colmare — Italian conjugation

to fill

Frequency#1258Regular

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
iocolmoI fill
tucolmiyou fill
lui/leicolmahe/she/it fills
noicolmiamowe fill
voicolmateyou (pl.) fill
lorocolmanothey fill

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
iocolmaiI filled
tucolmastiyou filled
lui/leicolmòhe/she/it filled
noicolmammowe filled
voicolmasteyou (pl.) filled
lorocolmaronothey filled

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
iocolmavo
tucolmavi
lui/leicolmava
noicolmavamo
voicolmavate
lorocolmavano

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
iocolmereiI would fill
tucolmerestiyou would fill
lui/leicolmerebbehe/she/it would fill
noicolmeremmowe would fill
voicolmeresteyou (pl.) would fill
lorocolmerebberothey would fill

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
iocolmeròI will fill
tucolmeraiyou will fill
lui/leicolmeràhe/she/it will fill
noicolmeremowe will fill
voicolmereteyou (pl.) will fill
lorocolmerannothey will fill

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 colmatoI have filled
tuhai colmatoyou have filled
lui/leiha colmatohe/she/it has filled
noiabbiamo colmatowe have filled
voiavete colmatoyou (pl.) have filled
lorohanno colmatothey have filled

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 colmatoI had filled
tuavevi colmatoyou had filled
lui/leiaveva colmatohe/she/it had filled
noiavevamo colmatowe had filled
voiavevate colmatoyou (pl.) had filled
loroavevano colmatothey had filled

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 colmato
tuavresti colmato
lui/leiavrebbe colmato
noiavremmo colmato
voiavreste colmato
loroavrebbero colmato

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 colmatoI will have filled
tuavrai colmatoyou will have filled
lui/leiavrà colmatohe/she/it will have filled
noiavremo colmatowe will have filled
voiavrete colmatoyou (pl.) will have filled
loroavranno colmatothey will have filled

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
iocolmi
tucolmi
lui/leicolmi
noicolmiamo
voicolmiate
lorocolmino

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
iocolmassi
tucolmassi
lui/leicolmasse
noicolmassimo
voicolmaste
lorocolmassero

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
tucolma
lui/leicolmi
noicolmiamo
voicolmate
lorocolmino

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 colmare
lui/leinon colmi
noinon colmiamo
voinon colmate
loronon colmino