decifrare — Italian conjugation

to decipher

Frequency#444Regular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iodecifroI decipher
tudecifriyou decipher
lui/leidecifrahe/she/it deciphers
noidecifriamowe decipher
voidecifrateyou (pl.) decipher
lorodecifranothey decipher

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iodecifraiI deciphered
tudecifrastiyou deciphered
lui/leidecifròhe/she/it deciphered
noideciframmowe deciphered
voidecifrasteyou (pl.) deciphered
lorodecifraronothey deciphered

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.

PronounItalian
iodecifravo
tudecifravi
lui/leidecifrava
noidecifravamo
voidecifravate
lorodecifravano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
iodecifrereiI would decipher
tudecifrerestiyou would decipher
lui/leidecifrerebbehe/she/it would decipher
noidecifreremmowe would decipher
voidecifreresteyou (pl.) would decipher
lorodecifrerebberothey would decipher

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iodecifreròI will decipher
tudecifreraiyou will decipher
lui/leidecifreràhe/she/it will decipher
noidecifreremowe will decipher
voidecifrereteyou (pl.) will decipher
lorodecifrerannothey will decipher

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho decifratoI have deciphered
tuhai decifratoyou have deciphered
lui/leiha decifratohe/she/it has deciphered
noiabbiamo decifratowe have deciphered
voiavete decifratoyou (pl.) have deciphered
lorohanno decifratothey have deciphered

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo decifratoI had deciphered
tuavevi decifratoyou had deciphered
lui/leiaveva decifratohe/she/it had deciphered
noiavevamo decifratowe had deciphered
voiavevate decifratoyou (pl.) had deciphered
loroavevano decifratothey had deciphered

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei decifrato
tuavresti decifrato
lui/leiavrebbe decifrato
noiavremmo decifrato
voiavreste decifrato
loroavrebbero decifrato

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò decifratoI will have deciphered
tuavrai decifratoyou will have deciphered
lui/leiavrà decifratohe/she/it will have deciphered
noiavremo decifratowe will have deciphered
voiavrete decifratoyou (pl.) will have deciphered
loroavranno decifratothey will have deciphered

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.

PronounItalian
iodecifri
tudecifri
lui/leidecifri
noidecifriamo
voidecifriate
lorodecifrino

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.

PronounItalian
iodecifrassi
tudecifrassi
lui/leidecifrasse
noidecifrassimo
voidecifraste
lorodecifrassero

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.

PronounItalian
tudecifra
lui/leidecifri
noidecifriamo
voidecifrate
lorodecifrino

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.

PronounItalian
tunon decifrare
lui/leinon decifri
noinon decifriamo
voinon decifrate
loronon decifrino