collaborare — Italian conjugation

to collaborate

Frequency#607Regular

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
iocollaboroI collaborate
tucollaboriyou collaborate
lui/leicollaborahe/she/it collaborates
noicollaboriamowe collaborate
voicollaborateyou (pl.) collaborate
lorocollaboranothey collaborate

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
iocollaboraiI collaborated
tucollaborastiyou collaborated
lui/leicollaboròhe/she/it collaborated
noicollaborammowe collaborated
voicollaborasteyou (pl.) collaborated
lorocollaboraronothey collaborated

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
iocollaboravo
tucollaboravi
lui/leicollaborava
noicollaboravamo
voicollaboravate
lorocollaboravano

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
iocollaborereiI would collaborate
tucollaborerestiyou would collaborate
lui/leicollaborerebbehe/she/it would collaborate
noicollaboreremmowe would collaborate
voicollaboreresteyou (pl.) would collaborate
lorocollaborerebberothey would collaborate

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
iocollaboreròI will collaborate
tucollaboreraiyou will collaborate
lui/leicollaboreràhe/she/it will collaborate
noicollaboreremowe will collaborate
voicollaborereteyou (pl.) will collaborate
lorocollaborerannothey will collaborate

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 collaboratoI have collaborated
tuhai collaboratoyou have collaborated
lui/leiha collaboratohe/she/it has collaborated
noiabbiamo collaboratowe have collaborated
voiavete collaboratoyou (pl.) have collaborated
lorohanno collaboratothey have collaborated

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 collaboratoI had collaborated
tuavevi collaboratoyou had collaborated
lui/leiaveva collaboratohe/she/it had collaborated
noiavevamo collaboratowe had collaborated
voiavevate collaboratoyou (pl.) had collaborated
loroavevano collaboratothey had collaborated

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 collaborato
tuavresti collaborato
lui/leiavrebbe collaborato
noiavremmo collaborato
voiavreste collaborato
loroavrebbero collaborato

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 collaboratoI will have collaborated
tuavrai collaboratoyou will have collaborated
lui/leiavrà collaboratohe/she/it will have collaborated
noiavremo collaboratowe will have collaborated
voiavrete collaboratoyou (pl.) will have collaborated
loroavranno collaboratothey will have collaborated

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
iocollabori
tucollabori
lui/leicollabori
noicollaboriamo
voicollaboriate
lorocollaborino

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
iocollaborassi
tucollaborassi
lui/leicollaborasse
noicollaborassimo
voicollaboraste
lorocollaborassero

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
tucollabora
lui/leicollabori
noicollaboriamo
voicollaborate
lorocollaborino

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 collaborare
lui/leinon collabori
noinon collaboriamo
voinon collaborate
loronon collaborino