Common Irregular Present-Tense Verbs

In brief

Some everyday Italian verbs have present-tense forms you cannot reliably guess from their infinitives. Learn the forms of essere (to be), avere (to have), andare (to go), and fare (to do or make) as whole words. As with other Italian verbs, the ending often tells you who is acting, so the subject pronoun can be left out.

Form

Present tense: essere → sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono; avere → ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno; andare → vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno; fare → faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno (in the order I, you singular, he/she, we, you plural, they).

Usage

• Use essere for identity or location: Sono a casa. (I’m at home.)
• Use avere for possession or age: Ho vent’anni. (I’m twenty years old.)
• Use andare for going somewhere and fare for doing an activity.

Examples

• Sono a casa. — I’m at home.
• Hai un libro? — Do you have a book?
• Andiamo al mercato. — We’re going to the market.
• Faccio colazione alle otto. — I have breakfast at eight.

Common mistake

❌ Ando al mercato.

✅ Vado al mercato.

The first-person singular of andare is vado, not ando: ‘I’m going to the market.’

Remember

Memorize the most useful forms in short sentences: sono, ho, vado, faccio.