compiere — Italian conjugation

to complete

Frequency#334Irregular

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
iocompioI complete
tucompiyou complete
lui/leicompiehe/she/it completes
noicompiamowe complete
voicompiteyou (pl.) complete
lorocompionothey complete

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iocompiiI completed
tucompistiyou completed
lui/leicompìhe/she/it completed
noicompimmowe completed
voicompisteyou (pl.) completed
lorocompironothey completed

Imperfect (Imperfetto) Irregular

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
iocompivo
tucompivi
lui/leicompiva
noicompivamo
voicompivate
lorocompivano

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
iocompiereiI would complete
tucompierestiyou would complete
lui/leicompierebbehe/she/it would complete
noicompieremmowe would complete
voicompieresteyou (pl.) would complete
lorocompierebberothey would complete

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
iocompieròI will complete
tucompieraiyou will complete
lui/leicompieràhe/she/it will complete
noicompieremowe will complete
voicompiereteyou (pl.) will complete
lorocompierannothey will complete

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 compiutoI have completed
tuhai compiutoyou have completed
lui/leiha compiutohe/she/it has completed
noiabbiamo compiutowe have completed
voiavete compiutoyou (pl.) have completed
lorohanno compiutothey have completed

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 compiutoI had completed
tuavevi compiutoyou had completed
lui/leiaveva compiutohe/she/it had completed
noiavevamo compiutowe had completed
voiavevate compiutoyou (pl.) had completed
loroavevano compiutothey had completed

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 compiuto
tuavresti compiuto
lui/leiavrebbe compiuto
noiavremmo compiuto
voiavreste compiuto
loroavrebbero compiuto

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 compiutoI will have completed
tuavrai compiutoyou will have completed
lui/leiavrà compiutohe/she/it will have completed
noiavremo compiutowe will have completed
voiavrete compiutoyou (pl.) will have completed
loroavranno compiutothey will have completed

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
iocompia
tucompia
lui/leicompia
noicompiamo
voicompiate
lorocompiano

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
iocompissi
tucompissi
lui/leicompisse
noicompissimo
voicompiste
lorocompissero

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
tucompi
lui/leicompia
noicompiamo
voicompite
lorocompiano

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 compiere
lui/leinon compia
noinon compiamo
voinon compite
loronon compiano