passato remoto and irregular -tto past participle scritto.
- Essere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of essere (to be) across every tense and mood — the most irregular and one of the two most-used verbs in Italian.
- Avere: Full ConjugationA1 — Complete paradigm of avere (to have) across every tense and mood — the most-used verb in Italian and the auxiliary for the majority of compound tenses.
- Passato Remoto: Double-Consonant Stems (bere, cadere, avere)B1 — The second great irregular family of the passato remoto — verbs whose io, lui, and loro forms double their stem-final consonant: ebbi, bevvi, caddi, seppi, volli, venni, stetti.