This page consolidates everything about Italian motion verbs into one reference: the core verbs, their preposition pairings, the auxiliary they take in compound tenses (essere is the default, but a small set of motion verbs takes avere), and the deictic logic that decides which verb you reach for in any given situation. Use this page when you need a single look-up for any of these verbs and link out to the dedicated pages for deeper treatment.
The core motion verbs at a glance
| Verb | Meaning | Auxiliary | Typical preposition |
|---|---|---|---|
| andare | to go | essere | a, in, da |
| venire | to come | essere | a, in, da |
| tornare | to return, come back | essere | a, in, da |
| arrivare | to arrive | essere | a, in |
| partire | to leave, depart | essere | da, per |
| entrare | to enter | essere | in |
| uscire | to go out, leave | essere | di (casa), da |
| salire | to go up, get on | essere | su, in (vehicle) |
| scendere | to go down, get off | essere | da, in (place) |
| passare | to pass, drop by | essere / avere | da, per, di |
| cadere | to fall | essere | da, in |
| viaggiare | to travel | avere | in, per |
| camminare | to walk | avere | per, in |
| nuotare | to swim | avere | in |
| correre | to run | avere / essere | per, a |
| volare | to fly | avere / essere | a, in |
The essere default — and why
The general rule: verbs of motion that describe a change of location take essere. Andare, venire, tornare, partire, arrivare, entrare, uscire, salire, scendere, cadere — all of them. The reasoning: these verbs describe the subject undergoing a change of state (being here, then being there). Italian assigns essere to verbs of changed-state, much as it does for verbs of becoming (diventare, nascere, morire).
Sono andata in centro stamattina.
I went downtown this morning.
Marco è tornato dalle vacanze ieri.
Marco got back from vacation yesterday.
I bambini sono saliti in macchina di corsa.
The kids hopped into the car.
Sono caduta dalle scale stamattina.
I fell down the stairs this morning.
The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject — the standard essere rule.
The avere exceptions: viaggiare, camminare, nuotare
A small but important set of motion verbs takes avere, not essere. The grammatical reason: these verbs describe the manner of motion rather than the change of location. They tell you how the subject moves (walking, swimming, traveling) without specifying a destination or change of place. Italian treats these as activities, more like lavorare or cantare than like andare or arrivare.
The core list is short: viaggiare (travel), camminare (walk), nuotare (swim), passeggiare (stroll), navigare (sail, browse the web), sciare (ski), pattinare (skate), galoppare (gallop). All of these take avere.
Ho viaggiato tutto l'anno scorso, sono stato in dieci paesi.
I traveled all of last year — I was in ten countries.
Abbiamo camminato per due ore in montagna.
We walked for two hours in the mountains.
I bambini hanno nuotato fino alla boa.
The kids swam out to the buoy.
Hanno passeggiato lungo il fiume tutto il pomeriggio.
They strolled along the river all afternoon.
The auxiliary-flexible verbs: correre, volare, saltare, passare
A few motion verbs alternate between auxiliaries depending on whether the focus is on the destination (essere) or the activity (avere). The same verb shifts auxiliary based on its frame.
| Verb | With essere (destination, change of place) | With avere (activity, manner) |
|---|---|---|
| correre | Sono corsa a casa (I ran home) | Ho corso un'ora (I ran for an hour) |
| volare | È volato a Parigi (he flew to Paris) | L'aereo ha volato per nove ore (the plane flew for nine hours) |
| saltare | È saltato giù dal muro (he jumped down off the wall) | Ho saltato di gioia (I jumped for joy) |
| passare | Sono passato da te (I dropped by your place) | Ho passato l'esame (I passed the exam) |
Sono corsa a casa appena ho saputo la notizia.
I ran home as soon as I heard the news.
Ho corso per un'ora intera al parco stamattina.
I ran for a whole hour at the park this morning.
È volato a Parigi per il weekend.
He flew to Paris for the weekend.
L'aereo ha volato per nove ore senza scali.
