3 Essential Verbs for Beginners to Learn in Italian

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What are the two verbs that all Italian students learn first when they attend a course? 

• Essere - to be

• Avere - to have

These are both important verbs to learn in order to start putting sentences together.

That being said, if you want to have more flexibility in what you can say early on as a beginner, there are three other verbs that are essential. 

Michel Thomas, of whom the famous method is named, taught a concept called “handle” verbs. (In grammar, they’re called modal verbs. That’s too fancy for me, so I’m going to stick to calling them handles.)

These are: 

• Volere - To want, to wish 

• Potere - Can, to be able to

• Dovere - Must, to have to, to need to

When you look at the list above, it starts to make sense that these verbs are considered essential since so much of what we say has to do with wanting something, being able to do something, having to do something, or needing something.

Here’s how you can use each of them in conversation.