Fare, venire and andare are on the list of most common words in Italian so it would be very difficult to have a conversation without them.
But they all belong to a group of verbs called irregular verbs. This just means that they don't follow the normal rules and this is why many students get them wrong.
Here, you’ll see how they work in their different forms so you can make sure to use them correctly when you chat in Italian.
Fare - To Do or To Make
There’s no difference in Italian between “to do” and “to make”, so there’s only one verb you have to learn.
You use fare to talk about all kinds of things in Italian, like talking about activities you’re doing around in Italy, suggesting activities to friends and talking about your hobbies.
| Io* | faccio | I do; I make | FAH-choh |
| Tu | fai | You do; you make | Fye |
| Lui / Lei | fa | s/he does; s/he makes | Fah |
| Noi | facciamo | we do; we make | Fa-CHAH-moh |
| Voi | fate | you do; you make (plural, to two or more people) | FAH-teh |
| Loro | fanno | they do; they make | FAHN-noh |
*A little reminder: you can leave out pronouns like “I” and “you” in Italian because the verb ending already tells us who we’re talking about.
For example:
- Faccio una lista di cose da vedere a Bergamo. -I’m making a list of things to see in Bergamo.
-Cosa fate a Firenze? -What are you (plural) doing in Florence?
-Facciamo una visita guidata. -We’re doing a guided tour.
💡 Good to know : Did you notice that in Italian you can often use the present tense to talk about things you’re doing or even things you’re going to do soon?
If you want to see how fare gets used in other tenses (not just the present tense) and some expressions with fare , you can read our blogpost on the Italian verb fare .
Andare - To Go
You can’t get very far (literally) without andare in Italian . You need it to talk about your travel plans, including where you’re going and how you’re getting there.
| Io | vado | I go | Vah-doh |
| Tu | vai | You go | Vye |
| Lui / Lei | va | He / She goes | Vah |
| Noi | andiamo | We go | Ahn-dyah-moh |
| Voi | andate | You (plural) go | Ahn-dah-teh |
| Loro | vanno | They go | Vah-noh |
For example:
Quando vado in Italia, vado in aereo. -When I go to Italy, I go by plane
Vai a Roma per il weekend? -Are you going to Rome for the weekend?
Andiamo in vacanza in Sicilia. -We’re going on holiday to Sicily.
If you want to see how andare works in other tenses (like the past, present and future), you can read our blogpost on the Italian verb andare .
Venire - To Come
Venire is a really common verb in Italian that you’ll need to talk about social and travel plans.
| Io | vengo | I come | VEN-goh |
| Tu | vieni | You come | VYEH-nee |
| Lui / Lei | viene | He / She comes | VYEH-neh |
| Noi | veniamo | We come | Veh-NYAH-mo |
| Voi | venite | You (plural) come | Veh-NEE-teh |
| Loro | vengono | They come | VEN-goh-noh |
For example:
Stasera venite al cinema? -This evening are you (plural) coming to the cinema?
Viene con te al Duomo. -He’s coming with you to the Cathedral.
Domani vengono i miei amici. -Tomorrow, my friends are coming.
How to Learn Italian Irregular Verbs
There are lots of irregular verbs in Italian and (like fare, andare and venire ) they’re among the most commonly used verbs.
So you don’t get overwhelmed trying to learn all the irregular verbs all at once, you can stick with fare, venire and andare for now. That will already help you say lots of common phrases. But if you do want to learn more irregular verbs, you can read our blogpost on the 17 most important Italian irregular verbs.
If you’re wondering how you can learn these irregular verbs, don’t stress about rote learning them. That can feel boring (maybe even a little scary) and it might not even be the best way to make them stick.
Instead, try using them in sentences that are useful to you or listen out when Italians use them as part of natural conversations.
Fare, Andare, Venire: Italian Irregular Verbs You Need: Review
Now you’ve seen fare, andare and venire in their different forms for the present tense. Let’s see all the verbs together in one place.
| Fare | Andare | Venire | |
| Io | faccio | vado | vengo |
| Tu | fai | vai | vieni |
| Lui / Lei | fa | va | viene |
| Noi | facciamo | andiamo | veniamo |
| Voi | fate | andate | venite |
| Loro | fanno | vanno | vengono |
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”. Today we’re talking about three very important verbs in Italian: Fare, which means “to do”
Andare, which means “to go”
And venire, which means “to come”
M: They belong to a group of verbs called irregular verbs. This just means that they don’t follow the normal patterns and so you have to learn them by heart. K: But don’t feel that this means you have to rote learn them. You’d probably find it a bit boring and it’s not even the best way to make them stick. A better idea is to hear them used in real, natural Italian conversations, like the one you’re about to hear between me and Matteo.
But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow, so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: Katie and I are going to use these verbs to talk about what we like to do in Italy with our friends. See if you can catch when we’ve used a form of fare (to do), andare (to go) or venire (to come).
