cuocere — Italian conjugation
to cook, to bake
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 | cuocio | I cook |
| tu | cuoci | you cook |
| lui/lei | cuoce | he/she/it cooks |
| noi | cuociamo | we cook |
| voi | cuocete | you (pl.) cook |
| loro | cuociono | they cook |
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 | cossi | I cooked |
| tu | cuocesti | you cooked |
| lui/lei | cosse | he/she/it cooked |
| noi | cuocemmo | we cooked |
| voi | cuoceste | you (pl.) cooked |
| loro | cossero | they cooked |
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 | cuocevo |
| tu | cuocevi |
| lui/lei | cuoceva |
| noi | cuocevamo |
| voi | cuocevate |
| loro | cuocevano |
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 | cuocerei | I would cook |
| tu | cuoceresti | you would cook |
| lui/lei | cuocerebbe | he/she/it would cook |
| noi | cuoceremmo | we would cook |
| voi | cuocereste | you (pl.) would cook |
| loro | cuocerebbero | they would cook |
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 | cuocerò | I will cook |
| tu | cuocerai | you will cook |
| lui/lei | cuocerà | he/she/it will cook |
| noi | cuoceremo | we will cook |
| voi | cuocerete | you (pl.) will cook |
| loro | cuoceranno | they will cook |
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 cotto | I have cooked |
| tu | hai cotto | you have cooked |
| lui/lei | ha cotto | he/she/it has cooked |
| noi | abbiamo cotto | we have cooked |
| voi | avete cotto | you (pl.) have cooked |
| loro | hanno cotto | they have cooked |
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 cotto | I had cooked |
| tu | avevi cotto | you had cooked |
| lui/lei | aveva cotto | he/she/it had cooked |
| noi | avevamo cotto | we had cooked |
| voi | avevate cotto | you (pl.) had cooked |
| loro | avevano cotto | they had cooked |
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 cotto |
| tu | avresti cotto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe cotto |
| noi | avremmo cotto |
| voi | avreste cotto |
| loro | avrebbero cotto |
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 cotto | I will have cooked |
| tu | avrai cotto | you will have cooked |
| lui/lei | avrà cotto | he/she/it will have cooked |
| noi | avremo cotto | we will have cooked |
| voi | avrete cotto | you (pl.) will have cooked |
| loro | avranno cotto | they will have cooked |
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 | cuocia |
| tu | cuocia |
| lui/lei | cuocia |
| noi | cuociamo |
| voi | cuociate |
| loro | cuociano |
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 | cuocessi |
| tu | cuocessi |
| lui/lei | cuocesse |
| noi | cuocessimo |
| voi | cuoceste |
| loro | cuocessero |
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 | cuoci |
| lui/lei | cuocia |
| noi | cuociamo |
| voi | cuocete |
| loro | cuociano |
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 cuocere |
| lui/lei | non cuocia |
| noi | non cuociamo |
| voi | non cuocete |
| loro | non cuociano |