English infinitives have simple forms (to have, to be. to go, to eat, to come): when conjugated, the /to/ disappears and, except for the third person singular of the present tense, the six conjugated verb-forms come directly from the infinitive. There are, of course, exceptions.

Italian infinitives, on the other hand, do not have a /to/. Instead, they have an equivalent of the /to/ in the infinitive endings /are/, /ere/, /ire/ (avere, essere, andare, mangiare, venire). When conjugated, the /are/, /ere/, and /ire/ are replaced with special endings to reflect the subjects. These verb-forms become less complex because they have fewer irregularities.

There are specific advantages and disadvantages in both languages, however. English has virtually no verb inflection, no special form for the intransitive, and practically no subjunctive, as we will see in later chapters: yet, it uses two helping verbs (to have, to be) in compound tenses.I have gone. I will have read the book.

Italian, however, has full verb inflection in its intransitive verbs and partial inflection in its transitive verbs.