gonfiare — Italian conjugation

to inflate

Frequency#655IrregularReflexivegonfiarsi — to swell up

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iogonfioI inflate
tugonfiyou inflate
lui/leigonfiahe/she/it inflates
noigonfiamowe inflate
voigonfiateyou (pl.) inflate
lorogonfianothey inflate

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iogonfiaiI inflated
tugonfiastiyou inflated
lui/leigonfiòhe/she/it inflated
noigonfiammowe inflated
voigonfiasteyou (pl.) inflated
lorogonfiaronothey inflated

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
iogonfiavo
tugonfiavi
lui/leigonfiava
noigonfiavamo
voigonfiavate
lorogonfiavano

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
iogonfiereiI would inflate
tugonfierestiyou would inflate
lui/leigonfierebbehe/she/it would inflate
noigonfieremmowe would inflate
voigonfieresteyou (pl.) would inflate
lorogonfierebberothey would inflate

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.

PronounItalianEnglish
iogonfieròI will inflate
tugonfieraiyou will inflate
lui/leigonfieràhe/she/it will inflate
noigonfieremowe will inflate
voigonfiereteyou (pl.) will inflate
lorogonfierannothey will inflate

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 gonfiatoI have inflated
tuhai gonfiatoyou have inflated
lui/leiha gonfiatohe/she/it has inflated
noiabbiamo gonfiatowe have inflated
voiavete gonfiatoyou (pl.) have inflated
lorohanno gonfiatothey have inflated

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 gonfiatoI had inflated
tuavevi gonfiatoyou had inflated
lui/leiaveva gonfiatohe/she/it had inflated
noiavevamo gonfiatowe had inflated
voiavevate gonfiatoyou (pl.) had inflated
loroavevano gonfiatothey had inflated

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 gonfiato
tuavresti gonfiato
lui/leiavrebbe gonfiato
noiavremmo gonfiato
voiavreste gonfiato
loroavrebbero gonfiato

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 gonfiatoI will have inflated
tuavrai gonfiatoyou will have inflated
lui/leiavrà gonfiatohe/she/it will have inflated
noiavremo gonfiatowe will have inflated
voiavrete gonfiatoyou (pl.) will have inflated
loroavranno gonfiatothey will have inflated

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.

PronounItalian
iogonfi
tugonfi
lui/leigonfi
noigonfiamo
voigonfiate
lorogonfino

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
iogonfiassi
tugonfiassi
lui/leigonfiasse
noigonfiassimo
voigonfiaste
lorogonfiassero

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
tugonfia
lui/leigonfi
noigonfiamo
voigonfiate
lorogonfino

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 gonfiare
lui/leinon gonfi
noinon gonfiamo
voinon gonfiate
loronon gonfino