Regular -are, -ere and -ire verbs follow neat patterns, but the verbs you use most are often irregular. After essere and avere, these six are the ones worth learning by heart first — they let you say what you do, where you go, how you are, and what you want, can and must do.
Doing, going and being
- fare (to do/make): faccio, fai, fa, facciamo, fate, fanno
- andare (to go): vado, vai, va, andiamo, andate, vanno
- stare (to stay/be, for health and mood): sto, stai, sta, stiamo, state, stanno
Come stai? — Sto bene, grazie. Cosa fai stasera?
Wanting, being able to, having to
- volere (to want): voglio, vuoi, vuole, vogliamo, volete, vogliono
- potere (can, to be able to): posso, puoi, può, possiamo, potete, possono
- dovere (must, to have to): devo, devi, deve, dobbiamo, dovete, devono
Stasera non posso uscire: devo studiare.
volere, potere and dovere are followed directly by an infinitive — no extra word in between.
A politeness tip: 'voglio' (I want) can sound blunt when you ask for something. In shops and cafés, use 'vorrei' (I would like) instead — Vorrei un caffè, per favore.