comprare — Italian conjugation
to buy
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | compro | I buy |
| tu | compri | you buy |
| lui/lei | compra | he/she/it buys |
| noi | compriamo | we buy |
| voi | comprate | you (pl.) buy |
| loro | comprano | they buy |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | comprai | I bought |
| tu | comprasti | you bought |
| lui/lei | comprò | he/she/it bought |
| noi | comprammo | we bought |
| voi | compraste | you (pl.) bought |
| loro | comprarono | they bought |
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 | compravo |
| tu | compravi |
| lui/lei | comprava |
| noi | compravamo |
| voi | compravate |
| loro | compravano |
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 | comprerei | I would buy |
| tu | compreresti | you would buy |
| lui/lei | comprerebbe | he/she/it would buy |
| noi | compreremmo | we would buy |
| voi | comprereste | you (pl.) would buy |
| loro | comprerebbero | they would buy |
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 | comprerò | I will buy |
| tu | comprerai | you will buy |
| lui/lei | comprerà | he/she/it will buy |
| noi | compreremo | we will buy |
| voi | comprerete | you (pl.) will buy |
| loro | compreranno | they will buy |
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 | ho comprato | I have bought |
| tu | hai comprato | you have bought |
| lui/lei | ha comprato | he/she/it has bought |
| noi | abbiamo comprato | we have bought |
| voi | avete comprato | you (pl.) have bought |
| loro | hanno comprato | they have bought |
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 | avevo comprato | I had bought |
| tu | avevi comprato | you had bought |
| lui/lei | aveva comprato | he/she/it had bought |
| noi | avevamo comprato | we had bought |
| voi | avevate comprato | you (pl.) had bought |
| loro | avevano comprato | they had bought |
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 | avrei comprato |
| tu | avresti comprato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe comprato |
| noi | avremmo comprato |
| voi | avreste comprato |
| loro | avrebbero comprato |
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 | avrò comprato | I will have bought |
| tu | avrai comprato | you will have bought |
| lui/lei | avrà comprato | he/she/it will have bought |
| noi | avremo comprato | we will have bought |
| voi | avrete comprato | you (pl.) will have bought |
| loro | avranno comprato | they will have bought |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| io | compri |
| tu | compri |
| lui/lei | compri |
| noi | compriamo |
| voi | compriate |
| loro | comprino |
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 | comprassi |
| tu | comprassi |
| lui/lei | comprasse |
| noi | comprassimo |
| voi | compraste |
| loro | comprassero |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | compra |
| lui/lei | compri |
| noi | compriamo |
| voi | comprate |
| loro | comprino |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian |
|---|---|
| tu | non comprare |
| lui/lei | non compri |
| noi | non compriamo |
| voi | non comprate |
| loro | non comprino |