Italian ⋙ Italian A1

Welcome to our Italian grammar course for beginners! Today, we're going to talk about the most important modal verbs.

Modal verbs express various degrees of ability, necessity, or possibility. You need to use them if you want to express ability, obligation, possibility, politeness and making requests and offers. You will also use them if you give recommendations or advice.

Italian modal verbs are usually followed by a verb in the infinitive form. The conjugation of the modal verb depends on the subject pronoun and should match in tense and person. Let's talk in detail about the most common modal verbs.

Dovere - Must, Should

Here's an overview of its conjugation in the present tense:

Subject + Dovere (It.)	Must (Eng.)
Io devo	I must
Tu devi	You must
Lui / Lei deve	He/She/It must
Noi dobbiamo	We must
Voi dovete	You must
Loro devono	They must

Dovere is used to express necessity, obligation, or duty. Examples:

Potere - Can

Here's an overview of its conjugation in the present tense:

Subject + Potere (It.)	Can (Eng.)
Io posso	I can
Tu puoi	You can
Lui / Lei può	He/She/It can
Noi possiamo	We can
Voi potete	You can
Loro possono	They can

Potere indicates capability, possibility, or permission. Examples:

Volere - Want

Here's an overview of its conjugation in the present tense:

Subject + Volere (It.)	Want (Eng.)
Io voglio	I want
Tu vuoi	You want
Lui / Lei vuole	He/She/It wants
Noi vogliamo	We want
Voi volete	You want
Loro vogliono	They want

Volere expresses desire, intention, or determination. Examples:

Summary

In this lesson, you learned about basic Italian phrasal verbs (dovere - must, potere - can, volere - want). These verbs are very important, so it makes sense to memorize them. We are waiting for you in the next lesson, where we will talk about asking questions in Italian. Good luck!