Common Irregular Verbs

Italian has a group of irregular verbs that refuse to follow the neat -are, -ere, -ire patterns — and unfortunately, they also happen to be among the most frequently used verbs in the entire language. Andare (to go), fare (to do/make), stare (to stay/be), dare (to give), venire (to come), dire (to say), uscire (to go out), rimanere (to stay) are ones you simply must memorize, because you'll hit them constantly from your very first conversation onward. The good news is that there are only about a dozen truly essential irregular verbs at A1 level, and once you've locked them in, the rest of the language opens up quickly.

Look at how varied these forms are: andare gives us vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno; fare gives us faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno; venire gives us vengo, vieni, viene, veniamo, venite, vengono; dire gives us dico, dici, dice, diciamo, dite, dicono. Notice how some forms look predictable (andiamo, facciamo) while others feel completely unrelated to the infinitive (vado, faccio, vengo). Rather than fighting this, embrace repetition — these verbs power so many basic expressions (Dove vai?, Che fai?, Come stai?, Vengo con te, Dimmi tutto) that you'll burn them into memory simply by speaking.

Many irregular verbs also form important idiomatic expressions. Fare shows up in hundreds of collocations — fare la spesa (to go grocery shopping), fare una foto (to take a photo), fare sport (to play sports), fare colazione (to have breakfast), fare caldo/freddo (to be hot/cold weather), fare una passeggiata (to take a walk) — which makes it arguably the most versatile verb in Italian. Andare and venire are the backbone of travel and direction language (Vado a Roma, Vieni da me?, Andiamo al cinema), and stare is essential for talking about how you feel (Come stai?) and for forming the progressive tense later (sto studiando — I'm studying).

Dire is the verb you use for saying things (Dico la verità — I'm telling the truth, Dicono che... — They say that...), and it's remarkably irregular: the stem is dic- in most forms but dit- or di- in others. Uscire (escono, not uscono) and rimanere (rimango, rimani, rimane) also have stem changes that catch learners off guard. The exercises below focus on the present tense of the most common irregular verbs, in realistic sentences and short dialogues covering everyday topics like weather, family, work, and travel. Drill them until they feel like old friends — they will repay the effort many times over, because these few verbs power an outsized share of real Italian conversation.