Regular -ere Verbs

The -ere verbs are the second major regular family in Italian, and while they're less numerous than -are verbs, they include some of the most frequent words in the language: prendere (to take), leggere (to read), scrivere (to write), vedere (to see), mettere (to put), chiedere (to ask), rispondere (to answer), vivere (to live). Their present tense endings are -o, -i, -e, -iamo, -ete, -ono, so prendere becomes prendo, prendi, prende, prendiamo, prendete, prendono. Notice how the io and tu forms (-o, -i) are identical to the -are endings, which makes the pattern a little easier to absorb.

One thing to watch out for is stress. In the loro form (prendono, leggono, scrivono), the stress falls on the stem, which can sound surprising the first time you hear it — "PREN-do-no," not "pren-DO-no." Getting this right early will help your spoken Italian sound more authentic. Another point worth noting is that many -ere verbs have irregular past participles, which you'll meet later in passato prossimo: prendere → preso, leggere → letto, scrivere → scritto, mettere → messo, vedere → visto/veduto, chiedere → chiesto, rispondere → risposto. You don't need those yet at A1 level, but it's reassuring to know that the present tense of these verbs is regular even when the past isn't.

A good number of Italian -ere verbs pack a lot of everyday meaning into just one word: Prendo un caffè (I'll have a coffee), Leggo un libro (I'm reading a book), Scrivi un messaggio (You're writing a message), Vediamo un film (We're watching a movie), Rispondono alle domande (They answer the questions), Chiudo la porta (I'm closing the door), Conosco Milano (I know Milan). You'll also meet vivere, which overlaps with abitare: abitare focuses on where you reside, while vivere carries a broader sense of living a life (Vivo in Italia da dieci anni).

Some -ere verbs are regular in the present tense but have surprising spellings or pronunciations you should watch for. The c and g in verbs like leggere, conoscere, vincere are hard before -o and soft before -i/-e, so leggo (leg-go) becomes leggi (led-ji) — the same letter reads differently depending on the vowel that follows. Building an ear for this is part of learning to speak confidently. The exercises below will take you through the six endings across many common -ere verbs, in full sentences and mini-dialogues, so the pattern becomes automatic. Once it does, you'll have unlocked a huge chunk of the actions Italians perform every day and be well-positioned to tackle the -ire family next.