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Verb Usage Review / 35

Spelling changes

As in the present indicative, certain –are verbs require spelling changes in the pres-
ent subjunctive in order to keep the original sound of the verb. These changes do
not make the verbs irregular.
• Verbs ending in –care and –gare, such as cercare (“to look for”) and pagare
(“to pay”), add an –h to the infinite stem in all forms so that the hard sounds
c and g of the stem are retained (c/g + a, o, u hard sound; c/g + i, e soft
sound).
cercare: cerchi, cerchi, cerchi, cerchiamo, cerchiate, cerchino
pagare: paghi, paghi, paghi, paghiamo, paghiate, paghino
• Verbs ending in –iare such as studiare (“to study”), cominciare (“to start”),
mangiare (“to eat”), and lasciare (“to leave”) drop the final –i of the root in all
forms.

studiare: studi, studi, studi, studiamo, studiate, studino
cominciare: cominci, cominci, cominci, cominciamo, cominciate, comincino
mangiare: mangi, mangi, mangi, mangiamo, mangiate, mangino
lasciare: lasci, lasci, lasci, lasciamo, lasciate, lascino
Some verbs ending in –iare retain the –i of the stem in the io/tu/lui-lei/loro forms if
the –i is stressed. The –i of the noi and voi form drop:
inVIare (to send): invii, invii, invii, inviamo, inviate, inviino
sCIare (to ski): scii, scii, scii, sciamo, sciate, sciino

Irregular verbs
The verbs that follow are completely irregular in the subjunctive and must be
memorized. An easy way to memorize the following irregular forms (except the
verb dovere) is to derive them from the noi form of the present indicative (for
example abbiamo for the verb avere) and simply remove the last syllable (-mo)
from it:
Infinitive Present Indicative Present Subjunctive
avere (noi abbiamo) abbia, abbia, abbia, abbiamo, abbiate, abbiano
dovere debba, debba, debba, dobbiamo, dobbiate, debbano
sapere (noi sappiamo) sappia, sappia, sappia, sappiamo, sappiate, sappiano
dare (noi diamo) dia, dia, dia, diamo, diate, diano
essere (noi siamo) sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano
stare (noi stiamo) stia, stia, stia, stiamo, stiate, stiano

If a verb has an irregular form in the indicative present tense, it is irregular also in
the present tense subjunctive. Note that:

• All the endings have the same characteristic vowel –a, regardless of whether
they are –are, –ere, or –ire.
• Noi and voi forms are regular.