circolare — Italian conjugation
to circulate
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 | circolo | I circulate |
| tu | circoli | you circulate |
| lui/lei | circola | he/she/it circulates |
| noi | circoliamo | we circulate |
| voi | circolate | you (pl.) circulate |
| loro | circolano | they circulate |
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 | circolai | I circulated |
| tu | circolasti | you circulated |
| lui/lei | circolò | he/she/it circulated |
| noi | circolammo | we circulated |
| voi | circolaste | you (pl.) circulated |
| loro | circolarono | they circulated |
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 | circolavo |
| tu | circolavi |
| lui/lei | circolava |
| noi | circolavamo |
| voi | circolavate |
| loro | circolavano |
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 | circolerei | I would circulate |
| tu | circoleresti | you would circulate |
| lui/lei | circolerebbe | he/she/it would circulate |
| noi | circoleremmo | we would circulate |
| voi | circolereste | you (pl.) would circulate |
| loro | circolerebbero | they would circulate |
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 | circolerò | I will circulate |
| tu | circolerai | you will circulate |
| lui/lei | circolerà | he/she/it will circulate |
| noi | circoleremo | we will circulate |
| voi | circolerete | you (pl.) will circulate |
| loro | circoleranno | they will circulate |
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 circolato | I have circulated |
| tu | hai circolato | you have circulated |
| lui/lei | ha circolato | he/she/it has circulated |
| noi | abbiamo circolato | we have circulated |
| voi | avete circolato | you (pl.) have circulated |
| loro | hanno circolato | they have circulated |
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 circolato | I had circulated |
| tu | avevi circolato | you had circulated |
| lui/lei | aveva circolato | he/she/it had circulated |
| noi | avevamo circolato | we had circulated |
| voi | avevate circolato | you (pl.) had circulated |
| loro | avevano circolato | they had circulated |
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 circolato |
| tu | avresti circolato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe circolato |
| noi | avremmo circolato |
| voi | avreste circolato |
| loro | avrebbero circolato |
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 circolato | I will have circulated |
| tu | avrai circolato | you will have circulated |
| lui/lei | avrà circolato | he/she/it will have circulated |
| noi | avremo circolato | we will have circulated |
| voi | avrete circolato | you (pl.) will have circulated |
| loro | avranno circolato | they will have circulated |
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 | circoli |
| tu | circoli |
| lui/lei | circoli |
| noi | circoliamo |
| voi | circoliate |
| loro | circolino |
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 | circolassi |
| tu | circolassi |
| lui/lei | circolasse |
| noi | circolassimo |
| voi | circolaste |
| loro | circolassero |
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 | circola |
| lui/lei | circoli |
| noi | circoliamo |
| voi | circolate |
| loro | circolino |
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 circolare |
| lui/lei | non circoli |
| noi | non circoliamo |
| voi | non circolate |
| loro | non circolino |