disperare — Italian conjugation
to despair
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 | dispero | I despair |
| tu | disperi | you despair |
| lui/lei | dispera | he/she/it despairs |
| noi | disperiamo | we despair |
| voi | disperate | you (pl.) despair |
| loro | disperano | they despair |
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 | disperai | I despaired |
| tu | disperasti | you despaired |
| lui/lei | disperò | he/she/it despaired |
| noi | disperammo | we despaired |
| voi | disperaste | you (pl.) despaired |
| loro | disperarono | they despaired |
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 | disperavo |
| tu | disperavi |
| lui/lei | disperava |
| noi | disperavamo |
| voi | disperavate |
| loro | disperavano |
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 | dispererei | I would despair |
| tu | dispereresti | you would despair |
| lui/lei | dispererebbe | he/she/it would despair |
| noi | dispereremmo | we would despair |
| voi | disperereste | you (pl.) would despair |
| loro | dispererebbero | they would despair |
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 | dispererò | I will despair |
| tu | dispererai | you will despair |
| lui/lei | dispererà | he/she/it will despair |
| noi | dispereremo | we will despair |
| voi | dispererete | you (pl.) will despair |
| loro | dispereranno | they will despair |
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 disperato | I have despaired |
| tu | hai disperato | you have despaired |
| lui/lei | ha disperato | he/she/it has despaired |
| noi | abbiamo disperato | we have despaired |
| voi | avete disperato | you (pl.) have despaired |
| loro | hanno disperato | they have despaired |
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 disperato | I had despaired |
| tu | avevi disperato | you had despaired |
| lui/lei | aveva disperato | he/she/it had despaired |
| noi | avevamo disperato | we had despaired |
| voi | avevate disperato | you (pl.) had despaired |
| loro | avevano disperato | they had despaired |
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 disperato |
| tu | avresti disperato |
| lui/lei | avrebbe disperato |
| noi | avremmo disperato |
| voi | avreste disperato |
| loro | avrebbero disperato |
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 disperato | I will have despaired |
| tu | avrai disperato | you will have despaired |
| lui/lei | avrà disperato | he/she/it will have despaired |
| noi | avremo disperato | we will have despaired |
| voi | avrete disperato | you (pl.) will have despaired |
| loro | avranno disperato | they will have despaired |
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 | disperi |
| tu | disperi |
| lui/lei | disperi |
| noi | disperiamo |
| voi | disperiate |
| loro | disperino |
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 | disperassi |
| tu | disperassi |
| lui/lei | disperasse |
| noi | disperassimo |
| voi | disperaste |
| loro | disperassero |
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 | dispera |
| lui/lei | disperi |
| noi | disperiamo |
| voi | disperate |
| loro | disperino |
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 disperare |
| lui/lei | non disperi |
| noi | non disperiamo |
| voi | non disperate |
| loro | non disperino |