The plane flew for nine hours non-stop.
For the full treatment, see auxiliary choice and ambiguous auxiliary verbs.
The deictic system: andare, venire, tornare
Italian motion verbs encode where the speaker (or listener) is — much more strictly than English does. Andare and venire are not interchangeable; the choice depends on the reference point.
- andare — moves away from the speaker's reference point
- venire — moves toward the speaker or listener's location
- tornare — returns to a previous reference point (often where the speaker is or has been)
The classic English-speaker error: when invited somewhere, English speakers say "I'm coming" and reach for vengo. This is correct in Italian — and crucially, not vado. From the listener's perspective, you are coming toward them. "Vengo subito!" ("I'll be right there!") is the natural answer to an invitation; "Vado subito" would mean "I'm leaving right now (going away from where I am)."
— Vieni alla festa stasera? — Sì, vengo!
— Are you coming to the party tonight? — Yes, I'm coming!
Vado al supermercato, torno tra un'ora.
I'm going to the supermarket, I'll be back in an hour.
Marco è tornato a Milano dopo due anni a Londra.
Marco came back to Milan after two years in London.
For the full deictic logic, see Andare, Venire, Tornare: Directional Contrast.
Vertical motion: salire, scendere
Salire ("to go up, climb, get on") and scendere ("to go down, descend, get off") cover both literal vertical motion and the very common "boarding / disembarking" sense for vehicles.
- Salire le scale — to go up the stairs (transitive — note the rare transitive use of a motion verb)
- Salire su + place — to climb on top of something
- Salire in macchina / in treno / in autobus — to get into a car / on a train / on the bus
- Scendere dal treno / dall'autobus — to get off the train / the bus
Saliamo sul tetto a vedere il tramonto.
Let's go up on the roof to see the sunset.
Sono salita in macchina e ho dimenticato l'ombrello a casa.
I got into the car and forgot my umbrella at home.
Scendiamo alla prossima fermata.
We're getting off at the next stop.
È sceso dalle scale di corsa.
He came down the stairs running.
Both verbs take essere when intransitive (the standard motion-verb pattern) but avere when transitive: Ho salito le scale ("I climbed the stairs"), Ho sceso le scale ("I went down the stairs"). This rare transitive use is the same auxiliary-shift pattern as passare, correre, and volare.
Crossing thresholds: entrare, uscire
Entrare ("to enter") pairs with in: entrare in casa, entrare in classe, entrare nel negozio. Entrare a is non-standard.
Uscire ("to leave, go out") splits its preposition by what kind of place: uscire di casa (one's own home — the bare-noun expression) versus uscire da + article + place (anywhere else): uscire dal negozio, dall'ufficio, dalla riunione.
Esco di casa alle otto e arrivo in ufficio per le nove.
I leave home at eight and get to the office by nine.
Quando entro in classe, gli studenti già lavorano in silenzio.
When I walk into the classroom, the students are already working silently.
For the full treatment, see Entrare and Uscire.
Departing and arriving: partire, arrivare
Partire takes da + origin and per + destination: Parto da Milano per Roma alle otto.
Arrivare splits by destination type: a + city/specific place (arrivo a Roma, arrivo all'aeroporto, arrivo a casa) and in + country/region (arrivo in Italia, arrivo in Toscana).
Parto da Roma alle sette e arrivo a Milano per pranzo.
I'm leaving Rome at seven and getting to Milan in time for lunch.
Sono arrivati in Sicilia ieri sera, finalmente in vacanza.
They arrived in Sicily last night, finally on vacation.
The construction arrivare a + infinitive ("to manage to") is heavily used, often in the negative: Non arrivo a capire ("I can't figure it out"). For the full treatment, see Partire and Arrivare.
Stopping by and going back: passare, tornare
Passare is the auxiliary-flexible standout: essere for intransitive motion (sono passato di qui) and impersonal time-elapsing (sono passati tre anni); avere for transitive uses (ho passato l'esame, ho passato tre ore, mi ha passato il sale).
