dare — Italian conjugation
to give
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 | do | I give |
| tu | dai | you give |
| lui/lei | dà | he/she/it gives |
| noi | diamo | we give |
| voi | date | you (pl.) give |
| loro | danno | they give |
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 | diedi | I gave |
| tu | desti | you gave |
| lui/lei | diede | he/she/it gave |
| noi | demmo | we gave |
| voi | deste | you (pl.) gave |
| loro | diedero | they gave |
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 | davo |
| tu | davi |
| lui/lei | dava |
| noi | davamo |
| voi | davate |
| loro | davano |
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 | darei | I would give |
| tu | daresti | you would give |
| lui/lei | darebbe | he/she/it would give |
| noi | daremmo | we would give |
| voi | dareste | you (pl.) would give |
| loro | darebbero | they would give |
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 | darò | I will give |
| tu | darai | you will give |
| lui/lei | darà | he/she/it will give |
| noi | daremo | we will give |
| voi | darete | you (pl.) will give |
| loro | daranno | they will give |
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 dato | I have given |
| tu | hai dato | you have given |
| lui/lei | ha dato | he/she/it has given |
| noi | abbiamo dato | we have given |
| voi | avete dato | you (pl.) have given |
| loro | hanno dato | they have given |
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 dato | I had given |
| tu | avevi dato | you had given |
| lui/lei | aveva dato | he/she/it had given |
| noi | avevamo dato | we had given |
| voi | avevate dato | you (pl.) had given |
| loro | avevano dato | they had given |
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 dato |
| tu | avresti dato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe dato |
| noi | avremmo dato |
| voi | avreste dato |
| loro | avrebbero dato |
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 dato | I will have given |
| tu | avrai dato | you will have given |
| lui/lei | avrà dato | he/she/it will have given |
| noi | avremo dato | we will have given |
| voi | avrete dato | you (pl.) will have given |
| loro | avranno dato | they will have given |
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 | dia |
| tu | dia |
| lui/lei | dia |
| noi | diamo |
| voi | diate |
| loro | diano |
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 | dessi |
| tu | dessi |
| lui/lei | desse |
| noi | dessimo |
| voi | deste |
| loro | dessero |
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 | da' |
| lui/lei | dia |
| noi | diamo |
| voi | date |
| loro | diano |
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 dare |
| lui/lei | non dia |
| noi | non diamo |
| voi | non date |
| loro | non diano |