desiderare — Italian conjugation
to desire
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 | desidero | I desire |
| tu | desideri | you desire |
| lui/lei | desidera | he/she/it desires |
| noi | desideriamo | we desire |
| voi | desiderate | you (pl.) desire |
| loro | desiderano | they desire |
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.
| Pronoun | Italian | English |
|---|---|---|
| io | desiderai | I desired |
| tu | desiderasti | you desired |
| lui/lei | desiderò | he/she/it desired |
| noi | desiderammo | we desired |
| voi | desideraste | you (pl.) desired |
| loro | desiderarono | they desired |
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 | desideravo |
| tu | desideravi |
| lui/lei | desiderava |
| noi | desideravamo |
| voi | desideravate |
| loro | desideravano |
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 | desidererei | I would desire |
| tu | desidereresti | you would desire |
| lui/lei | desidererebbe | he/she/it would desire |
| noi | desidereremmo | we would desire |
| voi | desiderereste | you (pl.) would desire |
| loro | desidererebbero | they would desire |
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 | desidererò | I will desire |
| tu | desidererai | you will desire |
| lui/lei | desidererà | he/she/it will desire |
| noi | desidereremo | we will desire |
| voi | desidererete | you (pl.) will desire |
| loro | desidereranno | they will desire |
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 desiderato | I have desired |
| tu | hai desiderato | you have desired |
| lui/lei | ha desiderato | he/she/it has desired |
| noi | abbiamo desiderato | we have desired |
| voi | avete desiderato | you (pl.) have desired |
| loro | hanno desiderato | they have desired |
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 desiderato | I had desired |
| tu | avevi desiderato | you had desired |
| lui/lei | aveva desiderato | he/she/it had desired |
| noi | avevamo desiderato | we had desired |
| voi | avevate desiderato | you (pl.) had desired |
| loro | avevano desiderato | they had desired |
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 desiderato |
| tu | avresti desiderato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe desiderato |
| noi | avremmo desiderato |
| voi | avreste desiderato |
| loro | avrebbero desiderato |
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 desiderato | I will have desired |
| tu | avrai desiderato | you will have desired |
| lui/lei | avrà desiderato | he/she/it will have desired |
| noi | avremo desiderato | we will have desired |
| voi | avrete desiderato | you (pl.) will have desired |
| loro | avranno desiderato | they will have desired |
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 | desideri |
| tu | desideri |
| lui/lei | desideri |
| noi | desideriamo |
| voi | desideriate |
| loro | desiderino |
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 | desiderassi |
| tu | desiderassi |
| lui/lei | desiderasse |
| noi | desiderassimo |
| voi | desideraste |
| loro | desiderassero |
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 | desidera |
| lui/lei | desideri |
| noi | desideriamo |
| voi | desiderate |
| loro | desiderino |
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 desiderare |
| lui/lei | non desideri |
| noi | non desideriamo |
| voi | non desiderate |
| loro | non desiderino |