K: Matteo, vieni un secondo?
M: Certo, cosa fai?
K: Faccio una lista di idee… domani vengono Laura e John.
M: Quindi, dove andiamo?
K: Mhmm… Piazza del Duomo, la chiesa di Bramante…
M: …aperitivo sui Navigli e pizzeria Sorbillo. Facciamo sempre le stesse cose.
K: Sì, però Laura e John non vanno spesso in posti come questi.
M: Allora va bene così!
K: I asked Matteo:
M: Matteo, vieni un secondo? - Matteo, can you come here for a second? Literally: Matteo
Vieni - you come
Un - a
Secondo - second
K: Vieni comes from the verb venire , which means “to come”. Vieni means “you come” when you’re speaking to friends or people you know well.
M: Vieni (x2). You can see how it’s useful if you want to call someone over.
K: And then Matteo answered:
M: Certo, cosa fai? - Of course, what are you doing? Literally: Certo - Certainly
Cosa - what
Fai - you do?
K: Fai (you do) comes from the verb fare , which means “to do” or “to make”. There’s no difference between “do” and “make” in Italian, so that’s one fewer thing to learn!
M: Fai (x2)
K: You might be wondering, why do we say “you are doing” in English, which is three words, and then in Italian, you just say one word: fai . There are a couple of reasons for this. One is because in Italian we don’t usually add little words like “I”, “you”, “we” etc. in front of the verb because the ending already tells us who’s doing the action. For example, we know that fai (spelt F-A-I) means “you do”, because when it ends in the letter i, that’s the “you” form. Fai.
M: And then secondly, in Italian, when we talk about actions we’re doing right now, we don’t always need to say “you are doing”, we can just say “you do”, which is just one word in Italian: fai (x2)
K: Then I replied: Faccio una lista di idee - I’m making a list of ideas. Literally:
M: Faccio - I make
Una - a
Lista - list
Di - of
Idee - ideas
K: Now you’ve heard another form of the verb fare: faccio - I do or make. So I do or make is:
M: Faccio (x2)
K: And just before we heard “you do” or “you make”, which is:
M: Fai (x2)
K: Then I added:
M: Domani vengono Laura e John - tomorrow Laura and John are coming. Literally:
Domani - tomorrow
Vengono - they come
Laura - Laura
E - And
John - John
K: Laura and John are two of my friends from university. They live in the U.K and were coming to Milan for the first time, which is why in this conversation I’m thinking about how to show them the best bits. You also heard the next form of venire: vengono (they come). Vengono. So, so far you’ve heard you come, which is:
M: vieni (x2)
K: and they come, which is:
M: vengono (x2)
K: Just a quick note, there is quite a lot to remember here so don’t feel like you have to do it all in one go! You can re-listen to this episode as many times as you like.
Then Matteo asked:
M: Quindi, dove andiamo? - So, where are we going? Literally: Quindi - so
Dove - where
Andiamo - we go
M: Andiamo (we go) comes from andare (to go).
K: Knowing the verb for “to go” in Italian is really important because you can use it in all kinds of small talk situations, to talk about where you’re going in Italy, how you’re getting there, or making plans with friends.
M: For example, andiamo can mean we go, like andiamo in treno (x2) - we go by train, but it can also mean “shall we go?”, if you say it like a question: andiamo? (x2) So it’s perfect for suggesting plans.
K: Speaking of suggesting plans, I said to Matteo that we should go to:
M: Piazza del Duomo, - Cathedral Square.
Literally: Piazza - Square
Del - of the
Duomo - Cathedral
K: Piazza del Duomo is in a really central part of Milan and it’s where you can see the famous Milan Cathedral. It’s also near other famous landmarks and good places for shopping. Then I suggested:
M: La chiesa di Bramante – Bramante’s Church. Literally:
La - The
Chiesa - Church
Di - of
Bramante - Bramante
K: La Chiesa di Bramante was designed by a famous Italian architect called Donato Bramante. He’s the one who also designed Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
M: One of the main reasons that we take our friends and family to visit the Chiesa di Bramante is because there is a very impressive optical illusion.
K: We’ll say no more so we won’t spoil it and you can see for yourselves. Then Matteo added some more things to do: M: aperitivo sui Navigli e Pizzeria Sorbillo - aperitif on the Navigli Canals and Pizzeria Sorbillo. Literally: Aperitivo - aperitif
Sui - on the
Navigli - Navigli
E - and
Pizzeria - Pizzeria
Sorbillo
K: You might already be familiar with aperitivo, a very Italian thing to do. It’s where you have some pre-dinner drinks and nibbles and the nibbles are usually included in the price of the drinks. When the weather’s nice you can sit and enjoy it outside.
M: And the Navigli are the canals in Milan. It’s a popular place for an aperitivo because it's a pretty district of the city and it has lots of restaurants and bars.
