Conjunation

Italian verb conjugation

1,608 Italian verbs with full conjugation tables — every tense and pronoun.

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Most common Italian verbs

  1. essere to be (essence, identity)
  2. avere to have
  3. fare to do/to make
  4. dire to say, to tell
  5. potere to be able (verb, modal verb indicating ability)
  6. andare to go
  7. vedere to see
  8. volere to want
  9. venire to come
  10. dovere to have to (modal verb)
  11. sapere to know (facts, how to)
  12. stare to be (state, location)
  13. dare to give
  14. parlare to speak
  15. prendere to take
  16. trovare to find
  17. mettere to put
  18. passare to pass; to go by
  19. sentire to hear/feel
  20. pensare to think
  21. raccontare to tell
  22. guardare to watch
  23. credere to believe
  24. chiedere to ask
  25. rispondere to respond
  26. restare to stay
  27. arrivare to arrive
  28. conoscere to know (people, places)
  29. diventare to become
  30. porre to put
  31. sembrare to seem
  32. significare to mean
  33. tenere to hold
  34. capire to understand
  35. rendere to render
  36. aspettare to wait
  37. uscire to exit
  38. vivere to live
  39. cercare to search
  40. lasciare to leave
  41. portare to bring
  42. partire to leave; to depart
  43. seguire to follow
  44. mostrare to show
  45. continuare to continue
  46. cominciare to begin
  47. permettere to allow
  48. scrivere to write
  49. leggere to read
  50. ricevere to receive

Italian tenses explained

Present (Presente)

The presente covers habits, ongoing situations, and plans about to start — much like English “I study” and “I am studying”. One present tense does both in Italian.

Lavora da casa tre giorni a settimana.

Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente)

The congiuntivo presente is required after many verbs and fixed phrases of will, fear, purpose, and doubt. Impersonal and semi-impersonal triggers (è importante che) also force the subjunctive mood.

Penso che sia la scelta giusta.

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo)

The affirmative imperativo reuses the tu form as 3sg for -are verbs, while other conjugations use the normal tu present. It is the direct command register.

Raccontami com'è andata l'esame.

Simple past (Passato remoto)

The passato remoto tells a completed, narrative past, especially in the south and in literature. The passato prossimo is the normal spoken past in the north, so you choose register and region, not a difference in time alone.

Quella sera arrivò tardi, senza alibi.

Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto)

The congiuntivo imperfetto is the past of the congiuntivo system after a past matrix clause and in se + congi. imperf. → condizionale with unreal conditions.

Se avessi più tempo, viaggerei ogni mese.

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo)

Negative commands use non + full infinitive in modern Italian, which is a distinctive rule compared to other Romance languages. Polite or indirect “please don’t” can still soften the tone in context.

Non aprire quella finestra, per favore.

Imperfect (Imperfetto)

The imperfetto is for incomplete past actions, context, and repeated or habitual situations without a clear end. The passato prossimo, not the remoto, is its usual “event” partner in speech.

Da bambina passavo le estati al mare.

Conditional (Condizionale)

The condizionale is for polite “would you…”, first-condition hypotheticals, and reported future from a past point of view. The classic if-chain is se + imperfetto → condizionale.

Potresti alzare un poco la voce?

Future (Futuro semplice)

The futuro semplice is for predictions and far decisions. In speech you often hear the present (with a time adverb) or a paraphrase, and a famous trick is the futuro di probabilità for a present guess: saranno le tre.

Domani partiremo all'alba.

Present perfect (Passato prossimo)

The passato prossimo is the workhorse preterit-like past in the north and in everyday Italian: avere/essere + participle, essere for reflexives, motion, and other change-of-state patterns.

Siamo andati a piedi, poi abbiamo preso l'autobus.

Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo)

The trapassato prossimo is “further in the past than another past” — the Italian pluperfect. It pairs with a main past clause to mark sequence.

Avevamo già mangiato quando suonò il telefono.

Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato)

The condizionale passato is for unreal or missed past results and often appears with se + trapassato prossimo in the protasis.

Avrei accettato, se mi avessero avvisato in tempo.

Future perfect (Futuro anteriore)

The futuro anteriore says something will already be over before a still-later future, or, like the French, can express a logical guess about a past result.

Entro le cinque, avrà già lasciato l'ufficio.