complicare — Italian conjugation

to complicate

Frequency#829Irregular

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
iocomplicoI complicate
tucomplichiyou complicate
lui/leicomplicahe/she/it complicates
noicomplichiamowe complicate
voicomplicateyou (pl.) complicate
lorocomplicanothey complicate

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
iocomplicaiI complicated
tucomplicastiyou complicated
lui/leicomplicòhe/she/it complicated
noicomplicammowe complicated
voicomplicasteyou (pl.) complicated
lorocomplicaronothey complicated

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
iocomplicavo
tucomplicavi
lui/leicomplicava
noicomplicavamo
voicomplicavate
lorocomplicavano

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
iocomplichereiI would complicate
tucomplicherestiyou would complicate
lui/leicomplicherebbehe/she/it would complicate
noicomplicheremmowe would complicate
voicomplicheresteyou (pl.) would complicate
lorocomplicherebberothey would complicate

Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular

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
iocomplicheròI will complicate
tucomplicheraiyou will complicate
lui/leicomplicheràhe/she/it will complicate
noicomplicheremowe will complicate
voicomplichereteyou (pl.) will complicate
lorocomplicherannothey will complicate

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 complicatoI have complicated
tuhai complicatoyou have complicated
lui/leiha complicatohe/she/it has complicated
noiabbiamo complicatowe have complicated
voiavete complicatoyou (pl.) have complicated
lorohanno complicatothey have complicated

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 complicatoI had complicated
tuavevi complicatoyou had complicated
lui/leiaveva complicatohe/she/it had complicated
noiavevamo complicatowe had complicated
voiavevate complicatoyou (pl.) had complicated
loroavevano complicatothey had complicated

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 complicato
tuavresti complicato
lui/leiavrebbe complicato
noiavremmo complicato
voiavreste complicato
loroavrebbero complicato

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 complicatoI will have complicated
tuavrai complicatoyou will have complicated
lui/leiavrà complicatohe/she/it will have complicated
noiavremo complicatowe will have complicated
voiavrete complicatoyou (pl.) will have complicated
loroavranno complicatothey will have complicated

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
iocomplichi
tucomplichi
lui/leicomplichi
noicomplichiamo
voicomplichiate
lorocomplichino

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
iocomplicassi
tucomplicassi
lui/leicomplicasse
noicomplicassimo
voicomplicaste
lorocomplicassero

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
tucomplica
lui/leicomplichi
noicomplichiamo
voicomplicate
lorocomplichino

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 complicare
lui/leinon complichi
noinon complichiamo
voinon complicate
loronon complichino