calare — Italian conjugation
to lower
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 | calo | I lower |
| tu | cali | you lower |
| lui/lei | cala | he/she/it lowers |
| noi | caliamo | we lower |
| voi | calate | you (pl.) lower |
| loro | calano | they lower |
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 | calai | I lowered |
| tu | calasti | you lowered |
| lui/lei | calò | he/she/it lowered |
| noi | calammo | we lowered |
| voi | calaste | you (pl.) lowered |
| loro | calarono | they lowered |
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 | calavo |
| tu | calavi |
| lui/lei | calava |
| noi | calavamo |
| voi | calavate |
| loro | calavano |
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 | calerei | I would lower |
| tu | caleresti | you would lower |
| lui/lei | calerebbe | he/she/it would lower |
| noi | caleremmo | we would lower |
| voi | calereste | you (pl.) would lower |
| loro | calerebbero | they would lower |
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 | calerò | I will lower |
| tu | calerai | you will lower |
| lui/lei | calerà | he/she/it will lower |
| noi | caleremo | we will lower |
| voi | calerete | you (pl.) will lower |
| loro | caleranno | they will lower |
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 calato/a | I have lowered |
| tu | sei calato/a | you have lowered |
| lui/lei | è calato/a | he/she/it has lowered |
| noi | siamo calati/e | we have lowered |
| voi | siete calati/e | you (pl.) have lowered |
| loro | sono calati/e | they have lowered |
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 calato/a | I had lowered |
| tu | eri calato/a | you had lowered |
| lui/lei | era calato/a | he/she/it had lowered |
| noi | eravamo calati/e | we had lowered |
| voi | eravate calati/e | you (pl.) had lowered |
| loro | erano calati/e | they had lowered |
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 calato/a |
| tu | saresti calato/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe calato/a |
| noi | saremmo calati/e |
| voi | sareste calati/e |
| loro | sarebbero calati/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 calato/a | I will have lowered |
| tu | sarai calato/a | you will have lowered |
| lui/lei | sarà calato/a | he/she/it will have lowered |
| noi | saremo calati/e | we will have lowered |
| voi | sarete calati/e | you (pl.) will have lowered |
| loro | saranno calati/e | they will have lowered |
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 | cali |
| tu | cali |
| lui/lei | cali |
| noi | caliamo |
| voi | caliate |
| loro | calino |
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 | calassi |
| tu | calassi |
| lui/lei | calasse |
| noi | calassimo |
| voi | calaste |
| loro | calassero |
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 | cala |
| lui/lei | cali |
| noi | caliamo |
| voi | calate |
| loro | calino |
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 calare |
| lui/lei | non cali |
| noi | non caliamo |
| voi | non calate |
| loro | non calino |