Regular Verbs in the Present Tense

In brief

In Italian, a regular verb changes its ending to show who does an action. The present tense describes what happens now or what you do regularly. You can often leave out the subject pronoun because the ending already identifies the person: parlo means ‘I speak.’

Form

Remove -are, -ere or -ire from the infinitive, then add the ending for the subject. For -are: -o, -i, -a, -iamo, -ate, -ano; for -ere: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono; for regular -ire verbs like dormire: -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ite, -ono (io, tu, lui/lei, noi, voi, loro).

Usage

• Use the present for an action happening now: Mangio una mela (‘I’m eating an apple’).
• Use it for habits: Lavoro ogni giorno (‘I work every day’).
• Use the verb ending to identify the subject even when you omit the pronoun.

Examples

• Parlo italiano. — I speak Italian.
• Lavori oggi? — Are you working today?
• Prendiamo il treno. — We’re taking the train.
• Dormono ancora. — They’re still sleeping.

Common mistake

❌ Io parlare italiano.

✅ Parlo italiano.

Use the conjugated present-tense form parlo for ‘I speak,’ not the infinitive parlare.

Remember

The ending changes with the subject; an explicit subject pronoun is usually optional.