The three prepositions distinguish: passare da + person/place (stop by), passare per + place (pass through, on the way somewhere), passare di + qui/lì (pass by here, directional).
Tornare ("to return, come back") always takes essere. The standout pattern is tornare a + infinitive ("to do something again"): È tornato a piovere ("It started raining again"), Sono tornato a fumare ("I started smoking again"). For the full treatment, see Passare and Tornare.
Common mistakes
❌ Ho viaggiato a Roma.
Confusing — viaggiare emphasizes the act of traveling, not the destination. For 'I went to Rome', use andare.
✅ Sono andato a Roma. / Ho viaggiato in Italia.
Correct — andare for the trip; viaggiare for the activity of traveling.
❌ Sono camminato in centro.
Incorrect — camminare always takes avere, even when you walked somewhere.
✅ Ho camminato in centro. / Sono andato in centro a piedi.
Correct — camminare with avere; or use andare a piedi for 'walked there as a destination'.
❌ Ho andato al cinema.
Incorrect — andare always takes essere.
✅ Sono andato al cinema.
Correct — essere with participle agreement.
❌ — Vieni alla festa? — Sì, vado!
Incorrect deictic — from the listener's reference point you are coming, not going. Use vengo.
✅ — Vieni alla festa? — Sì, vengo!
Correct — vengo for accepting an invitation.
❌ Salgo nella macchina.
Incorrect — with vehicles, Italian uses bare 'in' (no article): 'in macchina', not the contracted 'nella macchina'.
✅ Salgo in macchina.
Correct — bare 'in' (no article) is the fixed expression for boarding a vehicle.
❌ Sono passato l'esame con il massimo dei voti.
Incorrect — transitive passare (with l'esame as direct object) takes avere.
✅ Ho passato l'esame con il massimo dei voti.
Correct — avere with a direct object.
Key takeaways
The default auxiliary for Italian motion verbs is essere. The exceptions to memorize: viaggiare, camminare, nuotare, passeggiare, navigare, sciare, pattinare all take avere because they describe the manner of motion, not a change of location.
A small set is auxiliary-flexible: correre, volare, saltare, passare take essere when describing a change of place and avere when describing the activity itself. Salire and scendere also shift to avere when transitive (ho salito le scale).
The deictic distinction between andare (away from speaker) and venire (toward speaker/listener) is rigid in Italian — accepting an invitation requires vengo, not vado.
The preposition system follows distinct logic for each verb: entrare in, uscire di casa / da + place, partire da + origin / per + destination, arrivare a + city / in + country, passare da/per/di, salire in + vehicle / su + surface, scendere da + vehicle.
For deeper treatment of any single verb, follow the links to the dedicated pages. For the underlying auxiliary-selection logic, see auxiliary verbs overview.
Now practice Italian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Motion Verbs: OverviewA2 — Why most Italian motion verbs take essere in compound tenses — and the small but critical list of exceptions that take avere instead.
- Andare, Venire, Tornare: Directional ContrastA1 — Three motion verbs that English collapses into 'go' and 'come' — and the deictic logic Italian uses to keep them apart, including the trap of 'I'm coming' vs 'vengo.'
- Entrare and Uscire: Enter and ExitA1 — How entrare and uscire pair with their prepositions — entrare in, uscire da, plus the idiomatic 'di casa' for one's own home — and why both take essere in compound tenses.
- Partire and Arrivare: Leave and ArriveA1 — How partire and arrivare pair with their prepositions — partire da/per for departure points and destinations, arrivare a/in for cities and countries — plus the 'arrivare a + infinitive' construction every learner needs.
- Passare and Tornare: Pass By and ReturnA2 — Why passare splits its auxiliary between essere (motion) and avere (transitive), how 'passare da' differs from 'passare per', and the everyday tornare patterns that English speakers learn last.
- Auxiliary Verbs: avere, essere, stareA2 — The three auxiliary verbs that build Italian's compound tenses, the progressive, and the imminent future — and why getting them right is foundational.