divenire — Italian conjugation
to become
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 | divengo | I become |
| tu | divieni | you become |
| lui/lei | diviene | he/she/it becomes |
| noi | diveniamo | we become |
| voi | divenite | you (pl.) become |
| loro | divengono | they become |
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 | divenni | I became |
| tu | divenisti | you became |
| lui/lei | divenne | he/she/it became |
| noi | divenimmo | we became |
| voi | diveniste | you (pl.) became |
| loro | divennero | they became |
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 | divenivo |
| tu | divenivi |
| lui/lei | diveniva |
| noi | divenivamo |
| voi | divenivate |
| loro | divenivano |
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 | diverrei | I would become |
| tu | diverresti | you would become |
| lui/lei | diverrebbe | he/she/it would become |
| noi | diverremmo | we would become |
| voi | diverreste | you (pl.) would become |
| loro | diverrebbero | they would become |
Future (Futuro semplice) Irregular
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 | diverrò | I will become |
| tu | diverrai | you will become |
| lui/lei | diverrà | he/she/it will become |
| noi | diverremo | we will become |
| voi | diverrete | you (pl.) will become |
| loro | diverranno | they will become |
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 | sono divenuto/a | I have become |
| tu | sei divenuto/a | you have become |
| lui/lei | è divenuto/a | he/she/it has become |
| noi | siamo divenuti/e | we have become |
| voi | siete divenuti/e | you (pl.) have become |
| loro | sono divenuti/e | they have become |
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 | ero divenuto/a | I had become |
| tu | eri divenuto/a | you had become |
| lui/lei | era divenuto/a | he/she/it had become |
| noi | eravamo divenuti/e | we had become |
| voi | eravate divenuti/e | you (pl.) had become |
| loro | erano divenuti/e | they had become |
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 | sarei divenuto/a |
| tu | saresti divenuto/a |
| lui/lei | sarebbe divenuto/a |
| noi | saremmo divenuti/e |
| voi | sareste divenuti/e |
| loro | sarebbero divenuti/e |
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 | sarò divenuto/a | I will have become |
| tu | sarai divenuto/a | you will have become |
| lui/lei | sarà divenuto/a | he/she/it will have become |
| noi | saremo divenuti/e | we will have become |
| voi | sarete divenuti/e | you (pl.) will have become |
| loro | saranno divenuti/e | they will have become |
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 | divenga |
| tu | divenga |
| lui/lei | divenga |
| noi | diveniamo |
| voi | diveniate |
| loro | divengano |
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 | divenissi |
| tu | divenissi |
| lui/lei | divenisse |
| noi | divenissimo |
| voi | diveniste |
| loro | divenissero |
Other forms
Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo) Irregular
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 | divieni |
| lui/lei | divenga |
| noi | diveniamo |
| voi | divenite |
| loro | divengano |
Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Irregular
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 divenire |
| lui/lei | non divenga |
| noi | non diveniamo |
| voi | non divenite |
| loro | non divengano |