bastare — Italian conjugation
to be enough
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 | basto | I am enough |
| tu | basti | you are enough |
| lui/lei | basta | he/she/it is enough |
| noi | bastiamo | we are enough |
| voi | bastate | you (pl.) are enough |
| loro | bastano | they are enough |
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 | bastai | I was enough |
| tu | bastasti | you were enough |
| lui/lei | bastò | he/she/it was enough |
| noi | bastammo | we were enough |
| voi | bastaste | you (pl.) were enough |
| loro | bastarono | they were enough |
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 | bastavo |
| tu | bastavi |
| lui/lei | bastava |
| noi | bastavamo |
| voi | bastavate |
| loro | bastavano |
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 | basterei | I would be enough |
| tu | basteresti | you would be enough |
| lui/lei | basterebbe | he/she/it would be enough |
| noi | basteremmo | we would be enough |
| voi | bastereste | you (pl.) would be enough |
| loro | basterebbero | they would be enough |
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 | basterò | I will be enough |
| tu | basterai | you will be enough |
| lui/lei | basterà | he/she/it will be enough |
| noi | basteremo | we will be enough |
| voi | basterete | you (pl.) will be enough |
| loro | basteranno | they will be enough |
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 | sono bastato/a | I have been enough |
| tu | sei bastato/a | you have been enough |
| lui/lei | è bastato/a | he/she/it has been enough |
| noi | siamo bastati/e | we have been enough |
| voi | siete bastati/e | you (pl.) have been enough |
| loro | sono bastati/e | they have been enough |
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 | ero bastato/a | I had been enough |
| tu | eri bastato/a | you had been enough |
| lui/lei | era bastato/a | he/she/it had been enough |
| noi | eravamo bastati/e | we had been enough |
| voi | eravate bastati/e | you (pl.) had been enough |
| loro | erano bastati/e | they had been enough |
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 | sarei bastato/a |
| tu | saresti bastato/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe bastato/a |
| noi | saremmo bastati/e |
| voi | sareste bastati/e |
| loro | sarebbero bastati/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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | sarò bastato/a | I will have been enough |
| tu | sarai bastato/a | you will have been enough |
| lui/lei | sarà bastato/a | he/she/it will have been enough |
| noi | saremo bastati/e | we will have been enough |
| voi | sarete bastati/e | you (pl.) will have been enough |
| loro | saranno bastati/e | they will have been enough |
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 | basti |
| tu | basti |
| lui/lei | basti |
| noi | bastiamo |
| voi | bastiate |
| loro | bastino |
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 | bastassi |
| tu | bastassi |
| lui/lei | bastasse |
| noi | bastassimo |
| voi | bastaste |
| loro | bastassero |
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 | basta |
| lui/lei | basti |
| noi | bastiamo |
| voi | bastate |
| loro | bastino |
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 bastare |
| lui/lei | non basti |
| noi | non bastiamo |
| voi | non bastate |
| loro | non bastino |