Leggere (to read), scrivere (to write) and mettere (to put, to place) are regular except for the past absolute and the past participle.
leggere | scrivere | mettere | |
Past absolute | lessi | scrissi | misi |
leggesti | scrivesti | mettesti | |
lesse | scrisse | mise | |
leggemmo | scrivemmo | mettemmo | |
leggeste | scriveste | metteste | |
lessero | scrissero | misero | |
Past participle | letto | scritto | messo |
Conjugated like leggere are eleggere (to elect) and rileggere (to reread). Numerous verbs may be considered compounds of mettere, and are conjugated in the same way: ammettere (to admit), commettere (to commit), compromettere (to compromise), omettere (to omit), permettere (to permit), promettere (to promise), sottomettere (to subject; to submit), trasmettere (to transmit), etc.
The verb mettere can be used reflexively as well = mettersi — When used with a direct object, it means “to put on [something]”, such as an article of clothing: Mi metto la giacca. I am putting on my coat. When used with the preposition a (mettersi a) + the infinitive, it means “to position [oneself] to [do something]”, as in “to start or to begin something”: Mi metto a studiare. I start / I am starting to study.
VOCABULARY
*accano a beside, next to |
alunno pupil |
giornale (m.) newspaper |
lavagna blackboard |
*mettersi a (+inf.) = cominciare a (+ inf.) |
*ridere to laugh |
rivista magazine, review |
*scorso last, past |