combinare — Italian conjugation

to combine

Frequency#314Regular

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
iocombinoI combine
tucombiniyou combine
lui/leicombinahe/she/it combines
noicombiniamowe combine
voicombinateyou (pl.) combine
lorocombinanothey combine

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
iocombinaiI combined
tucombinastiyou combined
lui/leicombinòhe/she/it combined
noicombinammowe combined
voicombinasteyou (pl.) combined
lorocombinaronothey combined

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
iocombinavo
tucombinavi
lui/leicombinava
noicombinavamo
voicombinavate
lorocombinavano

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
iocombinereiI would combine
tucombinerestiyou would combine
lui/leicombinerebbehe/she/it would combine
noicombineremmowe would combine
voicombineresteyou (pl.) would combine
lorocombinerebberothey would combine

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
iocombineròI will combine
tucombineraiyou will combine
lui/leicombineràhe/she/it will combine
noicombineremowe will combine
voicombinereteyou (pl.) will combine
lorocombinerannothey will combine

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 combinatoI have combined
tuhai combinatoyou have combined
lui/leiha combinatohe/she/it has combined
noiabbiamo combinatowe have combined
voiavete combinatoyou (pl.) have combined
lorohanno combinatothey have combined

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 combinatoI had combined
tuavevi combinatoyou had combined
lui/leiaveva combinatohe/she/it had combined
noiavevamo combinatowe had combined
voiavevate combinatoyou (pl.) had combined
loroavevano combinatothey had combined

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 combinato
tuavresti combinato
lui/leiavrebbe combinato
noiavremmo combinato
voiavreste combinato
loroavrebbero combinato

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 combinatoI will have combined
tuavrai combinatoyou will have combined
lui/leiavrà combinatohe/she/it will have combined
noiavremo combinatowe will have combined
voiavrete combinatoyou (pl.) will have combined
loroavranno combinatothey will have combined

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
iocombini
tucombini
lui/leicombini
noicombiniamo
voicombiniate
lorocombinino

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
iocombinassi
tucombinassi
lui/leicombinasse
noicombinassimo
voicombinaste
lorocombinassero

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
tucombina
lui/leicombini
noicombiniamo
voicombinate
lorocombinino

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 combinare
lui/leinon combini
noinon combiniamo
voinon combinate
loronon combinino