flettere — Italian conjugation

to bend

Frequency#1138Irregular

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioflettoI bend
tuflettiyou bend
lui/leiflettehe/she/it bends
noiflettiamowe bend
voifletteteyou (pl.) bend
loroflettonothey bend

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioflessiI bent
tuflettestiyou bent
lui/leiflessehe/she/it bent
noiflettemmowe bent
voiflettesteyou (pl.) bent
loroflesserothey bent

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.

PronounItalian
ioflettevo
tuflettevi
lui/leifletteva
noiflettevamo
voiflettevate
loroflettevano

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?

PronounItalianEnglish
ioflettereiI would bend
tufletterestiyou would bend
lui/leifletterebbehe/she/it would bend
noifletteremmowe would bend
voifletteresteyou (pl.) would bend
lorofletterebberothey would bend

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iofletteròI will bend
tufletteraiyou will bend
lui/leifletteràhe/she/it will bend
noifletteremowe will bend
voiflettereteyou (pl.) will bend
lorofletterannothey will bend

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioho flessoI have bent
tuhai flessoyou have bent
lui/leiha flessohe/she/it has bent
noiabbiamo flessowe have bent
voiavete flessoyou (pl.) have bent
lorohanno flessothey have bent

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavevo flessoI had bent
tuavevi flessoyou had bent
lui/leiaveva flessohe/she/it had bent
noiavevamo flessowe had bent
voiavevate flessoyou (pl.) had bent
loroavevano flessothey had bent

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.

PronounItalian
ioavrei flesso
tuavresti flesso
lui/leiavrebbe flesso
noiavremmo flesso
voiavreste flesso
loroavrebbero flesso

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
ioavrò flessoI will have bent
tuavrai flessoyou will have bent
lui/leiavrà flessohe/she/it will have bent
noiavremo flessowe will have bent
voiavrete flessoyou (pl.) will have bent
loroavranno flessothey will have bent

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.

PronounItalian
iofletta
tufletta
lui/leifletta
noiflettiamo
voiflettiate
loroflettano

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.

PronounItalian
ioflettessi
tuflettessi
lui/leiflettesse
noiflettessimo
voifletteste
loroflettessero

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.

PronounItalian
tufletti
lui/leifletta
noiflettiamo
voiflettete
loroflettano

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.

PronounItalian
tunon flettere
lui/leinon fletta
noinon flettiamo
voinon flettete
loronon flettano