Verbi irregolari comuni: andare, fare, stare, venire

Verbi irregolari comuni: andare, fare, stare, venire means “Four very frequent irregular verbs you simply have to memorise”. These four cover an enormous share of everyday speech. Formation: andare: vado/vai/va/andiamo/andate/vanno · fare: faccio/fai/fa/facciamo/fate/fanno · stare: sto/stai/sta/stiamo/state/stanno · venire: vengo/vieni/viene/veniamo/venite/vengono

Four very frequent irregular verbs you simply have to memorise

A1

Formation

andare: vado/vai/va/andiamo/andate/vanno · fare: faccio/fai/fa/facciamo/fate/fanno · stare: sto/stai/sta/stiamo/state/stanno · venire: vengo/vieni/viene/veniamo/venite/vengono

Explanation

These four cover an enormous share of everyday speech. Andare (to go) and venire (to come) split the way English does, but Italian uses venire for movement towards the listener too: vengo da te 'I'll come to your place'. Fare covers 'to do' and 'to make' and appears in dozens of expressions: fare colazione, fare la spesa, fare una domanda, fa freddo. Stare means 'to stay/to be located' and, crucially, is the verb for health and the progressive: come stai? and sto leggendo. Do not use essere for 'how are you' — *come sei? asks what you are like as a person.

Examples

Domani vado al mercato con mia sorella.
Tomorrow I'm going to the market with my sister.
Che cosa fai questo fine settimana?
What are you doing this weekend?
Come stai oggi?
How are you today?

Note

Watch the stress in vanno, fanno, stanno, vengono — vèngono is stressed on the stem, three syllables from the end, and it is never written.

FAQ

Verbi irregolari comuni: andare, fare, stare, venire — what does it mean and how is it used?

Four very frequent irregular verbs you simply have to memorise. These four cover an enormous share of everyday speech. Andare (to go) and venire (to come) split the way English does, but Italian uses venire for movement towards the listener too: vengo da te 'I'll come to your place'. Fare covers 'to do' and 'to make' and appears in dozens of expressions: fare colazione, fare la spesa, fare una domanda, fa freddo. Stare means 'to stay/to be located' and, crucially, is the verb for health and the progressive: come stai? and sto leggendo. Do not use essere for 'how are you' — *come sei? asks what you are like as a person.

Verbi irregolari comuni: andare, fare, stare, venire — how do you form it?

andare: vado/vai/va/andiamo/andate/vanno · fare: faccio/fai/fa/facciamo/fate/fanno · stare: sto/stai/sta/stiamo/state/stanno · venire: vengo/vieni/viene/veniamo/venite/vengono

Verbi irregolari comuni: andare, fare, stare, venire — any usage notes?

Watch the stress in vanno, fanno, stanno, vengono — vèngono is stressed on the stem, three syllables from the end, and it is never written.

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