ballare — Italian conjugation
to dance
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 | ballo | I dance |
| tu | balli | you dance |
| lui/lei | balla | he/she/it dances |
| noi | balliamo | we dance |
| voi | ballate | you (pl.) dance |
| loro | ballano | they dance |
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 | ballai | I danced |
| tu | ballasti | you danced |
| lui/lei | ballò | he/she/it danced |
| noi | ballammo | we danced |
| voi | ballaste | you (pl.) danced |
| loro | ballarono | they danced |
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 | ballavo |
| tu | ballavi |
| lui/lei | ballava |
| noi | ballavamo |
| voi | ballavate |
| loro | ballavano |
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 | ballerei | I would dance |
| tu | balleresti | you would dance |
| lui/lei | ballerebbe | he/she/it would dance |
| noi | balleremmo | we would dance |
| voi | ballereste | you (pl.) would dance |
| loro | ballerebbero | they would dance |
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 | ballerò | I will dance |
| tu | ballerai | you will dance |
| lui/lei | ballerà | he/she/it will dance |
| noi | balleremo | we will dance |
| voi | ballerete | you (pl.) will dance |
| loro | balleranno | they will dance |
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 ballato | I have danced |
| tu | hai ballato | you have danced |
| lui/lei | ha ballato | he/she/it has danced |
| noi | abbiamo ballato | we have danced |
| voi | avete ballato | you (pl.) have danced |
| loro | hanno ballato | they have danced |
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 ballato | I had danced |
| tu | avevi ballato | you had danced |
| lui/lei | aveva ballato | he/she/it had danced |
| noi | avevamo ballato | we had danced |
| voi | avevate ballato | you (pl.) had danced |
| loro | avevano ballato | they had danced |
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 ballato |
| tu | avresti ballato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe ballato |
| noi | avremmo ballato |
| voi | avreste ballato |
| loro | avrebbero ballato |
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 ballato | I will have danced |
| tu | avrai ballato | you will have danced |
| lui/lei | avrà ballato | he/she/it will have danced |
| noi | avremo ballato | we will have danced |
| voi | avrete ballato | you (pl.) will have danced |
| loro | avranno ballato | they will have danced |
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 | balli |
| tu | balli |
| lui/lei | balli |
| noi | balliamo |
| voi | balliate |
| loro | ballino |
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 | ballassi |
| tu | ballassi |
| lui/lei | ballasse |
| noi | ballassimo |
| voi | ballaste |
| loro | ballassero |
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 | balla |
| lui/lei | balli |
| noi | balliamo |
| voi | ballate |
| loro | ballino |
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 ballare |
| lui/lei | non balli |
| noi | non balliamo |
| voi | non ballate |
| loro | non ballino |