ardere — Italian conjugation
to burn
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 | ardo | I burn |
| tu | ardi | you burn |
| lui/lei | arde | he/she/it burns |
| noi | ardiamo | we burn |
| voi | ardete | you (pl.) burn |
| loro | ardono | they burn |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | arsi | I burned |
| tu | ardesti | you burned |
| lui/lei | arse | he/she/it burned |
| noi | ardemmo | we burned |
| voi | ardeste | you (pl.) burned |
| loro | arsero | they burned |
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 | ardevo |
| tu | ardevi |
| lui/lei | ardeva |
| noi | ardevamo |
| voi | ardevate |
| loro | ardevano |
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 | arderei | I would burn |
| tu | arderesti | you would burn |
| lui/lei | arderebbe | he/she/it would burn |
| noi | arderemmo | we would burn |
| voi | ardereste | you (pl.) would burn |
| loro | arderebbero | they would burn |
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 | arderò | I will burn |
| tu | arderai | you will burn |
| lui/lei | arderà | he/she/it will burn |
| noi | arderemo | we will burn |
| voi | arderete | you (pl.) will burn |
| loro | arderanno | they will burn |
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 arso | I have burned |
| tu | hai arso | you have burned |
| lui/lei | ha arso | he/she/it has burned |
| noi | abbiamo arso | we have burned |
| voi | avete arso | you (pl.) have burned |
| loro | hanno arso | they have burned |
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 arso | I had burned |
| tu | avevi arso | you had burned |
| lui/lei | aveva arso | he/she/it had burned |
| noi | avevamo arso | we had burned |
| voi | avevate arso | you (pl.) had burned |
| loro | avevano arso | they had burned |
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 arso |
| tu | avresti arso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe arso |
| noi | avremmo arso |
| voi | avreste arso |
| loro | avrebbero arso |
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 arso | I will have burned |
| tu | avrai arso | you will have burned |
| lui/lei | avrà arso | he/she/it will have burned |
| noi | avremo arso | we will have burned |
| voi | avrete arso | you (pl.) will have burned |
| loro | avranno arso | they will have burned |
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 | arda |
| tu | arda |
| lui/lei | arda |
| noi | ardiamo |
| voi | ardiate |
| loro | ardano |
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 | ardessi |
| tu | ardessi |
| lui/lei | ardesse |
| noi | ardessimo |
| voi | ardeste |
| loro | ardessero |
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 | ardi |
| lui/lei | arda |
| noi | ardiamo |
| voi | ardete |
| loro | ardano |
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 ardere |
| lui/lei | non arda |
| noi | non ardiamo |
| voi | non ardete |
| loro | non ardano |