amare — Italian conjugation
to love
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 | amo | I love |
| tu | ami | you love |
| lui/lei | ama | he/she/it loves |
| noi | amiamo | we love |
| voi | amate | you (pl.) love |
| loro | amano | they love |
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 | amai | I loved |
| tu | amasti | you loved |
| lui/lei | amò | he/she/it loved |
| noi | amammo | we loved |
| voi | amaste | you (pl.) loved |
| loro | amarono | they loved |
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 | amavo |
| tu | amavi |
| lui/lei | amava |
| noi | amavamo |
| voi | amavate |
| loro | amavano |
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 | amerei | I would love |
| tu | ameresti | you would love |
| lui/lei | amerebbe | he/she/it would love |
| noi | ameremmo | we would love |
| voi | amereste | you (pl.) would love |
| loro | amerebbero | they would love |
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 | amerò | I will love |
| tu | amerai | you will love |
| lui/lei | amerà | he/she/it will love |
| noi | ameremo | we will love |
| voi | amerete | you (pl.) will love |
| loro | ameranno | they will love |
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 amato | I have loved |
| tu | hai amato | you have loved |
| lui/lei | ha amato | he/she/it has loved |
| noi | abbiamo amato | we have loved |
| voi | avete amato | you (pl.) have loved |
| loro | hanno amato | they have loved |
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 amato | I had loved |
| tu | avevi amato | you had loved |
| lui/lei | aveva amato | he/she/it had loved |
| noi | avevamo amato | we had loved |
| voi | avevate amato | you (pl.) had loved |
| loro | avevano amato | they had loved |
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 amato |
| tu | avresti amato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe amato |
| noi | avremmo amato |
| voi | avreste amato |
| loro | avrebbero amato |
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 amato | I will have loved |
| tu | avrai amato | you will have loved |
| lui/lei | avrà amato | he/she/it will have loved |
| noi | avremo amato | we will have loved |
| voi | avrete amato | you (pl.) will have loved |
| loro | avranno amato | they will have loved |
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 | ami |
| tu | ami |
| lui/lei | ami |
| noi | amiamo |
| voi | amiate |
| loro | amino |
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 | amassi |
| tu | amassi |
| lui/lei | amasse |
| noi | amassimo |
| voi | amaste |
| loro | amassero |
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 | ama |
| lui/lei | ami |
| noi | amiamo |
| voi | amate |
| loro | amino |
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 amare |
| lui/lei | non ami |
| noi | non amiamo |
| voi | non amate |
| loro | non amino |