dire — Italian conjugation
to say, to tell
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 | dico | I say |
| tu | dici | you say |
| lui/lei | dice | he/she/it says |
| noi | diciamo | we say |
| voi | dite | you (pl.) say |
| loro | dicono | they say |
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 | dissi | I said |
| tu | dicesti | you said |
| lui/lei | disse | he/she/it said |
| noi | dicemmo | we said |
| voi | diceste | you (pl.) said |
| loro | dissero | they said |
Imperfect (Imperfetto) Irregular
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 | dicevo |
| tu | dicevi |
| lui/lei | diceva |
| noi | dicevamo |
| voi | dicevate |
| loro | dicevano |
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 | direi | I would say |
| tu | diresti | you would say |
| lui/lei | direbbe | he/she/it would say |
| noi | diremmo | we would say |
| voi | direste | you (pl.) would say |
| loro | direbbero | they would say |
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 | dirò | I will say |
| tu | dirai | you will say |
| lui/lei | dirà | he/she/it will say |
| noi | diremo | we will say |
| voi | direte | you (pl.) will say |
| loro | diranno | they will say |
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 detto | I have said |
| tu | hai detto | you have said |
| lui/lei | ha detto | he/she/it has said |
| noi | abbiamo detto | we have said |
| voi | avete detto | you (pl.) have said |
| loro | hanno detto | they have said |
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 detto | I had said |
| tu | avevi detto | you had said |
| lui/lei | aveva detto | he/she/it had said |
| noi | avevamo detto | we had said |
| voi | avevate detto | you (pl.) had said |
| loro | avevano detto | they had said |
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 detto |
| tu | avresti detto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe detto |
| noi | avremmo detto |
| voi | avreste detto |
| loro | avrebbero detto |
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 detto | I will have said |
| tu | avrai detto | you will have said |
| lui/lei | avrà detto | he/she/it will have said |
| noi | avremo detto | we will have said |
| voi | avrete detto | you (pl.) will have said |
| loro | avranno detto | they will have said |
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 | dica |
| tu | dica |
| lui/lei | dica |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | diciate |
| loro | dicano |
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 | dicessi |
| tu | dicessi |
| lui/lei | dicesse |
| noi | dicessimo |
| voi | diceste |
| loro | dicessero |
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 | di' |
| lui/lei | dica |
| noi | diciamo |
| voi | dite |
| loro | dicano |
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 dire |
| lui/lei | non dica |
| noi | non diciamo |
| voi | non dite |
| loro | non dicano |