Presente Indicativo: Complete Reference

This is the consolidated reference page for the Italian presente indicativo — every regular pattern in one table, plus the conjugations of the most important irregular verbs you'll need at A2/B1. Bookmark it. The detailed explanations live on the dedicated pages for each verb class and each irregular verb; this page is for quick lookup, drilling, and seeing the whole system at a glance.

All four regular patterns side by side

Italian regular verbs split into four groups based on the infinitive ending. The -ire class further splits into two subgroups: a pure subgroup (dormire-type) and a much larger -isco subgroup (capire-type).

Three things to internalize from this table:

1. The 1sg always ends in -o. Across all four classes: parlo, scrivo, dormo, capisco.
2. The voi ending tracks the infinitive: -ate / -ete / -ite (parlate, scrivete, dormite, capite).
3. The loro form is rizotonic in every class — stress on the root, not the ending: pàrlano, scrívono, dòrmono, capíscono. Getting this stress right is the fastest way to sound less like a learner.

For the full discussion of each pattern, see the dedicated pages: regular -are, regular -ere, regular -ire (pure), regular -ire (-isco).

A small recap of usage

The presente indicativo carries six distinct meanings in Italian:

1. Habitual action — Lavoro in banca ("I work at a bank")
2. Ongoing action right now — Cosa fai? — Leggo ("What are you doing? — I'm reading")
3. General truths and states — L'acqua bolle a cento gradi ("Water boils at 100 degrees")
4. Near future with a time anchor — Domani parto ("Tomorrow I'm leaving")
5. Historical present in narration — Dante nasce a Firenze nel 1265 ("Dante is born in Florence in 1265")
6. Promises and commitments — Ti chiamo io appena arrivo ("I'll call you as soon as I get there")

For the full treatment, see presente indicativo: overview.

The 21 most important irregulars

Here are the 21 irregular verbs you absolutely must know at A2-B1 level. Together they account for an enormous share of everyday Italian speech.

Group 1: The two essentials — essere and avere

Memorize these first. Every compound tense in Italian uses one of them as auxiliary. Note the silent h in ho, hai, ha, hanno — it's there to distinguish these from the unrelated words o (or), ai (to the), a (to), and anno (year).

Group 2: The g-pattern (1sg and 3pl insert a g)

These verbs insert a -g- before the n or vowel in the 1sg and 3pl, then return to the regular stem in the four middle forms.

Notice the e → ie stem change in venire (vieni) and tenere (tieni) in the four middle forms. This is the dittongo mobile — the diphthong appears under stress and disappears in the unstressed forms.

Group 3: Modal verbs (potere, volere, dovere)

Note the accent on può — without the accent, puo would be read as a different syllable structure. The form debbono (alongside devono) is older and slightly literary; devono is the everyday modern form.

Group 4: Movement and existence verbs

Note the orthographic dà (with grave accent) for he/she gives — to distinguish it from the preposition da (from). Similarly, you'll sometimes see dò (I give) accented in older writing to distinguish it from the musical note do and the noun do (the same note), but the unaccented do is now standard.

Group 5: The short-infinitive verbs (fare, dire, bere)

These descend from Latin verbs whose original stems still surface throughout the conjugation.

The fac- of fare comes from Latin facere, the dic- of dire from Latin dīcere, and the bev- of bere from Latin bibere. Porre (treated below) belongs to the same family.

Group 6: The remaining heavy hitters

Piacere is the most important verb you've never thought about: it works backwards relative to English. Mi piace il caffè literally means "coffee is pleasing to me" — the thing liked is the grammatical subject. Morire has the o → uo stem change (dittongo mobile) in the singular and 3pl. Porre is the gateway to a whole family of derivatives (proporre, comporre, supporre, esporre, imporre, disporre, etc.) — see porre and its derivatives.

Examples in context

The critical link to the presente congiuntivo

This is the single most useful payoff of mastering the irregular presente indicativo: the presente congiuntivo (subjunctive) reuses the same stem irregularities, anchored to the 1sg form.

The rule:

Take the 1sg presente indicativo, drop the -o, and you have the stem of the entire singular and 3pl of the presente congiuntivo. The 1pl and 2pl are formed from the same stem as the noi indicativo.

This rule covers virtually every irregular verb in Italian. Essere and avere are the two main exceptions (their congiuntivo is sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano and abbia, abbia, abbia, abbiamo, abbiate, abbiano), and they have to be memorized separately.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

The Italian presente indicativo is the most-used tense in the language, and this page collects everything you need to deploy it confidently:

1. Four regular patterns — parlare, scrivere, dormire, capire (-isco). Master the endings, watch the rizotonic stress on the loro form.

2. Twenty-one irregulars — essere, avere, andare, venire, fare, dire, sapere, stare, dare, potere, volere, dovere, uscire, bere, tenere, rimanere, salire, scegliere, morire, piacere, porre. With these you handle ~90% of everyday verbal needs.

3. The 1sg unlocks the congiuntivo — every irregular indicativo 1sg becomes the stem for the corresponding presente congiuntivo. Drilling the indicativo pays dividends across moods.

For deeper treatment of usage, see presente indicativo: overview, using the presente for the future, and the historical present.