collocare — Italian conjugation

to place, to locate

Frequency#601Irregular

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
iocollocoI place
tucollochiyou place
lui/leicollocahe/she/it places
noicollochiamowe place
voicollocateyou (pl.) place
lorocollocanothey place

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
iocollocaiI placed
tucollocastiyou placed
lui/leicollocòhe/she/it placed
noicollocammowe placed
voicollocasteyou (pl.) placed
lorocollocaronothey placed

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
iocollocavo
tucollocavi
lui/leicollocava
noicollocavamo
voicollocavate
lorocollocavano

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
iocollochereiI would place
tucollocherestiyou would place
lui/leicollocherebbehe/she/it would place
noicollocheremmowe would place
voicollocheresteyou (pl.) would place
lorocollocherebberothey would place

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
iocollocheròI will place
tucollocheraiyou will place
lui/leicollocheràhe/she/it will place
noicollocheremowe will place
voicollochereteyou (pl.) will place
lorocollocherannothey will place

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 collocatoI have placed
tuhai collocatoyou have placed
lui/leiha collocatohe/she/it has placed
noiabbiamo collocatowe have placed
voiavete collocatoyou (pl.) have placed
lorohanno collocatothey have placed

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 collocatoI had placed
tuavevi collocatoyou had placed
lui/leiaveva collocatohe/she/it had placed
noiavevamo collocatowe had placed
voiavevate collocatoyou (pl.) had placed
loroavevano collocatothey had placed

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 collocato
tuavresti collocato
lui/leiavrebbe collocato
noiavremmo collocato
voiavreste collocato
loroavrebbero collocato

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 collocatoI will have placed
tuavrai collocatoyou will have placed
lui/leiavrà collocatohe/she/it will have placed
noiavremo collocatowe will have placed
voiavrete collocatoyou (pl.) will have placed
loroavranno collocatothey will have placed

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
iocollochi
tucollochi
lui/leicollochi
noicollochiamo
voicollochiate
lorocollochino

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
iocollocassi
tucollocassi
lui/leicollocasse
noicollocassimo
voicollocaste
lorocollocassero

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular

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
tucolloca
lui/leicollochi
noicollochiamo
voicollocate
lorocollochino

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular

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 collocare
lui/leinon collochi
noinon collochiamo
voinon collocate
loronon collochino