congratulare — Italian conjugation
to congratulate
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 | congratulo | I congratulate |
| tu | congratuli | you congratulate |
| lui/lei | congratula | he/she/it congratulates |
| noi | congratuliamo | we congratulate |
| voi | congratulate | you (pl.) congratulate |
| loro | congratulano | they congratulate |
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 | congratulai | I congratulated |
| tu | congratulasti | you congratulated |
| lui/lei | congratulò | he/she/it congratulated |
| noi | congratulammo | we congratulated |
| voi | congratulaste | you (pl.) congratulated |
| loro | congratularono | they congratulated |
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 | congratulavo |
| tu | congratulavi |
| lui/lei | congratulava |
| noi | congratulavamo |
| voi | congratulavate |
| loro | congratulavano |
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 | congratulerei | I would congratulate |
| tu | congratuleresti | you would congratulate |
| lui/lei | congratulerebbe | he/she/it would congratulate |
| noi | congratuleremmo | we would congratulate |
| voi | congratulereste | you (pl.) would congratulate |
| loro | congratulerebbero | they would congratulate |
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 | congratulerò | I will congratulate |
| tu | congratulerai | you will congratulate |
| lui/lei | congratulerà | he/she/it will congratulate |
| noi | congratuleremo | we will congratulate |
| voi | congratulerete | you (pl.) will congratulate |
| loro | congratuleranno | they will congratulate |
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 congratulato | I have congratulated |
| tu | hai congratulato | you have congratulated |
| lui/lei | ha congratulato | he/she/it has congratulated |
| noi | abbiamo congratulato | we have congratulated |
| voi | avete congratulato | you (pl.) have congratulated |
| loro | hanno congratulato | they have congratulated |
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 congratulato | I had congratulated |
| tu | avevi congratulato | you had congratulated |
| lui/lei | aveva congratulato | he/she/it had congratulated |
| noi | avevamo congratulato | we had congratulated |
| voi | avevate congratulato | you (pl.) had congratulated |
| loro | avevano congratulato | they had congratulated |
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 congratulato |
| tu | avresti congratulato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe congratulato |
| noi | avremmo congratulato |
| voi | avreste congratulato |
| loro | avrebbero congratulato |
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 congratulato | I will have congratulated |
| tu | avrai congratulato | you will have congratulated |
| lui/lei | avrà congratulato | he/she/it will have congratulated |
| noi | avremo congratulato | we will have congratulated |
| voi | avrete congratulato | you (pl.) will have congratulated |
| loro | avranno congratulato | they will have congratulated |
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 | congratuli |
| tu | congratuli |
| lui/lei | congratuli |
| noi | congratuliamo |
| voi | congratuliate |
| loro | congratulino |
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 | congratulassi |
| tu | congratulassi |
| lui/lei | congratulasse |
| noi | congratulassimo |
| voi | congratulaste |
| loro | congratulassero |
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 | congratula |
| lui/lei | congratuli |
| noi | congratuliamo |
| voi | congratulate |
| loro | congratulino |
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 congratulare |
| lui/lei | non congratuli |
| noi | non congratuliamo |
| voi | non congratulate |
| loro | non congratulino |