Where this fits
Lesson 9 covered the -are family. This one covers -ere — smaller than -are, and with more irregulars in everyday use. You've actually already met several: essere and avere (Lesson 2) technically belong to this family, as do the three modal verbs potere, dovere, volere (Lesson 3) — all fully irregular, all already covered, not repeated here. What's new below: the regular pattern itself, plus two more high-frequency irregulars.
The regular pattern: vendere (to sell)
| Person | Ending | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| io (I) | -o | vendo | Vendo la macchina. — I'm selling the car. |
| tu (you, informal) | -i | vendi | Vendi la bici? — Are you selling the bike? |
| lui/lei/Lei (he/she/you-formal) | -e | vende | Vende frutta al mercato. — He/she sells fruit at the market. |
| noi (we) | -iamo | vendiamo | Vendiamo la casa. — We're selling the house. |
| voi (you, plural) | -ete | vendete | Vendete online? — Do you (all) sell online? |
| loro (they) | -ono | vendono | Vendono biglietti qui. — They sell tickets here. |
Only two endings differ from the -are pattern you already know: -e instead of -a for lui/lei/Lei, and -ono instead of -ano for loro. io, tu, and noi are identical in shape (-o, -i, -iamo) across both families. Other fully regular -ere verbs: ripetere (to repeat), prendere (to take), chiedere (to ask), scrivere (to write), leggere (to read), credere (to believe).
Named exception: sapere and bere
Two more common -ere irregulars worth having on top of essere/avere/potere/dovere/volere:
| Person | sapere (to know — facts) | bere (to drink) |
|---|---|---|
| io | so | bevo |
| tu | sai | bevi |
| lui/lei/Lei | sa | beve |
| noi | sappiamo | beviamo |
| voi | sapete | bevete |
| loro | sanno | bevono |
Sapere vs. conoscere: two different "to know"
Italian splits English "to know" into two verbs that are not interchangeable. Sapere is for facts, information, and (with an infinitive) learned skills: So dove abiti (I know where you live), So nuotare (I know how to swim). Conoscere (regular -ere: conosco, conosci, conosce...) is for people, places, and things you're personally familiar with: Conosco Marco (I know Marco), Conosco Roma bene (I know Rome well). Using sapere for a person, or conoscere for a fact, is a very recognizable non-native mistake.
Bere looks irregular partly because it's a contraction — the older, full form was bevere, which is why every conjugated form keeps the -ev- that the modern infinitive dropped.
The same beginner walkthrough from Lesson 9, covering all three regular patterns together.
Practice
Fill in the blank (io-form of vendere): "___ la macchina." (I'm selling the car.)
Which ending marks the loro-form of a regular -ere verb (vs. -are's -ano)?
Fill in the blank: "Non ___ la risposta." (I don't know the answer.)
You want to say "I know Marco" (you're personally acquainted with him). Which verb?
"Cosa ___ (voi, bere)?" (What are you all drinking?)
→ Open the reference cheat sheet for this lesson.