1st Conjugation, -are

  • mangiare - to eat
  • io mangio (-o)
  • tu mangi (-i)
  • lui mangia (-a)
  • noi mangiamo (-iamo)
  • voi mangiate (-ate)
  • loro mangiano (-ano)

2nd Conjugation, -ere

  • credere - to believe
  • io credo (-o)
  • tu credi (-i)
  • lui crede (-e)
  • noi crediamo (-iamo)
  • voi credete (-ete)
  • loro credono (-ono)

3rd Conjugation, -ire

  • Type 1, dormire - to sleep
  • io dormo (-o)
  • tu dormi (-i)
  • lui dorme (-e)
  • noi dormiamo (-iamo)
  • voi dormite (-ite)
  • loro dormono (-ono)
  • Type 2, finire - to finish
  • io finisco (-isco)
  • tu finisci (-isci)
  • lui finisce (-isce)
  • noi finiamo (-iamo)
  • voi finite (-ite)
  • loro finiscono (-iscono)
The present tense is used to express actions that are happening now, or to indicate facts. It is the most commonly used tense in normal conversation. This encompasses both the English simple (I run) and continuous (I am running) present forms. Verbs in the present tense are conjugated by using a set of personal endings applied to the stem of the verb. Because each conjugated form is unique, the pronoun is optional and often dropped. For instance, to say 'I read the book', you can drop the 'io' and just say, 'leggo il libro.'

These endings are mostly the same for each of the three verb conjugations, except for slight vowel changes. The trickiest thing to remember here is that there are two types of third conjugation verbs, and there's no easy way to tell which group a particular verb belongs to. This is just something to memorize.

One last thing to note is that there is a minor spelling change for verbs that end in -gare or -care. To preserve the hard sound, an 'h' is inserted before the -i and -iamo endings. So, 'we pay' (pagare) would be conjugated 'noi paghiamo.'

1st Conjugation, -ato

  • parlare - to speak
  • io ho parlato
  • tu hai parlato
  • lui ha parlato
  • noi abbiamo parlato
  • voi avete parlato
  • loro hanno parlato

2nd Conjugation, -uto

  • volere - to want
  • io ho voluto
  • tu hai voluto
  • lui ha voluto
  • noi abbiamo voluto
  • voi avete voluto
  • loro hanno voluto

3nd Conjugation, -ito

  • capire - to understand
  • io ho capito
  • tu hai capito
  • lui ha capito
  • noi abbiamo capito
  • voi avete capito
  • loro hanno capito
The present perfect is used to describe completed event, and is a compound tense formed using a conjugated auxiliary verb (avere or essere) and a past participle. The past particple is formed by replacing the infinite ending with '-ato', '-uto', or '-ito' for the three verb types respectively, as shown int he table above. Most verbs take avere as the auxiliary verb. But some verbs take essere. The verbs that require essere are intransitive (do not take direct object), and usually involve motion. Common examples are venire, andare, cadere, uscire, essere, and nascere.

Note that when a verb takes essere, the participle will change its ending to agree with the subject. So 'lui è venuto', but 'lei è venuta', and 'noi siamo arrivati'.

1st Conjugation, -are

  • pensare - to think
  • io pensavo (-vo)
  • tu pensavi (-vi)
  • lui pensava (-va)
  • noi pensavamo (-vamo)
  • voi pensavate (-vate)
  • loro pensavano (-vano)

2nd Conjugation, -ere

  • sapere - to know
  • io sapevo (-o)
  • tu sapevi (-vi)
  • lui sapeva (-va)
  • noi sapevamo (-vamo)
  • voi sapevate (-vate)
  • loro sapevano (-vano)

3nd Conjugation, -ire

  • venire - to come
  • io venivo (-vo)
  • tu venivi (-vi)
  • lui veniva (-va)
  • noi venivamo (-vamo)
  • voi venivate (-vate)
  • loro venivano (-vano)
The imperfect is used to describe events in the past. Specifically, events that are continuous or were habitual or repeated. 'Yesterday, while I was sleeping...', or 'When I was in Europe last summer...'. The imperfect is also used to construct the pluperfect tense, using the imperfect of avere or essere and the past participle.

Personally, I think the imperfect is the easiest tense to conjugate and remember. Take the infinitive, remove the final -re, and append the right personal ending. The endings are the same across all three conjugations.
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1st Conjugation, -are

  • incontrare - to meet
  • io incontrerò (-ò)
  • tu incontrerai (-ai)
  • lui incontrerà (-à)
  • noi incontreremo (-emo)
  • voi incontrerete (-ete)
  • loro incontreranno (-anno)

2nd Conjugation, -ere

  • mettere - to put
  • io metterò (-ò)
  • tu metterai (-ai)
  • lui metterà (-à)
  • noi metteremo (-emo)
  • voi metterete (-ete)
  • loro metteranno (-anno)

3nd Conjugation, -ire

  • pulire - to cleanr
  • io pulirò (-ò)
  • tu pulirai (-ai)
  • lui pulirà (-à)
  • noi puliremo (-emo)
  • voi pulirete (-ete)
  • loro puliranno (-anno)
The simple future tense is used to describe events that will happen in the future.

The future conjugation is constructed by dropping the final 'e' of the infinite ending and adding the appropriate personal endings. First conjugation verbs get changed from -ar to -er, but the personal endings are the same across all three verb conjugations, so that's nice. Similar to the present tense, verbs that end in -care and -gare, an h is added to preserve the hard sounds.

The simple future can also be used to construct compund tenses like the future perfect, which uses the future conjugation of avere or essere with a past participle (e.g., 'Sarò andato' means 'I will have gone')

1st Conjugation, -are

  • arrivare - to arrive
  • io arrivai (-ai)
  • tu arrivasti (-asti)
  • lui arrivò (-ò)
  • noi arrivammo (-ammo)
  • voi arrivaste (-aste)
  • loro arrivarono (-arono)

2nd Conjugation, -ere

  • perdere - to lose
  • io perdei (-ei) [persi]
  • tu perdesti (-esti)
  • lui perdé (-é) [perse]
  • noi perdemmo (-emmo)
  • voi perdeste (-este)
  • loro perderono (-erono) [persero]

3nd Conjugation, -ire

  • partire - to depart, leave
  • io partii (-ii)
  • tu partisti (-isti)
  • lui partì (-ì)
  • noi partimmo (-immo)
  • voi partiste (-iste)
  • loro partirono (-irono)
The preterite (or past absoloute, or passato remoto) is a way of expressing events that occurred in the distant past. It is commonly used when describing historical events, or in literary works. Conversationally, it can be used in many of the same cases as the present perfect, but this is more common in some dialects than others.

The preterite is constructed by dropping in the infinite ending and adding the appropriate personal endings. These endings are mostly similar across the three verb types, except for vowel changes.

Note, the forms in square brackets are irregular, but sometimes seen instead of the regular forms.