confessare — Italian conjugation
to confess (to admit or acknowledge)
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 | confesso | I confess |
| tu | confessi | you confess |
| lui/lei | confessa | he/she/it confesses |
| noi | confessiamo | we confess |
| voi | confessate | you (pl.) confess |
| loro | confessano | they confess |
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 | confessai | I confessed |
| tu | confessasti | you confessed |
| lui/lei | confessò | he/she/it confessed |
| noi | confessammo | we confessed |
| voi | confessaste | you (pl.) confessed |
| loro | confessarono | they confessed |
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 | confessavo |
| tu | confessavi |
| lui/lei | confessava |
| noi | confessavamo |
| voi | confessavate |
| loro | confessavano |
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 | confesserei | I would confess |
| tu | confesseresti | you would confess |
| lui/lei | confesserebbe | he/she/it would confess |
| noi | confesseremmo | we would confess |
| voi | confessereste | you (pl.) would confess |
| loro | confesserebbero | they would confess |
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 | confesserò | I will confess |
| tu | confesserai | you will confess |
| lui/lei | confesserà | he/she/it will confess |
| noi | confesseremo | we will confess |
| voi | confesserete | you (pl.) will confess |
| loro | confesseranno | they will confess |
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 confessato | I have confessed |
| tu | hai confessato | you have confessed |
| lui/lei | ha confessato | he/she/it has confessed |
| noi | abbiamo confessato | we have confessed |
| voi | avete confessato | you (pl.) have confessed |
| loro | hanno confessato | they have confessed |
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 confessato | I had confessed |
| tu | avevi confessato | you had confessed |
| lui/lei | aveva confessato | he/she/it had confessed |
| noi | avevamo confessato | we had confessed |
| voi | avevate confessato | you (pl.) had confessed |
| loro | avevano confessato | they had confessed |
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 confessato |
| tu | avresti confessato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe confessato |
| noi | avremmo confessato |
| voi | avreste confessato |
| loro | avrebbero confessato |
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 confessato | I will have confessed |
| tu | avrai confessato | you will have confessed |
| lui/lei | avrà confessato | he/she/it will have confessed |
| noi | avremo confessato | we will have confessed |
| voi | avrete confessato | you (pl.) will have confessed |
| loro | avranno confessato | they will have confessed |
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 | confessi |
| tu | confessi |
| lui/lei | confessi |
| noi | confessiamo |
| voi | confessiate |
| loro | confessino |
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 | confessassi |
| tu | confessassi |
| lui/lei | confessasse |
| noi | confessassimo |
| voi | confessaste |
| loro | confessassero |
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 | confessa |
| lui/lei | confessi |
| noi | confessiamo |
| voi | confessate |
| loro | confessino |
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 confessare |
| lui/lei | non confessi |
| noi | non confessiamo |
| voi | non confessate |
| loro | non confessino |