decorare — Italian conjugation

to decorate (all meanings)

Frequency#392Regular

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
iodecoroI decorate
tudecoriyou decorate
lui/leidecorahe/she/it decorates
noidecoriamowe decorate
voidecorateyou (pl.) decorate
lorodecoranothey decorate

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
iodecoraiI decorated
tudecorastiyou decorated
lui/leidecoròhe/she/it decorated
noidecorammowe decorated
voidecorasteyou (pl.) decorated
lorodecoraronothey decorated

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
iodecoravo
tudecoravi
lui/leidecorava
noidecoravamo
voidecoravate
lorodecoravano

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
iodecorereiI would decorate
tudecorerestiyou would decorate
lui/leidecorerebbehe/she/it would decorate
noidecoreremmowe would decorate
voidecoreresteyou (pl.) would decorate
lorodecorerebberothey would decorate

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
iodecoreròI will decorate
tudecoreraiyou will decorate
lui/leidecoreràhe/she/it will decorate
noidecoreremowe will decorate
voidecorereteyou (pl.) will decorate
lorodecorerannothey will decorate

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 decoratoI have decorated
tuhai decoratoyou have decorated
lui/leiha decoratohe/she/it has decorated
noiabbiamo decoratowe have decorated
voiavete decoratoyou (pl.) have decorated
lorohanno decoratothey have decorated

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 decoratoI had decorated
tuavevi decoratoyou had decorated
lui/leiaveva decoratohe/she/it had decorated
noiavevamo decoratowe had decorated
voiavevate decoratoyou (pl.) had decorated
loroavevano decoratothey had decorated

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 decorato
tuavresti decorato
lui/leiavrebbe decorato
noiavremmo decorato
voiavreste decorato
loroavrebbero decorato

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 decoratoI will have decorated
tuavrai decoratoyou will have decorated
lui/leiavrà decoratohe/she/it will have decorated
noiavremo decoratowe will have decorated
voiavrete decoratoyou (pl.) will have decorated
loroavranno decoratothey will have decorated

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
iodecori
tudecori
lui/leidecori
noidecoriamo
voidecoriate
lorodecorino

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
iodecorassi
tudecorassi
lui/leidecorasse
noidecorassimo
voidecoraste
lorodecorassero

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
tudecora
lui/leidecori
noidecoriamo
voidecorate
lorodecorino

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 decorare
lui/leinon decori
noinon decoriamo
voinon decorate
loronon decorino