First conjugation in Italian (verbs ending in -are)

What is the first conjugation of regular verbs in Italian?

The first conjugation of Italian verbs includes every verb that ends with -are in their infinitive form.

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Characteristics of the first conjugation

As we saw in the general page about regular verbs, the first conjugation presents several distinctive traits.

Here we will talk about some specific peculiarities of the -are conjugation.

Verbs ending in -care and -gare 

The verbs that end in -care and -gare add a h before the -e and -i endings:

• Legare > Io legherò (I will tie [sth]);
• Staccare > Io staccherò (I will detach [sth]); Tu stacchi (You detach [sth]).

Verbs in -gnare

These verbs can save the i for the first and the second plural persons of the present indicative and of the present subjunctive:

• Segnare > Noi segniamo (we sign [sth]);
• Sognare > Che voi sogniate (that you dream about [sth]).

Verbs in -iare

We can have two types of verbs in -iare:

1. the ones with a stressed i on the first singular person of the present indicative, which save the i before the stem vowel:

• Inviare > Io invìo (I send); Tu invìi (You send); Noi invìamo (We send);
• Spiare > Io spìo (I spy); Tu spìi (You spy); ​

Careful! When the i is not stressed, you will find just one i in the verb form:
      e.g. Noi inviàmo (We send [sth]);
             Voi spi​àte (You spy).

2. the ones without a stressed i on the first singular person of the present indicative, which loose the i before the stem vowel:

• Studiare > Noi studiamo (We study);
• Insidiare > Voi insidi​ate (You threaten). 

Verbs in -ciare, -giare, -sciare

These verbs can save the i before -a or -o, but they loose it before -e and -i:

• Mangiare > Io mangio (I eat); Loro mangeranno (They will eat).

Verbs with an -e in the root

These verbs can save the vowel when the ending begins with -e-:

• Creare > Noi creeremo (We will create);
• Delineare > Tu delineeresti (You would sketch).

How to conjugate regular verbs ending in -are? (example: cantare)

The first conjugation is probably the simplest and the most regular one to conjugate.

Indicative

Subjunctive

Conditional

Imperative

Infinitive

Participle

Gerund