The rule-breakers: vado, faccio, sto

andare: to go

Andare starts with va- for io, tu, lui/lei and loro, then goes back to the regular and- for noi and voi. Say it like a chant: vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno.

Where you go matters just as much. Use a with towns and cities and with casa and scuola (vado a Roma, vado a casa). Use in with countries and many places (in Italia, in centro, in banca). Many other places take al or alla: al bar, al cinema, al mare. These are rules of thumb, not fixed laws, so learn each place together with its little word.

Andiamo! on its own means Let’s go!

fare: to do, to make

Fare is short and very irregular: faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno. Watch the double c in faccio and facciamo, and the double n in fanno.

Italian uses fare for everyday activities where English says have, go or take: fare colazione (have breakfast), fare la spesa (do the food shopping), fare sport, fare una passeggiata (go for a walk), fare la doccia (have a shower). It also talks about the weather: fa freddo, fa caldo.

Breakfast is something you do in Italian: faccio colazione, not ho colazione.

stare: how you are, and staying put

Stare is short like fare, and most of its forms rhyme with fare’s (stai, fai; sta, fa; stanno, fanno): sto, stai, sta, stiamo, state, stanno. It has two everyday jobs.

First, it says how you are: Come stai? Sto bene. With formal Lei it’s Come sta? Second, it means to stay: Stasera sto a casa (Tonight I’m staying at home).

stare or essere?

Both can mean to be, so they’re easy to mix up. Use essere for who or what someone is, where something is and what it’s like: Sono Marco, Sono italiano, Il bar è in piazza.

Use stare to ask and say how someone is, with come, bene and male: Come stai? Sto bene. Most words for how you feel still take essere: Sono stanco (I’m tired), Sono contento (I’m happy). And Come sei? is a different question: it asks what someone is like as a person.

If the answer is bene or male, the verb is stare.

venire and uscire: coming and going out

Venire (to come) adds a g for io and loro (vengo, vengono) and an i for tu and lui/lei (vieni, viene). Use it for coming here or coming along with someone: Vieni con noi?

Uscire (to go out, to leave) changes its u to e for io, tu, lui/lei and loro: esco, esci, esce, escono. Noi and voi keep the u: usciamo, uscite. Use it for going out in the evening (Esco stasera) or leaving a place (Esco di casa presto).

Andare is going somewhere; venire is coming to where the speaker or listener is, or coming along: Vado al bar. Vieni anche tu?

dare and bere: giving and drinking

Dare (to give) is tiny: do, dai, dà, diamo, date, danno. The accent on dà (gives) keeps it apart from da (from). You’ll also hear dare una festa, to throw a party.

Bere (to drink) is easier than it looks. It works from the stem bev-, and after that the endings are the regular -ere ones: bevo, bevi, beve, beviamo, bevete, bevono.

Patterns that make it easier

Seven verbs with six forms each makes forty-two forms, but you don’t need to learn them as random words. Three patterns cover most of them.

Start with the io form: it’s usually the strangest, so learn vado, faccio, sto, vengo, esco, do, bevo first. Noi and voi often look regular: andiamo, andate, veniamo, venite, usciamo, uscite. And four short verbs rhyme in loro: fanno, stanno, danno, vanno.

Not sure of a noi form for andare, venire or uscire? Start from the infinitive: and-are → andiamo, usc-ire → usciamo.

Common mistakes

• io andoio vadoAndare starts with va- for io, tu, lui and loro: vado, vai, va, vanno.
• Sono bene.Sto bene.How you are uses stare, not essere.
• Come sei? (How are you?)Come stai?To ask how someone is, use stare; Come sei? asks what someone is like.
• Ho colazione.Faccio colazione.Italians do breakfast: fare colazione.
• noi esciamonoi usciamoNoi and voi keep the regular u: usciamo, uscite.
• Lui da il menù.Lui dà il menù.Gives needs its accent: dà. Da means from.
• io venoio vengoVenire adds a g for io and loro: vengo, vengono.

The full table

Learn the io form first; the others follow a pattern.

Dà (gives) has an accent so it doesn’t look like da (from).

Noi and voi are usually the regular-looking ones: andiamo, uscite, venite.

How you are uses stare: Come stai? Sto bene.