continuare — Italian conjugation
to continue
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 | continuo | I continue |
| tu | continui | you continue |
| lui/lei | continua | he/she/it continues |
| noi | continuiamo | we continue |
| voi | continuate | you (pl.) continue |
| loro | continuano | they continue |
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 | continuai | I continued |
| tu | continuasti | you continued |
| lui/lei | continuò | he/she/it continued |
| noi | continuammo | we continued |
| voi | continuaste | you (pl.) continued |
| loro | continuarono | they continued |
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 | continuavo |
| tu | continuavi |
| lui/lei | continuava |
| noi | continuavamo |
| voi | continuavate |
| loro | continuavano |
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 | continuerei | I would continue |
| tu | continueresti | you would continue |
| lui/lei | continuerebbe | he/she/it would continue |
| noi | continueremmo | we would continue |
| voi | continuereste | you (pl.) would continue |
| loro | continuerebbero | they would continue |
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 | continuerò | I will continue |
| tu | continuerai | you will continue |
| lui/lei | continuerà | he/she/it will continue |
| noi | continueremo | we will continue |
| voi | continuerete | you (pl.) will continue |
| loro | continueranno | they will continue |
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 continuato | I have continued |
| tu | hai continuato | you have continued |
| lui/lei | ha continuato | he/she/it has continued |
| noi | abbiamo continuato | we have continued |
| voi | avete continuato | you (pl.) have continued |
| loro | hanno continuato | they have continued |
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 continuato | I had continued |
| tu | avevi continuato | you had continued |
| lui/lei | aveva continuato | he/she/it had continued |
| noi | avevamo continuato | we had continued |
| voi | avevate continuato | you (pl.) had continued |
| loro | avevano continuato | they had continued |
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 continuato |
| tu | avresti continuato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe continuato |
| noi | avremmo continuato |
| voi | avreste continuato |
| loro | avrebbero continuato |
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 continuato | I will have continued |
| tu | avrai continuato | you will have continued |
| lui/lei | avrà continuato | he/she/it will have continued |
| noi | avremo continuato | we will have continued |
| voi | avrete continuato | you (pl.) will have continued |
| loro | avranno continuato | they will have continued |
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 | continui |
| tu | continui |
| lui/lei | continui |
| noi | continuiamo |
| voi | continuiate |
| loro | continuino |
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 | continuassi |
| tu | continuassi |
| lui/lei | continuasse |
| noi | continuassimo |
| voi | continuaste |
| loro | continuassero |
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 | continua |
| lui/lei | continui |
| noi | continuiamo |
| voi | continuate |
| loro | continuino |
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 continuare |
| lui/lei | non continui |
| noi | non continuiamo |
| voi | non continuate |
| loro | non continuino |