How to Form First-Conjugation (-are) Verbs in Italian

Infinitives of all regular verbs in Italian end in –are, –ere, or –ire and are referred to as first-, second-, or third-conjugation verbs, respectively. In English, the infinitive (linfinito) consists of to verb. Amare - To loveTemere - To fearSentire - To hear What are First-Conjugation Verbs? Verbs with infinitives ending in –are are called first-conjugation, or –are, verbs. The present tense of a regular –are verb is formed by dropping the infinitive ending –are and adding the appropriate endings to the resulting stem. There is a different ending for each person. Characteristics of the First Conjugation Verbs ending in -care and -gare With verbs ending in –care (cercare - to try, caricare - to charge) and –gare (litigare - to fight, legare - to bond), add an â€Å"h† immediately after the root when declinations start with â€Å"e† or â€Å"i† to maintain the hard â€Å"c† or hard â€Å"g† sound. Cercare - To try, to look (for) io cerco noi cerchiamo tu cerchi voi cercate lui, lei, Lei cerca loro, Loro cercano The spelling also changes with the first person in the future with â€Å"io cercherà ² - I will try.† Legare - To bond, to tie io lego noi leghiamo tu leghi voi legate lui, lei, Lei lega loro, Loro legano The spelling also changes with the first person in the future with â€Å"io legherà ² - I will tie.† Verbs ending in -ciare and -giare With verbs ending in –ciare (baciare - to kiss), –giare (mangiare - to eat), and –sciare (lasciare - to leave), drop the â€Å"i† of the root when declinations start with â€Å"e† or â€Å"i.† Cominciare - To start io comincio noi cominciamo tu cominci voi cominciate lui, lei, Lei comincia loro, Loro cominciano The spelling also changes with the first person in the future with â€Å"io comincerà ² - I will start.† Mangiare - To eat io mangio noi mangiamo tu mangi voi mangiate lui, lei, Lei mangia loro, Loro mangiano The spelling also changes with the first person in the future with â€Å"io mangerà ² - I will eat.† Strisciare - To crawl io striscio noi strisciamo tu strisci voi strisciate lui, lei, Lei striscia loro, Loro strisciano The spelling also changes with the first person in the future with â€Å"io striscerà ² - I will crawl.† Verbs ending in -iare With verbs ending in –iare (inviare, studiare, gonfiare), the â€Å"i† of the root stays, except for with the declinations –iamo and –iate. The â€Å"i† of the root is dropped with declinations that start with i (–i, –iamo, –iate, –ino) or in the first person singular of the present indicative (io stà ¹dio). Spiare - To spy io spio noi spiamo che tu spii voi spiate lui, lei, Lei spia loro, Loro spiano Studiare - To study io studio noi studiamo che tu studii voi studiate lui, lei, Lei studia loro, Loro studiano Verbs ending in –gliare Verbs ending in –gliare (tagliare - to cut, pigliare - to take): drop the i of the root only before the vowel i. Tagliare - To cut io taglio noi tagliamo tu tagli voi tagliate lui, lei, Lei taglia loro, Loro tagliano Pigliare - To take io piglio noi pigliamo tu pigli voi pigliate lui, lei, Lei piglia loro, Loro pigliano Verbs ending in -gnare Verbs ending in –gnare are regular, therefore the â€Å"i† of the endings –iamo (indicative and present conjunctive) and –iate (present conjunctive) is maintained. Regnare - To rule io regno noi regniamo tu regni voi regnate lui, lei, Lei regna loro, Loro regnano