apprendere — Italian conjugation

to learn (a skill)

Frequency#761Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapprendoI learn
tuapprendiyou learn
lui/leiapprendehe/she/it learns
noiapprendiamowe learn
voiapprendeteyou (pl.) learn
loroapprendonothey learn

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioappresiI learned
tuapprendestiyou learned
lui/leiappresehe/she/it learned
noiapprendemmowe learned
voiapprendesteyou (pl.) learned
loroappreserothey learned

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
ioapprendevo
tuapprendevi
lui/leiapprendeva
noiapprendevamo
voiapprendevate
loroapprendevano

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
ioapprendereiI would learn
tuapprenderestiyou would learn
lui/leiapprenderebbehe/she/it would learn
noiapprenderemmowe would learn
voiapprenderesteyou (pl.) would learn
loroapprenderebberothey would learn

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioapprenderòI will learn
tuapprenderaiyou will learn
lui/leiapprenderàhe/she/it will learn
noiapprenderemowe will learn
voiapprendereteyou (pl.) will learn
loroapprenderannothey will learn

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 appresoI have learned
tuhai appresoyou have learned
lui/leiha appresohe/she/it has learned
noiabbiamo appresowe have learned
voiavete appresoyou (pl.) have learned
lorohanno appresothey have learned

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 appresoI had learned
tuavevi appresoyou had learned
lui/leiaveva appresohe/she/it had learned
noiavevamo appresowe had learned
voiavevate appresoyou (pl.) had learned
loroavevano appresothey had learned

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 appreso
tuavresti appreso
lui/leiavrebbe appreso
noiavremmo appreso
voiavreste appreso
loroavrebbero appreso

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 appresoI will have learned
tuavrai appresoyou will have learned
lui/leiavrà appresohe/she/it will have learned
noiavremo appresowe will have learned
voiavrete appresoyou (pl.) will have learned
loroavranno appresothey will have learned

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.

PronounItalian
ioapprenda
tuapprenda
lui/leiapprenda
noiapprendiamo
voiapprendiate
loroapprendano

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
ioapprendessi
tuapprendessi
lui/leiapprendesse
noiapprendessimo
voiapprendeste
loroapprendessero

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.

PronounItalian
tuapprendi
lui/leiapprenda
noiapprendiamo
voiapprendete
loroapprendano

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.

PronounItalian
tunon apprendere
lui/leinon apprenda
noinon apprendiamo
voinon apprendete
loronon apprendano