Learn to read Italian
A short, active path into reading Italian: decode real words from a small sound guide, learn where the endings and the verb sit, meet the past that fables are printed in, and read a whole fable before opening your first book.
Verb lookup: the full shapes, when an ending blocks you
- Open this when an ending stops you mid-sentence. The readings ahead need none of it.
- Every plain form ends in -are, -ere or -ire. That is all the plain forms there are.
- The present endings are the same three sets for every regular verb.
- The full storytelling past is here for completeness; recognising the he/she shape is all reading asks.
You do not need this section to finish the lesson. Open it when an ending stops you mid-sentence and you want to see where that shape sits in its family. The two stories at the end use only shapes the core sections already showed you, so no table here has to be memorised — find the row, then go back to the line you were reading.
To be and to have, in full
| English | essere“to be” | avere“to have” |
|---|---|---|
| I | sono | ho |
| you | sei | hai |
| he, she, it | è | ha |
| we | siamo | abbiamo |
| you — more than one | siete | avete |
| they | sono | hanno |
The h is silent in all four of ho, hai, ha, hanno.
Present endings, by plain-form group
| Who | -are: volare | -ere: vedere | -ire: dormire |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | volo | vedo | dormo |
| you | voli | vedi | dormi |
| he, she, it | vola | vede | dorme |
| we | voliamo | vediamo | dormiamo |
| you — more than one | volate | vedete | dormite |
| they | volano | vedono | dormono |
The last letter or two is the subject in every row above. That single habit — read the end of the verb — is the one this path actually asks of you.
The storytelling past, in full
| Who | andare — regular | vedere — irregular |
|---|---|---|
| I | andai | vidi |
| you | andasti | vedesti |
| he, she, it | andò | vide |
| we | andammo | vedemmo |
| you — more than one | andaste | vedeste |
| they | andarono | videro |
A fable is told about somebody else, so the third row is the one you meet on nearly every line. The irregular verbs are irregular only in that row and the two around it; the rest is regular.
The describing past, and the speaking past
| Shape | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| era, aveva, dormiva | La casa era piccola.“The house was small.” | holds the story still and describes |
| ha dettoah DEHT-toh · è andatoeh ahn-DAH-toh | Ha detto di sì.“He said yes.” | the past Italians speak in; some verbs take ha and some take è, which this path skips |
| mi, ti, simee tee see before the verb | Si sveglia.“He wakes up.” · Si siede.“She sits down.” | the pattern behind mi chiamo: chiamarsi → mi chiamo, ti chiami, si chiama; the little word matches the ending |
Every plain form used on this path
| essere“to be” · avere“to have” · vedere“to see” · andare“to go” · venire“to come” |
| volare“to fly” · cadere“to fall” · dormire“to sleep” · bere“to drink” · chiamarsi“to be called” |
| dire“to say” · chiedere“to ask” · rispondere“to answer” · volere“to want” · potere“to be able” · dovere“to have to” |