arrivare — Italian conjugation

to arrive

Frequency#26RegularAuxiliaryessere

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
ioarrivoI arrive
tuarriviyou arrive
lui/leiarrivahe/she/it arrives
noiarriviamowe arrive
voiarrivateyou (pl.) arrive
loroarrivanothey arrive

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
ioarrivaiI arrived
tuarrivastiyou arrived
lui/leiarrivòhe/she/it arrived
noiarrivammowe arrived
voiarrivasteyou (pl.) arrived
loroarrivaronothey arrived

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
ioarrivavo
tuarrivavi
lui/leiarrivava
noiarrivavamo
voiarrivavate
loroarrivavano

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
ioarrivereiI would arrive
tuarriverestiyou would arrive
lui/leiarriverebbehe/she/it would arrive
noiarriveremmowe would arrive
voiarriveresteyou (pl.) would arrive
loroarriverebberothey would arrive

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
ioarriveròI will arrive
tuarriveraiyou will arrive
lui/leiarriveràhe/she/it will arrive
noiarriveremowe will arrive
voiarrivereteyou (pl.) will arrive
loroarriverannothey will arrive

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
iosono arrivato/aI have arrived
tusei arrivato/ayou have arrived
lui/leiè arrivato/ahe/she/it has arrived
noisiamo arrivati/ewe have arrived
voisiete arrivati/eyou (pl.) have arrived
lorosono arrivati/ethey have arrived

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
ioero arrivato/aI had arrived
tueri arrivato/ayou had arrived
lui/leiera arrivato/ahe/she/it had arrived
noieravamo arrivati/ewe had arrived
voieravate arrivati/eyou (pl.) had arrived
loroerano arrivati/ethey had arrived

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
iosarei arrivato/a
tusaresti arrivato/a
lui/leisarebbe arrivato/a
noisaremmo arrivati/e
voisareste arrivati/e
lorosarebbero arrivati/e

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
iosarò arrivato/aI will have arrived
tusarai arrivato/ayou will have arrived
lui/leisarà arrivato/ahe/she/it will have arrived
noisaremo arrivati/ewe will have arrived
voisarete arrivati/eyou (pl.) will have arrived
lorosaranno arrivati/ethey will have arrived

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
ioarrivi
tuarrivi
lui/leiarrivi
noiarriviamo
voiarriviate
loroarrivino

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
ioarrivassi
tuarrivassi
lui/leiarrivasse
noiarrivassimo
voiarrivaste
loroarrivassero

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
tuarriva
lui/leiarrivi
noiarriviamo
voiarrivate
loroarrivino

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 arrivare
lui/leinon arrivi
noinon arriviamo
voinon arrivate
loronon arrivino