Italian verbs fall into three conjugation groups based on their infinitive endings. Regular "-are" verbs like parlare (to speak), mangiare (to eat), amare (to love), and lavorare (to work) follow the endings -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano across the six subject pronouns. So parlare becomes "io parlo" (I speak), "tu parli" (you speak), "lui/lei parla" (he/she speaks), "noi parliamo" (we speak), "voi parlate" (you all speak), and "loro parlano" (they speak).
The second group, "-ere" verbs such as scrivere (to write), leggere (to read), and prendere (to take), use the endings -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono. Thus scrivere conjugates as "io scrivo," "tu scrivi," "lui/lei scrive," "noi scriviamo," "voi scrivete," "loro scrivono." The third group, "-ire" verbs, generally follows -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono endings. Verbs like dormire (to sleep) and partire (to leave) become "io dormo," "tu dormi," and so on. However, some "-ire" verbs such as capire (to understand) insert "-isc-" before the endings: "io capisco," "tu capisci," "lui/lei capisce," "noi capiamo," "voi capite," "loro capiscono."
Two essential irregular verbs anchor the language: "essere" (to be) and "avere" (to have). Essere conjugates as io sono, tu sei, lui/lei è, noi siamo, voi siete, loro sono. Avere conjugates as io ho, tu hai, lui/lei ha, noi abbiamo, voi avete, loro hanno. When forming compound tenses, "essere" is used with verbs of motion or state change (like andare, venire, partire) and reflexive verbs, while "avere" is used with most transitive verbs. Notably, Italian uses "avere" for some expressions where English uses "to be": for example, "I am hungry" becomes "Ho fame" (literally "I have hunger"), and "I am 25 years old" becomes "Ho venticinque anni" (literally "I have 25 years"). Similarly, possession is expressed with avere: "I have a dog" is "Ho un cane."