certificare — Italian conjugation

to certify

Frequency#725Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iocertificoI certify
tucertifichiyou certify
lui/leicertificahe/she/it certifies
noicertifichiamowe certify
voicertificateyou (pl.) certify
lorocertificanothey certify

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
iocertificaiI certified
tucertificastiyou certified
lui/leicertificòhe/she/it certified
noicertificammowe certified
voicertificasteyou (pl.) certified
lorocertificaronothey certified

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
iocertificavo
tucertificavi
lui/leicertificava
noicertificavamo
voicertificavate
lorocertificavano

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
iocertifichereiI would certify
tucertificherestiyou would certify
lui/leicertificherebbehe/she/it would certify
noicertificheremmowe would certify
voicertificheresteyou (pl.) would certify
lorocertificherebberothey would certify

Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular

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
iocertificheròI will certify
tucertificheraiyou will certify
lui/leicertificheràhe/she/it will certify
noicertificheremowe will certify
voicertifichereteyou (pl.) will certify
lorocertificherannothey will certify

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 certificatoI have certified
tuhai certificatoyou have certified
lui/leiha certificatohe/she/it has certified
noiabbiamo certificatowe have certified
voiavete certificatoyou (pl.) have certified
lorohanno certificatothey have certified

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 certificatoI had certified
tuavevi certificatoyou had certified
lui/leiaveva certificatohe/she/it had certified
noiavevamo certificatowe had certified
voiavevate certificatoyou (pl.) had certified
loroavevano certificatothey had certified

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 certificato
tuavresti certificato
lui/leiavrebbe certificato
noiavremmo certificato
voiavreste certificato
loroavrebbero certificato

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 certificatoI will have certified
tuavrai certificatoyou will have certified
lui/leiavrà certificatohe/she/it will have certified
noiavremo certificatowe will have certified
voiavrete certificatoyou (pl.) will have certified
loroavranno certificatothey will have certified

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.

PronounItalian
iocertifichi
tucertifichi
lui/leicertifichi
noicertifichiamo
voicertifichiate
lorocertifichino

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
iocertificassi
tucertificassi
lui/leicertificasse
noicertificassimo
voicertificaste
lorocertificassero

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
tucertifica
lui/leicertifichi
noicertifichiamo
voicertificate
lorocertifichino

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 certificare
lui/leinon certifichi
noinon certifichiamo
voinon certificate
loronon certifichino