confondere — Italian conjugation

to confuse

Frequency#253Irregular

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
ioconfondoI confuse
tuconfondiyou confuse
lui/leiconfondehe/she/it confuses
noiconfondiamowe confuse
voiconfondeteyou (pl.) confuse
loroconfondonothey confuse

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
ioconfusiI confused
tuconfondestiyou confused
lui/leiconfusehe/she/it confused
noiconfondemmowe confused
voiconfondesteyou (pl.) confused
loroconfuserothey confused

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
ioconfondevo
tuconfondevi
lui/leiconfondeva
noiconfondevamo
voiconfondevate
loroconfondevano

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
ioconfondereiI would confuse
tuconfonderestiyou would confuse
lui/leiconfonderebbehe/she/it would confuse
noiconfonderemmowe would confuse
voiconfonderesteyou (pl.) would confuse
loroconfonderebberothey would confuse

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
ioconfonderòI will confuse
tuconfonderaiyou will confuse
lui/leiconfonderàhe/she/it will confuse
noiconfonderemowe will confuse
voiconfondereteyou (pl.) will confuse
loroconfonderannothey will confuse

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 confusoI have confused
tuhai confusoyou have confused
lui/leiha confusohe/she/it has confused
noiabbiamo confusowe have confused
voiavete confusoyou (pl.) have confused
lorohanno confusothey have confused

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 confusoI had confused
tuavevi confusoyou had confused
lui/leiaveva confusohe/she/it had confused
noiavevamo confusowe had confused
voiavevate confusoyou (pl.) had confused
loroavevano confusothey had confused

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 confuso
tuavresti confuso
lui/leiavrebbe confuso
noiavremmo confuso
voiavreste confuso
loroavrebbero confuso

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 confusoI will have confused
tuavrai confusoyou will have confused
lui/leiavrà confusohe/she/it will have confused
noiavremo confusowe will have confused
voiavrete confusoyou (pl.) will have confused
loroavranno confusothey will have confused

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
ioconfonda
tuconfonda
lui/leiconfonda
noiconfondiamo
voiconfondiate
loroconfondano

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
ioconfondessi
tuconfondessi
lui/leiconfondesse
noiconfondessimo
voiconfondeste
loroconfondessero

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
tuconfondi
lui/leiconfonda
noiconfondiamo
voiconfondete
loroconfondano

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 confondere
lui/leinon confonda
noinon confondiamo
voinon confondete
loronon confondano