decidere — Italian conjugation
to decide
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 | decido | I decide |
| tu | decidi | you decide |
| lui/lei | decide | he/she/it decides |
| noi | decidiamo | we decide |
| voi | decidete | you (pl.) decide |
| loro | decidono | they decide |
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 | decisi | I decided |
| tu | decidesti | you decided |
| lui/lei | decise | he/she/it decided |
| noi | decidemmo | we decided |
| voi | decideste | you (pl.) decided |
| loro | decisero | they decided |
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 | decidevo |
| tu | decidevi |
| lui/lei | decideva |
| noi | decidevamo |
| voi | decidevate |
| loro | decidevano |
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 | deciderei | I would decide |
| tu | decideresti | you would decide |
| lui/lei | deciderebbe | he/she/it would decide |
| noi | decideremmo | we would decide |
| voi | decidereste | you (pl.) would decide |
| loro | deciderebbero | they would decide |
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 | deciderò | I will decide |
| tu | deciderai | you will decide |
| lui/lei | deciderà | he/she/it will decide |
| noi | decideremo | we will decide |
| voi | deciderete | you (pl.) will decide |
| loro | decideranno | they will decide |
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 deciso | I have decided |
| tu | hai deciso | you have decided |
| lui/lei | ha deciso | he/she/it has decided |
| noi | abbiamo deciso | we have decided |
| voi | avete deciso | you (pl.) have decided |
| loro | hanno deciso | they have decided |
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 deciso | I had decided |
| tu | avevi deciso | you had decided |
| lui/lei | aveva deciso | he/she/it had decided |
| noi | avevamo deciso | we had decided |
| voi | avevate deciso | you (pl.) had decided |
| loro | avevano deciso | they had decided |
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 deciso |
| tu | avresti deciso |
| lui/lei | avrebbe deciso |
| noi | avremmo deciso |
| voi | avreste deciso |
| loro | avrebbero deciso |
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 deciso | I will have decided |
| tu | avrai deciso | you will have decided |
| lui/lei | avrà deciso | he/she/it will have decided |
| noi | avremo deciso | we will have decided |
| voi | avrete deciso | you (pl.) will have decided |
| loro | avranno deciso | they will have decided |
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 | decida |
| tu | decida |
| lui/lei | decida |
| noi | decidiamo |
| voi | decidiate |
| loro | decidano |
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 | decidessi |
| tu | decidessi |
| lui/lei | decidesse |
| noi | decidessimo |
| voi | decideste |
| loro | decidessero |
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 | decidi |
| lui/lei | decida |
| noi | decidiamo |
| voi | decidete |
| loro | decidano |
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 decidere |
| lui/lei | non decida |
| noi | non decidiamo |
| voi | non decidete |
| loro | non decidano |