comparire — Italian conjugation
to appear
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | compaio | I appear |
| tu | compari | you appear |
| lui/lei | compare | he/she/it appears |
| noi | compariamo | we appear |
| voi | comparite | you (pl.) appear |
| loro | compaiono | they appear |
Simple past (Passato remoto) Irregular
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 | comparvi | I appeared |
| tu | comparisti | you appeared |
| lui/lei | comparve | he/she/it appeared |
| noi | comparimmo | we appeared |
| voi | compariste | you (pl.) appeared |
| loro | comparvero | they appeared |
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 | comparivo |
| tu | comparivi |
| lui/lei | compariva |
| noi | comparivamo |
| voi | comparivate |
| loro | comparivano |
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 | comparirei | I would appear |
| tu | compariresti | you would appear |
| lui/lei | comparirebbe | he/she/it would appear |
| noi | compariremmo | we would appear |
| voi | comparireste | you (pl.) would appear |
| loro | comparirebbero | they would appear |
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 | comparirò | I will appear |
| tu | comparirai | you will appear |
| lui/lei | comparirà | he/she/it will appear |
| noi | compariremo | we will appear |
| voi | comparirete | you (pl.) will appear |
| loro | compariranno | they will appear |
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 | sono comparso/a | I have appeared |
| tu | sei comparso/a | you have appeared |
| lui/lei | è comparso/a | he/she/it has appeared |
| noi | siamo comparsi/e | we have appeared |
| voi | siete comparsi/e | you (pl.) have appeared |
| loro | sono comparsi/e | they have appeared |
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 | ero comparso/a | I had appeared |
| tu | eri comparso/a | you had appeared |
| lui/lei | era comparso/a | he/she/it had appeared |
| noi | eravamo comparsi/e | we had appeared |
| voi | eravate comparsi/e | you (pl.) had appeared |
| loro | erano comparsi/e | they had appeared |
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 | sarei comparso/a |
| tu | saresti comparso/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe comparso/a |
| noi | saremmo comparsi/e |
| voi | sareste comparsi/e |
| loro | sarebbero comparsi/e |
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 | sarò comparso/a | I will have appeared |
| tu | sarai comparso/a | you will have appeared |
| lui/lei | sarà comparso/a | he/she/it will have appeared |
| noi | saremo comparsi/e | we will have appeared |
| voi | sarete comparsi/e | you (pl.) will have appeared |
| loro | saranno comparsi/e | they will have appeared |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | compaia |
| tu | compaia |
| lui/lei | compaia |
| noi | compariamo |
| voi | compariate |
| loro | compaiano |
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 | comparissi |
| tu | comparissi |
| lui/lei | comparisse |
| noi | comparissimo |
| voi | compariste |
| loro | comparissero |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | compari |
| lui/lei | compaia |
| noi | compariamo |
| voi | comparite |
| loro | compaiano |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non comparire |
| lui/lei | non compaia |
| noi | non compariamo |
| voi | non comparite |
| loro | non compaiano |