calmare — Italian conjugation

to calm

Frequency#582Regular

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
iocalmoI calm
tucalmiyou calm
lui/leicalmahe/she/it calms
noicalmiamowe calm
voicalmateyou (pl.) calm
lorocalmanothey calm

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
iocalmaiI calmed
tucalmastiyou calmed
lui/leicalmòhe/she/it calmed
noicalmammowe calmed
voicalmasteyou (pl.) calmed
lorocalmaronothey calmed

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
iocalmavo
tucalmavi
lui/leicalmava
noicalmavamo
voicalmavate
lorocalmavano

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
iocalmereiI would calm
tucalmerestiyou would calm
lui/leicalmerebbehe/she/it would calm
noicalmeremmowe would calm
voicalmeresteyou (pl.) would calm
lorocalmerebberothey would calm

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
iocalmeròI will calm
tucalmeraiyou will calm
lui/leicalmeràhe/she/it will calm
noicalmeremowe will calm
voicalmereteyou (pl.) will calm
lorocalmerannothey will calm

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
ioho calmatoI have calmed
tuhai calmatoyou have calmed
lui/leiha calmatohe/she/it has calmed
noiabbiamo calmatowe have calmed
voiavete calmatoyou (pl.) have calmed
lorohanno calmatothey have calmed

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
ioavevo calmatoI had calmed
tuavevi calmatoyou had calmed
lui/leiaveva calmatohe/she/it had calmed
noiavevamo calmatowe had calmed
voiavevate calmatoyou (pl.) had calmed
loroavevano calmatothey had calmed

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
ioavrei calmato
tuavresti calmato
lui/leiavrebbe calmato
noiavremmo calmato
voiavreste calmato
loroavrebbero calmato

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
ioavrò calmatoI will have calmed
tuavrai calmatoyou will have calmed
lui/leiavrà calmatohe/she/it will have calmed
noiavremo calmatowe will have calmed
voiavrete calmatoyou (pl.) will have calmed
loroavranno calmatothey will have calmed

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
iocalmi
tucalmi
lui/leicalmi
noicalmiamo
voicalmiate
lorocalmino

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
iocalmassi
tucalmassi
lui/leicalmasse
noicalmassimo
voicalmaste
lorocalmassero

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
tucalma
lui/leicalmi
noicalmiamo
voicalmate
lorocalmino

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 calmare
lui/leinon calmi
noinon calmiamo
voinon calmate
loronon calmino