designare — Italian conjugation
to designate
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 | designo | I designate |
| tu | designi | you designate |
| lui/lei | designa | he/she/it designates |
| noi | designiamo | we designate |
| voi | designate | you (pl.) designate |
| loro | designano | they designate |
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 | designai | I designated |
| tu | designasti | you designated |
| lui/lei | designò | he/she/it designated |
| noi | designammo | we designated |
| voi | designaste | you (pl.) designated |
| loro | designarono | they designated |
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 | designavo |
| tu | designavi |
| lui/lei | designava |
| noi | designavamo |
| voi | designavate |
| loro | designavano |
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 | designerei | I would designate |
| tu | designeresti | you would designate |
| lui/lei | designerebbe | he/she/it would designate |
| noi | designeremmo | we would designate |
| voi | designereste | you (pl.) would designate |
| loro | designerebbero | they would designate |
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 | designerò | I will designate |
| tu | designerai | you will designate |
| lui/lei | designerà | he/she/it will designate |
| noi | designeremo | we will designate |
| voi | designerete | you (pl.) will designate |
| loro | designeranno | they will designate |
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 designato | I have designated |
| tu | hai designato | you have designated |
| lui/lei | ha designato | he/she/it has designated |
| noi | abbiamo designato | we have designated |
| voi | avete designato | you (pl.) have designated |
| loro | hanno designato | they have designated |
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 designato | I had designated |
| tu | avevi designato | you had designated |
| lui/lei | aveva designato | he/she/it had designated |
| noi | avevamo designato | we had designated |
| voi | avevate designato | you (pl.) had designated |
| loro | avevano designato | they had designated |
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 designato |
| tu | avresti designato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe designato |
| noi | avremmo designato |
| voi | avreste designato |
| loro | avrebbero designato |
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 designato | I will have designated |
| tu | avrai designato | you will have designated |
| lui/lei | avrà designato | he/she/it will have designated |
| noi | avremo designato | we will have designated |
| voi | avrete designato | you (pl.) will have designated |
| loro | avranno designato | they will have designated |
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 | designi |
| tu | designi |
| lui/lei | designi |
| noi | designiamo |
| voi | designiate |
| loro | designino |
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 | designassi |
| tu | designassi |
| lui/lei | designasse |
| noi | designassimo |
| voi | designaste |
| loro | designassero |
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 | designa |
| lui/lei | designi |
| noi | designiamo |
| voi | designate |
| loro | designino |
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 designare |
| lui/lei | non designi |
| noi | non designiamo |
| voi | non designate |
| loro | non designino |