costare — Italian conjugation
to cost
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 | costo | I cost |
| tu | costi | you cost |
| lui/lei | costa | he/she/it costs |
| noi | costiamo | we cost |
| voi | costate | you (pl.) cost |
| loro | costano | they cost |
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 | costai | I cost |
| tu | costasti | you cost |
| lui/lei | costò | he/she/it cost |
| noi | costammo | we cost |
| voi | costaste | you (pl.) cost |
| loro | costarono | they cost |
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 | costavo |
| tu | costavi |
| lui/lei | costava |
| noi | costavamo |
| voi | costavate |
| loro | costavano |
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 | costerei | I would cost |
| tu | costeresti | you would cost |
| lui/lei | costerebbe | he/she/it would cost |
| noi | costeremmo | we would cost |
| voi | costereste | you (pl.) would cost |
| loro | costerebbero | they would cost |
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 | costerò | I will cost |
| tu | costerai | you will cost |
| lui/lei | costerà | he/she/it will cost |
| noi | costeremo | we will cost |
| voi | costerete | you (pl.) will cost |
| loro | costeranno | they will cost |
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 | sono costato/a | I have cost |
| tu | sei costato/a | you have cost |
| lui/lei | è costato/a | he/she/it has cost |
| noi | siamo costati/e | we have cost |
| voi | siete costati/e | you (pl.) have cost |
| loro | sono costati/e | they have cost |
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 | ero costato/a | I had cost |
| tu | eri costato/a | you had cost |
| lui/lei | era costato/a | he/she/it had cost |
| noi | eravamo costati/e | we had cost |
| voi | eravate costati/e | you (pl.) had cost |
| loro | erano costati/e | they had cost |
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 | sarei costato/a |
| tu | saresti costato/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe costato/a |
| noi | saremmo costati/e |
| voi | sareste costati/e |
| loro | sarebbero costati/e |
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 | sarò costato/a | I will have cost |
| tu | sarai costato/a | you will have cost |
| lui/lei | sarà costato/a | he/she/it will have cost |
| noi | saremo costati/e | we will have cost |
| voi | sarete costati/e | you (pl.) will have cost |
| loro | saranno costati/e | they will have cost |
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 | costi |
| tu | costi |
| lui/lei | costi |
| noi | costiamo |
| voi | costiate |
| loro | costino |
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 | costassi |
| tu | costassi |
| lui/lei | costasse |
| noi | costassimo |
| voi | costaste |
| loro | costassero |
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 | costa |
| lui/lei | costi |
| noi | costiamo |
| voi | costate |
| loro | costino |
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 costare |
| lui/lei | non costi |
| noi | non costiamo |
| voi | non costate |
| loro | non costino |