accostare — Italian conjugation
to approach
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 | accosto | I approach |
| tu | accosti | you approach |
| lui/lei | accosta | he/she/it approaches |
| noi | accostiamo | we approach |
| voi | accostate | you (pl.) approach |
| loro | accostano | they approach |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Regular
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 | accostai | I approached |
| tu | accostasti | you approached |
| lui/lei | accostò | he/she/it approached |
| noi | accostammo | we approached |
| voi | accostaste | you (pl.) approached |
| loro | accostarono | they approached |
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 | accostavo |
| tu | accostavi |
| lui/lei | accostava |
| noi | accostavamo |
| voi | accostavate |
| loro | accostavano |
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 | accosterei | I would approach |
| tu | accosteresti | you would approach |
| lui/lei | accosterebbe | he/she/it would approach |
| noi | accosteremmo | we would approach |
| voi | accostereste | you (pl.) would approach |
| loro | accosterebbero | they would approach |
Future (Futuro semplice) Regular
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 | accosterò | I will approach |
| tu | accosterai | you will approach |
| lui/lei | accosterà | he/she/it will approach |
| noi | accosteremo | we will approach |
| voi | accosterete | you (pl.) will approach |
| loro | accosteranno | they will approach |
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 | ho accostato | I have approached |
| tu | hai accostato | you have approached |
| lui/lei | ha accostato | he/she/it has approached |
| noi | abbiamo accostato | we have approached |
| voi | avete accostato | you (pl.) have approached |
| loro | hanno accostato | they have approached |
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 | avevo accostato | I had approached |
| tu | avevi accostato | you had approached |
| lui/lei | aveva accostato | he/she/it had approached |
| noi | avevamo accostato | we had approached |
| voi | avevate accostato | you (pl.) had approached |
| loro | avevano accostato | they had approached |
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 | avrei accostato |
| tu | avresti accostato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe accostato |
| noi | avremmo accostato |
| voi | avreste accostato |
| loro | avrebbero accostato |
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 | avrò accostato | I will have approached |
| tu | avrai accostato | you will have approached |
| lui/lei | avrà accostato | he/she/it will have approached |
| noi | avremo accostato | we will have approached |
| voi | avrete accostato | you (pl.) will have approached |
| loro | avranno accostato | they will have approached |
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 | accosti |
| tu | accosti |
| lui/lei | accosti |
| noi | accostiamo |
| voi | accostiate |
| loro | accostino |
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 | accostassi |
| tu | accostassi |
| lui/lei | accostasse |
| noi | accostassimo |
| voi | accostaste |
| loro | accostassero |
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 | accosta |
| lui/lei | accosti |
| noi | accostiamo |
| voi | accostate |
| loro | accostino |
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 accostare |
| lui/lei | non accosti |
| noi | non accostiamo |
| voi | non accostate |
| loro | non accostino |