contrarre — Italian conjugation
to contract
Indicative
Present (Presente) Irregular
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 | contraggo | I contract |
| tu | contrai | you contract |
| lui/lei | contrae | he/she/it contracts |
| noi | contraiamo | we contract |
| voi | contraete | you (pl.) contract |
| loro | contraggono | they contract |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | contrassi | I contracted |
| tu | contraesti | you contracted |
| lui/lei | contrasse | he/she/it contracted |
| noi | contraemmo | we contracted |
| voi | contraeste | you (pl.) contracted |
| loro | contrassero | they contracted |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Irregular
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 | contraevo |
| tu | contraevi |
| lui/lei | contraeva |
| noi | contraevamo |
| voi | contraevate |
| loro | contraevano |
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 | contrarrei | I would contract |
| tu | contrarresti | you would contract |
| lui/lei | contrarrebbe | he/she/it would contract |
| noi | contrarremmo | we would contract |
| voi | contrarreste | you (pl.) would contract |
| loro | contrarrebbero | they would contract |
Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular
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 | contrarrò | I will contract |
| tu | contrarrai | you will contract |
| lui/lei | contrarrà | he/she/it will contract |
| noi | contrarremo | we will contract |
| voi | contrarrete | you (pl.) will contract |
| loro | contrarranno | they will contract |
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 contratto | I have contracted |
| tu | hai contratto | you have contracted |
| lui/lei | ha contratto | he/she/it has contracted |
| noi | abbiamo contratto | we have contracted |
| voi | avete contratto | you (pl.) have contracted |
| loro | hanno contratto | they have contracted |
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 contratto | I had contracted |
| tu | avevi contratto | you had contracted |
| lui/lei | aveva contratto | he/she/it had contracted |
| noi | avevamo contratto | we had contracted |
| voi | avevate contratto | you (pl.) had contracted |
| loro | avevano contratto | they had contracted |
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 contratto |
| tu | avresti contratto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe contratto |
| noi | avremmo contratto |
| voi | avreste contratto |
| loro | avrebbero contratto |
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 contratto | I will have contracted |
| tu | avrai contratto | you will have contracted |
| lui/lei | avrà contratto | he/she/it will have contracted |
| noi | avremo contratto | we will have contracted |
| voi | avrete contratto | you (pl.) will have contracted |
| loro | avranno contratto | they will have contracted |
Subjunctive
Present subjunctive (Congiuntivo presente) Irregular
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 | contragga |
| tu | contragga |
| lui/lei | contragga |
| noi | contraiamo |
| voi | contraiate |
| loro | contraggano |
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 | contraessi |
| tu | contraessi |
| lui/lei | contraesse |
| noi | contraessimo |
| voi | contraeste |
| loro | contraessero |
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 | contrai |
| lui/lei | contragga |
| noi | contraiamo |
| voi | contraete |
| loro | contraggano |
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 contrarre |
| lui/lei | non contragga |
| noi | non contraiamo |
| voi | non contraete |
| loro | non contraggano |