Purpose
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to conjugate four of the most essential irregular Italian verbs: avere, essere, fare, and andare.
Lesson Explanation
Building on avere and essere introduced in Part 1, Lesson 5, this lesson reviews them alongside two more essential irregular verbs.
Avere (to have): ho, hai, ha, abbiamo, avete, hanno
Essere (to be): sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono
Fare (to do/make) — genuinely irregular throughout, though it still ends predictably in -iamo and -ano:
faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno Andare (to go) — irregular in every form except noi and voi:
vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno These four verbs are genuinely essential because of how often they combine with other structures: avere is used for age (ho 20 anni) and forms the auxiliary for most passato prossimo verbs (Part 4, Lesson 1); essere is the auxiliary for the rest (Part 4, Lesson 2); and andare combined with a + infinitive expresses near-future intention, just as Spanish uses ir + a: Vado a mangiare. (I’m going to eat.)
Practice Questions
1. Conjugate “avere” for “noi.”
View Answer
Abbiamo.
2. Conjugate “essere” for “voi.”
View Answer
Siete.
3. Conjugate “fare” (to do/make) for “io.”
View Answer
Faccio.
4. Conjugate “fare” for “noi.”
View Answer
Facciamo.
5. Conjugate “andare” (to go) for “io.”
View Answer
Vado.
6. Which two forms of “andare” stay regular?
View Answer
Noi and voi.
7. Write “I have 20 years,” the Italian way of saying “I am 20 years old.”
View Answer
Ho 20 anni.
8. Which verb serves as the auxiliary for most passato prossimo verbs?
View Answer
Avere.
9. Which verb serves as the auxiliary for the remaining passato prossimo verbs?
View Answer
Essere.
10. What later Part and Lessons cover these two auxiliary roles?
View Answer
Part 4, Lessons 1-2.
11. Write “I’m going to eat,” using andare + a + infinitive.
View Answer
Vado a mangiare.
12. Conjugate “andare” for “loro.”
View Answer
Vanno.