K: And then of course there’s one of our favorite pizzerias, Pizzeria Sorbillo , where they serve really, really good traditional Neapolitan pizza.
But when we want to show some of the best of Milan we tend to go to the same places, which is why Matteo said:
M: Facciamo sempre le stesse cose - we always do the same things. Literally:
Facciamo - we do
Sempre - always
Le - the
Stesse - same
Cose - things
K: Facciamo (we do or make) is another form of the verb fare. So now you’ve heard I do, which is:
M: faccio (x2),
K: And you do, which is:
M: fai (x2)
K: And we do, which is:
M: facciamo (x2).
K: And then I replied to Matteo:
M: Sì, però Laura e John non vanno spesso in posti come questi - Yes, but Laura and John don’t often go to places like this. Literally:
Sì - yes
Però - but
Laura
E - and
John
Non - not
Vanno - they go
Spesso - often
In - in
Posti - places
Come - like
Questi - these
M: Vanno (they go) is another form of the verb andare .
K: The pronunciation of this one can be a bit tricky. It has two n’s which means that the n sound has to be nice and long. It helps to say the first part of the word, van-. And then almost pause for a second and add -no . Van.no . (x2)
So you’ve heard we go, which is:
M: andiamo (x2))
K: And they go, which is:
M: vanno (x2)
K: And then Matteo said:
M: Allora va bene così! - That works then. Literally: Allora - so
Va - it goes
Bene - well
Così - like this
K: Va bene is a really useful expression that you can use in Italian. We usually use it to say “ok”, but you can also use it to say “that works” or “sounds good”.
M: And it also uses another form of the word andare : va . Va literally means “it goes”, but also “he goes” or “she goes”. So for andare you’ve heard how to say we go, which is:
M: andiamo (x2),
K: he, she or it goes, which is:
M: va (x2)
K: and they go, which is
M: vanno (x2).
K: Now that you’ve heard a few examples of fare (to do or to make) andare (to go) and venire (to come), let’s review them again to see if you can remember them. But again, don’t worry, you don’t have to remember everything the first time! You can re-listen to this podcast as many times as you need to help things sink in.
How do you say: “you come”, from the verb venire ?
[...]
M: Vieni (x2) , like in the expression vieni un secondo (x2).
K: And what about “they come?”
M: Vengono (x2)
K: What about how to say “you do” or “you make”, from the verb fare?
[...]
M: Fai (x2)
[...]
K: And what about “I do” or “I make”?
[...]
M: Faccio (x2), like in faccio una lista (x2)
K: And how do you say “we do” or “we make”?
[...]
M: Facciamo (x2)
K: For the last verb, how do you say “we go”, from the verb andare ? It can also mean “shall we go?”
M: Andiamo (x2) . Like in dove andiamo? (x2)
[...]
K: And how about they go? This time it starts with a “v?”
[...]
M: Vanno (x2)
[...]
K: And finally, the one we use in the expression, “that’s fine” or “that works”, that also means “it, he or she goes”?
[...]
M: Va (x2) , like in the expression va bene (x2) .
K: Let’s hear the whole conversation again:
K: Matteo, vieni un secondo?
M: Certo, cosa fai?
K: Faccio una lista di idee… domani vengono Laura e John.
M: Quindi, dove andiamo?
K: Mhmm… Piazza del Duomo, la chiesa di Bramante…
M: …aperitivo sui Navigli e pizzeria Sorbillo. Facciamo sempre le stesse cose.
K: Sì, però Laura e John non vanno spesso in posti come questi.
M: Allora va bene così!
K: Since fare, venire and andare are such important verbs, we’ve put them altogether in one place, with tables to make them easier to remember, on our website, so you can revisit them as many times as you like.
M: You’ll also find the other forms for these verbs that we didn’t mention in this episode and practical examples so you can start using them in conversations.
K: To read more, click the link in the description to head over to our website, or go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 200.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Fare, Andare, Venire
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Fare, Andare, Venire
Vocabulary
Cosa fate a Firenze? = What are you (plural) doing in Florence?
Facciamo una visita guidata = We’re doing a guided tour
Quando vado in Italia, vado in aereo = When I go to Italy, I go by plane
Vai a Roma per il weekend? = Are you going to Rome for the weekend?
Andiamo in vacanza in Sicilia = We’re going on holiday to Sicily
Stasera venite al cinema? = This evening are you (plural) coming to the cinema?
Domani vengono i miei amici = Tomorrow, my friends are coming
Matteo, vieni un secondo? = Matteo, can you come here for a second? (lit. you come here a second)
Faccio una lista di idee… domani vengono Laura e John = I’m making a list of ideas…tomorrow Laura and John are coming.
Quindi, dove andiamo? = So, where are we going?
Flashcards: Fare, Andare, Venire
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
