bollire — Italian conjugation
to boil, to brew
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 | bollo | I boil |
| tu | bolli | you boil |
| lui/lei | bolle | he/she/it boils |
| noi | bolliamo | we boil |
| voi | bollite | you (pl.) boil |
| loro | bollono | they boil |
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 | bollii | I boiled |
| tu | bollisti | you boiled |
| lui/lei | bollì | he/she/it boiled |
| noi | bollimmo | we boiled |
| voi | bolliste | you (pl.) boiled |
| loro | bollirono | they boiled |
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 | bollivo |
| tu | bollivi |
| lui/lei | bolliva |
| noi | bollivamo |
| voi | bollivate |
| loro | bollivano |
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 | bollirei | I would boil |
| tu | bolliresti | you would boil |
| lui/lei | bollirebbe | he/she/it would boil |
| noi | bolliremmo | we would boil |
| voi | bollireste | you (pl.) would boil |
| loro | bollirebbero | they would boil |
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 | bollirò | I will boil |
| tu | bollirai | you will boil |
| lui/lei | bollirà | he/she/it will boil |
| noi | bolliremo | we will boil |
| voi | bollirete | you (pl.) will boil |
| loro | bolliranno | they will boil |
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 bollito | I have boiled |
| tu | hai bollito | you have boiled |
| lui/lei | ha bollito | he/she/it has boiled |
| noi | abbiamo bollito | we have boiled |
| voi | avete bollito | you (pl.) have boiled |
| loro | hanno bollito | they have boiled |
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 bollito | I had boiled |
| tu | avevi bollito | you had boiled |
| lui/lei | aveva bollito | he/she/it had boiled |
| noi | avevamo bollito | we had boiled |
| voi | avevate bollito | you (pl.) had boiled |
| loro | avevano bollito | they had boiled |
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 bollito |
| tu | avresti bollito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe bollito |
| noi | avremmo bollito |
| voi | avreste bollito |
| loro | avrebbero bollito |
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 bollito | I will have boiled |
| tu | avrai bollito | you will have boiled |
| lui/lei | avrà bollito | he/she/it will have boiled |
| noi | avremo bollito | we will have boiled |
| voi | avrete bollito | you (pl.) will have boiled |
| loro | avranno bollito | they will have boiled |
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 | bolla |
| tu | bolla |
| lui/lei | bolla |
| noi | bolliamo |
| voi | bolliate |
| loro | bollano |
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 | bollissi |
| tu | bollissi |
| lui/lei | bollisse |
| noi | bollissimo |
| voi | bolliste |
| loro | bollissero |
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 | bolli |
| lui/lei | bolla |
| noi | bolliamo |
| voi | bollite |
| loro | bollano |
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 bollire |
| lui/lei | non bolla |
| noi | non bolliamo |
| voi | non bollite |
| loro | non bollano |