completare — Italian conjugation

to complete

Frequency#217Regular

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
iocompletoI complete
tucompletiyou complete
lui/leicompletahe/she/it completes
noicompletiamowe complete
voicompletateyou (pl.) complete
lorocompletanothey complete

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
iocompletaiI completed
tucompletastiyou completed
lui/leicompletòhe/she/it completed
noicompletammowe completed
voicompletasteyou (pl.) completed
lorocompletaronothey completed

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
iocompletavo
tucompletavi
lui/leicompletava
noicompletavamo
voicompletavate
lorocompletavano

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
iocompletereiI would complete
tucompleterestiyou would complete
lui/leicompleterebbehe/she/it would complete
noicompleteremmowe would complete
voicompleteresteyou (pl.) would complete
lorocompleterebberothey 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
iocompleteròI will complete
tucompleteraiyou will complete
lui/leicompleteràhe/she/it will complete
noicompleteremowe will complete
voicompletereteyou (pl.) will complete
lorocompleterannothey 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 completatoI have completed
tuhai completatoyou have completed
lui/leiha completatohe/she/it has completed
noiabbiamo completatowe have completed
voiavete completatoyou (pl.) have completed
lorohanno completatothey 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 completatoI had completed
tuavevi completatoyou had completed
lui/leiaveva completatohe/she/it had completed
noiavevamo completatowe had completed
voiavevate completatoyou (pl.) had completed
loroavevano completatothey 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 completato
tuavresti completato
lui/leiavrebbe completato
noiavremmo completato
voiavreste completato
loroavrebbero completato

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 completatoI will have completed
tuavrai completatoyou will have completed
lui/leiavrà completatohe/she/it will have completed
noiavremo completatowe will have completed
voiavrete completatoyou (pl.) will have completed
loroavranno completatothey will have completed

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
iocompleti
tucompleti
lui/leicompleti
noicompletiamo
voicompletiate
lorocompletino

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
iocompletassi
tucompletassi
lui/leicompletasse
noicompletassimo
voicompletaste
lorocompletassero

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
tucompleta
lui/leicompleti
noicompletiamo
voicompletate
lorocompletino

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 completare
lui/leinon completi
noinon completiamo
voinon completate
loronon completino