agire — Italian conjugation
to act
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
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 | agisco | I act |
| tu | agisci | you act |
| lui/lei | agisce | he/she/it acts |
| noi | agiamo | we act |
| voi | agite | you (pl.) act |
| loro | agiscono | they act |
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 | agii | I acted |
| tu | agisti | you acted |
| lui/lei | agì | he/she/it acted |
| noi | agimmo | we acted |
| voi | agiste | you (pl.) acted |
| loro | agirono | they acted |
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 | agivo |
| tu | agivi |
| lui/lei | agiva |
| noi | agivamo |
| voi | agivate |
| loro | agivano |
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 | agirei | I would act |
| tu | agiresti | you would act |
| lui/lei | agirebbe | he/she/it would act |
| noi | agiremmo | we would act |
| voi | agireste | you (pl.) would act |
| loro | agirebbero | they would act |
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 | agirò | I will act |
| tu | agirai | you will act |
| lui/lei | agirà | he/she/it will act |
| noi | agiremo | we will act |
| voi | agirete | you (pl.) will act |
| loro | agiranno | they will act |
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 agito | I have acted |
| tu | hai agito | you have acted |
| lui/lei | ha agito | he/she/it has acted |
| noi | abbiamo agito | we have acted |
| voi | avete agito | you (pl.) have acted |
| loro | hanno agito | they have acted |
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 agito | I had acted |
| tu | avevi agito | you had acted |
| lui/lei | aveva agito | he/she/it had acted |
| noi | avevamo agito | we had acted |
| voi | avevate agito | you (pl.) had acted |
| loro | avevano agito | they had acted |
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 agito |
| tu | avresti agito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe agito |
| noi | avremmo agito |
| voi | avreste agito |
| loro | avrebbero agito |
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 agito | I will have acted |
| tu | avrai agito | you will have acted |
| lui/lei | avrà agito | he/she/it will have acted |
| noi | avremo agito | we will have acted |
| voi | avrete agito | you (pl.) will have acted |
| loro | avranno agito | they will have acted |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
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 | agisca |
| tu | agisca |
| lui/lei | agisca |
| noi | agiamo |
| voi | agiate |
| loro | agiscano |
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 | agissi |
| tu | agissi |
| lui/lei | agisse |
| noi | agissimo |
| voi | agiste |
| loro | agissero |
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 | agisci |
| lui/lei | agisca |
| noi | agiamo |
| voi | agite |
| loro | agiscano |
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 agire |
| lui/lei | non agisca |
| noi | non agiamo |
| voi | non agite |
| loro | non agiscano |