applicare — Italian conjugation

to apply, to put, to stick, to spread

Frequency#350Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapplicoI apply
tuapplichiyou apply
lui/leiapplicahe/she/it applies
noiapplichiamowe apply
voiapplicateyou (pl.) apply
loroapplicanothey apply

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapplicaiI applied
tuapplicastiyou applied
lui/leiapplicòhe/she/it applied
noiapplicammowe applied
voiapplicasteyou (pl.) applied
loroapplicaronothey applied

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.

PronounItalian
ioapplicavo
tuapplicavi
lui/leiapplicava
noiapplicavamo
voiapplicavate
loroapplicavano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapplichereiI would apply
tuapplicherestiyou would apply
lui/leiapplicherebbehe/she/it would apply
noiapplicheremmowe would apply
voiapplicheresteyou (pl.) would apply
loroapplicherebberothey would apply

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapplicheròI will apply
tuapplicheraiyou will apply
lui/leiapplicheràhe/she/it will apply
noiapplicheremowe will apply
voiapplichereteyou (pl.) will apply
loroapplicherannothey will apply

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho applicatoI have applied
tuhai applicatoyou have applied
lui/leiha applicatohe/she/it has applied
noiabbiamo applicatowe have applied
voiavete applicatoyou (pl.) have applied
lorohanno applicatothey have applied

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo applicatoI had applied
tuavevi applicatoyou had applied
lui/leiaveva applicatohe/she/it had applied
noiavevamo applicatowe had applied
voiavevate applicatoyou (pl.) had applied
loroavevano applicatothey had applied

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei applicato
tuavresti applicato
lui/leiavrebbe applicato
noiavremmo applicato
voiavreste applicato
loroavrebbero applicato

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò applicatoI will have applied
tuavrai applicatoyou will have applied
lui/leiavrà applicatohe/she/it will have applied
noiavremo applicatowe will have applied
voiavrete applicatoyou (pl.) will have applied
loroavranno applicatothey will have applied

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.

PronounItalian
ioapplichi
tuapplichi
lui/leiapplichi
noiapplichiamo
voiapplichiate
loroapplichino

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.

PronounItalian
ioapplicassi
tuapplicassi
lui/leiapplicasse
noiapplicassimo
voiapplicaste
loroapplicassero

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tuapplica
lui/leiapplichi
noiapplichiamo
voiapplicate
loroapplichino

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular

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.

PronounItalian
tunon applicare
lui/leinon applichi
noinon applichiamo
voinon applicate
loronon applichino