comprendere — Italian conjugation
to understand
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 | comprendo | I understand |
| tu | comprendi | you understand |
| lui/lei | comprende | he/she/it understands |
| noi | comprendiamo | we understand |
| voi | comprendete | you (pl.) understand |
| loro | comprendono | they understand |
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 | compresi | I understood |
| tu | comprendesti | you understood |
| lui/lei | comprese | he/she/it understood |
| noi | comprendemmo | we understood |
| voi | comprendeste | you (pl.) understood |
| loro | compresero | they understood |
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 | comprendevo |
| tu | comprendevi |
| lui/lei | comprendeva |
| noi | comprendevamo |
| voi | comprendevate |
| loro | comprendevano |
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 | comprenderei | I would understand |
| tu | comprenderesti | you would understand |
| lui/lei | comprenderebbe | he/she/it would understand |
| noi | comprenderemmo | we would understand |
| voi | comprendereste | you (pl.) would understand |
| loro | comprenderebbero | they would understand |
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 | comprenderò | I will understand |
| tu | comprenderai | you will understand |
| lui/lei | comprenderà | he/she/it will understand |
| noi | comprenderemo | we will understand |
| voi | comprenderete | you (pl.) will understand |
| loro | comprenderanno | they will understand |
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 compreso | I have understood |
| tu | hai compreso | you have understood |
| lui/lei | ha compreso | he/she/it has understood |
| noi | abbiamo compreso | we have understood |
| voi | avete compreso | you (pl.) have understood |
| loro | hanno compreso | they have understood |
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 compreso | I had understood |
| tu | avevi compreso | you had understood |
| lui/lei | aveva compreso | he/she/it had understood |
| noi | avevamo compreso | we had understood |
| voi | avevate compreso | you (pl.) had understood |
| loro | avevano compreso | they had understood |
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 compreso |
| tu | avresti compreso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe compreso |
| noi | avremmo compreso |
| voi | avreste compreso |
| loro | avrebbero compreso |
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 compreso | I will have understood |
| tu | avrai compreso | you will have understood |
| lui/lei | avrà compreso | he/she/it will have understood |
| noi | avremo compreso | we will have understood |
| voi | avrete compreso | you (pl.) will have understood |
| loro | avranno compreso | they will have understood |
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 | comprenda |
| tu | comprenda |
| lui/lei | comprenda |
| noi | comprendiamo |
| voi | comprendiate |
| loro | comprendano |
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 | comprendessi |
| tu | comprendessi |
| lui/lei | comprendesse |
| noi | comprendessimo |
| voi | comprendeste |
| loro | comprendessero |
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 | comprendi |
| lui/lei | comprenda |
| noi | comprendiamo |
| voi | comprendete |
| loro | comprendano |
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 comprendere |
| lui/lei | non comprenda |
| noi | non comprendiamo |
| voi | non comprendete |
| loro | non comprendano |