capire — Italian conjugation
to understand
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
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 | capisco | I understand |
| tu | capisci | you understand |
| lui/lei | capisce | he/she/it understands |
| noi | capiamo | we understand |
| voi | capite | you (pl.) understand |
| loro | capiscono | they understand |
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 | capii | I understood |
| tu | capisti | you understood |
| lui/lei | capì | he/she/it understood |
| noi | capimmo | we understood |
| voi | capiste | you (pl.) understood |
| loro | capirono | they understood |
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 | capivo |
| tu | capivi |
| lui/lei | capiva |
| noi | capivamo |
| voi | capivate |
| loro | capivano |
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 | capirei | I would understand |
| tu | capiresti | you would understand |
| lui/lei | capirebbe | he/she/it would understand |
| noi | capiremmo | we would understand |
| voi | capireste | you (pl.) would understand |
| loro | capirebbero | they would understand |
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 | capirò | I will understand |
| tu | capirai | you will understand |
| lui/lei | capirà | he/she/it will understand |
| noi | capiremo | we will understand |
| voi | capirete | you (pl.) will understand |
| loro | capiranno | they will understand |
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 capito | I have understood |
| tu | hai capito | you have understood |
| lui/lei | ha capito | he/she/it has understood |
| noi | abbiamo capito | we have understood |
| voi | avete capito | you (pl.) have understood |
| loro | hanno capito | they have understood |
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 capito | I had understood |
| tu | avevi capito | you had understood |
| lui/lei | aveva capito | he/she/it had understood |
| noi | avevamo capito | we had understood |
| voi | avevate capito | you (pl.) had understood |
| loro | avevano capito | they had understood |
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 capito |
| tu | avresti capito |
| lui/lei | avrebbe capito |
| noi | avremmo capito |
| voi | avreste capito |
| loro | avrebbero capito |
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 capito | I will have understood |
| tu | avrai capito | you will have understood |
| lui/lei | avrà capito | he/she/it will have understood |
| noi | avremo capito | we will have understood |
| voi | avrete capito | you (pl.) will have understood |
| loro | avranno capito | they will have understood |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
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 | capisca |
| tu | capisca |
| lui/lei | capisca |
| noi | capiamo |
| voi | capiate |
| loro | capiscano |
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 | capissi |
| tu | capissi |
| lui/lei | capisse |
| noi | capissimo |
| voi | capiste |
| loro | capissero |
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 | capisci |
| lui/lei | capisca |
| noi | capiamo |
| voi | capite |
| loro | capiscano |
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 capire |
| lui/lei | non capisca |
| noi | non capiamo |
| voi | non capite |
| loro | non capiscano |