accadere — Italian conjugation
to happen
Indicative
Present (Presente) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | accado | I happen |
| tu | accadi | you happen |
| lui/lei | accade | he/she/it happens |
| noi | accadiamo | we happen |
| voi | accadete | you (pl.) happen |
| loro | accadono | they happen |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | accaddi | I happened |
| tu | accadesti | you happened |
| lui/lei | accadde | he/she/it happened |
| noi | accademmo | we happened |
| voi | accadeste | you (pl.) happened |
| loro | accaddero | they happened |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | accadevo |
| tu | accadevi |
| lui/lei | accadeva |
| noi | accadevamo |
| voi | accadevate |
| loro | accadevano |
Conditional (Condizionale) Regular
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?
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | accadrei | I would happen |
| tu | accadresti | you would happen |
| lui/lei | accadrebbe | he/she/it would happen |
| noi | accadremmo | we would happen |
| voi | accadreste | you (pl.) would happen |
| loro | accadrebbero | they would happen |
Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | accadrò | I will happen |
| tu | accadrai | you will happen |
| lui/lei | accadrà | he/she/it will happen |
| noi | accadremo | we will happen |
| voi | accadrete | you (pl.) will happen |
| loro | accadranno | they will happen |
Present perfect (Passato prossimo) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | sono accaduto/a | I have happened |
| tu | sei accaduto/a | you have happened |
| lui/lei | è accaduto/a | he/she/it has happened |
| noi | siamo accaduti/e | we have happened |
| voi | siete accaduti/e | you (pl.) have happened |
| loro | sono accaduti/e | they have happened |
Pluperfect (Trapassato prossimo) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | ero accaduto/a | I had happened |
| tu | eri accaduto/a | you had happened |
| lui/lei | era accaduto/a | he/she/it had happened |
| noi | eravamo accaduti/e | we had happened |
| voi | eravate accaduti/e | you (pl.) had happened |
| loro | erano accaduti/e | they had happened |
Conditional perfect (Condizionale passato) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | sarei accaduto/a |
| tu | saresti accaduto/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe accaduto/a |
| noi | saremmo accaduti/e |
| voi | sareste accaduti/e |
| loro | sarebbero accaduti/e |
Future perfect (Futuro anteriore) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | sarò accaduto/a | I will have happened |
| tu | sarai accaduto/a | you will have happened |
| lui/lei | sarà accaduto/a | he/she/it will have happened |
| noi | saremo accaduti/e | we will have happened |
| voi | sarete accaduti/e | you (pl.) will have happened |
| loro | saranno accaduti/e | they will have happened |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | accada |
| tu | accada |
| lui/lei | accada |
| noi | accadiamo |
| voi | accadiate |
| loro | accadano |
Imperfect subjunctive (Congiuntivo imperfetto) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | accadessi |
| tu | accadessi |
| lui/lei | accadesse |
| noi | accadessimo |
| voi | accadeste |
| loro | accadessero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | accadi |
| lui/lei | accada |
| noi | accadiamo |
| voi | accadete |
| loro | accadano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non accadere |
| lui/lei | non accada |
| noi | non accadiamo |
| voi | non accadete |
| loro | non accadano |