Mangiare means "to eat". It is a regular -are verb with one spelling rule to learn, and because food is at the center of Italian social life, it is also one of the verbs you will use most.
Infinitive
mangiare
English
to eat
Auxiliary
avere
Past participle
mangiato
Gerund
mangiando
-ciare / -giare verb: the i in mangi- only serves to make the g soft before a, o and u. When the ending already starts with i or e, the i is dropped, because the g is soft there anyway. So the forms are tu mangi (not mangii), che io mangi, che loro mangino, and the whole future and conditional are built on mange-: mangerò, mangerai, mangerei. Everywhere else mangiare is a completely regular -are verb: mangio, mangiamo, mangiavo, mangiai, mangiato. Cominciare, lasciare and viaggiare follow the same rule.
Mangiare works with or without an object: mangio una mela, but also a che ora si mangia?, "what time do we eat?". Italians use it for meals in general (abbiamo mangiato bene, "we had a good meal"), though breakfast is an exception: you say fare colazione, not mangiare la colazione. Mangiare is also behind many figurative phrases, from mangiarsi le unghie (biting your nails) to mangiare la foglia (seeing through a trick).
Mangiare takes avere in all compound tenses, both with an object and without one: ho mangiato la pasta, abbiamo mangiato tardi. With a direct object pronoun before the verb, the participle agrees: le ho mangiate tutte (the cherries, for example).
Mangiare in context
Presente:Di solito mangiamo alle otto e mezza. (We usually eat at half past eight.)
Presente:Perché non mangi le verdure? (Why don't you eat your vegetables?)
Passato Prossimo:Abbiamo mangiato una pizza buonissima a Napoli. (We ate an amazing pizza in Naples.)
Imperfetto:Quando vivevo a Bologna, mangiavo i tortellini ogni domenica. (When I lived in Bologna, I ate tortellini every Sunday.)
Futuro Semplice:Stasera mangerai da noi? (Will you eat at our place tonight?)
Condizionale Presente:Mangerei volentieri un gelato. (I would gladly have an ice cream.)
Congiuntivo Presente:La dottoressa vuole che io mangi meno zucchero. (The doctor wants me to eat less sugar.)
Imperativo:Mangia, che si raffredda. (Eat, it's getting cold.)
Common expressions with mangiare
mangiare fuori: to eat out. Stasera mangiamo fuori: "we're eating out tonight".
mangiare in bianco: to eat plain food. Food without rich sauces or spices, for example plain rice with oil, often when you feel unwell.
mangiarsi le unghie: to bite your nails. Also figurative: to be anxious or on edge while you wait.
mangiarsi le parole: to mumble, to swallow your words
mangiare la foglia: to catch on, to see through a trick. Literally "to eat the leaf".
si mangia: food's ready, let's eat. The call to the table at home. As a question, si mangia? asks if it is time to eat.
Common mistakes
Tu mangi troppo in fretta., not Tu mangii troppo in fretta. (You eat too fast.). The stem is mangi- and the tu ending is -i, but Italian never writes the two i's together here. The i of the stem only softens the g, and the ending -i already does that job.
Domani mangerò da mia nonna., not Domani mangierò da mia nonna. (Tomorrow I will eat at my grandmother's.). The future and conditional of -are verbs change the a of the infinitive to e (mangerò, not mangiarò). Before that e the stem i disappears, so the result is mangerò, mangerei, never mangierò.
Stamattina ho fatto colazione alle sette., not Stamattina ho mangiato la colazione alle sette. (This morning I had breakfast at seven.). Italian says fare colazione for having breakfast. Mangiare is fine for what you ate (a colazione ho mangiato un cornetto), but not with colazione as its object.
In mangiare the i is not a real vowel: it only tells you the g is soft, as in English "j". Before an ending that begins with i or e, the g is already soft, so the extra i is dropped. That gives tu mangi, che noi mangiamo with one i, and mangerò in the future.
What is the future tense of mangiare?
Mangerò, mangerai, mangerà, mangeremo, mangerete, mangeranno. The conditional uses the same stem: mangerei, mangeresti, mangerebbe. There is no i after the g in any of these forms.
Does mangiare take essere or avere?
Avere, always: ho mangiato, avete mangiato, avevamo già mangiato. This is true even when there is no object, as in abbiamo mangiato bene.
Is mangiare a regular verb?
Yes. Mangiare is a regular -are verb. The only thing to watch is the spelling rule that drops the i before e and i, which it shares with cominciare, lasciare and viaggiare. Its past participle is the regular mangiato.