comprimere — Italian conjugation

to compress

Frequency#788Irregular

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
iocomprimoI compress
tucomprimiyou compress
lui/leicomprimehe/she/it compresses
noicomprimiamowe compress
voicomprimeteyou (pl.) compress
lorocomprimonothey compress

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
iocompressiI compressed
tucomprimestiyou compressed
lui/leicompressehe/she/it compressed
noicomprimemmowe compressed
voicomprimesteyou (pl.) compressed
lorocompresserothey compressed

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
iocomprimevo
tucomprimevi
lui/leicomprimeva
noicomprimevamo
voicomprimevate
lorocomprimevano

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
iocomprimereiI would compress
tucomprimerestiyou would compress
lui/leicomprimerebbehe/she/it would compress
noicomprimeremmowe would compress
voicomprimeresteyou (pl.) would compress
lorocomprimerebberothey would compress

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
iocomprimeròI will compress
tucomprimeraiyou will compress
lui/leicomprimeràhe/she/it will compress
noicomprimeremowe will compress
voicomprimereteyou (pl.) will compress
lorocomprimerannothey will compress

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 compressoI have compressed
tuhai compressoyou have compressed
lui/leiha compressohe/she/it has compressed
noiabbiamo compressowe have compressed
voiavete compressoyou (pl.) have compressed
lorohanno compressothey have compressed

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 compressoI had compressed
tuavevi compressoyou had compressed
lui/leiaveva compressohe/she/it had compressed
noiavevamo compressowe had compressed
voiavevate compressoyou (pl.) had compressed
loroavevano compressothey had compressed

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 compresso
tuavresti compresso
lui/leiavrebbe compresso
noiavremmo compresso
voiavreste compresso
loroavrebbero compresso

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 compressoI will have compressed
tuavrai compressoyou will have compressed
lui/leiavrà compressohe/she/it will have compressed
noiavremo compressowe will have compressed
voiavrete compressoyou (pl.) will have compressed
loroavranno compressothey will have compressed

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
iocomprima
tucomprima
lui/leicomprima
noicomprimiamo
voicomprimiate
lorocomprimano

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
iocomprimessi
tucomprimessi
lui/leicomprimesse
noicomprimessimo
voicomprimeste
lorocomprimessero

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
tucomprimi
lui/leicomprima
noicomprimiamo
voicomprimete
lorocomprimano

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 comprimere
lui/leinon comprima
noinon comprimiamo
voinon comprimete
loronon comprimano