cautelare — Italian conjugation
to safeguard
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 | cautelo | I safeguard |
| tu | cauteli | you safeguard |
| lui/lei | cautela | he/she/it safeguards |
| noi | cauteliamo | we safeguard |
| voi | cautelate | you (pl.) safeguard |
| loro | cautelano | they safeguard |
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 | cautelai | I safeguarded |
| tu | cautelasti | you safeguarded |
| lui/lei | cautelò | he/she/it safeguarded |
| noi | cautelammo | we safeguarded |
| voi | cautelaste | you (pl.) safeguarded |
| loro | cautelarono | they safeguarded |
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 | cautelavo |
| tu | cautelavi |
| lui/lei | cautelava |
| noi | cautelavamo |
| voi | cautelavate |
| loro | cautelavano |
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 | cautelerei | I would safeguard |
| tu | cauteleresti | you would safeguard |
| lui/lei | cautelerebbe | he/she/it would safeguard |
| noi | cauteleremmo | we would safeguard |
| voi | cautelereste | you (pl.) would safeguard |
| loro | cautelerebbero | they would safeguard |
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 | cautelerò | I will safeguard |
| tu | cautelerai | you will safeguard |
| lui/lei | cautelerà | he/she/it will safeguard |
| noi | cauteleremo | we will safeguard |
| voi | cautelerete | you (pl.) will safeguard |
| loro | cauteleranno | they will safeguard |
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 cautelato | I have safeguarded |
| tu | hai cautelato | you have safeguarded |
| lui/lei | ha cautelato | he/she/it has safeguarded |
| noi | abbiamo cautelato | we have safeguarded |
| voi | avete cautelato | you (pl.) have safeguarded |
| loro | hanno cautelato | they have safeguarded |
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 cautelato | I had safeguarded |
| tu | avevi cautelato | you had safeguarded |
| lui/lei | aveva cautelato | he/she/it had safeguarded |
| noi | avevamo cautelato | we had safeguarded |
| voi | avevate cautelato | you (pl.) had safeguarded |
| loro | avevano cautelato | they had safeguarded |
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 cautelato |
| tu | avresti cautelato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe cautelato |
| noi | avremmo cautelato |
| voi | avreste cautelato |
| loro | avrebbero cautelato |
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 cautelato | I will have safeguarded |
| tu | avrai cautelato | you will have safeguarded |
| lui/lei | avrà cautelato | he/she/it will have safeguarded |
| noi | avremo cautelato | we will have safeguarded |
| voi | avrete cautelato | you (pl.) will have safeguarded |
| loro | avranno cautelato | they will have safeguarded |
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 | cauteli |
| tu | cauteli |
| lui/lei | cauteli |
| noi | cauteliamo |
| voi | cauteliate |
| loro | cautelino |
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 | cautelassi |
| tu | cautelassi |
| lui/lei | cautelasse |
| noi | cautelassimo |
| voi | cautelaste |
| loro | cautelassero |
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 | cautela |
| lui/lei | cauteli |
| noi | cauteliamo |
| voi | cautelate |
| loro | cautelino |
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 cautelare |
| lui/lei | non cauteli |
| noi | non cauteliamo |
| voi | non cautelate |
| loro | non cautelino |