Verbs: Present 1
I do!
Some Italian verbs are special: they don't follow the patterns you've already seen. Unfortunately, this means that you'll have to learn their forms by heart.
An example is fare, a very useful verb that means both to do and to make.
Cosa fate?
What do you do?
Noi facciamo torte.
We make cakes.
These are the forms of the verb fare.
io
I | faccio
do / make |
tu
you | fai
do / make |
lui / lei
he / she | fa
does / makes |
noi
we | facciamo
do / make |
voi
you all | fate
do / make |
loro
they | fanno
do / make |
How are you?
If you want to ask How are you? in Italian, just say Come stai?.
Ciao, come stai?
Hi, how are you?
To ask how other people are, just use different forms of the verb stare.
Come sta?
How is he/she/it?
Come stanno?
How are they?
How’s it going?
One of the most special verbs in Italian is andare, to go. Notice how its forms are very different from each other.
io
I | vado
go |
tu
you | vai
go |
lui / lei
he / she | va
goes |
noi
we | andiamo
go |
voi
you all | andate
go |
loro
they | vanno
go |
Andare is also used in the common expression Come va?, which means How's it going?
Come va? and Come stai? have almost the same meaning. You can use whichever one you like better!